Dungeons and Daddies Wiki Drama: A Greek Tragedy Told through the Medium of Forum Posts (Part 1)
Prologue
Greek tragedies are typically formatted in three or more acts interspersed with choral interludes, beginning with a prologue, and ending with an exodus. In these, protagonists often meet their downfall due to their fatal flaw, or hamartia: the ways in which the protagonists are their own undoing. Our own human failings are the things that bring us the most pain.
When considering a three-act Greek tragedy structure for this, my first thought was to use the Oresteia as a framing device, a trilogy of plays written by Aeschylus about Agamemnon's family in the aftermath of the Trojan War. Upon reflection, though, the themes of the Oresteia (revenge vs. justice, perpetuating a cycle of violence, honor and punishment) didn't quite fit the story I was trying to tell.
No, this is a classic tale of hubris: excessive pride and its ultimate downfall.
After all, what position could come with more power than that of wiki moderator for a Dungeons and Dragons podcast series?
Act One: The Beginning of the End
The D&Dads wiki has historically been... unhelpful, at best. (Source: Myself.) Trouble had been brewing for a long time.
Forum posts from spring 2022 began noting issues cropping up around the wiki. First, it was a complaint about anonymous users "disrupting" the wiki (specifically on Jodie-related pages) while also fixing mistakes in articles.
I'm unsure what specific "disruptions" were meant, but the proposal to ban anonymous users didn't garner much traction.
March 21st, 2022:
After little activity for months (only one forum post, related to infoboxes), wiki user TwoRatner had a radical proposition: wiki migration.
December 17th, 2022:
TwoRatner suggested an alternate platform that would have different editing options, then made a potentially-prophetic statement: the wiki might be cursed.
This warning went unheeded.
December 27th, 2022:
Ten days after the migration suggestion, TwoRatner came back to ask if there were any recent changes. This went unanswered for months until new user Penguinwithafancytophat reported adding art to character pages (including Glenn, a main season 1 character since the start of the podcast in 2019, who incredibly might not have had any official art on his wiki page before March of 2023).
Spring of 2023 seemed to bring along a revival of the wiki, with new editors coming in, engaging with the forum, and attempting to make suggestions on how to improve wiki organization.
March 31st, 2023:
May 27th, 2023:
July 17th, 2023:
October 2nd, 2023:
Interestingly, the only administrator seen to be interacting with these enthusiastic new editors? Gaycowboyrats. Let's put a pin in that.
Enter: the drama.
It started out simple enough- a forum posts for administrators to discuss changes that needed to be made.
November 3rd, 2023:
76 replies.
Seventy. Six. Replies. Each deeply interesting in its own way.
However, this is a Tumblr post, not an Hbomberguy video essay, so I'll keep it brief.
The discussion started out as one might expect a wiki admin discussion to start:
Mods discussed blocks, deleting stub pages, spam, etc. Standard wiki business.
The first reply to ping my interest:
Removing cast pages from a wiki about their work seemed like an odd decision, in my non-wiki-editor opinion, but the last line is what really stuck out: "Besides, I hate the idea of someone vandalizing the pages to defame them."
Several questions arose for me:
Was this a known problem? Were people constantly vandalizing cast pages?
Would a vandalized fandom wiki page really defame somebody?
Isn't the point of wiki editing to remove vandalization on articles?
The administrators began to stand out to me as deeply invested in a very specific sense of wiki justice.
Users TwoRatner, Brazil86, and TheOneTrueGod41 agreed with Honic's take.
Another thing to ping my interest: these users seemed to share a similar odd, slightly stilted, writing style. Almost Tommy Wiseau-esque.
Brazil86 expressed optimism about users engaging with wiki pages, something that would begin to set them apart from other administrators.
As I read, themes began to emerge: wiki justice, and incongruous one-liners.
Quoth Honic Washington: "I just found a wave of nonsense fish. My backyard is full of them. Hey, TOTG41, do you like jazz? I like jazz."
Truly, modern poetry.
Administrator Marth8204 suggested giving people more time. More time for what? Unclear. It seems a plan was afoot.
TwoRatner came in with a hot take: "I feel like we need a community more right now, than adding links that people can search for in the search bar."
Brazil86 agreed: Changing the navigation was less important than getting people editing and making friends.
Another theme began to emerge: wiki community as more important than wiki functionality.
Gaycowboyrats had some (incredibly reasonable) objections to this, pointing out that the wiki was a resource for many visitors who might not participate- something that is generally true of wikis as a form of content.
Honic Washington responded to this, the signs of wiki-related stress beginning to show.
Honic posts a long rant about the thankless task of moderating a wiki, which goes largely unacknowledged.
Notable TwoRatner quotes:
"You can't crack open a few omelets without punching a few egg-rolls."
"Now Freddie will get more money. What do you all say? I think I helped quite a bit."
Another theme emerges: discontent in the wiki moderator ranks.
Honic reaches full Joker mode. Again, this goes largely unacknowledged.
Honic: "I am leader. I am a painter! Keep your rules. Keep your status. Keep your friends."
"Keep your status"- words that will reverberate throughout the rest of this tale.
The final theme? Wiki moderator status, and the maintenance of it.
After Honic's bomb drop, conversation about regular wiki moderation continued, with mods considering the addition of a bot to make edits.
Admin Discussion Zone, first started by Honic Washington, ends not with a bang but with a whimper.
Over nearly a year of forum posts, patterns emerged.
Firstly- users attempting to engage in the wiki, wiki administrators not engaging with these new users, then wiki administrators bemoaning the lack of user engagement.
The notable exception was Gaycowboyrats, the only wiki administrator to engage with new users in the forums. Gaycowboyrats, the administrator whose (incredibly reasonable) suggestions ended with Honic Washington's villain-esque monologues and denouement as a moderator.
Secondly- administrators putting forth large-scale, drastic solutions to real or perceived wiki problems. This includes Cheesoid4 wanting to ban anonymous users, TwoRatner suggesting site migration, Honic deleting cast pages to prevent vandalism, and more to come.
Thirdly- wiki administrators seeming to share similar styles of speech and occasional non-sequiturs. Interestingly, this mainly seems to include the wiki administrators who agree with each other.
Funny how that happens.
Chorus
Stay tuned for Part 2, where the forum drama really starts to heat up.
This has started doing the rounds and I'm loving the responses!!
However please for the love of god DON'T INTERACT WITH THE WIKI FORUMS BECAUSE OF THIS LOL I really don't want these people to get trolled because of a funny tumblr series I'm writing about inconsequential internet drama!
Okay now that that's out of the way, Part 3 will be up tomorrow <3
Since idk what's gonna happen with the wiki figured you'd be the person to spread this the best but Shortest-Jorts made a google doc with the dad/teen facts! Just to provide an easy access to info
Awesome, thank you for sharing!! I'm also not sure what will happen to the wiki, but I know some fans are working on a new one so I'll be sure to share once I have anything concrete on that!
Dungeons and Daddies Wiki Drama: A Greek Tragedy Told through the Medium of Forum Posts (Part 4)
Epilogue/Exodus
Phaethon loses control of the chariot's reins.
As of the writing of this post, the wiki forums have stayed largely inactive.
December 22nd, 2023:
However, the wiki itself has been going through many changes in the days since starting this series, most notably the deletion of all character and location pages.
Yes, you read that correctly: the Dungeons and Daddies wiki will no longer be allowing pages about characters or locations featured in the show.
A quick look at the "All Pages" section of the wiki:
Only 37 wiki pages remain, all of which are separate pages for each episode of season 1 (and not even all of the episodes- many episodes past episode 33 are simply missing).
If you try to search for a specific character, such as main season 1 character Darryl Wilson:
The only results are pages of episodes where Darryl is featured (which, as a main character in season 1, is all of them).
This is a baffling decision for wiki moderators to make in good faith. It renders the wiki entirely useless, as fans now have to comb through individual episode pages for simple information on characters or locations. Why on earth would they make this change with no announcement?
The simplest explanation is that these people (or singular person) are not acting on good faith.
Taking a look at the wiki policy & wiki forum rules is also enlightening:
Wiki policy as of screenshotting earlier this week, then an addendum for the new rules related to character pages, lagging, and location pages, as of December 22nd, 2023.
These rules are... long, to say the least.
Notably, the second paragraph on the page reads as follows:
"Also, every rule must be taken seriously and if you think this is a joke that is your fault, and if you got blocked because you broke a rule that's your fault because you broke it. Don't try to get out of this, you have to follow the rules."
Again, odd speech patterns and a focus on wiki justice. I'm sensing the work of TwoRatner afoot.
I believe this part was added after penguinwithatophat's question in the forums about whether the rules were serious. The new moderators seem very concerned with being taken seriously and instituting absolute rule over the wiki.
Some rules of interest to me:
"Don't gossip about drama or cause drama."
I've already failed on that count. It appears I might find myself banned from the Dungeons and Daddies Season 1 Wiki.
Tragic.
"Malware, viruses, fetishes, and any links of that variety or any evil lowlife site link will not be allowed to prosper."
The Four Horsemen of wiki moderating: malware, viruses, fetishes, and any links of that variety/any evil lowlife site link.
"You can have alternate accounts, but you should tell everyone it's an alt before using."
"You can not sockpuppet. If you are found sockpuppeting, especially to evade a block, then that account will be blocked indefinitely. You will have a message sent to your main account stating what you did wrong and that you should not do it again."
"Meatpuppetry is semi-allowed, because some blocked users have good requests to give to others. Anyone who doesn't want to change and did severe rule-breaks shouldn't be trusted so you shouldn't add edits on their request, but a user that wants to change can ask a friend to edit for them."
"Don't sockpuppet, ever, especially to evade bans."
Four (4!) separate mentions of sockpuppeting/meatpuppeting in the wiki policy.
"Don't abuse your power. You shouldn't break global polices on FANDOM or attack users just for annoying you. Ask polite questions, or give stern warnings, but don't exact harm or make people feel unsafe by being here."
Seems that this rule for admins is more of a suggestion than a law.
Then the forum-specific guidelines (which are also, unsurprisingly, long).
"Be nice and treat people with respect. Keep discussions civil and be open-minded about differing opinions. Don't do other dads dirty. We need this to be a safe and welcoming place."
Again, a rule that seems to be more of a suggestion than a law for the new admin team.
"Don't use sockpuppets to add more votes to yourself or make yourself look good. Just don't use multiple accounts for bad reasons."
"Sockpuppets posting will have their posts removed; no exceptions."
"Alts posting is fine, but remember to state that it's an alt."
"To elaborate, sockpuppets (alt accounts for evading blocks or sabotaging polls) in general are outlawed, and you should never make any."
Again, another four (4!!!) separate mentions of sockpuppeting/alts. They seem very deeply concerned about this potential issue. It's truly unthinkable that someone might take over the forums with multiple accounts, pretend to be more than one person, and use these accounts just to agree with themselves.
Right?
I tried to pick out more favorite rules, but then I realized I was just repeating the entirety of the screenshots. If you're skimming this, I highly recommend pausing to read the entirety of the forum guidelines. They're funnier than I could ever attempt to be.
Now, screenshots of some mod accounts of note.
Dramatis Personae (screenshots taken December 19-22nd, 2023):
Gaycowboyrats, former administrator of the wiki.
Honic Washington, (allegedly) former administrator. The link on their page leads to a Reddit acount, which has seemingly been deleted/banned, as mentioned in their forum posts:
Then some of the main culprits of the new admin team:
TwoRatner, whose account has seemingly been taken over by MitchRiot(er(er)) and been replaced by TwoMarshall. Another reference to account breaches, possibly perpetuated by the mysterious MitchRiot figure.
The link on the TwoRatner page leads to a user account under the same name on the Jonah Who wiki.
Brazil86, controversial new admin figure and someone who self-avowedly "serves to live."
Then other assorted current & former mods:
As mentioned by Tumblr user spaceyam, Nicoh Watonshing sure sounds similar to Honic Washington.
(I hadn't noticed this at all until I saw it pointed out in the notes but now it seems incredibly obvious, thank you!!)
The link on TheOneTrueGod41's page also leads to the Jonah Who wiki, but this time to the main page, not a user page.
On Marth8204's page, the link goes to the main page of the Funbob wiki.
As for NicohWatonshing's page link, it leads to a user page for the same name on the Luke Nukem wiki.
Interesting.
It seems that if these are all separate people, they have a history of being editors on niche wikis.
Then, I became curious about the Season 2 wiki.
What was this all for? Why the rush to split the wikis? What was so important about the season 2 pages that they had to be kept separate from season 1?
Right.
Thank you to everyone for reading and getting involved in this series! There may be more posts happening if things continue to develop, so stay tuned if you're interested. There also may be a new fan wiki effort underway, keep an eye out for that!
A Statement From Former Wiki Administrator, Gaycowboyrats
Thanks to the hard work of @ninjapeach671-blog (author of the fanfic Scamson, as a completely non-subtle friend plug), Gaycowboyrats has been found and is in contact with me over Tumblr!
They've given us permission to post messages & references to their Tumblr account.
This is Emmett (they/star), or Gaycowboyrats, or @boyscoutpaladin here on Tumblr! Thank you again to Emmett for reaching out.
First, a statement on the supposedly-racist Ratehouse account:
This lines up with my own checking- the page is currently down, but as of the last archive copy I was able to see, the only movie ratings on the account were from 11/8 - 12/6, around the time the new moderators began to take over.
(Gaycowboyrats Ratehouse archive link here, for anyone who might be curious- warning for some general vile language and possible triggers):
Gaycowboyrats
Then, Emmett's general take on the situation:
Then, notes on some additional context I had missed:
This was really interesting, for obvious reasons. It seems that removing administrators based on alleged Ratehouse comments became a pattern.
And another reference to someone "not knowing their place." An odd reason to remove a wiki moderator. Again, we see the new moderators display a very strict sense of wiki justice and the importance they place on wiki administrator power.
Brazil86 also makes references to a new admin staff being put in place by TwoRatner, who would "debrief them and look them over."
On the link provided to the Oktobmer Ratehouse page, the comment (still up, unlike the Gaycowboyrats Ratehouse page) reads as follows:
(Ableist slur redacted).
Emmett responding to this:
This is... deeply suspicious, to say the least. This is the second time that one of the new moderators accused an old moderator of bigotry in comments on Ratehouse, specifically, and used that as a reason that they should be removed.
Then, more information on Brazil86:
Again, deeply suspicious. It seems that at the end of October, a new influx of mods came in, making sweeping changes to the landscape of the wiki before removing old mods and ultimately deleting large parts of the wiki.
Why? Is this related to Brazil86's supposed crime against the new mod team? How does this play into the new mod team's fretting about administrator account security, considering Brazil86 was removing protections from wiki pages?
Then, Emmett provided a link to the Blocked Users page of the wiki (screenshots from time of writing on December 21st, 2023):
The first block to happen after 2022 was on November 4th, 2023, where Brazil86 blocked Oktobmer for a list of problems that included "being unacceptable in terms of behavior on other sites" and "making bad faith assumptions."
After this, more blocks were performed by the new moderator team, with the exception of the blocking of MitchRiot by Gaycowboyrats on November 30th, 2023, days before they were removed.
MitchRiot, whose username is very similar to the MitchRioterer seen in an admin discussion thread (see Part 2) declaring themselves to be in charge now, then going ignored.
A simple troll creating sockpuppets to continue trolling? Maybe. Maybe MitchRiot(erer) is more involved than that. At this point, the only thing I can say for sure about this situation is that it keeps going deeper than I thought.
Unsurprisingly, SudeKK was blocked temporarily after their forum post, though the post itself remains up.
That's the situation as it stands. More could happen, who knows?
Expect the conclusion of my main series on the wiki drama tomorrow, with additional context and notes on the situation as it's changed since I started writing this series <3
Dungeons and Daddies Wiki Drama: A Greek Tragedy Told through the Medium of Forum Posts (Part 3)
Act 3: Death of a Mod Team
A sockpuppet by any other name would smell just as sweet.
Stay tuned for a late-breaking update later today- wiki admin Gaycowboyrats has gone on the record about their experience and I'll be sharing that with you all this afternoon!
In this, our last Act, we explore the consequences of wiki overreach of power.
First, the silent downfall of Gaycowboyrats.
December 5th, 2023:
The main concern? Inactivity.
Notable PawnSum quote: "I am sorry for not catching my mistake for three hours. I feel so foolish. I wish I wasn't autistic."
TwoRatner response: "I promise to keep you safe."
(A quick, sincere note for any readers- while I think many of the admin actions were... inadvisable at best, there's absolutely nothing wrong with being autistic or making an easy typo. I genuinely hope that whoever is behind the PawnSum account doesn't feel that way about themselves).
The secondary concern? Racism in a Thor: Ragnarok movie review, and being a "trimmer of life."
(The link provided was https://rate.house/user/Gaycowboyrats, for anyone curious. It appears the page has since been deleted, but stay tuned for more on this in a separate post later).
The tertiary concern? Account security.
Another reference to site breaches and administrator account hacks. Interesting.
Thus, the admin privileges of Gaycowboyrats were revoked. In a chorus of moderators and users with, again, suspiciously similar speech patterns, they were voted off the island wiki.
December 7th, 2023:
The next Admin Discussion Zone begins where A New Development left off- with the transgressions of Brazil86.
"Please don't vote to remove me. I can still help. He's gone, so everything should be fine."
What this tells me, and the questions it leaves me with:
The most obvious conclusion is that getting voted out of administrator power is a very real and present threat, even for active wiki administrators.
By "he's gone," I wonder if Brazil86 means Gaycowboyrats, the admin who was just removed a day before (though Gaycowboyrats does not use he/him pronouns, to my knowledge). If so, this implies a coordinated effort on the part of the other admins to remove Gaycowboyrats greater than what we saw in the forum.
Or is this referring to some other event yet unaddressed in the forums? Maybe this is about the aforementioned account security breaches?
HungerBunger: "I think we're all mad at you."
My kingdom for a look at their Discord server.
TwoMarshall: "I just want you to not be me." An interesting turn of phrase for accounts that tend to speak in remarkably similar ways.
Brazil86: "It is fixed, so please don't make me fall."
This Admin Discussion Zone is a dramatic depature from the ones that precede it.
The admins admit doubt, worry the rules are too restrictive, and yet Marth8204 still expresses optimism that the wiki will grow soon.
December 9th, 2023:
In the immortal words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and wiki administrator TwoMarshall, it is done.
The split was complete. No more season 2 material would be allowed on the original Dungeons and Daddies wiki.
Another wiki user, Notapissboy, attempts to talk sense into the moderators. They're informed in no uncertain terms that they, in fact, are the one being stupid here.
Nicoh Watonshing: "Are you an admin? No. Am I? No. I however understand when I am being too big for my britches."
An interesting framing. Do any of us really know when we're being too big for our britches?
What is hubris, if not being too big for your britches?
Iconic Nicoh Watonshing quote: "It's free parking on Park Place."
(It must be noted for posterity that the Park Place spot in Monopoly is the second-most expensive property in the game.)
FunderStun sagely responds to this with the lyrics to the song Shooting Star by Bag Raiders.
HungerBunger: "You have the freedom to do good."
Users November Jane and Sol-Has-An-Obsession come in with more questions and critiques. By this point, the administrator team seem to have gotten tired of the whole issue.
After this, wiki forum discussion and activity appear to have moved past the drama. Perhaps they just moved on with their lives. Perhaps the only ones left to discuss things were the administrators who instigated the issue.
Only time will tell.
December 16th, 2023:
December 19th, 2023:
Even in the face of blatant personal attacks involving an insult to TwoMarshall's dead brother, administrators simply ask the culprit to not do it again. This is a strong tonal difference from their harsh responses to earlier reasonable critiques.
December 19th, 2023:
The last forum post as of writing was a discussion on removing an inactive moderator.
Have they exhausted the wiki drama well, or are they merely biding their time?
Maybe TwoRatner was right, and the wiki is cursed.
Maybe all of this was one person with dozens of sockpuppets, feeding message prompts through ChatGPT to stage a coup on a niche fandom wiki and enact an extremely detailed, drama-filled LARP.
Maybe multiple trolls wormed into an already-struggling wiki through a security breach and decided to destroy it from the inside.
No matter the cause of the current wiki issues, user Chekovsnakess was correct. This was the hubris of the administrator team: by making a wiki for the administrators and not the users, they made a wiki for no one.
This series has left me with more questions than answers: what security breaches happened and why? What did Brazil86 do to cause so much animosity among the other mods? Why go through this much drama in a fandom wiki, of all places?
While I may never know the answers, I do know that the Dungeons and Daddies fandom remains, on the whole, one of the most positive and engaged groups I've ever been a part of. That's what makes this drama stick out the most, in my opinion: it's so completely out of left field from the fandom I've known. The wiki may have quickly gone from bad to worse, but I trust the community of this show, and I know we have the potential to make something better.
Chorus
December 8th, 2023 (immediately after the last Admin Discussion Zone):
TheOneTrueGod41: "I don't know what's the matter with me. Sometimes I don't feel whole."
Words to remember them by.
Stay tuned for the epilogue and final post(s) in this series, including word from former wiki administrator Gaycowboyrats!
-----
And speaking of trusting this community, I'd like to take this chance to remind everyone to PLEASE not interact with the forums/wiki admins because of this!!! They may be making some questionable decisions, and I clearly enjoy deep dives on random internet drama as much as the next person, but please don't go trolling them in return.
We're better than that, y'all. Remember, "you have the freedom to do good."
On a personal note, I never expected this to go as far as it has: this evolved from people in the Patreon Discord wondering what was going on with the wiki and why it was splitting apart, to me sharing screenshots of funny non-sequiturs in the forums, to an entire Internet drama investigative journalism piece framed as a tragedy of wiki administrator hubris.
I've loved to see how much the community has rallied around this wiki situation- from people assisting me with research, to people offering to make dramatic readings or video essays out of my posts, to fans even working to create a new show wiki after this came to light. (More on that as it develops, hopefully!)
This is absolutely the kindest, most supportive fandom I've ever participated in, and everyone reading this has been a part of that. If our wiki is being brigaded by trolls, I sincerely hope that they realize the futility of what they're doing and move on with their lives. Several of them (assuming it's more than one person) have posted about really difficult personal circumstances. I hope that everyone involved gets the help they need and that they grow from this.
In the words of Ron Stampler: You are enough, just as you are.
Dungeons and Daddies Wiki Drama: A Greek Tragedy Told through the Medium of Forum Posts (Part 2)
Act 2: The Wax Melts, The Sea Beckons
In which the wings begin to fall apart.
Despite the drama unfolding over the November admin discussion post, wiki life continued. User posts showed cracks in the foundation. Something was rotten in the state of Wikia.
November 6th, 2023:
November 9th, 2023:
It seems that the administrators were deleting pages, instituting rigid new rules about how long a post could stay unfinished (and, apparently, what qualified as unfinished).
Enter anonymous wiki user Chekovsnakess.
November 23rd, 2023:
Chekovsnakess pointed out the issue inherent in the deletions- moderators wanted more people to engage with the wiki, but what's the point, when the page will get nuked?
Chekovsnakess: "The wiki feels more of the admins' wiki rather than a community wiki."
The admins didn't take well to this critique.
TwoRatner: "In no way have we, the admins, been hostile."
TheOneTrueGod41: "It can't be unprofessional if we absolutely mean it."
PawnSum: "Uh, you can't type fast or something? I can, so that shouldn't be a problem."
Also, iconic quote from PawnSum: "I literally broke my ankle and couldn't get home, so I understand what pain is."
PawnSum makes a good point- only they, a wiki editor experiencing mild criticism and a broken ankle, could ever understand true pain.
Opening a paragraph with "you also don't seem to understand that your opinions aren't facts" and closing it with "Please stop leaving and just stay!"
A masterpiece of salesmanship. Glenn and his high Persuasion rolls could only hope to reach the levels of charisma displayed by wiki administrator TwoRatner.
Other iconic TwoRatner quotes:
"Admins are like princiPALS after all, or a nice janitor."
"You want me to quick my job? I can't! I already paid for the funeral and now I need more money to feed my family."
After this, Chekovsnakess remained silent, perhaps choosing to disengage from fandom wiki drama and move on with their life. An unthinkable choice, to be sure.
More users turned to the forums to express frustrations with the wiki, falling on the administrator's deaf ears.
November 29th, 2023:
December 3rd, 2023:
With this, we segue to the moderator response to wiki user critiques: splitting the wiki into two websites with separate mod teams, one for season 1 of the podcast and one for season 2.
In haunting Anakin-like fashion, TwoRatner says "I promise to bring about a satisfying future to this wiki." A promise they would be unable to live up to.
December 2nd, 2023:
TwoRatner's attempt to bring peace to their new empire wiki would first involve mysterious user Largeo and a separation on par with the Great Church Schism of 1054. Equally important decisions with equally worldwide consequences.
TwoRatner made the generous decision to put this up for a community vote, with only one dissenter: Zilstreet.
Zilstreet pointed out the obvious criticism: wouldn't splitting a wiki for a single show between two different places make it confusing for casual browsers? What about characters that appear in both seasons? Was there a specific game plan?
This was met with a measured, thoughtful response from the administrators.
"When life gives you grapefruit, you make grapefruit pellets to shoot at your friends, because plastic pellets hurt." -HungerBunger, December 5th 2023
How dare Zilstreet not take into account HungerBunger's trauma and exercises in extending trust???
"It's very obvious. We clearly thought about this."
Indeed.
More users with suspiciously similar speech patterns chime in to support TwoRatner's proposal.
Interestingly, MotPot brings up jazz unprompted. Where have we seen that before? Honic Washington and The One True God 41, in Part 1.
Clearly, there must be a lot of overlap between jazz fans and D&D podcast wiki editors.
Marth8204 came out swinging, telling Zilstreet that they should be ashamed for having the audacity to ask questions about a drastic site change, but seemed pacified by TwoRatner's warning to "tone it down a bit."
TwoRatner imposed a deadline for users to vote on the change.
FunderStun also came out swinging- this time, against Gaycowboyrats (featured in Part 1) and... Amber Heard? Then they delivered this line: "There is no savior, so we have to be."
Again, poetry.
And again, I'd like to put a pin in the Gaycowboyrats reference.
Thus ended the split discussion thread, leaving me with more questions than answers.
Nicoh Watonshing seems to be referring to wiki security breaches. Was this an ongoing issue? Were admins getting hacked? If so, by whom? What could hackers possibly want from the wiki?
What happened between Brazil86 and TwoMarshall? What did Brazil86 do wrong? Are there any words in the English language that can strike as much fear in one's heart as "abnormally long Discord call"?
Note the TwoMarshall brother reference: this is very similar to references made by TwoRatner to a brother that died. How coincidental.
This period of forum volatility closely follows the themes established in Act 1: a strict, opaque sense of wiki justice, wiki moderator power as a status more important than wiki functionality, calling for more community engagement while largely ignoring community engagement when it happened, and making drastic changes in response to real or perceived wiki problems.
Here, we see more new administrator names pop up in the forums with similar styles of speech and occasional non-sequiturs, even after Honic Washington's (apparent) departure.
Here, we see new discontent in the moderator ranks- some apparent failure by Brazil86, and its severe consequences with TwoMarshall.
Here, we see two moderators (TwoRatner and TwoMarshall) with similar brother-related situations. Did TwoRatner switch accounts? Was this related to the alleged security breaches in the wiki?
Despite being active in the forums and wiki at large before this, Gaycowboyrats is now conspicuously absent except for the reference by FunderStun, who wants to remove Gaycowboyrats from his position of influence and "free" the fandom.
Has the Dungeons and Daddies wiki been subject to some kind of administrator security breach and subsequent overthrow, resulting in a schism?
Life seems to be giving this wiki a lot of grapefruit.
And when life gives you grapefuit, you make grapefruit pellets to shoot your friends.
Chorus:
A statement from Zil Street.
Interim attempts at community engagement by the administrators.
Stay tuned for part 3 tomorrow with the thrilling conclusion of the wiki split saga!
Dungeons and Daddies Wiki Drama: A Greek Tragedy Told through the Medium of Forum Posts (Part 1)
Prologue
Greek tragedies are typically formatted in three or more acts interspersed with choral interludes, beginning with a prologue, and ending with an exodus. In these, protagonists often meet their downfall due to their fatal flaw, or hamartia: the ways in which the protagonists are their own undoing. Our own human failings are the things that bring us the most pain.
When considering a three-act Greek tragedy structure for this, my first thought was to use the Oresteia as a framing device, a trilogy of plays written by Aeschylus about Agamemnon's family in the aftermath of the Trojan War. Upon reflection, though, the themes of the Oresteia (revenge vs. justice, perpetuating a cycle of violence, honor and punishment) didn't quite fit the story I was trying to tell.
No, this is a classic tale of hubris: excessive pride and its ultimate downfall.
After all, what position could come with more power than that of wiki moderator for a Dungeons and Dragons podcast series?
Act One: The Beginning of the End
The D&Dads wiki has historically been... unhelpful, at best. (Source: Myself.) Trouble had been brewing for a long time.
Forum posts from spring 2022 began noting issues cropping up around the wiki. First, it was a complaint about anonymous users "disrupting" the wiki (specifically on Jodie-related pages) while also fixing mistakes in articles.
I'm unsure what specific "disruptions" were meant, but the proposal to ban anonymous users didn't garner much traction.
March 21st, 2022:
After little activity for months (only one forum post, related to infoboxes), wiki user TwoRatner had a radical proposition: wiki migration.
December 17th, 2022:
TwoRatner suggested an alternate platform that would have different editing options, then made a potentially-prophetic statement: the wiki might be cursed.
This warning went unheeded.
December 27th, 2022:
Ten days after the migration suggestion, TwoRatner came back to ask if there were any recent changes. This went unanswered for months until new user Penguinwithafancytophat reported adding art to character pages (including Glenn, a main season 1 character since the start of the podcast in 2019, who incredibly might not have had any official art on his wiki page before March of 2023).
Spring of 2023 seemed to bring along a revival of the wiki, with new editors coming in, engaging with the forum, and attempting to make suggestions on how to improve wiki organization.
March 31st, 2023:
May 27th, 2023:
July 17th, 2023:
October 2nd, 2023:
Interestingly, the only administrator seen to be interacting with these enthusiastic new editors? Gaycowboyrats. Let's put a pin in that.
Enter: the drama.
It started out simple enough- a forum posts for administrators to discuss changes that needed to be made.
November 3rd, 2023:
76 replies.
Seventy. Six. Replies. Each deeply interesting in its own way.
However, this is a Tumblr post, not an Hbomberguy video essay, so I'll keep it brief.
The discussion started out as one might expect a wiki admin discussion to start:
Mods discussed blocks, deleting stub pages, spam, etc. Standard wiki business.
The first reply to ping my interest:
Removing cast pages from a wiki about their work seemed like an odd decision, in my non-wiki-editor opinion, but the last line is what really stuck out: "Besides, I hate the idea of someone vandalizing the pages to defame them."
Several questions arose for me:
Was this a known problem? Were people constantly vandalizing cast pages?
Would a vandalized fandom wiki page really defame somebody?
Isn't the point of wiki editing to remove vandalization on articles?
The administrators began to stand out to me as deeply invested in a very specific sense of wiki justice.
Users TwoRatner, Brazil86, and TheOneTrueGod41 agreed with Honic's take.
Another thing to ping my interest: these users seemed to share a similar odd, slightly stilted, writing style. Almost Tommy Wiseau-esque.
Brazil86 expressed optimism about users engaging with wiki pages, something that would begin to set them apart from other administrators.
As I read, themes began to emerge: wiki justice, and incongruous one-liners.
Quoth Honic Washington: "I just found a wave of nonsense fish. My backyard is full of them. Hey, TOTG41, do you like jazz? I like jazz."
Truly, modern poetry.
Administrator Marth8204 suggested giving people more time. More time for what? Unclear. It seems a plan was afoot.
TwoRatner came in with a hot take: "I feel like we need a community more right now, than adding links that people can search for in the search bar."
Brazil86 agreed: Changing the navigation was less important than getting people editing and making friends.
Another theme began to emerge: wiki community as more important than wiki functionality.
Gaycowboyrats had some (incredibly reasonable) objections to this, pointing out that the wiki was a resource for many visitors who might not participate- something that is generally true of wikis as a form of content.
Honic Washington responded to this, the signs of wiki-related stress beginning to show.
Honic posts a long rant about the thankless task of moderating a wiki, which goes largely unacknowledged.
Notable TwoRatner quotes:
"You can't crack open a few omelets without punching a few egg-rolls."
"Now Freddie will get more money. What do you all say? I think I helped quite a bit."
Another theme emerges: discontent in the wiki moderator ranks.
Honic reaches full Joker mode. Again, this goes largely unacknowledged.
Honic: "I am leader. I am a painter! Keep your rules. Keep your status. Keep your friends."
"Keep your status"- words that will reverberate throughout the rest of this tale.
The final theme? Wiki moderator status, and the maintenance of it.
After Honic's bomb drop, conversation about regular wiki moderation continued, with mods considering the addition of a bot to make edits.
Admin Discussion Zone, first started by Honic Washington, ends not with a bang but with a whimper.
Over nearly a year of forum posts, patterns emerged.
Firstly- users attempting to engage in the wiki, wiki administrators not engaging with these new users, then wiki administrators bemoaning the lack of user engagement.
The notable exception was Gaycowboyrats, the only wiki administrator to engage with new users in the forums. Gaycowboyrats, the administrator whose (incredibly reasonable) suggestions ended with Honic Washington's villain-esque monologues and denouement as a moderator.
Secondly- administrators putting forth large-scale, drastic solutions to real or perceived wiki problems. This includes Cheesoid4 wanting to ban anonymous users, TwoRatner suggesting site migration, Honic deleting cast pages to prevent vandalism, and more to come.
Thirdly- wiki administrators seeming to share similar styles of speech and occasional non-sequiturs. Interestingly, this mainly seems to include the wiki administrators who agree with each other.
Funny how that happens.
Chorus
Stay tuned for Part 2, where the forum drama really starts to heat up.
