Silent Hill has been a big part of my life, in fact a huge part of where I am right now is because of this very series. Ever since I played the original Silent Hill in my brothers spare room, which is now like twenty years ago (yes I was nine and I managed to finish it in two sittings... how the hell at that age - I don't know), I've been obsessed with it and video games in general. Now I'm 29, I work in the video games industry and every horror game I play, I hold to the "Silent Hill" standard - most, if not all, fail.
Around 2012, just after Downpour had dropped, I became a frequent contributor on the SHWiki while at a big down point in my life (no job, broken relationships etc etc). I added most of the Downpour Memo pages that are there today and then moved onto editing older pages. But, what I really found here was a community of devoted fans and a super friendly administration and moderation team, many I became friends with, Canieattacos, MissGarland, Enjoyableari, ManicShorty to name a few...
Nowadays, most of the old admins and moderators have moved on, but ever since a particular renowned incident occurred on this very Wiki in 2015 it has never been the same since. To note, I don't have an issue with the person who was at center of that incident, he has done a huge amount for this Wiki but had a moment of darkness (haven't we all?) so let bygones be bygones. In fact, I personally have more of a problem with those some individuals outside of the Wiki, whose sole purpose was nothing more than to shed a bad light on this place - and well it worked.
But that's the past.
It's 2018 - this Wiki is dated.... A huge portion of the Wikia community now view pages on their phones and well... we aren't setup for that. We've also been focused on for our poor referencing and misrepresentation of certain information and game references. Oh and we have a small admin/moderator team!
So with that in mind, here are just a few things that we will start doing:
- Create & update new/existing templates that are "Phone Friendly" - this include replacement of old infoboxes and navboxes (the former is already in progress).
- Give the Wiki a lick of paint. Our background and templates are very "2010" - efficient interfaces and a good modern skin are a must!
- Separate fact from fiction - clean up our pages. The Silent Hill community is full of theorycrafters, and maybe there is a place to integrate this in the Wiki somehow. But we need to separate fact from fiction, with the hopes of being cited more as a credible source in the future.
- Put together a new administration and moderation team, including a defined structure to help manage it.
- Build a sense community again. One reminiscent of the good old days.
It looks like a small list... but by no means is the above an easy feat.
To help drive this, I have requested and have successfully been appointed to the position of Bureaucrat by approval of two of our existing Bureaucrats, Enjoyableari and AlessaGillespie. I will now be able to appoint new administrators, content moderators and give users rollback rights. Be aware, I do not intend to do this haphazardly.
However, I would like to announce that Ozzkat has been promoted to the position of Site Moderator (pending her imminent approval). She will now be able to rollback, delete, undelete, re-upload and protect most pages, files and community threads. A more detailed update of this role and others to follow over the coming weeks. Additionally, I will be looking over the coming months at appointing new administrators/moderators to our ranks. In particular, I'll be looking for friendly, helpful individuals who have contributed and are contributing to the Wiki on a frequent basis (don't ask for promotions though!). So continue or start editing now!
On a final note, I'd like to mention that if you have any problems with the Wiki, from vandals or to needing help then feel free to message the current administration team. You can message us directly on our Wiki pages (Myself, Canieattacos & Riley Heligo or contact us in the Konami Classics Discord channel (https://discordapp.com/invite/sJEgD3 - post in the #silent_hill channel)
Thanks all and happy editing!
Rob