TTA Databank:Canonicity

From TTA Databank

Because the TTA Databank is a repository of both official and unofficial material, it behooves us to be clear about which category our content belongs to. We strive to make note of the differences as needed, practical, and useful. It is the policy of this wiki to be as agnostic as possible about matters of canonicity -- that is, we do not favor one view over another.

We feel disinclined to use the terms "canon" or "non-canon" for this because, apart from the implicit value judgement, they presuppose that there is one consistent body of facts. With the TTA, this is not the case ... even sticking with just the classic books, there a number of inconsistencies, ambiguities, and retcons that make determining "the truth" (whatever that means for a fictional setting) difficult, if not impossible. With the addition of the New TTA series and the associated judgement calls necessary to turn the TTA into a coherent roleplaying setting, use of these terms is more likely to cause arguments than it is to be a useful distinction.

Instead, we employ these terms:

• Published Material is official material created and released by Stewart Cowley or Morrigan as part of the Terran Trade Authority (setting), specifically. This is generally intended for things released in print books (and the electronic versions thereof), although occasionally it may include online addenda and such. Published Material explicitly includes both the classic and new series.
• Adjunct Material is material that is published in the physical sense, but not Published Material in the sense used above. That is, while it may be written by Cowley (or Morrigan) and published, it is not an official part of the TTA setting. This category includes the Galactic Encounters series and The Space Warriors.
• Apocryphal Material (Apocrypha) is pretty much anything other than the above. It is unofficial content, usually created by fans, players, and game masters for the setting.

There is no clear need, as yet, to place rigid barriers between these types of content. Simply making an effort to indicate which is which should suffice for now.

Here are some guidelines:

• In general, content should be assumed to be either real-world information, or Published Material, unless indicated otherwise.
• It is entirely acceptable to include apocrypha within an article that is primarily about Published or Adjunct Material. Where apocrypha is mixed in with the other categories, authors can use the {{Apocrypha}} template at the ends of statements, paragraphs, and so forth to indicate this, if practical.
• If mixing the various types gets burdensome or would make an article hopelessly confusing, it is also fine to create an alternate version (a good example would be multiple articles for a particular star system with different planetary arrangements). Link between them from the "See Also" section in each article (especially the Published Material version). Where an entire article is apocryphal, a simple note describing the provenance of the material somewhere within should be including, ideally near the top or in a section of its own. The {{ApocryphalArticle}} template may be used for this purpose; it automatically places the article in the appropriate categories and attaches a consistent note to the article.
• Apocrypha can also be implied through judicious use of the {{ClassicSeriesNotes}}, {{NewSeriesNotes}}, and {{GalacticSeriesNotes}} templates. These cases are usually self-explanatory ... the note itself will describe the status of the text.
• Adjunct Material is sort of halfway between Apocrypha and Published Material, for our purposes. It is basically quasi-official. In practice, if the article is primarily about material published in these "offshoot" series, its status need not be specially addressed, so long as the source of the information is clear. A handy way to make sure is to use {{AdjunctArticle}}, which accomplsihes both goals, but there are other ways (such as the templates mentioned above). Apocryphal Material mixed in with Adjunct Material should be indicated just as if the latter was Published Material. On the other hand, Adjunct Material mixed in with Published Material should be indicated as such properly, much as if it were Apocrypha.

One should not engage in "canon policing" (such as editing an article or group of articles to relentlessly press one particular vision of the "real" TTA, especially by removing competing interpretations), nor go about disparaging others' work on discussion pages, based on how much their version agrees with your version (pointing out deviations from the Published Material is fine, but flaming over it is not).

Obviously, there are limits on how far from the published material one can go and still be considered relevant to this wiki. This will be handled on a case-by-case basis. (Hint: uploading 57 articles concerning the undersea antics of your anthropomorphic porcupine, her pet robot chicken, and his best friend the sentient jar of peanut butter is rather far afield of material suitable for a TTA wiki).