A community that doesn't respect its own PF/lore/canon is doomed to that disease, no matter what. If everyone respects it, there is no reason for it to happen. Like in any roleplay game community, be it MMO or tabletop, as long as people keep being selfish and do whatever they want without any consideration for the community itself, it generates issues.
How can a community respect PF/lore/canon, if it's conflicting with itself at every edge and end? There is, for example, PF giving poets and poetics in Amarr society a really big value in cultural activities, with poets being able to acquire near-saint status. Now, in the EVE sourcebook, it is stated that almost all arts that aren't visual are highly discuraged by the Amarrian establishment and that rephrasing the message of Scripture (like in religious poetry of the kind that had previously been held so high) would be considered almost scriledge in Amarr. What now is true, what is the PF one should roll with? Is the spaceship captain who began as court poet suddenly an ex-amost-heretic, when he would earlier by PF have been on a path that glorified God like no other?
To me this example sounds like someone getting the 'good idea' of taking the taboo on imagery the Islam has and turning it 'around' for the Amarr: A taboo on written word deviating from Scripture. That this doesn't make sense at all, given previous PF interested no one.
And there are several such instances and with every passing year they are generated manyfold, as the canon writers of CCP apparently have less and less an idea what already exists in terms of PF. No wonder with all the back and forth in that department, really.
Of course, that is also true in regard to slavery, the role of race and racism and many other central things within the Empire, which especially suffer from not being well defined, but being stuck in loads of PF paradoxes, because they are emotionally charged.
I've not followed the PF of other factions as much, but I think this isn't something merely found with the Amarr.
So, instead of fighting all the time a senseless war about which PF is to be taken seriously, most people in RP - especially those in there for some time - prefer to play in circles that share a consens on such things which are only more confused by referring back to PF.
Actually, I can definitely agree with that assessment. But we were not speaking about PF inconsistencies in this topic.
People play in their own consensus circles for the exact reasons you stated, or at least for a good part. Why the hell are we bothering with communities like backstage, and why people are coming here to ask for feedback ?
Why not just getting it from their own little circles ?
I'm asking myself what's the actual point of putting PF up on Evelopedia anymore. The 100% accessible to all resource is essentially considered to be retconnable at any time not only by Eve: Source, but by any purchased sourcebook that may be released in future. So I guess more monies is preferrable to having a consistent resource that anyone can look up and access.
Same.
I think this is also CCP stand. As it has been a long time since a page got updated or one from CCP had left a comment on a page (I think is almost a year now). So I think, as you mention, that they will go in the future with the Book way.
Another example would be the latest chron from Abraxes which even hadnt made its way to the EVElopdia (I had to bring it over ), as well as not on the EVE Chronicles Portal.
As you said. It is bad for monetization, as the wiki is 100% free. As well as you can put on a book a "PG-13" or "FSK-12" logo, and get all the legal stuff out of the way (as for the wiki you needed a page before "the page" which ask you like the dust page: How old you are?).
As for the ranking: Source, Books, Chrons, Wiki.... What come before what.. I actually dont care... As you mention "having a consistent resource" is more importent. As for me where this consistency comes from I dont care. I actually even think... they should put that stuff ingame (like swtor did with the codex), but this is like the immersion project out of order. So I dont care.
I think for me it's a situation that might develop such as:
Player A uses Evelopedia resources for their character and fiction.
Player B points out contradictions to Player A between their Evelopedia material and the E:S material.
Player A asks, "So now I've got to pay just to have access to the actual lore in Eve?"
I don't feel that's a good direction to go because this isn't a tabletop setting where you can show people nearby quickly in your sourcebook something specific lore-wise. If the lore is shifted OOG, how are people supposed to access that quickly in an MMO setting for reference and the like to each other?
Called it months ago. :/
And as far as not "accepting" what we got from TonyG? People ignored the contradictions they had to deal with when he directly contradicted previous Chronicles. But the rest was still, and still is, PF - as long as it doesn't contradict Source.
I wonder.
I always accepted every damn Canon we got thrown at, insanely good or insanely bad, and that includes every inch of TonyG-isms. I took upon myself, gritted my teeth, clenched my fists, and went with it. Why do you think I fucking hate Jamyl ? I may be a roleplayer, but i'm not my character. I'm a player, and a reader. And that includes every damn OOC knowledge.