User blog:LokiIsAwesome/False rumours of Series 5...

One of the Wiki's most important values is to report geniune information, not bull sh☠ t. Last year the Wiki, when it was only being run by one admin (whose duties were already divided between other Wikis), fell a victim to some false information and speculation that went out of proportion. I fell for it, and so did many others. It created false expectations for the show and ultimately created disappointment. Not being very wise then, I believed whatever I saw, because I had faith in the Wiki- I believed everything on it was legit. That was because I hadn't learnt how easy it was back then to get away with fooling people with false information.

Now, the Wiki, since its admin revolution (it is almost entirely compared to this time last year) is a stronghold, the devotees here have grown, we have very faithful admins around the place, constantly monitoring the Wiki. I would say it's one of those highly stable Wikis, where we have 0-tolerance of false information and have the tools and knowledge with dealing with vandals. It's hard for somebody to last here who doesn't have good intentions.

We have been criticised of being harsh, but we still try our best to make people welcome, even anonymous users. We have guidelines and so on, but those who are just unwilling to abide by the rules will stand no chance at all. You're likely not going to last as an editor if you're not a fan of the show, either.

Now, more specifically, some of the false rumours last year that were being pumped through here, and since this is one of the top Merlin fanbases on the web, spreads like a virus to surrounding fan sites, included: I have confidence the Wiki won't go through this again, as you can see the Series 5 talk page is not full of the kinds of things the Series 4 one was. It shows that people have either finally learnt not to believe everything they see, or that the Wiki has improved.
 * The opening two-parter being called "Revival of the Witch". Now this really did get me, and it got others as well, as you can see in this blog post here . The first thing that came to mind was Nimueh, and oh how it worked at getting people hyped up for Nimueh's return. But that's just never going to happen.
 * Other smaller rumours, such as Grunhilda returning, Grettir returning, Cornelius Sigan returning, Gaius being killed by Morgause, Morgause and Morgana going on a hunt for Emrys.. it was just out of hand. You can see proof of this here . People were not only using 'hints' the producers and actors gave, such as Morgause returning, and spinning them into false speculation that people fell for as facts, but pulling stuff out of nowhere! It's surprising how just one or two people can spread a false rumour so easily.

This year we have already seen a few attempts to fool people, one of them being an Alvarr return rumour (Cultfix reported this and I messaged them demanding they remove it!), more Nimueh return rumours being thrown around (unsurprisingly) and someone made a fake IMDb page, stating that the first two-parter of Series 5 will be called the return and star Miriam Margolyes. Outrageous rumours. TheMerlin Series 4 spoilers thread fell for this, and Cultfix fell for the false Alvarr rumour.

So let me summarise.

'''We at Merlin Wiki aim to report all legitimate information only, and should there be any speculation, we will separate it from the facts. We make it clear what is legitimate. We check carefully to see if it's from an official source. Some random unheard of blog for example reporting that Morgana will ride Aithusa is NOT worth even reporting as "speculation". We can't afford to go to this level. The whole Wiki gets blamed if someone falls for information reported from some goon. Also trust your instincts- don't believe something if you have the slightest doubt about it! Always do the research. '''

List of false Series 5 rumours

 * Alvarr returning in the opening two-parter (while we want him to return, it isn't confirmed, so don't believe it!)
 * Opening two parter being called "The Return"
 * Miriam Margoyles returning
 * Nimueh returning
 * Bayard returning (does this look legit to me? no)
 * Anything that isn't reported by us, or has no legit source. When in doubt, don't assume. Thank you!