I just noticed that we handle differently companies which change name during their lifespan.
For example, On-Line Systems changed name to Sierra On-Line then Sierra Entertainment. However, On-Line Systems appear to be a different company than Sierra On-Line and Sierra Entertainment, whereas these two companies are merged and Sierra Entertainment appears as an alternate name of Sierra On-Line.
Some very slight name changes are considered as real name change (Loriciels / Loriciel, Ubi Soft / Ubisoft), and I agree with that. So, I was wandering if there is a specific reason for Sierra On-Line and Sierra Entertainment to be merged. Or, if there can be a specific reason for a name change to be kept into the same company ID. And what if a company changes name to, say, MyCompany Ltd. to MyCompany Inc.?
About company names changed
On-Line Systems and Sierra On-Line should be merged as well I think. There are lots of strange examples. Yeah, Loriciels <-> Lorciel is also very annoying. Why the split here?
Look at Nichibutsu and Nihon Bussan:
http://www.uvlist.net/companies/info/47
http://www.uvlist.net/companies/info/48
Nichbutsu has Nihon Bussan as alt name. But Nihon Bussan also has its own page with an alt name Nihon System.
Or NCS Masaya and Nihon Computer System
http://www.uvlist.net/companies/info/173
http://www.uvlist.net/companies/info/3683
Should be merged.
I could name dozens more. I'm just too lazy to do this (or lets say I prioritise other things at the moment).
All editors should be very very careful when creating new companies and double check if it is not yet already in the database under a different name.
What exactly was the reason why Ubi Soft and Ubisoft got seperated? If it was discussed I can't remember it. If I want to see all games that company has done isn't it wrong then to split them? Why does a name change lead to splitting?
Look at Nichibutsu and Nihon Bussan:
http://www.uvlist.net/companies/info/47
http://www.uvlist.net/companies/info/48
Nichbutsu has Nihon Bussan as alt name. But Nihon Bussan also has its own page with an alt name Nihon System.
Or NCS Masaya and Nihon Computer System
http://www.uvlist.net/companies/info/173
http://www.uvlist.net/companies/info/3683
Should be merged.
I could name dozens more. I'm just too lazy to do this (or lets say I prioritise other things at the moment).
All editors should be very very careful when creating new companies and double check if it is not yet already in the database under a different name.
What exactly was the reason why Ubi Soft and Ubisoft got seperated? If it was discussed I can't remember it. If I want to see all games that company has done isn't it wrong then to split them? Why does a name change lead to splitting?
We should handle name changes as different companies only when the the two companies are really different.
I did the UbiSoft thing but it doesn't looks so good anymore (it was already discussed).
Right now I have no idea if Loriciel do needs to be merged or not, but I've just merged the other examples.
Merging is quite easy, just pick all the name variations of one company, and add them as synonyms of the other. Then rename the first to "---" and refresh its cache, to make it disappear.
What is important is to not rename the company name in the game entry.
There, we have to use the original company name used in the game/package.
I did the UbiSoft thing but it doesn't looks so good anymore (it was already discussed).
Right now I have no idea if Loriciel do needs to be merged or not, but I've just merged the other examples.
Merging is quite easy, just pick all the name variations of one company, and add them as synonyms of the other. Then rename the first to "---" and refresh its cache, to make it disappear.
What is important is to not rename the company name in the game entry.
There, we have to use the original company name used in the game/package.