User:Oni Dark Link/A Nostalgic Retrospective. Ten Years of Zeldapedia

So as 2015 draws to a close so too does the tenth anniversary of Zeldapedia. It was June of 2005 when this site first came into existence. Created by a user known as Champion Kai, who promptly left it to go do better things (he has a glorious main space edit count of 21, not enough to even to suggest a Temple of Courage fight). I came here in October of 2008, seven years ago when I was a humble boy of fifteen. Currently I am the longest serving member of this wiki. That means I've seen a lot. I first found this site searching for glitches to play as Fierce Deity outside of boss battles. I didn't think much of it again until I started needing access to enemy names and the site became useful to me. I then noticed the Temple of Courage, I still remember which battle. The Cubus Sisters vs. the Poe Sisters. That drew me into the community and I got to know some people that would stick around for a while. Auron Kaizer, Xykeb Yvolix Zraliv, Triforce14, Bek the Conqueror, Mr Kmil, Moblin Slayer. Just a few of the names that were hanging about in the early days. The wiki was a pretty good even in those early days and I confess my lack of attention and utter disregard for spelling probably did more harm than good, though my heart was in the right place. In time I grew as did the wiki. In June of 2009 after a particularly memorable run in with vandal I thought it prudent to run for roll back and I got it. I've remained at that station ever since, never feeling the need to apply for Admin. You know self doubt and fear of authority, all that sort of stuff. Though now that the wiki has depopulated so heavily and I don't seem to be leaving I probably will have to take up the mantle of Bureaucrat at some point in the future. But this is a nostalgic look back, not a stealth nomination.

The next major event in the timeline I should mention is EveryDayJoe45 who technically made his first few edits before I joined but only really came on the scene in 2009. And when he came onto the scene he exploded. Probably the greatest user this wiki has ever had, going from an unknown to admin status in about four months. It was at this point the wiki entered its golden era as I like to call it. Not just Joe but everyone started editing like crazy. In June 2010 we even launched a youtube channel, ZeldapeidaVideo which managed to gain (and surprisingly maintain) over two thousand subscribers (even though we haven't uploaded a proper video to it in almost three years). That project was headed by a user known as Birdman5589 and I look on it as a resounding success. I recorded the Zelda II videos for it. I would have liked to have done more for it but my capture abilities were never up to scratch.

It wasn't all just work though. During this glorious era we grew closer as a community. An IRC was set up where we could talk and just hang out as friends. We told each other our real names and added each other on facebook (which was a cool new thang at the time). The chat box was also a feature that provided something like that but wikia in their unending attempt to screw its user base got rid of that for some reason alongside Monaco (I will never forget that glorious interface, though our current monobook pattern is pretty good after all the work that was done on it. You should use it if you're stuck on that crappy Oasis skin). The IRC led to a group known as The Kaizers or House of Kaizers. A reimagining of many of our principal users as a family. Sadly I wasn't part of the group as my involvement with the social side of things was never quite 100%. Treating each other like family also had the negative side effect of a lot more fighting and drama which meant choosing sides and situations all to political for my liking. So I mostly involved myself only occasionally and observed from a afar. One other social experiment which I would have liked to join was a role playing story set up by user LisaURAQT (whose name I famously must understood the first time I met her) but alas I discovered it just a little too late. I also played some Brawl online in this era, the most notable figure in my mind for that was a user known as The Midna who was really good and a really cool guy overall.

However we also became somewhat more insular and elitist in this era, most golden ages have an ugly side. Joining the community was hard as any potential new editors were scrutinized for any mistakes they made. Had I first came upon the wiki in this time I'm certain I wouldn't have stuck with it, probably being banned within a month. But it was still a very fun place to be. The kind of place I'd much rather be than studying for my secondary school exams. But as it coincidentally happened, as soon as I joined college and Skyward Sword came out, it all sort of collapsed in on itself. We reached a point where we had achieved so much that when a new game came out what should have been exciting was sort of daunting. We had made a good wiki and many of us did continue to edit for quite a while afterwards. The IRC led to a Skype group which was never really as active as the IRC had been. And we ourselves just weren't as active. Most people never really officially left the wiki instead they just faded away and we suddenly realised it had been over a year since we'd heard from them.

And so it's led to this day where I remain with possibly only one other editor who has consistently edited and can remember these times (Jedimasterlink). A few of the other old friends occasionally appear and it seems as if they're going to start editing again, which is great, but many vanish just as suddenly as the reappeared. I too faded in this era though I never really left. I'd always make probably a few edits every month. But my life was changing. As I said I'd entered college which is a massive time of transition for a person. That time now has come to an end and I find myself with a lot more free time yet Zeldapedia does not beckon me as it once did, even though now there is so very much to do. I don't think that golden era will ever return, at least not like it was once before. But a new age might come with new editors in which case I will observe and help as I always have. The fact that my era of productivity and friendship came to end is not a sad thing. It is something natural. It tends to happen in life with many things, not just online communities. We grow, we change, we drift apart and we find new things to care about. Zeldapedia will always hold a special place in my heart and, I think, the same is true for many others. So if you're reading this and have only recently come to the wiki then I urge you, if you can, make it a special place in your heart. This place is ten years old now, it has a long history of edits, reverts, promotions, vandalism, banning, rollbacks and friendship. I hope it continues to have a history filled with these things. Zeldapedia was at one point the greatest source of Zelda information in the world. I truly believe that. Is it still today? I'm not sure, it's hard to compare. But I hope it will be in the future. Thank you for reading this somewhat soppy retrospective and good luck with whatever you choose to do next.