Let me explain the situation from our point of view: Wikia provides a hosting service to its users - us, the wiki editors. You provide this service at no monetary charge, in exchange for our contributions (both editorial and promotional) and the ad space. We would otherwise have to pay for this service.
We have, to this point, been satisfied with this service. Unfortunately, Wikia is apparently not making money on the service, or it no longer fits the company's business plans. It is therefore making changes to better align the services it provides with its needs. The new service Wikia has chosen to provide is simply not acceptable on a quality level to a significant proportion of your current customers. We would rather pay someone else money for hosting than use the service offered by Wikia at no charge. If Wikia does not resolve this situation to our satisfaction, then we will leave, taking our content, our communities' inward links, our established service marks, and our fellow editors with us. If you are thinking we would not take that risk, or that we would not be successful, think again. We are more than capable of organizing hosting, and most of us maintain sufficient personal control that if we choose to move, it will not be a fork - it will be a clean break. Of course, you will be able to keep your copies of the content (in most cases), but it will quickly depreciate without maintenance and the goodwill that came with it. Wikia cannot afford to recruit people to replace us - you of all should know the rarity of viable community leaders, even among a body of established wiki editors. Even if Wikia does find people willing to revive an abandoned wiki, they would be unlikely to garner support from our source communities - and all the time, we would be developing our own sites further, making Wikia merely an outdated mirror. The fact that the service would no longer be free of charge is not a significant barrier. Personally, I make a reasonable wage at my day job. Choosing to be hosted by Wikia was a cost/benefit decision, and the money required was only a part of that. There are other sources of funding, too. WikiFur has raised over a thousand dollars over the last two years without even trying: http://furry.wikia.com/wiki/WikiFur:Ledger Would that be sufficient? Probably not; but we have not yet begun to ask. Our readers appreciate the service we (the editors) provide - perhaps more than Wikia - and I'm willing to bet they would pay for recognition as the service's benefactor. The larger the site, the more likely it is that this will be the case. So. Your service is not as sticky as you imagine. You cannot do without us, nor can you force us to remain, nor do you appear to be willing to keep us under current conditions. What can be done? The only solution that I see is for Wikia to start charging its communities a reasonable amount for use of its facilities, replacing the need for any ads, skin controls, or similar creative restrictions. If Wikia can provide a useful service at what we deem to be an acceptable cost, it would be logical to pay for it. I envisage something akin to a bandwidth-linked meter - if the account runs out of credit, the wiki switches to the ad-packed, skin-locked mode for unregistered users. It may be that Wikia's cost structures are too high, and that the price that Wikia can afford will be more than we are willing to pay. This would be unfortunate, but perhaps you will attract those who appreciate the proprietary features which you have developed, or the personal assistance you offer. All we really need is reliable hosting, which is pretty much a commodity these days. Wikia might also be exercising a higher level of control to further its corporate goals, looking beyond mere profit from services rendered towards (say) greater acquisition value. If so, we may have little to discuss. We are our own communities - not Wikia's - and we have our own needs. If you do not intend to provide a service that meets them, we must seek it elsewhere. -- Laurence "GreenReaper" Parry http://greenreaper.co.uk/ - http://wikifur.com/ "Eternity lies ahead of us, and behind. Have you drunk your fill?" _______________________________________________ Wikia-l mailing list [email protected] http://lists.wikia.com/mailman/listinfo/wikia-l
