Author Topic: Amiibo standardization  (Read 1501 times)

zephyria

Amiibo standardization
« on: April 11, 2017, 05:15:31 am »
Browsing the Amiibo category I've noticed something that really stands out.  There are two general ways each is listed:

"Amiibo: XXX" https://vgcollect.com/item/95210
or
"amiibo: XXX" https://vgcollect.com/item/85010

Should we agree upon a standard capitalization and apply it across the board?

hexen

Re: Amiibo standardization
« Reply #1 on: April 11, 2017, 05:44:20 am »
It's pretty interesting that the NA, EU & JP all ended up getting distinct styles that each region seems to stick to. I'm not sure if it was a communicative effort to differentiate between regions or just someone really dedicated to separating them, but I think overall they are in a good place. You listed both an EU & JP (as well as one being a set) listing, so the styles do not sync up perfectly under those rules.
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zephyria

Re: Amiibo standardization
« Reply #2 on: April 11, 2017, 06:20:17 am »
It's pretty interesting that the NA, EU & JP all ended up getting distinct styles that each region seems to stick to. I'm not sure if it was a communicative effort to differentiate between regions or just someone really dedicated to separating them, but I think overall they are in a good place. You listed both an EU & JP (as well as one being a set) listing, so the styles do not sync up perfectly under those rules.

Yeah, I guess if it was intentional it's fine, like if it's based on some official thing I don't know about.  It might have just been that one person added most of the amiibos to the site, though.  I just thought it strange since the [EU], [JP] or [NA] tags differentiate them already.  We don't call Japanese PlayStation games "playstation [JP]" and European ones "PlayStation [EU]" for example. 

The thing about the set wasn't my point, just the capitalization at the beginning.

One more point is that the US ones look like this: https://vgcollect.com/item/95209 with just the name of the amiibo, which is different from both of the other regions. (example "Blathers - Animal Crossing [NA]"

Re: Amiibo standardization
« Reply #3 on: April 11, 2017, 08:35:56 am »
Yo TrippyD (don't smack me)

Shouldn't we remove the word "Amiibo" from the listing given that it is the Amiibo category now?  Did we have this conversation already?


tripredacus

Re: Amiibo standardization
« Reply #4 on: April 11, 2017, 10:06:36 am »
Yo TrippyD (don't smack me)

Shouldn't we remove the word "Amiibo" from the listing given that it is the Amiibo category now?  Did we have this conversation already?

amiibo does not need to be in the item title anymore.
It needs to be in the alt name field however. This is because the search does not search the category names. So if you were searching for Mario amiibo, you may not be able to find it and then add a dupe. I use this example because currently we can easily find Mario amiibo for entries where both terms exist in either field. If amiibo were to be removed from both, then you could still find it buried in the 70 pages of results for Mario.

It is a stop-gap solution now to put search terms in the alt-name field.
« Last Edit: April 11, 2017, 10:09:56 am by tripredacus »

Re: Amiibo standardization
« Reply #5 on: April 11, 2017, 10:10:47 am »
Yo TrippyD (don't smack me)

Shouldn't we remove the word "Amiibo" from the listing given that it is the Amiibo category now?  Did we have this conversation already?

amiibo does not need to be in the item title anymore.
It needs to be in the alt name field however. This is because the search does not search the category names. So if you were searching for Yoshi amiibo, you may not be able to find it and then add a dupe.

It is a stop-gap solution now to put search terms in the alt-name field.
So alt-name is like keywords/tags now?


tripredacus

Re: Amiibo standardization
« Reply #6 on: April 11, 2017, 10:31:49 am »
Yo TrippyD (don't smack me)

Shouldn't we remove the word "Amiibo" from the listing given that it is the Amiibo category now?  Did we have this conversation already?

amiibo does not need to be in the item title anymore.
It needs to be in the alt name field however. This is because the search does not search the category names. So if you were searching for Yoshi amiibo, you may not be able to find it and then add a dupe.

It is a stop-gap solution now to put search terms in the alt-name field.
So alt-name is like keywords/tags now?

I use alt-name for both actual alt names, and any important keywords for searching. For example, we can cut down on dupes if we were to put common search terms in for titles that most people get the names wrong for. It isn't as the field is designed but it doesn't hurt nor does it clutter up the item title. The only other option would be to ask for an additional field just to put those search terms into, and then get that field also added to the default search order.

It is something to think about when you find a dupe and it is a common title issue. Like Megaman vs Mega Man. It may be worth submitting an edit on the original entry to add something to the alt-name field for things that we see often as a dupe issue.

Also it makes sense for the amiibo listings (or anything similar in nature) because the search does not look at category names. Such as, if the Mario amiibos had no amiibo in the title or alt-name, if you searched for Mario amiibo, the site does not search the amiibo category for items called Mario, as well as the title and alt-title field searches. It should perhaps be something it was capable of with the search bar without using the advanced search, but since the advanced search exists, there is not a high priority to doing that. In other words, it would not be impossible to find a Mario amiibo if all those entries did not have amiibo in the title or alt-title.

Re: Amiibo standardization
« Reply #7 on: April 11, 2017, 11:01:06 am »
I ask because I believe we may have had this conversation, probably years ago, where the resolution was that only acceptable alternative names would be allowed in the alt-name category and not search terms to keep down dupes.


aliensstudios

Re: Amiibo standardization
« Reply #8 on: April 11, 2017, 11:20:11 am »
I changed the North American amiibo names since they are already categorized as "amiibo" in the database. I'm still waiting to see if they will add regions for the amiibo category since its a bit of a mess as it were
"I collect vidya games and vidya game accessories, I tell you what."

tripredacus

Re: Amiibo standardization
« Reply #9 on: April 11, 2017, 12:20:45 pm »
I ask because I believe we may have had this conversation, probably years ago, where the resolution was that only acceptable alternative names would be allowed in the alt-name category and not search terms to keep down dupes.

Well if it is a bad idea then we won't do it. However, it is fine to be alt-name for amiibo because it is an amiibo, right?

Re: Amiibo standardization
« Reply #10 on: April 11, 2017, 12:33:07 pm »
I ask because I believe we may have had this conversation, probably years ago, where the resolution was that only acceptable alternative names would be allowed in the alt-name category and not search terms to keep down dupes.

Well if it is a bad idea then we won't do it. However, it is fine to be alt-name for amiibo because it is an amiibo, right?
No, I don't think it's a bad idea, I think it's a good idea.  I think "alt-names" should be "keywords"/"tags" regardless.  "Alt-names" serves no real purpose, categorically.  If it only exists to store search terms, then call it what it is.

I thought alt-names was to place the english translation of japanese titles and vice versa.

I also don't know the exact inner working of the search algorithm.  For a game like Final Fantasy III, would putting just "3" in the alt-names allow a user to search for Final Fantasy 3 and find the game?  Does the search algorithm allow for comma separated values in the alt-names field to differentiate potential search terms?


soera

Re: Amiibo standardization
« Reply #11 on: April 11, 2017, 11:56:19 pm »
I think all games/items should start with capital letters. Not doing so is just pure lazy.

Re: Amiibo standardization
« Reply #12 on: April 12, 2017, 08:08:21 am »
I think all games/items should start with capital letters. Not doing so is just pure lazy.
Technically they are stylized as "amiibo" so it COULD be on purpose.


tripredacus

Re: Amiibo standardization
« Reply #13 on: April 12, 2017, 10:49:53 am »
No, I don't think it's a bad idea, I think it's a good idea.  I think "alt-names" should be "keywords"/"tags" regardless.  "Alt-names" serves no real purpose, categorically.  If it only exists to store search terms, then call it what it is.

I thought alt-names was to place the english translation of japanese titles and vice versa.

I also don't know the exact inner working of the search algorithm.  For a game like Final Fantasy III, would putting just "3" in the alt-names allow a user to search for Final Fantasy 3 and find the game?  Does the search algorithm allow for comma separated values in the alt-names field to differentiate potential search terms?

No the alt-names is still for putting in alternate names. That is still true, but it can be used for some terms in addition. And yes, putting a 3 in there would show Final Fantasy III if searching for Final Fantasy 3. But I wouldn't go and just start adding numbers in alt-name for all roman numeral named games, only as absolutely required. Ideally, the search function should be able to search for III or 3 automatically. Perhaps some day.

amiibo having lower case a is not lazy on our part, this is how Nintendo stylizes their branding. We are not under any obligation to follow their naming rules and we can capitalize it if you think we should just to keep the rules the same for naming things.