[WikiEN-l] Game-playing on Wikipedia

Sat Jul 2 12:27:01 UTC 2005

Even though I participated in (and sorely lost in) the Chess Championship, I
agree that games may be going too far. We had Mornington Crescent
Championship or something recently too.

I think some Wikigames can be ok, but a Wikicity may be needed. That said,
they do little harm to Wikipedia, as long as there aren't too many.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <daniwo59 at aol.com>
To: <wikiEN-l at wikipedia.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 02, 2005 1:21 PM
Subject: [WikiEN-l] Game-playing on Wikipedia

> The purpose of Wikipedia is to create an encyclopedia. Period. Everything
> else is tangential to that. We have been fortunate in seeing that a strong
> community has emerged as a result of this common goal, but that is
precisely the
> point. The community emerged because a bunch of people around the world
are
> trying to create something together. People who are not interested in that
goal
>  have all the rights in the world not to be involved in it.
>
> Nevertheless, we have recently seen quite a bit of game-playing on
> Wikipedia. If it is not stopped now, it will continue to grow. We already
have  chess,
> checkers, hangman, N degrees of separation, and I am sure that there  will
be
> more to come.
>
> Not only does this clog up an already overburdened Recent Changes page. It
> is an insult to the many people who have given of their time and money so
that
> Wikipedia can become the world's greatest encyclopedia. It detracts from
the
> serious nature of the project, and has the potential to turn it into yet
> another  gaming site. As for referring to the people who oppose these
games and
> tournaments as "killjoys," this is a very upsetting ad hominem attack. In
> essence it means that the people who keep Wikipedia's goals in mind are
> "killjoys." I hardly see how that helps Wikipedia.
>
> Jimbo has offered a place on Wikicities for people to play. He has even
> suggested on mIRC that it might be ad-free. I hope that these games are
moved
> their immediately. I am still astounded that this is even a matter for a
vote.
>
> Danny
>
>
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