RuneScape:RuneScape Wiki is not...

This policy is currently under development and has not yet achieved consensus.

The RuneScape Wiki is an online community of editors looking to build freely editable guides, databases, and articles related to RuneScape. Members of the community are expected to treat each other with respect, and as such, there are certain things that the RuneScape Wiki is not.

Content
Article content should be neutral, relevant to readers, and within the project's scope. If an article or part of one does not meet these criteria, it may have to be cleaned up, or in the case of full articles, nominated for deletion. This section is a guide to what content is generally disallowed by the community.

... a blog
As of the time of writing, there are millions of active RuneScape accounts, and hundreds, if not thousands, of active clans. Articles about players or clans are not permitted in article space, as the vast majority of these are not notable enough for their own article. Even if the most well-known players were included, it would be difficult to determine who is qualified and who is not, so it was decided that no player, regardless of how famous or infamous they are, deserves an article. (See players don't deserve articles.) You are welcome to write about yourself or your clan in user space, however.

... promoting scamming or rule breaking
Scamming, and other activity in violation of the fifteen Jagex rules, generally hurts the game and is not something we as editors wish to promote. As such, articles that describe in detail how to scam, hack, macro, and the like are forbidden. It has been put forward in the past that descriptions of scams may prevent others from being scammed themselves; this idea has been rejected by the community at large.

Note that this includes player moderator confidentiality. While the leaked information may appear to be harmless, Jagex does have reasons for keeping it away from the general community. So please, don't post it here.

... your web host
Every user has a user page on which they can write about themselves. However, this should not be used indiscriminately; user pages are intended primarily to allow editors to get to know one another better. Users are allowed to add content that is not directly related to the project, but please try to keep this to a minimum so as to prevent such content from using excessive wiki resources.

The wiki is not Photobucket or Imageshack, either; all uploaded images must serve a purpose that is useful to the project. This means that fake images are disallowed, and images in general that are not used in article space may be deleted at any time. If you upload an image to one of the aforementioned sites, however, you may display it in your user space by simply entering the URL into the wikitext.

... a soapbox
All articles must be written from a neutral point of view. This means that content must be unbiased, and most opinions cannot be expressed outright. Instead, they should be restated so that the author does not appear to hold them; for example, the following sentence would need to be rewritten:

"The update was unfair, and made training combat harder and more boring."

It could perhaps be restated as:

"Many players thought the update excessively lowered the mini-game's rewards, hence making combat training more difficult."

As well as the addition of a little text, the latter quote is written from a neutral perspective. Instead of stating outright that "the update was unfair", it shows that many players thought that was true. The vast majority of the content in articles must be written to a similar standard, however most other namespaces, particularly user pages and discussions, are exempt.

... for inappropriate content
Spam, hate messages, and pornography are prohibited on all pages, including user space. Addition of this type of content to articles or other pages will be treated as vandalism, and will result in a warning(s) or a block. This content contributes nothing to the wiki and hurts it in many cases, and so is not allowed. Included in this rule is promotion of said inappropriate content, which will be treated in an equivalent manner. Please, do us all a favor and post it somewhere else.

... a crystal ball
RuneScapeWiki is not the place for speculation about future updates. Future content should not be mentioned in mainspace articles, unless it has been stated in one of Jagex’s Behind the Scenes updates.

... an indiscriminate collection of information
The RuneScape wiki is described in the title bar as a "community encyclopedia for all things RuneScape." That said, our goal is not to include every tidbit of information vaguely related to the game. Trivia, useless facts, and the like should be avoided in general. Additionally, many elements of the community are not fit for inclusion in the wiki; while they are related to RuneScape, this doesn't mean they should have an article.

... a fanon collection
Historically, we have had articles on fanon topics such as fake image. With the creation of the RuneScape fan fiction wiki, all fanon on the wiki has been moved there, with short articles on general elements remaining. Please do not re-create the deleted/redirected fanon articles, and refrain from uploading fake images here.

Community
Wikis are designed to work by building consensus. Through consensus, the community as a whole decides what pages should be created, who should be given administrative tools, and in general how the wiki should be run. Every editor is able to participate equally in discussion, regardless of their edit count, time on the wiki, or other factors.

... a bureaucracy
Wikis are not intended to be run by a cabal of administrators, or for that matter, experienced users. Policies and guidelines should achieve a consensus before they come into effect, and should be written down in project space for all to see. Even if a policy has strong consensus, it can be disregarded in cases where editors feel it is genuinely improving the wiki to do so. This does not mean that you can blatantly violate, say, the vandalism policy and wreak havoc. Rules are intended to make the wiki better somehow, and they usually do so in most cases; if they aren't accomplishing this task, then you can go against them.

In addition, there is no power structure of any sort. Administrators are not "higher" than regular users in any way, other than having access to administrator tools. Likewise, bureaucrats are not higher than administrators, except again that they have access to bureaucrat tools. All editors are equal.

... a democracy
Community decisions are based on consensus, not polling. When contributing to a discussion, an argument should be given for your point of view, instead of simply voting. Others will then respond to your argument, and eventually a consensus should be reached one way or another. The administrator closing the discussion should weigh arguments objectively, setting aside their personal views, and report the decision. If you feel that the decision was poor or did not reflect consensus, you can appeal the decision on the closer's talk page, or at another community process. Decisions should never be made simply on the basis of majority vote.

... based off-site
At times, MediaWiki may not seem like the best way to communicate online. This is why we have the forums and an IRC channel for our editors' usage. However, wiki business should stay on the wiki. Not everyone looks at the forums, and it is nearly impossible to hold a discussion on IRC with all involved parties present, thanks to varied time zones. Likewise, though you may have listed some of your fellow editors as instant messenger contacts or on the RuneScape friends list, binding decisions must be made solely using discussion on the wiki itself.

... an official Jagex website
Like all other fansites, our site is not supported or endorsed by Jagex in any way. This means that we are unable to help you with in-game issues such as hacked accounts or queries. Please do not message our administrators or users asking for assistance in handling these problems, as they can only be dealt with on the official RuneScape site. In addition, editors should try to avoid usage of content taken directly from the Knowledge Base unless it is essential to readers' understanding of a topic, as we have no permission to use it except fair use.

... a forum
The wiki proper should not be used as a discussion forum for topics that are not directly related to the wiki. This means that discussion about recent updates, advice for training skills, and the like belong on the forums, not here. Even talk pages should only be used to discuss how to go about improving an article.