UDWiki:Administration/Sysop Archives/Bob Moncrief/2013-03-18 Promotion

Bob Moncrief

• Bob Moncrief (talk | contribs | UDWiki contribs | vndl data)

I'm nominating Bob. For those of you who don't know him, you really should get to know him, or at the very least look through his history here. We tried to promote him a few months back, but he declined the nomination. Since then, he's just gotten more awesome. He's easily the most helpful user currently on the wiki, and has been for a few months.

Go look through his contributions, almost all of which are high quality edits. What you'll see is that if he's not busy updating danger reports all over the city (which he does constantly), then he's busy single-handedly restarting the efforts of Project Welcome, which has resulted in his his talk page being covered by questions from wiki newbies and his helpful replies to them. If he's not busy with rejuvenating Project Welcome, then he's busy helping me (i.e. he's doing all the work) on a major project to restructure the admin archives. And if he's not busy helping me, he's busy swatting spambots like mad. Between all of that, he's become the most active contributor in the last three months, with about the same amount of useful contributions to the wiki as the four most active sysops...combined. Quality and quantity: a rare combination.

As far as drama goes, anyone who knows him can tell he's a low-drama sort of guy. Moreover, he's shown with the recent Izumi A/DE drama and the followup A/M case that he's not afraid to enter the drama with thoughtful opinions that are stated well. And even then, he'll still ask questions and be open to considering new perspectives, rather than entering the discussion with a stance and sticking to it no matter what. As a nice bonus, he's not connected to any of the cliques that have been around. He's just a model wiki user.

Good behavior like this deserves to be punished. Make him a sysop. Hell, make him a 'crat. He can have my seat. —Aichon— 23:49, 18 March 2013 (UTC)

Last time I was nominated, I declined because I could tell that I was about to enter my most work-heavy semester of undergraduate study. Turns out I was right, but that the work is finally on the downslope - I'll still be pretty busy for a couple of weeks, but by the time this gets processed, I'll be almost all done. Because of that, I'm accepting the nomination with my biggest thanks to Aichon for it. I also want to thank you, Aichon, for gathering a whole bunch of what I've been doing over the past few months on here, but I also want to mention some of the earlier projects I was involved with, namely Project Timeline and the revamp of Featured Articles. That's because they were the projects that really got me involved in the community here and in trying to improve the wiki, and, I think, set in motion the chain of events that led to this nomination.

That said, I do want to encourage you all to question me to your hearts' content. If you feel like there is anything you would want to know about me before deciding (or anything unrelated, actually), ask it. Thanks again! Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 01:18, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

I just noticed that this is supposed to be processed on April 1st. Can I ask the 'crats that it not be processed til the 2nd? This is because a) I have my last big exam of the semester on the 1st, and b) I don't want any April Fool's shenanigans going down. Thanks! Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 21:48, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Considering we can't process it until 11 minutes before the end of April 1st, it's unlikely we'll actually process it on the 1st. —Aichon— 22:02, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Perfect. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 22:04, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

• Question How is your graduation coming along? Last time, it has been the major obstacle for accepting the nomination. -- Spiderzed█ 00:03, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  I actually just handed in the full draft of my thesis yesterday, so all I have left is the revision process and a smidgen of coursework. I graduate in May, after which I'll have tons of time to dedicate to the wiki over the summer and into the fall. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 01:18, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  Very good. Follow-Up Misanthropy puts up a Permaban Appeal on Cornholioo's behalf. New user User:Heydrich shows up and makes a single edit, answering to each Against user and accusing them of being too Jewish. The IP of the user is Dutch, but doesn't match any existing user in the logs. What would be your reaction to this situation in the light of existing policy, precedent and wiki history? -- Spiderzed█ 12:30, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  I would not auto-ban the user, since there was only one edit (does not meet the 3eV rule). Because the IP does not check out, I would consider the very real possibility that someone has created an account in an attempt to discredit Cornholioo's A/DE bid, and would voice this in an A/VB case, voting not vandalism by Cornholioo but vandalism (due to racism) by Heydrich and, if agreed upon by the team at A/VB, would warn Heydrich. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 14:51, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  Follow-Up User:Heydrich responds by removing your warning from his talk page (2nd edit), leaves a threatening message on your talk page about gassing you (3rd edit) and finally votes on the A/DE vote in favour of unbanning of Cornholioo (4th edit). IP situation remains the same. Now what? -- Spiderzed█ 15:00, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  I don't think removing the warning is against the rules (if it is, I can't find it anywhere). The vote to unban Corn is technically constructive. I would leave a message on Heydrich's talk page asking him personally to stop threatening me. If he does it again, it's back to A/VB. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 15:58, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  Shit Spiderzed, that "Gassing" comment is so obscure as to border on obscene. --Rosslessness 17:31, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  Very good answers. - And Ross, I wrote gassing on purpose with two s. I guess it must have been some sort of SS fixation. -- Spiderzed█ 21:46, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  I was referring to the fact corn misspelt it as gassing once, and assumed you were testing whether the candidate recognised his specific penmanship. --Rosslessness 21:49, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  "Gassing" is a misspelling? Since when? Do you guys only use one S over there? Honest question. —Aichon— 22:05, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  It's not, but corn used several different spellings like gassing, gasing, gaz etc. --Rosslessness 22:15, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  As Corn was gone, even as Generaloberst, just as I was getting involved with the wiki, I didn't recognize any spelling as particular to him. Either way, I don't think it would matter, since it could still be someone familiar with his work trying to discredit him, as I mentioned above. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 23:53, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  WRONG - You obviously don't like what he's said and it's ever so borderline against TOU so it means you can perma him saying "got no time for this shit" then have the ops defend you in an A/M case you're obviously guilty in A ZOMBIE ANT 22:32, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  Follow-Up As you have been digging through the sys-op archives, which sys-op do you consider to be the model sys-op? And why? -- Spiderzed█ 21:46, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  This is a tough one. I'm still reading through parts of the archive, especially the earlier A/M cases, so I don't feel comfortable enough to name anyone who was gone long before I arrived. I'm tempted to say boxy, for maintaining strong neutrality and long-term gnoming, but (and this goes for Cheese and some others as well) neutrality is great if you're consistently active. I'm also tempted to say Aichon but I think I prefer him for his 'crat roles, and you specifically asked about 'sops. In terms of my personal experience, I'm most indebted to Vapor, whose friendly attitude towards a new user and encouragement to be involved was a major factor in my sticking around here. But I think I'm gonna have to say Ross, for being consistently around and making clear, effective, impartial decisions for such a long time, and also knowing when to step out and when not to. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 00:11, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

• Question. How would you, if the notion struck, stir some entertaining shit in this here mother? 00:22, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  A/DE Cornholioo. But in all seriousness, I've found the most entertainment tends to come about out of the blue, as, for example, by Izumi's recent A/DE, or SA's first demotion (which I just recently found while moving it over to the Sysop Archives). Any drama brought about from calculated action (see here) is much less entertaining. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 01:18, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  That was kind of amusing for everyone I guess.--SA 04:22, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  Follow-up question: Would you rather encourage or clamp down upon an atmosphere of mischief and anarchy that breeds events like that? 05:48, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  If I have to pick, I pick encourage. Although I would rather let the mischief-making make itself than be part of its making. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 07:02, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  Same thing happened to me, not guilty (Vouch). 21:21, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

• Question - how would you deal with the offspring of Grim's and Katthew, had it choosen to become an active trol... er, user in the wiki ? --hagnat 01:19, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  From what I can tell (and my sources are limited), Grim actually wasn't too objectionable back when he was a regular user. I know very little about Katthew, since we never overlapped, but from what I can tell most of the objections to her were after her (brief) sysophood as well. So I guess my answer is, go to the appropriate channels if necessary, and otherwise, just against on any sysop bid. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 01:35, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  Boring answer... no vounches for you :P --hagnat 01:37, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

• Vouch Model user and will likely be a model sysop. Some users I worry a little that we might actually be promoting The Overlord who would then go rogue and force us to categorize images or something. I don't get that vibe with Bob. -MHSstaff 01:23, 19 March 2013 (UTC)
• Question are you really axe, yon, or linkthewindow? (the first two i was kidding about). --User:Sexualharrison01:41, 19 March 2013

  No, no, and no. Jury's still out on Aichon though. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 02:02, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  And now this nomination is suddenly very awkward. >_> —Aichon— 02:39, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  Follow up question Have I ever killed any of your alts in game?--User:Sexualharrison12:19, 19 March 2013

  Hmmm not as far as I know. I don't pay much attention to who kills any of my alts, actually. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 14:27, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

• Vouch--User:Sexualharrison21:16, 19 March 2013
• What do you think could produce more interest in the wiki, wiki community, and/or game? --  AHLGTG THE END IS NIGH! 02:07, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  I think the most likely thing that would boost interest in the game would be the opening of another city, or the reduction in size of the one we've got, but both of those require Kevanic intervention. While it may seem like both game and wiki are losing a war of attrition, new players and new wiki members do arrive every day, so I think the best thing we can do is encourage them to stay. That's why I revamped Project Welcome - to increase retention of new wiki users.

  We've sort of fallen into a trap of not making things happen because "the wiki/game is dying." Now, when something new tries to get off the ground, there's a chorus of "but there's no point because we're dying," which leads to the thing not getting off the ground, which just reinforces the cycle. By being bold and doing things, we get people invested and excited, and that process also reinforces itself. I'd like to do what I can to create an atmosphere that makes the latter, virtuous cycle strengthen and not the former, vicious one. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 03:30, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  Okay. I'll add to that. I've figured a bit more fiction would do well to keep the interest in the wiki, though maybe not attract it. (For an old example.) --  AHLGTG THE END IS NIGH! 23:28, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  I read that as "friction" at first and thought "isn't that the one thing we don't lack around here?" Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 23:53, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

• Vouch ~ _{02:13, 19 March 2013 (UTC)}
• Strong Vouch - In case it wasn't obvious from the nomination. —Aichon— 03:18, 19 March 2013 (UTC)
• Vouch - Resigned as Shortround so that my new account could become a sysop, so obviously a vouch. :P --Yonnua Koponen ^{Talk ! Contribs} 03:33, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  Twist ending: Not only am I Yon, Axe, Aichon, Linkthewindow, Hagnat, Katthew, Izumi Orimoto, and every other wiki user, if you are reading this message, I am also you. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 04:17, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  I can confirm this. Linkthewindow  Talk  07:03, 25 April 2013 (BST)

• Prodemote the cunt.--SA 04:19, 19 March 2013 (UTC)
• Strong Against. I really like Bob and I think he's someone that improves the wiki. But since the Shortround "scandal" and Wank Hack's somewhat yet-to-be uncovered efforts to manage the same thing in the future, I don't want anyone becoming a sysop until I can verify that they are in fact a real human being dwelling in a basement, like me. Basically, that makes my ideal sysop team Boxy, Rev, maybe Karek. The rest of you are Cornholioos waiting to happen. A ZOMBIE ANT 11:35, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  I'd live in a basement if I could, but the soil composition makes basements pretty much impossible where I live. Don't be hatin'. —Aichon— 15:39, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  Women live in my basement.--Rosslessness 17:39, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  Not a particular classy joke there, mate. --Thadeous Oakley Talk 17:43, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  Shove it, Thad (it was friggin sweet) A ZOMBIE ANT 22:41, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  It's all in the game! (I'm watching The Wire right now). As far as I'm aware, it was always about avatars, not real people. --Labla 12:21, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

  Exactly. I could easily come on here with several hundred unique and titillating personalities and the community would have to judge that personality on its face, because you have no way of judging anybody by who they actually are, only the personality and actions they bring to the wiki. So what if Bob is secretly X, Y or Z? For the time being he's doing the job we want him to, so even if he is Corn pulling the wool over our eyes, my response is: "Oh fucking well, thanks for helping run this online resource for free and good luck getting banned the instant you slip back in to racist tendencies."--Yonnua Koponen ^{Talk ! Contribs} 00:11, 21 March 2013 (UTC)

  You would say that. Fact remains, shorty was a cunt act. That's the one good thing about the drama of old. It weeded out the jerks, because it's so much harder to fake a personality that is tested by fire -- boxy 14:41, 22 March 2013 (BST)

  As far as I am concerned the only reason users are returning as different accounts and becoming sysops is for the novelty and perhaps the challenge. I want users to want to be sysops, not tick off a list of novelties to accomplish before this wiki dies. A ZOMBIE ANT 08:11, 4 April 2013 (BST)

• We don't have a good history with Bobs. Not that I'm compromising my impartiality or anything. --Karek^{maps 2.0?!} 14:46, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  Bob Hammero was an excelent sysop/crat --hagnat 18:15, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  I am ashamed to say I forgot him at the time of the comment. A shame mistakes are eternal though and my shame shall forever grace the face of this promotion bid. --Karek^{maps 2.0?!} 04:45, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

• Vouch - Bob is a class act. As an addicted watcher of "recent changes" I really see how much he does. I'm a big fan. He's truly helpful and sets a great example for the kind of relationship a SysOp should have to the user base.-- 17:02, 19 March 2013 (UTC)
• Vouch questions are lame. --Rosslessness 17:31, 19 March 2013 (UTC)
• Question Do you have any other, prior, accounts on this wiki?--Thadeous Oakley Talk 17:39, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

  No. I found (and joined) UrbanDead in November of 2011, and joined the Wiki on New Years 2012. I have never created or used any other wiki account, although I have used at least one in-game alt that I do not disclose on here. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 17:45, 19 March 2013 (UTC)

• Against I think Bob would be a great sysop, but also foolish enough to be one. I do this for his own good. --_K 22:07, 19 March 2013 (UTC)
• Vouch. Few days ago I did run into him in game and posted something like this: If you can discover a better way of administrating than office-holding for your future sysops, a well-governed wiki becomes a possibility. Am I oracle? Anyway he's the exact opposite of everything I really hate (in the scope of wiki). AFAIK he is solely reposible for keeping wiki alive - exluding trash talk between old-timers he owns Recent Changes. Enough said, crown Bob! --Labla 12:01, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

  Dead walks. Trash talks. What else do you expect from a wiki about UD? -- Spiderzed█ 17:28, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

  Nothing else. That is why I support everything outside of the box... like most of Bob's activities. --Labla 18:50, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

• Strong Vouch - Countering Kirsty Cotten's vote--THE Godfather of Яesensitized, Anime Sucks ^{Yalk | W! U! WMM| CC CPFOAS LOE ZHU | Яezzens} 21:54, 20 March 2013 (UTC)
• Vouch - If he's this active while busy with his work, I can't wait to see what he'll do now that he's finished it. --^A_O^R_D^M_O^P_R^I _! ^T 19:11, 21 March 2013 (UTC)
• No, seriously - have you ever posted here under another name? Your early contribs (months of them) consist, exclusively, of danger and EMRP reports -- boxy 14:34, 22 March 2013 (BST)

  No, I never have. I joined the wiki on New Years' 2012, but school got in the way and I didn't edit again until I happened to find the DangerReport & EMRP system in March. Then that's all I participated in until I happened to notice Project Timeline on the front page in May, got involved with that, and through that got pulled into all the other sections of the wiki. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 22:45, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

  OK then, I think you should do fine -- boxy 08:15, 23 March 2013 (BST)

• Question - What's up with this? --Thadeous Oakley Talk 16:31, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

  That was me continuing the joke that Bob was a secret alt. I didn't expect anyone to actually take it seriously. —Aichon— 17:57, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

  But you're always serious being serious like all the time ever seriously. --Thadeous Oakley Talk 20:28, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

  Hey, don't blame me. You started it. —Aichon— 21:16, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

  Yeah that puzzled me a lot. I don't know if anyone's Checkusered me - I kind of assumed that Aichon had and someone happened to have attended the same school I do, or lived in the same city (in a different part of the US), but didn't want to make a big deal of it. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 22:45, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

  Okay guys. I will allay your fears about Bob being another Bob, or being someone other than Bob—all the while being at the same time Bob. I've devised a test that will subconsciously probe for other identities. Here we go.

  If I preferred the number 72, which number would you prefer?

  If you saw a Nali, would you kill it?

  If I had a grim day, what is your favourite letter?

  Is pedentic spelled correctly?

  Fill in the blanks: P_V_LU_

  Is there any tar on your van?

  Are you a zombie killer? Or a slayer?

  Is there an axe in your name? Anywhere? A hidden axe? 27 axes?

  If I made an honest mistake, would you correct it?

  Would you rather be a hero of a bar, or a room? (Or both?)

  Did Matthew measure the temperature in fahrenheit or kelvin?

  Do panthers bleed?

  What is your signature supposed to look like?

  Woot?

  Are you the Duke of Garland?

  Have you nailed your hand lately with a nailgun? Did it hurt?

  Are you bubonic?

  Do you like cheese?

  Has Link been sighted while looking through the window?

  You're not Iscariot.

  Is a rooster greater than or less than (or possibly equal to) a dragon?

  And, just to be sure: are helpful gnomes little or large?

  --  AHLGTG THE END IS NIGH! 23:22, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

  114, no, H, no it's "pedantic", _A_V__V, I don't have a van, I mostly revive them actually, no, I might note it but not correct it, a room (I think), everyone should measure in celsius, only Florida ones, Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 23:33, 22 March 2013 (UTC), Woot who?, no, no but one time I sliced up my finger with shears, no, yes especially brie, yes, no I'm not, I'm a goat in the Chinese zodiac, they are always little. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 23:33, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

  Okay guys, he checks out. --  AHLGTG THE END IS NIGH! 23:39, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

  I checkusered him when I was Shortround. the IP he uses isn't linked to any other user who has been checkusered in the entire history of UDwiki and doesn't match up to any known proxy websites.--Yonnua Koponen ^{Talk ! Contribs} 23:25, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

  If it prevents misconduct, I'll say that I am completely in favor of the information above having been released. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 23:33, 22 March 2013 (UTC)

  I doubt that even Yon is stupid enough to do that twice -- boxy 08:15, 23 March 2013 (BST)

  Or I've left the wiki and don't care any more?--Yonnua Koponen ^{Talk ! Contribs} 18:47, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

  Is this like the last time you left (in that you didn't)? 20:26, 23 March 2013 (UTC)

  Where the hell did you get an IP list of “any other user who has been checkusered in the entire history of UDwiki”? Or do you just mean that CheckUser's 2 week history didn't pull anything up, but you had to use your subscription to Hyperbole Nanosecondly or risk losing it? ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾᚨᚾᛏ 05:48, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

  No, I checked it against the archive of every user that has been checkusered in the wiki's history, something that any system operator should know about.--Yonnua Koponen ^{Talk ! Contribs} 16:11, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

  He checked over 9000! Only he didn't actually check Bob, as can be seen from those very same archives -- boxy 16:51, 24 March 2013 (BST)

  I can confirm. In fact, there's no record of anyone checkusering him at any time, though I could've sworn I checkusered him when there were questions about his identity during his last promotion bid. Maybe I didn't though. I'm not certain. —Aichon— 22:46, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

  Well, if no one's checkusered me, I give my full express permission to do so, and release the same extent of information as Yonnua did above. Bob Moncrief ^EBD•W! 02:41, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

  See, that's the only thing I figured you could have meant, but that statement was so far from being accurate I was hoping you had something better. Ah, well. ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾᚨᚾᛏ 12:29, 31 March 2013 (BST)

• Vouch - MEH --Thadeous Oakley Talk 20:28, 22 March 2013 (UTC)
• vouch. seconding sarah silverman's vouch. though i do not know bob at all, he is really really everywhere on recent changes. --Anja Arnheim 23:29, 23 March 2013 (UTC)
• Couch – Nail him to the damn wiki. Er, in a good way. ᚱᛁᚹᛖᚾᚨᚾᛏ 05:48, 24 March 2013 (UTC)
• Vouch - Bob was one of the first guys i ever met on the wiki and he helped me out,so i guess i have to vouch for him...--PayneTrain 05:54, 24 March 2013 (UTC)
• Vouch - Not sure if I'm allowed to vouch actually, but Bob's activity and actions were directly responsible for renewing my interest in both the wiki and the game. His involvement and responses to recent events give me confidence he would do a good job, and I would look forward to having him as a sysop. Boneshred The Hungry 23:01, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

After a brief discussion with Aichon, we have come to the conclusion that you clearly qualify. This bid was successful. -- Spiderzed█ 22:17, 2 April 2013 (BST)