New Mass Effect RP on Mass Effect Fanon

On July 21, 2010, Bluethunder213 announced a new RP being released on Mass Effect Fanon itself. The Role-playing (RP) will take place on 3 different planets and users will choose their characters from around 7 possible species, 3 of them being fanon itself. What is considered by most as the best part is the fact that Wikia registered users can sign up for the RP and then join in on the discussions that are helping to shape the world. When asked why he did this, Bluethunder answered:

My main goal was making a plot that was accessible to many, but then I realized that it would be more fun for everyone to help come up with the whole story. The users who are participating so far seem to be enjoying it, and we’ve come up with a lot in a little over a day.

It is true, they group has already created the third planet, but naming is still a priority. Its current name is Omicron and its a planet it the midst of the Rachni war. Its been under attack by the Rachni, though it is still under Citadel control. Also, one of the three new species has been created. Naming is also in the works, the group is looking for a mystic-like name.

As said earlier in the article, the RP is open to registered users and since registration is free, its open to the public. When asked why, Bluethunder answered with:

The one thing that angers me most is invite only RP’s. Hardworking, under the radar users can, at times, be overlooked and miss out on a fun experience. Our site is open to the public, so I don’t see why a feature should have restrictions. This freedom, however, does make my job just a bit harder since newer users who are unfamiliar with our wiki may need help at first. Though, they should know that I will always lend a helping hand.

Well there you have it, a new RP that will surely be fun for RPer’s of any experience level. Expect it to be fully up and running in about a week, though delays may occur in order to let more users join at first. Though, Bluethunder does stress that users can join after the RP has started.

Bluethunder213 is July’s User of the Month!

Bluethunder's character from Mass Effect. He jokes that his stare is of pure evil.

User of the Month is an award that is bestowed among the best users on Mass Effect Fanon. The nominations began in June in order for a July UotM. Bluethunder213 won the award unopposed, winning by a vote of 2. When asked about the award, Bluethunder said:

This award means a lot to me. This contest has been successful on other wiki’s, adding a friendly competition and a great award that’s possible for any user who tries. I do feel a sense of pride as I’ve devoted a lot of time into trying to make this wiki the best it can be. Though, the wiki would be nothing without the other great users. Also being the User of the Month for July is so great as my birthday is toward the end of July, the 28th to be exact.

Bluethunder is now ineligible for the prize for another 3 months, though by that time he may have to try even harder as more great users are pouring in.

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Any opinions given in this do not reflect Mass Effect Fanon or any of its users. Also, we’d like to congratulate Bluethunder213 for his award.

Good/Spectre Articles on the horizon.

Bluethunder213 and Nightmare975 hold this position. Though it gives no special power.

Starting soon, Spectre and Good articles will be fully established, allowing users to nominate their articles that they find deserving. After the article is nominated, any member is free to review and vote for an article, though it will need at least one vote from a reviewing board member, also known as a councilor. Right now, only two Councilors are present, Bluethunder213 and Nightmare975. Expect the number to grow soon, though.

Also, expect the Good Article contest to be released first. Check out our other blogs or stop by Mass Effect Fanon.

User of the Month nominations begin!

On June 8, 2010, administrator and bureaucrat  Bluethunder213 released the new User of the Month nominations. The User of the Month award is one of the highest awards a user can have bestowed among them self. When a user is awarded, a blog post will be released about the user. The post will talk about how the user found the wiki and why they decided to contribute. It may also give more information about the user as well as congratulate them for their great achievement.

To be a User of the Month, you don’t have to have the most or the greatest looking articles in the world. All you need is a desire to make Mass Effect Fanon a better and more fun place to be. A user cannot nominate  or vote for or against them self, they can however turn down their nomination if they feel they do not deserve the award.

For more information, click here.

Article spotlight: Vapor rifle

On February 4, 2010, Bluethunder213 arrived at Mass Effect Fanon and created the wiki’s first article, the Vapor rifle. In the beginning, the article was 303 bytes, or two sentences. Since then, the article has grown to 4,000 bytes, or over 4,000 characters. The article is about an incendiary rifle used by both the Alliance and thugs. The article spans the whole history of the weapon.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Vapor rifle, also known as the V rifle, was an assault rifle that was manufactured by the Earth based company, Vapor Industries. The rifle had incendiary rounds, which caused combustion if a target was hit several times. It had a red barrel and a short range scope that allowed for medium range accuracy. It was the first rifle developed by Vapor Industries. After several years of use, an upgraded version of the rifle was produced, the V2 Rifle. Soon after, the Vapor rifle became obsolete. The weapon was later obtained by the Cherovs, who used it during the Quarian Wars.

Here’s what Bluethunder213, the author, has to say about the article:

After I found Mass Effect Fanon, I immediately wanted to adopt it. I knew that I would need to start making articles if I could get the chance to, so I created the Vapor rifle. At first, I didn’t intend for it to grow as large as it did, but it was so easy to come up with ideas. I did take inspiration from the blaster rifles in the Star Wars series.

No matter how many articles are made, the Vapor rifle will always be known as Mass Effect Fanon’s first article.

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Mass Effect Fanon would like to congratulate Bluethunder213 on having an article spotlight. Any opinions given in this do not reflect Mass Effect Fanon as a whole or any of their members.

Mass Effect Fanon spotlighted by Wikia!

On May 21, 2010, Wikia helper, Wendy, accepted Mass Effect Fanon for a Wikia Spotlight. Wikia Spotlights are images that appear on other wikis that will link to your wiki. This is a great way to increase the wiki’s traffic. Administrator and Bureaucrat, Bluethunder213, nominated Mass Effect Fanon for a spotlight on April 15, 2010. The request was approved May 21, 2010, over a month after the request was made.

In preparation for the upcoming spotlight, Bluethunder213 has been and still is improving the wiki and creating ways to make the wiki easy to access for all users.

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Any opinions represented in this blog to not represent the views of Mass Effect Fanon, or any of their users.

Article Spotlight: Shadow Marshals

Hello all to the first of many article spotlights! The first article spotlight is Shadow Marshals, an article about an organization composed of biotic turians written by InfernalWarrior. The article is currently the largest on Mass Effect Fanon, spanning over 20,000 bytes. The article is also home to the first Mass Effect Fanon Quote of the Week. Here’s an excerpt:

Shadow Marshals comprised those Turians considered both blessed and cursed by their people, as they were able to perceive the metaphysical energy field known as biotic energy. For a Turian, being able to use biotics was not something which boded well, as those capable of manipulating its energies were notoriously unstable, commonly developing destructive tendencies and being mass murderers and criminals. Further more, any Turian able to become a biotics practitioner was usually very powerful, which could make them very difficult to bring down when they inevitably lost their sanity. Ascribable to this, Turian children who exhibited a greater than average amount of element zero in their bloodstreams were always taken from their parents; originally, they were destroyed without any attempt at rehabilitation, but the Turians rapidly came to consider this a waste of potentially valuable weapons, and so instituted a program to attempt the training of these children. This resulted in the first generation of Shadow Marshals.”

When asked the reason for creating the article, InfernalWarrior replied with,

The main reason for my creating the Shadow Marshals was to develop a suitable background for my Mass Effect Origins character Kranos Faaral. I wanted him to have commando training similar to that of the Asari Huntresses, Salarian STG, and Human N7s. It also made sense for me, as being obsessed with Turians, to write an article about the Turian version of these commando/super agent group. I also drew most of the inspiration for the organization and other parts of the Shadow Marshals from the Jedi Order and Sith Order from Star Wars.”

So far, the article is still a work in progress, but if the rest of the article is anything like what is currently written, than expect  it to be great.

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Mass Effect Fanon would like to thank InfernalWarrior for his help and input, we would also like to congratulate him for having the first article spotlight.

Any opinions express in this article do not reflect Mass Effect Fanon and/or its users.

About: Contests

Contests on Mass Effect Fanon are great, community building experiences that can award an article, a user and much more! This blog post will explain the two current contests, the logo contest and the Quote of the Week award.

Logo Contest is a contest on Mass Effect Fanon that allows users to show their creative side. It was the first contest on the wiki. EliteMaster117 currently has his idea featured as the logo.

Quote of the Week, usually called QotW, is one of the first of many changes that has arrived on Mass Effect Fanon. Every week a new original quote is posted on the main page, but for this to happen, the quote needs to pass a community vote. QotW’s allow all users to notice the creativity and work that another member puts in.

About: Good articles and Spectre articles

Good articles are articles that demonstrate good use of the Manual of Style. For an article to receive the award, it has to be compelling with a good use of grammar. Good articles will be recognized among the community as the best of the best. An article can be demoted if it no longer displays all the requirements.

Spectre articles are articles that demonstrate a great use of the Manual of Style, along with meeting several other requirements that are more strict than the good article requirements. The article must be compelling and give a great deal of information. The articles are recognized as the best of the best.

About: Policies

Mass Effect Fanon prides itself on having a list of policies. Though, in the past, users have asked what some of the policies mean. So in this post three policies will be explained to help new users.

Manual of Style is the most important of the policies, this is also the hardest policy for some to understand. In a nut shell, it tells users to write in the past tense, use proper grammar and use headings. Failure to follow the rule can result in a ban. Though most of the time the user will just be reminded or warned.

Image Policy is the easiest policy to understand, it is also the most misunderstood. In a nut shell, inform the community where you found the image, give a short description, and tell what the licensing is. Most common licenses are Fair-use, user-made and unknown. Unknown licenses do result in the image being removed. That will only happen if the user who uploaded the image or an administrator cannot find where the image came from.

Edit Policy was created to protect users own work. If an article does not have a free-edit template, than only the user who created the article can add content. However, any user can fixed spelling or grammar errors. Also, the policy tell the punishments users will receive if they do not follow the policy. Vandalism results in an infinite ban.