Guild Wars Wiki:Elections/2007-12 bureaucrat election/Defiant Elements

Hey all. Even as I write this, I'm not sure whether I'll end up posting it, and I'm sure many of you are asking who I am since I am, shall we say, less than active on GWW. Some of you may know me, either because you remember me from GuildWiki or you've seen me on PvXwiki. My only real qualification for the post would be my experience on PvXwiki, but, the more I think about it, the more I realize that I'm not writing this because of any misguided notion that I will actually be promoted. The fact of the matter is that from my perspective, this site needs a paradigm shift if it is to thrive. I'm on occasionally to browse Recent Changes or to read proposed policies, and every time I'm on I cannot help but get the nagging feeling that there's something wrong with the way business is conducted here, both on a daily level and on a more global, philosophical level.

So, I thought I'd take a moment to discuss briefly what I see as fundamental changes that, I think, would improve GWW. Most of this is derived from how things work on PvXwiki, and, in talking to a bunch of people, I've gotten the sense that in some circles at least, the administrative system on PvX is seen as verging on tyrannical. But, the truth of the matter is that Auron and I very rarely need to intercede in daily affairs; the site pretty much runs itself. We have a very low rate of vandalism and trolling, and only very rarely is the community divided, although e-drama does occur at times. The worst I think that can be said of the community we've cultivated is that it is somewhat immature, but, if nothing else, it runs smoothly. Which brings me to my actual point, and I think Armond said it pretty well "Trust your bureaucrats and sysops." I honestly dislike the entire notion of bureaucrat elections, and I think Wikis are fundamentally unsuited to anything approaching true "rule by majority," but, that aside, the extent to which Admins are hamstrung by the policies which they enforce never ceases to amaze me. If an Admin isn't capable of making sound, informed decisions independent of the dictates of policy, then I think there's a problem. On PvX, Admins are nearly independent, they are checked by the Bureaucrats and by the community and the sysops to one degree or another, but, unless they do something to make the community lose faith in them, they are considered autonomous, and yet, we only very occasionally have any complaints regarding Admin abuse of power. I always get the sense that the policies on this Wiki reflect an unwillingness both to trust the admins and an unwillingness to do anything that is not "politically correct" as far as this Wiki goes. Again, Armond's user page gives you a pretty good sense of what I am trying to get at.

Going back to the matter of "rule by the majority," I would seriously endorse a system in which a) Sysops are chosen by consent of the Bureaucrats taking into account the opinions of the community and b) in which Bureaucrats are neither elected by strict consensus nor hamstrung by constant elections, so I guess it's ironic that I'm nominating myself for said election. As I see it, elections suggest that a) Bureaucrats cease to be fit to serve at stringent intervals, and b) there exists a lack of faith in the Bureaucrats themselves. Bureaucrats are in a sense the creme de la creme of a community, and until they demonstrate that to no longer be the case, then why are they being removed from power?

There are other more minor issues: for instance various inefficiencies in what I see as an overly bureaucratic methodology, but those are secondary concerns. If I had any realistic expectation of winning this nomination, I'd say that my platform would be one of change: GWW is an excellent resource from an outsider's perspective, but, I think it's telling that someone as uninvolved in this community as I am has consistently noticed a number of fundamental flaws. It strikes me that so many of the nominations seem to have a "Why Not" feel to them reminiscent of what I've seen on RfAs for sysops on PvX. Honestly, from my experience, there's not much difference to being a Bureaucrat than being a Sysop, and, depending on how you treat the position, particularly if you're hamstrung from the get go, anyone with even a hint of common sense or a rudimentary ability to enforce policy as written is fit to be an Administrator. Bureaucrats should in my mind bring something completely different to the table; anyone can delete pages or troll Recent Changes, but, in my mind, there are only a very few who have the vision and the willingness to actually go above and beyond the basic prescriptions for the post.

So, I'd like to thank anyone who bothered reading my self-nomination and I hope it at least gets you thinking about this whole mess of issues. Even if you don't take the nomination as a whole seriously, I genuinely believe that these are serious issues. Who knows, maybe there are other people out there who share my view which could mean that God forbid this nomination might actually be taken seriously!

Cheers. Defiant Elements 23:53, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Supporting votes

1. Edru viransu 00:16, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
2. — Skakid HoHoHo 00:25, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
3. --71.229.204.25 00:27, 13 December 2007 (UTC) (ineligible to vote, IP account)
4. --- Ressmonkey (talk) 01:39, 13 December 2007 (UTC) (ineligible to vote, must have more than 100 edits before December 13)
5. frvwfr2 (talk · contributions) 02:31, 13 December 2007 (UTC) (ineligible to vote, must have more than 100 edits before December 13)
6. —ǥrɩɳsɧƿoɲ 02:44, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
7. -- Jïörüjï Ðērākō.>.cнаt^ 06:53, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
8. -Auron 14:50, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
9. --Readem
10. necromage370 (ineligible to vote, must have more than 100 edits before December 13)
11. Lord Belar 03:08, 15 December 2007 (UTC) Below minimum required edits
12. Armond 12:06, 15 December 2007 (UTC)
13. --Coloneh 01:38, 16 December 2007 (UTC) (ineligible to vote, must have more than 100 edits before December 13)

Opposing votes

1. --Dirigible 00:24, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
2. --Doll 00:55, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
3. --Valshia 00:58, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
4. --Aspectacle 01:06, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

1. --Erasculio 01:20, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
2. Backsword
3. --Calor — talk 01:49, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
4. --elviondale 02:38, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
5. —Tanaric 03:49, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
6. — ク Eloc 貢 04:17, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
7. - BeX 05:08, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
8. -- Fall 07:26, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
9. --Xeeron 14:39, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
10. —Ebany Salmonderiel 15:47, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
11. -- br12 • (talk) • 16:27, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
12. --Gummy Joe 16:41, 13 December 2007 (UTC)
13. trekie9001 • tlk • 08:36, 14 December 2007 (UTC)
14. --reanor 09:01, 14 December 2007 (UTC)
15. --Cursed Angel 12:58, 14 December 2007 (UTC)
16. Keirou 03:44, 15 December 2007 (UTC) below minimum 100 edits outside of userspace
17. --Snograt 16:26, 15 December 2007 (UTC)