UX/QoL Enhancement: /wiki Command

[TGDkeywi]

Hopefully this is posted in the right forum (relatively new to navigating the forums here), so please move this if it is best suited somewhere else.

I don't know a lot about the architecture of the game, but I think something like the /wiki command from Guild Wars 2 could be a nice adjustment.

For those unfamiliar with that game/command, the gist of it is:

• "/wiki" opens the player's browser to the GW2 wiki's homepage
• "/wiki <search terms>"  takes you to the search results or directly to a page (based on the wiki redirecting)
• "/wiki [chat link]" takes you directly to a page, or a list of page links based on the chat links provided

 

This feature would make it a lot easier for new players to start interacting with game knowledge they encounter live (eg seeing a player advertise for a DFB group, a new player could quickly "/wiki DFB" and be clicks away from learning about the Death From Below trial)

[Pleonast]

Great idea! 
 

I'd also add a link to the wiki on each power’s /info page. 
 

The catch may be that the wiki isn’t officially connected to the game itself. 

[biostem]

CoH is lightweight enough that you can Win+D or alt+tab to an open Wiki window.  I would rather the game NOT link to external resources, especially since, AFAIK, the Wiki is NOT maintained by the HC devs.  If a player can be bothered to learn a slash command, they can be bothered to click the link to the Wiki and/or bookmark it.

Edited March 5 by biostem

[TGDkeywi]

7 minutes ago, biostem said:

CoH is lightweight enough that you can Win+D or alt+tab to an open Wiki window.  I would rather the game NOT link to external resources, especially since, AFAIK, the Wiki is NOT maintained by the HC devs.  If a player can be bothered to learn a slash command, they can be bothered to click the link to the Wiki and/or bookmark it.

Even in Guild Wars 2, the wiki command is completely external from the game itself. It switches you from the game being the active process to opening the default browser on your system. Their wiki is also community driven/supported. The slash command there is provided as a quick way to go from "I'm in game" to "I'm reading the wiki".

Providing the ability to context-switch like this in game doesn't prevent or replace the functionality of things like saving bookmarks; it's just another way to simplify and/or streamline the process for players who may not already know exactly what information they should have already searched for and saved links.

[SeraphimKensai]

10 minutes ago, biostem said:

I would rather the game NOT link to external resources, especially since, AFAIK, the Wiki is NOT maintained by the HC devs.

The wiki is maintained by @Michiyo iirc.

 

Regarding the idea to have a command link to and launch a browser though to access it would likely require a lot of work.

[biostem]

10 minutes ago, TGDkeywi said:

Even in Guild Wars 2, the wiki command is completely external from the game itself. It switches you from the game being the active process to opening the default browser on your system. Their wiki is also community driven/supported. The slash command there is provided as a quick way to go from "I'm in game" to "I'm reading the wiki".

Providing the ability to context-switch like this in game doesn't prevent or replace the functionality of things like saving bookmarks; it's just another way to simplify and/or streamline the process for players who may not already know exactly what information they should have already searched for and saved links.

Alt+tab or Win+D is just as quick, and once you have the wiki open you can just leave it there, ready to be accessed again as needed.  No need to divert developer resources at all.

[TGDkeywi]

24 minutes ago, biostem said:

Alt+tab or Win+D is just as quick, and once you have the wiki open you can just leave it there, ready to be accessed again as needed.  No need to divert developer resources at all.

I'm not saying it's hard to take advantage of a computer and multi-task resources like the game and a wiki; I'm just saying it would be a nice thing for the player base if there was a minor connection between those two things within the game itself

I think we just have a difference in opinions on what merits a User Experience/Quality of Life update, so I don't think there's any point in trying to debate farther. Otherwise, we may end up bogged down in semantics or strawmen about how "imagine if browser developers said they didn't want to divert resources into 'saving bookmarks'", and I'd rather this thread stay clear in case any HC crew come through and want to read & weigh in

Edited March 5 by TGDkeywi

[TheZag]

Michiyo pays for the wiki privately and is now a member of the team but wasnt when starting the wiki.  A team member maintaining the wiki isnt the same as the wiki being maintained by the team.  I trust Michiyo to do an excellent job but that wouldnt stop someone from doing something malicious on one or more wiki pages and then shooting out easy slash commands for unsuspecting players to copy and paste.  It is insanely easy to open your browser and search the wiki yourself while accepting the responsibility of your searches.  A command ingame implies that the resulting webpage is safe and that is a risky stance to take with even the best intentioned people behind it.  We cant even directly access the forums with commands ingame.