Donkey Kong Wiki problem

[Seaweed]

I was happy to see that Donkey Kong wiki was added today, they had very good articles. But then I checked the Super Mario wiki and saw they have almost the exact same articles for every thing on Donkey kong wiki. I say either Donkey Kong wiki must leave or Super Mario wiki but delete all there donkey kong articles and provide a link to the donkey kong wiki

[KidIcarus]

Well, as the DK Wiki continues to expand, it will go into more detail and venture into topics that don't necessarily apply to Super Mario Wiki.

[tacopill]

are they clones of each other's content? or does DKWiki go into more detail, or have it organized differently, on the Donkey Kong Games than Super Mario Wiki does?

[porplemontage]

There is no rule against overlapping coverage. DKWiki was made aware that MarioWiki would continue covering the same series, and they were fine with that. Sorry to let you down.

[KidIcarus]

Wait a minute... I just took a look at some of the content on DK Wiki and it seems like they copied and pasted from Super Mario Wiki on some areas (or the other way around). Not only do these sections go over the same thing, they are identical. Here are just some examples I found while skimming DK Wiki:

*First paragraph of Stanley the Bugman
*Almost all of Diddy Kong
*All of Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis

Again, I just found these while skimming the articles to see how bad the overlap was. If I had actually looked for copied and pasted material, I may have found some more.

[HavocReaper48]

Let me explain. This will be a mouthful and a half.

You see, in the early days of the wiki (then on Wikia), several articles were copied off MW out of desperation. I'm fully aware of that. However, I purposely go out of my way to differ from MW as much as possible. I simply believe there is way too much DK info on the MarioWiki. In most cases, articles are rewritten to be different from MW, and we've been slowly revamping articles. It's been a gradual process between adding info and changing other info. Currently the wiki has 688 articles.

Of course we have articles on the exact topic. It happens. There are differing styles in most cases. The DKWiki has some information that MW does not, and the other way around. The same goes with images and such. Even editors have come from MarioWiki to help from time to time. Understandable, the Donkey Kong series is no easy subject to cover.

Now, us joining does NOT mean transferring content from MW. We're doing this our own way, bottom up. We're in desperate need of articles and coverage beyond DKC, my area of expertise. As I said, gradual process.

Again, DKWiki is NOT meant to be a MarioWiki clone. Stop talking about nuking wiki pages like that on MarioWiki. I would recommend a SLIGHT lowering of coverage on Donkey Kong on MarioWiki (less extreme).

I'll personally speed up the revamping progress myself and hold off adding much info for now. I don't believe I've said enough defending the wiki myself, but there's a start. I'll get the other guys to back me up.

[Manga Maniac]

While I agree that Super Mario Wiki should probably tone down a bit on their Donkey Kong articles, I think its obvious that there's going to be some overlap. Mario and Donkey Kong started in the same game franchise, before Mario split out on his own to rescue a princess by squishing Goomba's brains. However Donkey Kong and Mario have gone totally different ways really, only being linked by Mario Kart.

So, yeah, there will be articles on Donkey Kong on Mario, and vice versa, but they're different enough for their own wikis.

[KidIcarus]

I think the problem has less to do with content overlap and more to do with ripping text from another site and pasting onto your articles. I feel that DK Wiki should make it its priority to remove the plagiarism.

[Manga Maniac]

If that's the case then it can be fixed by editing (though how long it takes might vary...), so there's still no real need to delete all Donkey Kong articles on MarioWiki or completely remove DK Wiki and return it to the pits of hell known as Wikia.

[KidIcarus]

If that's the case then it can be fixed by editing (though how long it takes might vary...), so there's still no real need to delete all Donkey Kong articles on MarioWiki or completely remove DK Wiki and return it to the pits of hell known as Wikia.

Oh, of course not. I don't think the NIWA staff would ever invite a wiki only to kick them off soon after.

And I'm sure we all agree that the plagiarism won't go away overnight. It's a process and we understand that.

[Manga Maniac]

I might see if I can reword some of the DK Wiki's articles so they no longer plagiarise MarioWiki. However, I don't really play Donkey Kong, so I doubt I'll be able to much use. And, if there are like 100 articles that are ripped off, I may be slightly out of my depth...

Anyone know any particularly egregious stolen articles we can aim for?

Also, I can't help but notice Donkey Kong Wikia just got a spotlight on Wikia. 

[tacopill]

well, you could make a template notice saying "This article was taken from another wiki. Please edit the article to help differentiate it from it's source." or something to that effect.

Then have admins place the template on articles that can be proven to be cases of plagiarism.

[Manga Maniac]

How about this?

[KidIcarus]

I actually like that template a lot.

[tacopill]

i like it. Is the probelm only with "Mario Wiki"-copied information?

[sdp]

I think the main problem here is that Donkey Kong and Mario while technically separate franchises are too connected since they both originated in the same game and crossover frequently so there is going to be a ton of overlap. I'm surprised DKWiki was allowed in since Mariowiki basically already covers the entirety of the DK Franchise and already does a fantastic job at it. Now I love DK but is it really necessary to have it be a different wiki when its already covered extensively by the Mario one?

Technically Wario and Yoshi are also their own franchises that Spun-off Mario, out of those two Wario is the most successful spin-off wise and differentiates the most from Mario but I don't think a Wariowiki would be necessary. Of course DK is bigger than Wario/Yoshi and basically in the SNES days with DKC, DK had gotten away from Mario's Shadow only to have that taken away after Rare left and Nintendo kept incorporating DK more and more with Mario, hopefully with DKC Returns Donkey Kong will become a household name outside of the Mario franchise like it was in the 80s with the Arcade game and 90s with DKC. Its definitely going to be tough for the DKWiki to be its own entity though I certainly wish them the best.

[Nintendoguy1]

Hm...a template which alerts people to copied content sounds like a good idea. However it is a very bad idea to lower either of these wiki's coverage policies because some of the content is being copied. There are very capable admins and users on both of these wikis who can and will change the content so it isn't copied word for word but it is inevitable that the articles will be similar. However, over time, the DK wiki will develop its own processes, formats, tables, categorial trees, etc. and the wikis will look different. Right now we just have to wait. Lowering the information values on one of these knowledge databases will bring nothing good, it will just lose content or prevent content from being added; stuff that nobody wants. If the DK wiki's articles are similar to the MarioWiki's articles, let it be. I am sure the DK wiki will include some deeper information than the MarioWiki does. I think complaints should be put aside until the wiki has developed its own systems.

However the template alerting people to copied (word-for-word) content is a good idea.

[KidIcarus]

Yes, we should let them develop before coming to any conclusions. I think a problem arises only if the Super Mario Wiki covers Donkey Kong so heavily that there is nothing DK Wiki can do to surpass them in coverage (for example, if Super Mario Wiki has covered every single thing involving Donkey Kong).

Will this ever happen? No one can really know for sure. But suppose that it does happen. By then, DK Wiki will be very well-developed and a lot of hard work will have been put into it. However, Super Mario Wiki will have the exact same thing. No rational person would go to a DK Wiki when there is a Mario wiki with the same quality, the same detail, but greater coverage.

This is a long-term problem (Super Mario Wiki is not even close to covering all things Donkey Kong). However, it's probably in the best interest of DK Wiki editors for a decision to be made regarding coverage right now. We wouldn't want all their hard work to be in vain two or three years from now.

Simply, the coverage issue will grow as the wikis do. In my opinion, to delay a decision would be unwise. It's best to tackle the issue before it gets too big. There are a couple options out there - a merge as equals, an absorption of DK Wiki, an end to DK coverage on SMW, etc.

This is a decision that the staff of both wikis will have to discuss. In the end, it is up to the wikis what they do, but it would be of great benefit to at least consider our opinions.

[Gamefreak75]

I blame a lot of the plagiarism on my part lol.

But that is over a year ago...

[tacopill]

I blame a lot of the plagiarism on my part lol.

But that is over a year ago...

You're the culprit! get him!