Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Myst V: End of Ages

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The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by User:SandyGeorgia 22:50, 25 November 2008 [1].

Myst V: End of Ages[edit]

Nominator(s): David Fuchs

After four previous FACs starting way back in May, I now present to you the final installment of the Myst series. This article has gone through a decent peer review and I believe it now meets comprehensiveness criteria. There was some concern about non-Myst players understanding it, so non-initiated reviewers can check and see if it makes sense. Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs (talk) 16:04, 10 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

  • Quick question. When you mentioned that they couldn't get backing for a new project but then found it again, did this project see release as of yet? bibliomaniac15 21:17, 10 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comments from Mgm|(talk):
  • "Overall, the game was judged a fitting end to the series,[37][27][38][31] and in combination with the other games in the series sold more than 12 million copies by November 2007." (also mentioned in lead). This number might be skewed by massive sales of earlier games in the series. Is there any way you could find out sales for this game specifically?
  • I'm not a fan of the word "eschews" which you have used multiple times. It's the kind of word that could throw off non-native speakers like me. - Mgm|(talk) 21:48, 10 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I've traded up 'eschew' with two different instances. As for the sales, unfortunately its the best number I have, and unfortunately it may or may not in fact include Myst V; it's referenced after Myst's release in 2007 but is also used as early as 2003 before the release of Uru: Ages Beyond Myst. I have sent inquiries to Cyan about this, but have yet to receive a reply. Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs (talk) 21:53, 10 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Image review

Hopefully this is easy to fix! Awadewit (talk) 15:56, 11 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Comments -

Otherwise, sources look okay, links checked out with the link checker tool. Ealdgyth - Talk 18:14, 11 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
JustAdventure: According to its about, it has editorial policies and editors, and has been referenced in reliable print publications. It's an interview and is being used solely to source the interviewee's comments, not any content by the site's authors.
CreateDigitalMusic: Run by Peter Kirn, whose workshops and books qualify him under WP:SPS. (also an interview, but whatever.)
AdventureGamers has an editor, editorial oversight and hired staff, and is considered a trusted reviewer by aggregate sites including Game Rankings and Metacritic. --Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs (talk) 18:26, 11 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I'll leave these out for other reviewers to decide for themselves. Ealdgyth - Talk 14:30, 15 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support. Too bad an exact sales number can't be determined, but if that's the case, it shouldn't stop the article from being featured. - Mgm|(talk) 00:33, 13 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Dabs, pls check the dabs in the dabfinder in the toolbox. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 21:38, 15 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - The article looks very good, with a large amount of development information for a video game article. As I see nothing that would need further improvement, I give it my full support. Judgesurreal777 (talk) 01:53, 18 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support - As per Wohltemperierte's statements of reliability of the sources and the general quality and standards of the article. Cabe6403 (Talk•Sign!) 10:52, 19 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Comments by Guyinblack25

An interesting read, the Myst games look like fun. However, there were a few issues in the article which stood out to me that I think should be addressed.

  • The lead
    • I think this part is confusing to a layman. I had to reread it a couple times and I'm still not sure about it. "...trades pre-rendered environments with set paths for travel..." I assume this means pre-rendered backgrounds were switched out for 3D environments?
  • Gameplay
    • I think mentioning the game uses 3D environments here too would help understand the movement dsecriptions
    • The flow of the navigation mode descriptions seemed off to me, and I had to reread it to understand what was being described. However, this may be more a difference in our writing styles than a readability issue.
  • Plot
    • "Linking book" looked wrong when I first read it. But when I saw it in used the same way in later sentences it made sense. Are they called "linking books" in the game? If so, it may be good to put them in quotes the first time it's mentioned. "...a writer of special books ('linking books') which serve as portals..."
  • Development
    • There seem to be a number of quotes in this section, and I think some of them break the flow. I would paraphrase some of them.
    • "Special contraption"? It seemed to me that the captured video would not require anything outside of a normal video camera. What did this special contraption do beyond record video? If the information is not available, it may be best to leave out mention of the device and just state they videoed the voice actors.
    • The statement about the significant change seems out of place at the end, especially after following info about their E3 unveiling. Such a decision sounds like it would be made well before audio syncing, which occurred before E3. That's just my assumption though. Plus two sentences seems awfully short for a paragraph. Maybe add it to the third paragraph about accessibility.
  • Audio
    • See above about the quotes.
    • The last part of the list of equipment used sounds off to me. Is it stating the four different computers used to create the score were at his home and Cyan, or are those four in addition to first four?
    • "For the game to ship" sounds a bit like jargon. Maybe try "for the game's release"?
    • The info about the music awards seems more suited for the "Reception" section.
  • Release
    • The statement about being Turner's first game-related documentary looks like it would be better connected with either a semicolon or emdash.
    • There are two consecutive statements that use ref 30. Wouldn't it be better to use a single citation for the two?
  • Reception
    • The mention of the Metacritic and Game Rankings score in the prose seems redundant with those in the review table. I would remove the prose, but still use the citations to cite the first sentence.
    • I'd definitely paraphrase the quotes here. Quoting a specific word or adjective/adverb phrase is fine though.
  • References and links
    • The use of the interviews seems acceptable in my opinion. JustAdventure is borderline, but within reason.
    • Adventure Games editorial policies doesn't give too much information. However, the Adventure Gamers article gives links to several game box images on MobyGames with quotes from them: [3],[4], [5], [6], [7], and [8]. Some of which also include quotes from JustAdventure. I'm still on the fence about this source. Can you provide any other information about them.
    • What makes MYSTerium a suitable external link? I believe fansites are generally discouraged.

Overall, the article is good, but not quite Featured quality yet. I'll check back in later. Keep up the good work. (Guyinblack25 talk 18:51, 24 November 2008 (UTC))[reply]

      • Ok, I think I've taken care of almost everything. I've removed some of the quotes throughout and paraphrased. For Adventure Gamers, I emailed them and they responded that yes, they do fact checking with two editors in addition to the expectation that authors will fact check. Aside from that, they've been around for ten years, maybe that counts for something. Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs (talk) 21:29, 24 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
It's shaping up nicely, I did a sweep of minor changes here and there too. Here are the remaining issues I noticed.
  • Citations
    • The first paragraph in "Gameplay" has three citations split among the navigation descriptions. Wouldn't it be better to use a single citation for the two?
    • Same thing with the last paragraph
    • Again, the first paragraph in "Release" has two consecutive sentences which use the same ref.
  • The music equipment is still not clear to me. Were a total of eight computers used or only four?
  • The thing that makes me uneasy about the Adventure Gamer ref is that it is being used to source development content. I did a google book search and am a bit more convinced now. Though, if you stumble across a better source I'd suggest switching it out as who knows if it will satisfy reliability requirements in the future.
  • Is there a reason (G.A.N.G.) is included in the prose? It seems unnecessary since the acronym is not used in the article at all.
It's looking much better now David. Keep up the good work. (Guyinblack25 talk 17:12, 25 November 2008 (UTC))[reply]
I did all the above. The reason I used the Adventure Gamer ref for the closure info is that while other publications hinted at a connection between the commercial disappointment of Uru: Ages Beyond Myst and the company's closure, only the AG ref explicitly made the connection. --Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs (talk) 18:19, 25 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]
  • Weak support: The article has certainly shaped up and is of good quality, but a few minor issues remain in the back of my head (better sales info and a borderline source). Though, I don't think those warrant opposition or withholding support. Plus my knowledge of computer game sources is limited. My main concerns have been addressed and the article is well written, informative, and the rest of the sources look fine. Good job David. (Guyinblack25 talk 18:48, 25 November 2008 (UTC))[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.
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