User talk:Gary King

Help?

Wondered if you could help me with this FAC (the only comment so far complained about MoS issues, but didn't ellaborate on it...). Also, wanted to know if you support (or could help) with a Retro Studios GT/FT (which will require to push Retro, Donkey Kong Country Returns and Mario Kart 7 to GA level). igordebraga ≠ 18:13, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

I did the MOS issues, I think I caught all or at least most of the ellipsis and dashes. The article had some strange dash usage, like " -" to end a sentence. Sure, I guess I could lend a hand for a Retro Studios FT. I've added to the list. Gary King (talk · scripts) 19:02, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

The Jaws commenter ellaborated some more! (and later I need to work at least on Retro, if only to keep the VG section of the GAN filled and/or give me valid WikiCup entries...) igordebraga ≠ 04:13, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

I did a bit more on the Jaws article, but that's probably about all I will be doing, because the rest of the points require that I actually thoroughly read the article... which would take significantly more time, which I don't think I will be able to dedicate, especially since I'm not familiar with the article already. Gary King (talk · scripts) 05:30, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

You are invited to join Stanford's WikiProject!

As a current or past contributor to a related article, I thought I'd let you know about WikiProject Stanford University, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of Stanford University. If you would like to participate, you can visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks and related articles. Thanks!

ralphamale (talk) 22:10, 19 January 2012 (UTC)

WikiCup 2012 January newsletter

WikiCup 2012 is off to a flying start. At the time of writing, we have 112 contestants; comparable to last year, but slightly fewer than 2010. Signups will remain open for another week, after which time they will be closed for this year. Our currrent far-away leader is Grapple X (submissions), due mostly to his work on a slew of good articles about The X-Files; there remain many such articles waiting to be reviewed at good article candidates. Second place is currently held by Ruby2010 (submissions), whose points come mostly from good articles about television episodes, although good article reviews, did you knows and an article about a baroness round out the score. In third place is Jivesh boodhun (submissions), who has scored 200 points for his work on a single featured article, as well as points for work on others, mostly in the area of pop music. In all, nine users have 100 or more points. However, at the other end of the scale, there are still dozens of participants who are yet to score. Please remember to update your submission pages promptly!

The 64 highest scoring participants will advance to round 2 in a month's time. There, they will be split into eight random groups of eight. The score needed to reach the next round is not at all clear; last year, 8 points guaranteed a place. The year before, 20.

A few participants and their work warrant a mention for achieving "firsts" in this competition.

• 12george1 (submissions) was the first to score, with his good article review of Illinois v. McArthur.
• 12george1 (submissions) was also the first to score points for an article, thanks to his work on Hurricane Debby (1982)- now a good article. Tropical storms have featured heavily in the Cup, and good articles currently have a relatively fast turnaround time for reviews.
• Sp33dyphil (submissions) was the first to score points for a did you know, with Russian submarine K-114 Tula. Military history is another subject which has seen a lot of Cup activity.
• Sp33dyphil (submissions) is also the first person to successfully claim bonus points. Terminator 2: Judgment Day is now a good article, and was eligible for bonus points because the subject was covered on more than 20 other Wikipedias at the start of the competition. It is fantastic to see bonus points being claimed so early!
• Speciate (submissions) was the first to score points for an In the News entry, with Paedophryne amauensis. The lead image from the article was also used on the main page for a time, and it's certainly eye-catching!
• Jivesh boodhun (submissions) was the first to score points for a featured article, and is, at the moment, the only competitor to claim for one. The article, "Halo" (Beyoncé Knowles song), was also worth double points because of its wide coverage. While this is an article that Jivesh and others have worked on for some time, it is undeniable that he has put considerable work into it this year, pushing it over the edge.

We are yet to see any featured lists, featured topics or good topics, but this is unsurprising; firstly, the nomination processes with each of these can take some time, and, secondly, it can take a considerable amount of time to work content to this level. In a similar vein, we have seen only one featured article. The requirement that content must have been worked on this year to be eligible means that we did not expect to see these at the start of the competition. No points have been claimed for featured portals or pictures, but these are not content types which are often claimed; the former has never made a big impact on the WikiCup, while the latter has not done so since 2009's competition.

A quick rules clarification before the regular notices: If you are concerned that another user is claiming points inappropriately, please contact a judge to take a look at the article. Competitors policing one another can create a bad atmosphere, and may lead to inconsistencies and mistakes. Rest assured that we, the judges, are making an effort to check submissions, but it is possible that we will miss something. On a loosely related note: If you are concerned that your nomination, be it at good article candidates, a featured process or anywhere else, will not receive the necessary reviews, please list it on Wikipedia:WikiCup/Reviews. However, please remember to continue to offer reviews at GAC, FAC and all the other pages that require them to prevent any backlogs which could otherwise be caused by the Cup. As ever, questions are welcome on Wikipedia talk:WikiCup and the judges are reachable on their talk pages, or by email. Good luck! If you wish to start receiving or stop receiving this newsletter, please feel free to add or remove yourself from Wikipedia:WikiCup/Newsletter/Send. J Milburn and The ed17 00:05, 1 February 2012 (UTC)

Mass Effect

Hi, Gary! I would like to know if you want to improve the article. It's in pretty awful shape and I think that it could use some improvement. Electroguv (talk) 09:40, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

It IS in awful shape, and it would be difficult to improve it considering it's an overview of the entire series. So sorry, I am not interested in working on that particular article. Perhaps I would on a game in the series, though, perhaps ME3 with that coming up soon. Gary King (talk · scripts) 19:12, 2 February 2012 (UTC)

Oops, sorry! I meant the first game in the series. Electroguv (talk) 13:18, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

That's an easier article to work on, mostly due to the fact that it's more easy to structure and easy to find information, but I'd still prefer working on either ME3 or ME2, because ME3 will have plenty of information—particularly development content, which is the hardest to find—and ME2 because it's frankly a better game than ME1 (and also easier to find information for ME2 because it's more recent and more popular than ME1). Gary King (talk · scripts) 22:20, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

I guess I'll be working alone then... Still, thanks for your time! Electroguv (talk) 06:02, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

My suggestion is to spend time finding articles on the game's development, first. I suspect it'll be fairly hard to do, both because it's the oldest game in the series and because there is no way to differentiate it from other games in the series (for instance, no game has is subtitled, they're just "Mass Effect X"), so your best bet is to limit the article's date using Google's date limiter. If you manage to find a decent number of articles, I'd like it if you let me know what you find and if there's enough, then I promise that I'll spend as much time as needed to bring the article to FA quality—assuming you're willing to spend that kind of time on it. It ain't easy, but that would be one article that I'd enjoy working on. Most of the time will be spent on actually writing the article, but research is the hardest and determines if an FA is doable, and it can be done at your own pace, too. Gary King (talk · scripts) 06:13, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

I have already found some juicy pieces which I'm currently transforming into prose for Development. Are you still interested in working on the article? Electroguv (talk) 12:19, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Only when the Development section is legitimately beefy enough to prepare for a run at FAC. I'm already working on a number of articles that eventually fell into a limbo state, because of insufficient research, etc. so I'd rather be confident that I can do an excellent job on an article before diving into it. Gary King (talk · scripts) 19:10, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Broken Sword 2 GA1

Hi! Could you please review Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror for GA? :) All the Best --Khanassassin (talk) 19:14, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Maybe later. But probably not. I suggest just letting the GAN process take care of it. Gary King (talk · scripts) 19:19, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Donkey Kong Country Returns

The article Donkey Kong Country Returns, which you have nominated for WP:GA, has ! Nice Work! See Talk:Donkey Kong Country Returns for comments about the article. All the Best

So, here you go - another barnstar! :):

		The Good Article Barnstar
		For...being an awesome editor? Khanassassin (talk) 11:10, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Best --Khanassassin (talk) 11:10, 11 February 2012 (UTC)