On Feb 6, 2006, at 10:41 PM, Guettarda wrote:
On 2/7/06, Peter Mackay peter.mackay@bigpond.com wrote:
From: wikien-l-bounces@Wikipedia.org [mailto:wikien-l-bounces@Wikipedia.org] On Behalf Of Guettarda
This whole mess has left me feeling bruised and shocked, and rethinking my role here. If El C and Carbonite leave we have lost a lot more than can be counted in them just as individuals. El C, for one, made this place fun, and if you aren't having fun there is not reason to stick around.
Are we here to have fun or to write an encyclopaedia?
Actually, to have fun. We are unpaid volunteers. This is a hobby. If it isn't fun, if it isn't enjoyable, then there is no reason to stick around and no way to build this encyclopaedia. No fun, no community = no encyclopaedia.
Actually, that's not *exactly* true; no community = no changes to the encyclopedia. It's free content. The mirrors aren't going anywhere; the various full(i.e. including history) dumps aren't going anywhere. This is a point that needs to be remembered. We are * making more encyclopedic free content * , that's all.
It certainly needs to be rewarding, or the community will leave - but fun is hardly the only form of reward that people can have. Achievement, social recognition, physical stimulation, all of these are forms of reward. (Not that Wikipedia provides much in the way of pleasurable physical stimulation, but let's not go there...)
Jesse Weinstein