On 7/2/05, Erik Moeller erik_moeller@gmx.de wrote:
The issue is that games can exist entirely in parallel to encyclopedia-building.
If users are spending twenty minutes a day on Wikipedia, *editing*, and learning to use MediaWiki's arcane template and table syntax, that cannot be 'entirely in parallel' to encyclopedia building. They have already overcome the greatest barrier to contribution.
For example, the user who created the "Wikipedia:Wikigames" project (since redirected) has never made a single edit to a Wikipedia article. When the fun activity becomes the primary focus and the encyclopedia becomes incidental, a line has to be drawn.
This is a user who was just introduced to wikis... http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia_talk%3ASandbox%2FChess&a...
...and is feeling addicted. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Undelete/Wikitine
It seems likely that once s/he tires of on-wiki games (which is admittedly difficiult, considering what an adrenaline rush our new gaming platform is), with a positive view of the local community, this will be a natural outlet for other notes and work... Which is what we're here for, right? One minor edit and a dozen friendly user:talk comments far outweigh any negative aspects of playing out four games of wikichess.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template%3AMTGsets&diff=144964...
If games have to be started in the Wikipedia: namespace, instead of the Sandbox...
Well, we both want to see this happen.