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Cheetor (Animated)

2011-03-03T00:23:30Z

99.13.48.188: Deleting Family Guy reference with great fury.

{{factions|autobot}}
{{disambig3|Cheetor}}
[[Image:AnimatedTranstechCheetor-CharacterModel.jpg|thumb|200px|Homage Möbius strip]]

:''Cheetor is an [[Autobot]] from the [[Transformers Animated (franchise)|Animated]] [[continuity family]]''

There's nothing '''Cheetor''' loves more than chasing down [[Decepticon|Decepticons]] at incredibly high speeds. However, when caught up in the thrill of the chase, he tends to ignore his surroundings; street signs, traffic, and any unfortunate [[Autobot]] who gets in his way is bound to be ran right over! Because of this, the Precinct tends to keep rotating Cheetor from partner to partner; no 'bot in their right mind would want this turbo-revving young punk on their backs!

He's presumably popular at [[Maccadam's Old Oil House]], since the bar has a picture of him on its menu.

==Toys==
===Timelines===
*'''Transtech Cheetor'''<ref name="calledttcheetor">[http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=74379&view=findpost&p=1681382 Pete Sinclair]: Let me clarify the current position. He is part of the Animated line. He is an "Animated" exclusive. He is known as Transtech Cheetor. How those two work together will be revealed down the road... </ref> (Deluxe, 2011)
**''Accessories:'' Telescoping grill energy saw

:A [[Transformers Collectors Club]]-[[Exclusive|exclusive]] [[retool]] of [[Blurr (Animated)|Blurr]], Cheetor transforms into a sleek futuristic race car. A button on his hood deploys an energy saw weapon which can double as a shield or clip onto his back in robot mode. Due to his leg design, the very middle of Cheetor's rear wheels are the only parts that roll, while the sides do not. These parts stick out a hair, though, so his mobility in vehicle mode is unhindered.

:His feet can swivel and have ball-jointed toes and heels, which lets him easily pull off running poses, if you can see him doing that sort of thing.
{{comingsoontoy}}

==Notes==

[[Image:Animated cheetor by forster.jpg|right|thumb|200px]]

* Cheetor is a veritable hoop of homages! Obviously, he's based on ''[[Transtech]]'' [[Cheetor (TransTech)| Cheetor]], who was going to be an upgraded version of the original [[Cheetor (BW)|Cheetor]]. However, after Transtech was scrapped, [[Fun Publications]] did a ''[[TransTech]]'' storyline featuring a [[Cheetor (TransTech)|DIFFERENT Cheetor]]. In the meantime, Transtech Cheetor's design was an inspiration for [[Blurr (Animated)|Animated Blurr]], who he's a retool of. Finally, his colors are based on the ''[[Beast Machines (franchise)|Beast Machines]]'' version of Cheetor. Phew!

* Not unlike [[Chromia (Animated)|Chromia]], Cheetor first materialized in multiple different, unrelated sources almost simultaneously, by sheer coincidence. In the last week of June 2010, Fun Publications announced at [[BotCon 2010]] their intention to release a Cheetor figure that would be a repaint of ''Animated'' Blurr. Mere days later, ''[[Transformers Animated: The AllSpark Almanac II|The AllSpark Almanac II]]'' was released, containing an illustration of Cheetor that [[Bill Forster]] had created independently of Fun Publications' figure, which was ''also'' based on Blurr. As Forster's illustration was merely of Cheetor's head, it is basically a "repaint" of Blurr's own noggin so the connection would be recognizable, with two "ear" protrusions instead of Blurr's central fin, cheetah spots, and cat-like "face paint" based on KISS drummer Peter Criss's stage make-up. ''Fun Publications'''s version of Cheetor, on the other hand, received an entirely new head designed by [[Derrick J. Wyatt]].

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Animated Autobots]]
[[Category:Fan Club exclusives]]
[[Category:Fan Club-original characters]]
[[Category:Toy-only characters]]

Mission Accomplished

2010-10-02T22:17:03Z

99.13.48.188: Ugggh.

{{episode|
|series=Anitoon
|series2=AniJapan
|image=Jagged.JPG
|caption=Starscream refused to invoke his right to remain silent, so the Autobots decided to enforce it.
|ep=19
|ep2=18
|prev2=The Return of the Headmaster
|next2=Garbage In, Garbage Out
|title="Mission Accomplished"
|airdate= [[April 26]], 2008
|written by= [[Marsha Griffin]]
|directed by=[[Irineo Maramba]]<br> [[Yoshio Frank Chatani|Yoshio Chatani]]
|animation studio=[[Mook]]
}}

'''Convinced there are no Decepticons left on Earth, the Elite Guard prepares to take Optimus Prime and his crew back to Cybertron, unaware of the increasing Decepticon activity taking place under their very noses.'''

==Synopsis==
The Autobot [[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] sends a message to the Earth-based Autobots, revealing he is under attack from Decepticons and has already lost one [[space bridge]]. He requests backup, but the transmission is cut off. Ultra Magnus explains this is but one of many reports of rising Decepticon activity. Jazz thinks it is due to the rumours of Megatron's survival, and Sentinel can't resist an opportunity to make a snide comment about the source of those rumours: Optimus Prime. Magnus therefore decides that all Earth-bound Autobots will make preparations to leave the planet. When Optimus protests due to the presence of Decepticons on Earth, Ultra Magnus brushes him off, whilst Sentinel butts in with another tirade about putting Prime up for an inquiry (or a [[wikipedia:court-martial|court-martial]], as Optimus perceives it). Ultra Magnus tries to make his position clear; that in the long run, everyone is better off believing Megatron is dead. Putting forward the idea of the Decepticon leader surviving and the [[AllSpark (Animated)|AllSpark]] being destroyed would cause panic among the Autobots and strengthen the resolve of the Decepticons. An outraged Optimus is forced into compliance.

Back at the factory, Sari is heartbroken by the idea of her friends being forced to leave Earth. The situation is made worse when Sentinel shows up. With his usual grace and tact, he tells Sari to belt up and officially inducts Optimus's team into the war effort. In the middle of insulting the "repair grunts", he makes a gesture of sorts to Optimus: Do as Ultra Magnus says, admit he's been lying, and Sentinel will use his connections to get Optimus's military career back on track, as thanks for [[The Return of the Headmaster|the recent Headmaster incident]]. When Optimus tells him what to do with his offer, Sentinel places him under formal arrest.

[[Image:Tooyoungtodie.JPG|left|180px|thumb|Go to your happy place, Screamer.]]

On a garbage scow moving along the river, Starscream suddenly reactivates. Disorientated, he panics when he realises that not only can he not pick up any other Decepticon energy signatures, he can't even pick up his own! After a moment of shock, he recovers and gets his bearings: he's alive and still on Earth. Furious at Megatron's attempt on his life, he transforms and blasts off into the sky.

At the Decepticon base, Blitzwing and Lugnut successfully test out Professor Sumdac's new Decepticon signal dampener. Mildly impressed, Megatron quickly moves on, demanding the creation of a subspace communicator so he can contact his forces in space to call off the aimless skirmishes until he can build his own space bridge. When Sumdac comments that Earth technology is too primitive to create a tachyon transmitter, Megatron smugly informs him that they will simply steal the required tech from the Elite Guard's ship. Meanwhile, the Autobots are trying to figure out what to do with Sari, so they take her to the most together human they know, Captain Fanzone—although they do point out that most of the humans they know are criminally insane, such as [[Meltdown (Animated)|Meltdown]] and [[Nanosec]].

[[Image:MissionAccomplished-Fanzoneindressinggown.jpg|right|175px|thumb|It's not what it looks like.]]

While they handle that, Optimus is on the Elite Guard's ship, with Sentinel still trying to convince him to play ball. Optimus refuses to lie, while Sentinel says that confirming there are no Decepticons on Earth would merely confirm what their sensors are saying. While they argue, Lugnut and Blitzwing tunnel under the ship's shield and steal a tachyon transmitter. As they make their escape, they fail to notice Starscream tailing them back to base.

[[Image:Swordscream.JPG|left|180px|thumb|And so begins the greatest ''Transformers'' montage of all time.]]

As Lugnut presents his prize to Megatron, Starscream makes his presence known. What follows is a quick but decisive victory for Megatron, who simply slashes Starscream before blasting him point-blank. Lugnut checks to see if Starscream is still online, and finding no spark, helps Blitzwing toss his corpse into the river. After floating downstream, Starscream suddenly reactivates again. He realises he lacks a spark and discovers he is being kept alive by a fragment of the AllSpark buried in his head, effectively making him immortal. Delighted, he declares the end of Megatron's era. As Megatron sends his message out to the Decepticons, Starscream attacks...and is promptly killed again. After a couple more fruitless attempts, he starts to wonder if he needs a new strategy. His fragment allows him to locate a second shard, and a plan begins to formulate...

[[Image:Sentinel Prime shocked.jpg|right|180px|thumb|Sentinel Prime: Totally owned. Again.]]

At the Elite Guard ship, Magnus presses Optimus Prime to cooperate, when Jazz reveals that he's discovered a sudden surge in AllSpark energy. Concluding that it's another shard, Magnus and Jazz go to retrieve it, while Sentinel is to remain and watch Optimus. As Sentinel moans, Optimus realizes that they had only found AllSpark shards before due to [[AllSpark Key|Sari's key]]. Doing a thermal scan, he discovers Starscream. Optimus tries to warn Ultra Magnus, but Sentinel threatens to put him in [[stasis cuffs]] if he tries to leave. Optimus is able to take down Sentinel and place him in the cuffs, then [[Roll out|rolls out]].

Meanwhile, Optimus' crew are watching Sari "interview" Captain Fanzone, who is not very fond of children, when Optimus contacts them and tells his team to meet him en route to the train.

As Starscream gloats about his plan to draw out Megatron and kill him in a massive explosion, Ultra Magnus and Jazz arrive, as do Megatron and Blitzwing. Megatron realizes that it's a trap set by Starscream, while Magnus and Jazz have trouble extracting the shard. An energy surge throws the Elite Guard off the train. Further ahead along the tracks, Optimus orders Prowl to sever the passenger cars from the main car, while Bumblebee takes Sari to use her key to remove the shard. They succeed, but the train still nearly crashes, only stopped because Ratchet uses his magnets from ahead while Bulkhead, anchored by Optimus Prime, grabs the rear of the train. High in the air, as Starscream fumes about the lost opportunity, Megatron appears, ready to beat him senseless.

On the ground, Ultra Magnus reprimands Optimus Prime, while Sentinel Prime arrives and accuses him of assault. Though Optimus defends his position, both Elite Guardsmen point out that there is no evidence of Decepticons—only for Starscream to crash into the ground mere meters away, causing Sentinel Prime to freak out at the sight of an actual Decepticon. Quickly coming back online, Starscream takes advantage of Magnus's momentary inattention to blast the Autobot leader into unconsciousness from point-blank range, taking the shard with him. The Autobots' attempts to take down Starscream fail, until Optimus comes up with a plan—although an intervention from Jazz is required to make Sentinel go along with it. Having Sentinel draw Starscream's attention, Optimus uses the stasis cuffs on the Decepticon, who is then taken to the Elite Guard ship—with his mouth riveted shut.

Ultra Magnus admits that Optimus Prime was right about there being Decepticons on Earth, and though Sentinel Prime brings up the assault and insubordination charges, Magnus still supports Optimus's actions. Magnus decides that Optimus Prime's crew will remain on Earth to locate the remaining AllSpark shards and capture the Decepticons, while the Elite Guard returns to Cybertron for Magnus to conduct the war effort. Sari is overjoyed that the Autobots are staying, but promises Captain Fanzone that they can still hang out.

Meanwhile, Megatron tells his minions to inform their double agent on Cybertron that the Decepticons have repledged their allegiance to Megatron and that their attacks will draw Autobot forces away from the Transformers' home world. Once the space bridge technology is fully developed, Megatron's group will return to Cybertron and conquer the planet from within...

==Featured characters==

{{featuredcharacters
|c1=
*[[Ironhide (Animated)|Ironhide]] (1)
*[[Ultra Magnus (Animated)|Ultra Magnus]] (2)
*[[Jazz (Animated)|Jazz]] (3)
*[[Sentinel Prime (Animated)|Sentinel Prime]] (4)
*[[Optimus Prime (Animated)|Optimus Prime]] (5)
*[[Bumblebee (Animated)|Bumblebee]] (7)
*[[Bulkhead (Animated)|Bulkhead]] (8)
*[[Prowl (Animated)|Prowl]] (9)
*[[Ratchet (Animated)|Ratchet]] (10)

|c2=
*[[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] (11)
*[[Blitzwing (Animated)|Blitzwing]] (12)
*[[Lugnut (Animated)|Lugnut]] (13)
*[[Megatron (Animated)|Megatron]] (15)

|c3=
*[[Sari Sumdac]] (6)
*[[Isaac Sumdac]] (14)
*[[Captain Fanzone]] (16)
}}

==Quotes==
"You dare strike ME, Megatron? After all my loyal stellar cycles of—wh-wu-wait, where is everybody? How did I get here? I'm not picking up any Decepticon energy signatures... not even my own. I'm too young to be offline!"
:—On coming back from the dead, '''Starscream''''s speech-making tendencies outweigh his observational skills.

[[Image:Number one wink.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Thumbs up, soldier!]]
'''Fanzone''': Why me?<br>
'''Bumblebee''': You're tops on the list of all the humans we know personally.<br>
'''Bulkhead''': Although, it is kind of a short list.<br>
'''Prowl''': And it does include [[Prometheus Black]] and [[Nanosec]].<br>
'''Bumblebee''': But still, you're number one!<br>
:—The Autobots try to get Captain Fanzone to adopt Sari. They need to work on their sales pitch.

"Is that the best you could do, Starscream? And to think you actually believed you could take over as leader of the Decepticons. You couldn't lead a parade."
:—'''Megatron'''

"Fellow Decepticons, take heed. Your leader, Megatron, still lives! Though we remain dispersed throughout the far reaches of the galaxy, exiled from our true home, we are all still Decepticons, united by a common purpose. The time has come for us to put aside our differences and act as one under my undisputed leadership. Only then can we cast off the shackles of Autobot oppression. Working together, we can raise up our glorious empire once more and crush all who stand in our way!"
:—'''Megatron''' has a good speechwriter

"When are you going to get it through your thick processor? There are no Decepticons on this planet! So keep your audio unit shut or I'll do it for you." ''[brandishes stasis cuffs]''<br>
''[beat]'' "I'd like to see you try, you worthless crankshaft!"<br>
"THAT'S IT!" ''[ten seconds later]'' "You put me in stasis lock?!"
:—'''Sentinel Prime''', owned by '''Optimus Prime''' yet again.

"'''''STARSCREEEEEEAM!!!!!'''''"<br>
"Sorry, you must have me confused with some other harrier jet."
:—'''Megatron''' and '''Starscream'''. We don't think he bought it, Screamer.

'''Sentinel''': Optimus Prime, you are under arrest for assaulting an Elite Guard officer. Add that to the other charges against you, and you can kiss your career goodbye. Do you have anything to say for yourself?<br>
'''Optimus''':...Incoming!<br>
''[Starscream crashes from high altitude into the ground.]''<br>
'''Sentinel''': WHAT IS THAT THING?!<br>
'''Optimus''': Oh, that's right, you've never seen one up close. It's called...a Decepticon.
:—Starscream crashes to Earth, freaks out Sentinel Prime, and gives Optimus Prime the proof he needs.

"Yeesh, Optimus, think you could have drawn that one out any longer?"<br>
"You're welcome, Sentinel."<br>
:—'''Sentinel Prime''' and '''Optimus Prime''', same old song and dance.

==Notes==
*This episode was first broadcast in Canada on April 26, one week before its United States premiere, and during the American premiere of the episode "[[The Return of the Headmaster]]".

===Animation or technical errors===
* When Starscream drops into Megatron's mountain base for the first time, the "glow" effect on his jet exhaust is misaligned for several seconds until he 'catches up' to it.

* Just before Prime activates the thermal scan of the cloud bank supposedly concealing Starscream, Starscream is already plainly visible on the viewscreen. If Starscream wasn't meant to be concealed, then it's a continuity error, as Prime wouldn't need a thermal scan to detect him, just a magnified visual, unless Starscream has a different heat signature than normal Harrier Jets.

===Continuity errors===
* Megatron and the other Decepticons don't seem to wonder why it is that Starscream keeps coming back, despite the fact that they note that his spark compartment is empty.

* Megatron shatters Starscream's yellow cockpit the first and fourth times he "kills" him in the episode, leaving his empty spark chamber visible. When Starscream pulls a [[wikipedia:Jack_Harkness|Captain Jack]], it is still missing. After he sees his reflection in the water the first time, and simply when they cut to a different angle on the fourth time, it is suddenly present and intact once more. (It's possible that's because of the miraculous powers of the AllSpark shard; if it can keep Starscream online, it surely can regenerate any damage he has taken.)

* The AllSpark shard Starscream recovers changes size constantly, from barely fitting into Starscream's hand, to small enough to fit into Optimus's palm with his hand closed.

* How did Sentinel get the stasis cuffs off?

* Captain Fanzone's wife is mentioned in "[[Total Meltdown]]", but she's neither seen nor mentioned here. A possible divorce, perhaps?

* When Optimus Prime puts the newly acquired fragment of the AllSpark into its housing, there are four shards total, even though thus far, only two have been recovered by the Autobots on-screen. Optimus does note in the episode that, in the past, [[AllSpark Key|Sari's key]] had been the primary tool used to locate fragments of the AllSpark. As this has only happened in the episode "The Elite Guard" so far (as well as this episode), it is conceivable that the Autobots managed to locate two other "SmallSparks" off-screen.

* As Lugnut and Blitzwing tunnel under the force shield to the Elite Guard's ship, they leave a gigantic hole, which no one notices. And later on, the hole has mysteriously disappeared.

* When the Autobots stop the train, Sari is somehow not hurled forward off its roof by her own momentum, even though she is not restrained in any fashion. Unless...<strike>''she's a witch!''</strike> Ratchet's magnets affected her [[TransWarped|robotic structure.]]

===Transformers references===
*Much like [[Starscream (G1)|his Generation 1 counterpart]], [[Starscream (Animated)|Starscream]] is now immortal, only this time they actually explain why and leave him with a body.

===Foreign dubbing===
'''French'''
:*''Title:'' "'''La revanche de Starscream'''" ("The Revenge of Starscream")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

'''German'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Mission erfüllt'''" ("Mission Fulfilled")
:*''Original airdate:'' [[July 17|17 July]] [[2008]]

'''Japanese'''
:*''Title:'' '''爆鎮完了!''' (''Bakuchin Kanryō!'', "Blast-Extinguishing Complete!")<ref>This is the title of the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtvuT0ppP7Q second opening theme] for ''[[wikipedia:Tomica Hero: Rescue Fire|Tomica Hero: Rescue Fire]]'', the live-action [[wikipedia:tokusatsu|''tokusatsu'']] show that previously held ''Transformers: Animated''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s time slot. It was sung by [[JAM Project]], who also sings the Japanese opening theme to ''Animated''. In-jokes, ahoy!</ref>
:*''Original airdate:'' [[July 31|31 July]] [[2010]]
* New stock footage of Prowl transforming has him delivering the "watch TV in a bright room" message, while Jazz does the intro.

*In this [[Otoboto family]] segment, [[Hiroyuki Otoboto|Hiroyuki]] and [[Tatsuya Otoboto|Tatsuya]] are demonstrating gameplay of ''[[Transformers Animated: The Chase]]'' and ''[[Transformers Animated: The Shooting]]''. ...all to see who gets to eat a [[wikipedia:Taiyaki|taiyaki]].

'''Polish'''
:*''Title:'' "'''Misja wykonana'''" ("Mission Accomplished")
:*''Original airdate:'' ???

===Real-world references===
* [[wikipedia:Mission Accomplished|The title. Nuff said.]]

* Starscream refers to his disguise as a [[wikipedia:Harrier Jump Jet|Harrier Jet]]. Pity his model won't turn up for another hundred years or so.

===Trivia===
*Along with [[Transformer|machines]] and [[Survival of the Fittest|lawyers]], it seems [[Carmine Fanzone|Captain Fanzone]] doesn't like kids.
*It's not clear how Starscream ended up in the garbage scow. If the Autobots threw him there, wouldn't they have retrieved him (as proof of Decepticon activity) in "[[The Elite Guard]]"? If it was humans, why didn't they keep his body in order to study alien technology? One of the Decepticons may have thrown him into the scow as a gesture of contempt or to hide their presence on Earth...but we don't know for sure.
*In the first interior shot of the Decepticons' hideout, we see the markings on the top of their computer station resemble the upper half of the Decepticon sigil, complete with glowing eyes.
*In his speech, Megatron goes on about how the Decepticons are united by a common purpose and need to put aside their differences, yet Megatron himself is beating the slag out of a fellow Decepticon for the duration of the speech. How ironic.
*Starscream is not just beaten up, but ''killed'' by Megatron five times in a ''single episode''. Must be a new record.
*The Elite Guard does not come off very well in this episode: Ultra Magnus and Jazz fail to notice a large hole the size of [[Lugnut (Animated)|a B2 bomber]] when leaving their ship, a tachyon transmitter gets ripped off their ship without them even noticing, Sentinel Prime freaks out at the mere sight of a Decepticon, and Ultra Magnus gets defeated by Starscream after only one shot. (To be fair, it ''was'' at point-blank range, ''right in the face''.)
*Megatron mentions having a double agent on Cybertron. Who could it be?
*With this episode, [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|all]] [[Ironhide (Movie)|five]] [[Bumblebee (Movie)|of]] [[Jazz (Movie)|the]] [[Ratchet (Movie)|Autobots]] from [[Transformers (2007)|the live-action movie]] have appeared in ''Transformers: Animated''.
*When Sentinel is trying to bribe Optimus, he says he could get Optimus re-instated in the Elite Guard, yet in the flashback in "[[Endgame, Part I]]", Optimus would be expelled from the Autobot Academy, and rendered permanently ineligible from joining the Elite Guard in the first place.
*Optimus Prime's crew has already proven to be smaller and less powerful than the Decepticons yet these Autobots are all that the great Autobot Supreme Commander could think of to leave behind on Earth to fight and capture the really powerful MEGATRON!? That plan is worse than movie Optimus Prime's.

==Home video releases==
;DVD
[[Image:Flag of USA.png|20px|United States of America]] 2009 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Season Two ([[Transformers Animated (cartoon)/home video|Paramount]]) — English and Spanish audio.<br>
[[Image:Flag of Australia.png|20px|Australia]] 2009 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Volume Four: Mission Accomplished (Paramount) — English and German audio.<br>
[[Image:Flag of UK.png|20px|United Kingdom]] 2009 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Volume Four: Mission Accomplished (Paramount) — English and German audio.<br>
[[Image:Flag of Germany.png|20px|Germany]] 2009 — ''Transformers Animated'' — Volume Vier: Mission Erfüllt (Paramount) — English and German audio.

== Footnotes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Animated episodes]]

MediaWiki talk:Community Portal

2009-11-18T00:10:58Z

99.13.48.188: /* Unreleased toy sections */

__NEWSECTIONLINK__

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== Boxes gone from disambig templates? ==
I noticed the disambiguation templates don't seem to have those gray boxes behind them anymore. Is this intentional? Because it's confusing. -[[User:Mazenoise|Mazenoise]] 08:16, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
:Derik shifted the CSS styling into the stylesheet. Your browser probably had the old stylesheet cached, but a shift-reload should fix it. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 08:20, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
::Yeah, it did actually. Thanks! -[[User:Mazenoise|Mazenoise]] 08:29, 17 September 2009 (EDT)

And they (well, the ones Derik hit anyway) sprouted a thick grey left border in the transition because...? - [[User:SanityOrMadness|SanityOrMadness]] 11:34, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
:I forget the reason. Rest assured that it did make sense though!
:Main advantage of switching the disambig boxes to CSS: When you have multiple in a row, they stack prettier without a double-outline between them. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 19:47, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
:::''I forget the reason. Rest assured that it did make sense though!''
::If that's not a Derikism, it deserves to be. (And is the main reason why I'm scared of changing to external CSS rather than inline CSS - you having the keys to the styles virtually unfettered, since those admins who could either override or yank the emopanda CSS mostly either don't know how or are absent much of the time)
::So now we have disambig templates that are unique amongst messageboxen in a particularly... nondescript way. Different enough to be irritating, not different enough to serve any real purpose. - [[User:SanityOrMadness|SanityOrMadness]] 21:09, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
:::Eh? Oh, I thought I changed it back. (I remembered why they had a border on the left... I was testing something and decided it didn't work, I didn't realize it was still on.)
:::In theory Scout was going to make some changes last week to move us out of the existing CSS situation with much less living in my dev file... but she seems to have forgotten... -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 21:24, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
::::What was she planning to do? I can have a crack at it. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 21:29, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
:::::Move a bunch of stuff to [[MediaWiki:common.css]], I expect.
:::::(Note the difference between Common.css [all skins, including the ones no-one uses like Simple and MySkin], Monacobook.css [Monacobook only] and Monobook.css [Monobook only]. Scout [[User_talk:Suki_Brits#.22Fixed.22_Monobook|forgot about Monobook]] the last time common.css was edited. Incidentally, where did she ultimately put those changes? They ain't in the empty Monacobook.css.) - [[User:SanityOrMadness|SanityOrMadness]] 21:44, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
::::::I have a suspicion that the plan may be to create a new user class with rights to edit css files here (in which case I don't have the necessary access rights to do so)... --[[User:Abates|abates]] 21:59, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
:::::::That was the one. :) Either she forgot, or she tried and it didn't work. I'll bug her when I remember. (It's not like it's pressing... it's been needing doing for some time so it can wait a bit longer.) -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 22:33, 17 September 2009 (EDT)
::::::And to answer the css question, the changes are in [http://tfwiki.net/w2/skins/monacobook/tt1.css this file] which isn't editable through the Mediawiki interface. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 00:03, 18 September 2009 (EDT)
:::::::"Scout, I have 3 requests."
:::::::"No, no, yes if I don't have to do any work."
:::::::-[[User:Derik|Derik]] 01:51, 18 September 2009 (EDT)
::::::::Did that ever get done in the end? --[[User:Abates|abates]] 19:45, 19 October 2009 (EDT)

== WTF? ==
Why does [[Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/Archive11|Archive 11]] even exist? --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 12:35, 1 October 2009 (EDT)

== Obscure BW comic, anyone? ==
Alright for the past while now, I've been looking up and adding in obscure Beast Wars products. I remembered both the Mutating Card Game and both Jigsaw Puzzles, and I've already taken note to add those in. But one piece of memorabilia that has still eluded me is a really old comic... My memory's a bit fuzzy on this one, and I can't quite recall if it was a seperate mini-comic from the two-pack of "Optimus vs. Megatron!" or if the scenes I'm remembering are part of that comic as well.
The only scenes I recall from said comic are the opening, where a pre-earth mode Cheetor peeks through some vegetation to reveal a (very small) crystal. The subsequent dialog explained that they had to take on beast modes to overcome the toxic radiation of the crystal (much like the tv show).
Anyone has any similar recollection? Or if anyone has scans of the "Optimus vs. Megatron!" mini-comic to clear up wether or not it is a scene from that comic that I'm remembering, I'd appreciate it. In any case, I hope I'm not going crazy and remembering a comic that doesn't exist, because as far as I can tell, it's not listed on the Beast Wars comics page. Thanks --[[User:Ascendron|Ascendron]] 14:23, 3 October 2009 (EDT)

:It's not the "Optimus Primal Vs. Megatron!" comic, that one starts with Primal(in beast mode) flying in the sky, and then Cheetor running in the dark with a glow in his eyes. Unless you mistake the sparkle in his eyes for a crystal, it's not the same comic.--[[User:Sunjumper|Sunjumper]] 13:41, 5 October 2009 (EDT)

::I vaguely recall something similar to that being used to advertise the first Beast Wars video game on PC and PSX.--[[User:MCRG Again|MCRG Again]] 15:23, 23 October 2009 (EDT)

== Categories for modes? ==

I've been trying to find out which transformer one of my old toys is, and I'd hoped I could compare it against each of the transformers with an aeroplane mode - but I couldn't find such a list. So I wondered whether it would be a good idea to have categories for the transformers' modes, so I could go to "Category:Aeroplanes" and look it up like that. Good idea? I'm not volunteering to do the legwork :-) [[Special:Contributions/86.7.22.40|86.7.22.40]] 06:50, 5 October 2009 (EDT)
:[http://tfu.info/ID/index.htm This external link] might help. - [[User:Starfield|Starfield]] 09:56, 5 October 2009 (EDT)

== "Notes" ==
When did we start changing all the "Trivia" subheaders to "Notes"? ...And why even bother?--[[User:MCRG Again|MCRG Again]] 20:17, 6 October 2009 (EDT)
:Someone stated that they hated the header "Trivia" as it made the info seem inconsequential when sometimes it was actually useful/relevant, and those of us who thought they had a point started going along with that thought. (Although much to my annoyance I don't recall off-hand who said it or where, other than I think maybe it was on one of the Shattered Glass articles.) --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 20:34, 6 October 2009 (EDT)
::It becomes irritating to me since "Notes" was solely confined to the comics and media articles and "Trivia" was confined to character and toy pages, so now we've got a bunch of random character pages with a "Notes" section (Hot Rod character page, for instance) and others with a "Trivia" section (Hot Rod toy page, for instance) for no particular reason. It looks sloppy and I have no idea whether I should be trying to track down and reset the headings to one or the other or if I'll get warned for it.--[[User:MCRG Again|MCRG Again]] 23:32, 6 October 2009 (EDT)
:::"Someone" was probably me. -- [[User:Repowers|Repowers]] 00:16, 7 October 2009 (EDT)
::::Yeah, you're our resident cruft inquisition!--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 00:18, 7 October 2009 (EDT)

:::I think some page's contents in the Trivia sections is, um, mixed up with notes (relevant but can't be put in other section) and trivia (a little irrelevant BUT notable) things. So, maybe page like this would still need a trivia section, that is, separate their Trivia section into Trivia and Notes section. Of course, that may involve subjective view of the users who edit the page.--'''[[User:TX55|<span style= "color:#00FA9A">TX55</span>]]'''<small><SUP>''[[User talk:TX55|<span style= "color:#0000CD">TALK</span>]]''</SUP></small> 21:19, 7 October 2009 (EDT)

:::::So are we going to decide on some form of consistent change or just use the two words randomly?--[[User:MCRG Again|MCRG Again]] 02:31, 7 October 2009 (EDT)
::::::I've been changing pages to "Notes" as I work them. --[[User:M Sipher|M Sipher]] 12:34, 7 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::::It'd also be a fairly easy bot request.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 13:38, 7 October 2009 (EDT)
::::::::Easy as long as you have a full list of the pages on the wiki. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 14:39, 7 October 2009 (EDT)
::::::::It's not as simple as it might appear - we have [[More than Meets the Eye, Part 1|episode pages]] with Notes sections with Trivia subsections, so the bot would have to take that into account (and a blanket change of #Trivia anchors wouldn't be possible because some will be legitimately pointing to those Trivia sections). --[[User:Abates|abates]] 15:56, 7 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::::::In the case of the bot request I made, I specifically said to replace <nowiki>==Trivia==</nowiki> with <nowiki>==Notes==</nowiki>. The pages you reference have <nowiki>===Trivia===</nowiki>, which should be possible to exclude in a search.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 16:54, 7 October 2009 (EDT)

== Preventing direct image linking ==

As we know, the wiki costs a fair bit to run and early on in our post Bookworm crash server move, it used more bandwidth than our bosses calculated, so the last thing we need is people going around directly linking images off of our server for forums or even their blogs or whatever (The [[Mountain Dew Robot]]s logo was one of our most popular articles... because some idiot linked the image to his website). Is there any way for us to prevent this? --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 11:54, 9 October 2009 (EDT)
:Yes and no.
:Yes in the sense that it's pretty easy to create an .htaccess file that redirects hotlinks in some way.
:No in the sense that it might break the GoBoxes, if there isn't some way to make it so that the rewrite rules allow just the GoBox images to be hotlinked. Hrm. Although I think the GoBoxes are all PNGs, and we have very few PNGs as normal images, so it might not be ''that'' big a workaround problem. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 17:40, 9 October 2009 (EDT)
::Well, all the gobox images are in their own folder anyway, so it's simple enough to exclude them. This is probably a REALLY good idea; somebody give me a suitable (and tiny) replacement image and I'll try to make it so. --[[User:Suki Brits|Suki Brits]] 08:45, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
:::Depends on what you had in mind. You could either go the route of just making a one pixel GIF (i.e. smallest image possible), or maybe use our logo with "no hotlinking permitted" written on it. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 09:01, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
::::Goatse. Or the nearest TF equivalent of "ridiculous shock image." [[User:Hooper X|Hooper_X]] 10:00, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::Anything from Kiss Players, then. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 10:09, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
::::::...can we still let me inline images on my blog? Can we make exceptions? Because sometimes I do that, because it's technically me paying for the bandwidth anyway. --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 10:17, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::::Whitelisting domains is easy. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 10:36, 11 October 2009 (EDT)

:::::::I'm not extremely savvy with that kind of stuff (most of my knowledge coming from archived talkpages on this wiki), so I have no idea whether it's possible.
:::::::What ''is'' a goatse, anyway? --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 10:24, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
::::::::You don't want to know if you don't already. Trust me. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 10:36, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::::::Sorry I asked.
:::::::::*remembers the vandal that came in and messed with some talk pages* --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 10:39, 11 October 2009 (EDT)

:::::''"Or the nearest TF equivalent"'' - Something like [[:Image:Tftm1986e.jpg|this]], you mean? - [[User:Magnus Maximus|Magnus Maximus]] 10:50, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
::::::Something more like [[:Image:LegionRape1.jpg|this]] would be "the nearest TF equivalent", surely. [Or, potentially even more disturbing, [[:Image:AtariScream.jpg|this]].] - [[User:SanityOrMadness|SanityOrMadness]] 12:07, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::Even Kiss Players is only about a 3 on the shock meter compared to Goatse. An image of Pat Lee might be appropriate... I suggest sticking to something small anyway, otherwise the bandwidth problem is still there. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 15:41, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
::::::How about [[:Image:Siestacron.gif|this]] with something like "You have found The Void." -- [[User:Semysane|Semysane]] 15:52, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::::I vote for Pat Lee. That's awesome. BANDWIDTH SUPERSTAR! [[User:Hooper X|Hooper_X]] 18:06, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
Well, the GoBoxes are fairly bandwidth-light, right? What if we did a variation on them, with the leeched image replaced with a notice that the image was leeched, and encouraging them to go to TFWiki.net to learn about Transformers?--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 15:57, 11 October 2009 (EDT)
:I stand by my Kiss Players suggestion. That or the image of dead Prime from TFTM with a tagline at the bottom saying "This image is dead due to hotlinking." --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 01:37, 12 October 2009 (EDT)
::Rosicrucian has the right idea. We make it work for us, rather than just 'punish' the people doing it. We don't try to shock or dismay, just state that hotlinking is bad (m'kay?) and that tfwiki.net is the place to learn about Transformers. --[[User:Jimsorenson|Jimsorenson]] 11:44, 17 October 2009 (EDT)

:FFN brought up an important issue! (FFN also totally forgot about this immediately after posting the original question and only just read this discussion.) And yeah, I totally forgot about the Go-Box. Since I'm not on the Allspark, I've never really seen the go box in use, other than Derrik Wyatt's blog. --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 01:22, 18 October 2009 (EDT)
[[Image:Quintessa.jpg|thumb|250px]]
::'''This''' is about the most vindictively confusing thing you could spike someone with, IMO. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 11:47, 19 October 2009 (EDT)
:::USE IT. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 11:58, 19 October 2009 (EDT)

{{-}}

== GoBots on this wiki ==
{{main|Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/GoBots}}

== Audio file problems - they don't seem to work ==
I don't think we ever resolved this when Derik brought it up a long time ago, but whatever script we use for audio files doesn't work, at least it doesn't work the way it's supposed to. On Wikia wikis, when you click on a "listen to this audio file", your browser should activate java, buffer the ogg file and play it. However, on TFWiki, the browser merely tries to download the file, not play it. If you choose to open the file via your browser's download dialogue, the file downloads into your temp files and plays it off the nearest compatible media player, which is a *''remarkably''* roundabout way of doing things. Is there any way we can fix this? (I'm using Firefox 3 and Internet Explorer 6)--[[User:FFN|FFN]] 01:19, 18 October 2009 (EDT)
:I'm assuming that Wikia must have some embedded audio file player installed or something, which is probably doable via an extension. I have to admit I don't see it as a high priority... having the browser call up a helper file is a normal way of handling such things, plus I like being able to download and save the file.
:Not only that, but we barely have any audio files to worry about... I think the Scene Transition page is the only article I've come across that has an appreciable number of audio files on it. Although now that I think about it, I wonder if creating WAVs of characters' main quotes where possible might be an interesting idea, to give samples of what characters sound like. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 03:09, 18 October 2009 (EDT)
::Downloading - well, there's the minor issue that the majority of our users will be unable to play .ogg files anyway, for even if codecs are easily had, it's a fairly obscure format. Hell, I never even heard of it until 2005. --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 03:27, 18 October 2009 (EDT)
:::WinAmp plays OGGs just fine out-of-the-box, among a number of other media players out there, so I don't see an issue. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 03:35, 18 October 2009 (EDT)
:In case we want to install an extension to handle this: [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:OggHandler] --[[User:Abates|abates]] 04:50, 18 October 2009 (EDT)

== Editing Go Boxes? ==
I've utterly failed at finding a guide to editing a Go Box address, so I figured I'd just note that the Go Box for "Tankor (ROTF)" instead links to a blank "Revenge of the Fallen Tankor" page for some reason. {{unsigned|MCRG Again}}
:Fixed. Someone put the destination page down as "Revenge of the Fallen Tankor" in [[Template:Goicons]], thus causing the GoBox to send you to a non-existent page. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 02:51, 19 October 2009 (EDT)

== When was the last Database backup? ==

Just curious. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 12:10, 20 October 2009 (EDT)
:That is exactly why we need that "Database last backed-up by: (insert-person-here) on: (insert-date-here)." thing someone suggested a long time ago. That way, we may avoid Bookworm Crash 2.0. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 12:15, 20 October 2009 (EDT)
:::Of course, one of the major causes of The Bookworm Event was that corrupt or otherwise failed backups were being registered as successful. That backups are regularly checked is just as important as backups being made in the first place, and "(insert-person-here) on: (insert-date-here)" wouldn't prove that. - [[User:SanityOrMadness|SanityOrMadness]] 12:31, 20 October 2009 (EDT)
::::At least we know if there ''is'' a backup to check at all. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 13:02, 20 October 2009 (EDT)
::By us, manually? I dunno. We pay for automatic backups every week as part of our hosting. --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 12:22, 20 October 2009 (EDT)
:::Ah, that last one is slightly more reassuring.
:::I mean-- they're the same automatic backups Bookworm was theoretically making, but IIRC the current host was picked (in part) for having a good reputation for such things. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 14:32, 20 October 2009 (EDT)
::::McFly confirmed [[Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/Archive41#Googlejuice_-_Bad_News_Everyone|a while back]] that the auto backups were working, so hopefully they still are. Good news for when we eventually upgrade the software! --[[User:Abates|abates]] 15:57, 20 October 2009 (EDT)

==Self-sufficiency==
It's come up that the hosting costs for this site exceed the revenue generated by this site. That's a bad situation, not sustainable in the long run. Because I don't want to see the site go away, addressing it should be a big concern. Is there anything we can do to generate extra revenue?
I see a few potential avenues:
:a: more advertising or better advertising.
:b: licensing out some of our content. This is tricky, since it's partially not owned by us. But what about something like an iPhone app that pulls in our This Day in Transformers History? That should be ok if we don't use the name Transformers - it'd be a kind of news service.
:c: some kind of virtual gifts or badges perhaps? I'm thinking like the gigantion award for contributions, but where users have the option of paying a dollar to send another editor a token of some sort. Cons are that it would require some sort of transaction engine and coding.
Any other ideas?--[[User:Jimsorenson|Jimsorenson]] 16:53, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
:Another idea - best one yet, maybe. Add in amazon links to all products, and set up an affiliate account. --[[User:Jimsorenson|Jimsorenson]] 17:47, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
::The hosting costs for this site SOMETIMES don't exceed the revenue generated. And the difference is usually by $5-10 if so. We're not in a crisis by any stretch. But I do have some ideas. I'm thinking of putting a minimum bid on the top ad. I've been told that having a minimum bid reduces the amount of bidders, but in my experience with Shortpacked!, the opposite is true. I lost a lot of money by removing the minimum bid for a few months, and stuff shot right back up to normal when I reinstated it. The only problem I see with that is that our top ad IS kind of unstandard-sized, so that means we're aiming it at a smaller pool of advertisers than most. But I'm gonna try this thing. The top ad's only bringing in $1.60/day at this very moment anyhow, and so that's not a huge investment to lose either way. --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 17:59, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
::The unfortunate underside to this is that you have to cancel all of the spot's current bids to change the minimum bid. It'll take a day or two for ads to show up again as folks return to it. But I'll throw up an ad on there myself to bridge the time.--[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 18:03, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
::And just like that we're in the black. --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 18:05, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
:::Segue-touring out of crassly commercial concerns into site-content concerns that ''overlap'' crassly commercial ones...
:::Our "year" pages are a mess. No one works on them, and they're just kinda... there and useless.
:::For months I've been toying with a suggestion that we re-format them (dumping what we have, which isn't much in most cases) and re-do them as a cross between the old "annual assortment" pack-in brochures and the old TSarchive wave listings. (Which I always found useful for gettign a picture of what came out when.)
:::For the old pages it'd basically be a wave listing, but for the current year, you'd have a functional "What's out/what's upcoming" list, which could be updated with dates a wave was first sites, when a product was available online... Including Amazon-icon links after character names is a ''plus'', because it give users the ability to see the gallery, read reviews, etc.
:::I just think it could be really ''useful'', I often feel swamped by the sheer volume of TF merchandise being offered, and I'd love to have a large central page that keeps track of it all. That such a page might serve as a revenue stream is pure gravy on top. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 18:16, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
::::I'm willing to use my existing Amazon seller's account for this.--[[User:Jimsorenson|Jimsorenson]] 18:21, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::We could implement this idea without totally scrapping the year pages couldn't we? Split out the toy pages for more recent years so you don't have to browse way down the page to get to the Amazon links and such, while still keeping our other info. As for nothing being done with them, I've been looking for a new Wiki project to work on. I'll start tackling these, once we have a consensus on what to do with them.--[[User:Tigerpaw28|Tigerpaw28]] 23:26, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
::See, the difference between being in the red and in the black is like 50 cents a day. I don't think we need to try that hard. I don't think the Wiki needs to be a For-Profit business. What would we even do with the money? Advertise more? --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 18:24, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
:::Depends on how much money we get. I mean, dovetailing with the BG wiki idea... --[[User:M Sipher|M Sipher]] 18:53, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
::The whole financial "crisis" came out of the notion that we might not be able to afford a GoBots Wiki. Thus bringing to light the sudden reality that we might not be able to exceed Super Jawsome levels and reach Mega Jawsome status because of cash strappitude. If maintaining the TF Wiki as-is isn't a financial bother, if the GB Wiki (should it ever happen) does turn out to create an issue, I'm still willing to donate and I'm sure a handful of chums around here are also up to the task. --[[User:DrSpengler|DrSpengler]] 19:06, 21 October 2009 (EDT)
:::Yeah... I don't think that people are realizing that running another wiki on the same server, on a subdomain is ''literally'' free. I mean-- it will have to share bandwidth with TFWiki... but that's no different than if we documented the material within this site! They're just logistically separate. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 06:25, 22 October 2009 (EDT)
===Analytics for October 2008 - October 2009===
[[Image:Analytics october2009.png|thumb|250px|What are you squinting at this for? click on it to get the full-size version!]]
Discussing site promotion prompted me to take a look at our analytics again.
*Traffic dipped 20% in mid-September, finally shedding most of our movie bump... but stayed above where we were in May when the bump began. (Translation: We gained.) The economy's pinch on people's free time, plus the relative lull in TF news is probably a factor here.
*In the last 3 weeks, we've had a surge in search-engine traffic-- vast numbers of which ('''much''' moreso than normal) are leaving right after getting here, meaning we don't have the information they're looking for.
*This spike is almost certainly related to people searching for information about the ROTF DVD release. Not information on the film itself... because traffic on our film page has seen no corresponding spike.
I suggest we create a "ROTF DVD field guide" page, listing all the different versions, what features come with what, pictures of the box (if possible) where they're available, etc. (We're talking about ~2,500 people every day that come here looking for this, then immediately leave because we don't have it.) The traffic spike around the DVD promotion seems to be mirroring the one around the film (though to a much smaller degree) which means it's about halfway through. But-- these bumps have a "long tail," especially going into the holiday shopping season. We can expect a page like this to yield significant traffic dividends over the next 80-odd days.

So.... yeah. [[Revenge of the Fallen DVD field guide]]. Big blinking neon sign in the analytics. We should make this. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 08:10, 22 October 2009 (EDT)
:I heartily concur, my good man. --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 08:19, 22 October 2009 (EDT)

::Well don't look at me! I have no idea how many versions exist! Here, whoever wants to block it in can use this image. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 08:51, 22 October 2009 (EDT)
:::You can put it back now, mostly, Derik. I put in the main details. It needs some pictures that I don't have, but it's ready enough to release, I think. [[User:Hooper X|Hooper_X]] 15:05, 22 October 2009 (EDT)

==(Universe) identifier==
:''See also: [[Talk:Universe (2003 franchise)]]''

We are currently using (Universe) as identifier for both characters from the 2003 line and the 2008 line. This does not look like a fine situation to me. Proposing change to (Universe 2003) and (Universe 2008), or perhaps something shorter. I'm not sure if and how this should effect such identifiers as (Universe Micromaster). [[User:Geewunling|Geewunling]] 02:54, 27 October 2009 (EDT)

:I think "Name (Universe 2003/2008)" would be a nice idea. As for some characters who have two counterparts within a franchise... it surely need some discussion. --'''[[User:TX55|<span style= "color:#00FA9A">TX55</span>]]'''<small><SUP>''[[User talk:TX55|<span style= "color:#0000CD">TALK</span>]]''</SUP></small> 04:34, 27 October 2009 (EDT)

:We already have a few with the year in the name, e.g. [[Treadshot (Universe 2008)]], which is disambiguated with [[Treadshot (Universe)]]. I don't know if that's strictly a good precedent... --[[User:Abates|abates]] 04:42, 27 October 2009 (EDT)
:::That's a terrible precedent. If both toys are trying to occupy the namespace "Treadshot (Universe)" '''both''' get disambig'd, and neither gets the no-year slot. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 17:13, 27 October 2009 (EDT)
::Well, what's the alternative? List the "series" and have (Universe Classic)/(Universe G1)/(Universe Cybertron)/etc? - [[User:Mammalian Verisimilitude|Mammalian Verisimilitude]] 06:05, 27 October 2009 (EDT)

:::Probably best (and simplest) to change any Universe tags to include the year. While not strictly needed if there is only one character of that name in any Universe line, it would save time if another character of that name appears in a Universe line later (Short aside to anyone who says the Universe line is over: Hasbro has stated that the concept is a good one, they may bring it back as Universe (2015) and store exclusives [such as Powerglide, Hardhead, and Skyfall] may be released under the universe banner even if no new Universe product is shipping). As for Universe Micromaster, this could probably stay as is but I'm not averse to changing it to something else. [[User:Khajidha|Khajidha]] 08:28, 27 October 2009 (EDT)
::::Our ''existing'' policy '''had''' been "The line is called Universe, therefore that is the disambig." That Hasbro was obnoxious enough to gift us with a second Universe line, with oodles of name-reuse... hh.
::::Let us be clear on what we are discussing-- a proposal to '''change''' the disambigs of both the 2003 and 2008 lines, such that we will, in the future, treat them as is there was '''always''' an invisible qualifying subtitle (at least as far as the disambig is concerned) much like how "Star Trek" slowly drifted into being called "Star Trek: The Original Series" even in official products simply for clarity/sanity-- picking up an after-the-fact subtitle 25 years late.
::::I would ''generally'' oppose that kind of thing... because it errs to far on the side of "disambigs should provide information" (which inevitably leads to obnoxious [[Project:Deckchair edit|Deckchair edit]]s-- it's simply ''not'' the purpose of disambigs.) But both the 2003 and 2008 lines are sweeping toylines with a hodgepodge of mostly-absent fiction and a cast of characters creeping into the triple digits with a lot of name overlap. For our '''sanity''', this might be a good move.
::::Phrasing this as an implicit subtitle of the franchise is important, IMO. Because it means we're '''not''' turning disambigs into information-delivery systems (e.g. "Prowl (Universe 2003)" even though he came out in 2004) but merely recognizing the need to more clearly seperate these two unrelated franchises.
::::So, um... tentatively in favor? Provided the actual move doesn't happen until November. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 17:11, 27 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::Surely there's a set of '''ex'''plicit subtitles for the 08-09 line in the form of the classic/G1/etc series? - [[User:Mammalian Verisimilitude|Mammalian Verisimilitude]] 22:16, 27 October 2009 (EDT)
:::: So like how everything done before 1992 is retroactively "Generation 1"? Aheh. Seriously, though, I currently have no problem with (Universe 2003)/(Universe 2008) as opposed to a sloppier (Universe Cybertron) or (Universe Generation 1) or (Universe Classics). We've already done this for [[Ransack]] and [[Treadshot]], and given that catch-as-catch-can store exclusives (not to mention the discount-market repackages) came out in 2003-style ''Universe'' packaging well until ''2008'', it's not insane to think that we won't get a continued trickle of 2008 ''Universe'' toys for a while. That being said, the biggest difference between 2003 ''Universe'' and 2008 ''Universe'', to me, is that 2003 ''Universe'' has a specific attached fiction, with Unicron and the interdimensional battle and all that - it's right there on the package, whereas 2008 ''Universe'' is literally a catch-all line where it can be explicitly said "This is the same team of Aerialbots you remember from G1, just in new bodies" whereas with the 2003 line, you have a bunch of dudes whose origins are virtually unknown. When you look at it like that, it seems like "2003" vs "2008" is a reasonable breakdown, as if we get, say, another green construction vehicle named "Scavenger" in Universe 2008 packaging, it'll likely be marked "Generation 1 Series", meaning that we don't have to disambiguate between this theoretical new Scavenger and the Mini-Con wolf. [[User:Hooper X|Hooper_X]] 09:26, 28 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::I agree with Hoop. Using (Universe Cybertron) and such would be terrible. --[[User:M Sipher|M Sipher]] 19:28, 28 October 2009 (EDT)
::::::Yes, because that would be the opposite of a franchise-identifier, that would be a continuity-identifier. Thus my long-winded schpiel above about re-naming the ''franchise'' identifiers. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 01:59, 31 October 2009 (EDT)
:::::::You'll find, Derik, that I was pretty much agreeing with you re: "Universe (2003)" and "Universe (2008)," especially given that it appears, based on a thing from the DVD press junket, that we may be adding "Universe (2010)" to the mix. I'm assuming we're considering each one a new "Universe" series every time... there's a stop in product? There's a packaging change? What's the delineator? Like I said above, the 2003 packaging stayed in use until very very recently... [[User:Hooper X|Hooper_X]] 08:32, 2 November 2009 (EST)
::::::::I've kind of gathered that the delineator was the change in logo/packaging. But if Hasbro is going to trot out a new version of Universe every few years, perhaps that should be reexamined. [[User:Khajidha|Khajidha]] 11:41, 2 November 2009 (EST)
Just noticed this: when talking about anything called "Universe", we put the year in front in the disambig (like "Universe (2008 toyline)"). But the current Universe characters are dismabig'd with the year at the end (like "Treadshot (Universe 2008)"). Should this be made the same or is the difference between them good enough to keep things this way? [[User:Geewunling|Geewunling]] 05:46, 15 November 2009 (EST)
:Nobody says "2008 Universe or "toyline 2008". [[User:Interrobang|—Interrobang]] 06:50, 15 November 2009 (EST)
::And I see no reason to make disambigs longer than necessary, nor anybody agreeing with the point enough to move pages like [[Universe (cartoon)]], which nobody talked about at all. [[User:Interrobang|—Interrobang]] 06:59, 15 November 2009 (EST)
:::I'm quite under the impression that the above conversation is about the year as invisible, retroactive name element to both and all possible future "Universe" franchises. Hence, even if there is only one "Universe" character/element, it will still get the franchise's year in its identifier as part of franchise's name. And no, nobody spoke about the cartoon, but is that such a different thing from character pages when only talking about its part in either of the Universe lines? [[User:Geewunling|Geewunling]] 07:38, 15 November 2009 (EST)

== GoBots faction symbols? ==

Ages ago, I remember reading a toy review (probably by Zobovor) that mentioned the [[Guardian_(GoBots)|Guardian_(GoBots)]]s and [[Renegade]]s had faction-symbols. Specifically, IIRC "tiny stickers with bad glue that liked to slide around and fall off."

I don't ''think'' they've appeared in TF Fiction... but how would I know? (Maybe an artist modeled one of Cy-Kill's cameos on a toy with stickers intact?) Can anyone tell me what they looked like? Are [http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l262/skywarp2/Gobots/challengeofgobots11.jpg these] them? -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 02:07, 31 October 2009 (EDT)
:Hrm, [http://groups.google.com/group/alt.toys.transformers/msg/81b1fc7cdafbb765?hl=en&dmode=source this] is the review I remember with "friendly" and "enemy" stickers of dubious relevance... I wonder where the slidy-stickers memory came from? -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 02:16, 31 October 2009 (EDT)
::Not sure if this helps, but TFU's entry on Tonka GoBot [http://www.tfu.info/Gobots/Guardians/Rumble/rumble.htm Rumble] has a 'Guardian' sticker on it, and ToyArchive's review of the Gobot [http://www.toyarchive.com/Gobots/Blast.html Blast] has a Renegades sticker on it. Not sure if these are the slidy stickers you refer to, but they do resemble some kind of formalized faction logos to my inexperienced eye -- [[User:G1MarvelBlaster|G1MarvelBlaster]] 02:39, 31 October 2009 (EDT)
:::I remember them being triangular, so those are likely them! -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 01:44, 1 November 2009 (EST)
:::FYI,. the same symbols are on the Power Suit Combiners. So yes, they're definitely faction symbols-- however infrequently-used. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 01:53, 1 November 2009 (EST)

== Privacy policy ==

Since we currently have a link in the footer of every page of the Wiki which leads to a blank page, I thought I'd have a go at bashing out something resembling a [[User:Abates/Privacy policy|privacy policy]]. Thoughts? Please feel free to make changes to it.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV, however I did watch all of ''Boston Legal''. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 01:29, 2 November 2009 (EST)
:Can we write it as if we were Captain Kirk? --[[User:FFN|FFN]] 09:41, 2 November 2009 (EST)

Having a privacy policy is kind of a big deal. It's a legal document that 'we' the wiki have to follow. I'd recommend against having anything other than the most general text. There's little to gain for us (How many of our users, really, won't browse or edit due to privacy? Not a lot I'd wager.) but a lot to lose if we promise more than we can deliver. --[[User:Jimsorenson|Jimsorenson]] 10:34, 2 November 2009 (EST)
:So it should be shorter and vaguer? --[[User:Abates|abates]] 14:59, 2 November 2009 (EST)

== 10000th page ==

Is there anything special planned for the ten thousandth "real" page? [[User:Khajidha|Khajidha]] 22:25, 2 November 2009 (EST)
:I could see a little template to commemorate it.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 22:47, 2 November 2009 (EST)
::I don't imagine anything CAN be specifically planned, like say making a specific character or something the 10,000th page. It'll probably wind up being something incredibly obscure and wiki-tastic, like the manufacturer of the Optimus Prime lollipop from that one BotCon. [[User:Hooper X|Hooper_X]] 22:52, 2 November 2009 (EST)
:::Yeah, our last milestone articles were a [[Ego|TFCC TransTech character]] and a [[Michael York|famous actor who got a whole one line of dialogue in a bit of TF fiction]]. If our 10000th article ''isn't'' obscure, I'll be surprised. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 23:07, 2 November 2009 (EST)
::::I have created [[:Image:Wiki10k.png|a proposal]] for what I wanna stick on the 10k article. It'll be smaller when we actually do it, though.--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 00:26, 3 November 2009 (EST)
:Our article count is currently inflated by about 75 due to the macron issue, so it'll be when the counter hits 10075 or so. :O --[[User:Abates|abates]] 23:55, 2 November 2009 (EST)

[[User:G1MarvelBlaster|G1MarvelBlaster]] asked on [[Image talk:Wiki10k.png|here]] about marking previous milestones. As accurate as I can work it out:

* 1000th: [[Shooting Star]] on 17 May 2006
* 2000th: [[Beast (planet)]] on 30 September 2006
* 3000th: [[Altered Image!]] on 3 February 2007
* 4000th: [[Noise Effect]] on 25 June 2007
* 5000th: [[Planet-Destroying Fortress]] on 2 November 2007
* 6000th: [[Larry Leahy]] on 24 March 2008
And then 7000 was sometime in September 2008, followed by:
* 8000th: [[Ego]] on January 25th, 2009
* 9000th: [[Michael York]] on June 28th, 2009
--[[User:Abates|abates]] 05:46, 3 November 2009 (EST)

:Is it weird that both the 1k and 5k milestones I mentioned are space-based objects of some kind? --[[User:G1MarvelBlaster|G1MarvelBlaster]] 13:28, 3 November 2009 (EST)
:Ideally, I think we could make a milestones page that links to all of these, and the milestone icons on each of them link back to it for easy navigation. Maybe put it at [[Transformers Wiki: Milestones]]. --[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 14:01, 3 November 2009 (EST)

::More importantly... what will be the ''last'' article on TFWiki? Mu-hu-hah-ha-hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahha! [[User:Hooper X|-hx]] 15:42, 3 November 2009 (EST)
:::"Axanite". --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 16:13, 3 November 2009 (EST)
::::Mr. Willis, you do realize that by including that red-link there, you're just begging for an editor with too much time on their hands to prove you wrong, right? --[[User:G1MarvelBlaster|G1MarvelBlaster]] 16:20, 3 November 2009 (EST)
:::::I don't think you understand what [http://www.worlds-worst.com/worldsworst/fanfic/idea_detail.php?LinkID=147&CatID=2 Axanite] is. --[[User:ItsWalky|ItsWalky]] 16:23, 3 November 2009 (EST)
::::::Gah, here I am trying to pare down the wanted pages, and then you go and do something like make a fake link. DYW *Fixed* --[[User:Bluestreak7|Bluestreak7]] 16:25, 3 November 2009 (EST)
::::::At least the author put an exclamation mark at the end of the title to make it easier to disambiguate with the character. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 17:52, 3 November 2009 (EST)
:Surely the 1st page is also a milestone, but I suppose it is just something boring like the main page or something. 10,000 is a lot of pages! - [[User:Starfield|Starfield]] 16:17, 3 November 2009 (EST)
::Not counting the main page, the first article was (unsurprisingly) [[The Transformers (cartoon)]] --[[User:Abates|abates]] 17:52, 3 November 2009 (EST)
:Hey, I made the 2000th article! I feel so special! Not really, but still. --[[User:DrSpengler|DrSpengler]] 12:37, 5 November 2009 (EST)

A couple thoughts: One, if the count is off by 75 due to the Bookworm crash, I would think that means the 9000th article was actually something else, as it happened after the crash. Two, we should make a milestone list, some little icons for each milestone, and co-opt the custom Factions icons option. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 18:00, 3 November 2009 (EST)
:I just tried a little investigation as to what it really was. Unfortunately, the new pages log was ''extremely'' uncooperative. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 16:07, 6 November 2009 (EST)

::FWIW, the 75th article after Michael York was [[Ryan Church]] on the 9th of July. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 23:45, 13 November 2009 (EST)

== Wanted pages? ==

Yesterday we had over 4150 wanted pages. Now we have ~4012. I've seen nothing in the deletions or page creations that would cause such a sudden shift in the numbers. Is there anything odd going on here or did we really knock out over 100 wanted pages in the span of a day?
I'll also take this moment to point out that we still have the duplicate "special character" pages cluttered up the orphaned pages since the bookworm crash. --[[User:Bluestreak7|Bluestreak7]] 12:04, 5 November 2009 (EST)
:Name variations were consolidated and links made more consistent. [[User:Interrobang|—Interrobang]] 12:34, 5 November 2009 (EST)

:I discovered that sorting the list of wanted pages alphabetically makes it a ''lot'' easier to spot duplicates. :) McFly has said that he'll apply the fix for the macron pages when he and Scout get the time to upgrade the wiki software... --[[User:Abates|abates]] 14:34, 5 November 2009 (EST)
::Ah, so the upgrade is still in the pipe?--[[User:Rosicrucian|Rosicrucian]][[User Talk:Rosicrucian|<sup>Talk</sup>]] 14:39, 5 November 2009 (EST)
:::Well, I'm only assuming, admittedly, given it's a couple of months now since [[Transformers Wiki talk:Community Portal/Archive41#Googlejuice_-_Bad_News_Everyone|he mentioned it]]. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 14:50, 5 November 2009 (EST)

== Skin problem in Chrome ==

Have any changes been made to the site skin in the last 24 hours? It's currently misbehaving for me in Chrome (no problems in Firefox and IE though). Everything in the left-hand column from the navigation menu down is being pushed down below the content area. It was working fine last night! --[[User:Abates|abates]] 17:06, 7 November 2009 (EST)
:After further investigation, it appears that Google recently released a new version on the beta channel, which is probably behind the problem. I'll have to see if I can find somewhere to report Chrome bugs. --[[User:Abates|abates]] 21:08, 7 November 2009 (EST)

== An Idea ==
Would it be possible to somehow code a searchbox thingy for this community portal? Because having to look through tons of archives to find something takes a while. I tried stealing the code from Wikipedia, but (oh the horror) it's HTML. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 06:59, 8 November 2009 (EST)
:Go to Special Pages>Search, uncheck "(Main)", check "Transformers Wiki talk", then run your search. --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 12:29, 8 November 2009 (EST)
::Thanks. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 13:01, 8 November 2009 (EST)
:::No problem. Not that a Community Portal searchbox isn't an interesting idea, but with how slow our tech admins have been in responding lately, I figured I'd mention that workaround.
:::If you find yourself frequently searching other namespaces, you can change what you search in by default by [[Special:Preferences|going here]] and clicking "Search". --[[User:Jeysie|Jeysie]] 13:46, 8 November 2009 (EST)
::::As I said, I stole some code from Wikipedia, but apparently our wiki doesn't like HTML. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 13:48, 8 November 2009 (EST)
:I've added a Community Portal search box to the [[User:Derik/kired_tools|Kired Tools]] utilities. Bug reports welcome. -[[User:Derik|Derik]] 18:13, 11 November 2009 (EST)
::<s>Well, here's a bug report for ya. I just spent five minutes reloading the site so it would work after I used your Kired Tools utilities. I may have screwed something up, so I'll keep trying.</s> --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 11:46, 12 November 2009 (EST)
:::Ignore that. It was caused by me screwing up. --[[User:-Blackout-|-Blackout-]] 11:50, 12 November 2009 (EST)

== Unreleased toy sections ==

I've noticed that on some pages unreleased toys are integrated into the overall toy sections, while on others they are separate. Personally I find it more useful if they are separate, as it keeps confusion as to what's really out there to a minimum. Is there a standard position? If not, should there be a standard? [[User:Khajidha|Khajidha]] 10:46, 16 November 2009 (EST) (sorry if this is the wrong place to bring this up)

==CSS not working?==
I'm not able to see the blue boxes around the disambig templates, and the featured characters template doesn't have lines around the columns. Neither Firefox or Internet Explorer display it correctly. [[Special:Contributions/99.13.48.188|99.13.48.188]] 19:10, 17 November 2009 (EST)

Internet

2009-11-13T20:20:24Z

99.13.48.188: No, Derik.

The '''Internet''' is one of the greatest technological innovations of the [[human]] race. Whether that is a good thing or not is a matter of personal opinion. The good things humans do with the internet is help research for information, earn money, yadayada. There are also many other things humans do with the internet, and many, many, of them are [[Main Page|quite stupid and are a waste of time.]]

Just be careful what you put on it, as you may get attacked by a [[Kiss Players (franchise)|child molester]]...or [[Barricade (Movie)|the ultimate bad cop]].

==Fiction==
===''Cybertron''===
[[Jolt (Cybertron)|Jolt]] is addicted to the internet, along with music and [[television]].

===Live-action ''Transformers'' movie continuity===
====Transformers (2007)====
As part of his efforts to gain money to buy a car, [[Sam Witwicky|Samuel James Witwicky]] tried to sell his ancestor [[Archibald Witwicky]]'s expedition equipment in an online auction, including his telescope, his compass, and (for some reason) his [[glasses]]. The [[Decepticon]]s [[Barricade (Movie)|Barricade]] and [[Frenzy (Movie)|Frenzy]] later tracked down Sam through his [[eBay]] page, intent on seizing the glasses, which contained the coordinates to the [[All Spark]].

Later, when Sam met the [[Autobot|Autobots]], [[Jazz (Movie)|Jazz]] greeted Sam and [[Mikaela Banes]] as "little bitches". When Sam asked how Jazz could talk like that, [[Optimus Prime (Movie)|Optimus Prime]] explained that they had learned [[Human]] languages through the world wide web. {{storylink|Transformers (2007)|Transformers}}

===Shattered Glass continuity===
Whilst trying to find [[Soundwave (SG)|Soundwave's]] lost [[stasis pod]] on the strange world of [[Earth]], [[Heatwave]] used the "interweb" and discovered there was no local military activity in the area. He had some doubts as to the reliability of this information, as this interweb system had a "dirty, dirty mouth". {{Storylink|The Desert Heat!}} [[Ravage (SG)|Ravage]] had far different opinions, saying that it was "full of win". {{storylink|Eye in the Sky}}

[[Category:Cybertron]]
[[Category:Earth culture]]
[[Category:Movie]]
[[Category:Shattered Glass]]
[[Category:Technology]]

Dalek

2009-11-13T20:15:47Z

99.13.48.188: /* External links */

[[Image:FallAndRiseOctus01.jpg|right|thumb|250px|EX-TER-MIN-ATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE!]]
:''A Dalek is some sort of... thing... in the [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]] continuity family.''

A '''Dalek''' is some kind of creature or object that an unknown [[Doctor (G1)|Doctor]] might be very concerned about. [[Octus]] transforms into one. They are somehow associated with the word "exterminate".

==Fiction==
===Marvel Comics UK continuity===

[[Image:To A Power Unknown - Dalek Panel.jpg|left|thumb|]]
[[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] flew over the [[United Kingdom|English]] countryside, picking up transmissions involving, among other things, Daleks. {{storylink|To a Power Unknown!}}

Some time later, [[Octus]] served as one of three members of the [[Triumverate]] that ruled the Decepticons on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]]. His [[alternate mode]] was that of a Dalek, though how or when he scanned it, or even precisely what it looks like, is unknown. {{storylink|The Fall and Rise of the Decepticon Empire}}
{{--}}

==Notes==
*Daleks are, of course, a race of cyborgs that are one of the main antagonists of the Doctor in the long-running British science-fiction programme, ''Doctor Who''.

*[[Lee Sullivan]] has stated that [[Octus]] was supposed to transform into a Dalek.

==External links==

* [[wikipedia:Doctor Who|Doctor Who at Wikipedia.]]
* [[wikipedia:Dalek|Daleks at Wikipedia.]]

[[Category:Earth culture]]
[[Category:External properties]]
[[Category:Generation 1]]

Doctor

2009-11-13T20:14:58Z

99.13.48.188: Interro, not logged in.

{{disambig2|the Generation 1 character|the ''Revenge of the Fallen'' character|Scalpel}}
[[Image:To A Power Unknown - Dalek Panel.jpg|thumb|]]

:''Doctor is somebody in the [[Generation 1 (franchise)|Generation 1]] [[continuity family]].''

'''Doctor''' is a being whose existence is indicated in radio wave communication. He is presumably concerned about the [[Dalek]]s.

==Fiction==
===Marvel Comics UK continuity===
[[Starscream (G1)|Starscream]] flew over the [[United Kingdom|English]] countryside, picking up transmissions involving, among other things, Doctor. {{storylink|To a Power Unknown!}}

There are rumours this mysterious Doctor has encountered [[Death's Head (G1)|Death's Head]].

==Notes==
*"Doctor" is, of course, the Doctor, the main character of the long-running British science-fiction programme, ''Doctor Who''.

==External links==
* [[wikipedia:Doctor Who|Doctor Who at Wikipedia.]]
* [[wikipedia:Doctor (Doctor Who)|Doctor at Wikipedia.]]

[[Category:Comic-only characters]]
[[Category:Earth culture]]
[[Category:European-original characters]]
[[Category:External properties]]
[[Category:Generation 1 characters]]

The Transformers Continuum

2009-11-13T20:10:30Z

99.13.48.188: Interro, not logged in.

{{disambig2|the barely-researched IDW recap comic|the extensively-researched TFWiki.net chronology|IDW timeline}}
{{Comicstory|
|seriesissue=''The Transformers Continuum: The Definitive Chronology''
|title=
|image=Continuum.jpg
|caption=If IDW won't even read their own material when ''they're'' getting ''paid'' for it, why should ''we'' give ''them'' money to read it?
|next=
|prev=
|publisher=[[IDW Publishing]]
|written by=[[Andy Schmidt]]
|date=[[November 11]], [[2009]]
|illustrated by=Please see individual issues for credits.
|pagecount=32
|ISBN=
|continuity=[[IDW Generation 1 continuity]]
}}

'''''The Transformers Continuum: The Definitive Chronology''''' is a one-shot comic book set in the [[IDW Generation 1 continuity]] chronicling the history of the Transformers.

==Summary==
Take the [[IDW timeline]], put it in a blender, add some spelling errors, and you've got ''Transformers Continuum''. New descriptive prose accompanying reused art from appropriate moments leaps wildly between truncated generalization of long arcs with many important plot points left out and over-detailed recollections of irrelevant minutiae. At the very end is what is intended to be a chronological listing of IDW's ''Transformers'' comic books and promotion for their ''Transformers'' trade paperbacks.

==Errors==
Unfortunately, instead of correcting errors, ''Continuum'' presents the reader with ''new'' ones, such as:

* Pre-[[Decepticon]] [[Megatron (G1)|Megatron]] is said to be a slave, when in actuality, he was a paid [[energon crystal]] miner who lost his job. Apparently, Megatron objected to being freed.

* The [[Autobot]]s' stand against [[Thunderwing (G1)|Thunderwing]] is said to be on [[Nebulos]], when it was actually on [[Cybertron (planet)|Cybertron]].

* It's implied that Thunderwing was still alive (rather than a reanimated corpse), and no mention is made that he was a puppet under [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]]'s control.

* [[Bludgeon (G1)|Bludgeon]] is misspelled on page 7. Also, it seems to imply that he learned [[Pretender]] technology from [[Shockwave (G1)|Shockwave]], when it was actually Thunderwing who discovered it. It's also said that Bludgeon acquired the technology ''during'' the events in ''[[Stormbringer (comics)|Stormbringer]]'', when it was actually before it.

* The Autobots befriended "two young humans". [[Jimmy Pink]] no longer exists, even though we see him show up on the page detailing the end of ''[[Maximum Dinobots]]''.

* It is said that the "Autobots believed [[Sunstreaker (G1)|Sunstreaker]] and [[Hunter O'Nion|Hunter]] were dead, and thus did not search for them", despite the immediate discovery that Sunstreaker's "body" was a decoy and the subsequent rescue attempt being half the plot of ''[[Escalation (IDW)|Escalation]]''.

* [[Scorponok (G1)|Scorponok]]'s fight with [[Ultra Magnus (G1)|Ultra Magnus]] on Nebulos in "[[Spotlight: Ultra Magnus]]" is placed chronologically after ''Maximum Dinobots'', even though it was his run-in with Magnus that decapitated him and led to the events of ''Maximum Dinobots''. (The Reading Chronology in the back orders this correctly.)

* The [[Machination]] and [[Skywatch]] are treated as the same group. In fact, the Machination itself is never mentioned; instead, everything that either organization did is credited to Skywatch.

* The entirety of "[[Spotlight: Wheelie]]" seems to take place before ''All Hail Megatron'', even though [[Viewfinder]] dies in it (he's fine in ''All Hail Megatron'') and the events of the issue take place over a very long period of time.

* Megatron is said to have died when [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]] shot him at the end of ''All Hail Megatron'', despite this never being the case and him being shown to be alive in a later issue.

* [[Skywarp (G1)|Skywarp]] "fired into <nowiki>[Thundercracker's]</nowiki> back", yet [[Thundercracker (G1)|Thundercracker]] was shot in the face.

* On page 23, there should be a space between "every" and "day".

==Notes==
* Events in the past are said to be "legend" and "unknown" when ''almost everyone who experienced those events are still '''alive and on active duty to this day'''''.

* Unfathomably, despite covering "Spotlight: Wheelie"—one of the most stand-alone ''[[Spotlight (comics)|Spotlight]]'' stories, almost entirely unconnected to ''anything'' else going on in the IDW universe—no coverage is given to highly important, relevant, tied-in ''Spotlight'' stories like [[Spotlight: Nightbeat|Nightbeat]], [[Spotlight: Hot Rod|Hot Rod]], [[Spotlight: Sixshot|Sixshot]], [[Spotlight: Kup|Kup]], [[Spotlight: Soundwave|Soundwave]], [[Spotlight: Optimus Prime|Optimus Prime]]...

* [[Nova Prime]]'s matrix-like "[[Darkness (G1)|Darkness]]" is now the "Heart of Darkness".

* Any reference to ''[[New Avengers / Transformers]]'' is omitted from the issue, but then, that's because of [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]]'s hand in it. Crossovers are complicated like that!

* One of IDW's forum moderators quit over the reaction to this issue, calling everyone morons and giving the two-finger salute: [http://forum.idwpublishing.com/viewtopic.php?p=157345#157345] Soon after, the more argumentative posts (including the moderator's outburst and the subsequent replies) were deleted.

==Cover==
* Various classic [[1985]]-style Autobots and Decepticons (though with some mild heavier tech detailing) surrounding [[Spike Witwicky (G1)|Spike Witwicky]], by [[Ken Christiansen]].

==External links==
* [http://tformers.com/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=1099 Critical review at Tformers.com]

{{stub}}

[[Category:IDW Generation 1 issues]]
[[Category:IDW titles]]
[[Category:Reference texts]]