Guild Wars Wiki:Ignore all policies
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This page is currently an inactive policy proposal. It is not being actively discussed or revised, or is not mature enough to be a policy proposal. Feel free to change this page and participate in the discussion. |
If a policy prevents you from improving or maintaining the official wiki, ignore it.
You do not need to read any rules before contributing to Guild Wars Wiki. If you do what seems sensible, it will usually be right, and if it's not right, don't worry — we all make mistakes. Even the worst mistakes are easy to correct; older versions of a page remain in the revision history and can be restored. If other users disagree with your changes, we'll talk about it thoughtfully and figure out what to do. So don't worry. Be bold, and enjoy helping to build this wiki.
Despite its name, this policy does not sabotage the other policies. Its purpose is to keep them from sabotaging what we're doing here: building an open resource for Guild Wars information. Policies have zero importance compared to that goal. Zero. If they aid that goal, good. If they obstruct it, they are instantly negated. Here are several other things that this policy does and does not mean:
What "Ignore all policies" means[edit]
- You are not required to learn the rules before contributing. (Yes, we already said that, but it is worth repeating.)
- Don't follow written instructions mindlessly. Rather, consider how the wiki is improved or damaged by each edit.
- Rules derive their power to compel not from being written down on a page labeled "policy", but from being a reflection of the shared opinions and practices of many editors.
- Some rules are ultimately descriptive, not prescriptive; they describe existing current practice. They sometimes lag behind the practices they describe.
- "WikiLawyering" doesn't hold. Loopholes and technicalities do not exist in the policy system. Guild Wars Wiki is not a bureaucracy, nor a moot court, nor a type of nomic.
- The spirit of the policy trumps the letter of the policy. The common purpose of building a useful Guild Wars resource trumps both.
- Following the rules is less important than using good judgment and being thoughtful and considerate, always bearing in mind that good judgment is not only displayed by those who agree with you.
What "Ignore all policies" does not mean[edit]
- This does not mean that every action is justifiable. It is neither a trump card nor a carte blanche. A policy-ignorer must justify how their actions improve the wiki if challenged.
- This does not stop you from pointing out a policy to someone who has broken it, but do consider that their judgment may have been correct. (See also Guild Wars Wiki:Assume good faith.)
- This is not an answer if someone asks you why you broke a policy. Most of the policies are derived from a lot of thought and experience and exist for pretty good reasons; they should only be broken for good reasons.
- This is not an exemption from accountability. You're still responsible for reasonably foreseeable effects of your actions.
- This is not an invitation to use the wiki for purposes contrary to that of building a resource for Guild Wars info.
