Glitch City Wiki:What is expected of articles

Glitch City Wiki is a very specialized website that focuses on glitches in the Pokémon series of video games.

As a wiki, the Glitch City Wiki is open to edits by anyone. That said, there are guidelines concerning what it is accepted and what is not. Following are some rough guidelines as to what we look for in content.

Relevance

First and foremost, articles here must be relevant to the topic of this wiki — Pokémon glitches. Indeed, the majority of articles on this wiki are either about the glitches themselves, or their common consequences (glitch Pokémon/item/..., glitch techniques, etc.). However, as can be seen from the glitch page, the definition of "glitch" can be very vague, and may encompass any behavior of the game that a player may find "weird". As such, we also accept some articles on things that are not deemed "glitches" by our community, such as non-glitch exploits like luck manipulation, a list of text errors, and ambiguous behaviors such as Slot machine behaviors (Generation I). Articles that describe the inner workings of Pokémon games are helpful for glitch research, and thus are welcome.

We used to also accept articles about non-Pokémon glitches. However, we have decided that those articles were of questionable value and are not worth the trouble of managing them. As such, we no longer accept new articles about non-Pokémon glitches, and existing such articles will be deleted. Articles about general glitching concepts are still acceptable as long as they are written with a focus on their applications to Pokémon glitching.

Verifiability

Content must be verifiable. We differ from most wikis in that our research is very original, in the sense that it is typically not "published by reliable third parties" (the reliability of fansites in general is often disputed). Therefore, Glitch City Wiki is often a primary source. What this means is that we cannot require that you cite sources for everything you write here. However, we still do not want the wiki to be plagued with false information. If you want to add content about (for example) a new glitch:

• Please try to reproduce the glitch, no matter whether you found it yourself while playing/researching or if you read about it on another website. When you repeat the same actions and observes the same results multiple times, it rules out the possibility that the original incident was just a human error and/or you misremembered something. If possible, also try the same actions under different circumstances, in order to reveal or rule out any other conditions being significant. Remember that glitches are volatile and can often be affected by something that at first seems to be irrelevant.
  • In terms of accuracy, the best way to reproduce a glitch is on the original hardware. If you must use an emulator, be aware that their behavior may differ from the original hardware, especially when glitches are involved. Notably, VisualBoyAdvance (VBA) is notoriously inaccurate, and a glitch happening on VBA is not enough evidence that it would also happen on the original hardware and in the same ways. Emulators that are accepted by the Pokémon speedrun community are usually deemed accurate enough, as well as some others like BGB.
    • The Game Boy Tower and the Virtual Console, despite being official, are also emulators, and not particularly accurate ones, so be aware.
    • If you want to document glitches or glitch variants that only happen on a particular emulator (especially an official one), it is acceptable, but please clearly indicate what emulator you are using, and if possible, the difference in behavior from original hardware.
  • If you are having any difficulties reproducing the glitch, or if you just do not feel like doing that, please reach out to our community through the GCRI Discord or a discussion page on this wiki (for a new glitch, you can do it on the category page for glitches of that generation). There has been a fair number of glitches that took a lot of effort to reproduce, such as a mysterious incident where an NPC walked through the Cable Club lady. Of course, even if you are not having any difficulty, you are welcome to reach out to us.
• Alternatively, you may want to check out one of the Pokémon disassembly projects on github, especially if you have some experience with programming. If a glitch is documented on one of those disassembly projects, that is considered a reliable source. If you can find the cause of a glitch from the disassembly, then it is not only acceptable but welcome (but please note that some of those disassembly projects are not complete yet).
• If a glitch is officially acknowledged by Nintendo, that counts as a reliable source too, especially considering that such a glitch may be impossible to otherwise verify if they are fixed in a later version. You may still want to experiment with it if possible, though, since official acknowledgements usually do not tell the whole story.
• As a last resort, you may use the template {{Verify}} for information on the internet that is likely to be true (because it is from a website you believe to be trustworthy and/or there is video or picture proof). Again, we would like you to reach out to us before doing this.

Neutrality

Articles should be written from a neutral point of view. This means your own personal likes, dislikes, or biases should not dictate what you write.

Since glitching is a science, articles in this wiki should usually consist mostly of facts, not opinions. However, there can still be statements that are opinion-based, like whether something is a glitch, as opposed to a non-glitch exploit or a logical consequence of another glitch; whether some technique is the most convenient to achieve a particular goal; whether some technique should be allowed in a certain speedrun; etc. In those cases, please make sure that those statements reflect the consensus of the glitching community as well as the consensus of the general Pokémon community. If there is a controversy, do as you would do on Wikipedia: Do not take sides, explain the sides, etc.

Again, when in doubt, please reach to us. Alternatively, be bold, and do not take it personally if your edits are changed or reverted.

Style

There is a certain style of writing that is preferred at Glitch City Wiki. See Glitch City Wiki:Manual of style. As stated on that page, it is not mandatory, so you should not let that stop you from contributing. On the other hand, when you are in doubt, it may tell you what we prefer to see.