QFG Omnipedia:Canon Policy

There are three main categories of information contained in the articles of the wikipedia. The policies below show how to enter such information. Where an article contains more than one type of information, all of the appropriate policies should be followed.

Canon refers to the official body of work related to Quest for Glory (or Hero's Quest) originally published or officially licensed by Sierra (currently Activision). These include the original 5 QFG games, any future sequels, Hero's Quest, QFG1VGA remake, and various assorted documentation and other official published QFG-related material (including Strategy Guides and hintbooks). Additionally there may be other spinoff details in other Sierra games (Hoyle 3) and Sierra Easter eggs and in-jokes between games.

The Quest for Glory: The Authorized Strategy Guide, and other hintbooks authorized or officially published by Sierra are considered part of the Canon as well as they were published by Sierra-Online (the IP is currently owned by Activision).

However the reliability of individual sources may very. If you have any queries about these policies, feel free to ask about them on the talk page.

This policy is based on SQ Omnipedia:Canon Policy.

The following policies only refer to articles in the main namespace.
Pages in other namespaces (such as Help, User or Talk) are not covered.

Information Regarding HQ, QFG1-5, associated documentation, Hintbooks and Quest for Glory: The Authorized Strategy Guide.

Information regarding official games from the manuals, and the officially Authorized Strategy Guide are considered canon and can be entered normally. Any alternate class-specific plot lines will be treated equally (as will differences between QFG1 EGA, QFG1 VGA and HQ). All articles must be referenced to the appropriate game or documentation as follows:

Articles relating to only one game, or with only very general information

Add the appropriate category to the end of the article. The categories are:

     [[Category:QFG1]]
     [[Category:QFG1EGA]] (this is also used for Hero's Quest)
     [[Category:QFG1VGA]]
     [[Category:QFG2]]
     [[Category:QFG3]]
     [[Category:QFG4]]
     [[Category:QFG5]]
     [[Category:QFG:TASG]]
     

Articles where more than one game is referenced

Each piece of information must be referenced to its particular game. This can be achieved by referring to particular eras within the text (e.g. the QFG1 era) or by using footnotes. For more information on creating footnotes, see the quick reference guide. Footnotes are preferred.

Player Character's name use in articles

References to the default names; "Hero", and "Unknown Hero" are primarily used for the name/title of the character within articles (in respect the intent of the series and its developers). While character name Devon Aidendale became canon after it was published in the Quest for Glory: The Authorized Strategy Guide), however it is generally not used in primary citations back to the series character except for when the material being cited is specifically original to the Authorized Guide itself. In general keep in mind, that while all articles will likely reference to the default Hero 'name/title' (and must link to that article when the game character is referenced), not all will necessarily link to the Devon Aidendale article.

Hero-U

Hero-U is a new series by the Coles inspired by the original Quest For Glory series. It now appears to be set in a universe separate from the original series, and it avoids using any names or locations from the previous series which may cause copyright issues or confusion. Thus this site will treat these articles separate from QFG, but given their own template.

There may be more differences and or changes between the various sources (discrepancies) beyond name changes. Hero-U is currently not part of Activision's interpretation of the universe (and the series avoids any direct connections to the previous series). Activision maintains the rights to create their own 'continuation' to the original series, and its storylines which may not necessarily be consistent with Hero-U. Articles specifically associated with Hero-U should contain the template;

{{Hero-U}}

Which will produce;

This article or section contains information from Lori and Corey Cole’s (Transolar Games) extended Hero Universe (Hero-U Canon and/or Apocrypha).

Details may include information from Hero-U and Summer Daze, other published sources (pre-QFG & later) including books, comics, documentation and DnD supplements. It may also contain information from unreleased novels (and games), notes, concept materials, and developmental ideas from Quest for Glory outside of the original series canon.

Hero-U also has its own special main page; Hero-U Main Page, and its own unique categories seperate from the main QFG categories (these will be expanded as the series grows).

Cole's development information (concepts, etc) and new fiction

This relates to concept material from the Coles, development information to the original games, unused ideas (or cancelled products; I.E. QFG5 Multiplayer, expansion packs, QFG6), the Cole's RPG universe, the unreleased School for Heroes novels, or anything associated with the School for Heroes website. These are generally considered 'non-canon' on this wiki as they deviate from the game universe in multiple ways. Some of the material is disputed, specifically major changes in "School For Heroes" involving the backhistory and post-history for Erana/Katrina and/or Elsa and alternate decisions from that which QFG5 allowed in the story.

This material maybe obsolete as far as backstory for Hero-U as well as the developers have been forced to change names and locations to avoid copyright issues with the QFG IP (as they do not own the rights to any material associated with Quest For Glory series, any new material created by them for purpose of monitory reasons may be considered by Activision as a copyright infringement).

The Quest For Glory series and School For Heroes were originally considered part of Hero-U's "canon" and were part of the same "universe" by the Cole's (although Hero-U is now in a parallel World (Hero-U)).

There may be more differences and or changes between the various sources (discrepancies) beyond name changes, and other story details.

Developmental or new "non-official" fictional material by the Coles should be tagged with this special template;

{{Cole universe}}

Which will produce;

Template:Cole universe

Note: This wiki has all the respect for the Cole's work, then and now. However, as this wiki is primarily a repository for the classic Sierra Quest for Glory series universe IP currently owned by Activision, and the officially published works related to that version of the universe. As such all original official published material takes precedence for the sake of consistency.

Information Regarding Fan Games and other non-authorized material

Fan games are not considered official. For this reason, information on fan games is allowed within the guidelines of the following policies:

All fan articles should use the template; FanArticle.

This will produce;

The information from this article is from the fan game Quest For Glory II VGA and is therefore not canon.

Cancelled fan games and fan games that are on hold

Cancelled fan games and fan games that are on hold are entitled to one article - no other information should be included in any other article. They must be categorised as [[Category:Fan game (cancelled)]].

Fan games whose work is in progress

Fan games whose work is in progress must be categorised as [[Category:Fan Game (Work In Progress]].

Fan games that are expected to be completed are classed as those that have their own website, have recent updates and have provided some form screenshot or concept art.

Fan games whose work in progress must follow the policies set out for fan games that are on hold (see above). That is entitled to one article, and no information should be included in any other article. If a release is imminent it is also entitled to a link from the Fan Main Page (this will be set up by experienced omnipedia editors).

Released Fan Games

Fan games that have been publically released are entitled to a Category of their own. This category must be a subcategory of [[Category:Fan games]]. They are also entitled to a link from the Fan Main Page (this will be set up by experienced omnipedia editors).

Quest For Glory II VGA

QFG2VGA is a special case as it contains material that is clearly fan fiction, as well as material that is based on unused ideas by the Coles and Sierra developers. As such any articles spun off of the game will be treated under the {{FanArticle}} template, but "Behind the scenes" section of each may discuss what material it was originally based on (which may contain the {{Cole universe}} template).

Articles where more than one game is referenced

As the canonicity of fan games is disputed, a compromise has been reached. All information regarding sourced from fan games must be contained in the template FanInfo. This will allow the information to be distinguished from information regarding the official games. All articles containing information regarding fan games must also be categorized under the fan game's category. Images can also use the template by calling it from their description.

An example usage of the FanInfo template follows:

     {{FanInfo|game=QFG2 VGA|info=In [[QFG2 VGA]] something happens.}}

Which produces:

In QFG2 VGA something happens.

NOTE: To use this inside of another template (ie Character) is a little more complicated. You must actually copy the source of the FanInfo template to surround the information. If you are unsure on how to do this, please just add the information normally and leave a request on the articles Talk page for the FanInfo tag to be added.

Meta and Non-Canon Information

This includes:

• Information that comes from fanfiction
• Information containing speculation
• Information about references to the real world
• Any other meta and non-canon information

If fan related material directly from fan fiction or fan games included in a canon topic should be put under the canon material in a section entitled "[topic] in the unofficial sources" (if it is specifically from a fan game, then sources could be replaced with "games").

Speculation from the fan community, information concerning the real world, etc, may be included in a "behind the scenes" section.

Note: If an entire article is meta or non-canon, it is sufficient to post a smaller message at the top of the article, which should say something like this: Template:Meta