What should the page quotation be?: Disproportionate Retribution

Right now there are two quotations on the page, the first of which is somewhat fitting, but doubles as an example of Take That! in its original context, and the second of which is quoted in a very odd way; it is of what seems to be two separate lines from two separate characters, but instead of using our usual format for such dialogue, it is quoted in a way that leaves ambiguity as to who said what.

I looked through the page history; Lt Fedora, who added the second quote, did so without removing the first, and without giving an edit reason. I think all edits call for reasons, but I think edits going against usual guidelines like the one-quote-per-page one especially call for reasons.

Of the two quotes on the page, I prefer the first, but one I think would be better than either would be one of Ganon saying "You dare bring light to my lair? You must die!" from The Legend Of Zelda Cdi Games, for a couple reasons.

• 1. It is very concise.
• 2. It manages to very clearly communicate the "disproportionate" part without involving a Take That! against another work. This isn't to say that I would consider Take Thats off limits as page quotes, but I do think that, all else being equal, it is better to go for something that isn't a Take That!.

edited 10th Jan '12 12:44:00 PM by HiddenFacedMatt

I largely oppose linking to any other tropes in opening quotes, and I plan on making a wiki talk thread about it sometime. But even without lampshading the Take That! with a pothole, I agree there's no need for a Take That! in the quote. It's irrelevant. The reader's reaction should be "yeah, that's disproportionate retribution," no matter what their opinion of Family Guy. Also, Cartman wasn't literally going to kill Kyle in that scene, but it sounds like Gannon really was going to kill the player.

The American Dad quote is funnier, less hammy, and more clear in my opinion.

I think the problem with the American Dad quote is that the joke isn't Disproportionate Retribution. There's disproportionate retribution, but the punchline is that this sort of thing happens a lot with that character.

I really don't think that discussion about a page quote really needs a TRS thread.

I like the Friends quote from the quote page. "Joey ate my last stick of gum, so I killed him." Clear, concise, amusing, and free of any other connotations.

"Need" is a bit of a strong word, but it's helpful to make surer this gets settled and that future editors have a thread to refer to.

Are you suggesting the Zelda-Cdi one has other connotations?

Anyway, yeah, Friends one and Ganon one are both fitting, though personally I prefer the Ganon one, because the wording makes clear that this is a "crazy tyrant" rather than just plain crazy, giving the Ganon one a (marginally) more serious feel.

I don't know who this Ganon is, but considering the fact that some fictional creatures are hurt by light this quote doesnt necessary discribe a Disproportionate Retribution. But killing someone because he took the last gum is always disproportionate.

Maybe we can open a Special Efforts thread to discuss page quotes? Changing a page quote is not really worth a TRS thread, but there should be some kind of discussion before the quote is changed, or if we have to decide which quote is main page worthy and which belongs to the quote page.

edited 11th Jan '12 8:58:37 AM by Osmium

Agree on both points.

I agree, that makes the gum quote better than the light one.

I don't see the harm in a quote TRS thread. It's an easy topic that should settle in under a day, and it's more of a mild repair than a special effort.

Having a single general Special Efforts thread for Quote Pickin' would be a good idea except that it doesn't really synergize with our crowner-hooking system.

The Glee quote's not bad. "Like the time I sold my house to a nice young couple and salted the earth in the backyard so that nothing could grow there for 100 years. Know why I did that? Because they tried to get me to pay their closing costs." I also like the Futurama "But I warn you, if this cape shrinks, consider your species EXTINCT!"

The Warhammer 40k one is good too.*

In light of the reasoning presented in this thread, I consider the Friends one more fitting after all. The Futurama one doubles as Misplaced Retribution, and the Glee one isn't as concise; the Friends one is an obvious example and straight to the point.

Backing the Friends quote.

I don't see the harm in a quote TRS thread. It's an easy topic that should settle in under a day, and it's more of a mild repair than a special effort.

The big problem here is, as shown with this thread, that unless someone actually acts on the decision the thread stays open and prevents other maybe more important threads to be opend. The cange of one page quote is not a special effort, as is the clean up of one trope description, but a thread open for all page quotes on this wiki belongs definitly to SE.

I changed the page quote and moved the other quotes to the quote page. So we can lock this thread.