User talk:Dr ishmael/Archive 6

Mover-Shaker Bot
If you check the move log (or perhaps RC, depending when you read this), you'll see that Balistic Pve is moving user's pages to their new names with the GW- prefix. I know that you could get a list of all these by looking at the contribs of the Move page script, not sure about other pages in their userspace though. Anyway, I think it'd be a lot faster to make it a bot task. One reason is the "move throttle" - the bot avoids that because it has sysop status. :p Also, it could clean up after itself by them deleting the redirects, again because it has sysop status. Lastly for bonus points, maybe it could fix all the links to those pages so that we don't add to the wanted pages unnecessarily.

I have this strange feeling that normally I should use the GW:BOT page, but oh well, I don't want to have to repeat myself in two places. (T/C) 22:42, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Well anyways, until that happens I'll keep moving them. I've tagged most of them with delete, so hop on to it. --Balistic Pve (T/C/E) 22:53, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I'm just a bit busy, and I'd have to check what links here and fix the links, etc. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 22:57, 23 November 2008 (UTC)
 * o i c, nvm --Balistic Pve (T/C/E) 23:01, 23 November 2008 (UTC)


 * That would be fairly difficult to set up, compared to the other bots I've done. It would have to first get the list of users that were renamed (where is that list, anyway?), then check Special:Prefixindex to get the list of all pages in their userspace, then for each page move it, update links to it, and delete the redirect.  I could do it, I'm just not sure if I'd have the time or the inclination right now.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 02:00, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Would you do it if you had a list of pages that need to be moved? --◄mendel► 02:10, 24 November 2008 (UTC)


 * I know that I/we ask a lot from you, so I'm sorry if it seems I'm just piling more work on you when you already have lots of other stuff to do as well. (Like RL.) But it really is appreciated. :) I think it would take about 5 days to finish it manually, since we're not even done with the A's yet. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 03:18, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, let's set priorities, then. Which would you rather be taken care of first: build redlinks or GW-userpage moves?  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 04:17, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
 * To give a PHB response: Both. And while you're at it, get Griffin's permission. :) [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 04:30, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Griffin? Narf?  o.O  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 05:56, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Needs more Dilbert imo [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 06:06, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Not sure why this isn't a project (or is it?), but I've got a list of GW-users, minus the ones that have TOC entries here, and their un-GW-'d pages. Now I'm checking those for redirects. --◄mendel► 15:35, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
 * To the best of my programming ability, the pages that should be bot-moved are listed on User:Dr ishmael/GW-pages-tobemoved.txt. I recommend against deleting the redirects (like Wizboy and Entropy have done) because you never know what external links or redirects may yet exist, and it doesn't hurt to keep them. --◄mendel► 16:03, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Well if all we're doing now is moving, as mendel suggests, I've got a script prepared for that already. &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 16:31, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Doing some checking before I run this, and I've discovered that for a lot of the pages listed, a GW-page already exists. Some of them are simply a redirect at one or the other location, but some of them, like User talk:Hellbringer/Archive 1 and User talk:GW-Hellbringer/Archive 1, have different content on the two pages.  What do we do with them?  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 16:57, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Argh, I ought to write my plans down - all I checked are the move sources, not the destinations. I think we need to do those manually. --◄mendel► 17:16, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
 * And if the GW-page is a redirect, do we swap the pages (move the original over the redirect, and leave the redirect at the original), or leave them as-is? &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 17:27, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
 * I appended the list with the possible conflicts. &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 18:18, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
 * I'd say leave redirects as-is, because that's obviously the wish of the user, and unless the original owner of the account shows up (unlikely), it's not a problem. --◄mendel► 18:27, 24 November 2008 (UTC)
 * The difficulty is not to move half a userspace. I think the goal of this exercise should be to bring all of a user's pages and subpages together in one spot (the move script missed subpages). If that spot is in User: or in GW-User: doesn't matter much. --◄mendel► 18:29, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

About GW.Dat
I've read serveral posts by you stating that you have extracted gw.dat. I'm wondering if you can point me in the right direction on how to get tools on it? Because I'm thinking of helping the Chinese GW (since NCTaiwan was abondoned) to get ways to update their info. Please contact me at willy_sunny(at)rofantasy.com, or leave the info here, thanks. 140.116.116.76 05:24, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Be warned, it requires some mad haxxor skillz. --Alf&#39;s Hitman 05:34, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * May I point you here. You're not the first one to ask for a tour of the Doctor's laboratory. :) [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 05:42, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Yep, I've explained the three tools I use at the link Entropy posted. Be aware, though, that you can't get all game data out of GW.dat or by ripping in-game textures.  The only text that can easily be extracted is skill names/descriptions, item names, and some other miscellaneous stuff.  Quest/mission dialogue and everything else is encoded with a method that I haven't figured out yet.  The only textures that are really useful are skill icons and inventory icons, and for the latter, you have to have actually seen the item in-game - the   option does not download inventory icons for some reason.
 * If you have any other questions, just ask. :) &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 14:31, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * I believe there is an additional compression layer in some of the gw.dat files and the icons are extracted rather than downloaded. I redownloaded a fresh gw.dat once with -image, and there was heavy hd activity when I first login and access my inventory/storage. This was also mentioned in the original gwdatbrowser thread, too bad the author lost interest after releasing it. --Evenfall 12:53, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Heavy HD activity could also mean that the icons are getting downloaded and saved to the .dat. --◄mendel► 16:17, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

What are you blowing up now?
I hope it doesn't result in a catastrophic failure that brings down the site. But if you DO learn how to make a catastrophic failure, you could probably get a list of sites that need to be obliterated if you asked :P --Gimmethegepgun 20:41, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh, he's just fiddling with calculations for the Lucky title tracks. The template just *looks* deadly and diabolical. However if you make a few changes here and there, it will actually cause...oh, but that's a secret. :)
 * By the way, 1 / ∞ > 0. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 20:45, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah, but limx&rarr;∞ 1 / x = 0 --Gimmethegepgun 20:49, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * (edit conflict) Within the confines of Wikia, yeah, it's just a harmless template to calculate the lockpicks you need to max your Treasure/Lucky titles (which only works to 8 iterations, unfortunately). Outside of Wikia and the silly "Expansion depth limits", it's... well, let's just say it's not a template you'd like to meet in an alley on a dark night.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 20:50, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I kinda peeked at it and my head nearly exploded from all the red error messages --Gimmethegepgun 20:51, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Cleaned it up a bit (6,085 --> 3,626 bytes), and now it works to 9 recursions. Which means you need at least 4 ranks between the two titles to start using it.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 21:43, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Nothing like a wacko-scientist-job well done...[[Image:Ereanorsign.jpg]]reanor 22:01, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Now if only I could get him to vaccuum.... Jink 22:11, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * *cough*andyoucouldcleanthebathroom*cough* >.> &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 22:19, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Wow, dirty loundry...[[Image:Ereanorsign.jpg]]reanor 22:31, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Don't even get me started on the laundry.... (XD love ya, hon!) Jink 22:34, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Oh come on, I wash the laundry. :P It's the folding that never gets done. >.>  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 22:37, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Hear hear! --JonTheMon 22:39, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * I prefer piles anyway Ishy.--Łô√ë [[Image:Gigathrash_sig_G.jpg|Turkey!]]îğá turkey 22:43, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * I live out of a series of laundry baskets. 208.44.247.101 22:45, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Luckily it's not the fondling that never gets done...[[Image:Ereanorsign.jpg]]reanor 22:57, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * ... ever heard of ending your comments one sentence sooner? --Gimmethegepgun 23:29, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 23:40, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
 * ...In america.--Łô√ë [[Image:Gigathrash_sig_G.jpg|Turkey!]]îğá turkey 04:18, 26 November 2008 (UTC)
 * With the help of MediaWiki! This template of mine burns with an unstoppable recursion! It's consuming parser compels me to destroy Recent Changes! Prepare Yourself! My #expr, my non-breaking space, and all of my #ifexist calls! TEMPLATE OBLITERATION! GO! GO! GO! [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 04:22, 26 November 2008 (UTC)
 * I plead the Third --Gimmethegepgun 06:20, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Mind helping me Dr Ishmael?
I was just wondering... Would you mind teaching me how to create tabs like the ones on your User Page? I'd appreciate it so much if you did! LostShadow 05:37, 27 November 2008 (UTC)
 * The easiest way is to just edit my page and copy it.
 * Starting with the 8th line, which starts with a, copy the next 5 lines (don't copy the line that says Graagh).  Also copy the last two lines, both of which look like
 * Paste that into your userpage, and change the part that says  to   (the 2 is just leftover from an older version of my page).  You can add your userpage content between the two parts that you copied.
 * Go to User:Dr ishmael/Tabs2, edit the page, and copy the whole thing to User:LostShadow/Tabs2.
 * Edit your new tabs page and change the links to point to your userspace, i.e. replace "User:Dr ishmael/..." with "User:LostShadow/...".
 * To change the ordering of the tabs, move everything between the  lines (those lines denote a new table row, and each tab is a row, so you want a   between each tab).
 * That should be enough to get you started. &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 05:45, 27 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Wow, I feel so dumb right now >.< Well, I'll try to get through that word for word! I'll tell you if it works or not, although I'm sure that it'll work ;) LostShadow 05:50, 27 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Lmao, I am so sorry! I'll change everything back as fast as I can, I was editing yours instead of mine, Im sorry. I got it all saved though, >.< Changing it back right now LostShadow 05:58, 27 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Changed it back, and once again >.< Sorry! LostShadow 05:59, 27 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Everyone makes mistakes, especially when they're new! Don't beat yourself up over it ;) Mistakes on a wiki are easy to fix - if you go to the history page, it even gives you a handy "undo" button :)  &not; Wizårdbõÿ777  ( talk ) 09:09, 27 November 2008 (UTC)
 * What Wizboy said. Looks like you got it mostly figured out, though.  The light-blue boxes in the main content area are created by the &lt;div> tags - if you look at the "About me" section, you'll see the second line says   and the last line says  .  You can copy those two lines into any other section to give them the light background.  And in the second line where it says , you can edit that for any section to make it whatever color you want.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 14:09, 27 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Ahh, didn't know about that Wizboy, Thanks. And also, Ishmael, Thanks for explaining what the 'div style' things did :P. Ill look into that a bit more tommorrow. Night everyone. LostShadow 05:34, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

Hey Dr, Mind explaining to me how to upload an image to GuildWiki? (i.e. a character image for a character profile page.) LostShadow 05:29, 29 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Special:Upload - You can find this link in the toolbox on the left side of your screen - "Upload image" RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.jpg]] 05:38, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Ahh, Thanks Kali, >.< Stupid me. LostShadow 05:41, 29 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Also, once the image is up, you can link to it by typing:  [[Image:RoseOfKali_Dungeon.jpg|100px]] , where the |100px stands for the width that you want it displayed as. It will turn out like this:
 * [[Image:RoseOfKali_Dungeon.jpg|100px]] and you can clink on it to see the full size. If you don't specify any width, it will appear full size.  RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.jpg]] 05:38, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Sounds easy enough. Thanks Kali. Btw, Sweet armor on your necro :) LostShadow  05:59, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks. :) I guess, to finish off the topic, there's another way to upload images. You can create the link first, like I explained above, with the name you want, and save or preview the page.  The link will appear in red.  Click on it (or open the red link in new tab, if you haven't saved the page yet), and it will ask you to upload the image in its place.  If you just did preview, then you can hit preview again, and the image will appear instead of the red link, so you can save the page now knowing what it looks like.  The preview way is useful if you are trying to decide on a particular width and aren't sure what it will look like ahead of time, saving you a bunch of edit entries in the history of the page, which people often call Recent Changes (RC) Spam.  The preview-first is the way I usually do it.  I hope this isn't too confusing, but you can ask me to explain again if it is, or just do it the way that works for you.  RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.jpg]] 06:10, 29 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Ahh... I think that way will work better for me (Not really good at guessing pixel sizes :P). By the way, Do you know how to add images into a signature? I tried... Didn't work so well xD

I tried adding the Profession Assassin icon, And it just showed up like this... assassin-icon-small.png LostShadow assassin-icon-small.png 06:15, 29 November 2008 (UTC) Do ya know how to fix that? I am 99% sure I put the right link, But it showed up as a non-created page. Weird.


 * I'm not sure what the problem is, but I have one tip for you to try. We usually encourage people to create a unique image for a signature, even if you just copy an existing one and upload it with a new name.  Kind of like mine, it has my name and "SIG" in its address.  Also, look at all the preferences in your signature.  Make sure "Raw Signature" is checked.  The text in my "Custom Signature" box looks like this: RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.jpg]]  This creates a link to my userpage, and puts my sig image after it.  RoseOfKali [[Image:RoseOfKaliSIG.jpg]] 06:21, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Alright, Thanks. I'll find a good picture for my sig, and link it to my user page in the morning. Gonna go to sleep now. Adios. LostShadow


 * See Help:Signature for how to change your sig, and Help:Uploading files / Help:Displaying images for how to work with images. &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 06:53, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

some magic for Wintersday
Mind looking at User:Entropy/Wintersday/Wiki decorations? We want to do some fairly fancy site decorations for Wintersday, and Mendel said you should be contacted. :) (T/C) 05:31, 28 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Bah, I was busy with some "real" decorations (we put our tree together tonight). I'll leave my comments over there.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 06:35, 28 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Me has graphic skillz too![[Image:Ereanorsign.jpg]]<strong style="color: black;">reanor 17:12, 28 November 2008 (UTC)


 * Make us some epic icicles then <3 or a snowball. --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG|Ohaider!]] -- (contribs) &emsp;(talk)  17:17, 28 November 2008 (UTC)
 * Epic icicle from Die Hard 2 (Actually an eyecicle lol)[[Image:Ereanorsign.jpg]]<strong style="color: black;">reanor 17:41, 28 November 2008 (UTC)


 * I don't think that's fitting for Wintersday on a public wiki :P --- [[Image:VipermagiSig.JPG|Ohaider!]] -- (contribs) &emsp;(talk)  19:07, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

Canthan Ambassador
I think the 10k was the price to add it to the guild hall. Not sure, and can't check atm, though D: --- -- (contribs)  &emsp;(talk)  20:04, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

Have you ever seen this skill icon?


Sometimes I wonder about ANet...

(T/C) 10:53, 1 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Yes, actually, that was the original icons for one of the Raven skills, which were originally Eulen (German: owl) skills. Someone extracted all the new skill names and posted them on GWO about a month before release here.  Anet decided an owl form was a stupid idea, apparently, and changed it to raven, and they had all the skill icons updated except Image:Raven Blessing.jpg by the EotN Preview weekend (the two old revisions are the Owl version).  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 15:12, 1 December 2008 (UTC)


 * We could upload that here and put it in Category:Skill icons (outdated). --◄mendel► 16:20, 1 December 2008 (UTC)


 * An owl form would kick ass in more ways than one. Even if it had the same stats as the raven form. Which sucks. But then you could have a great joke skill template [Skills template: ORLY?] to spam at people. :) I'm also eagerly awaiting for BAMPH! to be in the game. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 01:37, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Re:subpaging
The main reason is for modularization. Separation of the logic control vs the actual snowflake code. It minimizes potential for mess up when doing changes. The larger that Common.js grows, the more likely something trivially accidental will screw everything up for everyone. It also means its' very easy for individual users to see the snowflake effect on whatever page they wish (without having a full duplicate copy of the snowflake code in their personal JS). -User:PanSola (talk to the ) 03:29, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I don't need to be babysat in my programming, thank you. It's only temporary, and it was working fine.  Now it's just more annoying for me having to go back and forth between the two pages to make changes.  &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 03:35, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * With all due respect, Doc, that was unnecessarily aggressive. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 03:55, 2 December 2008 (UTC)


 * It's nothing personal. I am not babysitting you. I do it to all MY code as well. It's just better general practice. And modularization IS the simpler method for allowing random user X to see the snowflaking effect on all other pages (as opposed to being restricted to what the community decide as being acceptable) via minimal modification of his personal JS without full duplication of the snowflake code. -User:PanSola (talk to the [[Image:follower of Lyssa.png]]) 03:58, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I think the gist was: "I *was* going to do it. Don't patronize me for not doing it yet". --JonTheMon 04:06, 2 December 2008 (UTC)


 * From Ish's edit summary ("i don't see why it had to be moved to a subpage"), I got the feeling of "Why is this being done?" "I don't get why this is being done", so I explained why I did it. I am not patronizing anybody for anything they are or are not doing, as I'm not really keeping track of who did the code initially (I only backtracked the edits far enough back to answer Entropy's question), and I was unaware that Ish (+me) would be the only people expected to modify the js.


 * I did something, I saw a question regarding "why?" difference in understanding, and I answered the person who asked it explained my actions to the person who did not see the point of my actions. That was all my original post was intended to be. -User:PanSola (talk to the [[Image:follower of Lyssa.png]]) 04:13, 2 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Somewhat like what Jon said, it was more the way you just went and did it without bothering to look at who was working on it ("I was unaware that Ish (+me) would be the only people expected to modify the js") and giving me a chance to do it myself. You could've just said, "That should be in a subpage," and I would've done it.  [edit] It was also the way you said "Here's your culprit" when explaining to Entropy why it was showing up on the project talkpage, and how both you and Entropy completely missed where I announced that.  And the way Phalange just popped in and said it sucked (paraphrased).  On top of that, this all happened while I was helping one of my wife's characters through the final EotN quests and couldn't say anything for myself.  I guess that's what really frustrated me: had I not been playing the game this wiki's about, I could've been here on the wiki to respond to stuff.
 * So it wasn't just you, Pan, and I'm sorry I took my frustrations out on you. &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 06:33, 2 December 2008 (UTC)


 * It's okay, Doc, you're still valuable. I mean that. I really appreciate what you've done for the Wiki (beyond the wintersday stuff, even), knowing that you're really not just a silicon mind, despite what you like to claim sometimes :) . And I have no one but myself to blame for reading posts without really reading them. Bad habit from years of RC voyeurism. :\ I did read your post, but all I took from it was "...users can easily customize..." and I was like "Oh cool!" without reading the rest. :< So if I'd bothered then we wouldn't have had this misunderstanding. I apologize. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 07:00, 2 December 2008 (UTC)


 * On what I consider to be a spin-off topic, to me "code-ownership" on the wiki is no different than ownership of regular articles. If I see an article that I feel should be altered to conform to certain stylistic/formatting pattern similar to how other articles are done, and if I have the time, I would edit it myself.  Even had I seen you were the only one working on it, it would still not occur to me that only you are expected to be modifying it. The only time I'd bother to communicate is if beforehand I know others would disagree with the changes. The wiki editing practices had led me to consider editing things myself to be less patronizing then finding out who "did it" and get that person to "fix" it.  Finding out who did what is only useful when there is obvious disagreement and communication between parties is needed to resolve the disagreement, not when a person just want to change something. Then if anyone don't understand why I made the changes, I'd explain my reasoning to those people (ideally the explanation probably should be in the edit summary, but I blindingly had thought stating what I'm doing would've sufficed).
 * So, had I have been given a second chance (but still ignorant of ishmael's stance/opinion of modularization), I think I still would have changed the code myself, with the difference of maybe testing the length limitation of the edit summary. -User:PanSola (talk to the [[Image:follower of Lyssa.png]]) 07:33, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Anyways, apologies on the "culprit" thing. That was non-obvious gray-humor. -User:PanSola (talk to the [[Image:follower of Lyssa.png]]) 07:33, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * I think the problem is that you're not part of the official design team. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C) 07:42, 2 December 2008 (UTC)
 * That page also doesn't list the team members, and any case I would not have thought to check that page first (nor was I altering the actual design). I noticed edits to the JS in RC, went into the JS, and only visited the affected pages to check the bugs (and then noticed the actual discussion). >_<"  -User:PanSola (talk to the [[Image:follower of Lyssa.png]]) 07:57, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Wintersday Userbox!
To commemorate the effort you've put into preparing GuildWiki for our Wintersday celebration, I have created a special userbox at Template:User Wintersday:

Wear it with pride! <3 09:27, 2 December 2008 (UTC)