Interesting Tidbits: I Own Three Wikias

Whatever people may presume of me from my content, I have little control over. What I can confirm, should this be something people assume of me, is that I love information and data-collecting. While I’m no treasure trove of knowledge in any given area (though I’m no slouch), a lot of my time, whether in the past or present, is spent looking up all sorts of random garbage that will likely serve no one but me… and usually not even me.

My love for knowledge has led me to all sorts of different places online, but one of those reaches of the internet I’ve always had a fascination for are the Wikis or Wikias, which highlight particular topics ranging from the most obscure, random thing to the biggest things in the history of things. Anyone (usually) can edit on these sites and update the pages and articles on information concerning whatever various topic may be included in the central theme of the Wiki, and the main point of this post is to not only show that I’ve worked on some, but that I own some. Indeed, through patience, hard(?) work, and putting in a request in the adoption forums on the main Wiki site, I’ve managed to snag a few Wikis to work on and oversee to my heart’s pleasure.

The Vigilante 8 Wiki

I’ve talked at some length about Vigilante 8 and what it means to me, but to have it go as far as owning a whole Wiki on it is something else entirely. The story behind owning this is a simple one, though what came after is just as notable.

There wasn’t much of a hassle adopting this Wiki, as the previous creator had been inactive for a long while. It was a simple adoption out of pure desire to build it from the ground up (there was little to no information when I first received it), and it went about fairly smoothly. As the years went on, I slowly but surely filled the pages with all sorts of informative goodies and had it looking spiffy for all who chose to peruse it.

I feel it’s notable to discuss the building process because, while it isn’t finished (despite the franchise “ending” over ten years ago), to go from where I started to where it is now is something I am immensely proud of. I’ve had this Wiki to my name since June of 2011! Seven years! While I haven’t made any major changes to it in a couple years (may change soon), I think remembering how blank, white, and incomplete it looked at the time of acquiring it speaks to my commitment to restoring something to its utmost potential (relative phrase). It’s like an online HGTV show or something.

Very rarely does it get any editors, though its viewcount isn’t quite as deserted as any Wiki activity. It’s the Wiki I’m most proud of in terms of overall look and reliability of information. And now that I’m 25 rather than 19-20, I can clean it up a little more than I would’ve thought possible at that time with my handy-dandy (to-come) Bachelor’s in English.

The Arena Football League Wiki

Remember when I used to do Pick ‘Em posts on Arena Football match-ups some years ago? No? That’s to be expected. No one bothered with them anyway.

Despite my blogging experiments, Arena Football has been an (albeit dwindling) interest of mine since I started watching it in 2012. To shed some light on the industry’s situation to those unaware, let’s just say that every year after their Super Bowl-equivalent game, many fans take bets as to when the league will fall under. It’s not a pretty optimistic group, I tell ya. It’s definitely fun to keep up with players and teams on a more intimate level, seeing as the game doesn’t feel as corporate or business-like, I suppose, as bigger football leagues such as the NFL. Still, the league currently has a measly four teams. It’s on death’s door.

But what is perhaps the most addicting feature about football for me are the statistics. I am a huge stat nerd when it comes to judging who’s good or bad or whatever on a particular team and what-have-you. Owning the Arena Football League sounded promising because I felt I could turn that stat-loving nature into a building project the likes of the Vigilante 8 Wiki and more! Unfortunately, my ambition did not sprout in nearly the same way.

When I first adopted the Vigilante 8 Wiki, I was in my senior year of high school and was unemployed. I had a lot more time to do whatever things I was focused on back then; not to mention, I wasn’t into anime yet, which is pretty time-consuming in and of itself. According to the site, I started seriously editing the site in April of 2013—far after I got into anime, but still during unemployment. I would spend much of that April filling in some details about teams and whatever else, but after that, I wouldn’t make any major edits for another year. That kind of dropoff is alarming on its own, but it would be a symbol of my own inconsistency with editing the site since adopting it way back then. Currently, I haven’t even edited the Wiki at all since December of last year.

What makes editing this Wiki especially daunting is that it’s on an ongoing topic, with all sorts of news and stats to accumulate as every season takes place every year. Not to mention, these teams and players are not in the single-digits; there are likely thousands of people who have played in the AFL the past thirty-ish years, even for just one year. I would have to create pages and add basic info for all of these people, little by little. That number only increases when each new year brings new players and coaches and, occasionally, teams. I gave it up pretty early, before I really got started with it.

I’ve been meaning to get back to it, but with school and the job, it’s hard to dedicate so much time to it. I still check the site (as I do with all three Wikis) daily to see if by some miracle there’s any activity, but it’s a pipe dream. One thing is certain: This Wiki will never be complete, and any attempt to get as close as one possibly can would take years of daily work.

The Gregor the Overlander Wiki (The Underland Cyclopedia)

Now this Wiki gets a wee bit of activity every once in a while. That is why I decided to adopt it.

This Wiki, for whatever reason, is a semi-constant target for trolls and spammers. I’ve read all sorts of shitposts on this site, since before and after I adopted it, ranging from outright vulgarity to simply bizarre information and added pages. I was so sick of it that I decided I would get the power to stop them; and for the moment, it seems to have worked.

Admittedly, this was the primary reason I wanted to adopt the Wiki—not to edit it, but to protect it. This shows by the amount of effort I’ve put into re-working articles and pages, which shows through how empty and (usually) grammatically-faulty the pages are. Again, work and school are the primary excuses reasons for this, but I’m also willing to admit that I’m not entirely interested in reworking the site. This is in spite of my fondness for the Wiki’s major topic: The Underland Chronicles book series, a series I consider to be among my favorite book series ever (because nostalgia). Speaking of which, I still need to read and review the last book…

To be frank, this Wiki would probably be the easiest one to edit, as all the information I need can be found in books I have in my bedroom. And seeing as I’ve read all of them multiple times, I can easily recall major events and characters. Now if only I could muster some of that “passion” I once had. So, essentially, this last Wiki, which I adopted in March of 2016, is so that I could be its divine protector. Maybe I’ll actually work on it one day. Ho-hum.