User blog:Toa Roden/6/13/12 - Toa Roden's Departure

You may have already guessed, from the title, what this blog post is going to contain. Thus, before I proceed any further, I shall reassure you concerning two very important points: That said, I have made a very important decision. It has taken me several months to settle it in my mind, and believe me, it didn't want to settle easily. Doubts and/or duty kept whispering in my mind, whispering things like "But, Roden, the wiki needs you! You can't desert it now, not when there are so few active users, and even fewer experienced ones such as yourself! Think of all the time and effort you've put into it, all the work that yet remains unfinished! If you're not around to keep an eye on things, who'll make sure that it gets done, and done right? What about vandal attacks? What about helping and encouraging new users?" and so on, and so on, etc.
 * 1) I am still a devoted fan of BIONICLE, and plan to remain so for many a year.
 * 2) I am still a stalwart member of the Wiki Metru community, and again, plan to remain so for many a year.

But for each prod of doubt and duty, there was an intelligent, perfectly reasonable counter-argument that skooshed it flat. Reasons like... but I'll get to that later. First the what, then the why.

I, Toa Roden, shall soon be permanently retiring from active service on The BIONICLE Wiki. And when I say 'permanent' and 'retirement', I mean just that. I may still drop in to visit from time to time, MarioGalaxy-style, but any edits I make will be minor, and although I would rather like to retain my rollback powers, I shall be resigning from my position as an official member of the Matoran Guard. Messages on my talkpage here will still be answered, and should a disaster arise, I would be more than happy to return and assist for a period of time, but not permanently. Please do not argue; my mind is set, and trust me, this decision was the product of much thought and consideration.

Now, without a doubt, you are wondering why in Karzahni I am doing this, what my reasons could possibly be. Or maybe, like me, you saw this coming a long time ago and are willing to accept it. But in either case, an explanation is, I feel, completely necessary. The reasons for my departure are as follows: ...and there were a few more reasons that I had intended to mention, but they were minor, and for the most part, simply side-effects of those already discussed. So I'll skip them, and make a long and emotional short and blunt farewell speech instead, which you are welcome to skip over, if you like.
 * 1) Lack of enthusiasm and/or willpower. Ever since about six months after The Merge, I have felt that my enthusiasm concerning this wiki has been steadily decreasing. It's not that I'm not still fond of it, or that I don't enjoy editing in general. But the spark was gone, the fun of it, the hope that someday this wiki might be a worthy rival of BS01. It has become harder and harder to do anything more than upload a few images now and then, and in the last few weeks I have lost most of my enthusiasm for even that. I feel old, my friends, very old and very tired and more than ready to step back and let a new generation carry on.
 * 2) Lack of a worthy cause. Now, feel free to hurl rocks at me for being a blasphemous traitor, but I've also come to the conclusion that any improvements I make to this wiki are essentially worthless, because anyone who really wants to find out something about BIONICLE (myself included) will most likely choose BS01, and for many good reasons which I shall not waste your time by expounding on. It will suffice to say that BS01 is superior to TBW in almost any category you care to name, and some you don't. Not that competition isn't good, and not that the Internet doesn't have room for two BIONICLE encyclopedias, because it does. It's just that I feel my time and energy could be put to better uses, like supporting the BioMedia Project by spending long hours playing their restored version of Inika Island Assault. (just kidding; I was actually thinking of becoming a lot more active on Custom BIONICLE Wiki)
 * 3) Decreasing amounts of free time (i.e. growing up). This one is self-explanatory, I suppose. Sometimes you need to set your priorities straight, and real-life comes first.

I discovered BIONICLEpedia over two and a half eventful years ago, lurked in the shadows for several weeks, and then worked up the courage to join. It was a discovery that would influence entire aspects of my life, and now I find myself with a love of writing, a marvelously extensive knowledge of BIONICLE lore, a somewhat lesser knowledge of MediaWiki lore, an increased understanding of how to keep an online community running smoothly, over a year's worth of experience as a wiki administrator, an incurable addiction to professionalism, a fairly high reputation among the citizens of Wiki Metru, and enough memories to fill the Mines of Moria to the very top. It was a great time, my friends, and the best part is that it's not over yet, not while I've got an Internet connection, a keyboard, and BIONICLE on the brain. It's just entering a new chapter.

With that in mind, therefore, I'd like to acknowledge a few users who have been particularly encouraging to me during my time in active service.
 * ToaAuserv: One of the first users I came into contact with upon joining BPedia, ToaAuserv obtained my respect and admiration almost immediately. He was mature and capable, a wonderful Site Leader, and it was his fan fiction stories that inspired me to write my own.
 * Torongo: Another of those grand BPedia old-timers, the administrator known as Torongo was nearing retirement when I first set foot on the stage, yet he was more than willing to help a young newbie learn the ropes, and without his example and encouragment, I would probably have never figured out the correct way to format a gallery and upload an image.
 * Toa Makao: For a long period of time, Toa Makao and I were the only active BPedia administrators, and thus I feel a strong sense of comradery towards him. He was a stalwart veteran, and I like to think that I gained his respect. I know for certain that he gained mine.
 * Mata Nui: One of the best bureaucrats that has ever existed. 'Nough said.
 * Bold Clone: I know very little about you, Bold Clone, but that very little has been enough to prove that you are the equal of every legendary administrator in this wiki's history. Keep up the good work.
 * Amanda113122: You may be new here, but you've got great potential. Stay active, and someday this wiki will gain its first female administrator.

I could drone on and on for a long time yet, but what is there left to say that is meaningful? What wisdom do I leave you, to compensate for my absence?

If vandals come, ban 'em for the longest period that you can get away with. If they come back, ban 'em again.

Don't trust those IP addresses.

When uploading images, always get the largest size and highest quality available. Oh, and make sure we don't already have the image in question.

Have patience with the newbies, especially if they have a sincere desire to learn.

Update the Main Page regularly, and make sure the Voting Center stays formatted properly.

Always write articles in the past tense, and remember that the names of all BIONICLE media (i.e. books, movies, comics, games, etc.) should be italicized.

Always use character-on-white-background images in the infoboxes, if available.

Don't pick fights with each other; it causes more damage than you might think.

Don't flame.

Don't start edit wars.

Don't vandalize or spam.

Don't create dupe accounts.

Always remember that it's not the number of edits that count, but their quality.

Don't edit my userpage, or you will be punished.

I digress. Thank you, my friends, for making my time here such a memorable experience, and please feel free to keep in contact with me via Custom BIONICLE Wiki, where my 'home base' will be located from now on.

And now... farewell, and good luck. My cruise ship awaits.

*Toa Roden waves to the crowd, noisily blows his nose in a polka-dotted handkerchief, then walks up the ship's gangplank slowly and with dignity, as a Turaga should*

P.S. Could someone kindly inform the folks at Wiki Metru Forums about this? Or maybe it's not an important enough piece of news, I dunno.

P.P.S. Also, an administrator will need to make the necessary adjustments to the Wiki Staff template, the Ranks page, and so on. Thanks in advance.