• Recognition
    Unlike most wiki’s that I’ve encountered, Marvel “credits” fan authors. At the bottom of each entry is a list of its contributors. This is an example of how individual authorship is celebrated in this particular Wiki (and not necessarily in others).
  • Hero Points
    Note that the Hero Points are on display at all times. Marvel’s putting your social “worth” front and center in the interface (note that as a new member, I’m a big 0).
    [hero points]
  • Editorial Guidelines
    They’ve done a great job writing editorial guidelines for posting. It lay down both basic rules (no citation of specific issues in the character histories or discussion of fan fiction) and also breaks down editorial style (“Never Send a Phrase to do a Noun’s Job” — ironically this is a rule that Stan Lee has never opted to follow). That plus the wanted and stub listings are example of how fan friendly they’re trying to make this.
  • Discussion & History
    They’ve opted to leave article discussions and histories available to the public. This is and area to watch. Considering how heated Wikipedia debates and edit histories can become, this may be the first feature to disappear. Marvel’s Wiki, and its evolution (as far as which features and available and which are not), will be an interesting testbed for other companies considering this type of fan collaboration strategy,
  • Interdiscursivity (or lack there of)
    Writers are instructed to “imagine that you are a commentator in the Marvel Universe, witnessing the events, the battles, and the drama first hand. By doing this, you’ll be creating an entry that will not only be exciting for others to read, but exciting for you to write.” I’m a bit surprised that they missed an opportunity to  reference their own Watcher characters, whose job is to observe and record events that happen around them (while never participating in the events themselves).