SmashWiki:Requests for adminship/Black Vulpine (2)

Black Vulpine (talk • contribs • edit count • RFA page)

Candidate, please summarize why you are running for adminship below.
So, it's been 7 months since I last applied. After being left with little to no support from my last application, I ended up going on a rollercoaster ride as part of my journey to figure out what went wrong. Yes, it hasn't been very long, and there was much that needed to be fixed. However, the intense amount of activity that has been generated on the wiki since Ultimate's announcement has provided me with a ton of opportunities to fix these issues.

Overall, there were six issues brought up across the board in the first RfA, with Serpent King highlighting all of them in detail. The biggest ones were my emotions and ability to manage conflicts, but allow me to go through all of them now.

Conflict moderation

Since this was the biggest problem, let's start here. Part of the problem is that I sold myself short, as I indeed already had a perfect example of me coming between two users to stop trouble, but it was also early days for me back then, and I didn't have much else to show anyway. However, I am now confident that I can handle this area effectively, as moments like this and also my posts on this talk page demonstrate. The latter example at the very least demonstrates my knowledge of conduct as an admin, and where the standard needs to be. Which brings me to...

My temperament and attitude in dealing with users

This section covers two issues from my previous RfA, the former of which was the other biggie. I now have learned to recognise when my temper is going to rise and more importantly, keep it under control during a critical moment. I know it was a problem, and even now, I have to remain conscious of it at all times. However it's precisely because of that that makes me feel better about this. I know that seems weak, but this is sort of a 'live and learn' argument. Most telling is that I went on a hiatus (albeit brief) 4 months ago, and there hasn't been a single rage-related incident from me since then.

As for my attitude, it was said that this was already on the way to improvement way back when. In general, my attitude when communicating with other users is almost always an attempt to remain friendly, even when the wrong thing has been done. My threshold on determining bad faith has also increased, to the point of assuming good faith on edits that the average user might not necessarily consider good faith.

Assuming bad faith

Shouldn't be a problem now. Before, I was deemed to be too quick to assume bad faith for some situations but since then my threshold has... wait a minute, wasn't I literally just talking about this? Let's just move along...

Decision making

Serpent King raised the issue that I might ask other admins for help more often than I probably need to be. Given what I wrote before, that's a fair point. I feel like my decision-making ability has improved since then. Not so much that I'm completely independent, but enough that I should be able to make basic decisions without asking for help.

CheckUser

SK also raised the issue (minorly) that I might use CheckUser whenever I have so much as an inkling when something is up. That's also fair. Most discussion about this has since been in the Discord, but I reasonably believe that my threshold on this has increased. A lot of the most recent incidences of me detecting sockpuppetry have been spot on, so maybe I have a sense for this or something? (God, I sound so freaking arrogant there, don't I?)

With the increase of activity on the wiki, having an effective staff is more important than ever, so for me to become an admin now, I understand that I will absolutely need to be at the top of my game here. One helping factor is that I'm usually available in the hours that other admins are not, but I do recognise that means I might be overwhelmed with all sorts of requests for help. I believe I can handle this though, especially since I have had a few people asking me for help with issues lately, some of which I've even had to turn down because I needed to be an admin to pull it off. I am sure that I've proved beyond a shadow of a doubt how strong my commitment to the wiki is, but the level of trust? That is for you to demonstrate to me. Black Vulpine of the Furry Nation. Furries make the internets go! :3 19:12, 15 July 2018 (EDT)

Support

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Oppose

1. Oppose. In my limited experience with you, you come across as very self-centered and unwilling to admit your mistakes. You tend to carry yourself as though you have the right to make the final decision anyway and I'm honestly concerned that, given the power of adminship, it could go from just giving an impression to being a legitimate problem. Most of my interactions with you have been decidedly negative in ways that no one in a position of power should act (and I'm speaking for both of us on that -- I have treated and reacted to you in ways that would be inappropriate, as well).

Secondly, I don't really see a reason why you would need adminship. The duties you are most skilled in completing don't require adminship to be done well. I don't think you've been active during any vandal strikes I've seen, so you wouldn't be a significant boon in handling them quicker. In conflict, you become very opinionated -- this is far from a negative trait, as opinionated users are very important, but it means that your best skill in conflict is to strongly defend one side of the argument, and adminship isn't necessary for that. Any user can participate in a well-reasoned debate.

In summary, you're doing just fine as a normal user and, given my concerns with your attitude, I personally don't believe we need new admins badly enough to justify promoting you. I mean no offense in any of this and I don't doubt that you could probably handle it if it were necessary, but it's far from necessary right now. TheNuttyOne 19:56, 15 July 2018 (EDT)

Alright, I do feel there are a few points you have missed. You admitted that your experience with me is limited, so there is that.

• Being self-centred and unwilling to admit mistakes is actually the complete opposite of what I've been doing as of late. I feel like I made a massive transformation in the last 7 months, although most of the changes happened in the last 4.
• You don't think I've been active during vandal strikes that you've seen. That's fair. But the key words there are 'that you have seen'. As quite a few people in the Discord will attest, there's been plenty of incidents I have been present for, that I've had to just work on rollbacking and not much else because no admins were available at the time. Remember, I'm most active when most of the wiki is asleep, so actually, as far as countering vandals goes, lack of response has been a source of frustration for me.
• It seems that every time there's an RfA, someone brings it up, and today it's you: 'We have too many admins' is a bad reason to oppose. While you bring up some other points that might be worth considering, your reasons for opposal should be solely based on your assessment of the applicant, not on the status of the wiki.

Black Vulpine of the Furry Nation. Furries make the internets go! :3 20:20, 15 July 2018 (EDT)

Neutral

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