Wookieepedia:Requests for user rights/RFB archive/Toprawa and Ralltiir

< Wookieepedia:Requests for user rights | RFB archive
The following discussion is preserved as an archive of a request for bureaucratship that was successful. Please do not modify it.

Toprawa and Ralltiir (12 admins + 19 users/1 admin + 3 users/0)

Two week deadline from first request, voting ends 11 January 2013.

Support
  1. This is something I've thought should happen for a long time now. Toprawa has been an editor on the site since August 2007 and administrator since August 2008. In that time he has been an integral member of the article review panels, the Inquisitorius and AgriCorps, and has been a leader in those groups. As part of these panels, and by example through his own status articles, Toprawa has been one of the leaders in improving the article quality on Wookieepedia. While being a bureaucrat is mostly the addition of one or two extra buttons, I think we generally see bureaucrats as leaders on the site. Toprawa has proven to be the most prolific of Wookieepedia's leadership when it comes to guiding newer editors (and some experienced ones). He has guided and encouraged many editors to improve themselves who have later gone on to join the AgriCorps and Inquisitorius, as well as become administrators (myself included). This is evidenced by having received seven(!) Master and Apprentice awards (more than anyone else) in addition to the many other leadership awards and tokens of gratitude he has received for his work. He is regularly one of the go to people for users who need advice or help, has organised and ran the last few Mofferences (to critical acclaim ;)), and is one of our most consistent and active administrators. Once again I think this is a case of Toprawa being bureaucrat in everything but name already, so let's make it official! :) grunny@wookieepedia:~$ 23:22, December 28, 2012 (UTC)
  2. 100% support from me!--Exiled Jedi Oldrepublic crest (Greetings) 23:29, December 28, 2012 (UTC)
  3. <-Omicron(Leave a message at the BEEP!) 23:31, December 28, 2012 (UTC)
  4. Definitely deserves it. 501st dogma(talk) 23:35, December 28, 2012 (UTC)
  5. Where to start? Leader, editor, reviewer, friend, hard-worker. Those are a few of the many positive things I can say about Tope. I happen to be one of those admins Grunny mentioned that Tope trained. When I joined Wookieepedia, I was a noob that pretty much no one wanted anything to do with. However, Tope trained me on how to edit Wookieepedia, and eventually how to be an admin. Tope is probably the greatest current leader on the site. I don't know of anyone who has put more effort into Wookieepedia. He has worked tirelessly over problems; from helping someone with their article nomination objections, to settling site-wide debates that could have easily escalated into a split had Tope not intervened. He is not only a hard worker on Wookieepedia, but he is a good friend. He is willing and ready to provide assistance and help to new users, as well as established user, when needed. While he provides good leadership with the administrative part of Wookieepedia, he is not afraid to get down and do the gritty work that most people don't want to face. Tope gaining bureaucrat position isn't just him being able to say "I made it." Giving Tope BC will be a way for Wookieepedia to thank him for so much hard work he put in. It will also be a way to tell him to do more work, now that he has more buttons.... :P Tope deserves this. This pretty much sums Tope up.—Cal JediInfinite Empire (Personal Comm Channel) 23:39, December 28, 2012 (UTC)
  6. Han shoots first (talk) 23:53, December 28, 2012 (UTC)
  7. Look, no one is perfect. Heck, you should see the brain shutdown I had the other day. So I am not asking you to dwell on any flaws Toprawa might have but to focus on his many qualities. Toprawa has consistently demonstrated his passion and commitment to the site through his adminship and member of the review panels. Allowing him to become a BC will be a tremendous boon to the site. Let's make this happen. Corellian PremierJedi symbolThe Force will be with you always 23:53, December 28, 2012 (UTC)
  8. Tope is one that I feel deserves to be bureaucrat. After seeing all the hard work he has done for the wook, and all the help and assistance he has given to users that needed it, including me. He is a great leader and will do right by the wook. DarthRevan1173 Revan Headshot (Long live Lord Revan) 23:56, December 28, 2012 (UTC)
  9. From personal experience, I can say that Toprawa will be a very capable and resourceful bureaucrat, he certainly deserves it. I've seen him solve a dozen different situations, if there's a problem then he's always there watchful and willing to help solve it. If you're new and you're doing something wrong, Toprawa jumps on to help you and "guide you into the light", if necessary. Winterz (talk) 00:00, December 29, 2012 (UTC)
  10. I thought we had already made him a bureaucrat. Guess we should fix that. -- SFH (talk) 00:05, December 29, 2012 (UTC)
  11. Not a lot more to be said. Kudos. Cade Calrayn GalacticRepublicEmblem-Traced-TORkit 00:18, December 29, 2012 (UTC)
  12. Make that eight Master and Apprentice awards. —MJ— Council Chambers 01:09, December 29, 2012 (UTC)
  13. CUE THE WEATHERSCAN! IFYLOFD (Floyd's crib) 03:11, December 29, 2012 (UTC)
  14. What they said. Tope is more than qualified for the job. Grand Moff Tranner Imperial Department of Military Research (Comlink) 03:38, December 29, 2012 (UTC)
  15. Basically every current administrator or BC here are leaders because they have earned the right to be an admin or a higher up. Tope is a part of that category obviously, although he does strike me differently since I have known him for a few good years now. He is practically the only admin that I actively talk to here, thanks to the many IRC channels, and on a personal level I like the dude. (He also reintroduced me to the great, the legend game: Star Wars: Rebellion) Besides earning much deserved Wookiee leadership awards from many users, Tope also received a hand-full of Master-Apprentice awards from users. Those two alone could see how great Tope is and how much he likes to help others on the Wook. Sadly, since I did not go to him a lot when I was a noob, I did not give him the latter award. However, I might need to rethink that since he continuously helps me when I have a question, and even gives out interesting advice whenever he sees a comment on an IRC channel. And not to mention, I do see him as a mentor and respectful leader here. Here's to you Tope, Awarpot, Lord Darth Burger, Jedi Dreadlocks, Ahsoka_in_a_cage, ect. You definitely earned this man. As for commenting about our friend Ralltiir, maybe some other time. Btw, here's your nomination image. :P JangFett (Talk) 04:21, December 29, 2012 (UTC)
  16. A really nice guy, and extremely deserving of becoming a bureaucrat. Tope will do well, indeed.—Jedi Kasra ("Indeed.") 05:35, December 29, 2012 (UTC)
  17. Makes perfect sense, per Grunny. (: – Tm_T@Wookieepedia:~$ 09:46, December 29, 2012 (UTC)
  18. Per Jedi Kasra. Nahdar Vebb (talk) 17:46, December 29, 2012 (UTC)
  19. Definately deserves this. You have my support. ####—Unsigned comment by Supreme Emperor (talk • contribs)
  20. I talk to Tope far more than I talk to any other Wookieepedian. We have become pretty close friends over the past semester, and I can tell you that no one cares about this site more. I don't even care to count how many times our conversations turn from fun and jokes to serious Wook business in a matter of seconds. They say that a true sign of knowing something is being able to teach it, and no one can teach new editors quite like Tope. I remember when I first started my music noms way back when. Almost every night Tope would stay up with me on IRC and we would knock those babies out one little objection at a time, and all these noms later, he's still the first person I go to for help. The number of awards on his userpage is proof I am not the only one who feels this way, and the huge support here only backs it up further. But there are more qualities that qualify Tope. He is beyond negotiable. Often times we'll be chatting off-site, and he'll bring up his frustrations with another user (we all need someone to vent to :)), but he is sure that every time something comes up, his frustrations are held at bay and the situation is handled with class, tact, and professionalism. Another trait Tope has is humility. When he first told me about this nomination, he said he would be a nervous wreck until it was decided. I was quick to inform him that the support would be huge, but he refused to assume anything, which goes to show he realizes his faults. And though I could go on for much, much longer, I'll end with this last characteristic. Tope is determined to improve. I remember the days he would get upset and blow up on me, cursing and accusing and such. Those days are long gone. He is one of the most level-headed, civil, professional users on this site now, and things would surely be much less stable without his involvement. So, in closing, I'll say this. Tope, you are a model Wookieepedian, and every new user would be wise to model themselves after your example. You are not only a great user, but you are a great friend. Heck, every day we don't talk is honestly rather long and dull. XD I can't imagine anyone more qualified. May God bless you in all your endeavors, and may your days on Wookieepedia continue for as long as I'm here, because I don't want to see the site without your help. :) MasterFredCommerce Guild(Whatever) 19:23, December 29, 2012 (UTC)
  21. <Insert motivational speech espousing all of Tope's virtues here> - Cavalier OneFarStar(Squadron channel) 19:37, December 29, 2012 (UTC)
  22. Tope has come a long way from being that guy with a weird name who showed up out of nowhere a few years ago. He's more diplomatic than I am now, and I know for a fact that he can handle the dirty work of being a bureaucrat. It's true that bureaucrats don't have any more authority than anyone else, but people still look to them as if they do, and giving Tope that little extra gravitas will only make him even more of an asset to the team. And some of the arguments against just seem silly to me. He gets involved in arguments. Well damn, we better get rid of all the admins and bureaucrats who are human. Nuku-Nuku, you're in charge now. We have enough bureaucrats. That's like the Empire saying "oh, we have enough Star Destroyers," or Disney saying "oh, we have enough money." "Enough" is just a silly word. Let's just give Tope these nice new buttons already. -- Darth Culator (Talk) 20:25, December 29, 2012 (UTC)
  23. Really, everything I could have said has been said. Tope cares about the Wook, and he spends a lot of time here. He's a good leader and certainly someone who can be counted on. More than anything, he is dedicated to the site, and he can help improve it. Chack Jadson (Talk) 19:23, December 30, 2012 (UTC)
  24. Though I have departed from editing Wookieepedia, I still check the wiki for any questions I have. When Tope mentioned to me that he was being nominated for this achievement and status, I was quite thrilled. For those that don't know me, I started a few years back and I was a quite lost, for lack of better words, a "noob". But, through his unique mixture of harsh sarcasm and jokes I made a friend in Tope. What started as constructive criticism in how I was incorrectly editing an article became a friendship and in him I found a mentor. Whenever I was lost, or didn't know how to fix an article to meet the standards, I knew I could go to him and receive the answer along with some form of humor. Sure, he can be harsh sometimes, but that is what every leadership group needs. Someone with a backbone, that is okay with banning those annoying spammers and no-gooders in this world of articles. Don't get me wrong, I am sure those in this leadership group have a backbone, but that is not the point. Toprawa is a great mentor and friend and I would be more the happier to see him add this accomplishment to his list of outstanding achievements. It is through his great dedication that I became so thrilled by the possibilities of editing in the world of Wookieepedia. I think that this group could really use him. And to boot, Darth Culator makes some really good points. Heck, we better start making more bots like Nuku-Nuku. --DarthRageLeave a message after the beep 02:32, December 31, 2012 (UTC)
  25. I edited the site briefly in 2009, and from what I remember Tope was doing all the things then he's still doing now. When he reviews some of my articles I often make a few mistakes when adressing his objections, and he's never been frustrated or angry when I haven't quite understood what he's wanting me to do, which I really appreciate. In short, he should be a beauracrat. Commander Code-8 To say hi, press 42 03:35, December 31, 2012 (UTC)
  26. Ever since I actively started editing the site, Tope has been someone who has always supported me and assisted me if I asked. I can't think of a single time when Tope has been even slightly hostile to me. He might a bit emotionally involved like Menk said below, however I don't think this problem is nearly enough for me to even consider voting other than in favor of the RFB. Tope is an immense resources to the site — there's no way anyone could deny this — and he's been doing the same thing for years on end already. Tope is always there for the site and the userbase, selflessly doing his very best to make this community the best I've ever been a part of. He's helped me become the editor I am today, and I really appreciate it. I'm not going to list the awards given to him, since others have done that already (:P), but wherever on the site you look, Tope has been there. He puts an enormous amount of time into the site like Grunny's stats display, and I can't possibly think of any other administrator on the site who deserves the bureaucrat status more than Tope. To be frank, I find it a mockery of the RFB, the site, and the nominee, to come back from an extended absence simply to oppose without any reason at all. While we might have enough bureaucrats on the site to handle the promotion of successful RFUs, I don't see the harm in adding another diligent administrator to the list of bureaucrats. 1358 (Talk) 10:40, December 31, 2012 (UTC)
  27. Not much more needs to be said, in my opinion. I may mostly lurk nowadays, but I am still aware of what goes on. Toprawa is more than qualified and more than able. If there were voting on who should or should not be a bureaucrat, he would be near the top of that short list. I do think that there does come a point where 'too many bureaucrats' can happen and would be a problem. I do not believe that adding one more brings us anywhere near that breakpoint. We have the opportunity to put someone in that role who not only has shown the ability to do it well, but is worthy of the (slightly increased) responsibility. — Fiolli; 14:51, January 2, 2013 (UTC)
  28. A good friend and someone who has gone out of the way to personally help me and other users. Other commendations are statements that have already been made by the many others above me. Hanzo Hasashi (talk) 02:57, January 3, 2013 (UTC)
  29. Not much left to be said. Tope's been helpful to me and many others and he knows the workings of this place inside and out. As far as I'm concerned, he proved himself worthy quite some time ago. Jonjedigrandmaster (Talk) 19:15, January 4, 2013 (UTC)
  30. I've had the opportunity to get to know Toprawa over the years, not only as a friend but as a professional who does his job, over and over again, with a thoroughness that's hard to find. All admins have to be firm about enforcing policy at some point or another, and recently, he has demonstrated his ability to be levelheaded when the situation requires it and strict at other times. He is a role model, and he's shown that he is capable of being trusted not only with bureaucrat privileges, but also with the responsibility that comes with them, of setting a good example for others. He will make a valuable asset to the current bureaucrat team, and I'm happy to give him my vote. CC7567 (talk) 22:02, January 4, 2013 (UTC)
  31. I can think of no other Wookieepedian who has displayed equal if not more dedication to this site except for Toprawa. He and I have worked together for many years, through much bad and much more good, and one thing has been constant throughout: our purest desire for what is best for Wookieepedia. Regardless of whatever personal opinions may exist, his committment cannot be denied or disputed. And I dare someone to do so. As has been said about myself, Toprawa has lived, breathed, sweated and bled Wookieepedia for the duration. There are only several of us still around who can lay claim to such perserverance. And in a situation where I am currently unable to be considered as the public face of Wookieepeida, I can think of no other candidate who is more ready, willing and able to be just that. My votes of confidence do not come lightly; this one is well-earned. Make us proud, homeboy.—Tommy 9281 Wednesday, January 9, 2013, 01:25 UTC
Oppose
  1. I think Tope is a good administrator. I don't think he would make a good bureaucrat, however. The most essential quality for a bureaucrat to possess is the ability to be detached from any conflicts that arise on the site, and by his own admission, Tope often gets emotionally involved in conflicts. I've seen that involvement escalate to bullying and even personal attacks more than a few times in the past. Not to take anything away from his adminship abilities, but being a bureacrat is more than just the next step up from adminship. Menkooroo (talk) 13:39, December 29, 2012 (UTC)
    • I generally don't comment on user votes, but as I've seen this argument from one or two users on other BC noms in the past, I figure I'll just give my two cents. :) I've never found being detached to be an essential quality in a bureaucrat, though obviously just like adminship, people can have different criteria for how they judge where to vote. Bureaucrats on Wookieepedia have no more say in discussions than any other administrator or user, their votes count the same. They have no more say in disputes either and any user or administrator can help mediate a dispute. Nor do they get to determine consensus as they do on Wikipedia where they can judge the overall validity of arguments, since we only determine consensus by number of votes. In situations where any admin is involved in a dispute that is serious enough, the mediator should generally be a third party who is uninvolved, which is really the only time you are truly detached from an issue. If you're always detached, most often that's a sign of not caring enough or not being aware enough of what's going on at any given time. Tope is someone who really cares about Wookieepedia, and I think that's certainly a quality to look for in a BC, not a detriment. I think of bureaucrats as needing to be leaders among both users and other admins, and be reliable. Our current BC team have all been around for a long time, and even during periods of relatively low editing activity due to external commitments (at least speaking for myself) check the site daily. This reliability in addition to leadership above and beyond in various areas of the site are the essential qualities of a BC in my opinion. Once again, this is just my two cents. :) Cheers, grunny@wookieepedia:~$ 15:39, December 29, 2012 (UTC)
  2. I just don't see the point. We've already got four bureaucrats, and more than enough active admins. I don't see any reason for this. — DigiFluid(Whine here) 19:55, December 29, 2012 (UTC)
  3. StarNeptuneTalk to me! 19:32, December 30, 2012 (UTC)
  4. I'd rather not see Toprawa as a bureaucrat. From my observation, he does not meet requirement 4 of having "dealings with other users on a regular basis in a fair, restrained, and constructive manner". --Eyrezer (talk) 00:27, January 9, 2013 (UTC)
Neutral
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