Blooncyclopedia:Writing guidelines: Difference between revisions

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*'''Flowery/pedantic prose''': Don't use overly fancy words and exaggeration to describe things that can be summarized more concisely, like describing in-game text containing a single minor swear as a [https://bloons.fandom.com/wiki/Pre-Round_Comment?diff=383210&oldid=383209 "profanity-ridden remark"]. This isn't a work of literary fiction.

*'''Stating the obvious''': If the role of the subject is self-evident from the name, then it doesn't need to be stated. For example, "Dart Monkeys are monkeys who wield darts" is not a good opening sentence.

*'''~~Referring~~ to the reader directly~~''': Don't make it too personal~~. Use "the player" instead of "you" when describing actions taken by players, and use the name of the subject when describing actions taken by something in the game. For example, "if the player activates Rapid Shot, Quincy will destroy the MOAB on round 40 easily" is good, but "if you activate Rapid Shot, you will destroy the MOAB on round 40 easily" is not.

*'''Second person''': Avoid referring to the reader directly. Use "the player" instead of "you" when describing actions taken by players, and use the name of the subject when describing actions taken by something in the game. For example, "if the player activates Rapid Shot, Quincy will destroy the MOAB on round 40 easily" is good, but "if you activate Rapid Shot, you will destroy the MOAB on round 40 easily" is not. [[Blooncyclopedia:Strategy guidelines|strategy articles]] are an exception to this since they're written more casually, but they should still be used sparingly.

*'''[[wp:Passive voice|Passive voice]]''': Passive voice is describing an action as being applied to the subject, rather than the subject applying an action. "Quincy will destroy the MOAB on round 40" is active voice, while "the MOAB on round 40 will be destroyed by Quincy" is passive voice. These mean the same thing and are both grammatically correct, but the latter conveys it in a more awkward and roundabout way. Passive voice should only be used if the subject of the sentence is unknown.

*'''Editorializing''': Don't criticize something or make it sound bad just because you don't like it. Keep it strictly factual, such as listing a tower's weaknesses to certain Bloons or situations, or giving the pros/cons of a subject in comparison to something.

*'''Exclamation marks or writing in all caps''': Use ''italics'' if special emphasis is needed.

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==Frequently misused terms==

*'''Remix''': A remix of a song is a modification of an existing recording (i.e. adding extra percussion). A new recording of a song with different instrumentation is called an "arrangement". For example, most of the [[List of music in BATTD|tracks in ''Bloons Adventure Time TD'']] are ''arrangements'' of music from ''Adventure Time'', not remixes.

*'''Alpha and beta''': These refer to very specific periods in software development, and are not general terms for when things change during development. ~~This term~~ should only be used to refer to periods that have been explicitly called alphas or betas by official sources, such as the closed beta for ''[[Bloons Monkey City (Flash)|Bloons Monkey City]]''.

*'''Alpha and beta''': These refer to very specific periods in software development, and are not general terms for when things change during development. These should only be used to refer to periods that have been explicitly called alphas or betas by official sources, such as the closed beta for ''[[Bloons Monkey City (Flash)|Bloons Monkey City]]''. Even if an early build is officially called a "beta", avoid describing its differences with terms like "beta elements" and "beta differences" because casual readers tend to misinterpret these as referring to changes in development in general.

*'''Prequel''': A prequel is work whose narrative chronologically takes place before a work that released ''before'' it. This is frequently misused to refer to previous entries in the series in general; calling ''[[Bloons Tower Defense (game)|Bloons Tower Defense]]'' a prequel to ''[[Bloons Tower Defense 2]]'' is therefore incorrect. Since ''Bloons'' doesn't have a narrative timeline, this term has little, if any, use on this wiki.

==Things that don't matter==

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 *'''Flowery/pedantic prose''': Don't use overly fancy words and exaggeration to describe things that can be summarized more concisely, like describing in-game text containing a single minor swear as a [https://bloons.fandom.com/wiki/Pre-Round_Comment?diff=383210&oldid=383209 "profanity-ridden remark"]. This isn't a work of literary fiction.
 *'''Stating the obvious''': If the role of the subject is self-evident from the name, then it doesn't need to be stated. For example, "Dart Monkeys are monkeys who wield darts" is not a good opening sentence.
-*'''Referring to the reader directly''': Don't make it too personal. Use "the player" instead of "you" when describing actions taken by players, and use the name of the subject when describing actions taken by something in the game. For example, "if <u>the player</u> activates Rapid Shot, <u>Quincy</u> will destroy the MOAB on round 40 easily" is good, but "if <u>you</u> activate Rapid Shot, <u>you</u> will destroy the MOAB on round 40 easily" is not.
+*'''Second person''': Avoid referring to the reader directly. Use "the player" instead of "you" when describing actions taken by players, and use the name of the subject when describing actions taken by something in the game. For example, "if <u>the player</u> activates Rapid Shot, <u>Quincy</u> will destroy the MOAB on round 40 easily" is good, but "if <u>you</u> activate Rapid Shot, <u>you</u> will destroy the MOAB on round 40 easily" is not. [[Blooncyclopedia:Strategy guidelines|strategy articles]] are an exception to this since they're written more casually, but they should still be used sparingly.
+*'''[[wp:Passive voice|Passive voice]]''': Passive voice is describing an action as being applied to the subject, rather than the subject applying an action. "Quincy will destroy the MOAB on round 40" is active voice, while "the MOAB on round 40 will be destroyed by Quincy" is passive voice. These mean the same thing and are both grammatically correct, but the latter conveys it in a more awkward and roundabout way. Passive voice should only be used if the subject of the sentence is unknown.
 *'''Editorializing''': Don't criticize something or make it sound bad just because you don't like it. Keep it strictly factual, such as listing a tower's weaknesses to certain Bloons or situations, or giving the pros/cons of a subject in comparison to something.
 *'''Exclamation marks or writing in all caps''': Use ''italics'' if special emphasis is needed.
@@ Line 20: / Line 21: @@
 ==Frequently misused terms==
 *'''Remix''': A remix of a song is a modification of an existing recording (i.e. adding extra percussion). A new recording of a song with different instrumentation is called an "arrangement". For example, most of the [[List of music in BATTD|tracks in ''Bloons Adventure Time TD'']] are ''arrangements'' of music from ''Adventure Time'', not remixes.
-*'''Alpha and beta''': These refer to very specific periods in software development, and are not general terms for when things change during development. This term should only be used to refer to periods that have been explicitly called alphas or betas by official sources, such as the closed beta for ''[[Bloons Monkey City (Flash)|Bloons Monkey City]]''.
+*'''Alpha and beta''': These refer to very specific periods in software development, and are not general terms for when things change during development. These should only be used to refer to periods that have been explicitly called alphas or betas by official sources, such as the closed beta for ''[[Bloons Monkey City (Flash)|Bloons Monkey City]]''. Even if an early build is officially called a "beta", avoid describing its differences with terms like "beta elements" and "beta differences" because casual readers tend to misinterpret these as referring to changes in development in general.
+*'''Prequel''':  A prequel is work whose narrative chronologically takes place before a work that released ''before'' it. This is frequently misused to refer to previous entries in the series in general; calling ''[[Bloons Tower Defense (game)|Bloons Tower Defense]]'' a prequel to ''[[Bloons Tower Defense 2]]'' is therefore incorrect. Since ''Bloons'' doesn't have a narrative timeline, this term has little, if any, use on this wiki.
 ==Things that don't matter==