Wikia's big new thing is Fandom, we get it. However, it seems very random, often poorly edited, and unaccountable, so far. I didn't really care what was going on with fandom for the most part. Some of it was good, lots of it was bad, but it mostly wasn't annoying... until this: The Myths that Forged ‘WarCraft’ (By: George Botsov June 1, 2016). This fandom article really annoyed me. It wasn't good, it had like 4 full links to WoWWiki (some of them to redirects), and I fear it will cause people to associate this article with WoWWiki.
I don't know who George Botsov is, but he is probably a good person and a fan of the Warcraft universe. He may even be a regular WoWWiki user. However, he should have let someone in the WoWWiki community review his article to give him some pointers or at least get him to put a disclaimer that WoWWiki was only involved as a reference and the community didn't really have any input on the result. Unfortunately, since Fandom is on Wikia and WoWWiki is on Wikia, I'm sure people will think WoWWiki had something to do with this Fandom article.
So why don't I like The Myths that Forged ‘WarCraft’?
Here's the bullet point list:
- It is clearly trying to ride the hype of the movie Warcraft: The Beginning, but doesn't even link to our page about it!
- It purports to tell us something about the connection between old European mythology and Warcraft, but does a very poor job of it.
- It doesn't seem to have a clear audience. It seems to be talking to people unfamiliar with the Warcraft universe, but assumes way too much about what people not familiar with Warcraft might know.
- Mentions the Pantheon without explaining anything about what it is (the good titans, basically).
- It mentions "Keepers" with no explanation at all, but probably means titanic watchers.
- Mentions Azeroth and Gaia without really saying anything about either one in depth. Presumably Gaia is a mythological term somewhere for Earth, but who knows!
- Mentions the Burning Legion again without any background at all. Not even a mention of demons!
- Mentions the Astral plane without explaining what it is, let alone the fact that it isn't even really a Warcraft term!
- So many references with no background, somehow expecting the reader to say, "ah, what a clever connection," but with no background on what is being talked about at all. Just poor writing and very aggravating to read.
- Not enough links!
- No credits or references!
- Strange spellings.
- Dubious grammar.
So, if you find out who George Botsov is or who reviewed his fandom article in Wikia staff, please get them to contact me. I will volunteer to edit and review the next Warcraft piece written or reviewed for fandom. This one almost caused me physical pain.