For the past year I have, somewhat miraculously, managed to contribute at least one edit to the wiki every day. Some of these were comprehensive revisions, some were minor custodial tweaks buying time for the bigger changes, but all, I hope, advanced the wiki's purpose and integrity.
"Wiki Hero" is perhaps the most insidious user badge, the carrot dangled in front of the proverbial horse spurring it ever forward. Experience on other wikis taught me that anyone seeking the illustrious diamond must plan their moves several days in advance: lapses in memory, power outages, and assorted real-world shenanigans can and will pull the rug out, without you even realizing. It is a grueling process for anyone not terminally online: I have contorted myself in some sitcom-worthy ways to meet the deadline, and cannibalized time meant for other projects in the tug-of-war between making an edit and making it summarily sufficient. I meet today with a mix of relief and exhaustion: relief that I am now free from the blinkers of a rigid schedule, but exhaustion from the grind to get here.
I would be lying if I said this burnout is not due in part to the lack of support received from wiki staff. I had originally hoped my template work would demonstrate me an asset; instead I appear to have marked myself a burden on the leadership. Crossed swords over editorial direction is a perennial feature of any group project, but I am disheartened by the number of times clarifying questions and suggestions for site improvement (read: expanding MediaWiki:Common.css to support more versatile UI formatting) have been ignored outright, if not dismissed with prejudice. Having adminned wikis with skeleton crews, I can say from experience that "rule by decree" may be necessary, but an unwillingness to engage with non-privileged contributors in good faith does not create a welcoming impression.
The good news is, with the pressure of a daily quota out of the way, I can better concentrate my energy on the sort of articles and revisions that require prolonged research and drafting, as well as "sweeping" salvos in place of the drip-feed gradual updates that have no doubt been rankling the higher-ups. I've been deferring several plans for this purpose, and finally have the flexibility to coordinate them properly. Output will be slower, but better-organized and more comprehensive.
Fortune willing, the entirety of Civ II may be up to speed next year! :p
Solidarnosc