Criteria Update: Optional Proposal System

Hello again. Another announcement!

Some of you might've seen this coming. This is in succession following the update I made on the Base Breaking Character Wiki. Tbh, it feels even more necessary to do this here than on BBC Wiki, since there is always confusion on whether a character can count here, due to having no clear "importance to the plot" baseline or making sure a character doesn't have detractors.

What is a proposal?

If you want to make a community discussion on whether a character counts or not, there will be a proposal system to decide, where users can upvote or downvote (or just leave thoughts without voting) to determine the character's status. These will be added to the official Site Notice and given usually about 3 days to a week to stay on the board and let the community discuss.

This also can be done in the form of removals and neutral discussion posts.

When to use a proposal?

This system is completely optional and not something you are forced to do for page making. It is more of something just to be done to see if a character counts or not if you feel unsure, similar to making posts asking if a character counts.

If a character obviously meets the EDH criteria, then a proposal system is most likely completely unneeded, there pages can just be simply made. However, if you are unsure on whether they count, or if the community has debates over it, it is best (though not required) that a proposal is made so it can be more officially decided that they count.

Same case if wanting to make a neutral re-discussion or removal on a character. If the page uses false information or faulty info, it can just be deleted without discussion.

Expectations for a proposal

We are not super strict on proposals like how the moral scaling wikis are but here are some of the expectations of proposals.

1. If making a post/blog of this type, include EDH Proposal in the name. Or EDH Removal/EDH Discussion in the case of a removal/neutral discussion.
2. Explain who the character is and about the work they are from.
   1. It doesn't need to be detailed at all, just a basic overview of both in about 2-4 sentences. And definitely avoid doing like an autobiography.
   2. Ideally talk about the target audience and size of fanbase for the franchise.
3. Have a section explaining reasons what fans like about the character. Not every single point needs to be covered, just the most important ones.
   1. It is also recommended but not required to use evidence such as links (like a trustworthy critic, trustworthy YouTube video or maybe even a non-biased Reddit thread) to back up your points.
   2. This can be done in paragraph or bullet form, and it can focus on one key reason or multiple reasons. But it should cover about 5 sentences at minimum.
   3. Don't just say "they are a good character because they a x". Explain why fans like how they are written or something else they randomly like about them.
4. If there are any potential reasons fans might dislike them, make sure to list it.
5. Have a section explaining how important they are to the plot, such as how much they drive it, how much screentime they have, how they compare to more important characters, etc. Basically point out that they are not too major to the plot to be here.
6. Voters must give sufficient reasons for voting if they do. Any vague vote or vote that sounds biased or un-researched will be invalidated.
   1. Also it is strongly encouraged to comment on posts, even if you aren't voting, especially if it's to provide additional insight or even personal opinion. It's also helpful to say "I think this character counts but I'm not completely confident" because it gives other people what to think (even if it shouldn't completely affect their thoughts.) Remember that this wiki is based on people's opinions on characters and your opinion does matter here and plays a mild factor into their reception (but just don't upvote or downvote a character solely because of your own opinion). Generally, the more opinions that are given the better.

Ideal formatting for a proposal

Doesn't need to be exactly this but something similar, at least.

1. Introduction (optional)
2. What's the work/who are they?
3. What do fans like about them?
4. Is there anything fans might dislike about them? (optional)
5. How important are they to the franchise?
6. Reason you are making the proposal/reasons you are unsure if they might count (optional)
7. Verdict

Additional Info

1. Removals or re-discussions do not require permission from an admin, they can just be done.
2. No more than two proposals a week.
3. A user who repeatedly makes faulty proposals or votes (bad info, trolling, etc.) will be blacklisted and disallowed from participating.
4. There might be some kind of reward for participating in making proposals and voting regularly. Although we haven't decided what that is yet.
5. You will need admin permission to do rediscuss a character who already had a discussion before.
6. Users who make discussions are required to have at least 10 edits here and 3 days of activity.
7. Blogs or posts are fine.
8. Here is an example of a good proposal.

Conclusion

So, basically, this is an optional experiment allowing any user to make official discussions to see if certain characters count and having discussions added to the Site Notice. We aren't as strict as Moral Scaling Wikis, but the proposer should provide at least moderate explanations for the character counting, and commenting on these posts is always encouraged, but it's recommended when doing an official vote, that the vote at least shows research and understanding.

Please ask questions or give comments if you have any. We are more than happy to answer. This is also just an experiment in its beta form and we want to figure out how to make it as effective as possible and user input helps.