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BadCatMan
Senior Scribe
Australia
401 Posts |
 Posted - 30 Sep 2015 : 12:38:05
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Let the trumpets sound! Pass the word around!
Tomorrow, October 1st, this Highharvestide, the Forgotten Realms Wiki shall be celebrating its 10th anniversary, commemorating a full decade of activity, hardship, and exploration of the Forgotten Realms. In its time, it has seen two editions of D&D come and go, and survived and outlasted both. It has fought off trolls and edition-warriors, it has shaken off grievous damage and recovered to rebuild and become the premier D&D-based wiki on the web.
As our recently pieced-together history tells, the Forgotten Realms Wiki was founded on October 1st, 2005. It had inauspicious beginnings; its creator didn't last the month. But the community of sages that had gathered remained and grew, with the hallowed titles of Bureaucrat and Admin passing to other, worthy souls. After an incremental accumulation of lore, the wiki began to flourish and find its feet. However, the coming of 4th edition inflicted a terrible wound on the young wiki, as it strained under the flood of changes and a horde of new editors, and the Edition Wars were waged upon its Talk and Forum pages, in edit wars and arguments. Fandom's attitudes to the post-Spellplague setting were unfairly shifted to the wiki itself, in a bad case of shooting the messenger. An infection of plagiarism, lack of sourcing, and homebrew lore seeped in through the wounds. Nevertheless, dedicated editors remained firm and the community endured, calling for moderate views, implementing policies to protect and improve the wiki. As the Edition Wars waned, an reinvigorated community set to work, with heroic editors cleaning up, rebuilding, fighting off trolls, and winning acclaim, whilst preserving the past and preparing for the future. When 5th edition came, the Forgotten Realms Wiki was prepared, though the expected deluge became a manageable trickle, but the full campaign setting has yet to be released. With adaptable, edition-neutral policies and templates and thorough policing, the Forgotten Realms Wiki is ready to slay this dragon and soar through another ten years.
Thanks to these efforts, the Forgotten Realms Wiki has become one of the larger and more visited wikis on the Internet. On the Wikia Activity Monitor, it is ranked at a very respectable 140–170 out of Wikia's top 5000 wikis, and once peaked at an amazing 63, and sits at an equally impressive 60–80 out of 2000 in the Video Games category (these rankings fluctuate daily in comparison to other wikis); these ranks have halved just in the last year. The wiki sees 49,000–57,000 page views a day. Its WAM Score (combining "traffic, engagement and growth") sits at a remarkable 95.8–96.3 out of 100 and rising. Play around with the WAM, here:
http://www.wikia.com/WAM?verticalId=0&langCode=&date=&searchPhrase=forgottenrealms
and compare the FRW to your other favourite—or least favourite—wikis; you'll see how well it compares. Notably, it stands head-and-shoulders above all D&D-based wikis. By any measure, the FRW is among the top 200 wikis on the Internet. Analysis of the ranks and statistics suggests that these gains are due to increased traffic, indicating the wiki's raised profile among fans. More of you are reading the FRW more often. And for that we are all thankful.
But the community does not rest on its laurels. Work continues, always, to clean up content old and new and to upgrade templates and categories, as well as to add detailed, quality content on Forgotten Realms lore. The celebrations have only prompted fresh ideas for new features, improved styling, and improved approaches and policies to see us through the next few years, and hopefully another decade.
Now, let us honour the efforts of fans over the last ten years and over the ten to come, fans who've worked hard to piece together Realmslore and tell the story of these vast and detailed settings, for the benefit of fandom and authors and designers alike. Tell us how you use the Forgotten Realms Wiki, for your campaigns and characters, for your research and for your novels and sourcebooks. If you've worked at the wiki, tell us what you've added and why, and tell us about your experiences working there. Don't be shy.
If you're unfamiliar with the FRW or have been wary of getting involved, for whatever reason, then ask any questions you have. If you have concerns, then state them and we'll address them. And if you have ideas or things you want to see, then let us hear them.
Most of all, just get involved. The Forgotten Realms Wiki is a great way to present canon lore as background for your games and characters, viewable by players and DMs. It's also a handy reference for research; what we don't have a lot on, you'll still mostly likely get the gist and find some sources for. What we do have a lot on, you'll find a complete and comprehensive guide to. If you like writing about fantastical people and places, you'll enjoy wiki writing all in itself. It's excellent practice for your writing skills. And even if you just like to read and tinker, you can always polish existing articles. Work at your own rate, on what you enjoy. Write a minor article, write an epic featured article, or improve a troubled one.
All editors are welcome, whatever their writing skill, language, or knowledge of the setting. We help new editors and correct problems in new articles and added content Just please make a Wikia account so we can contact you more easily; it's hard to get in touch with a string of numbers, which anonymous users appear as.
Finally, thank you all for reading the stories we've worked so hard to relate.
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BadCatMan, B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc.
Scientific technical editor
Head DM of the Realms of Adventure play-by-post community
Administrator of the Forgotten Realms Wiki |
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Artemas Entreri
Great Reader
USA
3131 Posts |
Posted - 30 Sep 2015 : 14:21:22
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Nice post BadCatMan! See you around the wiki.  |
Some people have a way with words, and other people...oh, uh, not have way. -Steve Martin
Amazon "KindleUnlimited" Free Trial: http://amzn.to/2AJ4yD2
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Barastir
Master of Realmslore
Brazil
1600 Posts |
Posted - 30 Sep 2015 : 17:51:04
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Congrats, BadCatMan and all who make the Wiki work!
And since I never said this to the ones who take care of Candlekeep here, thank you all! |
"Goodness is not a natural state, but must be
fought for to be attained and maintained.
Lead by example.
Let your deeds speak your intentions.
Goodness radiated from the heart."
The Paladin's Virtues, excerpt from the "Quentin's Monograph"
(by Ed Greenwood) |
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Bladewind
Master of Realmslore
Netherlands
1280 Posts |
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Gurgle Gobblespit
Acolyte
USA
27 Posts |
Posted - 30 Sep 2015 : 20:05:53
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| Congrats! And FR Wiki is such a helpful resource. |
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Forgotten Realms Wiki: 10th Anniversary!
