Talk:Dark Ages achievement

• Support. Especially if jokes are made about how silly it is for people to call the real Early Middle Ages by this name (and may geohashing as a sport itself be aged early-middle). Arlo (talk) 03:57, 6 February 2020 (UTC)
• Support. Yeah as a kind of memorial of these months of incertitude. As the icon of the ribbon refers, one comic that comes to mind is the "correct horse battery staple" since it was quite ironic that he talked about strong passwords and then the passwords of the forum users were leaked. Although an image like this, wouldn't be so much out of context as the horse one in reference to the hacking. The left hackers have more a dark-ages-vibe --SastRe.O (talk) 13:48, 6 February 2020 (UTC)

Ah, I like the way you think. Yeah, I was trying to get something more related to the Dark Ages, but something related to the hacking could be pretty fitting, as well. -- KarMann (talk) 01:20, 7 February 2020 (UTC)

• Support. For the icon, I'm imagining Black Hat shaking his fist with the text "back in my day..." --SIGSTKFLT (talk) 17:31, 6 February 2020 (UTC)

OOH! A black background with the text "503" in Times New Roman. SIGSTKFLT (talk) 13:07, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

My first thought was that was a `relevant xkcd`, but I don't see the connection (it's the one "it always messes me up that The East is west of me and vice versa"), and my next one was the number of days the wiki was down (but of course way too long; it's actually 155 days, and xkcd 155 is the one about velociraptor search history). Anyway, while the icon can contain in-jokes, it should also clearly communicate to anyone what the achievement is about. Maybe there's some people huddling in darkness somewhere in Time...(edit: perhaps the sequence following http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=2373 for several frames)(edit2: the speech of the leader of the surveyor people is also moving, maybe it could be a blockquote on the page somewhere: http://geekwagon.net/projects/xkcd1190/?frame=2923 the world you knew is ending / but fortune has delivered you from the flood / you did not intend to leave your home forever / but be thankful-grateful you left when you did ... not quite appropriate for hashing since we returned home, but I like this metaphor anyway)Arlo (talk) 15:06, 11 February 2020 (UTC)

It is a reference to the HTTP status code 503. During the Dark Ages, an error page saying 503 Service Unavailable was where the wiki had previously had been. --Fippe (talk) 14:06, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

• Support. During the dark ages, I wasn't sure that the wiki would ever be back. It's truly in the spirit of Geohashing to hash without a wiki. --H. Stickmin Esq (talk) 18:10, 6 February 2020 (UTC)

Support. This. Perfectly said. Pedalpusher (talk) 14:54, 22 February 2020 (UTC)

• Support. Especially as the wording "embarked on an expedition" makes me eligible (I only managed failed - damn you, mother nature! - expeditions during the Dark Ages). --DanQ (talk)

Actually, it currently says 'proof of a successful expedition.' But I wouldn't have a problem with changing it to include attempted expeditions. Go ahead if you'd like. -- KarMann (talk) 01:20, 7 February 2020 (UTC)

I agree, that needs to be changed to 'Proof of an Expedition' as the adventure is what we are after. Getting to the Geohash is just a bonus. Pedalpusher (talk) 14:54, 22 February 2020 (UTC)

• Support. --Fippe (talk) 13:00, 15 February 2020 (UTC)
• Support. But I would like a black rectangle as background, the black circle has too much white space. --GeorgDerReisende (talk) 11:04, 19 February 2020 (UTC)
• Support and not just because I have at least one to claim :) --Thomcat (talk) 22:09, 20 February 2020 (UTC)
• Support because I also have some expeditions to retro-document ... if I can get the details together ... -- Mampfred (talk) 21:00, 2 March 2020 (UTC)
• Support. I tenaciously checked the coordinates daily and went on some expeditions (writing the reports in text files), checking the wiki only every few weeks (that's why I noticed the rebirth only yesterday). My hope that it would come back slowly died, but my love of geohashing didn't - Danatar (talk) 12:09, 22 March 2020 (UTC)

Icon

Here's mine. --SIGSTKFLT (talk) 03:58, 12 February 2020 (UTC)

503	This user earned the Dark Ages achievement by SAMPLE TEXT.

So far, there seems to be overwhelming support for the achievement, but not for the current icon. Those who oppose the current icon, please present alternatives, so we can vote on them. --Fippe (talk) 14:06, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

I am actually ok with the 503 icon. Regarding GeorgDerReisende comment I am not quite sure I understand what he means. All the ribbons are circle so far I know, but maybe if we put the background black imitating the Midnight Geohash achievement, we get rid of the too much white space (since it's a Dark Ages achievement). It could look similar to this, but with the appropriate icon with transparent background and maybe a white line delimiting the circle.

This user earned the Dark Ages achievement by SAMPLE TEXT.

But, hey, I am open to other icon suggestions :) --SastRe.O (talk) 14:35, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

I added a white border to the circle, and made the background transparent. Also, I changed the right border of the ribbon from the default white to black. Doesn't look too bad in my opinion, but I am also open to other suggestions. --Fippe (talk) 15:48, 25 February 2020 (UTC)

Not sure how many of us are actually good at making ribbons, but it seems that we have a viable option and no one is really interested in making something else. I like the Black Background Ribbon better and am voting on that one barring some kind of glorious late entry. Pedalpusher (talk) 23:49, 28 February 2020 (UTC)

I generally like the black ribbon better, but if you have any links in it, the text goes blue and is nigh-unreadable on the black background. Do we have enough flexibility to change the properties of the a class or active selector, etc., in the wiki? I don't know yet. -- KarMann (talk) 01:51, 1 March 2020 (UTC)

When will this achievement be ready for use? --GeorgDerReisende (talk) 12:05, 20 March 2020 (UTC)

I currently see three open issues:

1. Black or white background for the ribbon?
2. Coordinates reached or attempted expedition?
3. When exactly were the Dark Ages?

The first two questions can be answered by a vote. When the vote ends in ten days, the achievement will be ready for use.

On the question when exactly the Dark Ages were, I've started this discussion, but have not gotten any feedback yet. The times between 2019-08-31 07:01 UTC and 2020-01-29 15:02 UTC are uncontroversial in my opinion, but it is possible that the Dark Ages existed for longer than just that. Please discuss the question here. --Fippe (talk) 12:59, 20 March 2020 (UTC)

Could we get alt-text on either/both ribbons that says "service re-available" (thanks, Fippe, for the explanation for the slow-on-the-uptake like me)? Arlo (talk) 00:00, 26 March 2020 (UTC)

SIGSTKFLT may be able to answer this question, as well as the question about the color of the links. He is the author of Template:Ribbon2 which is currently being deployed. --Fippe (talk) 05:27, 26 March 2020 (UTC)

Voting on Details

Vote with # --~~~~. Voting will end at 2020-03-30 13:00 UTC.

Ribbon

We have two ribbon suggestions, one with a black and one with a white background. Vote for your preference.

Black Background

1. --Fippe (talk) 12:59, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
2. --SastRe.O (talk) 13:06, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
3. --GeorgDerReisende (talk) 17:11, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
4. --Pedalpusher (talk) 18:59, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
5. --H. Stickmin Esq (talk) 23:32, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
6. --Danatar (talk) 12:09, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
7. --Arlo (talk) 00:00, 26 March 2020 (UTC) assuming the link CSS is improved.

Wording

Is it good enough to have attempted reaching a geohash, or should it be required to have reached the coordinates? Vote for your preference.

An attempt is enough

1. --Fippe (talk) 12:59, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
2. --SastRe.O (talk) 13:06, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
3. --GeorgDerReisende (talk) 17:11, 20 March 2020 (UTC)
4. --Pedalpusher (talk) 18:59, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
5. --H. Stickmin Esq (talk) 23:32, 21 March 2020 (UTC)
6. --Danatar (talk) 12:09, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
7. --Arlo (talk) 23:57, 25 March 2020 (UTC) (a good story is the real product exported)

Approved

Voting has ended. The community has approved of the achievement. The voters also decided that an attempt is enough, and that the ribbon shall have a black background. This achievement is now official. Use Template:Dark Ages to tag your expeditions during the Dark Ages. --Fippe (talk) 17:45, 31 March 2020 (UTC)