GuildWiki:Profession archetype guides

Guides, Not Builds
As this wiki is a self proclaimed resource of facts it is the responsibility of the Wiki to document all factual information including that which relates to PvE build documentation. However, the builds section is/was based primarily on opinions and subjective discussions.

Therefore, visa vi this proposal, we propose that "builds" be replaced by guides relating to the nature of various roles commonly played by each of the professions. As per GW:NOB, original builds would be relegated to the user space in favor of guides.

This Policy is intended to expand the definition of accepted builds as per GW:NOB to allow for greater documentation for PvE by proposing a "Guides, not Builds" platform.

Reasoning

 * The primary purpose of PvE build documentation should be to give users who need information on creating builds the necessary information to make an informed decision when it comes to playing and making builds.
 * Guides allow users access to information without the problems of the current Build Policy.
 * A "Wiki" is best used for documenting
 * Popular roles are not a product of the wiki but of the game itself, therefore we should be documenting those accepted roles.

Explanation
To start, each profession has several typical types/roles that it may play in the course of the game. A Monk is typically a "Healer", a Warrior a "Tank", and so on. However, these guides would not be an attempt to to consign those professions to any specific role but rather to document the more well known roles. It is these roles that will be expanded to highlight necessary aspects of each role such as basic skills and a general attribute range.

What constitutes a "Profession Role?"
A role is any generally accepted category of usage into which original builds fall. For example, an original W/Mo Tank Build would fall under the category/role of Warrior Tank. Guides don't have to be limited to extremely large categories or even the most "successful" roles, they are any broad category of playing type.

Multi-Profession Roles
Certain roles, such as that of the farmer can be played by many of the different Professions. These can be addressed in several ways. Depending on how much information is necessary to document "Effective Farming" for a class, these can be part of the "Effective Profession Guides," or, if significant information is necessary to document them, a separate page may be created, such as "Effective Warrior Farming." Another example of a Multi-Profession Role would be Running. Individual, successful, builds will remain separate from the guides as per the Implementation section.

What Makes Up A Profession Role Guide?

 * 1) A Role Template (i.e. a bare bones build template including only basic, necessary skills)
 * 2) Major Variants
 * 3) General Usage
 * 4) Tips for Playing the Role
 * 5) Other necessary information
 * 6) Different guides will need different information to properly document all of the necessary information. The details of what goes into each specific page may be decided on a case by case basis.

Implementation

 * 1) Expand/Edit existing "Effective Profession" guides.
 * 2) Create separate guides for accepted Profession Roles
 * 3) Document any specific, accepted PvE builds (ex. SS Necromancer)
 * 4) "Original" PvE builds relegated to the user space.
 * 5) *Allow users to affix user build tags that allow original builds to be linked to Guides.

Guide
Each successive guide essentially falls into a sub-category of a broader guide. For example, an SS Necromancer (which is an accepted, specific PvE build) might fall under a category like "Curses Necromancer" which would then be a category of the "Effective Necromancer Guide."

Thus, the idea is to create a tiered system which limits the possibility of bloated pages and allows quick access. Similar to the system on the build namespace, if a player wants access to a PvE, Warrior Farming Build. Rather than searching through a single guide, that player can look at the General Farming Guide or General Warrior Farming Guide as well as the individual builds.

Advantages

 * Conforms to the Wiki goal of only documenting accepted information
 * No Voting
 * Fewer Policy Violations (Particularly GW:NPA)
 * Documenting only accepted Roles and Builds leads to no "bad" builds.

Examples
As an example, the Effective ranger guide lists the many types of rangers. Each of these can be explained with a general role guide. Some already have been. Look at the trapper entry and you can see a link to the General trapping guide which explains the ins and outs of trapping with a couple example builds. This is the closest version to a guide. Now if you look at the interrupter type it links to a build/guide that is a hybrid of a build and a guide that allows the user to create a build as well as learn the ins and outs of each skill from the role they are playing, highlighting the typical base builds and typical base stats for each chapter and possible secondary professions.

Either version works well to help the player to create their own builds and to also learn the strengths and weaknesses of many skills that may work in the role they are playing.

Conclusion
Both of these above examples demonstrate how we can replace the current builds section and retain vital information while casting aside the various problems associated with the current build namespace. Since these guides would be treated as articles and not the product of any individual user, they can easily be updated/changed over time and can focus on presenting factual information rather than individual conjecture.