Wookieepedia:Requests for removal of user rights/Archive/Sentry

The following discussion is preserved as an archive of a request for removal of user rights that resulted in vote ended as adminship removed per user request. Please do not modify it.

[edit] Sentry (3 admins + 4 users/5 admins + 2 user/0)

[edit] Support

1. Ozzel 19:35, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
2. He's resigned. Best to follow it up technically. Havac 19:37, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
3. No hard feelings Ozzel. I'm not sure this is necessary, but it might as well happen. As for not leaving, I have left for all intents and purposes. I am just cleaning up some of my old projects during my free time.–Sentry^Talk 20:11, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
4. Since Sentry says he wants them removed. -- I need a name (Complain here) 22:02, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
5. Per Sentry. -LtNOWIS 23:17, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
6. Only if he supports it. Chack Jadson 13:56, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
7. Honestly. If you "plan" on "leaving" (how long have you been planning anyway? Since that idiotic flounce posted in maybe February?) then you need to step down. Since Sentry has so far not done that, this vote is needed. --Redemption^Talk 14:12, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Oppose

1. Ok i know this is the first time we have done this, but I feel this measure should be used only as a last resort. Somehow I get the feeling that if we had discussed Sentry's situation with him, he probably would have been happy to officially stand down. Instead, we have started this vote which kind of makes the whole thing a bigger deal than it really is, and also a little embarrassing for both Sentry and Wookieepedia. --Azizlight 23:11, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
2. Per Aziz- this was totally not the right way to go about doing this. Atarumaster88 05:33, 5 May 2007 (UTC)
3. I agree --Jedimca0 ^{(Do or Do Not, There is No Try)} 13:56, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
4. Per Azizlight. Green Tentacle ^(Talk) 13:56, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
5. Agreed. —Grand Admiral J. Nebulax ^{(Imperial Holovision) (Record of Imperial Service)} 14:05, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
6. SFH 16:38, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
7. Simply because this vote to remove Sentry's adminship is an abuse of this process. This process is for removing admins who abuse their powers, and Sentry did not do that. If Sentry wants to resign, he could get in touch with a Wikia staffer to desysop him. Don't hold this vote that's embarrassing for all involved. StarNeptune^{Talk to me!} 17:52, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Neutral

• If he wants his powers removed, that's one thing, but as long as he's still lurking in the shadows somewhere, I see no justification for removal of power. Atarumaster88 20:43, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
• We probably should have asked Sentry if he wanted to officially stand down before it came to a vote like this. --Azizlight 22:55, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
  • Well, he already did resign. This is just a vote for removal of sysop rights. -- Ozzel 06:19, 5 May 2007 (UTC)
    • The first sentence of this page begins with "An extreme measure against administrators and bureaucrats...". I don't see how an extreme measure is required after someone has already resigned. Not only is it overkill, but this vote makes it an extrememly negative and somewhat embarassing way for Sentry to leave Wookieepedia. I think the best thing to do here is to ask the Wikia staff to have the rights removed, delete this vote, and do not archive it.--Azizlight 13:52, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Comments

It is with much regret that I do this, but I feel that Sentry should no longer be an administrator of Wookieepedia. Sentry was once a user whom I admired and respected, but as you probably know, several months ago he expressed his personal views about the way the site was going and announced that he was leaving (although, despite this, he is still here).

I don't necessarily feel that Sentry has abused his admin powers. The only way the rules here might apply would be if someone felt he has "engaged in behavior that has damaged the image of the Wookieepedia community" in the way he has put down the way this site is run. I don't feel that his comments alone are serious enough for removal of adminship, and de-adminship just for speaking out could set a dangerous precedent. But Sentry has already resigned his position verbally (or written, or whatever the right word may be), so his sysop position is purely technical at this point. I feel that if Sentry is indeed leaving (as he said he was long ago) and if he does indeed no longer care for this site (which he has made clear), then his having adminship no longer serves any purpose. Though there are differing views, I think that the "Find admin" link on this site serves to help users when they need the help of an admin. Listing users there who are no longer active, and especially those who have said they have left for good, seems rather pointless.

So I hope I am bringing this up for the right reasons, and not out of revenge or for punishing Sentry for being a voice of dissent. I realize that this situation barely even falls under the rules for this as of yet unused process. I simply feel that if an admin has left the site permanently, them retaining their adminship is pointless and counterproductive. -- Ozzel 19:35, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

• I think that I should note that I never intended for the message on my user page to be some sort of rallying cry for the oppressed or a political manifesto. I was not at all interested in making a POINT or in changing anyone's mind. I was merely trying to explain why an administrator in good standing, an administrator who received more unanimous votes for his nomination that anyone in the wiki's history, would suddenly decide to leave. I figured that providing a complete explanation was more polite than simply vanishing like some other Sysops have done. Maybe I was wrong.
  Some people seem to have taken the message personally for one reason or another, but I am afraid that there is little I can say to address that as I very carefully spoke in generalities. By the way some users act, it almost feels like I have chosen to leave a cult. I can't honestly say that I understand why I should become a figure of infamy for the terrible crime of leaving a volunteer position which I never abused in the slightest, but I can't say it really bothers me either. Once again, my purpose was to explain and not to offend. I left for a number of complex reasons and none of them were interpersonal in nature. Mostly I was tired of Star Wars, bored with the mundane maintenance and administrative chores I found myself doing all the time, and sick to death of all the politicking going on. I have always loathed politics.
  Lastly, I do think that there is a growing irrational fear of dissent around here and I find it very disturbing. When I first joined this wiki almost a year and a half ago, I was pleasantly surprised by the diversity and general amiability of the administration, but things soon began to change. Too often, major changes to the interface or the structure of the site would occur without any sort of community oversight and it bothered me. More and more often, I would find myself having to log into IRC just to figure out what was going on. I personally think consensus is a flawed process, but since we claim to make our decisions based on it, it should not be disregarded whenever it is convenient. Finally, the role of administrator gradually changed to such a degree that I no longer wanted to be a part of it.
  I voted for the removal of my Sysop powers above, not because I agree that I have ever done anything to deserve their removal, but merely because I don't need them anymore. I completed everything that I intended to do which would require the admin toolset (with the possible exception of reworking MediaWiki:Noarticletext).–Sentry^Talk 21:58, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
  • I understand. I just think we were just all taken aback with your sudden decision and sometimes wonder "if he left, why is he still here?". But if there are things you still want to finish, then that's fine. I don't want this vote to be taken the wrong way. There are other admins who are inactive; some say we should de-admin them, some say they might come back. But since you've resigned anyway, I just thought it best to make it official. -- Ozzel 06:19, 5 May 2007 (UTC)
    • The only reason that I have made some edits, now and then, since my resignation is that I knew myself to be one of the very few users who have the technical skill required to fix certain pages (such as Wookieepedia:Templates) which had gotten seriously screwed up since I left. Also, as I noted on my user page earlier, I hate to leave projects unfinished. I had a number of half-finished items on my to-do list when I resigned which I wanted to complete when I had the time. I have now finished almost everything that I intended to do, so most likely this will be my final edit on the wiki.–Sentry^Talk 20:08, 5 May 2007 (UTC)
• So, let me ask - if Sentry is officially resigning (what a shame... he was a really capable tech specialist and contributor), why are we even having a vote? Why doesn't he just request a staff member to desysop him, like Jaymach? - Sikon 17:04, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
  • Well, I suppose we're having the vote because he hasn't requested to be desysopped. Nothing against Sentry -- I really appreciate his finishing up his work -- but if you've resigned, you've resigned. And since it's been quite a while and he's still got powah, I think the question of "Why does he still have powah?" is a valid one, though it could have been brought up through better channels. Havac 19:21, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
    • Alright, I just had myself de-sysopped [1]. I would have done it months ago but I was unsure of the procedure and the Wikia staff did not seem at all interested in taking action.–Sentry^Talk 21:45, 6 May 2007 (UTC)
• Well, that…that pretty much…Okay, how exactly do we end one of these? -- SFH 22:25, 6 May 2007 (UTC)