Forum:Wiki Thoughts - Please Read

Forums: Index > The World that Never was > 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

BebopKate - This one is Zazzles...because he's Zazzy! TALK - Here's your cat...and here's your $20...18:27, July 31, 2010 (UTC) Alright, Daisy is back. ^_^ I don't want arguing or accusations below. I want good stuff. I want you to write about why you came here, why you enjoy being here, and/or why you like the games. Consider this a little essay assignment from a grizzled ex-teacher. Me, I love to write; I'd love to write a book someday. And I really like wiki editing; it keeps me in practice. So when I saw that the wiki about my favorite video game series needed a lot of work, I decided to jump in. I've always loved the designs and style differences of the worlds, so I decided to help fix those up first. And I stayed. Because of the games, but also because of all the awesome and interesting new people I met. I'll have you people know I talk about you and all the interesting facts and stories you tell me in my everyday life. Seriously. Well, except the private stuff. ^_- Anyway, I still love the series. For me, it's the nostalgia of the games and movies I loved that pulled me in, the mythology and symbolism that intrigued me, and the characters and story that keep me hooked. When I saw the trailer for Birth by Sleep (Aqua's voice not withstanding ^_^) I was excited all over again. I can't wait to play it, to learn how it fits into the existing universe, to get to know new characters and see old friends. Kingdom Hearts is just fun, and I hope it will continue to be for as long as it was made.

I completly agree with you BK. Also... thanks for supporting the MA! The staff people and some editors need to be more cool headed toward the wiki. As you said, it's just a wiki. And not a life or death issue that will decide the fate of the world So this is you first important forum as a Bureocrat... ^_^ You are doing a great job. Keep it up. Demonic Saint Yeah, we gotta go help our friends out first. — 18:46, July 31, 2010 (UTC)

The Inexistent - Pitiful users, mindlessly collecting information. The rage of an edit releases this knowledge, and they all come together, to form: The Wiki!!! TALK - And on the Wiki these words appear: "My name is The_Inexistent, user of users: Look upon my edits, ye Mighty, and despair!" Long before I joined wikia, I had stalked this wiki, learning every little fact that was on a page. I never realized until I joined how much politics happened behind the scenes. What I saw was a cold world, the perfect home for me. Now that I have joined, I do fell that change is necessary, that wiki evolution must take place at lightspeed in order to save us.

maggosh Nothing can destroy the Doctor! — "The Doctor doesn't pay, and he doesn't worry." "If you want trouble - *breaks windshield* - then you just keep coming on!" I'd say it's high time a post like this was made. As for why I'm here, why I have fun...it's the nostalgic value of the series. But unfortunately, it wasn't always like that. Let me paint a picture for you; it's 2006, I'm in my last year in junior high and I'm making an effort at maturity. I'm standing in front of my toaster, and I'm looking into the living room with the TV on, as a commercial for KHII comes on, and I see the CG Sora with Donald and Goofy. I thought, "Who the hell would want to fight with a giant key with Donald and Goofy? Why is that such a good idea?" Three years later I watch the intro for KHII on YouTube and I ultimately regret thinking that. When I bought II and played it, it was the biggest hit of nostalgia I had ever gotten.

Bluer says at 20:37, July 31, 2010 (UTC) About time this post got made, kupo. I knew I made the right decision

DoorToNothing — I dreamed last night... I got on the boat to Heaven! And by some chance, I had brought my dice along! — 21:35, July 31, 2010 (UTC) Alright, February 2009, what a month that was. Basically, school was slowing down for me a bit, and the rush of band/music-related events had ceased for a period of time. I had a lot of time on my hands, and somehow ended up at the Kingdom Hearts Wiki during a session of Internet-browsing. It actually might have been to look up information on Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days after seeing in a magazine, my memory is telling me that may have been the case. Anyway, what pulled me in ininitially was that information was available on this site, but I also noticed that there was so much missing. So, having been in a bit of a "slummy" mood at the time, I registered the account "DoorToNothing", and wasted no time getting right to work on gnoming and writing/completely rewriting articles for all of the Gummi pieces from Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. I worked for a while, and then made a silent little departure, since it never became too serious for me. Less than a month later, I found myself drawn back by the work, the community, the subject, virtually everything. It was at this time that I started to get serious about wiki-editing. That summer, I spent a ridiculously copious number of hours contributing to the wiki daily. After that, I was hooked. As for why I stay editing and writing here, I can actually relate to BebopKate. I love to write and edit works, essay-writing has always been a very strong point of mine academically. Wiki-editing became a way for me to write, edit, and debate (by the way, I absolutely love debating over nearly any topic) in a place that allowed for me to do those things unoriginally and often, without worrying about a mark or credit. Equally importantly, the wiki became a place for me to practice formal and/or organized composition-writing and revising while not in a hall or classroom, which I something that I came to quite enjoy. Also, of course, the wiki was about Kingdom Hearts, and I had been starting to get in to Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy IV, as well as replaying Kingdom Hearts II at the time. Also, I cannot stress enough "THIS IS ONLY A WIKI." I myself am completely devoting myself to marching band, my studies, and other aspects of my life. You all have surely noticed my recent, relative lack of activity this summer, and that is due to a combination of IRC babysitting/real-life activities. Trust me, guys, take it from me: in the end, when all of my daily gnoming/wiki-foruming is done, I have found myself at times wishing that I had instead made plans with friends, seen a movie, read a book, practiced music more, cleaned, or just relaxed rather than spending a significant portion of my day editing on a wiki.

KingdomKeyDarkside - Sora, you're lucky. TALK - It looks like my summer vacation is… Over.{{{time}}} To be perfectly honest, I don't even remember how I ended up here... I had purchased and beaten 358/2 days before I even started editing here, and I figured I could help out with the Days articles... So I signed up on January 4th of this year. That's that. And to be perfectly honest, I have no idea what I enjoy most about this place now. I suppose that I just love what little community we have. The people are phenomenal, and we definitely hold a kind demeanor. Our mainspace is extremely pristine as well (which I have nothing wrong with), however it can be overbearing on the userspace. Just like DTN and BebopKate, I love writing (as most can see from the numerous fanfictions I write), and I like it even more when I can contribute to something productive by doing it. To be perfectly honest, however, I can't find many places to edit here, as we're almost too up-to-date. I only get a little bit of gnomework in, and I write the occasional ability page, etc. About the series: I remember the first KH game came out in 2001, and it was a way of bonding with a friend I had. We played the game together (I had no PS2), and we grew attached to the characters and story. He moved away soon after (we hadn't even gotten to wonderland or anything). I forgot about the game for a while, until KHII came out and one of my other friends got it. we played through it for a long time, and finally defeating Xemnas felt like the best thing in the world. He picked up the original KH at a garage sale for a dollar. He played that one mainly, and got stuck at Dragon Maleficent. He gave up after countless tries, and the series was forgotten once again. In May of 2009, Nintendo Power Magazine announced Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and I jumped straight back onto the bandwagon. If you would see my notes in school, almost every margin had a keyblade in it. Then I bought Days on its release date, promptly beat it, and borrowed KH from a friend a few months later. I beat the two games on my own, and that brings us to the current date.

Galexgan Talk with me! — "To lose and claim anew, or to claim anew only to lose..." "You turn from the truth because your heart is weak..." —23:01, July 31, 2010 (UTC) Hello, so I'm pretty new to being a small time editor here but I already like the place. My first viewing of Kingdom hearts came in a Gameinformer magazine in... I don't know when. Before the game was even out in America, thats all I know. I read a small bit of the article and having grown up on Veggie Tales and Disney cartoons/movies became fascinated with the game. I didn't spend much thought on the game though but later on I got the game for Christmas one year and fell in love. When I heard of a number 2 coming out I got VERY VERY excited, so when that finally came out I rented it from the nearest blockbuster and played it more than halfway through before having to return it. After a long while later I found out that there was infact a 1 and a half type game called CHain of Memories and after desperately searching for it found it for pretty cheap, new. SO I played that, beat it then got no. 2 and beat that. For years after I was a huge fan but not as much as I am now, I was so excited to ehar about not only a new KH but 3 new ones coming out! Thats when my real fandom started, I began to mature though and my excitement for 358/2 days fell a little, even more so after the most recent move but as an avid fan I still bought it the day it came out at my nearest gamestop. Around that time I started readin on this KH wikia and found out more about Birth by Sleep when the info came. THe moment I got the chance I pre-ordered it sometime in June. I now await the next exciting installment in Kingdom Hearts! Oh, I didn't pre-order the game by the way, I pre-ordered the entire PSP bundle deal from Gamestop! Only had nitendo portable systems until September 7 when it comes out. :) I became a fan of the game mostly because it makes me feel like a little kid again when I play them, I'm still young, but I don't get the same excited happyness as I did all of the time when I was younger unless there is something to do with KH. Marluxia became my favorite character sometime that I don't know (After Axel was of course. Never liked Riku more than Sora. And so I decided to start on fixing anytyhing to do with Marluxia on this wiki that I could. (Like adding the gameplay to his weapons. Though my first weapon edit was one of Larxene's. I mostly came to the wiki because of writing my KH fanfic I wanted to make it as accurate and fit with the story as much as possible. The story was made so that I could feel I was more a part of the KH world. (The main character is based on myself and many of the others are based on my friends.) SO I started making articles on the fanon to get practice. Having figure it out somewhat I returned to this wiki to the above mentioned, help Marluxia articles. I do love to debate but I get really heated when people don't see my way, (I blame it on Scottish blood XD. Love my Scott-Irish blood though.) so I try to avoid them but if there is a topic I just can't resist I go for it. I combat most of my problems with sensible logic, if something doesn't make sense then there is something wrong with it so I set out to find the answer and fix it. P.S I actually got my start with wikia on the World of Warcraft wiki, Wowwiki. SO I'm an avid fan of the story of that too.

KrytenKoro - "Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life." TALK - You're Scots-Irish too, huh? Cool. I have a compulsion. I've always written lists, organized stats, that kind of thing, for the things I'm interested in. Phonemes, Series of Unfortunate Events, books of the Bible, Kingdom Hearts, etc. When I was on the DMC wiki, the main admin was NeloAngelo, and one day I saw that she worked here. I checked the place out, started working on the Sleight article, and that's that.

I vaguely remember reading something about CoM in Nintendo Power once, and reading about Axel and Organization XIII on Wikipedia because I was reading aabout a bunch of different weapons, and saw his link on the chakram page. That's basically what got me into Kingdom Hearts. I had heard about it before, and all the jokes about just how damn weird a concept it was, but I was interested in playing it, and started looking thing up about the series. That's how I found this wiki. If it wasn't for the KH Wiki, I probably wouldn't have gotten into Kingdom Hearts at all. I already had a wikia account (having made maybe two hundred probably not-so-good edits on the Zelda, Naruto, and Bleach Wikis put together beforehand) and started making small edits here. The earliest ones I remember were to the Organization XIII Weapons page, adding to the descriptions of the weapons. Later, I saw that Terra, Aqua, and Ven had appearance sections that were blank, and decided to put one up. NinjaSheik was really impressed with it and asked me to keep it up and it just sort of snowballed from there. This has long since become my main wiki, not someting I had anticipated at all. I love a lot of things about this wiki and its community. I honestly don't feel anywhere near as comfortable with the communities of other wikis as much as I do with this one. To me, there really is a family sort of vibe I get from the users around here. There's always someone willing to help. There's always going to be drama and tension in a family, but through all of it, at the end of the day we're all working toward the same thing, and that's something I really enjoy being a part of. LapisScarab Good tidings, friends. Today is a momentous day. I am pleased to announce that a new comrade has been chosen to wear the coat. — 23:44, July 31, 2010 (UTC)

I am actually glad you brought this up, BK - and beat me to it ! ^_^ I came here because I needed to find info on something or others, I forgot what it was, and a lot of articles needed proofreading. So that I did. And over time it became a joy. ^_^ That was December 08/January 09. I want my future editing, as well as the future edits of the rest of the commune, to be filled with joy. No bickering, no fights, no nothing more. And no unnecessary reverting unless it really deserves a reedit. And let's hope after this that KHW goes on the right track once more ! As for KH proper, I started playing it since my half-brother gave me the KH1 disc. I discovered Final Mix from a friend, and decided to get that too. I enjoyed every moment of KH1 to the point that I actually wept wehn I saw Sora sacrificing himself, and at that point (because I was 11) I became scared of the dark. Now, I don't anymore. Still, KH never fails to move me. KH teaches about charity where the protagonists are concerned. I know all of us wanna make use of this charity. : ) So let's, I say ! EDIT 10:24, August 1, 2010 (UTC) : I admit I can't write at length, but I've come across awesome people over here, and there are just too many to name. Too many to the point that I haven't even updated my Friends List. It seems strange that everyone just opens up to me and I open up to everyone else, but you're a part of me just as I'm a part of you. And I must thank the Lord for this, I must thank all of you for this. ^_^ I'm as good as new! All my functions have been restored! • TroisNyxÉtienne — 01:02, August 1, 2010 (UTC)

Dan - Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase! ♫ — 10:11, August 1, 2010 (UTC) I've always been a huge fan of anything Disney, and I remember renting the Kingdom Hearts when I was young, not even knowing it had Disney characters, and when they did appear on-screen, I was like "Wow!" I instantly fell in love with the game, and soon bought a copy of my own. A year or two passed, and I was watching a gaming review show on TV, and I noticed that they said Kingdom Hearts II would be released soon in Japan, but not for another year in the UK. I eagerly awaited the release of the game, and when it did, I soon grabbed a copy and began playing, thinking it couldn't possibly surpass the first game, but of course it did. I had not played CoM before KHII, as I thought it was simply the same game, but on the GameBoy, so I was a little confused with the plot. During the years of 2008-2009, I began browsing KH3 fansites, hoping for it to be released soon. I remember typing "Kingdom Hearts 3" into Google during the summer of 2009, and a suggestion titled "Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days" appeared. I was curious, clicked the link, and it brought me here to the wiki. I read up on nearly every article, especially the CoM ones. During the month of September, I was thinking of joining wikia, and seeing as I knew a lot about Kingdom Hearts, I thought it would be great to start editing here. I had no clue about coding or formatting, but I learned, and began to enjoy contributing. October soon came, I bought Days and CoM and began to settle in to a friendly community. I think that joining the IRC further helped me to understand the wiki, and in all honesty, I hate writing, but contributing here doesn't feel like a task... it's enjoyable. We've had our ups and downs here on The Kingdom Hearts Wiki, but in my opinion, I think we have one of the best communities that are out there. We can solve these issues together, and if when we do, this wonderful wiki will reflect the theme of trust and friendship that the Kingdom Hearts series has not failed to engrave into our own hearts since the very first game.

Organization 13 - Looks like my summer vacation... TALK - ...Is over. Well, I first stumbled across this Wiki by complete accident! I was over at my friends house and I was on his computer and I typed in "Kingdom Hearts Wikipedia" to bring me to its Wikipedia page but when I clicked it, I was brought to this Wiki. And I was shocked. IT WAS AWESOME!!! Kingdom Hearts was my favourite video game series ever. I was an Unregistered Contributer for a while I think but then I finally decide to make a User File under DiZ the Wise in December 22, 2009 but I didn't really like the User name so I made Papou Boy and stuck with that for a while but then I started to hate that name too so I made Organization 13 and stuck with it. Where I live only 1 person I know actually has the game, so when I found a whole great community who love it I was so happy. The first Kingdom Hearts game I got was Chain of Memories, I didn't know it was a sequel until Kingdom Hearts II came out. I then fell in love with the series.

The Inexistent - Pitiful users, mindlessly collecting information. The rage of an edit releases this knowledge, and they all come together, to form: The Wiki!!! TALK - And on the Wiki these words appear: "My name is The_Inexistent, user of users: Look upon my edits, ye Mighty, and despair!" I realized that in my last post, I did not explain how I came across KH itself... Well, the story really begins in kindergarten, where I started to make my first. As I was quickly gaining friends, I ended up with many gamers. Years later, I wished to join the pantheon of video game masters. So, I asked my parents for some sort of game system. I got a GameBoy. I started off with a Pokemon game, but I quickly beat it. At some point a few years previous, I had seen a KH commercial, and it looked amazing with all the different enemies (I didn't notice the Dsiney). So, one day when we were at WalMart, I saw CoM for GameBoy, and, remembering the commercial, asked my parents if I could get it. They said yes. So, now I had my first KH game. I beat it several times over. Soon enough, though, the gameboy was becoming out of date. So, I asked my parents if I could get a PS2. They said no. Until Christmas, that is. They knew how much I loved Kingdom Hearts, so they got me PS2 and KH and KHII. I promised myself I wouldn't play II until I beat KH. When the first battle started, the first words out of my mouth were: Where are the cards?. I soon adapted. Sometime during KH, I discovered the wiki. After beating the original, I moved on to II, and found it far easier. It was beaten quickly. During the period of not having new releases, I replayed the games several times. Once I heard that RE:CoM was coming out for the PS2 in America, I had to get it. I could finally play my favorite KH game in PS2 graphics (although for GB graphics, the original was amazing). Sooner or later, I heard about Days. By now, the GB had become obsolete, and my sister wanted a DS for Christmas. So, she got one, and she let me play Days on it! YES! After Days, I joined the wiki. Now I need to figure out how to play BbS when it comes out...

Riku's Love - "This battle isn't over. And until it is, I still need the power of darkness." TALK - I didn't want to be found. I never gopt into any of the forums stuff and i have never tried to get hooked either. But i did cause of the preople here. Most of the users here are great friends or in my case a brother. This wiki cause got me to actually waanna fisnish a game. Thats why i have borrowed my brothers' Ds'd after i broke my third onw. I got a psp because of BbS. I hope no one else leaves its great here and i love ya'll!

Chitalian8 Say... — Only by allowing strangers in can we find new ways to be ourselves. Life's little crossroads are often as simple as the pull of a trigger. — 02:21, August 3, 2010 (UTC) Alright guys. I am a new guy to this wiki. I am not as skilled in editing as other people. I can't write as good descriptions as Lapis, I'm not good with pictures like Xiggie. I'm just a User trying to be a good asset to the wiki. I think that this wiki is great on the mainspace. Articles are great looking, and people can tell that this is a high quality wiki. I joined this wiki with high hopes. I just wish that there wasn't so much drama going on. Like BK said, this is a wiki, a place for entertainment. This isn't Gossip girl, this is a wiki about Disney characters and Keys and Light Doors and whatnot. I agree with KKD, the standards of this wiki are at an all time low.

BebopKate - This one is Zazzles...because he's Zazzy! TALK - Here's your cat...and here's your $20...02:27, August 3, 2010 (UTC) Yeah. The conversation has evolved a bit... -_- But the entire discussion up there is pretty much a summary of everything I've been hearing over the last two weeks. The staff is too controlling! So-and-so won't stop socializing and causing drama! The IRC is...well, let's leave IRC out of this for the moment. That's a whole different ball game right now. But you see why I wanted you guys to look carefully at why you are here. I see some users who are here because they want to help organize a wiki on a video game. I see others who are here for accomplishment and praise. Still others who want to socialize. None of those things are bad in and of themselves...it's when people begin viewing them as the ONLY reason to be here we have a conflict. 1.The editors: Yes, the main reason we are here is the wiki. That mainspace ain't going to edit itself. But there are people behind the edits. Thinking, living, flawed people. In our case, mostly fairly young people as well, who are still growing and learning. Remembering the people behind the manners and offers to help will get everyone much farther than accusations and stealth edits. 2.The achievers: Yes, we do praise and notice those who do good work. It's only natural and pretty common in any social situation. Granted, some work gets noticed more than others; a huge section of new info is a striking difference versus fixing a few links and grammar errors. Both are important to the wiki, I think most of us realize that, and it really is a shame we don't always take time to say it. But if you are motivated to edit or post just to be recognized or become one of the "bigwigs", or think it's the only reason to be here, please rethink your priorities. 3.The chatters, the talkers, the princesses: the socializers are very good at getting things done as a group, at organizing projects and people and helping the communication around the wiki. It's when they only talk that others feel annoyed or angry; the fact is, wikis are great mediums for communication, but they're primarily for information, and it gets hard to sort that information with a lot of activity around. There are thousands of places to socialize on the internet, but there are very few Kingdom Hearts wikis. I think most everyone here fits into one of those three groups, perhaps two. The question I ask now is: think about where you fit in. How can you take your type (or types) and make it work with the others?

Auror Andrachome Of course, your majesty! By the controlling staff, I think you mean DTN By your statement that the admins know everything and are better than average users was quite rude. Not trying to start something, but...............you know better than me.