Bulbapedia celebrates fifth anniversary

Encyclopedia gains 16,000 articles, 1 million edits days before commemoration
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  • Sunday, February 14, 2010

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This editorial has been written by RexRacer. It expresses the views of the writer, not necessarily those of Bulbagarden networks.




This is an editorial by RexRacer.
About the author
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RexRacer is the editor in chief of Bulbanews, a member of Bulbapedia's editorial board, and an administrator on Bulbagarden forums.


Bulbapedia has come a long way from being the strange new community-based format for distributing Pokémon information to fans. I've interviewed the people that have been integral in the success of this site. Their experience with the formatting, rules and history of Bulbapedia is unrivaled by anyone else, and it was a pleasure learning from them.

Throughout Bulbapedia's history, the site has been the subject of much criticism, but in the end, we've pushed through and become the largest and most visited resource for Pokémon information on the Internet. Without it, it is likely that Bulbagarden would have never left the ground to join, and eventually surpass, the other great Pokémon fan sites. It's hard to believe that a wiki, with little help from staff members, could have grown to this scale, with more than 16,000 articles. We've even got new skins based off of the Erika's Garden BMGf skin now. It's because of the users, the people like you, that we are what we are today.

Thank you for that.


Interviews with Archaic, head of Bulbagarden, evkl, deputy head of Bulbagarden and former Editor in Chief of Bulbapedia, and TTEchidna, the current Bulbapedia Editor in Chief, are located below. Please be aware that slight editing has occurred in the process of bringing the information to you.


Archaic

RexRacer: At the conception, did you have any idea that Bulbapedia would become Bulbagarden's cash crop, so to speak?

Archaic: At conception, no, but that's because the conception is a lot older than most people would actually realize. When it first became a reality though....no, we never expected Bulbapedia to be anywhere near as popular as it's become, we had expected the forums to remain the central focus.

RexRacer: You say that the conception took awhile to realize. When did the first incarnation of the idea take place?


evkl

RexRacer: From what I know, you were a forums moderator at the time Bulbapedia was in the works. What possessed you to become to go-to guy for the new wiki?

evkl: Well, we--Archaic and the other top admins, at the time--were very concerned that we lacked any real competitive advantage. We wanted to put together something big. The first and biggest push was for a Pokédex, but it was hard to see how we were going to beat the other great sites. I forget exactly how we settled on a wiki, but once we sort of went towards that I really started pushing hard for it. It seemed like the best way we could separate from the pack, because nobody else was doing anything even close to it--we were the first to go "Web 2.0"

RexRacer: At the time, was Bulbagarden the "community focused" Pokemon fan site that it is today, and how did Bulbapedia change things?

TTEchidna

RexRacer: What brought you to Bulbapedia initially?

TTEchidna: The site itself? I just randomly found it, actually. I forget how. It was in the summer of 2006, though. As for why I joined and started editing? Really what I wanted to do was add stuff I knew so I could come back later and look it up. Has a side effect of helping others, but that's just a bonus. I suppose that's how any wiki works. You add what you know so you can come back and see it. And if everyone does that, you end up finding out stuff you don't know.

RexRacer: Did you ever think that you would become the leader of the place?