Playing With Wiki: General Cleanup and Writing Help

This is basically a thread for asking for help with a Playing With Wiki page you want to write, feedback for ones you've already written and help cleaning up untidy or partially done ones you've come across.

Useful Pages:

• Trope Tropes (any of these are fair game for a Playing With Wiki entry)
• Playing with a Trope
• Playing With Wiki Template

Tips;

• The quickest way to start a playing with page is to simply navigate to the page, replace "main" with "Playing With" and tap the return key. The page you end up on should be that page's playing with namespace. Click on edit then save (just put in a link back to the main article as a placeholder) and this will add a "Playing With" link from the trope's main page.
  • After that you can copy and paste the text from an existing one as a template (just navigate to a well done one and click on "source") or you can use the template at Playing With Wiki Template.
• Remember to always include a link back to the main article at the bottom of the page (bonus points if you can turn it into a reference to the trope in question, but something like "Click this link to return to Pot Hole" is fine).
• Try to keep each example consistent; if the Played Straight example mentions Alice and Bob then make sure all of them do (where relevant) and keep them in roughly the same roles.
  • Also remember to keep names simple and generic unless they have something to do with the trope (giving the example characters exotic or made-up names will just distract people from understanding the trope).
• Remember that each played with trope's example should be a twist applied to the straight example, by default (with the exception of tropes like Double Subverted and Reconstructed Trope, which obviously exist in relation to other tropes).
• If, for whatever reason, a given trope on the page has multiple examples, put them all in double bullet points below the bold trope name.
• If you aren't sure how to play with a particular entry, look it up or ask for help here. Remember that not every trope can be played with in every possible way.
• Only tropes have playing with pages, not works.
• Some tropes can't be played with at all., typically because they're subjective or have an extremely narrow definition. These obviously don't need an entry.

Well, there we go. Does anyone have any pages they think need a cleanup or want help writing a playing with page for?

Click here to return to Special Efforts.

edited 6th Aug '14 11:53:41 AM by Bisected8

TV Tropes's No. 1 bread themed lesbian. she/her, fae/faer

One thing I'd add to that list:

Some tropes, such as Character Alignment and Complete Monster, simply can't be played with at all. We don't need a Playing With page for these tropes.

edited 20th Jun '12 8:11:47 AM by DarkConfidant

How's that?

TV Tropes's No. 1 bread themed lesbian. she/her, fae/faer

Seems good.

Also, I move to cut PlayingWith.Moral Event Horizon. This is one of those tropes that I don't think can be played with at all.

It does seem a bit subjective to play with (come to think of it, do we have any actual guidelines on how to work out this sort of thing?).

TV Tropes's No. 1 bread themed lesbian. she/her, fae/faer

Audience Reactions can't be played with (except as In-Universe things) is the main rule I know here.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

I agree that Moral Event Horizon can't be played with. As it is, half of the PW/ page seems to be about the audience, and half about in-universe stuff. Supporting cut.

edited 20th Jun '12 12:51:24 PM by Telcontar

That was the amazing part. Things just keep going.

@Septimus Heap: I was think more along the lines of criteria which didn't need the page to already be defined by other criteria (something along the lines of "If you can't do this then you can't make a Playing With").

edited 20th Jun '12 1:13:32 PM by Bisected8

TV Tropes's No. 1 bread themed lesbian. she/her, fae/faer

Out of curiosity, what are some of the best Playing With articles?

May I just take a moment to thank you for mentioning this?

@Parable: I'm not sure, I've seen some good ones, but I can't think of any that stand out right now....

TV Tropes's No. 1 bread themed lesbian. she/her, fae/faer

While this thread's here; "PlayingWith.Got Volunteered" could do with some attention.

About half its entries are blank, so presumably either they need an example or it can't be played with in those ways (so they probably need removing).

TV Tropes's No. 1 bread themed lesbian. she/her, fae/faer

Well, I don't know about them being any good, but if you're looking for outstanding in some other way, Asshole Victim is worth mentioning as the very first; [Trope Name] is also worth mentioning as being unusual, in that it's intended as a sort of meta-template.

Thanks
Luc "Point Out The Obvious" French

Right now, I'm working to apply the most recent Playing With Wiki Template to ALL the pages in that particular sub-wiki. The problem is... Well... It might be a bigger ordeal than what I thought at first.

Right now, there are 3,000+ pages on it; I've covered roughly 120+, and I'm not even done with the letter 'A'. Some extra eyes and fingers would be extremely appreciated... Maybe we could assign 1 letter for person to cover up more "terrain" in less time.

---

Also, I'd like to consult if there are any changes that might need to be made to the current template. I think it is rather good as it is right now, but I'm not convinced about the Plotted A Good Waste optional-point.

Now that trope is called Intended Audience Reaction, and it's about engineering audience reactions, which is something rather hard to "Play With", and I think it would be better off if cut from the template.

"It's better to burn out... THAN TO FADE AWAY!"

Greetings, fellow tropers. I've just created a Playing With sub-page for a trope that I launched about a month ago.

I'd like to ask you a favour - would someone be so kind and proof-read it? I think I got the concepts mostly right, but a second opinion would be appreciated. Thanks for your feedback!

Link: Language Barrier

edited 12th Feb '13 4:56:24 PM by XFllo

Just glancing through it (I'm off to bed in a moment);

• The "speaking English" entry for averted could work better under inverted.
• You don't really need the "...says Ela, 'Blah blah', says Eva" parts for the examples which are given as quotes. They can be inferred.
• On invoked it should read "where she cannot understand the language"
• On Implied the second sentence should begin "The audience..."

TV Tropes's No. 1 bread themed lesbian. she/her, fae/faer

Thank you very much. I've changed it. More ideas for improvement are welcome.

edited 12th Feb '13 4:55:04 PM by XFllo

I was said to put my "plyaing with" page for Famed In-Story here. Can someone tell me if there are any grammatical or spelling mistakes?

• Basic Trope: There are stories told and ballads sung about this character.
• Played Straight: There is a ballad inspired by Bob’s heroic struggle against the Evil Overlord.
• Exaggerated: All ballads sung in Tropetia are about Bob’s adventures.
• Downplayed: There are some rumors running around about a fellow named Bob Yellow Pants and his Ragtag Bunch of Misfits.
• Justified: One of Bob’s friends was a bard and decided to write a song based on their adventures.
• Inverted: The Greatest Story Never Told
• Subverted: The ballad about Bob’s adventures never becomes popular and is quickly forgotten.
• Double Subverted: Then another song is written and this one gains popularity, making Bob famous.
• Zig Zagged: Most songs about Bob are quickly forgotten, exept for one, which is wildly popular for a while. Then Alice Green Jacket appears and Bob is left in the shadows. He does something even more spectacular and becomes famous again, just to lose his populrity to Susan Ret Shoes.
• Enforced: The author wants to write Bob's story using the Framing Device.
• Averted: Bob doesn’t become famous and there are no stories told about his adventures.
• Parodied: Bob is especially famous for his yellow pants. There are even songs comparing them to the golden sun.
• Lampshaded: “Let me tell you a story about Bob Yellow Pants, our greatest hero.”
• Discussed: “I wonder if someday someone will write a song about our adventures.”
• Conversed: “In all these books heroes always become famous and have stories told about them at the end.”
• Invoked: Bob tells his story to a bard and asks him to write a ballad.
• Defied:: Bob eliminates all bards who wish to create songs based on his adventures.
• Deconstructed: Bob is so famous and recognizable it becomes hard for him to fight crime, since villains hearing about his arrival tend to move to another area.
• Reconstructed: Bob uses his fame to encourage other people to take the mantle of crime-fighting.

edited 25th Feb '13 9:28:06 AM by Ciabella

There's an extra : on your Defied example, but other than that it looks like it's in order.

Rhymes with "Protracted."

I've edited PlayingWith.Shoddy Knockoff Product to make it something of a Self-Demonstrating Article. That doesn't make it too hard to read, does it?

TV Tropes's No. 1 bread themed lesbian. she/her, fae/faer

Not bad, honestly.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

I rather like it.

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

Can someone help me with this Playing With page for Shoot the Builder?

• Basic Trope: Inventor/architect is killed when his work is complete.
  • Straight: Alice asks Bob to build her the deadliest war machine on the world. When his task is finished she has Bob killed to keep secrets of the machine from her enemies.
  • Exaggerated: Alice kills even her house decorators after their work is finished.
  • Downplayed: Alice doesn’t kill Bob, but blinds him so he can’t build even deadlier war machine for her enemies.
  • Implied: Alice asks Bob to come to her throne room after his task is complete and comments that her crocodiles are getting hungry. Bob is never seen again.
  • Justified: Alice knows her enemies bought Bob’s loyalty.
  • Inverted: Bob was previously sentenced to death but redeemed himself by designing war machines for Alice.
  • Subverted: Alice imprisons Bob and forces him to invent many other things for her.
  • Double Subverted: When Bob outlives his usefulness, Alice eliminates him.
  • Parodied: Architect is listed as one of the most dangerous professions on the world, along with demon hunter and firefighter.
  • Zig Zagged: Alice kills some of her architects, some are left alone and others are asked to remain in her service, forever.
  • Averted: No architects or inventors are killed after finishing their work.
  • Lampshaded: “I will have to kill Bob after his task is finished if I want to keep my secrets safe.”
  • Invoked: Bob specifically asks Alice to kill him after his work is done.
  • Exploited: Bob wants to die after his life’s work is complete, so he goes working for Alice, queen known for her impressive collection of dead architects.
  • Defied: Bob escapes before Alice can execute him.
  • Discussed: “You are not going to be one of these kings who murder architects after their work is complete, are you?”
  • Conversed: “I can bet Bob will end in the crocodile pool after he finishes his task for Alice. Architects always get killed by their employers in movies.”
  • Deconstructed: Because more and more kings murder their architects, less and less people choose this profession.
  • Reconstructed: A new law is passed and architects are given complete immunity.

edited 15th Apr '13 12:16:40 AM by Ciabella

It all looks OK to me.

The only problem I'd have with it is a bit of a grammatical error. The last sentence of the conversed example should be;

Architects always get killed by their employers in movies.

TV Tropes's No. 1 bread themed lesbian. she/her, fae/faer

In response to the question in 9, I'd say that Free-Range Children is one of the best. The hair color playing with pages are good too.

edited 14th Apr '13 10:56:16 PM by lexicon