User talk:OttselSpy25

Prisoners of Time
Hey, as one of the editors who contributed the most for the Prisoners of Time page, I believe your input at this thread: would be very useful. Thanks OncomingStorm12th ☎  23:42, September 4, 2016 (UTC)

Thanks for the thanks :)
Hey man :) Thanks for your kind words. All of us on the admin team are desperately trying to work through the avalanche of new forum threads, and I had a little pocket of after-work time when I could help out.

On the subject of the Shalka thread, I am a material participant to the discussion, having already made several posts there. Consequently, I am wary of closing it. However, if eventually all active admin also participate, I may have to revisit this stance. 17:09: Thu 26 Jan 2017

Sleeze Brothers
Hey, OS25. I'm a little confused as to your purpose in opening up a side conversation with me, as you gave a Kudos to my closing argument at the Sleeze Brothers thread.

In any case, as you pointed out in a different thread, I'm kinda busy, so I'd much appreciate it if you'd please accept this as the final word on the subject. We've been absolutely inundated with the reopening of old inclusion matters, and it's putting a genuine strain on the whole administrative staff. So, please: don't, on the one hand, argue for quicker closure -- as you've done in at least one thread -- and, on the other, say this was too quick. Neither speed is offered in "bad faith", but is rather "what we have time to do, when we have the time to do it". All of us on the admin staff are volunteers -- even me!

It is relatively easy to see that there is no financial inducement to the creators of Sleaze to maintain any connection to the DWU. Even Marvel UK didn't avail themselves of an opportunity to make that connection, despite running both DWM and the Epic imprint at the time. They could have easily said, "ripped from the pages of Doctor Who Magazine". But they didn't -- likely because they didn't want to give the BBC any possible line of legal attack.

Indeed, this was the very reason behind what they did with Death's Head. They published a one-sheet called "High Noon" in several of their publications before putting Death's Head in The Transformers, specifically because they didn't want the owners of Transformers to claim the character. The lack of specific connection to the previous DW appearance of the Sleeze Brothers is clearly reminiscent of the earlier case -- even more so when you understand that Marvel UK, in their final years, were completely interested in finding their own properties.

Moreover, Fandom gives adequate coverage to the brothers, both in the now-linked Marvel Database article, and at w:c:britishcomics:Sleeze Brothers.

For the average reader of our wiki, there's just no reason to push some kind of connection between the DWU and these cats.

Some of our users here at Tardis have been trying for a month or two to make some kind of rule that "if a character is in a DWU property, then prior or subsequent appearances are also in the DWU".

But there is no such rule in T:VS. And, in fact, there's precedence to suggest otherwise, as with Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Jar Jar Binks, and a whole host of others. Moreover, the other intellectual properties you mentioned aren't strictly relevant to this case, because the best analogue for this case is found within Marvel UK comics. 15:56: Wed 01 Feb 2017 15:56, February 1, 2017 (UTC)

LEGO Batman
I don't have much of anything to contribute to that particular topic, and I plan to stay in retirement from the inclusion debate scene, but I've really enjoyed seeing how eloquently and specifically you've defended your points. Kudos! NateBumber ☎  14:12, February 26, 2017 (UTC)
 * I apologize if my earlier use of a certain phrase was offending to anyone; I've edited it out of the above message. NateBumber ☎  15:41, February 27, 2017 (UTC)

thanks for Rassilon
I tried to revert it when my Safari decided to die on me. Amorkuz ☎  20:44, March 7, 2017 (UTC)

personal attack
Hi! Please note that your edit summary at Cyberman (Mondas), "Who in their right mind would include a detail that stupid in an opening paragraph?", falls under the definition of a personal attack. Please review Tardis:No personal attacks and Tardis:Edit summary. Thanks. Shambala108 ☎  00:48, March 17, 2017 (UTC)

Doctor incarnations
Don't worry, I'm definitely not fed up with you. I brought it up with some other admins, and I was getting the sense that maybe all "non-main" Doctors should be removed from the template. Else, so many things could be argued for addition in and we'll be adding more suggestions, like those at Template talk:Doctors. In truth, at that point the template ceases to be useful.

I definitely do sympathise with your more aesthetic argument, by the way. From a practical standpoint, though, it might be best to restrict further instead. Better to stick to main incarnations only (1-12), or at least shorten the current list more. 02:19, March 18, 2017 (UTC)
 * Without, of course, going against what I said above, the reason I'd put Meta-crisis well above Dream Lord in terms of relevance is not because of some sort of fan consciousness, but rather because Ten actually used up one of his regenerations to make him. Some other "incarnations" are manifestations, or future Doctors, or unnumbered/alternate incarnations, but Meta-crisis is kinda the only one to contribute to the regeneration count thus far, in a way. I know, I know, Ten would have used up his regeneration even if his hand didn't come to life, but it's around the same thing. The Watcher is a strange sort of almost-similar case, where he's important to the transition between "main Doctors". But the Dream Lord? He's a representation of the Doctor in a dream he once had. So what? What's he doing there? 04:26, March 18, 2017 (UTC)

Death's Head reply
You brought this to me just a few days ago, and you can see I haven't been very active for the last little while. I won't say that I have no interest either way, but I also can't say Death's Head is my own area of expertise, so I won't state an opinion of my own on the matter. Remember that we are not paid for our work here, so service won't always be so speedy. When Czech has the time, he will have a much more complete answer for you. In the meantime, do not make any pages for now; Death's Head has been a subject of contention, so some form of discussion is certainly necessary, even just one between you and our 'expert' admin, CzechOut.

And I do want to emphasize once more that you cannot expect speedy replies, all the time, from our admin team. I have my own life as well, and especially if you're seeing a lack of edits on my part, it's a safe bet that I don't have much time to spend on Tardis at the moment. Notice how there are other users I still haven't got back to, either. Complaining I'm ignoring your messages, I think, is not cool; threatening to go ahead and make the page because I haven't given you an answer within the same work week is getting into T:POINT territory. I'll let you know if I have anything further to add, on the topic of inquiry itself. 04:22, March 30, 2017 (UTC)

Destiny of the Doctors
Hello. On a recent edit summary of Destiny of the Doctors (video game), you added that "I think our rules on infobox images are pretty clear about this." (when replacing a in-universe image for the game's cover). Would you be able to point me which? I tried finding it, but could not find any; also, seems weird to me that we'd use covers for video games, when in every other media we go, when possible, with in-universe screenshots/illustrations. (ok, except audio and novels, but we don't really have much to do in this case). The only thing I could find was in Tardis:Guide to images, that said "the longer the infobox is, the further down it pushes the first image in the body of the article. So we do want to try as much as possible to use widescreen pictures for infoboxes". Anyway, if you could point this one out, it'd be very helpfull. Thanks. OncomingStorm12th ☎  23:38, April 11, 2017 (UTC)

Susan
Firstly, we don't have to explain anything. Listing the stories is sufficient, and by that I mean listing all the stories that you mentioned too. Secondly, if the stories were listed as TV: An Unearthly Child et al., I could have agreed with you: it would say here is the character introduced in An Unearthly Child and present in many other stories. Instead, we have a bracket: from An Unearthly Child to TV: The Dalek Invasion of Earth. Excluding all the non-TV stories this way is simply against the policy I quoted, sorry. On top of it, it is misleading the readers, plain and simple about the sources one should check to learn about Susan's life and about our knowledge about it. Why not TV: The Five Doctors? Why not AUDIO: The Beginning? Why not AUDIO: Lungbarrow? We are an encyclopaedia. It's not our business to simplify things to make it more palatable for new viewers: that's Moffat's job. Our job is to provide all the connections. If you've noted, I did not add all the stories with Susan: that would overcomplicate things. But the pivotal stories: when the Doctor returns (all accounts) and when the Doctor sees her for the last time (all accounts) are to be mentioned. Amorkuz ☎  06:23, April 17, 2017 (UTC)


 * In principle, I would say it is sufficient to give "first appearance" at al. This is non-controversial, simple, and gives the idea that they were important character with a lot of backstory. I don't know how to determine one "last" with either of them. River has appeared very recently in both comics and audio. On audio, these appearances are after TV: The Husbands of River Song, which itself is, in her personal timeline, before the library, which is before TV: The Name of the Doctor. They are both complex time and space events, so giving the first appearance is completely fine. Amorkuz ☎  06:31, April 17, 2017 (UTC)

Question
Hello, there, OttselSpy25. It is good to be able to speak to you.

I have a question, regarding recent edits to the Fourth Doctor page; you said you found a Magazine article detailing where the comic strips take place in relation to the television series. I don't suppose you could tell me where to find it, so I can read it and update the Fourth Doctor timeline theory page. Or, if you like, you could update it with the info you found, to ensure I don't muddle your finding. ;)

Also, what is Connections? The link is dead, and I can't find anything on Google about it. Might I ask where you found it so I can find it and add the page?

And finally, though off-topic, how do you archive your talk page? Its something I want to do but can't find out how too.

Thank you for your time, and I hope you have a nice day.

Yours in good faith, BananaClownMan ☎  09:43, April 19, 2017 (UTC)


 * Stripped for action?, ay? Personally, since its the same source that claims Peri travelled with the Seventh Doctor, I tend to ignore it, but the each his own, I guess. ;)


 * Also, something I noticed while looking into the Movellan page after The Pilot; it claims that a Movellan appears during the Doctor's vision in Timeslip. Could be an indication that Timeslip takes place after Destiny of the Daleks, as that seems to be the first time the Doctor met them? What's your take on this?BananaClownMan ☎  10:03, April 19, 2017 (UTC)


 * Fair point, good Sir/Madame.BananaClownMan ☎  10:21, April 19, 2017 (UTC)

Master
Well, all the Doctor pages have how they felt about their regenerations, as does the section concerning the Yana Master. I just thought it strange that the other Masters lacked how they felt about regenerating. I would have added them myself, but I don't have access to Doorway to Hell, First Frontier or Fast Asleep yet, and was hoping someone would add them while I try and find a way to get myself a copy of them. Hope that clears things up.BananaClownMan ☎  13:41, April 19, 2017 (UTC)


 * Well, like it says in the Yana personality section; "Despite being in pain, he welcomed his regeneration in a grandiose fashion, declaring that "the Master [was] reborn." Just a little recap of how the Master approached his regeneration (fear? anger? determination?) and he maybe even how he felt about his demise. (Yana "was a misogynist, considering it an embarrassment to have been killed by a girl".)

In fact, what happened to the first Delgado regeneration pic you uploaded? The one where he's standing and the process is underway and he's saying "death can't stop me"? Would be good to add to the personality section to go with this summery.BananaClownMan ☎  10:42, April 22, 2017 (UTC)

PNG
Hey :) I wasn't able to get to your image review as quickly as I would have liked yesterday. I was beavering away on several other things.

Lemme just start by saying the biggest problem I've got with this image is that it's not nearly as sharp as I'd expectg a PNG to be, particularly if you've only compressed it from 113kb to 33kb. While it's not blurry enough to delete, exactly, it does make me wonder whether you actually scanned it originally yourself, and whether you've got the right settings on your scanner.

Because it's not particularly sharp, I don't know that the transparency is actually worth it.

That's because, in most situations, you're dealing with a white background, anyway.

See, in the new infoboxes, the backgrounds are white -- even in the light-on-dark scheme -- so it makes no difference to infobox use whether it's transparent.

For inline images it again makes no difference. The main skin is white, so transparent images will again have an apparent white background.

The only place where it makes a difference, then, is with inline images in the optional light-on-dark scheme. There's no doubt it looks better against that Tardis-blue background. But since there's no guarantee that this Tardis-only feature will always be available, you kinda come back to the same question of whether it makes sense to go the PNG route, given that the image is slightly blurry.

But having said that, you were able to reduce the file size, and it's a drawing, so the PNG format is allowed. Since no rules have been violated, there is no cause to delete it. But somewhere in your process, there's a tiny, tiny flaw that's rendered this image less clear than it could be.

In any case, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to reduce the file size. It's very much appreciated. :) 20:21: Sun 30 Apr 2017

speedy rename template request
Greetings, just wanted to ask you to put "|user=OttselSpy25" in your   requests. Otherwise, your name shows up as gibberish in T:SPEEDY. In the ideal world, it wouldn't matter. But in reality, you might get your request fulfilled sooner if admins know who initiated it. Thanks in advance. Amorkuz ☎  20:25, April 30, 2017 (UTC)

Placeholder reply
Saw your post. Thanks for alerting me. I'll look into it when I have a longer time slot. (And thanks for your support earlier and encouragement now.) Amorkuz ☎  09:25, May 1, 2017 (UTC)


 * So I'm looking at the companions and it'll take me some research. But right off the bat I can say that if Sonny will be included, it will not be by my hand. You know, sometimes, a pipe is just a pipe and Basil is just a joke. At the very least, this would require discussion at Panopticon. Secondly, I'm not sure I understand the place of River in the proposed template: she's in two places simultaneously. But I thank you for bringing this up: the template indeed requires maintenance. I just don't want to replace one mess by another questionable placement just because there are so few people who can edit it. Amorkuz ☎  18:29, May 2, 2017 (UTC)


 * Yep, that's what I'm doing: considering. I'd like to understand how a character who only appeared in one story overall becomes a "multi-adventure" companion. And in my experience it is often because of some non-trivial timey-wimeyness. Amorkuz ☎  19:21, May 2, 2017 (UTC)


 * Okay, thanks for the explanation. I decided to fix the damage without changing the status quo. The question of who is a companion is very subtle and should not be trusted to a person not familiar with the character (me). As for the multi-story/multi-adventure/ single-adventure distinction, my head hurts even thinking about it. Amorkuz ☎  00:28, May 3, 2017 (UTC)

Hugo Lang
OS25 can I use your picture expertise, I recently looked at the Hugo Lang page and noticed that it's pictures is appalling, therefore I have uploaded a new one. I am not sure that is complete satisfies the image policy and since you have been updating pictures that violate the policies could you check this for me. Adric♥Nyssa∩Talk? 16:31, May 1, 2017 (UTC)

Thanks this did come from my screen shots of the episode. Next time I watch it I'll try and get a better pic, though I think my new image looks better than the old one, mainly because it isn't tinted yellow. Adric♥Nyssa∩Talk? 17:00, May 1, 2017 (UTC)

Please stop uploading narrower versions of files
Please immediately stop uploading narrower versions of magazine covers. I'll explain later, but please stop now. These files are not in danger of being deleted, and you're making the mobile version of the site suffer. 21:56: Mon 01 May 2017 21:56, May 1, 2017 (UTC)
 * T:IUP does not say that all files over 100 Kb will be deleted. Only files above 1mb are so threatened. You're therefore massively overreacting to upload new versions of files that are only 200kb or so.  Also the min width requirements are soon to be increased to 420px so that infobox pics will be full width on larger phones. Your edits are therefore going in the wrong direction. For the moment, please don't worry about all this image stuff. As I said in chat, use the deletion logs to resurrect deleted files.  Please don't think it's necessary to preemptively protect files that are marginally too large by uploading new, lesser versions.  Thanks :).  22:07: Mon 01 May 2017
 * Okay, sorry if the above seemed a li'l curt; I was typing it on a phone. :) So I wanted to follow up with an actual comparison of two images as they're seen in infoboxes on actual phones. Below are two new (portable) infoboxes, as seen on a real iPhone 6+. Now, the pictures aren't super great quality; in fact they're third generation images -- JPGs of a PNG of a PNG.  So they're grainy. But the point I'm trying to make with them is the way the images fill the available space.


 * As you'll no doubt know, the 6+ is a wider format phone, pretty close to where a phone starts to become a small tablet. So ideally we want images that will fill a 6+ (or whatever the Android equivalent is).


 * And you can tell below that while the 301px image at left is the lower end of what we call a "hero image" -- one that triggers the article name overlaid on the image -- it doesn't come all that close to filling the whole width of the phone. Meanwhile, the Darvill pic that's at 420px, fills the space completely.
 * InfoboxComparison.jpg
 * So that's what's driving the soon-to-be-announced new minimum width of 420px. Will this leave us with a lot of too-thin images in infoboxes? Yes. But luckily we do have Tardis:ListFiles to easily guide us towards our new "prey".  23:22: Mon 01 May 2017

The image you keep deleting
T:NOT SFW seems to support the people who want that image to stay. The3rdnimon ☎  02:48, May 8, 2017 (UTC)

Tuck
Understood. Let's return to it if the story becomes valid. Amorkuz ☎  18:17, May 9, 2017 (UTC)

Wraith
While we're on the topic, was there someone you had in mind for the rename of Wraith? 'Cos I can't find a conflict and there is no edit message to point me to one. By the way, if dabbed, it would be Wraith (species), unless the conflict is with another species. Amorkuz ☎  18:24, May 9, 2017 (UTC)


 * Ah, those beasties. Then I think we should also wait but for a different reason. I have to admit that I'm one issue behind, I am not yet clear on what is real there and what is not. It could be just one Axos-like organism (aka the "red TARDIS") or it could be inhabited by various creatures. And for mirages and illusions we don't need to create pages. (But what about Boris? Was he an illusion too?) None of these creatures had their own say, so to say, so they may still be given authentic names. I will change the speedy rename to a rename and post something notable, as in note to our future selves. Amorkuz ☎  18:41, May 9, 2017 (UTC)


 * Ok, I think the price goes down tomorrow. I'll buy the issue then, and we'll talk again. Sorry, I did not think they would reappear in China. Amorkuz ☎  18:55, May 9, 2017 (UTC)


 * At any rate, since species are dabbed by "(species)" and these can't, it's not a speedy rename. Amorkuz ☎  18:55, May 9, 2017 (UTC)


 * Thanks for doing the legwork. It's gonna be useful, hopefully very soon. Amorkuz ☎  19:46, May 9, 2017 (UTC)


 * No worries. To be clear: I certainly never intended to stop the discussion of the move. In fact, in almost all situations I am for discussing things. You can just assume that by default, unless stated otherwise and backed up by a link to a relevant policy. And thanks for the minimal-spoiler version. I do appreciate that. Amorkuz ☎  23:02, May 10, 2017 (UTC)

PNG, again
As I said above, .png is perfectly acceptable for drawings. This has always been the case, since the earliest revision of our image use policy in September 2005. In fact, back in the early days it was the preferred format, language that T:ICC still retains, for simplicity. At every point I can think of -- Special:Upload, T:IUP, T:ICC -- it's consistently stated that .jpgs are required for photographs and screenshots. The Dr. First images are neither, and they're not over 100kb, so they're fine. They'd also be fine if they were .jpgs under 100kb. 16:16: Tue 16 May 2017

Chat question
Sorry, I didn't see your question in main chat until now. I think you're looking for The Orbitus. 04:30: Thu 25 May 2017

Fair enough, but do you have an in-universe source stating chickens can't fly?--Sumanuil ☎  02:29, June 2, 2017 (UTC)

I seem to remember some of the ones in the Torchwood Episode Ghost Machine taking flight when spooked. I'm going to watch it again, and if they do, I'm changing it back.--Sumanuil ☎  02:34, June 2, 2017 (UTC)

At least one goes airborne, straight at the camera. Chickens don't fly very well, but they can.--Sumanuil ☎  03:41, June 2, 2017 (UTC)

Master as companion
There's a technical issue at work here. Obviously, we want to feature categories about the Doctor's companions on our mobile main page and in the Doctor Who App. It selects images based upon which are the most popular pages within those categories. The Master is always one of our most popular pages. Because we have a carousel image up on that page, it starts with the Master as a young boy and cycles through to the Gomez Master. But neither the App nor the mobile version of the site can deal with carousel images. So it just takes the first image, which is of the young Master. Clearly that Master isn't even "the Master" yet, much less a companion of the Doctor. So allowing the Master to remain categorised as a companion is telling a visual untruth to our mobile users. The Master absolutely cannot be in a companion category for that reason.

Of all of the people to represent "companiondom", the Master is simply editorially unacceptable. It's worth more to the site to have categories/nav templates be arguably incorrect than to include the Master.

Surely you can see how unacceptable that is.

Even so, I don't think it is inaccurate to leave him off companions' categories and navboxes. People have all sorts of different facets. It's important to categorise/navigate by only those things that are most true. It might be true that the Fourth Doctor knew a thing or two about cricket, but it's Five (and Seven) who's in Category:Cricketers. Likewise, the Master is not dominantly a companion of the Doctor. I'd even argue he's no more a companion of the War Doctor than the Third Doctor was a cleaning woman or the Second Doctor was a German physician or a gypsy. The Master is faking it.

In any case, it's up to the body of the article to fully discuss the character. Categories and navboxes are just meta tools, designed to give broad overviews. They are not meant to give every twist and turn of the character's biography. 23:52: Fri 09 Jun 2017

T:NO RW is clear
I understand you want to discuss this. And we could have several days of intensive back-and-forth that would not lead to anything. Since at the moment I have other projects, I can just cite the policy: '''Trust only Doctor Who sources. Additionally don't go further than what the DWU source actually tells you.''' You are not disagreeing with me. You are disagreeing with the policy. "Did a DWU source tell you that this is a photo of MLK?" is the question that the policy demands you to answer. In principle, I do not understand how editors would be disadvantaged from reading about this photo in the BTS section rather than in an in-universe one. I am especially puzzled by you first arguing that readers should have the right of knowing what happened in a story and then adding a link to a story that provides no such information anywhere on the page. But, as I said, your beef is not with me. You want to change the policy - start a discussion on Panopticon. Until then, you are bound by the current policy as it is formulated.

Your own example of Remembrance of the Daleks perfectly encapsulates how this wiki treats such occasions. Martin Luther King is mentioned only in the "Story notes" and "Ucredited cast" (both RW parts) and at both places his name is not linked because there is no in-universe link to the name. Did you ever think why editors painstakingly added the info about MLK to this story's page but not to his own page? Do you really think it was neglect on their part?

The "we can of course" attitude already led to adding the year of Albert Einstein's invention of his famous formula based solely on his photo forged by the Monks. It will not lead to anything good.

So, as I said, by all means argue against T:NO RW. When you succeed in changing the policy, I will be enforcing the new one. Amorkuz ☎  14:16, June 11, 2017 (UTC)