Ottava leaves Wikipedia Options

[Coffee]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=...oldid=324205438

[everyking]

Since Ottava isn't really gone, the ArbCom should hurry up and accept the case and do something about him. Antandrus sums it up perfectly: "When not editing content, Ottava Rima is the single most disruptive, time-wasting, drama-creating, wikilawyering unsanctioned editor I have encountered in almost six years editing. Please accept this case to look closely at his conduct. There is no way to measure how much of the time of otherwise-productive Wikipedians he siphons off into his dramas."

[Eva Destruction]

Since Ottava isn't really gone, the ArbCom should hurry up and accept the case and do something about him. Antandrus sums it up perfectly: "When not editing content, Ottava Rima is the single most disruptive, time-wasting, drama-creating, wikilawyering unsanctioned editor I have encountered in almost six years editing. Please accept this case to look closely at his conduct. There is no way to measure how much of the time of otherwise-productive Wikipedians he siphons off into his dramas."

Case now open. An absolute humdinger of a piece of craziness, even by Wikipedia standards as the first post, too: "Please can Arbcom reject this case, because I think Ottava's crazy".

[everyking]

Case now open. An absolute humdinger of a piece of craziness, even by Wikipedia standards as the first post, too: "Please can Arbcom reject this case, because I think Ottava's crazy".

I remember admins used to say "Wiki is not therapy" when banning crazy people.

[Malleus]

Case now open. An absolute humdinger of a piece of craziness, even by Wikipedia standards as the first post, too: "Please can Arbcom reject this case, because I think Ottava's crazy".

I remember admins used to say "Wiki is not therapy" when banning crazy people.

Most people are certified "crazy" by a qualified psychiatrist though, not some wikipedian on a mission to improve the world's grammar.

This post has been edited by Malleus: Tue 10th November 2009, 2:18am

[Somey]

Most people are certified "crazy" by a qualified psychiatrist though, not some wikipedian on a mission to improve the world's grammar.

Nobody is suggesting he be certified in any way, Mr. Malleus - only that he be removed from the stress-inducing factor. The fact is, Fowler&fowler (T-C-L-K-R-D) is right, and some of the entries on Ottava's talk page do indicate severe WP-induced mental stress, which many of us have seen before and none of us want to see again. An immediate indefinite ban would actually be the best way to help him, whereas an ArbCom case would be the best way to make his mental state even worse.

None of this is meant to suggest that I've changed my mind about Ottava's behavior here on WR, which I still believe to have been an experiment in how far a person like him can go to annoy us here before getting his account suspended. Nevertheless, the mere fact that he would even do that at all should have been a strong indication to ArbCom and the admins that Ottava was, and is, a nervous breakdown waiting to happen. The further away he can get from Wikipedia, the better off he'll be.

[Malleus]

Most people are certified "crazy" by a qualified psychiatrist though, not some wikipedian on a mission to improve the world's grammar.

Nobody is suggesting he be certified in any way, Mr. Malleus - only that he be removed from the stress-inducing factor. The fact is, Fowler&fowler (T-C-L-K-R-D) is right, and some of the entries on Ottava's talk page do indicate severe WP-induced mental stress, which many of us have seen before and none of us want to see again. An immediate indefinite ban would actually be the best way to help him, whereas an ArbCom case would be the best way to make his mental state even worse.

None of this is meant to suggest that I've changed my mind about Ottava's behavior here on WR, which I still believe to have been an experiment in how far a person like him can go to annoy us here before getting his account suspended. Nevertheless, the mere fact that he would even do that at all should have been a strong indication to ArbCom and the admins that Ottava was, and is, a nervous breakdown waiting to happen. The further away he can get from Wikipedia, the better off he'll be.

So you're a qualified psychiatrist too. Fair enough.

[Somey]

So you're a qualified psychiatrist too. Fair enough.

I understand your reluctance to accept this, Mr. Malleus - nobody wants to believe that a mere website could cause a person that much stress. But it does happen, I've seen it happen, and Ottava is currently displaying many of the same indicators - in fact, the stage he's currently in (expressing resignation/regret over past mistakes while still defending his intentions as honorable and/or justifiable) is usually the last stage before the person either goes apeshit and starts posting a lot of crazy weirdness, or else snaps and disappears completely.

There was a case on Uncyclopedia where we were able to find out what was really going on at home with one of these guys, because his wife was posting stuff about it to another website - she didn't really understand what was happening, and in fact she thought her husband was up until 4 AM every night "working." She actually believed his job was causing him all that stress, driving him nuts, etc., when in fact it was a wiki site, and not even Wikipedia, where the stakes are much higher. I assume he eventually ended up on happy pills, and I think he may have even kept his job, but who knows - it might have ended pretty badly under just slightly different circumstances.

And Ottava, if you're reading this, forget everything I've ever said about you - none of that matters. Just get away from the damn computer for a while. Don't think that just because you're smart and know you're doing the right thing, you're immune to stress-induced psychosis. Force yourself to get some perspective - it's just not that big a deal.

[SB_Johnny]

I understand your reluctance to accept this, Mr. Malleus - nobody wants to believe that a mere website could cause a person that much stress. But it does happen, I've seen it happen...

I have too, at least twice before. I even got pretty close to the brink myself a few years back. I know there are people studying this sort of thing lately, but not sure what (if any) results are in. Online "communities" really can't be discussed as communities without scare quotes: something different and novel goes on in these relationships that we probably aren't well adapted for. Or maybe it's different with people who grow up with them. Or maybe this needs a whole new thread somewhere.

Personally, I think at least part of Ottava's problem is that he's playing one MMPORG (wikicup), while on the other hand trying to transfer his "points" to an entirely different MMPORG (wikipedia management and "society").

I don't even know what to think of it... in terms more familiar to me, he might be a great goat breeder and have wonderful things to say to the 4H kids, but he's obviously not the sort who would be at all gifted when it comes to organizing a county fair or discussing rules.

I'm also completely unsure whether I'm supposed to weigh in on the arbcom case... he made numerous attempts to drag me in on random dramas via IRC (a similar experience to Lara's, I suspect), which annoyed me to the point that I've more or less given up on IRC, which used to be a nice wind-down at the end of the day (and he was doing this on #wikiversity-en, which in theory has nothing whatsoever to do with Wikipedia and it's dramahs).