Talk:Pting (The Tsuranga Conundrum)

Two separate pages

Do we really need two seperate pages for this creature? We already have it covered on Pting and there has only been one present as of yet, and we know nothing specifically about this Pting that seperates it from other Pting. --DCLM ☎ 20:35, November 4, 2018 (UTC)

This is a page on the individual, the other is a page on the species. I see no problem. --Borisashton ☎ 20:36, November 4, 2018 (UTC)

Because, as I said, there is literally nothing to seperate it from the rest, not even a name. And only one so far has been encountered. We do briefly hear about the captain encountering one before, but no information to seperate it from the next one. --DCLM ☎ 20:44, November 4, 2018 (UTC)

As you say, there is some information to seperate them. Anyway, when this page is "complete" it will contain detailed information that would only deserve a brief summary on the species page. This has a precedent with Metalkind and Metalkind (Sky). --Borisashton ☎ 20:48, November 4, 2018 (UTC)

A species page should focus on biology, species history, abilities. A character page focuses on the biography (and personality, etc) of the individual. They inherently cover different information, even if there's only one known individual. (I haven't seen the episode yet, so I don't know about the case here.)
× SOTO (☎/✍/↯) 20:53, November 4, 2018 (UTC)

Exactly. As you say a character page cover individual personality and biography. As this is not an individual thing of this Pting, as we are given information on Pting in general, I do not see a need. It would cover exactly the same. --DCLM ☎ 21:00, November 4, 2018 (UTC)

But it wouldn't cover exactly the same thing! There is a species overview given in the episode: "Pting. Threat level - Chalice. ...the species, if it is a species, birth or creation, many studies having failed due to the fatally violent nature of the Pting. No Pting has ever been kept in captivity due to their ability to eat through any material that would incarcerate them. While strictly non-carnivorous, they devour all non-organic material." --Borisashton ☎ 21:09, November 4, 2018 (UTC)

Which is exactly what this Pting would also be described as. --DCLM ☎ 21:25, November 4, 2018 (UTC)

No. The species page would cover:

* The species' threat level

* The uncertainty as to what exactly it is

* The history of the studies performed on them

* Previous attacks of the Pting (the captain's example cited above)

* Their material eating capabilities

* A sentence or two about the individual Pting in the episode

The individual page would cover a much more detailed analysis of this Pting's objectives and history as portrayed in the episode. As such, they would overlap when mentioning their thirst for energy. The page would certainly not talk about the activities about other Pting or a mention about they status biologically as a species. --Borisashton ☎ 22:14, November 4, 2018 (UTC)

You have nothing to cover that seperates this particular Pting from the rest. We have only encountered this one single Pting. At best you could only leave out the general's previous encounter. You have nothing to seperate them Besides that little piece of info that is hardly grounds for a whole seperate page. As the computer told there is not sufficient study of the creature to pin down differences from individual Pting. They don't have different values, they all have same measure of hostility, and anger, same appetite, same appearance (as far as we can tell from the still holographic image). What could you possibly add to this page that would differ this Pting from other Pting. They all act the same, according to what little the computer had gathered. --DCLM ☎ 22:25, November 4, 2018 (UTC)

Having seen the episode now, I can agree that the wiki benefits from separate pages. It's not necessarily essential, but we can absolutely pin down a biography for this character which is distinct from an overall history of the species. And we do have a sense of the species existing beyond this one individual. They have been a major menace in the recent past, and information has been gathered about them. We also learn about their abilities and biological needs as a species.
× SOTO (☎/✍/↯) 01:37, November 5, 2018 (UTC)

I just don't see it. --DCLM ☎ 08:43, November 5, 2018 (UTC)

I'm not seeing it either. As far as we can discern there is absolutely nothing unique about this individual that would require a character page. All relevant information regarding this particular Pting is covered in the species page regarding the Pting as a whole. It doesn't even have a separate designation, it's just "a Pting". I don't think an entirely different page, with much less information about the Pting, is either necessary or desirable. In fact, it may even make it inconvenient to retrieve information about the Pting as a whole. Masterpwn (Do you hear the bones too?) 20:29, November 5, 2018 (UTC)

I agree with having two separate pages. While the species page contains information about biology and brief information about various encounters, the individual page gives a more in depth view of the history and motives behind this particular Pting. Do we know that all Ptings are attracted to energy, or was that just a trait of this particular Pting?66 Seconds ☎ 23:48, November 5, 2018 (UTC)

Exactly what I said "Masteepwn". There is absolutely nothing that seperates them. It's the nature of the Pting. And it isn't intelligent enough to think seperate thoughts (so to speak). --DCLM ☎ 16:26, November 7, 2018 (UTC)

It is completely routine to separate pages for species and characters. They live in different parts of the category tree. As SOTO already explained, they have different focus. There is quite a lot of personalised information about this Pting: it killed Astos, it encountered the Doctor, it ate the sonic screwdriver. That this info is not on the page is regrettable as this is what the biography is all about. And this information would not be appropriate (or at least severely curtailed) on the species page. And, as already mentioned, there is plenty of information about the species that would not be appropriate on the character page. I agree with SOTO that the topic could be covered without the second page. But this case is much better suited for two pages, which would contain almost disjoint information in this case. Finally, think of future proofing. When another Pting appears, and it inevitably will, in the comics most probably, its info would also be put on the species page? And then another? That's not a very good plan for the future. Amorkuz ☎ 22:25, November 7, 2018 (UTC)

I was thinking in that case, couldn't we wait until more appear? --DCLM ☎ 22:45, November 7, 2018 (UTC)

The point of future proofing is not to wait for the future to occur. It has been well-established that there is clear information relating solely to this Pting that would be out of place or detrimentally truncated on the species page. Have you got any further points to add to the discussion? --Borisashton ☎ 23:25, November 7, 2018 (UTC)

If we had only one page still and were considering whether to create the second one, sure. Why create yourself extra work that might not be needed. But we are now in a state with two pages. So it would be extra potentially useless work to delete the second one. Amorkuz ☎ 23:27, November 7, 2018 (UTC)