Continuity Error or Lapse in Logic in Wings of Liberty

[mr. peasant]

A thought just occurred to me...

In Wings of Liberty, we find out that the Confederates intercepted a conversation between Duke, Mengsk, Kerrigan and Raynor about the use of Psi Emitters on Tarsonis. Meaning, the Confederates had advanced knowledge, not only of the impending attack but that Psi Emitters would be used to the Confederates' disadvantage.

Except, they did nothing about it. The Confederates had developed a Psi Disruptor and the device was located on Tarsonis itself. Meaning, as soon as the Sons of Korhal attacked - or at the very least when the Zerg started arriving - the Confederates could and should have easily stopped it. So, why didn't they?

Is there some piece of lore I'm missing or did Blizzard's writers miss this whilst developing Wings of Liberty?

[Kimera757]

The conversation showed the emitters were already online. Even transmitting that knowledge to the generals would take time (those generals were in the middle of a battle), and then those generals would then need plans to fend off the zerg, which weren't expected there yet. The Confederates also didn't know exactly where the emitters were planted; they weren't intercepting communications from the planting ghosts, who would helpfully state, in plain language, the GPS coordinates of those emitters. I doubt advance knowledge would have done that much good anyway, given the then-zerg superiority.

Edmund Duke: (Yellow) This is Duke. The Emitters are secured and online.
Sarah Kerrigan: (Violet) Who authorized the use of Psi Emitters?
Arcturus Mengsk: I did, Lieutenant.
Sarah Kerrigan: What? The Confederates on Antiga were bad enough, but now you're going to use the zerg against an entire planet? This is insane.
Jim Raynor: (Green) She's right, man. Think this through.
Arcturus Mengsk: (Blood red) I have thought it through, believe me. You all have your orders. Carry them out.

Since the emitters were secret, those generals would have to take time to learn about them.

[solidsamurai]

Except, they did nothing about it. The Confederates had developed a Psi Disruptor and the device was located on Tarsonis itself. Meaning, as soon as the Sons of Korhal attacked - or at the very least when the Zerg started arriving - the Confederates could and should have easily stopped it. So, why didn't they?

It's my theory that the confederates don't remember every project that they've ever developed and some get lost in budgets and poor accounting (not to mention asset visibility; their territories were quite large). Seriously! They were 'screwed up' for a reason. Much of the side fiction covers this.

However, I think above poster provides a more solid in-game answer for those that don't keep up on the fiction.
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Off topic - I think the starcraft wiki should include some information on popular campaign maps, such as legacy of the confederacy and life of a marine. It has information on insurrection, after all.

[Hawki]

Our policy is only to have articles on fan maps if they're recognised either by Blizzard or an impartial, unofficial source. Insurrection is included because it was recognised by Blizzard and is a commercial product.

[solidsamurai]

So in other words, legacy and LoA suck too much to be considered 'impartial sources'? :P

[Hawki]

You misunderstand.

"Impartial," in the sense of this conversation, means that it's impartial to StarCraft and has no special interest in it. No obligation to focus on the series, no connection that stems above other games, etc. To give an example, IGN would count as an impartial source. Has it posted stuff on StarCraft? Yes. Does it have an obligation to, or above average interest? No, because it's got to report on every other game out there. Ergo, if a fan map got the attention of an impartial source, then it would be good enough for our inclusion.

StarCraft Legacy isn't an impartial source. It's based on StarCraft. It's obligated to report on StarCraft. It's emotionally invested. It can focus on the topic. It's meant to focus on the topic. As such, the criteria for inclusion is broader than an impartial source. The only exception to the vested interest is Blizzard, because it's the official source. It makes its judgements, we follow.

The question may be raised as to why, if a wiki is based around a single topic, why it doesn't broaden its horizons. Thing is, a wiki collects information from other sources, it doesn't post its own. And to be frank, all wikis have to be careful when it comes to fan information. It's a potential floodgate. Take the StarCraft fanfiction I've written over the years? Is it extensive? Yes. Am I proud of it? It varies, but I like to think I've gotten better over the years. Is it notable? Unless it gets a place in Blizzard's writing contest or something similar, the answer is "hell no!" Obviously maps and artwork require a longer investment, but the same criteria applies.

I/we don't mean to snub people, but one has to be careful of fan material. I remember when Wookiepedia started including fanon as an April Fool's joke. Everyone hated it, everyone fell for it, and it showed what would happen to any wiki if the gates were opened. That's a reason why fanfiction/map wikis exist. They can focus on the fanon while leaving the mainstream ones to focus on the canon.

[solidsamurai]

The question may be raised as to why, if a wiki is based around a single topic, why it doesn't broaden its horizons. Thing is, a wiki collects information from other sources, it doesn't post its own. And to be frank, all wikis have to be careful when it comes to fan information. It's a potential floodgate. Take the StarCraft fanfiction I've written over the years? Is it extensive? Yes. Am I proud of it? It varies, but I like to think I've gotten better over the years. Is it notable? Unless it gets a place in Blizzard's writing contest or something similar, the answer is "hell no!" Obviously maps and artwork require a longer investment, but the same criteria applies.

I'm thinking that you could divide up the sections. Canon and non-canon - fan and 'impartial'.
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That way, you can rely on a voting system for what fan content gets recognized by the wiki. Because there is a lot of shit out there, don't get me wrong - but some of it is decent and isn't shit at all.

It'd be great to give the community a place of content to refer to, if they're lost. It doesn't have to be recently produced content - maybe a minimum requirement of having existed and remained popular for a year or so, at least.

[Sheliek]

Just create a fanwiki like every other major series has. I'm willing to bet StarCraft has one.

EDIT: Fancy that, here's one for fanfiction. Meanwhile, here's one for map-making.

[Hawki]

My points exactly. As Muspelli pointed out, there's wikis that specialize in fan works. It's therefore redundant to go en masse for fan works in a canon-based wiki.

[Sheliek]

My points exactly. As Muspelli pointed out, there's wikis that specialize in fan works. It's therefore redundant to go en masse for fan works in a canon-based wiki.

Notable stuff, however, I agree does deserve mention. But that's already the policy from what I've seen.