[DonathinFrye]

A few random musings, and one long thought.

1) Have you actually gotten a larger-than-typical influx of new players at Threshold since this fiasco began?

2) Would Achaea survive the notability scythe? If notability cannot be parented in through IRE, how would it be achieved in such a way to make it more notable than Threshold? An opinion would not be enough, as at the very least you would need to point to specific documented wiki law applicable to keeping Achaea that would distance it from Threshold. Anything less is speculation, and as I can attest to, when wiki admins set out to delete an article for reasons of notability, it can be very difficult to stop this process. Outside of Dragonrealms and the original MUD, I think current conditions could make proving notability for any MUD difficult if it is being attacked by such vigorous admins as those that attacked Threshold.

3) I would not be suprised to see an overturn ruling on the deletion review. Many unbias editors seem to think it appropriate, even more so than those that came out to support the KEEP votes (like me). At either rate, improving the editorial quality and referencing for the page would be a good thing to both preserve it, and to improve it to a level of quality sufficient for what wikipedia should be (and, admittedly, sometimes is).

4) As I've stated above, my only other advice would be to avoid flame wars on wikipedia, even if anger is justified -- their community does not respond to angry posts as well as the MUD community does. This is because most wikipedia communication comes from posts that can be edited, moved, and changed by just about anyone - whereas this community is used to virtual chatting and forum community. When you go to the courts to plead your case, even if the judge is bias and underhanded and the jury is bribed, your best bet is always to show yourself as a respectful and level-headed person. I know how difficult this can be, but it is always in your own best interest.


5) I see the entire ordeal as an opportunity to strengthen the community, instead of hurt it. The article can be improved and recovered, and now some often forgotten weaknesses of the MUD community have been exposed. Gone are the days of the innovation, largely, the popularity. Perhaps not co-incidentally, gone too are the days of online magazines dedicated to MUDs, professional magazines reviewing them, professorial articles written on them. Gone is the vibe, the underground excitement, the movement and word of mouth. Did all of the absentee, hard-working contributors to the community get too old? Get too tired? Get too comfortable? Probably. I know that I have narrowed my own personal vision of what I could contribute to the community to what I could contribute to a single (and incredible) game. For a time, this (rather historic, in terms of wikipedia length) debate and AfD have brought the community together. Didn't even need to canvass - many read it on the experts' blogs, I found it while surfing around randomly on wikipedia for information on MUD codebases. For those who are still in a position to do something for the community, who still have the energy - accept the challenge. For those of you who are newer MUDers and reading this post, take up the call.

Graphical MMORPGs are inferior games with inferior gameplay and content, but superior graphics/interface. This is what many of us believe. If you believe that, and you have the time and energy to do something about it - start a new wikipedia for just MUDs, band together with others to start writing expert-quality articles on MUDs and MUDing, find new and innovative ways to get our message out to potential new players, fight to get us represented in commercial gaming magazines. Underground music will continue to thrive, independent movies will continue to thrive, non-best-seller books will continue to captivate large audiences of readers. Don't let flash games be the next-gen of underground gaming. That crown was on our heads, and complacency has seen it slip in the past few years.

Do something about it. All I can say.