SmashWiki:Requests for adminship/Plague von Karma

Plague von Karma (talk • contribs • edit count • RFA page)

Candidate, please summarize why you are running for adminship below.

Hello! I'm Plague von Karma. I have considered making this RfA for a very long time, mainly deciding against it due to lacking confidence. With the recent stepping down of Serpent King and the clear stress that some staff have been enduring, I'm looking to step up to the plate and help take responsibility for a wiki that has accomodated me so well over the years.

I pride myself on my explosive activity, problem-solving skills, ability to do long and monotonous tasks for exceptional periods of time, and, of course, my opinionated nature. I try my best to be as precise as possible, albeit with...fluffy vocabulary. I'm very active on Discord, incredibly responsive, and stalk #smashwiki more than I should. I am also extremely flexible with time zones, often adjusting it specifically to work with people on projects; for example, I've done this for Chinese and Australian time zones in the past. These traits have made me an exceptional moderator in various communities with a reputation for getting things done in a snappy fashion. Of course, always with ample thought behind everything I do. I am sure that you've seen my proposal history: I write out exactly what I am looking for, always follow through when approved, and respectfully back down when I am wrong.

For benefits specific to SmashWiki itself, I am an advanced player, known for historically labbing King K. Rool in particular, but contributing to any character I know things about in general. For examples relevant to SmashWiki, I revamped the entire Command Input Special Moves page and added tech as it was discovered during Terry's release, making it the best source for fighting game characters in Smash on the wiki, and arguably still so to this day. There are many pages I've made like this, but that one's definitely the most notable. When it comes to Smash, I can be a one lass army. Outside of that, err...whenever I see something wrong, I make it known, either by tagging the page or screeching on Discord for a while. These days I may be more well-known for documenting Smash's unplayable characters, something I made an extremely precise proposal for and have followed through on.

Whenever I access this wiki, I frequently see deletion candidates and various split/merge/move proposals that kind of stagnate with little to no administrative input. Oftentimes, they can languish for a very long time; looking at it recently, some have been open for around a year. I've not exactly helped with this, not pinging the Discord for example, but I do try to make my voice heard on most, if not all of them, in hopes of giving them a bit of a push. I think I could potentially do something in the deletion and merging department, which is where sysop tools could be helpful. I feel like a staff member could dedicate around an hour to sweeping through these, I don't personally see this as a compelling reason to recruit someone new.

Given these prior points, it's apt to mention that my primary motivation for this RfA is from a policy and moderation perspective. To put those into practice, I would naturally benefit from sysop tools; page deletions and merging page history from a structural perspective, blocking problem users, and perhaps being able to give the SmashWiki front page that new featured article every so often. I find it unlikely that I would use these often, though this is a sign of a healthy wiki: A period where nothing has to be used is a sign of success.

My moderation experience spans around a decade. Put short, I began moderating various Facebook pages a decade ago, and most recently upheaved the entirety of Smogon's Generation I community using moderation powers. I am extremely community-minded, doing my best to assume good faith and work even with people I don't particularly jive with. I am socially in-tune despite some mental setbacks and apply everything I know the best I can in spite of them. I'm absolutely not perfect and can be bitter at times, but I at least see myself as a functioning human being.

My most notable contributions to SmashWiki, which can be found on my userpage, include a large-scale project to revamp the Armor documentation, pages for the unplayable cast from Smash 64 to Ultimate, numerous moveset pages, unplayable character documentation, and a ton of competitive and technical information for various mechanics across the wiki. Most Ultimate pages have at least something from myself and much of my edits involve significant restructuring to the page's benefit. I also edit Bulbapedia...sometimes...under Pichu Madman26, mainly documenting obscure ancient fandom things. Finally, I've single-handedly run the Badman Wiki since taking ownership of it a year ago. It's a Fandom-- hey, where are you going? Ok, but seriously, I learned a lot editing SmashWiki and was able to apply it to a small niche franchise I love very much, turning it from a weird place of varying quality from 2009 to a thoroughly established wiki covering most games in the series, not unlike large Nintendo wikis.

You will notice I have never had Rollback. Truth be told, I've never felt it necessary in my time on the wiki so far. Most of my edits here have been informational improvements, sometimes reacting to recent changes when I see someone doing something, and adding to what they did. Rarely do I see vandalism or strange edits - normally, I just see a wall of Cookies and Creme edits and move on with my day. I do check, once every few days in fact, but it just kind of doesn't come up, so I've never had to ask. It isn't required for an RfA, but I think this is worth noting anyway.

I'm not a perfect individual, of course. While I'm...fine with basic MediaWiki things, I'm also a klutz. At least a small chunk of my edits are from me making repeated edits to a single page because I forgot to preview thinking I'd finally fixed this one annoying thing. I am also a somewhat busy fellow, having my own YouTube channel that I manage, and an iguana that takes up my entire morning, often meaning that I have to dedicate specific days to specific actions (which, naturally, coincides with my fluctuating time zones and jetlagging myself). I am a bit of a "workaholic" in the medically diagnosed sense as well, so staff would likely need to hold me back in some areas if I seem as though I am running myself into the ground - I am never the one to notice. I have a lot of time on my hands, but I also use that time a lot, if that makes sense. I do have a history of passion getting the better of me as well, leading to me sometimes getting into heated disputes with people, and occasionally, I will pursue this too far. Again, these are situations where I would need to have someone shake me on the shoulders - I have worked on this for years, but another set of critical eyes is never a bad thing.

If you've read this far, thank you! Seriously. This community has accommodated me very nicely, in a way that I am admittedly not very used to. I hope to continue giving back for a good long time.

- Plague von Karma 19:53, July 29, 2023 (EDT)

Support

1. You know, I'm tempted to oppose because of the callout. Jokes aside, I believe you'll be fine as an admin on the wiki. I've seen the work you've done on the wiki, so I'm confident you know how the wiki works. To me, your Smogon example also shows that you understand what it takes to run a community, as well as show how much effort you are willing to put in a community; the fact that you stepped down with many people wishing you the best is also a testament to effective leadership, and I believe effective leadership often comes hand-in-hand with effective moderation. The only thing I'm wary about is that I think you tend to get yourself too involved in the conversation and are often a bit too steadfast in your opinion to the point where the discussion ends up going in circles, for example the recent discussion with OT. However, the fact that you were able to admit and identify what went wrong shows me you know when to concede your weaknesses. Overall, I don't think your weaknesses are enough to hold you back on the RfA, while on the other hand I think the examples you've provided shows you'll be a good admin. CookiesCreme 22:50, July 29, 2023 (EDT)

Oppose

1. ...

Neutral

1. ...

Comments

While I trust the credentials that you've listed in your RfA, I was wondering whether you have specific examples of moderation that you can link here. For example, what do you mean exactly by "upheaved the entirety of Smogon's Generation I community?" I also wonder if you have any examples of handling discussions on SmashWiki, both on the wiki or in the Discord (granted I do believe you've had some, but it's easier if you give examples). CookiesCreme 21:30, July 29, 2023 (EDT)

Absolutely! So when it comes to the "upheaval", I truly mean it. If you look through here and here, you will see various examples of my past contributions to the forum community of Smogon prior to my leaving. I also organised two suspect tests, here and here, and assisted with the implementation of bans on the battle simulators. Prior to my stepping up over there, that RBY forum section didn't even exist - it was all one conglomerate of old gen discussions. I also founded its Discord community, and most Gen 1 Pokemon analyses or guides will have my name on them in some capacity, either for writing or quality checking them, the latter of which is an authoritative position on the site. At the time of me joining, much of the Gen 1 articles on Smogon were over 10 years out of date, the community was in disarray following numerous setbacks from prior authority figures, and there was a world where it could have declined into nothing. Now, it's one of the most popular old generations on the site. It was, legitimately, an upheaval; I can rarely say this about anything in good faith. Indeed, this wasn't strictly through my work: Players like Amaranth, emma, and Sabelette also played important parts — especially Sabelette after me leaving — but most would agree I was instrumental, especially early on where most of these users were not actively assisting. The body of work done here was, frankly, back breaking.

As for my SmashWiki discussions on the Discord — I think my wiki ones were articulated decently enough(?) — the most recent example I'd say is my conversation with Omega Tyrant following that warning he received. I certainly wasn't right in my conclusions — I simply didn't have full information and acted on what I knew and believed — but I believe the way I handled it conversationally was effective. I think I articulated my positions effectively, gave good levels of insight, and defended them appropriately when pressed by Voqéo. My positions on reporter protection, particularly, I think I delivered well. It's a bit difficult for me to find anything else with a simple Discord search, but here are a few other things; distinguishing between beliefs and behaviour with yourself, play feedback with Black Vulpine which could demonstrate game knowledge, and some discussions about the Passive armour page prior to me going into it, wherein I believe I articulate myself quite well. These go back into 2021; I don't think going back further is necessary but I could at a push. I was largely inactive in 2022, mainly because of an incident with OmegaToad, and while I'd rather not go into it, it is a perfectly valid argument if you want to dispute my staying potential. --Plague von Karma 21:57, July 29, 2023 (EDT)

---