I believe that video game wikis can be an incredibly source of information and community when done well. Sometimes that means official wikis sponsored by the game developer/publisher. Sometimes independent ones. But all of them depend on a strong community with player-lead contributions and management. [[Wiki software]] is incredibly powerful and a perfect match for documenting everything about a video game. Wikis also have a magical way of building and uniting a community. ## Favorite Wikis These are some of my favorites, based on content/style/usefulness: - [Balatro Modding Wiki](https://balatromods.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page) - [Baldur's Gate 3 Wiki](https://bg3.wiki/) - [BG Wiki (Final Fantasy XI)](https://www.bg-wiki.com/ffxi/Main_Page) - [Factorio Wiki](https://wiki.factorio.com/) - [Fallout Wiki](https://fallout.wiki/wiki/Fallout_Wiki) - [Fire Emblem Wiki](https://fireemblemwiki.org/) - [Minecraft Wiki](https://minecraft.wiki/) - [Nookipedia (Animal Crossing)](https://nookipedia.com/wiki/Main_Page) - [Old School Runescape (OSRS) Wiki](https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/) - [Path of Exiles Wiki](https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Path_of_Exile_Wiki) - [Runescape Wiki](https://runescape.wiki/) - [Stardew Valley Wiki](https://stardewvalleywiki.com/Stardew_Valley_Wiki) - [Team Fortress Wiki](https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Main_Page) - [Vampire Survivors Wiki](https://vampire.survivors.wiki/) - [Wiki of Mana](https://wikiofmana.com/) - [Zelda Wiki](https://zeldawiki.wiki/wiki/Main_Page) ### See Also - [Nintendo Independent Wiki Alliance](https://www.niwanetwork.org/) ## A Note on Fandom.com and wiki.gg A _ton_ of games have either official or unofficial Wikis created on fandom.com. Fandom used to be known as Wikia, and rebranded a few years ago. A few years after that, they acquired Gamepedia, another major host of multiple high-profile game wikis. Although Fandom (Wikia) was founded and originally run by Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia/Wikimedia, it remains an independent entity that is not related to Wikimedia or the Mediawiki project. Today, Fandom is owned by private equity firm TPG. Unfortunately I find Fandom to be a generally poor user experience. They serve a ton of ads, the UI is complicated and often makes it challenging to find what you’re looking for, and the actual content is spread very thin - so finding useful information quickly is challenging. Fandom does excellent SEO though, so wikis hosted on Fandom are often at the top of the search results. I think the best place for most game wikis is on their own domain so the people actually invested in the wiki have complete control. Wiki hosting isn’t free or easy, so this isn’t an option for some things. Fandom does offer some utility in that manor - anyone can start a wiki and manage it there relatively easy. I just wish the final results were better. ### Enter wiki.gg In 2023, a lot of gaming wikis on Fandom began migrating to https://wiki.gg. At the current time, wiki.gg is a *massively* improved experience over Fandom and I am glad to see the change. At the end of the day though, wiki.gg is still a company that will need to pay to maintain and run the service, so there is a profit incentive. There is also the possibility that wiki.gg grows as a big enough threat and Fandom makes a compelling offer to buy them out (as they did with Gamepedia) and then we're back to square one. I hope wiki.gg continues to provide a good experience for both users and maintainers of wikis. I still think independent wikis are the way to go for most games, but this is a good option (at this time) for people that just can't create, host, and manage an independent wiki. ### Official vs. Independent Community Wikis Community-run independent wikis are often the best case scenario but they're not always feasible. Wikis aren't free to host or manage, and it can be challenging for both small communities due to a small user base of experienced wiki admins, and for large communities due to the volume of traffic (hosting costs, anti-spam measures, etc). If you are a developer/publisher of a video game (or other type of media/content that could benefit from a wiki), you should highly consider hosting a wiki for your community. Costs will be low compared to other infrastructure and marketing costs, yet a good Wiki does wonders to build a community and market your game. But it's important that the wiki remains largely managed and "owned" by the community. For example, take [Grinding Gear Games](https://www.grindinggear.com/) decided to help the Path of Exile community move the "official" wiki off of Fandom. [They enabled this by deciding to host the community wiki on their own infrastructure](https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3292958). Also check out how [Jonathan Lee is helping companies move their community wikis off of Fandom](https://weirdgloop.org/blog/why-were-helping-more-wikis-move-away-from-fandom). ### Further Reading - https://weirdgloop.org/ - https://j3s.sh/thought/stop-using-fandom.html