Forum:Quote cleanup

For some reason we seem to have developed a huge fascination with quotes and the quote template. There are a couple of problems I've been working with, and I'd like to bring this up before some major edit warring goes on.

The first issue is a small one that can easily be agreed upon, I think: opening articles with quotes. I'm not a big fan of doing so, as encyclopedias don't start articles with quotes. However, as we are working with a theme, it can make sense to insert a quote at the beginning. On the other hand, it raises the question of what a quote adds to the article other than looking good. Recently I removed a bunch of quotes from killstreak articles, the most ridiculous addition being the Modern Warfare 2 announcer shouted "EMP!"...in the EMP article. It's quite pointless to have quotes that just state the obvious. My preference would be to disallow opening quotes in general as they don't add anything to the article that can't already be covered in the article text or a quote section.

The second issue requires significant cleanup. Character quote sections are becoming the new form of trivia bloat. I feel that editors are forgetting that the quote section is supposed to contain important quotes that relate to the topic. It is not supposed to include every sentence that comes out of their mouth. The following is an example of an important quote:

"The more things change, the more they stay the same. Boundaries shift, new players step in; but power always finds a place to rest its head. We fought and bled alongside the Russians; we should've known they’d hate us for it. History is written by the victor, and here I am, thinking we'd won. But you bring down one enemy and they find someone even worse to replace him. Locations change... the rationale, the objective. Yesterday's enemies are today’s recruits... Train them to fight alongside you and pray they don’t eventually decide to hate you for it, too."

- Shepherd's speech during the intro to S.S.D.D.

This is an example of an unimportant quote:

"Shepherd..."

- Soap when waiting a while after taking the knife out of his chest

It doesn't need much explaining. There's a difference between a plot-defining monologue and somoene saying "Ouch". Unfortunately, lately we're adding more of the latter. It might sound cool when you play the game, but it's completely meaningless out of context (e.g. friendly fire quotes from team members).

I'm calling for a general cleanup of quote. Thoughts? --Scottie theNerd 10:53, September 1, 2010 (UTC)