Forum:Tense

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Past tense or present for articles about Melee or the original? My preference would be present tense, since, well, people still play those two games, and using the past tense would cast the impression that they're "dead games" or something. I'd like your opinions before making any sweeping copy-edits to change it to present tense, though. – MaskedMarth ^{(t c)} 19:35, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

I guess I should give an example. He's a short one: A similar move in SSBM (called the Wall-grapple) existed for Link, Young Link and Samus. My proposed change would be to change the "existed" to "exists." And to make similar tense changes for all such references to Melee and SSB. – MaskedMarth ^{(t c)} 19:37, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

I completely agree, but it's a daunting task to try and change it all. Too much of the site is written like so...

Subject is used for such-and-such in SSBM.

In the original Smash, ...

In Brawl...

...as though it were written about Melee, they remebered the original and then Brawl was tacked on later. Other ones written about Brawl initially refer to the other two as if they are no longer played. This is definitely a problem that needs fixing. Miles (talk - contribs) 21:29, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

That's another good point. A lot of the problem is we started SmashWiki off as a very Melee-centric community, and techniques such as shffl'ing were discussed only along those frames, with the original as an afterthought. Changing all of this can be a daunting task, but I'm willing to try, at least. And it's important to have some guidelines for future articles. – MaskedMarth ^{(t c)} 21:42, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

I see a project or policy coming out of this... Alsom I support making it all present tense. Miles (talk - contribs) 21:47, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

While changing all the articles into present tense is a fresh idea, I believe they should stay as is. In a sense, SSB and Melee are pretty much "dead", as no one really talks about them anymore. That's especially the case for the former. As we now experience Brawl and gaze further into the future, SSB and Melee will be forgotten. - GalaxiaD ^Talk 22:38, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

I disagree, with all due respect. I cannot speak for the SSB community, but I follow the Melee community and we're still running tournaments, making discoveries and running discussions. People talk about Melee - to be sure, fewer people than talk about Brawl - but the community is alive and thriving. – MaskedMarth ^{(t c)} 22:45, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

But since these games DID come out before Brawl, and now that Brawl is the current title of interest, it's only appropriate to leave them in past tense form. At least, that's what I believe. - GalaxiaD ^Talk 23:22, 19 November 2008 (UTC)