Circular reporting: Difference between revisions
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As a result, the largest compendium of ''Transformers'' knowledge is, in fact, this very website you are reading this article on right now, and many creatives have confirmed that they have used our wiki when writing stories or looking for toy references. While wikis have a few advantages over "in-house" lore bibles—they can be edited by anyone, not just professionals, for instance—their main downside is that... well, they can be edited by anyone. Although we at TFWiki.net strive for accuracy and neutrality when covering ''Transformers'' topics, there have, historically, been cases where inaccurate or misinterpreted information or photographs on this very wiki have gone on to inform official ''Transformers'' toys and fiction. Wikipedia calls this {{w|circular reporting}}, but we have opted to call the pheneomenon '''citogenesis''', based on the [https://xkcd.com/978/ xkcd strip] that satirized the concept. | As a result, the largest compendium of ''Transformers'' knowledge is, in fact, this very website you are reading this article on right now, and many creatives have confirmed that they have used our wiki when writing stories or looking for toy references. While wikis have a few advantages over "in-house" lore bibles—they can be edited by anyone, not just professionals, for instance—their main downside is that... well, they can be edited by anyone. Although we at TFWiki.net strive for accuracy and neutrality when covering ''Transformers'' topics, there have, historically, been cases where inaccurate or misinterpreted information or photographs on this very wiki have gone on to inform official ''Transformers'' toys and fiction. Wikipedia calls this {{w|circular reporting}}, but we have opted to call the pheneomenon '''citogenesis''', based on the [https://xkcd.com/978/ xkcd strip] that satirized the concept. | ||
{{quote| | {{quote|Some of the biggest shows and franchises you follow have zero in-house continuity documents. They do everything off of fan wikis.|{{w|Gail Simone}}|[https://web.archive.org/web/20200913142152/https://twitter.com/GailSimone/status/1304831678045585408 Twitter]}} | ||
==Examples of citogenesis== | |||
===Azimuth=== | |||
[[Azimuth (COP)|Azimuth]] was originally a minor character who appeared in ''[[Transformers: The Covenant of Primus|The Covenant of Primus]]''. Beyond a brief namedrop, she went unseen for several years until 2015, when the "[[Ask Vector Prime]]" feature revealed that she sported a body based on one of Takara's MC-6 [[Kronoform]] toys—specifically, the gold model. However, when [[Azimuth (G1)|a different version of Azimuth]] appeared in 2020, in IDW's ''[[Transformers (2019 comic)|Transformers]]'' comic, she was colored silver—a mixup that almost assuredly stems from the photo on Azimuth's wiki article more prominently displaying ''that'' figure. | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
Revision as of 17:24, 19 September 2020
As befitting a franchise that's run continuously for 42 years, the Transformers brand is a vast and sprawling one. However, as an intellectual property based around the inherently transient medium of merchandising, both Hasbro and TakaraTomy have, historically, taken a laissez-faire approach to stortytelling and have shown general reluctance in compiling any kind of official "lore bibles" or "development documents" designed to help new creatives in the franchise get up to speed with individual characters, concepts, or settings. [1]
As a result, the largest compendium of Transformers knowledge is, in fact, this very website you are reading this article on right now, and many creatives have confirmed that they have used our wiki when writing stories or looking for toy references. While wikis have a few advantages over "in-house" lore bibles—they can be edited by anyone, not just professionals, for instance—their main downside is that... well, they can be edited by anyone. Although we at TFWiki.net strive for accuracy and neutrality when covering Transformers topics, there have, historically, been cases where inaccurate or misinterpreted information or photographs on this very wiki have gone on to inform official Transformers toys and fiction. Wikipedia calls this circular reporting, but we have opted to call the pheneomenon citogenesis, based on the xkcd strip that satirized the concept.
Examples of citogenesis
Azimuth
Azimuth was originally a minor character who appeared in The Covenant of Primus. Beyond a brief namedrop, she went unseen for several years until 2015, when the "Ask Vector Prime" feature revealed that she sported a body based on one of Takara's MC-6 Kronoform toys—specifically, the gold model. However, when a different version of Azimuth appeared in 2020, in IDW's Transformers comic, she was colored silver—a mixup that almost assuredly stems from the photo on Azimuth's wiki article more prominently displaying that figure.
References
- ↑ This is not to say that Hasbro is completely disinterested in ensuring some kind of consistency—the 2010 Binder of Revelation went on to inform vast swathes of modern Transformers storytelling, including the Prime and Cyberverse cartoons, and the 2019 IDW continuity.
