Guild Wars Wiki:Elections/2008-08 bureaucrat election/Defiant Elements

I may write a "speech" later, but, for now, I'll simply say that I'm nominating myself for Bureaucratship and that hopefully my contributions (and my many, many other nominations) speak for themselves. I will of course be happy to answer any questions. *Defiant Elements*  +talk  18:49, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

First, a little about my wiki-history.

I started editing wikis a few years back, beginning with GuildWiki where I was primarily involved in the Build section. Following the Builds wipe I moved to PvXwiki where I became a Bureaucrat and got my first taste of policy creation/discussion and "running" a wiki. Since then, my primary focus, both on PvX and GWW has been primarily policy-related (along with the managerial/janitorial stuff I do on PvX). In particular on GWW, I've focused on a number of policies in particular that I felt needed changing (eg. Admin, Election) and I've done my best to improve them (with varying degrees of success).

So, what makes a "good" Bureaucrat? I was asked this question during the last election, and here's what I had to say:

Obviously, any good candidate is going to be reasonably intelligent, rational, level-headed, and impartial; that's a given. They should, of course, have a comprehensive knowledge of policy (which can be hard to gauge, but it's usually a pretty good bet that Sysops, former Bureaucrats, older and more experienced users, users who are frequently involved in policy discussion/creation, etc., have a pretty good grasp of policy). Note that when I say "comprehensive knowledge of policy," I mean that Bureaucrats should not only have read the policies and know what they say but also know why they exist (commonly referred to as the "spirit of the policy). They should understand the intricacies of the Bureaucrat position (both the concrete responsibilities inherent in the role as well what it means to be a Bureaucrat on GWW -- which also means that they should have a pretty solid understanding of GWWs current WikiCulture). They should be well-respected and in good-standing (note that this is not to say well-liked). They should be active (high edit counts are not a requirement, but their presence should be felt and they should be able to check in at least once a day or so) and dedicated, again, these things are obvious. Other than that, in order for me, personally, to support a candidate I need to feel like I know them pretty well (I wouldn't necessarily vote against someone I didn't know, but I certainly wouldn't support them) and, in a similar vein, I need to be able to implicitly trust that the candidate will always keep the Wiki's best interests at heart. Other considerations include the candidate's personality and how that personality fits in with the rest of the Bureaucrat team, but that's a much more vague distinction in many cases.

The questions you have to be asking yourself then are A) do you I (i.e. you) agree with his (i.e. my) definition of the qualities required in a Bureaucrat, and, if so, B) does he (i.e. I) have those qualities. Clearly, I think I have 'em (else I wouldn't have run), but, as egotistical as I sometimes am, I'm well aware that my own opinion in the matter is meaningless.

So, what are my general wiki-beliefs?

Many, or even most, people are already aware of this, but I'll restate some of my core beliefs. I tend to favor a meritocratic oligarchy with an emphasis on using "common sense" and Admin discretion. I tend toward a "be bold" attitude and place a much higher emphasis on that oh so cliched "good of the Wiki" than on following policy. For instance, I think Brains was well within his rights in protecting the Ursan talk page and Izzy's talk page, and I think it's much more important to expedite the implementation of an effective stance than to spend our time creating and debating policies. The links contained in the "References" section on my userpage may also be helpful for people interested in how I think Wikis should be run.

Finally, why do I want to be a Bureaucrat/what do I think I could accomplish as a Bureaucrat that I would be unable to as a normal user?

The long and the short of it is that, were I to become a Bureaucrat, very little would change. As is, I do my best to discuss policy, comment on ArbComms, RfAs, and other matters of importance. However, given that I believe that I'm a strong candidate and given that I believe strongly in "rightness" of my wiki-philosophy, though I'm perfectly happy to debate it with anyone willing to read through walls of text ;), I think I'd be a good Bureaucrat, and thus, by extension, I want to be one. The question now is whether y'all agree and that's obviously a question that I'm in no position to answer.

As I said above, I'm perfectly happy to answer questions and expand on any of the stuff here, other useful links include my previous Bureaucrat nominations (though I've changed quite a bit since the first couple), my RfA, and this. That's all for now, cheers! *Defiant Elements*  +talk  19:59, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

Supporting Votes

 * 1) poke | talk 20:12, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 2) - Auron  20:15, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 3) חיו  Chaiyo Kaldor  20:49, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 4) --[[Image:User People of Antioch sig.png|Talk]] People of Antioch  21:15, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 5) -- Shadowphoenix [[Image:User Shadowphoenix Necromancer.png|19x19px|Please, talk to me; I'm so lonely ;-;]] 21:18, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 6)  Calor  [[Image:User_Calor_Sig.png|19px|Talk]] 21:33, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 7) -- Silverleaf   [[Image:User Silverleaf sig.png|User_talk:Silverleaf]] 21:43, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 8) --Dominator  Matrix  01:40, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 9) &mdash;  ク   Eloc  貢  05:46, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 10) --Kokuou 06:07, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 11) -- ab.er. rant  [[Image:User Ab.er.rant Sig.png| ]] 08:57, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 12) -  anja  [[Image:User Anja Astor sig icon.png|talk]] 09:26, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 13) --  NUKLEAR  [[Image:User NuclearVII signature 3.jpg|19x19px]] IIV 12:10, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 14) [[Image:User The Great Tomato sig.jpg|Tomato]] Tomato 13:29, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 15) -- [[Image:User indochine dsk tree.png|15px]]  Indochine  talk 15:10, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 16) &mdash;  Skakid  15:54, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 17)  &not; Wizårdbõÿ777  ( talk ) 16:02, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 18) --Burning Freebies 19:24, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 19) -- Armond Warblade[[Image:User Armond sig image.png]] 01:42, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 20) -- Readem 01:57, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 21) -- Mohnzh   say   what?  03:01, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 22) -- | Cyan  Light [[Image:User Cyan Light SB.jpg|19px]] Refreshment! |  11:02, 22 August 2008 (UTC) (fewer than 100 contributions outside the Guild/User/ArenaNet namespaces)
 * 23) --[[Image:User Brains12 Spiral.png|18px|]] Brains12 \ talk 13:59, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 24) -- LordSojar 23:15, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 25) Lord Belar  20:12, 23 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 26) --[[Image:Professordog.jpg|19px]]Professor Dog 16:13, 25 August 2008 (UTC) (fewer than 100 contributions outside the Guild/User/ArenaNet namespaces)
 * 27) -- Talonz  [[Image:User Talonz sig.gif]] // 22:56, 25 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 28) --[[Image:User Wynthyst sig icon.png | Wyn's Talk page]] Wyn 23:44, 25 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 29) Dark  Morphon  (contribs)  11:06, 27 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 30) -  Tesla  [[Image:User_Tesla_Teslasmallsig1.gif]] 13:02, 27 August 2008 (UTC) (fewer than 100 contributions outside the Guild/User/ArenaNet namespaces)
 * 31) Misery 15:38, 29 August 2008 (UTC) (fewer than 100 contributions outside the Guild/User/ArenaNet namespaces)
 * 32) --  Mini Me  ''' [[Image:User Mini Me sig.png|19px|talk]] 20:36, 30 August 2008 (UTC)

Opposing Votes

 * 1) Backsword 20:15, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 2) --Fighterdoken 20:17, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 3) Fall 20:20, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 4) --Anorith [[Image:User Anorith Grenths Grasp.jpg|19px]] Talk  20:50, 20 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 5) &mdash; Seru   [[Image:User Seru Sig2.png|19px]] Talk 19:14, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 6) --Cursed Angel  [[Image:User Cursed Angel Signature.jpg|19px|talk]] 10:55, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 7) -- Inspired  to ____ 15:06, 22 August 2008 (UTC)
 * 8) --Blood Anthem  [[Image:User Blood Anthem Sig.jpg|19px]] 14:18, 23 August 2008 (UTC)