Opinions on natural science approach for my wiki? Wikis for your multiverses?

[Zero Angel]

Hi Guys,

Brief Summary for those not wishing to read a long post:

1. What do you think of the categories I use to describe species for my wiki? (described in the list below)
2. Does anyone else have their own wiki for their books/stories/etc and what has been their experiences with it? What about as a consumer--do you like when wikis are available for a series you are interested in or do you not even notice?

Comprehensive Post:

I have my own wiki for my novels (wota.wikispaces.com) and one of the things that I am trying to accomplish with this wiki is that I want pages about creatures, locations, organizations and everything else to sound like they are about real things.

So with the exception of pages that talk about, for instance, my first novel and obvious IRL material, I want all of my pages to sound like if the Internet existed in my worlds and the characters had the desire to post material to a wiki, this is what the result would be like.

(I also include a "fourth wall" section where I break from this if desired to discuss IRL topics related to the page).

Anyway, as part of my efforts to do this, I have multiple categories in my bestiary pages to be comprehensive and to sound like I am some sort of natural scientist or learned scholar. Here are the categories I describe for each species:

Physical Characteristics and Anatomy
Magicks, Technology and Abilities
Behavior and Diet
Habitat and Environment
Culture and Civilizations
Language and Communication
Known History
Religion and Legends
Relations with Other Races
Variants and Relatives
Notable Creatures
​

So what do you think? Are there any glaring omissions you think should be included in a description of a species? This is the "intelligent" species list of categories, but there are only topical differences for "savage" species. That is, I change culture and civilizations to describe how they organize in herds or pairs or whatnot; I talk about religions and legends involving the creatures instead of their own religions and legends; and I talk about their relations with other species instead of relations with other races.

If you would like to see this in action, I have two completed pages up currently: wota.wikispaces.com/Lizardfolk and wota.wikispaces.com/Aviadins.

Finally, what has been everyone else's experience using wikis for their novels? Have you done this yourself? Do you like it? What do you use yours for? Are they public or merely a repository for your world info? I normally encounter wikis for video games, but major book series frequently have them also (whether unofficial or official). Do you like it when this is available as a consumer?

Some examples of wikis are wot.wikia.com for Wheel of Time, and both uesp.net and elderscrolls.wikia.com for the Elder Scrolls (Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim) video games.

 

[Astner]

1. There are a few too many -- wait, hear me out --. When you're dealing with civilized races, things like; culture, history, religion, and technology become more relevant than their diet and their favored habitat. They should be mentioned, but they don't necessitate their own separate categories. Maybe you could work with sub-categories, or slide in hints when it's something along the lines of; "they're omnivores." However, more beast-like species like maybe trolls who live in solitude or in packs require a more detailed behavior- and biology-shaped biography since their consciousness is more controlled by their instincts and temporary-desires, and they don't have much of a culture to begin with. My point is try to separate the different species into different categories and have separate templates for those.
2. I don't.

The Wikis I've come across are primary fan-made, and grow as new information is released or discovered, shaping an overall better environment occasionally sparking debates strengthening the community. I'd think that having the author there to establish what's right from wrong would remove much of the experience and the purpose for such a site. But those are my two cents. Hopefully you're able to make it work the way you want it to.

 

[Zero Angel]

Hi Astner,

Thanks for the feedback. That's a good point you make and although those are the "template" categories, I think when I don't have much to fill up a category I will try to condense a few down into one. I actually just started differentiating between my races and my monstrous creatures, splitting off any creature with a civilization out of the bestiary.

One of the reasons I have the wiki is because I have all of this backstory and world-building, but I absolutely hate reading Tolkien's backstories. I am interested in finding out history and all the information that he wants to impart, but I don't want it to break up the story. What I've done is take all the information anyone could ever want to know and start populating the wiki with it. For those that are interested in the world, they can go to the wiki and go, "ohhh, that's interesting." For those that are not interested, they can satisfy themselves with the books and stories alone.

Also, I am developing a WotA RPG, so I am thinking of the Wiki as a way to get all of the details on the world without having to shell out $30 for a monster manual/world setting/etc.

I actually left out two additional categories too! I have a category called "Fourth Wall Discussions" where I talk about the development or inspiration behind creatures and also include any information on the RPG, and I have a "Spoiler" section which includes information people in the world could not reasonably find out at a university/library area.

...I am probably definitely going to remove the spoiler section though.