Expanded name vs. Shortened name

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Ray502
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Expanded name vs. Shortened name

Post by Ray502 »

I come across some articles (and just recently an edit) where the names of certain games under the section titles are in a more spelled out form, while for many other articles the names are shortened.

Expanded name: The Game Boy Advance version of Rayman 3.
Shortened name: Rayman 3 (Game Boy Advance).

I have been going with the shortened name when I edit those kind of articles, but I may as well ask the question. Should the names of those certain games be spelled out or shortened?
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R4Y_ANC3L
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Re: Expanded name vs. Shortened name

Post by R4Y_ANC3L »

Well, in my opinion, expanded names are useful in Some cases, because if a game title like the example you posted is expanded, there is specificity and information about what it represents.
Shortened names, in my opinion is used more for attention than specificity. It indirectly suggests something about what it represents and not like a "written will" kind of information.
I think Shortened names takes the win.
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Re: Expanded name vs. Shortened name

Post by Ambidextroid »

I think it depends on context, so as long as they both link to the article it shouldn't really matter.
I suppose I'd use the first one most often in a sentence, such as "While these do not appear in the original game, they do appear in the Game Boy Advance version of Rayman 3" as it seems more natural.
The second one I'd use in lists or standalone references or as a header, like "Games that feature Hoodlums include Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc, Rayman 3 (Game Boy Advance), Rayman: Hoodlums' Revenge etc."
Basically whichever seems best for the situation, I suppose the shorter form I'd use when I'm just referencing the title of the game but the longer I'd use if I were writing it in the middle of a sentence.
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Re: Expanded name vs. Shortened name

Post by RayCarrot »

I'm with Ambi here. Both seem fine, just in different situations. I think having the extended version is easier to read in texts, and it feels more natural. The shortened seems good when it's seen by itself or in some form of list. Otherwise I don't think it matters too much. It feels similar to how we do with Rayman 1, where it's usually referred to as "the original Rayman game". It's never referred to as "Rayman (game)" (even though that would be a more fitting title for the article) as that doesn't make much sense in a reading context.
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Re: Expanded name vs. Shortened name

Post by Ray502 »

While I agree with y'all on that, you guys misunderstood what I meant. I was talking about the section titles.

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As you can see, the top one (Rayman 2 Forever) is a shortened name (instead of the Game Boy Color version of Rayman 2), while the bottom one (the Game Boy Advance version of Rayman 3) is expanded (instead of Rayman 3 (Game Boy Advance)).

Like I stated in the OP, I have been making edits that include shortening the expanded names. Just wondering if the shortened name is more acceptable.
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Re: Expanded name vs. Shortened name

Post by Ambidextroid »

In that case, for titles and headers I think the shorter form is best.
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Re: Expanded name vs. Shortened name

Post by Hunchman801 »

Carrot-master wrote:The shortened seems good when it's seen by itself or in some form of list.
Pretty much this.

For example, we'll want to use shortened names in lists such as the 'appears in' section of a character template, or in a section title if it only contains the name of the game.

But inside a sentence, or a section title if it's part of a phrase, we should use the full name.

To clarify the distinction for section titles, we could have either this:

Code: Select all

==''Rayman 3'' (Game Boy Advance)==
Or that:

Code: Select all

==In the Game Boy Advance version of ''Rayman 3''==
As you can see, the first one contains the name of the game only, so we use the short version, but if it's part of a phrase, we go for the gramatically correct one.
Ray502 wrote:As you can see, the top one (Rayman 2 Forever) is a shortened name (instead of the Game Boy Color version of Rayman 2), while the bottom one (the Game Boy Advance version of Rayman 3) is expanded (instead of Rayman 3 (Game Boy Advance)).

Like I stated in the OP, I have been making edits that include shortening the expanded names. Just wondering if the shortened name is more acceptable.
I don't think you gave a very good example. Rayman 2 Forever is the actual name of the game, so it should be used pretty much everywhere, expect maybe for contexts where we want to stress that the game is indeed a Game Boy Color adaptation of Rayman 2.
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Re: Expanded name vs. Shortened name

Post by The Jonster »

I'm kinda split down the middle with this. I think in most cases though shortened would be better, but some names are just too confusing shortened. Just my opinion anyway.
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