SmashWiki:Requests for bureaucratship/Aidanzapunk

Aidanzapunk (talk • contribs • edit count • passing RFA • RFB page)

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

Hi. I'm Aidanzapunk, but you can just call me Aidan. I joined this wiki almost seven years ago, put out a request for adminship two years later, got denied, put out another request for adminship three years after that, got accepted, and I've been an admin since. I've had a lot of ups and downs, but I'd generally like to think that things have gone well.

So, admittedly, I didn't initially want to do this. I didn't think I'd be ready, especially given my tendency to ask other admins and crats what their opinions were on what was happening, either on the wiki or in the Discord server, and how it should be handled. And then both Disaster Flare and Serpent King went on hiatus. Though Disaster Flare would end up coming out of hiatus shortly after Serpent King started his, this effectively left Toomai as the sole crat, which he rightfully brought up concern towards.

Now, Serpent King actually spoke to me before he stepped away from the wiki and passed on the ownership of the server to me, unsure of whether or not it was the right decision, and looking for someone to pass the server onto. Given the fact that I had previously temporarily handled ownership of the server while he dealt with his grandmother's passing, this was a good call on his part. Toomai, while he's been around on the wiki much longer than I have, even admitted he didn't think he would've been a good person to pass the server onto, due to him not being as active in the server as other staff. But it was in that moment while I was talking with him that I realized that someone would need to handle his responsibilities and make sure everything was going as smoothly as possible, and Toomai mentioned it as well. So, I'm coming forward today, putting a request for bureaucratship out, and seeing what you all think. I will clarify that this is not a pity RfB, but rather one that's being presented with hindsight and rethinking.

I could choose to go on about my strengths and weaknesses as an admin, and how those would come into play if I were to be a crat, but there's two major things that really tie it all together: judgement, and communication. I'll be going over those individually, while also discussing how those play into both the different powers of a crat, and each other.

• Judgement: Admittedly, I have a terrible sense of judgement sometimes; I either overcompensate, or undercompensate. Hell, even this could fall under that, because I didn't think I'd be willing to try for cratship. But hindsight is a very good friend of mine, and it's especially prevalent if other people are involved with judgement. Yes, the wiki has had some incidents that probably could've been handled better with better judgement, but those are all learning experiences. Judgement is formed after the fact, you learn how to judge future situations by how you judged past ones. If someone is promoted to be admin or crat and something happens that causes them to be disliked by the community or, worst case scenario, lose that position, then I will know to be a better judge in the future, and communicate with the right people in future situations. This is not to say that I'm not willing to own up to situations ending poorly, far from it. But that's also just it, I will take the failure to heart, and know to handle the situation better should there ever be another situation that is like it, or could lead to it. Judgement also plays very much into a crat's role of deciding who does and who doesn't get to become an admin. With being an admin, you have to have good judgement (how long does X user get a block, based on what they've done), good managing skills (being able to handle everything thrown at you), and good communication (being able to work with the rest of the admins). You have to watch out for people who only want the admin status just to be an admin, as well as people who let their own judgement get in the way of being the best admin they can be. As a crat, I would watch out for these points when looking to promote a user to admin status. I would also take a look through their edit history, and look for any conflicts or things that are unbecoming of a user or admin (such as a heavy emphasis on minor edits rather than anything major).
• Communication: I am very much a fan of communicating to work better. As I am autistic, communication has been a big part of my life from the moment I could talk. I'm very much willing to communicate with people, both individually and on a larger scale, and this extends to my position as an admin here on SmashWiki. As I mentioned, I was initially concerned over my tendency to go to others instead of being able to handle things myself—this has been an issue I've seen in myself for a very long time. However, thinking back on it, I see it more as a strength than a weakness, especially in terms of being an admin; I would rather a group decision be made, even if it's just two people, than an individual decision on my own. (Hell, even Serpent King himself read over this RfB before I submitted it.) I'm more than willing to communicate with people I trust and have been trusted by the community—be it other admins/crats, chat ops in the server, or other people I genuinely trust—on situations that I don't think I could handle on my own, to help me be a better judge on those situations and future ones as well. Additionally, as I have ADHD, I can forget to do things from time to time...to time...to time. If I've forgotten to handle a troublesome user, change someone's username, or promote someone looking for a position, then a casual reminder on that would be perfect. Communication also plays a key role in deciding to promote, because if a user is disliked by the community, or someone else brings up an issue that, in my own judgement, I missed, it would definitely be worth noting, and confronting the candidate about; communication would also help with actions after promotion, as users should be able to call out an admin for making poor choices, regardless of how major or minor they are, without the fear of going against a "person of power," since admins and crats are just regular users with a few extra tools they can use.

There are some genuine flaws of mine that I would like to address, though. I briefly mentioned me being autistic and having ADHD, and while these are not, nor will they ever be, "flaws" by definition, they do still act as detriments to my everyday capabilities due to being disabilities; while there is not much I can do in terms of handling them, as they will forever exist, communicating with me in regards to me doing something wrong or forgetting to do something is greatly appreciated, and I implore you to not hesitate to contact me in regards to it, regardless of whether I become a crat or remain an admin. Additionally, as was mentioned in my second RfA, there have been some times where I've let my temper get the better of me, but I fully believe that I am beyond that; while I am not afraid to make myself clear, I believe I'm capable of doing so in a less outburst-ish way. I also have noticed a decline in my activity and overall communication with the greater community (not just in regards to the server itself, but also people outside the server who don't work on the wiki), which I plan on remedying; I helped spread the SmashWiki's statement on our stance regarding the uprising of information regarding the competitive community, which was met with praise, and I also plan on helping further the connection between not just the SmashWiki and the rest of the Smash community, but myself and the rest of the wiki community.

Would I be the perfect bureaucrat? No, everyone makes mistakes, we're only human. But would I try my hardest to be the best one I can be? Without a doubt. Aidan, the Rurouni 13:00, July 8, 2020 (EDT)

Support

1. For the words, I think, I should support. Well it’s probably due to SK hiatus. NGL you’ve been in the server for many years and it’s just been decided with each run and edits, it’ll be a good opportunity for you to become a Bureaucrat. It’s even likely that you helped people, give advice, etc. Even in the discord too btw. HowplayzPrepare Yourself 13:19 July 8, 2020 (EDT)
2. I definitely support your RfB, and it's not just because we're currently in dire need of another. I've seen you put in a lot of work when it comes to helping around the wiki - especially things that typically might not be on the scale of requiring direct admin/bureaucrat assistance. If there's ever a vote, tag, or anything that's been left alone and needs to get done, more often than not I've seen your name come around to help out. Seems to me that you've acknowledged (what you consider to be) your own personal weaknesses, which I believe is the first step towards improving yourself. You've got my trust - I'm certain that having you in a Bureaucrat position will be a great help to the wiki, now and likely far into the future. Acgamer28 14:04, July 8, 2020 (EDT)
3. Aidan knows their stuff and would do just fine as a bureaucrat; more importantly, I think Aidan would receive criticism well on the rare occasion they screw up. Support. Miles (talk) 14:20, July 8, 2020 (EDT)
4. Support. You're often willing to offer your help to other users, such as when you offered to help my custom moveset page. I also believe you handled the Smash Bros. sexual harassment situation on the wiki very well. You're also one of the first responders when a vandal runs rampant. There are definitely more that I can talk about, but to sum it up I believe you have made great judgement as an administrator and overall I am very confident that this judgement will make you a great bureaucrat as well. CookiesCreme 14:52, July 8, 2020 (EDT)
5. I'm going to slap my support right here. I may not know the guy very well(but then, you don't need to know everyone in the first place), but me and Aidan do share similarities: autism, ADHD, temper issues, et cetera. This, along with his abilities and the legion of edits under his belt, would make for a rather... interesting crat. Other than this, the speed at which he can react to bad faith edits and put them in the dustbin where they certainly belong, tied with his experience, would make Aidan a great addition to the unfortunately pea-sized Bureaucrat roster. I have spoken. JustSomeCloudMain who ain't interested (talk) 17:38, July 8, 2020 (EDT)
6. Support You're a great admin, and you have much experience and are quite fairly competent about how this wiki works and try to help it the best you can. I think you'd make a great bureaucrat. Awesomelink234, the Super Cool Gamer (talk) 21:36, July 8, 2020 (EDT)

Oppose

1. Oppose. So I guess I'll start with the obvious: it very much seems to me like you're using SK's inactivity as a means to boost your chances of promotion. Furthermore, it seems like most of the support you have gotten is simply due to you being a good editor and admin, and isn't based on how you would handle the increased responsibilities of bureaucratship. Aside from that, I have some other concerns as well.
   
   First of all, as you yourself seem to be aware, it seems as though you're not really ready to be a bureaucrat. In your RfB you come across as being very nervous and unconfident, and that in and of itself is a problem. You also don't seem all that convinced that you even want or need to be a bureaucrat, or that you would make particularly good use of the additional tools provided to you. I'm not at all convinced that your promotion would be of much benefit to the Wiki.
   
   Additionally, and of equal concern, there remains the issue of your temper. I was only mildly concerned about this in your successful RfA, in which I voted neutral, but since then I have become more convinced that you are vulnerable to letting your temper run wild. A while back, there was a clash between the two of us on Twitter, regarding a passive-aggressive edit summary you left, and the aggressive way you responded to me on Twitter has stuck in my mind since then. But that was a while ago, and until recently I would have been willing to pass this off as a one-time incident. However, a couple of weeks ago, I happened per chance to come across a more recent outburst from you. I wasn't planning on ever bringing it up, as I thought it would cause unnecessary drama, but now that you are applying for bureaucratship, it seems very relevant. On another Wiki, I stumbled across this rather concerning outburst source: [1] which now makes me believe that your temper is still somewhat unstable, contrary to what you stated in your RfB. There is no doubt in my mind that a bureaucrat has to be level-headed and professional when representing the Wiki, even if they are doing so on another website, and that's why this issue also raises a big red flag for me.
   
   I would like to stress that I have no gripes with you as an admin, or as a user on SmashWiki, and I am completely over our clashes in the past, but I just can't ignore what appears to be a pretty clear example that you have not, in fact, gotten your temper under control, nor do I feel that you, or the Wiki, would benefit from your promotion, and that is why I am opposing your RfB. Alex the Weeb 18:36, July 8, 2020 (EDT)

   I'd like to reiterate the fact that while part of this is due to SK stepping down, it was also due to me reconsidering my own abilities. Yes, I am unsure, and, should this pass and it proves to be too much for me, then I may step down, but I am willing to be proven wrong, as, again, I have poor judgement skills, not just in regards to making calls for other people, but for myself as well. I've noticed a big rise in self-deprecation for a long period of time, and am working on dealing with it as time progresses. My goal was also to more emphasize the fact that I didn't think I was ready for the individual responsibilities, since, as I mentioned, I am a big fan of communication rather than "hey, can you handle this on your own?"; it wasn't really to imply that I would not "make particularly good use of the additional tools provided to [me]," and I apologize if it came off that way. (Edit to make things more clear: my point is that I would be able to handle these powers, but I would not be able to handle them alone, if that makes more sense.)
   
   This may surprise you, but I did actually mention that particular "outburst" (as you have described) in the server itself, albeit in a separate administrator-only channel, and it was, in fact, not met with backlash from neither chat ops nor admins. Even disregarding the large divide between Wikia and the NIWA, I definitely would not call my argument against removing a perfectly valid edit more of an outburst than I would the comment that immediately followed my own, not to mention the fact that neither are more of an outburst than a literal virtual shouting match (which has happened on this wiki before).
   
   I appreciate the concerns, and, regardless of whether this RfB passes or fails, I will keep it in mind for the future. Aidan, the Rurouni 19:09, July 8, 2020 (EDT)

   The main thing that concerns me about the Wikia incident is how you responded to a calm and respectful explanation of why your edit was undone with aggression. The way the other admin responded after that was a result of the tone you established in your response (and honestly, still isn't as aggressive as your post was). But I'm also concerned about how that incident may have reflected on this Wiki, since in what appeared to be a power move, you brought attention both to this Wiki, and the fact that you are an admin on it, in a post which had an aggressive and kinda disrespectful undertone to it. Regarding my first point, I think it still stands, and the way your RfB is written in general does not exude confidence of any sort, nor does it do much to convince me that you even require bureaucratship. Alex the Weeb 19:20, July 8, 2020 (EDT)

   My argument, in regards to bringing up my admin status, was "we may both have the same status, but needlessly undoing valid edits is not the way to go about it." I also pointed out that they were not the only admins to have done this, and I was presenting a valid concern; in hindsight, I could have been a little less aggressive, but if one of the SmashWiki admins was removing valid edits (which has also happened on this wiki before), wouldn't you want to call us out on it too (especially since that was what happened on this wiki)? Aidan, the Rurouni 19:31, July 8, 2020 (EDT)

   Yes, I certainly would have, but I wouldn't talk to an admin this way on the Wiki...maybe on Discord if I were in a particularly bad mood (and even then, I would consider that a mistake on my part) but not on the Wiki. Alex the Weeb 19:37, July 8, 2020 (EDT)

2. Oppose Right away, I do not believe bureaucratship is something you're ready for. So I'm going to bring out my inner Omega Tyrant to elaborate.
   
   First off, you seem to have solely done this due to Serpent King going on a hiatus. This brings up another familiar circumstance as this feels too rushed. You don't seem to actually want this or believe you need this, this looks like a "why not?" situation. I need to remind you many users (besides me and the other OT) believed Miles should not have become an admin on here, given his terrible moderation skills on AllisBrawl, anti Project M bias, and the fact he has misused his tools before, plus I myself have even seen him do questionable things on WikiBound in the past. His RFA was a textbook "why not?" and "I'm a good contributor" promotion. We should never promote an admin based on a "why not?" status, and the same goes for bureaucratship.
   
   Second, you yourself admitted you feel you might not be ready for this position. That automatically raises a red flag that you're not confident you can handle this role. If you don't believe you're ready, then I can sense that there are situations where you might not know what to do. I myself chose to step down from reapplying for adminship not only because of discord, but also because I now realize due to my niaveness I'm not fully ready. You need to display you are confident and fully capable of handling this role, and if you don't believe you are then I can already see there will be situations you will not be able to handle.
   
   Third, I'm going to have to agree with Alex that your temper may still be concerning. While I haven't seen you letting your temper run amok here, I still see with the examples Alex have given you will have the tendency to have an outburst. Let me remind you being a staff can be a frustrating job. To be blunt if I saw you make those outbursts in Alex's examples (as well as another example he put up on that) when you put up your RFA, and I was around to vote on it, I would have opposed it.
   
   Fourth is judgement. Judgement is very important trait needed in someone within a position of power, you admitted you are terrible at judgemet sometimes. One of the most powerful tools is promoting and demoting other users to and from rollbackers, admins, or bureaucrats. You need to have a solid judgement on whether the user is fit for a position of power.
   
   This brings a fifth point that you did not outline specifically what you will be using the bureaucrat tools for. This here is a common mistake I see on failed RFAs where users don't outline what they will be using the admin tools for. You will be receiving 4 new tools as a bureaucrat, yet you haven't outlined at least once when and where you will be using them. Once again, this gives of a strong "why not?" sense that does not make a good candidate, as you seem to want this just for the sake of bureaucratship.
   
   In short this is not something you are fully ready for, especially since you yourself admitted you are not, and I recommend you hold off until you are. Omegα Toαd 20:37, July 8, 2020 (EDT)

   I, again, reiterate that this was partly done due to a lack of staff, which is much different from my initial RfA, where there was no need for a new admin at the time. My second RfA, the one that passed, was similarly put out due to a lack of staff. The other part was me rejudging my own abilities as a moderator. This was never about "why not?", and I apologize if it's coming off that way, but it was entirely not my intention. (Also, what does bringing Miles up have to do with anything? This is my RfB, not his.)
   
   Secondly, as I stated to Alex, "my point is that I would be able to handle these powers, but I would not be able to handle them alone." There is a big difference between the two, and, again, ties back to me applying due to a lack of staff. No one should solely have to handle the responsibilities alone, and Toomai was right in bringing up concern over being the only crat. Thankfully, Flare stepped back in, but there should need to be more than one backup option.
   
   For your third point, I'm not going to respond, not because I'm ignoring it, but because I don't feel it necessary to repeat things that I've already said.
   
   Fourthly, this is definitely something I should have clarified further in my actual statement, but my judgement is decided upon evidence that I am given. If there is a lack of evidence, then I cannot make a clear and solid call. If something is brought up to affect a call I can make, then it will be affected by that. My individual/initial judgmental abilities are rusty, but, given proper additions to help out, it can be very clear.
   
   Finally, I very much did outline the new tools, as I stated:

   "Judgement also plays very much into a crat's role of deciding who does and who doesn't get to become an admin."

   "If I've forgotten to handle a troublesome user, change someone's username, or promote someone looking for a position, then a casual reminder on that would be perfect."

   I just didn't think it'd be particularly necessary to mention those new tools outright, because, looking back on Miles's RfB, he did exactly that, and got called out by Omega Tyrant due to those being very basic abilities that don't need major outlining (unlike an RfA, where new abilities are majorly important, due to the step up in the "hierarchy", for lack of a better word, a user takes). To quote Omega Tyrant, in response to Miles's comment about renaming users, "This is like blocking vandals and deleting junk, anyone can do it, this isn't a special point for you." This is not to say those new tools aren't important whatsoever, which is why I offhandedly mentioned them the way I did, because they did deserve mention, but not in a "this is what I'd do with them" way; you're changing a user's name and giving slightly more people new powers, not taking on a whole new level of responsibility by gaining the power to prevent people from editing and remove pages entirely. However, if you'd like a more concise answer:

   • Promotion: The only difference between this and an admin's job is that you now have the ability to promote admins themselves. However, the two are no different: you still have to watch for a user's ability as a moderator, and be willing to decide on whether or not they deserve the position.
   • Interwiki: Admittedly, I'm not too familiar with interwiki data, but given my goal of becoming a game designer, learning interwiki code would be something I could probably get the hang of quickly—I am a fast learner, after all. Plus, there are potential things that I could do with it in the grand scheme of things (as in, outside of wikicode), with consensus from the rest of the wiki, of course.
   • Renaming users: This is easy. All you have to do is say "remind me in a couple of days to make sure you want to go through with it as per this policy", they come back with an answer, and then it's a done deal. My talk page is one of two pages on my watchlist (the other being my main userpage), so it'd be reasonable to assume I get it over with pretty quickly.
   • Hiding edits: Admins can do this too, for the record, but this is only for extreme cases (confidential information, explicit content, etc.), so I'd use it when necessary/requested.

   Hopefully this answers your concerns. Aidan, the Rurouni 22:36, July 8, 2020 (EDT)

   OK you got me so screw the "why not" part. Though I should mention for the future that while having a lack of admins is definitely a problem, an rfa or rfb should not be solely be based on a "we need more" alone. Also Miles being a bad admin was brought up as an example that and admin should never be promoted based on a "why not we need more", which was my initial thought when seeing this rfb. Still a few things turn me off on this which I'll mention a bit later.
   
   Secondly judgement is probably one of the most important and hardest part of bureaucratship. For one thing, yes, it is important to have clear evidence given, it's always a good thing to have other users and admins assist in providing evidence and it's a good thing you see that. However at the same time being able to judge alone is something important if your caught as the only bureaucrat around. Say if Toomai and Disaster Flare go on a hiatus and you're the only bureaucrat around, if your individual judgement skills are poor then that's a sign to me that there may be situations you could be incapable of handling.
   
   I saw your responses to Alex's concerns about your temper, however I am still concerned that you can become frustrated and aggressive with problematic users. Staff members should still show that they can handle their temper, which I'm not fully convinced you're at that point, at least not yet.
   
   So anyway... yeah I'm an idiot for not seeing you did mention promoting admins and bcrats. When it comes to promotion while it is a community effort, you yourself need to have the proper judgement skills. While I see you do know what the red flags are in admins, I still see a lack in confidence in your judgement. Your general lack of confidence in this position is the major thing that turns me off, especially as you yourself admitted you don't think your ready for this. I would also like to mention that when bureaucrats hide edits they're also hidden from admins as well, though you did mention you'd use to hide personal information (phone numbers, home addresses and stuff like that) or highly NSFW content.
   
   My main concerns are lack of confidence and individual judgement skills, and temper. While I do think you are doing fine as an admin and better than Miles, I feel bureaucratship is not something your ready for yet, and you will need some more time before you are. Omegα Toαd 00:46, July 9, 2020 (EDT)
   
   EDIT: I would like to mention that there is nothing wrong with mentioning what you'll use the tools for outright. Miles's problem is that he was using him being a good contributor as the reason why he should be a bureaucrat rather than showing if he has the right judgement skills to handle such a high responsibility like promoting users to rollbacks and admins. Miles has shown pretty awful examples of being an admin and having poor judgement skills. You however don't have these specific issues and there's nothing wrong if you want to mention what you'll use your new tools for, though as you said it isn't necessary and it's all up to you if you want to or not.

   You didn't answer my question: what does Miles have to do with anything? This is my RfB, not his. Aidan, the Rurouni 01:05, July 9, 2020 (EDT)

   That was before when I saw this as a "why not" rfb. I brought him up because his rfa was a literal "why not" promotion, and that's what I initally thought that was the direction this rfb was going, which turns out it isn't so that's otherwise irrelevant. Basically it was using another's rfa and abilities as an admin as an example as why I'm not convinced about this. Omegα Toαd 01:24, July 9, 2020 (EDT)

   I know I am on hiatus, but this was brought to my attention and I find it highly irritating for a couple of reasons:

   1. Why the hell are you attacking Miles as an admin here? You've brought up irrelevant old issues that mean nothing now, then tried to pass them off as arguments against someone who wasn't even involved in any of it. You started by comparing yourself to Omega Tyrant (someone known to be very critical of Miles), then proceeded to mirror his criticism...for no good reason, there isn't any relevance here.
   2. It is rich to hear you go on about good judgement. I don't mean to discredit the argument, but this is massively hypocritical.

   So yeah, I guess that's all I've got to say here. Serpent  King 08:21, July 9, 2020 (EDT)

   I agree fully with the Miles thing in hindsight, but in terms of judgement yes I am aware of how hypocritical it sounds (just didn't say it aloud). However while I did probably go on about it more than I needed to, it is still something that is concerning not just from me but others as well. Anyway yeah moving on. Omegα Toαd 09:04, July 9, 2020 (EDT)

   I would just like to point out (since this is something I see being done a lot) that whether or not OmegaToad's criticism is hypocritical has no bearing on its validity. OmegaToad's judgement isn't relevant here, as he is not the one requesting a promotion. Alex the Weeb 09:23, July 9, 2020 (EDT)

3. Gonna have to agree with Alex and Toad. I Oppose this. S3AHAWK (talk) 21:19, July 8, 2020 (EDT)
4. Yeah, the guys above pretty much summed up my concerns. Oppose. Your Senpai, Iron Warrior 01:27, July 9, 2020 (EDT)
5. Yeah have to Oppose for the same reasons above, temper, decision-making, and lack of confidence. NPM🐷 Morr!? 02:51, July 9, 2020 (EDT)
6. As per the above opposes that already sum up my thoughts; not much else to add on my end that hasn't been said. VoqéoT 05:16, July 9, 2020 (EDT)
7. Oppose You need to go beyond SK's hiatus. Like why do you want it? It's a lot work for bureaucrats. It seems like in the future, you would end up getting intense scrutiny from users for one big mistake. Also, one of things that stopped me from supporting you is your judgement and that could hinder your ability to be a bureaucrat. And your weak points needs to be worked on. Not ready to be a bureaucrat in my eyes. Luigi540 (talk) 05:42, July 9, 2020 (EDT)

   Well, as I've said before, this is not solely because of SK going on hiatus. This was also me rejudging my own abilities and reconsidering whether or not I thought I'd be ready for the position. It's really only four extra tools and one new responsibility, and, as I said to OmegaToad, "you're changing a user's name and giving slightly more people new powers, not taking on a whole new level of responsibility by gaining the power to prevent people from editing and remove pages entirely." Secondly, I've...yet to get intense scrutiny from users for any mistake I make? I definitely seem to recall one instance of at least one user calling me out on something I did (what that is, I can't say, as I don't remember), but it was never anything major, and I'd hope that the userbase has enough decency to not dogpile onto someone for a minor mistake (a big mistake is a different story, but, again, I can't think of anything major that I've screwed up on). Lastly, I addressed the weak points not because I need to work on them, but because they exist. They are disabilities and will always be present, they're not something I can "work on." They can, however, be worked around; I've had to deal with them all my life, so I know how to make things work in spite of them (and am still learning new ways to do so, even now). Aidan, the Rurouni 13:38, July 9, 2020 (EDT)

Neutral

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