[DISCUSSION] SCP Genre Tags Part 3

[DISCUSSION] SCP Genre Tags Part 3

ParallelPotatoes 27 Jun 2024 03:36

Previous Discussion Post: https://05command.wikidot.com/forum/t-16807895/discussion-scp-and-goi-format-genre-tags-part-2

O4 Mirror: https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/forum/t-16872165/discussion-scp-genre-tags-part-3

This discussion is a continuation of the SCP genre tag discussion thread started over a month ago. In the last tag discussion thread, it was proposed that SCPs be given a simplified list of genre tags if SCP genre tags become a thing. I wanted to discuss whether it would be best to simplify the tag list, and if so, which tags would be best to have on the list.

Here's a quick start-off FlyPurgatorio put in the last discussion thread, to use as a jump off point for discussion. Please note: this list is not a definitive proposal by me or Fly, but an example to start the discussion.

• Horror [this combines all horror tags we use]
• Comedy (including black comedy)
• Science-Fiction
• Fantasy
• Mystery
• Weird-fiction [this combines absurdism and surrealism]
• Political-fiction [this combines spy, military and general political pieces]
• Everyday [includes romance, slice-of-life, but also everyday objects being odd]
• Action [this includes adventure, chase, exploration, and a set of crime and military fiction]
• LGBT

Primary questions that I feel should be discussed in this thread are:

1. If SCP genre tags are implemented, will creating a separate, smaller tag list for SCPs be easier for taggers than having a combined list for both tales and SCPs?
2. Will the broader but less tags aid in discoverability of SCPs compared to using the existing tale genre tags for SCPs?
3. What tags should be added/removed from the separate list?

Last edited on 27 Jun 2024 03:41 by ParallelPotatoes Show more

Re: [DISCUSSION] SCP Genre Tags Part 3

Queerious 27 Jun 2024 03:57

I have a couple of scattered reactions, but wanted to start with the first thing:

• LGBT

As the tag is lgbtq, I think this should match accordingly

I feel like having genre tags is one of the key things that helps tales with discoverability; if we are having a discussion around adding genre tags to SCP articles, I think a similar conversation could be had re: adding attribute tags to tales. I do think both have a similar core issue — anything we add will negate the progress on tagging, effectively resetting it to a place where all articles need to be re-evaluated for tags. If this concern has been voiced in previous discussions, apologies, but I wanted to raise it now, just in case.

I think, purely evaluating things from discoverability, I don't know if genre tags accomplishes that; I'd say that having them share namespace with tale genre tags actually makes it harder to discover both tales and articles, due to the fact that there will just be a lot more when using a genre tag to search.

I'd actually argue that instead of the categories listed above, we could take a different approach, namely tagging works based on the 'era' of the wiki that they are closest to? For example, that could be:

• classic-scp (Series 1/2 and Early Series Vibes)
• cold-not-cruel-scp (Post-series 1/2 era, greyFoundation etc.)
• reimagined-scp (Modern takes, niceFoundation, remixes)
  • On that note, this would also help with giving visibility to remixes, as currently there is no tag for them.

The above is just an initial categorization, but I could see this as being an easier to implement variant that still aides with visibility, but instead of breaking the genres down, instead focuses on the 'feeling' a certain era of writing had? Of course, this is just my opinion, I'd love to know what others think

Re: [DISCUSSION] SCP Genre Tags Part 3

ParallelPotatoes 27 Jun 2024 15:14

As to the point about it setting back the tagging initiative, this was brought up in previous discussions. Several people mentioned that if taggers only focus on adding genre tags to newly posted SCPs and not focus in adding them to existing SCPs, it will not significantly affect the progress on adding genre tags to tales while still providing a benefit going forward.

EDIT: Thought more about the proposed era tags. Frankly, I don’t think they would be that useful or easy to apply. We would need to define what vibes apply to what tag, which is incredibly difficult to do from my point of view. Additionally, people could find a thing from a certain era by just clicking a random SCP in a series that belongs to that era. To use the existing genre tags as an example, if I wanted a comedy SCP there isn’t any specific place I can currently search to find one. The comedy tag would provide that. It just feels like a hard to define redundancy to add era tags.

Last edited on 28 Jun 2024 14:00 by ParallelPotatoes Show more

Re: [DISCUSSION] SCP Genre Tags Part 3

Jerden 01 Jul 2024 14:09

Personally I think these categories would be hard to define and use. I think genre and themes are a little more objective, and have the advantage that even someone who's brand new to the wiki knows what comedy, fantasy and science fiction all mean.

If they are useful as genre tags, why not apply them to tales as well?

Last edited on 01 Jul 2024 14:09 by Jerden Show more

Re: [DISCUSSION] SCP Genre Tags Part 3

Jerden 27 Jun 2024 04:39

I disagree with this approach even though I am in favor of allowing SCPs to be tagged with these. There's benefit to specificity, it may even be harder to know when to apply more vague and general tag to a work. It also seems unnecessarily confusing for both readers and taggers to have two separate lists for tales and SCPs. I don't think there's an issue with applying the same tags to both, they're both fiction that can be categorised into genres.

Re: [DISCUSSION] SCP Genre Tags Part 3

Ethagon 01 Jul 2024 13:16

Agreeing with this.

Re: [DISCUSSION] SCP Genre Tags Part 3

ParallelPotatoes 27 Jun 2024 15:10

I personally am not a fan of having a separate genre tag list for SCPs. I think that there will be an added layer of confusion for taggers where they need to ask themselves “Is this tag for SCPs or tales?” that would be further muddled by the two lists being just similar enough for tags to get swapped easily in a tagger’s brain. While I think that adding genre tags for SCPs is overall a good thing, I think making the lists separate would detriment the taggers too much to outweigh the benefits.

Re: [DISCUSSION] SCP Genre Tags Part 3

Miss Lapis 28 Jun 2024 17:03

I also don't like the idea of SCPs and tales having separate genre tags, for the same reason Potato said. If we were to start genre tagging SCPs, then I think it would be most feasible if they shared tags with tales