Editing Talk:Grab Block

==Merge ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' Ice Block with ''Super Mario World'' Grab Block (proposal)==

See "rebooted" section for details. In essence, the White Block from ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' is identical in every way with the Grab Block from ''Super Mario World'', with both being suggested as icy blocks that seemingly melt in Mario's hands and lacking the slippery platform traction of ordinary Ice Blocks, with which they're distinguished. As such, I think it would be a mistake to keep the ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' version merged with the Ice Block article when the ''Super Mario World'' version is much more appropriate. Two main options are presented in this proposal. The first will simply merge White Block with Grab Block, which is a more self-explanatory name. The second will still merge, but make White Block the current name, which would be closer to policy due to being the most recent in-game name as of ''Super Mario Advance 4''. A third option merges Grab Block with the Ice Block article, although I'm not sure I particularly recommend this since that article could probably stand to have a thing or two split already. A fourth option fully splits White Block as its own article. In any case, an <nowiki>{{about}}</nowiki> will be added to note the "White Block" Semisolid Platform.

==Merge White Block with Grab Block==

As WilliamFrog points out above, while there is technically no proof that the [[White Block]] and Grab Block are the same, they behave almost identically and differences in appearance can be chalked up to the standard blocks that they share graphics with in both games being different, would be unintuitive to the average wiki reader, and results in articles that largely contain the same information. The two blocks also appeared in back-to-back games in the main Mario series that were developed by many of the same individuals, so it is certainly no coincidence. Merging the two pages would almost certainly result in a more streamlined wiki experience for editors and readers alike, and will not result in the loss of any ease of understanding or important information.

:::::::::::If you agree that it's based on whether the developers consider them the same object, then all the evidence points to them doing so (graphic sources, shared development histories, keeping the flashing between games, big boo, etc). The issue is that the evidence also points to the writers of the materials (who I don't believe are the same people) not being properly informed on the nature of an under-the-radar object like this. Poor communication with the developers is the sort of thing that would lead to the block in SMB3 being confused with itself in a single image for example, not to mention the inconsistent naming, and the description of dubious icy properties and inaccurate colors not exhibited in game. It is not hard to see how mistaking the appearance between games could come from the very same cause as the other strange phenomena regarding supporting material portrayals. The supporting material for this seems to come from a mere impression by the writers and not the devs themselves, in which case we're playing the telephone game by entirely relying on it for our information. We can paint a clearer picture by taking an in-depth look at the games and their development ourselves, as this is what the developers undoubtedly had the biggest hand in, and having done so this strongly points towards them being the same object. [[User:WilliamFrog|WilliamFrog]] ([[User talk:WilliamFrog|talk]]) 06:32, July 21, 2023 (EDT)

::::::::::::Ok, a correction - when I said "developers", I was more referring to overall official sources, since that's what this wiki is generally based on. There's no rule saying what we assume the developers had in mind takes priority over outward official confirmation to the contrary, and your narrative about poor communication is once again speculation. I think it's telling how flimsy your evidence is for the developers' thoughts - I already addressed these in previous comments where I said the Grab Block being based on the White Block or considered its counterpart doesn't make it the same item, and ultimately we just don't know what the developers' thought process was (I could tell you that they actually intentionally designed Grab Block as a similar but distinct item to White Block and thus named it differently, and it would be no more or less valid than your own conjectural story). And even if it "strongly points towards them being the same object", I don't care, we should default to splitting when there's no confirmation. {{User:Hewer/sig}} 06:16, July 22, 2023 (EDT)

I am abstaining here, but I feel [[Blue Coin]] should be brought up, as it originally used an off-white cyan color before becoming a deeper blue down the line - exactly like the grabbable blocks (especially when one considers the unused blue coin in SMW, meaning both objects share a palette across both games). Main issue I have, though, is it doesn't factor in the ice blocks in NSMBW in any way despite the SMB3 blocks sometimes being described as ice blocks themselves. [[User:Doc von Schmeltwick|Doc von Schmeltwick]] ([[User talk:Doc von Schmeltwick|talk]]) 17:44, July 13, 2023 (EDT)

:I think the NSMBW ice blocks would at least deserve a mention on the merged article, as they currently do on both the white block and grab block articles. [[User:WilliamFrog|WilliamFrog]] ([[User talk:WilliamFrog|talk]]) 20:12, July 13, 2023 (EDT)