DAWN - Developmental Alliance for Wikis on Nintendo

[Justin]

There is no imbalance of "secrecy" - we discuss normal staff things in our private staff boards. I've been on many website staffs, and this one is actually much more open than most.

Glad I'm not the only one who felt that was the case.

[Nintendoguy1]

There is no imbalance of "secrecy" - we discuss normal staff things in our private staff boards. I've been on many website staffs, and this one is actually much more open than most.

Glad I'm not the only one who felt that was the case.

Honestly, when I got here I was surprised at how secretive the staff were, trust me, these staff are not secretive.

[Level 3]

The only thing I know staff discuss in secret is new members and afiliates as well as interwiki things that are the job of the staff. That's normal and anyone who complains about this is jus a bit ignorant.

[Maxite]

Before we go any further on this discussion of "imbalance of secrecy", let's just realize one thing: The only people who would be able to know for certain if there was an imbalance of secrecy are the staff. Since everything is behind closed doors, and a lack of information presented to regular members on how the staff operates, it does create plenty of room in the imagination that the staff are discussing far more than is true.

Moving onto the main point of why this thread was created:
Oh hey, a developmental wiki alliance has formed! Although Xizor recently mentioned that NIWA does indeed help developing wikis, I do think that having DAWN could help out NIWA greatly. There seems to be a concern as of late that NIWA should focus on NIWA, so any group that can help take care of dependent wikis should be appreciated.

[Xizor]

"NIWA should focus on NIWA" means NIWA should focus on its own interests. That includes helping developing Wikis, which was one of our original intents and purposes.

[Nintendoguy1]

NIWA and DAWN can co-exist, NIWA can do what NIWA wants to do and DAWN can do what DAWN wants to do; neither organization should attempt to mold the other.

[tacopill]

NIWA and DAWN can co-exist, NIWA can do what NIWA wants to do and DAWN can do what DAWN wants to do; neither organization should attempt to mold the other.

Agreed.

[Nathan]

NIWA and DAWN can co-exist, NIWA can do what NIWA wants to do and DAWN can do what DAWN wants to do; neither organization should attempt to mold the other.

Agreed.

Sure, we can coexist. I think the fundamental problem, really, is that both networks are essentially aiming to add the same members. I think our "original" mark for amount of articles was 200. I remember when founding Metroid Wiki that it was the goal to hit 200 before inclusion, and even in doing that we already had massive support from NIWA. We had guys from Zelda Wiki, Bulbapedia, and Super Mario Wiki that were all helping us out. It was rather amazing really. While the support may not be as heavy fromt hose 3 as it was at the start, the overall support has grown much wider. Fact is, a lot of us "major" staff members at other wiki's have interest in other games, so we are more then happy to help newer/under utilized wiki's out.

On the point of secrecy - I don't think it's that bad. In fact, I have been kept up to date on the ongoings at times simply by reading the NIWA PUBLIC Skype chat. A chat that more than just staff uses, and I hear staff discussions there. We're pretty open and free verse with what is going on. While we may have talks like redesigning the hub page that isn't public, does it need to be?

In terms of what is actually private - it's mainly just the inclusion and disclusion of a specific wiki. If you can't tell - our doors have been pretty wide open. In just one year we grew from 3 wikis to 16. At the continued growing rate we'll be close to 40 by the end of 2011.

I don't have an issue with co-existing, and I am always one up for new ideas. I like the concept of "open discussion on everything" - it's actually a concept we use in running ZI. We are a free verse, open to all community. We have a staff room which we use primarily to organize everything more so than to make decisions. We pretty much let everyone, staff, fans, even haters, have a say in how our site operates... with an occasional surprise. We also have one loose rule on the forums, which has lead to great success for us.

Point is that even with how open we are, we still have staff boards because, frankly. it's really hard to organize something when you have "thousands of people" trying to talk at once. We will listen to those people, adn then we'll organize it behind the scenes so as not to get things derailed. We'll then go from there with any changes people suggest.

We've changed a lot on our site at the whim of people simply asking - be it comments or on the forums, or through email.

While I wished NIWA to run similar to ZI, fact remains that for a place to work the way we function requires just the right "type" of people in charge. It wont work for everyone. It wouldn't work here.

I am well aware oft he reputation NIWA has (on the negative side) and honestly, that is mostly through misperception or people simply forming an opinion without actually ASKING what is going on. Frankly, if any of you pm'd me and ASKED me straight up what is going on with x - I'll look and give you a direct answer. I'm not hiding anything from anyone. I doubt any of us are outside of happy surprises.

So, whats the problem here folks? Oh another network inspired by us wants to form with a new concept? Cool, good for them. Just going to be slim pickems because either way you slice it, we're "competing" for the same wikis.

[Maxite]

Sure, we can coexist. I think the fundamental problem, really, is that both networks are essentially aiming to add the same members.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with, or a member of DAWN in any way.
I don't think that the problem you list exists. To my knowledge, neither NIWA nor DAWN will exclude members because they are involved in other IWAs. DAWN and NIWA have different focuses anyways: DAWN focuses on developing wikis that still need help, while NIWA focuses on wikis that are independent and can stand up for themselves. Yes, NIWA does help developing wikis, and I'm sure that DAWN will help independent wikis, but that isn't the primary focus.

In terms of what is actually private - it's mainly just the inclusion and disclusion of a specific wiki. If you can't tell - our doors have been pretty wide open. In just one year we grew from 3 wikis to 16. At the continued growing rate we'll be close to 40 by the end of 2011.

I suspect that was just set up as an example, but just in case: Does Nintendo even have 40 unique series, or are you hinting as the possibility of expansion to 3rd party franchises, or maybe something else is planned?

I am well aware oft he reputation NIWA has (on the negative side) and honestly, that is mostly through misperception or people simply forming an opinion without actually ASKING what is going on. Frankly, if any of you pm'd me and ASKED me straight up what is going on with x - I'll look and give you a direct answer. I'm not hiding anything from anyone. I doubt any of us are outside of happy surprises.

I will certainly keep that offer in mind.

So, whats the problem here folks? Oh another network inspired by us wants to form with a new concept? Cool, good for them. Just going to be slim pickems because either way you slice it, we're "competing" for the same wikis.

Again, I don't see how NIWA and DAWN can run into problems with each other. Yes, they focus on Nintendo wikis, but at entirely different stages of development. Unless NIWA is going to start allowing in wikifarm wikis, I don't see how we'll be competing for the same wikis.

If there is something I am missing about what NIWA's focus is, please do tell me.

[Volatile Dweevil]

NIWA and DAWN can co-exist, NIWA can do what NIWA wants to do and DAWN can do what DAWN wants to do; neither organization should attempt to mold the other.

Agreed.

I agree with tacopill and Nintendoguy.

[KidIcarus]

It's just frustrating for us on Staff because we are blatantly told you either A.) Think we're incompetent or B.) Think we're just working to boost our egos.

I don't think that NIWA is incompetent. NIWA's members are some of the most skilled MediaWiki editors on the internet. However, a good majority NIWA's members do have other projects on their plates.

So, whats the problem here folks? Oh another network inspired by us wants to form with a new concept? Cool, good for them. Just going to be slim pickems because either way you slice it, we're "competing" for the same wikis.

I don't think that the alliances cater to the same wikis at all. Not a single wiki in DAWN is eligible for NIWA. Also, DAWN won't try to convince any wiki to stay exclusively in DAWN if a situation ever arises in which a member is eligible for NIWA. As for the other way around, DAWN has no interest in actively recruiting current NIWA members. 

As a side note, I edited the original post to better clarify DAWN's motives.

[tacopill]

As a side note, I edited the original post to better clarify DAWN's motives.

Thank you for changing those.

[Garrett]

are you hinting as the possibility of expansion to 3rd party franchises, or maybe something else is planned?

That's a possibility, yes. NIWA's future direction is currently being discussed, but the discussion has only just begun so there is nothing definite yet.

One of the possibilities being discussed would be to lend a hand establishing other wiki alliances that NIWA would then ally with to provide wider coverage. The proposed "SEIWA" (for Square Enix-related wikis) is a key example of this. That one doesn't have to be the first, of course; if someone wanted to establish a wiki alliance for Microsoft or whatever the staff would certainly be looking for ways for the two to help each other out despite the companies themselves being bitter rivals.

In the shorter term there are certainly some first-party Nintendo franchises remaining that NIWA doesn't have member wikis for yet, and those gaps will hopefully be filled this year.

[Manga Maniac]

Just want to say I've started a wiki about Game & Watch called "WatchWiki". It's currently only got the one article, but I'm hoping soon enough it will have enough to join DAWN.

Btw, the page on Smash Bros. has a link to SmashWiki in the first sentence. Just to make this clear, I am in no way claiming affiliation with SmashWiki or NIWA. I just consider them the main knowledge on all things Smash Bros. and thought they'd be a good link to have for people who wanted more info.

[tacopill]

Just want to say I've started a wiki about Game & Watch called "WatchWiki". It's currently only got the one article, but I'm hoping soon enough it will have enough to join DAWN.

Btw, the page on Smash Bros. has a link to SmashWiki in the first sentence. Just to make this clear, I am in no way claiming affiliation with SmashWiki or NIWA. I just consider them the main knowledge on all things Smash Bros. and thought they'd be a good link to have for people who wanted more info.

Cool! good luck with it!

[Miles of SmashWiki]

Just want to say I've started a wiki about Game & Watch called "WatchWiki". It's currently only got the one article, but I'm hoping soon enough it will have enough to join DAWN.

Btw, the page on Smash Bros. has a link to SmashWiki in the first sentence. Just to make this clear, I am in no way claiming affiliation with SmashWiki or NIWA. I just consider them the main knowledge on all things Smash Bros. and thought they'd be a good link to have for people who wanted more info.

Very nice.  Assuming your wiki gets more developed, in the future we can likely arrange for some bidirectional linking.

[Manga Maniac]

I've also just a few seconds ago created "WarioInc", which I also hope to get in DAWN. However, I will be focusing on WatchWiki for now. But in case anyone else feels like editing it, it's there.

[R7308xx]

Could Woofipedia or EarthBoundFanon join?

[KidIcarus]

Could Woofipedia or EarthBoundFanon join?

It's nice to see people getting really enthusiastic about D.A.W.N., but these two wikis are not eligible. It seems that Woofipedia is focused on Nintendogs, and D.A.W.N. already has a Nintendogs wiki member. Also, D.A.W.N. does not admit fanon encyclopedias - at least not at this time. I'm sorry, but these wikis don't exactly fit into the alliance. Don't take it personally.

Regardless of their focus, the wikis do not meet membership requirements. For example, neither wiki boasts a polished main page. See this page for more information.

[Manga Maniac]

Just what qualifies as a polished main page? I mean, do these three wikis count as having a polished main page? Or are there any specific needs?