User talk:Entropy/Archive 29

May I ask why is it that you are leaving.. was it something in IRC? I really don't want to lose you --Toolbooth death 05:41, 20 December 2008 (UTC)
 * No, you may not. [[Image:Entropy Sig.jpg]] (T/C)
 * I've never contributed to Guildwiki, I don't even have an account. I just come here for the information provided, and I end up reading the discussion pages, sometimes for additional opinions about skills, sometimes out of pure boredom. Take it from someone who has no connection to anyone on this site; You're far too dramatic. 98.197.75.46 21:42, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Bye
Sorry we can't actually give you hundreds of millions of dollars, but please accept this golden parachute as a token of our appreciation for all you've done for us.



May it carry you wherever you want to go. Entrea   [Talk]  05:15, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

11 Gun salute
No more commemorations for you.--Łô√ë îğá †ħŕášħ 05:38, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * That's not thoughtful, nice, or cheesy! What kind of gift-giver are you?[[Image:Entrea Sumatae.png|Entrea Sumatae]] Entrea   [Talk]  05:41, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Why is she gone anyway? Did I miss something? Arnout aka The Emperors Angel 09:58, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * A combination of things, but as far as I know, the main trigger was suddenly finding out that she'd be unable to participate in any of our Wintersday events due to real life stuff, probably involving lack of computer/internet connection for an extended period. &mdash;Dr Ishmael [[Image:Diablo_the_chicken.gif]] 16:19, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * This, like all things (such as slow cars and gas-causing burritos), shall undoubtedly pass. Jink  16:44, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * In that case, it would probably be nice if we didn't give her a completely full talk page as a welcome-back present. --[[image:GEO-logo.png]] Jïörüjï Ðērākō.> .cнаt^  20:11, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Well not full, just short of it, I mean its nice to know you were missed isn't t it? See you when we see you Entropy Durga Dido 21:00, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Entropy's Farewell Address
You people just don't get it.

I'm gone. Forever. For permanently. I'm not coming back in two weeks. Not in a year. Not when the mythical GW2 is released. Not when Izzy balances Wounding Strike. I am never coming back.*

It wasn't because of the Wintersday decorations. I hate them. They are excessive, garish, obscure visibility, are not fully bugtested, and made many users angry. They make us look like a cheesy fansite, hardly a Wiki or proper encyclopedic reference. You can argue that it did more good than harm, that the number of pleased users is greater by five times, but I warn you that playing majoritarian politics is a dangerous road. The proper thing to do would have been to make it an opt-in process, where users can enable the decorations themselves. (Nevermind the snow, that script was buggy anyway.) But no, this was not why I left.

It wasn't because of the Wintersday events. I never wanted to participate in them from the start. I found them to be stupid and a waste of my time. But of course, being the bureaucrat and so on, it was my duty to attend and give the appearance that I cared. Apperance is everything, you know. If the very embodiment of the wiki didn't show up, what sort of event was it? No, I could have attended if I wanted to. But in the end, I asked myself: Who am I fooling? Why am I acting...what do these shenanigans achieve? Nothing. This was not why I left.

It wasn't because of anything on IRC. I am certain that everyone can attest to this.

It wasn't because of Mendel or Auron or Pling (aka R.Phalange or Brains12). I regret promoting Mendel. I made a gamble by promoting him; even though I still disliked him personally and as a user, even though I disagreed with him on some very important Wiki matters, I gave him full faith and credit and sat back to see if I could be proven wrong. I was. Though he has changed in some ways, he is still not fit for adminship, and given a choice again I would not promote him. My last justification was that Mendel was okay because he basically did more good for the Wiki than harm; I no longer believe that.

Auron could best be described as my former mentor; I learned my Wikistuff largely from him. Even before promoting Mendel, I had done certain things and neglected to do others; while one should never follow advice religiously, I was at times going against the very same principles and values which I had "come to power" on. "complete turnarounds", "gaping holes" in logic, "loss of focus"... such criticisms became increasingly common as I spent more time as Bureaucrat. Promoting Mendel was the last straw for Auron, and he left GuildWiki for good. At that point, in more ways than one...to use Auron's words, I had failed. A few other words which some of you may remember...I have done jack all to improve the Wiki. An admirable effort to keep it a float, yes, but never to make progress and move forward. This wiki is dead, and without progress to revitalize it, we rely almost entirely on GWW's failings to send users our way. That is a losing business model and no way to run a wiki.

Do you know how long I have been here? Can you begin to comprehend how many thousands of hours I have spent here over more than two years? I have poured my life and soul into GuildWiki. I have destroyed myself for this site. Do you know how many nights and days I have spent reading through all the Recent Changes? I have skipped classes and failed Calculus II - in college - just to devote more time to GuildWiki. I have gone for days without sleep, missed meals, declined social outings - even dates - to spend more time on GuildWiki.

I never wanted to be an admin. I never wanted to be a bureaucrat. I took the jobs anyway because it was my duty...how could I refuse? GuildWiki was all I had in life.

I have thrown my life away for this place, and all for what? Nothing.

I have no life in real life. That is horribly cliche, I know, but pause to consider... In all the world, I have but a single "friend". And I am loathe to call him that. I have never had a girlfriend...there have been a number of chances, but I threw them all away, for GuildWiki or indirectly because of it. Because of this, those friendships were sundered for ever. I have no "home"; I have spent so much time on GuildWiki that home is now where my laptop is. I do not relate to my family any more; GuildWiki has alienated me from them. I rely on just one person in the entire world to fulfil my emotional needs, and they are far out of my physical reach, where I need them.

You people...all of you. Everyone on GuildWiki. You have given me support and friendship for two years. But it means naught to me. I have been exchanging digital friendship for flesh and blood. A placebo for my real-life social failures. None of you, not a single one, mean a thing to me when compared to a physical person. You are all real people, or so I believe, over at the other end staring at your screens... but that changes nothing. There is room enough in my life for only one set of "people". I can no longer slavishly devote myself to this place in the vain attempt to cover for my lack of such sustenance in real life. I can not make true friends in real life as long as GuildWiki occupies that part of my life. It drags me down.

GuildWiki (and to a lesser extent, Guild Wars) has allowed me to "roleplay"...it has allowed me to be someone I'm not. Popular, a leader of men, outspoken, vicarious, powerful, responsible...and female. In real life, I am one of those known as "Transsexual / Transgender". By birth, biologically, genetically, etc., I am male. In spirit, in heart, in mind, in my image of myself, I identify as female. Don't worry, though - if you had any fears that the leader of GuildWiki was a transvestite, or gay, or even a transwoman, I can assure you that's not the case. (I predict that at this point, about half of you are laughing; a quarter are shocked; and the other quarter are disgusted. Not bad.)

Maintaining this...illusion, if you will...is something which has exacted a lot of effort on my part, largely because I detest lying to those that I respect. (Yes, I'm talking about you.) At the best this could be called a deception or falsehood. I have publicly made statements on this wiki and elsewhere that "I am a girl". As some of you may have noticed, as time went on I increasingly shied away from concrete statements and went for whiter lies, such as referring to my gender instead of my sex. No matter how you cut it, though, it was a lie I have lived by for over two years now. And while I have loved nearly every minute of it, I have finally come to realize that it is not worth the effort to "hide"; it prevents me from dealing with the issue in real life. Once again, a placebo effect, letting the digital life replace the real one.

I'm a bloody wreck. I'm an addict. GuildWiki keeps me going; it's my drug. And now I'm kicking the habit for good. I have come to realize what is real and what is not; I mean to take my life back. If we should ever meet again...some other time, some other game...don't be hurt if I don't say hello. I can not bear the shame.

~Christopher Michael Fong, a.k.a. Entropy.

P.S. I haven't quit Guild Wars itself...yet. Have you ever seen the movie, "The Bucket List"? There are still some things I want to do at least once before I leave the game.


 * Footnote: See userpage fur full offer details. Also, if Izzy ever does balance Guild Wars, then...I may just reconsider. ;)

Aww...
Well, from what you said up there, you really are addicted. Good luck kicking the habit, I hope you can make it. As for the "lies", I wouldn't worry. Does anyone seriously expect people to be telling the truth about their gender on the internet? No. In that respect, you're just one more face in the crowd, and you have a lot more claim to that face than most do. Anyway, I repeat my wishes above. Best luck in life, wherever you decide to go. Entrea   [Talk]  22:35, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * For me personally i couldn't care if you (or anyone else) was male/female/no gender, if you preffer the name Jane then i will address you as female,if your Joe i will address you as male,I'll also mess around/flirt with you if you are of a different gender then the persona I am roleplaying at that moment.Anyways, It's good that you have decided to "get a life" I know some of us can't or don't want to yet (I'm personally one of the ones that don't want to).I wish you luck with whatever you decided to do and hope you get to enjoy it.Good luck and see you in another life. Durga Dido 23:25, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

To clarify: Entropy has been blocked from posting under his own name, but the signed name is what I've known privately to be his true name.

I, too, wish you luck treading new paths in your life. I regret having been a disappointment to you. I was neither laughing, shocked nor disgusted when I first learned your true name, although it took a day or two to adjust my mental picture of you. I am happy that you took this step to end a situation that was a strain on your life, and that you have found the courage to set your life adrift in search of a new home that suits you better, even if your absence means our collective and my very personal loss. This is an end and a beginning. I wish you strength for the journey, wherever it may take you. --◄mendel► 23:38, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Whatever you do, Entropy, don't even try to pretend to be the bad guy. It'll take an awful lot of shit to undo all the good you've done for this wiki, and even for GWW. I don't mind you leaving, and I wish you luck out there. But I do mind very much that you might think in the slightest that your contributions as an editor and a person to this wiki do not amount to anything.

And if you're online sometime later (tomorrow, next week, whatever), my Ritualist is currently working on the Ebon Vanguard arc of the EotN storyline, and a last bit of the Asuran arc, and I'd be happy for a helping hand. Ritualist restoration-smiters are a ton of fun... -- Jïörüjï Ðērākō.> .cнаt^  23:54, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * He's gone and quit gws, jio. I'd like to say goodbye too, Chris. You were the last of the oldies left, from an era where GuildWiki was alive. You were the only thing holding the wiki together, and all things must come to an end. I'll miss you, and too, the rest of GuildWiki. Goodbye, Chris. &mdash;[[Image:MaySig.png]] Warw/Wick 23:58, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Hmm, missed that part. Doesn't change my offer, just makes it less likely to be taken. --[[image:GEO-logo.png]] Jïörüjï Ðērākō.> .cнаt^  23:59, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

I don't really know you personally, I've just been a sideline observer, so I wont pretend to know you. Although I will say the whole gender/sex thing doesn't shock/surprise me the least, I've always got the impression from the edits you've made that you were a guy, to be completely honest I had no idea you were trying to present yourself as female. I completely understand what you're going through with the addiction, as you call it. I've been going through pretty much the same thing for a long time, Got kicked out of school for not showing up to class because I'd been up all night playing games, reading forums, etc. And It's just now turning around for me. I sincerely hope you get your life back to the way you want it. Viruzzz 00:25, 22 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I am shocked, it is a lot to find out at this time. I see that you are very addicted to GuildWiki, I know that I am addicted to video games/the internet just as much. If you can truly kick the habit and return to your old life, good for you. Goodbye Entropy/Chris. I wish you luck... Cress Arvein [[Image:Cress sig.JPG]] 01:08, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

bleh
Well, put me in the category of "shocked". I have no bloody clue what else to say. &mdash;Dr Ishmael 00:22, 22 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ^ &mdash; Nova  [[Image:Neo-NovaSmall.jpg]] &mdash;  (contribs) 02:39, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Public Forums
GuildWiki talk:Community Portal watch that, kthxbai. --◄mendel► 02:37, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Dang
I came back to GuildWiki to see probably the most dissapointing post in my life (NO, not that Entropy's not female!), that Entropy left. Oh well, no worth trying to stop you, you have plenty good enough reasons. Anyways, I wanted to wish you a merry christmas and I hope you continue to live your life to the very fullest! (And The Bucket List was a good movie!) ;) Good luck to all your future endeavors, Entropy. I guess it's goodbye.-- (Talk) (Contr.) 04:40, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Salute
Good Luck & Have Fun Arnout aka The Emperors Angel 09:25, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

On identities over the internet
Entropy wrote: "I predict that at this point, about half of you are laughing; a quarter are shocked; and the other quarter are disgusted." That makes me a nobody.

This is the internet. When I saw stuff related to people's "personal info", I file them away as stuff those people "claim" to be. Whether those claims are true or false in Real Life does not concern me. 90% of Real-Life girls pretend to be guys on the internet just to avoid harassment, and 90% of the girls you see on the net are just guys pretending to be girls for kicks. And those are just statistics I made up, please don't actually quote them.

In general, you (people in general, not targeted at Entropy) should never give out real personal information over the internet. I don't need to know if you are over 18. And if you are under 13, I encourage you to always lie about your age on the internet until you can legally buy beer. And if everyone follows the above good advice ("never give out real personal information over the internet"), then it follows naturally that you should never trust anyone's personal information on the internet.

I will continue to refer to Entropy as a "she"/"her". If I believe everything Entropy wrote in her farewell address, then she is a transgender male who in spirit, heart, and mind identify herself as female. And out of the respect I have for her, I'll continue address her as a female in lieu with her self-identity, not with what her DNA incidentally set her to be biologically. And if I do not believe everything she wrote in her farewell address, then she has a 50/50 chance of being a female biologically and was lying about being transgender just as a parting joke or whatever. Heck, for all I know, Entropy could've belonged to a sex-less alien race trying to learn human culture through the internet!

Thus, in either case (whether to believe her farewell address or not), I see no reason to try and adjust and start referring Entropy as a male.

See also: GWW:User:PanSola.

-User:PanSola (talk to the ) 22:59, 24 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I agree, but just as a side note, it's funny (and obvious) when kids under 13 pretend to be older. &mdash; Nova  [[Image:Neo-NovaSmall.jpg]] &mdash;  (contribs) 23:10, 24 December 2008 (UTC)


 * I may or may not strongly agree with everything Pan just said, there. (there is a good chance that it's the former.)
 * But on the same subject, I don't think it hurts to share a bit of personal info; having a little personality on the internet doesn't hurt. Granted, this all depends on what you define as "personal info" (I wouldn't hand out my social security number, no matter how nicely you all asked), and everything you find out about other people does need to be taken with a grain of salt. But even so, creating your online personality in a different form then your "real" one is, in a way, a reflection of your real personality.
 * I don't see how anyone could pretend to be a reliable, intelligent, level-headed person, without actually being reliable, intelligent, and at least a little level-headed. It's much easier to pretend to be a horrible person then it is to be a nice one.
 * Just my thoughts. --[[image:GEO-logo.png]] Jïörüjï Ðērākō.> .cнаt^  00:53, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Congrats
On only failing one class. I failed four my first semester. :D 00:34, 25 December 2008 (UTC)