User blog:Gnostic/Article Ownership Policy

For those who did not read the fine print too closely, any article submitted to MEFW become the property of the wiki, not its creator, and thus the author loses control over the article as soon as it's submitted. Of course, with the exception of extremely crude, obscenity-laden articles, that kind of policy is not often enforced on fanon wikis, because it's a bit of a killjoy.

I bring this up because in the coming weeks, the wiki's ownership of submitted articles may become invoked more frequently. Here's the important part: Any editor who is inactive for a certain number of months, unless they've made prior arrangements (for instance, informing the community that they'll be away for a while, for school or military service or some other commitment that would limit their ability to edit on a regular basis) cedes control of their articles. This is not a new policy - Foxtrot's articles became subject to this some time ago, after he suddenly disappeared, because they were loaded with anachronisms - but it's one that I have been hesitant to implement on a wider scale. If you are an active member of this wiki, you don't need to worry about this policy. If you've not been an active member, and there's been no explanation for your continued absence, you might want to hurry over and make some edits.

Here's a breakdown of what will and won't be changed: Of course, I am aware that there may be extenuating circumstances, so any articles that are drastically altered will have a copy of the pre-altered article placed in an archive, just in case the creator of the article ever comes back and requests that the article be restored.
 * Fan fiction stories and RPs will remain mostly unchanged, give or take a spelling or grammar correction or two.
 * Much of Bluethunder and Nightmare's works will be unchanged, because they've conceded that these take place in alternate timelines.
 * The Council Era stuff will remain unchanged.
 * Shepard articles written by long-inactive editors may be changed. Shepard articles in general have long been a pet peeve for me, because as far as I'm concerned, they barely count as "fan invention" because there's very little in them that's actually invented by fans.