Board Thread:News and Announcements/@comment-5714457-20160709200748

'''tl;dr - I'm not going to do anything myself given I am not an admin at the time of writing. I don't want to regain a benefited position off the back of shady DBFW scumbags and their self-inflicted drama that they use to get community benefits. What I actually want is for them to either get their shit together or get off the site, and I also want the community as a whole to stop tolerating their dishonest, low-brow and aggressive argument-starting bullshit. Also, check Para's post if you want some insight and even more agreement from me, as it covers similar topics. Also without that one, this wouldn't be on here.'''

Hello everyone, AgentHoxton here, and I may be about to do something pretty damn stupid.

I have made a pretty conscious effort to stay out of the Death Battle Fanon Wiki drama since the more... serious incidents. Indeed, drama and argument-starting with other users, as well as targeting what they may cherish and love and picking it to shreds, is often a great way to get exposure on the Death Battle Fanon Wiki, often at the expense of other people and, in some cases, the truth. It caters to our darker urges, and I also think it's seen as a guilty pleasure by some. And honestly, those people should feel guilty. In what is often thinly disguised as so-called "Evidence", "Debates" or "Just for fun", what we're actually seeing is the morbid curiosity of how far one can go into unlikeability towards people or series that might not actually be worth picking apart or deserving of blind bashing or hatred solely because of the one leading it, put together by said leader who serves no other purpose of doing this sort of thing other than to benefit from it and gain a social standing, usually a positive one, or just because they think it's funny. Any attempt to say it's to "put right what was wrong", "to end drama", "it's just for entertainment" or something like that is as transparent as it is dishonest, and only an idiot would actually believe it.

And yet there are so many users on the DBFW that do so and, despite scorn and hatred from some, have ungodly amounts of support from the rest of the community because they tend to start drama, shitposting like it's a dodgy dark-corner forum and relentlessly singling users out for petty squabbles, all with a lack of oversight and even shown acceptance of their behaviour by some of those in the wiki's staff. It's low-effort, it's low-brow, it requires absolutely no talent of any description and it's just utterly destructive, the only things that it may bring to the table being a constant storm of nonconstructive negativity and a boatload of unnecessary witch-hunting against other users.

Despite that, every now and again there is something that is worthy of being brought to the light. Every now and again, there is something worthy of being addressed. And it isn't concerning the people involved, it's about the principle of the matter - it is about the idea that there are so many people that just love to indulge in shady behaviour when it comes to other people, the things they like, and their actual work. And it also shows how little responsibility people seem to have on their own shady behaviour as well as a complete lack of community skills.

The idea that you can inflict control of your beliefs as a weapon of sorts to attack users you do not like or disagree with their decisions as well as just outright toying with their emotions for the sheer purpose of disagreeing with their opinions or just for entertainment purposes is an affront to creativity, control and freedom on the wiki. It's practically borderline censorship in terms of keeping one's thoughts silent just so that you can bolster your own, and it's certainly immoral either way. Imagine a Death Battle Fanon Wiki where the only ideas and decisions that are allowed to stick are based off of one person's views. How many good ideas would go to waste? How much time and resources would be lost on concepts that are quite clearly not up to standard? In a similar vein, being outright dishonest about shady behaviour, a failure to disclose the truth and sometimes just outright trying to start trouble for no other reason than to either laugh or gain benefits from it is outright disgusting behaviour and no-one should be proud of actually doing so.

At this point, I don't need to name any names who have actually done this, and frankly, if I did name everyone who pulled dishonest crap out of their ass and threw everything around for laughs or for their own benefit within the DBFW community over the time I've seen, then I would be here all day. I have dealt with dozens of incidents, dozens of people who have done that sort of thing, plenty of times. And out of all of those dozens of people who have stirred up trouble, kicking hornet's nests for no reason, only TWO that I know of have took responsibility for what they have done and have made a conscious effort to improve, out of all of them. And that is not an acceptable ratio by any means. All these hateful comments, these childish sets of behaviours, the utter lack of being able to be respectful to characters and, to greater extent, other people in their own community of which they are part of is just another set of examples in a long series of complete and total disregard for other people, credibility, backbone, honesty and respect on the DBFW, which is now severely lacking in far too many people involved in the wiki's community. And frankly, I am absolutely sick of it. I'm sick of it on the part of the people that can be misled by the information that they are fed by these bottom-feeders, and I'm sick of it simply because it makes the rest of the community look bad.

When the wiki was in its earlier stages, we weren't really that certain on a lot of things, decisions and the like. The rules of the wiki weren't as evolved as they are now and it was a very different time. And even if the rules were very well-developed, we did make some mistakes since they weren't made completely clear to us in our starting times, which we have since moulded to structure what we have right now. However, that's... really not an excuse any more. The rules are made abundantly clear, especially when it comes to conflicts of interest, when it comes to respect of others and other works, when it comes to outright starting trouble with other users often for no reason. Those rules are made pretty damn clear at this point.

Ignorance is absolutely no excuse, especially when these same troublemakers are cooping up the popularity of other people because of their drama-causing. When you're on a community full of like-minded people who share similar or differing interests to you depending on the person, it's about time that you learn how to be respectful to other people, or the things that they like. It's time that you learn how to take responsibility for the people around you and the trust that is being put into you to not screw anyone over, as well as any fuck-ups that you do happen to cause. And yet despite the fact that you enjoy this seemingly limitless support on the back of writing battles on the wiki and anything else you happen to do, you still cannot bring yourself to be honest, you still cannot bring yourself to be properly respectful on a basic level, you still cannot bring yourself to stand above the drama, or at least make it so that you are literally not involved in it whatsoever.

"Remember, folks, people who want people to not start constant shit with other users are just sourpusses who hate fun and want us to be boring! They're never right, are they? Even if they are right, they're wrong, because we have done it for a long time without any punishment whatsoever so we certainly shouldn't get punishment now, given that no-one would like that!"

Oh, please, don't embarrass yourself.

It's pretty damn easy to think that it's tolerable behaviour when literally no oversight is made on this sort of behaviour, just the typical shrugging of shoulders and sometimes acceptance to the behaviour by the higher-ups, doing literally nothing to help the already poisoned reputation the DBFW has; users constantly at each other's throats with no-one being arsed to stop them, all of the legitimately good stuff getting buried under all this steaming trash, and the idea that the DBFW is not so much a debate site anymore as much as it is a breeding ground for shitposts and dated memes that have gone well past their expiration date.

You need to learn that just because you can fuck with people's feelings and ideas like that, just because you can say these morally questionable things, doesn't mean you should be doing it, not least if you want to set an example of how to behave like a fucking human being, let alone a member of a community, and to stop being so unwilling to take responsibility and be able to be respectful on even the most basic of levels. And that's not a suggestion. That's not a kindness to the people who end up being on the receiving end of it so many times, because on both sets of it for the DBFW, it's literally the fucking rules.

When you see these kind of users squirm whenever they get called out on this level of behaviour, make up pathetic and ridiculous excuses to try and get their asses out of the fire or, in the most insulting way possible, say "Well, I'm not technically doing anything wrong!" Or "But it's just/But I'm just/But they're just--!" Bullshit. Let me tell you this.

If you have to resort to technicalities to try and claim that you are in the right, if you have to resort to technicalities to justify all of this ratting out of users and belittling of other opinions as well as any other immoral behaviours, if you have to resort to technicalities because your moral code is so utterly fractured that you cannot see yourself as being responsible for your own heinous actions, then frankly you're the scum on my boot and I want you off this fucking community.

You may think you can hand-wave these responsibilities, regardless of whether or not you're just the basic user or an admin, but I'm sorry to tell you that literally no-one on the wiki is immune, myself included. If you're a user, you have been given responsibility by the higher-ups to roam the site, post your content, and interact with the community in an acceptable way and you have been told to have responsibility not to screw with others or break the rules. If you're a chat-mod or admin, you have to have the responsibility not to screw over others for whatever sick benefits you might gain from it, or break the rules yourself, because then you'll just become the very thing you're supposed to prevent happening. The responsibilities you are given in any position you are in are made clear to you.

And what did people do with this power? What did they do with this responsibility that the wiki's Powers That Be decided to give them, hoping that they wouldn't screw anyone over?

Oh, they lied, they deceived, they started trouble with and continue to belittle specific users, either for entertainment or for their own benefits, and even after a good year or so of events that have shown catastrophic results for those that do it, they still continue to do so to this day, again for their own benefits or just simply because they think turning on other people is fun, on top of this already heinous behaviour. As if they weren't already enjoying a lot of exposure and attention already, they had to go one step further, they had to step into the realms of illegitimacy and immorality just to get a little more positive rep.

Just when I think that things couldn't get any worse, just when I think that the DBFW community couldn't stoop any lower, they find a new Rock Bottom. It's amazing sometimes - how deep does this sinkhole go? Will it ever end?

What will be the next revelation that some largely-respected admin or user on the DBFW has done?

What's the next act of racism passed off as "entertainment"?

What's the next ganging-up of other users?

What's the next attempt to belittle other people or other works for laughs?

How many more people on the Death Battle Fanon Wiki that I used to consider good content creators or even friends turn out to be absolute scumbags simply because they find this behaviour amusing?

How many more users will try and take the easy way out when it comes to shady behaviour rather than putting in the effort to try and improve, to try and become a better person who can get along with others regardless of if their opinions clash or not?

How many more users will simply refuse to do things the sensible and quiet way because it might be more beneficial to their wiki reputation that they do things the drama-fuelled and wrong way?

You know, despite my hatred for the drama sphere and the user-on-user combat that has inflated on the wiki over time, I have actually defended the community's possibility to improve, given that if they were told that trying to go at each others' throats is wrong, they would learn that they wouldn't want to take the consequences and instead try and become a better person, and the younger me at the time was willing to think that the community would become better people, rather than accept the darker thoughts that may exist out there that think that the DBFW community is dishonest and filled with people that are willing to belittle your opinions simply for their own twisted benefits and sometimes, because they feel like it, that they don't care about anyone that isn't themselves and won't have any regrets about it, as those that are willing to let shady behaviour happen for the sheer fun of it.

'''And yet, you know what? You make me look like a fucking idiot for thinking that.'''

Every user that regularly partakes in constant arguments and drama on wiki chats and other pages for petty squabbles, every user that engages with shady behaviour, every user that constantly makes ploys on and off the wiki and tries to outright tell the community what to do on said shady ploys, just to make spiteful points - whether they be to a person, to multiple people, to a work, or to an entire series - every user that with a straight face has the audacity and sheer cocking nerve to sit down with a wide range of people within the community and say, to what could very well be a range of people of a range of different countries or ethnicity, "Hey, here's a racist joke".

You know what, maybe those naysayers regarding the wiki were right, maybe you shouldn't trust anyone on the DBFW. Because if we keep going at the rate we're currently at, if shady behaviour from these low-life bastards is exposed any faster, we're not going to have any bloody users left that aren't sullied by this nonsense. It's absolutely shocking.

It's about time those community members that cause trouble wake the hell up and realise that all of this is going to end up falling on their own heads, it's about time the rest of the community who haven't done anything wrong should wake the hell up and stop tolerating whatever these incessant troublemakers and flingers of crap try to do and realise that they're just being used as tools to benefit another user's reputation at the expense of other people, and it's about damn time that the admins and chat-mods begin to crack down on this bullshit and bring a maelstrom of punishment on the heads of those responsible, without having to be reluctant about it.

I am sick and tired of it. My colleagues are sick and tired of it. And if you aren't sick and tired of it by this point, then I'd say 1, you have the patience of a saint, and 2, you're unfortunately being manipulated by users that just want you to conform to the beliefs that no-one else other than posters of dated memes and shit-flinging insults towards other people, disguised or not, matter, as well as people that just want your blind obedience to that sort of behaviour.

The other admins and chat mods want us to just get along with business? Fine. We'll do our best to do that as users, by delivering the relevant content that people want to read, as well as link anything else we may be working on. BUT, unless these very same people can protect their own members of the community from these kinds of incessant attacks by other users who do it for the love of starting drama, as well as indulging themselves in this rotten way of acting within a community, the people they want making content for the wiki are going to be far too afraid of making anything.

I have been accused of being a bad admin as well as being outright childish and many would assume that I should take more responsibility. But I won't do that in the slightest. Why? Well, if no-one else is going to take responsibility for any of the shit they pull, oftentimes being more often and on a greater scale than I ever COULD do, then why should I have to take responsibility for them? They give me no reason to do so. I am not a sponge or a reflector shield for the shitty behaviour that occurs on there and I would like it to not be like that in the slightest. I practically refuse to apologise for any rash things that I have said or done to these horrible users, until the community learns to do so first to its own kind, and with earnest. Only then will I pull my punches and relent.

I have quite frankly had it with being level, cool-headed, friendly and professional to people who wouldn't even understand how to be such things like those if it shot them through the fucking head, and I certainly hope that their operations of trying to constantly start wiki drama, shitpost against other users or works, constantly going at each other and partaking in utterly disgusting and flat-out unacceptable activity comes crashing down in front of their eyes in a rain of administrated hellfire for their illegitimate, unwarranted and immoral behaviour.

I'll see you next time.

Fuck these people. 