Introduction[]
Hello, I'm Likes-That-Tail, also known as Likes, Tail, LTT, and Nick. I am a vandal frequent user of the Wiki, as well as a chat moderator. I decided to make this blog to explain to the community why all of the individual namespaces are important. There are three main points i would like to get to:
- The mainspace is indeed the most important part of the wiki.
- The chat, forums, and blogs do matter.
- This is a Wiki, not a Wiki plus forums, blogs, and a chat.
What the Mainspace is, and why it matters.[]
The mainspace is the section of the Wiki where you can find articles related to the Elder Scrolls. It is free to be edited by any users, and is patrolled by the patrollers and the admins. Many TES players use this namespace everyday, anons and users alike.
The mainspace, being the largest, most used, and "main" component of the Wiki, is by far the most important. It is used every day by anons and users alike to find information related to the Elder Scrolls.
A common argument against the mainspace's importance is that there are more chat/forum/blog oriented users than mainspace editors, therefore they are more important. In my opinion, this argument could not be more wrong. This wiki isn't a wiki just for the users, this is a wiki to help provide information about the Elder Scrolls. On average, according to Jimeee, the mainspace receives between 1.6 and 2 million views per day. Compare this to chat and forum activity.
Another common argument against the mainspace is that the articles are complete and no longer need to be edited. For this, I have to say: Are you kidding have me? A quick look at all of the pre-Oblivion articles quickly proves the contrary. This wiki is nowhere near perfect, we still have articles for Skyrim that are incomplete, not to mention ESO, yet the wiki is somehow not in need of editors?
That brings me to another point: the lack of dedicated mainspace editors. The amount of users on this wiki is, in my eyes, quite astonishing. There are at least over twenty users on chat at any given time during the day, there are so many forum posts that it clogs up the wiki activity log, and yet there are only a handful of mainspace editors. I'm not going to lie, I'm not even a dedicated mainspace editor, but I do watch for vandalism, do some minor edits, and make sure all edits follow the editing guidelines. These are all minor jobs that literally every single one of you could easily do, but do you know what's worse than not editing the mainspace? Denouncing the importance of the mainspace and claiming a chat and a forum are equal or superior to it. This is an opinion that, in my eyes, is blatantly ignorant, immature, and close minded.
Why the Chat, the Forums, and Blogs are important.[]
Although the mainspace is definitely the main aspect, and therefore most important component of the Wiki, our Wiki also has blogs, forums, and a chat room. Although these features are nice to have, they aren't quite necessities. The wiki would get along fine without blogs, the Wiki would be fine without forums, and the wiki would definitely still work fine without a chat or even an IRC for that matter. However, each of these could help the wiki tremendously. The forums could:
- Help discuss and uncover new lore.
- Help find and fix new bugs.
- Help the wiki be run (News and Announcements, Consensus Track, etc.).
- Help users with inquiries about the game that aren't answered in articles.
The chat could:
- Help for easier communication between editors.
- Be used as a place to discuss wiki-wide issues (NOT for flame wars related to issues).
- Be used as a place for editors to hang out and socialize.
The Blogs could:
- Be used to provide news about the Elder Scrolls or the Wiki.
- Be used by users to get their opinions out in the open (like what I'm doing right now).
- Be used to discuss lore, gameplay, etc. (although the forums could also be used for this).
As you can see, the forums, chat, and blogs could be wonderful features of the wiki, yet are nowhere near their full potential. The chat is filled with drama, arguing, and inappropriate conversations. The forums are full of off topic discussions and are now mostly just being used for off topic and role playing discussions. And the blogs, well, just look here to see how the blogs are doing.
This is a Wiki, not a Wiki plus forums, blogs, and a chat.[]
This is something that has become quite an issue in the recent weeks. Editors have been insulting those who stay in the forums or chat. Although I do firmly believe that all users should try to help the mainspace, it seems very counterproductive to me that some editors are rude, arrogant, and unwilling to help new editors. For too long has the Wiki been divided between all the different namespaces. We have users trash talking users, users trash talking staff, staff insulting users, and even staff insulting staff. It is ridiculous. Everybody, staff and normal users alike, needs to grow up. Whether you like it or not, the chat, forums, blogs, and mainspace are all components of this wiki. All users are users of the Wiki, whether they be everyday users, patrollers, moderators, admins, or News Team members. You all want this wiki to be great, but we're held back by petty arguments, drama, whining, and immaturity. If everybody could just get along and work together instead of arguing and fighting, this place could very well be the best wiki on Wikia.
Conclusion[]
Based on all I've written here, I believe that I've gotten my point across. Every aspect of this Wiki is important! So please, stop with the petty arguments, drama, and insults. Come visit the chat if you haven't, go roleplay a little bit on the forums, go read a blog (which I guess you just did), and don't forget to edit an article!