Interview with The Dark Wizard

The Sandman submitted a new Article:

Interview with The Dark Wizard

The Dark Wizard is Max, the man behind RpNation and VelocityIO.

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Can you give us a brief bio?

Hey, My name is Max and I used to be a web design student before I gave up on that and switched to a combination of Computer Science & Business Administration. I love Video Games, Roleplaying, Reading books and most of all watching the install process of a brand new XF forum.


What is your educational background?

I'm well on my way to my masters in Computer Science and one in Business Administration


What's the significance of your username "The Dark Wizard"?

Most people know me by Wizard or my real name which is Max. My username came to be from when I was about 12 and played my first game of Dungeons and Dragons and made a Wizard. Now that I think back on it, it is slightly embarrassing but everyone knows me as such. Might attempt to change to my real name in the future.


What do you consider as your accomplishments up to this point?

VelocityIO.com and its amazing customer base that keeps growing & RpNation.com. There are a few other sites that I've helped over the years but I'm not allowed to discuss with out their written permission.


Any failures you'd care to tell us about?

Wikis, I failed drastically at a major wiki project and then attempted it again and once again failed.


What is your fulltime job?

VelocityIO.com and my studies.


What other projects and/or ventures are you involved in?

I've been involved in many projects over the years as I originally started to gain a reputation on the online forum scene by advising and assisting various communities. I've done things from pets to cars to roleplaying all the way to video games. I think my most favorite however was Warcraft 3 related(when it comes to not being a site that I own).


What is your ultimate professional goal, your dream job?

For VelocityIO to continue to grow and become big in the industry as well as owning/participating/administrating my dream forum/site.


Describe your typical workday schedule.

VelocityIO support opens at 9 am for non emergencies and I stay on the clock until midnight my time. Emergencies are 24/7 and to help with all the customer requests, we consist of a team of 4 (including my self).


How did the RPNation come about?

RpNation was a site I used to help and advise for a long time...

Read more about this article here...

 

[Digital Doctor]

Wikis, I failed drastically at a major wiki project and then attempted it again and once again failed.

What wiki software did you use ?
Any hints as to why the wikis didn't work out

 

[The Dark Wizard]

What wiki software did you use ?
Any hints as to why the wikis didn't work out

I've used MediaWiki and then Vaultwiki.

Basically the issue was that and I'll admit to this but basically I came in with the wrong mindset.

"I've never failed at a forum project before, how hard can a wiki be?"

Well the answer was really hard. Most forum admins are used to an envirnment where they are in control. Wikis are usually made for large amounts of information and its upkeep and not much discussion. This means you have to have editors, writers, and an environment where anyone can edit it any thing(with limitations of course) like wikipedia. Not everyone is ready for that kind of envirnment. I then tried it later on RpNation with VaultWiki and another site and I still couldn't get that kind of envirnment to kick off.

Ultimately I learned a few things:

A). Either have a wiki or a forum. Its insanely hard to do both, whether its intergrated or not. Just requires too many humans to manage.

B). Wikis are not a way to retain regular discussion and traffic, its meant to be an amazing resource for the internet.

I do still plan to attempt some things in the future but to organize and collect existing information and articles from sites, nothing from scratch.

 

[Digital Doctor]

A). Either have a wiki or a forum. Its insanely hard to do both, whether its integrated or not. Just requires too many humans to manage.

I hope that's not true.
I've still never seen a good Wiki/Forum combo.
The best wiki/forum combo has the right integration.

B). Wikis are not a way to retain regular discussion and traffic, its meant to be an amazing resource for the internet.

Especially Mediawiki.
Unfortunately, Vaultwiki was designed with Mediawiki in mind. Like a Mediawiki for Forums. To me, that's the wrong role model.

Well the answer was really hard. Most forum admins are used to an environment here they are in control. Wikis are usually made for large amounts of information and its upkeep and not much discussion. This means you have to have editors, writers, and an environment where anyone can edit it any thing(with limitations of course) like Wikipedia. Not everyone is ready for that kind of environment. I then tried it later on RpNation with VaultWiki and another site and I still couldn't get that kind of environment to kick off.

Good points