RuneScape:RuneScape Wiki is not...

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 players don't deserve articles, regardless of how famous or infamous they are. 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, pages 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, however 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 access to a user page on which they can write about themselves. However, this should not be used indiscriminately, as 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 server 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 adding the URL to 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 content, which will be treated in an equivalent manner. Please, do us all a favor and post it somewhere else.

... a crystal ball
Articles are not the place for speculation about future updates. Future content should not be discussed in the article namespace, unless it has been explicitly mentioned in one of the Behind the Scenes updates. Even then, coverage should not go into detail or speculate about the update's content unless it was given in the update. You may also want to look at the non-existent item policy.

... a tabloid
Information about players should always be reliable. As the majority of visitors at RuneScape Wiki have an account in RuneScape, feelings can be hurt from false or questionable clauses about players. Additions that make questionable claims about others should be removed if no source is provided.

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 editors. Policies and guidelines should achieve a consensus before they come into effect, and should be written down in project space for all to see. They should be designed to improve the wiki, but can be ignored in cases when they are not accomplishing this task. All users should be able to participate in the development of policies, and in other discussions.

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 upon 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. Once all arguments have been made and responded to, the discussion may be closed by an administrator or bureaucrat, regardless of the time elapsed since the nomination. Closing administrators are given limited discretion in determining whether a consensus has been reached in a discussion. If you feel that the decision made 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.

... a battlefield
Community discussion should lead to a meaningful consensus, rather than flaming and incivility. While points of view will nearly always have some opposition, debate should be started with the goal of benefiting the RuneScape wiki. Edits that intentionally disrupt the process of building consensus are generally frowned upon by other editors.

... 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 some of your fellow editors may be RuneScape friends or instant messenger contacts, binding decisions must be made solely using discussion on the wiki itself. References to outside chat are acceptable as long as the reference is not to a wiki-related discussion that was held.

... Jagex
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
RuneScape is a fairly large discussion topic, with many rather controversial aspects. Discussion of this nature does not belong on talk pages, or any other pages for that matter. Talk pages are to be used solely by editors discussing how to go about improving an article, not discussion on the article's subject. If you want to talk about the latest update or what armour is the best, go to the forums instead.

... Wikipedia
RuneScape Wiki is not Wikipedia, and their rules do not apply here by default. While many RuneScape Wiki policies were based on those on Wikipedia, such as neutral point of view, this does not mean that they necessarily apply here. As the goals of the two projects are quite different, one to produce a general-purpose encyclopedia and the other to compile RuneScape information, naturally many policies cannot be shared. However, it is appropriate to suggest that one or more of this wiki's policies should be similar to those on Wikipedia, as long as these policies are not enforced without consensus here.