The Campaign Builder's Guild

[blockquote=Kapn Xev]Thank you for the great post Snargash; this is for both you and Vreeg: I'm not suggesting that we design entire worlds minimalistically, I'm searching for ways of successfully compiling a minimalist presentation so that players new to a setting or game can digest it all quickly [/blockquote]

Well, in that case, I should be reading.  I keep going Top-down, and even my players, who post on the my wiki and who it is really for, say that it is both too dense and TMI.  and I know this.

So I will try to evolve a better answer for you.  But the thread also has a 'd20'-centric bias,  so my answers may necesarily lean in a different direction.  Classes?  Haven't used them in decades...

I don't think that a dense wiki (or other presentation format) with a great deal of (potentially superfluous) information is a problem in and of itself - look at how many players purchase and pore over the published setting supplements, soaking up information about facets of the gameworld which could have no possible bearing on the characters they choose to play. The difficulty is in organizing and presenting the information in a manner that players can readily locate and identify the minimum critical information needed to play in the setting without having to wade through material they aren't interested in, leaving the balance to be explored at leisure as their inclinations dictate. If the initial body of info which they have to digest is not overwhelming I suspect many players will later go back to the rest to satisfy their curiosity regarding various details of interest to them (assuming that this is also organized in a manner to allow them to easily find what they're looking for). I think a well constructed wiki can fulfill both needs quite effectively if they're kept clearly in mind during compilation. Second tier information should probably also be clearly identified as such, e.g., new players do not need to understand my page on the standard calendar in the setting in order to create a character and start playing, but rather early in the game should at least familiarize themselves with the common time keeping conventions which their characters would use as a matter of course.

As a general rule, I limit the setting info I give to my players to one page. After that I hand out the sheet and give them a chance to read it, there is a question and answer period about the setting were the PC can ask whatever they want and I will answer their questions (most of the time).