Forum:Wiki Thoughts - Please Read

Alright. No Daisy here. These are some serious thoughts and observations I've been seeing going on over the last few months.


 * 1) We have had a lot of conflict.  Admins, IRC, formatting, you name it.
 * 2) I am getting e-mails, talk page messages, IRC PMs, and so on at least once a week, usually much more, about the crumbling infrastructure of the wiki, usually about how one group of people is totally ruining everything, and then proceeding to get an e-mail from the opposite faction about how they're ruining everything.
 * 3) We have a LOT of new people.  But I see them contributing very little, other than talk page chat.  And I really wonder why.

So, I want all of you...veterans, admins, mods, editors, newbies, bureaucrats...EVERYONE, to stop and read the following sentence below.

This is only a wiki.

Read it again, if you have to. Read it as many times as you need to until it sinks in.

We are fussing, fighting, wasting time and energy in our real, everyday lives on a wiki. About a video game. With talking ducks and guys who hit people with giant keys.

So, here's the deal.

We need to back off. We need to start taking this thing way less seriously. I'm not saying let the trolls run rampant and we have a second Kingdom Hearts fanon wiki. But I am saying that the nitpicking, the rules slamming, and the lack of flexibility needs to stop. That good faith thing? That's one of the most important rules in existence. Real life as well. Occasionally, it gets you burned, but it makes things better for most everyone in the long run.

We have come a long way from the scraps of info two years ago. We laid down the law because we had no rules or enforcement. We now almost have an excess of both.

A wiki is supposed to be fun. Some people gain that fun from writing entries on their favorite characters. Some do by making and editing graphics to go in those articles. Some people enjoy organizing things or gnoming. Some people like working with other people on a big goal or project. Some people just like being around other people who enjoy the same things as they do.

So, I say to the following groups:


 * 1) Staff and admins, myself included. We need to lighten up.  We are seriously making this a miserable place to be.  We are editors, same as everyone else, and we need to remember it more than anyone else.  We need to remember that fun from that video game we all played and enjoyed that put us here in the first place.
 * 2) Editors, edit. Write articles.  Add pictures.  Just talk about the series in the forums.  Enjoy yourselves.  That Mirage Arena idea?  That was awesome, and would fit in well with the wiki.  We'll find a way to make it work.
 * 3) New editors. Welcome.  Thank you for wanting to be part of our community.  Help us out.  Ask questions if you're not sure.  Discuss the games you enjoy.  Even if you just go around fixing little things, that's one less thing that needs to be fixed, one little addition that makes the wiki that much better.

As you go around editing and posting, think upon these things. Think of how you can be the best person you can be here.

In short:

This is only a wiki.

Thank you. Now, back to getting excited over Birth by Sleep.

Discussion
Forum:Wiki Thoughts - Please Read/Statements14:21, August 4, 2010 (UTC)