While as a FREDder, I would support NGTM's idea, I would still recommend two separate categories. One named "User-made ships used in a campaign," the other "User-made ships not used in any campaigns"? We could have these as two subcategories of "User-made Ships."
That, I think, would be a compromise. Either way, all models would qualify, and still you will be able to find out which ships were used in which campaigns.
Quite honestly what's the point of that?
So not only is it more complicated, by having two categories, but now someone will have to check every new mod that comes out and transfer ships from the "not been used" to the "been used" category? Really, that's a completely needless complication.
And what about those campaigns that were unappreciated because they didn't use multi-million-poly models with dozens of 16528x16528 textures on it? You can compare how much effort it takes to make a model and make a campaign, and decide for yourself if those are the modders that are unappreciated or the FREDders. This door swings both ways.
Someone's appreciation or lack thereof of a campaign is their perogative, and completely irrelevant to the issue. At least with the ship MODs, anything listed on the page has been released. The same could NOT be said of many of the campaigns. But I don't have a problem with that at all.
My point is that, I don't care if a model's been in a MOD or not and I don't care if a campaign has new models or is just new mission files. Hell I don't even care if a campaign's been released yet or if it's still being worked on. All models, and all campaigns should be judged and respected equally on the Wiki. It is after all, the Freespace Wiki. Not the BWO wiki, not the Fate of the Galaxy Wiki or the Inferno Wiki or even the Casualties of War wiki.
Someone should be able to click on Mod Database, then click on the ships, and find all the ships that have been made, used or not used. Similarily, they should click on the Campaigns section and find all the campaigns that are made (or in progress, apparently). End of story. So if people want to find ships for their campaign, they go to ships, if they want to find campaigns to play, they go there, if they need new music, they head to that section, etcetera. It's that simple.
If people want to play favourites, play favourites on your MOD's page and no where else.
And hell if people ARE really insistent on "only if the model's been in a released MOD" then I'll take every ship that hasn't been, throw them into a couple random piece of **** missions, call it a campaign, and leave the ships right where they are because who gives a damn.
Quite simple.
This is, over all, a player's reference. We cover some other things at a basic level, and there's some indepth discussion surrounding FRED and its uses, but this is still a player's reference, not a modder's or campaign designer's or whatever. If you want to get your ship out there and used, that's your job. The wiki's job is to provide accurate and useful information to people who play the game.
And a ship that has never been used in a campaign is not something of interest to a player.
Says who? You? I'm a player, and it's interesting to me. Hell I was interested just adding all these ships to the webpage, nevermind blowing them up in some person's campaign.
It's the "MOD Database", a database of freespace MODs. Simple.
Why don't we even quote the Wiki?
"This page is under construction. It will list ships, effects, models, templates, and anything else related to current mods and/or the modding of Freespace 2: Open. Notice, anything else related to . . . modding of Freespace 2: Open.
Creating a ship, is modding Freespace Open. Creating an Effect is modding Freespace open. There's no requirement to have it in a campaign.