Timescape Wiki:Manual of Style: Difference between revisions

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== Past Tense Policy ==

{{note|type=info|text=The bulk of this is a modified version of the [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Forgotten_Realms_Wiki:Past-tense_policy Forgotten Realms Wiki policy]]}}

{{note|type=info|text=The bulk of this is a modified version of the [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Forgotten_Realms_Wiki:Past-tense_policy Forgotten Realms Wiki policy]}}

The '''Past-Tense Policy''', also known as the '''remove wiki from the timeline''' policy, addresses the use of tense, particularly past tense, or narrative tense, in in-universe articles on the Timescape Wiki.

===Reasoning===

The ''[[Timescape]]'' setting has always been, and still is, an evolving creation. The ~~timeline~~ is ~~forever advancing~~ and with it events in the Timescape move on.

The ''[[Timescape]]'' setting has always been, and still is, an evolving creation. The setting is still expanding and with it events in the Timescape move on.

As such, keeping articles ~~in the scope of an established~~ "present day" would be both time-consuming and mostly irrelevant. For example, a town like [[Bedegar]] may be thriving in one year, then destroyed, then rebuilt, and so on, so changing from present tense to past tense and back to present tense would be ~~very difficult~~. A character may be alive in a sourcebook, ~~and~~ written ~~about~~ in present tense, but then slain in a future adventure~~, so readers~~ may find the present-tense article confusing. A long-lived character like an [[elf]] or [[lich]] can live for many centuries, but an article in present tense implies they are alive in this hypothetical present, when they could have died a century before. In sourcebooks, some events are said to have occurred 20 years ago or a century before, but this becomes increasingly inaccurate as a timeline moves on. Many characters, places, and situations are introduced and never mentioned again, so their "present" status will never be known.

As such, keeping articles written and up to date, relative to a changing "present day" would be both time-consuming and mostly irrelevant. For example, a town like [[Bedegar]] may be thriving in one year, then destroyed, then rebuilt, and so on, so changing from present tense to past tense and back to present tense would be a fool's errand. A character may be alive in one sourcebook, written in the present tense, but then slain in a future adventure! Readers may find the present-tense article, knowing of these events, confusing. A long-lived character like an [[elf]] or [[lich]] can live for many centuries, but an article written in the present tense implies they are alive and well in this hypothetical present, when they could have died a century before. In sourcebooks, some events are said to have occurred 20 years ago or a century before, but this becomes increasingly inaccurate as a timeline moves forward. Many characters, places, and situations are introduced and never mentioned again, so their "present" status will never be known.

The use of past tense neatly avoids all these issues, by ~~setting~~ events in stone as soon as they occur. Therefore, to maintain a consistent writing style, and to eliminate ~~chronology~~ errors, the Timescape Wiki adopted this past-tense policy. Instead, the time to which information pertains ~~should~~ be expressed by dates in the article, whether a year, a decade, or a century, ~~as accurately and as appropriately as possible~~.

The use of past tense neatly avoids all these issues by locking events in stone as soon as they occur. Therefore, to maintain a consistent writing style, and to eliminate chronological errors, the Timescape Wiki adopted this past-tense policy. Instead, the time to which information pertains will be expressed by absolute dates in the article when possible, whether a year, a decade, or a century. Many events do not have a fixed or known date. In these cases, the era or closest approximation will be used.

It ''does not'' mean everything is dead and gone. Instead, ~~this~~ use of past tense is a form of [[Wikipedia:Narration#Narrative_tense|narrative tense]] used for storytelling purposes.

This policy ''does not'' mean everything is dead and gone. Instead, use of the past tense is a form of [[Wikipedia:Narration#Narrative_tense|narrative tense]] used for storytelling purposes.

===Policy===

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 == Past Tense Policy ==
-{{note|type=info|text=The bulk of this is a modified version of the [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Forgotten_Realms_Wiki:Past-tense_policy Forgotten Realms Wiki policy]]}}
+{{note|type=info|text=The bulk of this is a modified version of the [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Forgotten_Realms_Wiki:Past-tense_policy Forgotten Realms Wiki policy]}}
 The '''Past-Tense Policy''', also known as the '''remove wiki from the timeline''' policy, addresses the use of tense, particularly past tense, or narrative tense, in in-universe articles on the Timescape Wiki.
 ===Reasoning===
-The ''[[Timescape]]'' setting has always been, and still is, an evolving creation. The timeline is forever advancing and with it events in the Timescape move on.
+The ''[[Timescape]]'' setting has always been, and still is, an evolving creation. The setting is still expanding and with it events in the Timescape move on.
-As such, keeping articles in the scope of an established "present day" would be both time-consuming and mostly irrelevant. For example, a town like [[Bedegar]] may be thriving in one year, then destroyed, then rebuilt, and so on, so changing from present tense to past tense and back to present tense would be very difficult. A character may be alive in a sourcebook, and written about in present tense, but then slain in a future adventure, so readers may find the present-tense article confusing. A long-lived character like an [[elf]] or [[lich]] can live for many centuries, but an article in present tense implies they are alive in this hypothetical present, when they could have died a century before. In sourcebooks, some events are said to have occurred 20 years ago or a century before, but this becomes increasingly inaccurate as a timeline moves on. Many characters, places, and situations are introduced and never mentioned again, so their "present" status will never be known.
+As such, keeping articles written and up to date, relative to a changing "present day" would be both time-consuming and mostly irrelevant. For example, a town like [[Bedegar]] may be thriving in one year, then destroyed, then rebuilt, and so on, so changing from present tense to past tense and back to present tense would be a fool's errand. A character may be alive in one sourcebook, written in the present tense, but then slain in a future adventure! Readers may find the present-tense article, knowing of these events, confusing. A long-lived character like an [[elf]] or [[lich]] can live for many centuries, but an article written in the present tense implies they are alive and well in this hypothetical present, when they could have died a century before. In sourcebooks, some events are said to have occurred 20 years ago or a century before, but this becomes increasingly inaccurate as a timeline moves forward. Many characters, places, and situations are introduced and never mentioned again, so their "present" status will never be known.
-The use of past tense neatly avoids all these issues, by setting events in stone as soon as they occur. Therefore, to maintain a consistent writing style, and to eliminate chronology errors, the Timescape Wiki adopted this past-tense policy. Instead, the time to which information pertains should be expressed by dates in the article, whether a year, a decade, or a century, as accurately and as appropriately as possible.
+The use of past tense neatly avoids all these issues by locking events in stone as soon as they occur. Therefore, to maintain a consistent writing style, and to eliminate chronological errors, the Timescape Wiki adopted this past-tense policy. Instead, the time to which information pertains will be expressed by absolute dates in the article when possible, whether a year, a decade, or a century. Many events do not have a fixed or known date. In these cases, the era or closest approximation will be used.
-It ''does not'' mean everything is dead and gone. Instead, this use of past tense is a form of [[Wikipedia:Narration#Narrative_tense|narrative tense]] used for storytelling purposes.
+This policy ''does not'' mean everything is dead and gone. Instead, use of the past tense is a form of [[Wikipedia:Narration#Narrative_tense|narrative tense]] used for storytelling purposes.
 ===Policy===