About the Author
Hi, I'm Ryan, but I prefer to be called by my username, Dragonclaws. As the name may suggest, I'm somewhat of a fantasy geek. Although, right now I'd call myself a Halo geek. I am one the admins and I was one of the original users of Halopedia.
I'm a weirdo and I take pleasure in the fact. I have a love of color, probably caused by my weak eyesight. The beauty of the world around me when I first got glasses was... staggering. You might notice many of my descriptions of things begin with color. I dream of ships as vibrant as sunset and people who change color expressively. Color... me like.
I frequently daydream of fantastic worlds. I tend to spend more time in my imagination than in real life, like Pan's Labyrinth without the freaky stuff. So, you know, nothing like Pan's Labyrinth. Maybe Bridge to Terabithia is a better example.
I am very often (like, every day) taken for a girl. This is likely due to my out-of-shape body's fat obscuring the edges of my face, as well as my use of jewelry (rings, necklace, bracelets) and long hair and fingernails. I also have very light, fine body hair and my voice never deepened that much, though I still can't replicate the Velociraptor screech like I used to. I really like girls, though, so I thankfully don't really mind.
I have been diagnosed with Asperger syndrome (high-functioning autism), a potential explanation for some of my weirdness.
Quote of the whenever:
"For a brick, he flew pretty good!" --Johnson
More By Dragonclaws
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Inheritors of All We Leave Behind
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Halopedia has long been a small community based around a dozen or so members, many who would pop in and out over the course of several weeks. Though the users would be friendly with each other and post the odd forum topic, most interaction occurred through editing. Users would flirt around each other to improve various articles, using the instance of editing as a primary means of interaction. This all changed with February’s introduction of new features, culminating in hundreds of new users practically overnight.
The new point game (by which I mean the game in which users actively attempt to acquire points) ran in conjunction with the new polls, quizzes, blogs, as well as normal wiki aspects. This proved quite popular and it greatly expanded Halopedia’s membership through awarding points in exchange for inviting new users to join it. However, the enormous influx of users was something Halopedia was ill prepared to handle, and before the new users could be integrated into the previously developed wiki culture that had been present before their arrival they began to form their own culture based entirely around the point game.
Suddenly, the majority of Halopedia became focused on these side games rather than the wiki itself, the new culture subverting the previously existing one. This caused a great conflict to erupt between the new members and the older members, who have been come to be called veterans. Many new users have come to the site believing it to be a standard Halo website, where the focus is on community interaction rather than the encyclopedia, which many aren’t even aware of when they join despite it being the primary purpose of Halopedia.
However, Halopedia is first and foremost an encyclopedia cataloging the many different aspects of the Halo universe. The game section of the site was supposed to be nothing more than an amusing addition to complement the wiki, rather than dominating the site as it has done. When efforts are made to correct this and get the site back on course, it has unfortunately caused an eruption of fury from a community unaware that the point game is not the main focus of the site, and some animosity has formed between new users and wiki veterans.
Though the point game has been restricted to the wiki itself in that users are awarded points in exchange for edits, abuse of the system has continued. “Point whoring”, a practice in which users make a large number of silly little edits in an attempt to obtain a large quantity of points, has clogged up Halopedia’s database with its ubiquitous pointlessness. Likewise there have been numerous challenges made toward how the administration operates with little regard to how order would be kept otherwise, often with alternatives suggested that have previously been determined to not work. I believe this is not a product of malicious intent, but rather ignorance for how the community functions.
It should be firmly established that new users are good and welcome in any open community, Halopedia’s included. However, cultural standards of the host community should be respected by the new arrivals. In other words: when on Halopedia, do as the Halopedians do.
Wiki veterans and those who have been here long enough to develop a good working knowledge of the Halopedian community should welcome new users and offer them information on how to be a worthwhile addition to the community. If you are unsure what to say, post the template {{welcome}} on their talk pages (that tab labeled Discussion). The welcome template contains our default message, seen below:
 Welcome, Inheritors of All We Leave Behind, to Halopedia, the definitive source for Halo information! Please read our introduction, where you'll find out what this site is and what we're trying to accomplish.
Sign your edits! We only sign our edits when posting on Talk pages; to do this, just put the following code after your post: -- ~~~~. Then, when you press the "Save Page" button, Halopedia will replace the code with your username and the time and date you posted! For more information on how to customize your signature visit our help page. Want to get involved and active on Halopedia? Join one of our usergroups! Interested in chatting with fellow users? Then check out our IRC channel! |
Even this much helps a new user find their way on Halopedia. So if you see a user who hasn’t been welcomed (i.e. their Talk page is red), please assist us in welcoming them to our community. The image displayed on the above right demonstrates the application of the template.
For Halopedia to flourish, new users need to be respected. After all, we’re all people here, and we’ve all got a love of Halo to help us connect. New users can be seen as annoying by the older members of the community, however, I ask you all to please remain tolerant and forgive the well-meaning but ignorant (vandals are another species entirely).
I would also like to discourage use of the term “noob”. “Noob” is a corruption of “newbie”, a generally harmless word meaning new person, and simultaneously means a new member and a stupid person. Like the prevalent insulting usage of the term “gay”, which I have previously expressed my distaste for elsewhere, “noob” is quite disrespectful and can be hurtful as its meaning pertains to a good chunk of our community. Therefore, I would like everyone to please cease and discourage usage of this term when used in a derogatory fashion.
New users are essential to Halopedia’s well-being. They won’t stay new for long, after all. Today’s newbies will be tomorrow’s veterans, and by then perhaps today’s veterans will no longer be a part of the site. New users are the future of the community. Please do the future of the community a favor by ensuring that all new users are welcomed and informed of its ways, while always respecting them as people despite their ignorance.
EDIT:
Okay, here's a new welcome template for users' message boards: {{welcome2}}
It produces the following text:
Welcome to Halopedia, the definitive source for Halo information!
Please read our introduction, where you'll find out what this site is and what we're trying to accomplish.
- Need help? Visit our help section where you can find how to add images and get assistance with editing.
- Questions? Post them on the forums! We need all the assistance we can get and have many articles that we could use help on, which you can find here!
Sign your edits! We only sign our edits when posting on Talk pages (Discussion tabs); to do this, just put the following code after your post: -- ~~~~. Then, when you press the "Save Page" button, Halopedia will replace the code with your username and the time and date you posted! For more information on how to customize your signature visit our help page.
Want to get involved and active on Halopedia? Join one of our usergroups! Interested in chatting with fellow users? Then check out our IRC channel!
