Outlast Wiki:Rules and Guidelines

We advise you to thoroughly read and follow these rules before editing, especially in the field that you wish to contribute. Otherwise, don't question any administrators for the actions they might take.

Article Guidelines

Minimum Requirement: Articles are required to contain fair amount of content for each basic paragraph in order to be placed on the wiki. If said articles do not meet these criteria, they will be deleted. If there's any particular information you'd like to place, try finding a fitting article rather than creating new pages for minor events and background characters.
Veracity: Be discrete in your contributions, always add legitimate information. Be sure to check the information you wish to add to an article, it might already exist in it. Each section of the page is devoted to summarize one thing, therefore don't add a character's appearance in the story section.
Source your Information: Please provide us with some evidence to prove your statements. If we cannot source them, they'll have to be removed. For more information, visit Citing sources.
Proper Grammar: Do your best to edit articles with proper English grammar and spelling. Use source editor to check your spelling. All forms of English, such as American, Australian, British, etc, are allowed.
New Articles and Categories: Feel free to create articles for missing characters, levels, etc. but if you're looking to expand on something specific, please run it by our administrators.
Other Languages: Information from this wiki is also available in other languages, such as its Spanish counterpart. You can find these links at the bottom of every page. If there isn't a wiki available in your native language, feel free to create and interlink it with this one, for the purpose of expanding our community to a greater audience.
Limit your Summary: Don't be redundant when summarizing events. Be brief in your descriptions and don't capitalize too much on small factors.
Links: Don't duplicate links in one section. For more information about linking, visit this page.
Neutrality: Don't pick sides or be one-minded when adding additional info, be neutral by only providing your information and making it as explicit as possible without any bias whatsoever.
Third Person: Always edit in third person and don't refer directly to the reader and especially yourself.
No Speculations: Do not add speculations to articles if an event or a character's fate is left undisclosed. Feel free to discuss about them on the wiki's forum or the selected article's talk page, but don't include it onto articles as a legit information, even with believable arguments as sources.
Rumors: Any kind of rumors circling around the internet should not by classified as legitimate information, unless proven otherwise by the developers of the games themselves.
Trivia: Specific information that does not fit anywhere else on the article should be placed under the Trivia section. This can be many things; the developers' inspiration for a certain design, references to other media, beta elements, Easter eggs, etc. Something that's rather obvious or redundant won't be accepted as adequate content.
Editing Reasons: State your reasons for editing an article in "Edit Summary" box for easier reviewing.
Locked Pages: The majority of the wiki's articles are open for public editing. In rare occasions, such as consistent vandalism or large traffic, the admins might consider locking some of the pages to prevent unneeded commotion. If the pages are semi-protected, this means that new users cannot edit until certain amount of time has past, usually up to four days.
Edit Wars: Don't start edit wars on pages by constantly reverting back your edits, forcing them after someone had previously removed them, etc. If there's a disagreement between users, open up a thread, start a discussion on a forum or on the article's talk page. Always feel free to inform an admin or ask for their assistance if the situation gets out of hand.
Vandalism: Vandalism will not be tolerated and will lead to a permanent ban, immediately. The following acts are considered as vandalism:
- Removing legitimate content from pages.
- Inserting nonsense, gibberish, profanity, spam and unrelated information onto pages.
- Rewriting an article's content from English to another language (For more information, see Other Languages rule above).

File Guidelines

Images

Quality: Every image should be captured at highest quality possible. Blurry, distorted, pixelated and similar images are not allowed and will be removed without question.
Resolution: Images, such as gameplay shots, should be uploaded in high resolution, from 720p and above, at least. Anything lower than the available image will be removed.
Clarity: Images taken directly within the game should not have logos, watermarks or anything similarly attached to them. Rather, it should be a clear shot, displaying a character, an object, a situation, etc.
Format: All image files should be in standard .png file format for better viewing purposes. We suggest you convert from whatever format it may be into the commonly used one before uploading. There are, however, a few exceptions to this rule, such as uploading a high definition image of a character model. These images can potentially require a lot of space. Therefore, we might allow them to be uploaded in .jpg or .jpeg format, so as not to waste space.
Usage: Don't upload images that are not going to be used in an article. If you wish to use an image for your profile or a discussion that cannot be placed on the wiki, upload it to an external site. Websites like Photobucket are free and easy to use.
Irrelevance: Photos that are not in any way related to Outlast, its crew and developers, will be immediately removed. This also includes any sort of modified and distorted images from the actual game, fan art and mods. Galleries are also required to have minimal amount of images that showcase important details from the series. Having said this, excessive photos that serve no purpose other than showcasing a character, object, item, etc. from different point of view and/or angles will be removed.
Duplicates: Please check if the image you wish to upload already exists, by having a look at the images related to the character, situation or anything else yours depict. Otherwise, please refer to Special:FileDuplicateSearch, a page dedicated to finding the duplicates of files already uploaded.
Naming: Each image should have a short title that briefly indicates the current situation in it, excruciably long and/or unorganized titles will have to be changed.
Subtitles: Images with in-game text are acceptable, but it's preferable for them to be clean for better viewing purposes. Subtitles would be much preferred in English, if they were to appear on a file.
GIFs: GIFs are not to be uploaded unless there's a specific scene within a game that cannot be properly captured. Smooth GIFs are preferred for the comfort of readers.
Exceptions: There are exceptions to the previously mentioned rules, if images don't have a possible clear shot and are not available in higher quality nor resolution. Few examples would include images provided by developers, various news articles, logos, icons, etc.

Audio

Audio files can be an original soundtrack from the game or a character's voice file. For voices, we only allow the ones that were directly extracted from the game. The quality of them should be as best as possible, without various interference in the background, such as scratches, rustling and unidentified sounds.

Videos

Videos should generally be trailers, gameplays, developer logs, walkthroughs (Let's Plays don't fit under this category and are not acceptable) and tutorials for finding all collectibles, Easter eggs and secrets. Nothing other than Outlast or Outlast-related content is allowed on the wiki. Anything else will be removed from the video library. This also goes for any unnecessary clips and duplicates.

Blogs, Forums and Commenting

Content: Don't have one-liner blogs nor forums. Make your discussions more substantial. Don't use blogs for your personal introductions and keep them relevant to Outlast. See this blog for an example.
Limitations: Discussions that revolve around already existing or already closed topics, far-fetched theories and questioning even if the information has been confirmed by the developers will be removed.
Relation to the Story: Theories are always welcomed, but keep your speculations within the spectrum of common sense, and related to the story. Otherwise, they will get removed.
Commenting and Talk Pages: Due to massive abuse and spamming problems, we were forced to remove comment sections from articles. Users can still comment on blogs and can use Talk Pages to discuss and share their thoughts on the subject. Please look up how to use Talk Pages if you're not familiar with them. Inappropriate content placement will be removed and in some extreme cases, the contributor might get permanently blocked. This also goes for anyone that acts violently in a forum, chat or a talk page.
Quoting: Rather than quoting someone's entire post, simply write [@User's Name here] to refer to a specific user (if more than two parties are present) or only quote the part you wish to address on a thread or a message wall using the tag <div class="quote">.
Pyramids: Do not create pyramids when using talk pages. Click "Show" to see the following example.

Pyramids
Example Example Example Example Example

User Rights and Policies

Profiles: Contributors can decorate their user pages with images from this wiki and add a quick summary about them, their interest, thoughts and opinions. These are the following actions that you're not allowed to do on a user page:
- You're not allowed to edit other people's profiles.
- You're not allowed to discriminate and insult anyone or anything on your profile.
- You're not allowed to upload images that are in no relation with this wiki to your profile.
- You're not allowed to upload images for the sole use on your profile.
- You're not allowed to role-play on your profile. You are, however, allowed to center your profile around the character you favor.
Naming: Contributors can name their accounts whatever they please, as long as its appropriate. You can also name your account after one of the characters, but you're forbidden to roleplay.
No Role-Playing: You can base your profile around the characters you favor, but you're not allowed to portray them in chat, blog, forum and on a profile. You cannot write fan fiction anywhere on this wiki. Instead, we suggest you go over to our Outlast Fanon wiki if you wish to write stories and alternate plot-lines.
Appropriate Behavior: This goes without saying, but we'd still like to remind you to act civilized and have proper discussions with one another. Any excessive, over-the-top or egotistical behavior won't be overlooked, may it be towards an administrator like an anonymous contributor - everyone deserves respect.
Abusive Language: You're not allowed to insult anyone. Anyone caught doing so will receive a warning followed by a ban if the guilty party fails to comply. It may be overlooked if the other parties involved see it as humor.
Humor: Any forms of humor and humoristic behaviors are allowed—but there is a clear line between humor and incivility that must not be crossed. Violating rules under the guise of humor, and other inappropriate actions will be rewarded with a permanent ban.
Spamming: Spamming is considered anything that's repetitive or overly used. This also includes trolling, writing nonsense, gibberish, etc. If you forgot to mention something during a discussion, simply edit your post and add the missing details.
Advertising: Do not advertise any products unrelated to Outlast or Red Barrels.
Piracy: We don't support pirating of any kind, whether it be software or media related, and will ban anyone on sight who does so on this wiki. Sharing pirated content applies to this rule as well and users doing so will be considered the same according to the Californian Penal Code § 653h.
Suspicious External Linking: Any external link, redirecting to a potential malware or adware, a screamer or jumpscare, and/or to explicit content will be removed, and the user responsible for it will be banned.
Anonymous Users: Due to frequent spam and vandalism from anonymous users, we were forced to permanently disable their edits. From this point, users are required to be logged in if they wish to participate on the wiki. Anyone who doesn't have an account can make one within a minute for free.
Applying for Administration: Submissions for administration are not required, as the active bureaucrats are the ones to promote dedicated and active contributors to system operators, if the situation ever requires more. Admin's only additional duty is to keep the wiki safe from spam, vandalism and abusive or inappropriate behavior. Every user has equal rights and is able to contribute as much as they wish.
Masquerading as an Administrator: In the past, we've had trouble with certain users acting as admins who attempted to enforce policies they saw fit. This isn't for anyone to decide alone of what rules should be enforced, and anyone acting as such will be banned indefinitely.
Sock Puppetry: In wiki's terms, sock puppetry is a method of using multiple accounts for deception, usually to have a user support their own claim through alternative accounts or to create additional changes to the wiki after their main account was blocked (which often occurs due to vandalism). Please note that this deceit can be easily seen through and, upon discovery, will be met with a permanent ban.
Acceptance of Opinions: Each person has their own preference and propensity towards something or someone and they're to be respected. If you disagree with them, start a discussion. Any violence and aggression towards someone will be met with either temporarily or a permanent ban.
Assume good faith: Most people want to help expand or fix an article. Don't assume from the start that it was an act of malice (unless there's clear evidence of this), but rather inform the user of their mistakes or attempt to fix them yourself. Always welcome a new user, make them feel at home. Acknowledge their contributions and assistance by thanking them for their work and the time they took out of their day to help. Always be patient with users who are new to the wiki or are not familiar with our policies. For more information, visit Assuming Good Faith page.

Blocking Policy

When certain amount of chaos erupts on the wiki, administrators have no choice but to block users for violating or not following our rules and guidelines. Depending how severe and malicious their actions were, the greater the punishment. Banishment can go from a short and temporary ban to a permanent one. We only give three strikes:

A notice indicating to contributor's mistakes and a warning of further consequences.
A short term ban if the user does not comply with out terms.
A permanent ban if there's no reasoning with the user.

Relevance to the Real World

The developers were inspired and only used events behind MKUltra project as a background story for the game's plot. All other things that appear within this universe are purely fictional.
Certain locations, such as Mount Massive Asylum, are modeled after real-life locations, but the events that transpire within the game never happened in real life.
Any contact information that you might find in the game is purely fictional. Do NOT attempt to contact these nor anyone who presents you with this information.

Reports

The administrators' duty is to help each user and stop any potential nuisance to the community. However, we can't see everything. If you do see something which supposedly goes against our rules, and hasn't been taken care of yet, please, take the time to share this information with any administrator, so that they can work on it.