The Manual of Style (MoS or MOS) is the style manual for all Dustloop articles. This primary page is supported by further Writing Character Pages and Writing System Explanations. If any contradiction arises, this page has precedence.
Retaining Existing Styles
Sometimes the MoS provides more than one acceptable style or gives no specific guidance. The Moderation Team has expressed the principle that "Format is flexible and individual users can push innovation. This does not mean anything goes. If you believe an alternative style would be more appropriate for a particular section, please discuss it in the Dustloop Discord.
Edit-warring over style is never acceptable.
General Writing Style
Dustloop aims at being an impartial, community driven source of information and education. In order to achieve that, articles need to be written in a manner conducive to maintaining trust, professionalism, and respect. Some things which can help are listed below.
- Write in the 3rd person.
- Avoid writing in a way that directly addresses the reader. ("you")
- Avoid emotive language when possible. (eg: "insanely oppressive offense and abysmally awful defense")
- Avoid casual phrases when possible. (eg: "yeah, you can totally block that, bro")
As a general note, Dustloop aims to be descriptive rather than prescriptive. Describe the options which are made available by the game systems and characters. To add to that point, Dustloop needs to be written agnostic to the skill of the reader. Never assume a particular level of reader competence so that the largest audience reasonably possible. An easy way to achieve this is to stick to the descriptive nature of what the character can do as opposed to what the player can do. Instead of "you can block while in the air", write "X Character can block while in the air".