Left 4 Dead Wiki:About

The Left 4 Dead Wiki, created on May 11th, 2008 by ShadoW, aims to be the most complete and accurate source of information about Left 4 Dead that anybody can edit.

Welcome
Welcome to the best place to learn everything about the universe of Left 4 Dead!

Left 4 Dead, developed by Valve Corporation, is a multiplayer co-operative survival horror first-person shooter, taking place in a "zombie apocalypse" which is set tangible future (evidently taking place in the fall or winter of 2009). A demo for the game was released on November 11th, 2008, and the full game was released a week later on November 18th, 2008.

If you're not a big Left 4 Dead fan, then this probably isn't the place for you. All information found on this wiki is related to Left 4 Dead, either directly, or peripherally.

Now you are probably wondering: What exactly is a wiki? Well, a wiki is a site where anybody -- not just webmasters or members -- can edit any page. Wikis are best used for collaborative knowledge-base type documents. For instance, one of the most successful wikis is Wikipedia.

What this means is that you could be an important author on this wiki! Know about some hidden cache of weapons that the Director always spawns? Do you know every tiny glitch and exploit? Want to help us catalogue everything about Left 4 Dead? Go ahead! If you ever need to find something, use the search bar. It should help you find what you're looking for.

If you decide to stick around, use the log in link at the top of this page to set up a username. To edit a page, click the "edit" link at the top of any page. Please be polite, and briefly describe any changes you make in the "Summary" text field on the edit page. Your "Summary" comments will appear on the recent changes page. This wiki does not support fanon or any other Left 4 Dead self-creations. The only page you can edit however you wish is your User Page, which you will receive when you log in.

If you ever have questions about the wiki, feel free to type them up on the help desk. A knowledgeable person will most likely provide you with an answer within a few minutes. This wiki is absolutely free, no money is ever paid. Ever.

We hope you'll feel welcome here amongst fellow fans of the greatest game of all time.

Guidelines
Encourage others, including those who disagree with you, likewise to BE BOLD!
 * 1) BE BOLD! in updating pages. Go ahead, it's a wiki!
 * 1) Be civil to other users at all times.
 * 2) * Be tolerant. Please remember that we welcome editors of all age, gender, race, nationality, religion, sexuality, and many other things beyond, and all users should respect everyone. No derogatory terms should be used anywhere against any of the aforementioned differences, and no user should be attacked period—as further expounded upon below.
 * 3) * No personal attacks. Don't write that user such and so is an idiot, or insult him/her (even if (s)he is an idiot). Instead, explain what they did wrong, why it is wrong, and how to fix it. If possible, fix it yourself (but see above).
 * 4) * Watch the language. While we do not by any means wish to censor our wiki (Left 4 Dead itself is a Mature rated game), unneeded and obsessive profanity is rather unprofessional and can be used to provoke anger causing conflicts. We ask that while you are allowed to swear on the Wiki, just don't over do it. If you have to question your sentences, it'd be best you try to change some of the words in your post.
 * 5) When in doubt, take it to the talk page. We have all the time in the world. Mutual respect is the guiding behavioral principle of Wikia and, although everyone knows that their writing may be edited mercilessly, it is easier to accept changes if the reasons for them are understood. If you discuss changes on the article's talk (or discussion) page before you make them, you should reach consensus faster and happier.
 * 6) Respect copyright. Wikia uses the GNU Free Documentation License. Everything you contribute must be compatible with that license.
 * 7) Decent edit summaries and clear and transparent explanations are universally appreciated. Other editors need to understand your process, and it also helps you yourself to understand what you did after a long leave of absence from an article. Please state what you changed and why. If the explanation is too long, add more on the discussion page.
 * 8) Assume good faith; in other words, try to consider that the person on the other end of the discussion is a thinking, rational being who is trying to positively contribute to the project—unless, and only unless, you have firm, solid, and objective proof to the contrary. Merely disagreeing with you is no such proof.
 * 9) Particularly, don't revert good faith edits. Reverting is too powerful sometimes. Don't succumb to the temptation, unless you're reverting very obvious vandalism (like "LALALALAL*&*@#@THIS_SUX0RZ", or someone changing "1+2=3" to "1+2=17") . If you really can't stand something, revert once, with an edit summary something like "(rv) I disagree strongly, I'll explain why in talk." and immediately take it to talk.
 * 10) Be graceful: Be liberal in what you accept, be conservative in what you do. Try to accommodate other people's quirks the best you can, but try to be as polite, solid, and straightforward as possible yourself.
 * 11) Sign your posts on talk pages using ~, which gets replaced by your username and timestamp when you hit Save. But don't sign on mainspace articles.
 * 12) Use the preview button; it helps prevents edit conflicts and mistakes.
 * 13) Provide citation; Not everyone has seen what you have. If you add something that isn't well known, add a link at the end of your addition using the brackets. Without reference, it is likely no one will believe you and delete your edit.

Wiki Etiquette
If you're still unsure of how stuff works around here, you may want to check out the MediaWiki User's Guide. There you will learn how to make bold, italics, and other wiki stuff. Out of courtesy, you really shouldn't edit pages unless you are adding something meaningful, or fixing grammar and spelling mistakes. You also shouldn't delete pages unless you have an extremely good reason. If you want to play around and get a feel for editing pages, please do so in the Sandbox.

Wikipedia has a great WikiCivics section. They cover a lot of information about what is accepted and what is not accepted on a wiki. There are really no rules, but there is a definite level of etiquette involved. Some of the suggestions they offer are only relevant to Wikipedia, but many of them apply to any wiki. Anyone interested in being a valuable contributor to any wiki should read them.

A Warning
Above all, never use defamatory language or deface documents our community has worked hard to create. Note that the wiki gives everyone the ability to revert documents back to their original state. Therefore, no one can permanently harm the wiki by deleting pages. All an offender will accomplish is to slightly annoy our wiki community. After repeated defacings, our administrators will permanently block the offender's IP address. If defamatory language is seen it will be changed or deleted.

It's important to have fun... but try to make sure those around you have fun too!

When you will be warned

 * 1) Minor vandalism to a page or multiple pages.
 * 2) Constantly revert edits in a destructive manner.
 * 3) Making contributions with the intention of being vulgar, racist, or destructive.

What can get you blocked

 * 1) Using a sock puppet to get around a block. (Extends duration of current block)
 * 2) Ignoring a warning posted on your talk page. (3 days - 1 month)*
 * 3) Majorly vandalizing a single or multiple pages repetitively and have made no effort to be constructive. (3 months - 6 months)*
 * 4) Harsh racism. (Infinite)

-*Duration may be extended if actions continue either through Talk Page, a sock puppet, or once the first block expires.

Capitalization, Abbreviations, and Acronyms
What needs capitalization and what doesn't?

As a general rule:


 * Survivor - referring to any non-infected human being. They are Survivors. Francis is a Survivor. There is Survivor graffiti in a lot of safe rooms. This doesn't apply when referring to the condition of something. Did everyone survive Blood Harvest?
 * Infected - referring to any infected human being. They are Common Infected, Uncommon (Common) Infected and Special Infected. This doesn't apply when referring to the condition of a human being. The Church Guy is infected and will turn into a Special Infected!
 * Special Infected types - Tank, Boomer, Hunter, Smoker, Witch, Spitter, Charger, Jockey. Treat their types as their names, even when referring to them in the plural. For example in The Plantation, oh snap, there's two Tanks at the same time!
 * Weapons - when referring to a weapon in-game, use capitals. For example, the Auto Shotgun. Or the Submachine Gun. A Golf Club. Two Molotovs.
 * Locations - follow how it is spelled on the wiki. The Passing is always The Passing, even in the middle of a sentence.

What needs abbreviations and acronyms? Nothing! Only if it is used in-game as a corporate entity, such as CEDA. For the Submachine Gun and Silenced Submachine Gun, don't use SMG over it. Common Infected do not become CI. Special Infected do not become SI either.