We make widespread use of faction templates, which we keep organized at
Category:Enemy Link Templates. All are based on {{
Enemy Link}}.
Originally, the game had very well defined, static factions. Then they started making changes that allowed them to be more flexible with what they stuck in that field, allowing them to change it on a given mob on a whim from one place to another. So what originally started as a fixed, concrete bit of identifying information has now evolved more into a descriptive piece of flavor.
A good example of this is "Famous Singer". In one of the recent SSA arcs, Johnny Sonata has "Famous Singer" listed as his faction. I would argue that there is no "Famous Singer" faction. It's a custom descriptor tossed on the character to be more interesting in the arc. It's a very different kind of thing than, for example, "Circle of Thorns".
I'm concerned that we're starting to slip down the slope into giving each and every one of these "factions" its own template and treating it just like we would a real faction. I just don't think that's constructive. I think the faction/enemy link stuff should be reserved for
actual factions.
For the custom-named factions, I propose we start handling them differently. There's two cases here:
Sometimes, a custom descriptor is given to a group of enemies from a well-defined faction. For cases like this, I propose we extend the Enemy Link templates so that we can call them like so:
{{Enemy Arachnos|custom=Disgruntled Arachnos}}
Which would render as:
Arachnos (custom faction: Disgruntled Arachnos)
The other case is for special enemies who aren't from existing factions and are just sort of on their own. For that, I propose a new template {{Enemy Custom}}, to be used like so:
{{Enemy Custom|custom=Famous Singer}}
Which would render as:
(icon) Famous Singer (custom faction)
I don't know what icon we'd use. Maybe we'd also even want to allow the icons to be overridden on a case-by-case basis -- though I
don't think we should create special icons for each and every one of these kinds of things. The point of the icon is that they're visually identifying for a known faction. One-off icons miss the point of that.
Thoughts? Or suggestions for a better solution?