User talk:Espyo/2014

2014 was one of the most decisive years of Pikipedia, and the Pikmin community as a whole. If you did not notice, this was the year when Pikipedia and Pikmin Wiki finally rejoined, and deleted the stupid concept of being split apart. We had a lot of victories this year. Besides the merge, we cleaned up our front page. We cleaned up our style. We cleaned up our information. The community has all been pretty pleased with the merge, as we should be.

I can safely say I fought quite hard to get this to happen, as no doubt other members of the community did too. It was a long battle against Wikia, one that lasted years. Stress, competition, panic, lack of information, jealousy and solitude were some of the keywords of that era. It wasn't until the bold decision of the staff at Pikmin Wiki to approach me that the events that resulted in what we have today happened. After the previous battle, the community was now faced with a new threat, albeit minor – cleaning up the mistakes of the past.

You know, looking back to it, it's kind of funny. And stupid. There was only Wikia; happiness. Then, a simple act of greed resulted in discontent and a move. Such a linear set of events... And then, seemingly innocently, life grew back on Pikmin Wiki, which quickly evolved from a sprout to an entire city. Who could've foreseen this? It was obvious in hindsight – the second a new Pikmin game was to be announced, Wikia would spring back to life. But to create an actual split in the community? It was rough, but true. After both wikis were quite aware of the existence of each other, I'm sure there were feelings of both anger and sadness. The whole period was nothing short of cancerous, and there is nothing to blame but Wikia's selfish ways.

Luckily, that is all in the past. Some days, I wake up, and find it hard to grasp the concept that we are no longer a pair of stupid wikis bickering around, each with glaring and jarring flaws. I can rest easy knowing we are now together, we have a wiki that is building up to become one of the best I have ever had the fortune of seeing, and most importantly, we have a healed and healthy community. From sharing Pikmin 2 secrets to performing podcasts together, the community is nice. And I don't just mean "the group of people that were regulars at Pikmin Wiki". This whole change, although it had seemingly minor external influence, really did bring out a new ambiance on the community. Miiverse, reddit... Although irrelevant to any wiki, the sense of community just feels more strongly bound, now that we don't have two split wikis. Each sub-community can be self-contained, but in the end, a wiki is where people go to when they need some knowledge, and having two wikis, in the shape they were, was horrible.

Our struggles aren't over yet, except this time, we cannot call them "struggles", after knowing that which we faced already. More like "tasks". Yes, there is still a huge road left to travel before we reach the ideal wiki we envision. Even before then, we still have a lot of articles that need to be merged and cleaned up as a result of the merge. But one thing's for certain. Now that Pikmin Wiki on Wikia is, hopefully, a thing of the past, and now that there are news of an implied Pikmin 4, I think the future is looking very bright for the carrot-animal-plant-loving community.

It's been 9 years since "a wiki about Pikmin" became a concept... 2014 was by far one of the most incredible years of Pikipedia. Let's aim to make 2015 awesome too.

Was this sappy? Yes. Heartfelt, too. But after investing so many years of your life in a project you wholeheartedly believe in, seeing it helplessly crumble and suffer, and then seeing it heal back to life... it really leaves you feeling emotional. Now let's go out there and continue our work; we still have articles to merge, you know! Oh, and a happy new year, everybody! — {Espyo^T} 05:49, 31 December 2014 (EST)

I agree completely. I still remember 4 years ago when we were still hosted on Wikia, and here we are now. So many things have changed in those past four years. Some were good, some were bad. Some were big, some were little. But my point is: nothing is the same. Fate has sent us on this path, and this is probably only the beginning of even greater change. Will it be good? I think it will.

When the split happened, I hadn't realized what damage it had caused until Pikmin 3 was revealed in 2012. Like Espyo said, it was bad for both wikis. Two divided wikis, which couldn't achieve their potential because of Wikia. If it were not for the community reuniting and becoming one again... I shudder to think at it. That's not the case though: we have overcome Wikia, the biggest obstacle that stood in our way. If we can deal with Wikia, we can deal with anything.

To be honest, I never had thought that we would reunite. There were some hopes, but ultimately, the chance of reunification just seemed too slim... It was so, so jarring to see this rift in the community that could not be bridged. Two wikis, clashing against each other when they were never meant to be apart. If it was not for the courage of the Pikmin Wiki folk, we probably wouldn't be together right now, so I thank them for that. When the merge happened, I was so excited, but also relieved. A huge concern had lifted, and things finally took a turn for the better. I'm so happy that we are reunited. I can safely say that nothing will come in between us again. Pikipedia will be prosperous and split-free until the end of time! ...Probably.

Thanks for a wonderful 2014 everybody. Let's make 2015 just as amazing! ~PikFan23 02:56, 1 January 2015 (EST)