User:JFletcher: Difference between revisions

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'''Due to disaffection with wiki management in recent times combined with loss of interest in GTA, I have made the difficult decision to leave Grand Theft Wiki. Any questions should be forwarded to another member of [[staff]]. Thanks to Gerard, A-Dust, and the other staff.'''
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Hi fellow GTA fans,
Hi fellow GTA fans and wiki editors!
 
My name is James Fletcher, and I live close to Liverpool (near Sydney), New South Wales, [[Australia]].
 
I am a long-time user of the [[PlayStation|PlayStation series of consoles]], and one of my favourite video game series' is the [[Grand Theft Auto|Grand Theft Auto series]].
 
When I was a kid, I wanted a game where I was given a city and a protagonist to do whatever I wanted. I found this in [[Grand Theft Auto III|GTA III]].
 
Since then, I have owned and played many other GTA games. While I still love the sandbox aspect of gameplay, I now enjoy the storylines just as much.
 
The GTA games that I have played most extensively are [[Grand Theft Auto: Vice City|GTA Vice City]] and [[Grand Theft Auto IV|GTA IV]]. I have also played all of the other [[GTA III Era|GTA III era]] games that were released on [[PlayStation 2]].
 
I have also played [[Grand Theft Auto 1|GTA 1]] and [[Grand Theft Auto 2|GTA 2]] for PC. I am yet to play [[Grand Theft Auto Advance|GTA Advance]], or any of the [[GTA London|London expansion packs for GTA 1]].
 
I have completed both the ''Deal'' and ''Revenge'' [[Endings in GTA IV|endings]] of the [[Plot in GTA IV|storyline]] of GTA IV twice, the second time without [[Cheats in GTA IV|cheats]]. I primarily chose the Revenge ending and just played the Deal ending to see what happened. I preferred the Revenge ending. After completing the Revenge ending I simply saved on another file so that I could go back and complete the Deal ending without replaying the entire game. I have also received [[Completion in GTA IV|100% completion]] in my no cheats save game. This makes GTA IV the only GTA game in which I have achieved 100%.


I'm James Fletcher and I live in Liverpool (near Sydney), NSW, Australia.
I have also played [[Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars|GTA Chinatown Wars]] once through the storyline on my [[iPhone]]. I have not played either of the [[GTA IV Episodes|episodes of GTA IV]], and at this point, it seems unlikely that I will. I had wanted to, in order to fill in the missing pieces of the storyline - But the long-term exclusivity for the [[Xbox 360]], coupled with personal circumstances, prevented me from playing them when they were new. Now these games simply aren't my priority.


I am a fan of the PlayStation series of consoles and my favourite video game series is Grand Theft Auto.
I was, a while back, eagerly awaiting GTA V. However, I started to lose interest several months before release. GTA V releases only about two months before the [[PlayStation 4]], which I intend to be an early adopter of. I see the new generation as a chance to start fresh, as I have missed so many key games this generation due to personal circumstances. Now that has changed, so I want this new generation to be completely different, right from the start. Once I have my PS4, I don't want to be swapping consoles in and out. I would also feel pretty weird playing my PS3 after spending so much money on the PS4, not to mention having to use the old controller... =P With work and other commitments, I don't think I can experience an entire Grand Theft Auto game in two months, especially considering the scale of GTA V, and that's why I started to lose interest. There will be other games to play. I will consider buying GTA V if there is a PS4 port later, but any true next-gen game that I want to play will always take priority over a port.


A few years ago I wanted a game where I was given a city and a person to do whatever I wanted. I found this in GTA III. From that day on I became the "Biggest GTA Fan Ever".
My favourite GTA [[protagonist]] is [[Niko Bellic]], followed by [[Huang Lee]] (despite not even having a voice, I like his personality]]). Some of my other favourite characters include [[Roman Bellic]], [[Francis McReary]] and [[Wade Heston]].


Since then I have owned every GTA game on a PlayStation console. While I still like the Do What You Want thing, I now like the story lines a lot more.
I discovered [[Main Page|Grand Theft Wiki]] in July 2008, when I was searching the Internet for a source of information on the [[Wanted Level in GTA IV|wanted level system of GTA IV]], as I noticed that it was very different to that of the past. I then decided to help make this wiki the largest GTA resource on the web. I have used this wiki to get a lot of information, and have added a lot as well. I initially had no intention to stay a part of this wiki, but was convinced by the friendly users here that this wiki was a fun environment. The fact that I initially had no intention to stay explained my original username, ''Biggest gta fan ever''. I just put in the first thing that came to my head, giving no consideration for the future. I had since tried to have my username changed to something more personal, but Wikia staff wouldn't change it, saying that only specific circumstances qualify for a username change. I eventually got my username changed after Grand Theft Wiki [[Grand Theft Wiki:Move from Wikia|moved away from Wikia]].


I like to consider myself an expert on GTA Vice City, but I can also help with the rest of the GTA III era games as I have played them all.
I used to help [[wp:Main Page|Wikipedia]], but don't any more. When I first started on GTW, I noticed that the people here were much friendlier, and I enjoyed it here. The general idea on this wiki is to encourage the placement of information into pages, so then we can fix it up later - Something is better than nothing. This is always my approach with new users, but in more recent times, however, I have realised that not all experienced users and [[staff]] agree with this notion.


I have played GTA and GTA2. I am yet to play GTA Advance, or any of the London's.
My first GTW friend was [[User:Eganio|Eganio]]. Ironically that friendship started with him correcting my edits. He explained what I did wrong and we became friends (like I said earlier, the people here were much friendlier than Wikipedia). He taught me the power of actually reading and adding to talk pages.


I have recently completed both the "Deal" and "Revenge" endings of the storyline of GTA IV for the second time (this time without cheats). I primarily chose the "Revenge" storyline and just played the "Deal" storyline to see what happened. I preferred the "Revenge". After completing the "Revenge" I simply saved on another file so that I could go back and complete the "Deal". I am going to go for the 100%
I became an [[Administrator]] of Grand Theft Wiki in October 2008. When I got the email that [[User:Gboyers|Gboyers]] had edited my [[User talk:JFletcher|talk page]], I had no idea what he was going to say, and the last thing that I thought he was going to say was that I had been promoted. In fact, I was busy and hadn't been on the wiki for three days when I read that email. I however ''did'' know that it was something good, as he had also added me as a friend. Confusing me further was the fact that someone had edited my userpage (I didn't yet know who it was). I later found out that it was Gboyers, adding the {{template|Admin}} template. When I reached my talk page, before I knew that it was about a promotion, my Internet was acting slow, so the extra tools at the top of the page didn't show up straight away, meaning that I didn't notice anything until ''after'' I read the message. Sometimes I wonder if Gboyers regretted the decision to promote me, purely because of the amount of time that I spent asking him stupid questions after that =P.


I would like to be able to consider myself a good resource for GTA IV information and eventually become an expert.
In April 2010, I along with all of the other Administrators, was given the opportunity to be promoted to [[Manager]]. This surprised me, as I was at the time on a very long wiki break, and assumed that I had been forgotten. I was [[Community:Promotion/Biggest gta fan ever|promoted]] to Manager in October 2010, soon after GTW left Wikia.


I discovered Grand Theft Wiki when I was searching the Internet for a source of information on the Wanted Level system of GTA IV as I noticed it was very different to that of the past.
I used to think that Wikia was an excellent wiki hosting service, the best there was. This was because they provided excellent community support, and had a number of installed extensions. The service was second only to self-hosting, but came with the advantage of not needing to maintain the wiki software or extensions. However, over the years, Wikia's new ''features'' began to become pure advertising, and they began to harm the wiki experience. I contemplated leaving Wikia, and thus, Grand Theft Wiki.


I then decided that as the Biggest GTA Fan Ever it was my duty to help make this site the biggest GTA resource on the web. I have used this site to get a lot of information and have added a lot as well.
Wikia's new skin, [[Oasis]], was what finally ''forced'' me to leave Wikia, as it looks awful, gives advertising precedence over content, and made each individual wiki seem like just a few pages of the larger Wikia site. In addition, Wikia staff completely disrespected the community, who strongly opposed the new skin. I was very happy to be a part of moving GTW away from Wikia.


I used to help Wikipedia but don't any more, the people here are more friendly, I enjoy it here, I think we all have the same idea of put the information on the page, then we can fix it up, something is better than nothing.
I was (and still am) a huge fan of Wikia's former skin, Monaco. I find Monaco to be the most user friendly MediaWiki skin that I have ever used. I can't stand Monobook (Wikipedia's former skin), and while Vector (GTW's current skin) is an improvement over Monobook, it still has its issues in my opinion. I also feel that Monaco was designed with customisability in mind, so that every wiki on Wikia could look different. Oasis, on the other hand, was quite the opposite, designed to make every wiki look the ''same''.


My first GTW friend was Eganio. Ironically that friendship started with him correcting my edits, he explained what I did wrong, we became friends, (like I said earlier, the people here are much friendlier than Wikipedia). He taught me the power of actually reading and adding to talk pages.
I left GTW in September 2013. I still love this wiki's content and community, but loss of interest in GTA combined with continuing disagreement with policy changes have made editing here less enjoyable in recent times. There was a time when I seemed to agree with ''every'' policy of GTW, and actually couldn't join in at other communities because of the the differing policies, but those days are slowly drifting away. It doesn't feel like the community has a voice anymore - Rather, a couple of the staff members ''pretend'' to hold communities discussion, but the discussion pages are biased, and these staff just end up doing whatever they want anyway, regardless of what the community consensus is. I also feel that some of the staff that used to be our best editors, are now too busy performing meaningless edits like bypassing redirects in all links, which I think is absolute rubbish. It's an utter waste of time, which doesn't improve the wiki in any way, unnecessarily fills up [[Special:Recent Changes|the list of recent edits]], and makes the wiki MORE difficult to use because of the piped links everywhere. I believe that redirects exist to make pages easier to link to, and that there is no point in avoiding them. I certainly don't believe in the excuse that it makes the wiki more "professional". Additionally, the wiki software seems to always be broken in one place or another, which makes some tasks annoying or even impossible. Leaving GTW was a difficult decision, because I have definitely enjoyed my time here, and I was sort of hoping for a future more similar to the wiki's past.


{{todo}}
{{todo}}

Latest revision as of 03:32, 16 September 2013

Due to disaffection with wiki management in recent times combined with loss of interest in GTA, I have made the difficult decision to leave Grand Theft Wiki. Any questions should be forwarded to another member of staff. Thanks to Gerard, A-Dust, and the other staff.

Userboxes
This user wants to help other users
This user follows the Rules of Grand Theft Wiki
This user is glad that
Grand Theft Wiki left Wikia,
and knows this site is infinitely better!
This user misses the old Monaco skin from Wikia, before they switched to the new Oasis skin.
This user thinks Grand Theft Wiki is better than Wikia's GTA Wiki.
Google Chrome This user contributes using Google Chrome.
This user uses a Windows 7 computer.
This user is a proud owner of an Apple Mac


This user thinks GTA is the best series of games ever
This user thinks GTA IV is the best GTA game
This user thinks that Niko Bellic is the best GTA protagonist.
This user is a proud owner of a PlayStation 3.
This user is a proud owner of an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch.


This user is proud to be Australian
This user is interested in Computing.
20 This user is 20 years old

Hi fellow GTA fans and wiki editors!

My name is James Fletcher, and I live close to Liverpool (near Sydney), New South Wales, Australia.

I am a long-time user of the PlayStation series of consoles, and one of my favourite video game series' is the Grand Theft Auto series.

When I was a kid, I wanted a game where I was given a city and a protagonist to do whatever I wanted. I found this in GTA III.

Since then, I have owned and played many other GTA games. While I still love the sandbox aspect of gameplay, I now enjoy the storylines just as much.

The GTA games that I have played most extensively are GTA Vice City and GTA IV. I have also played all of the other GTA III era games that were released on PlayStation 2.

I have also played GTA 1 and GTA 2 for PC. I am yet to play GTA Advance, or any of the London expansion packs for GTA 1.

I have completed both the Deal and Revenge endings of the storyline of GTA IV twice, the second time without cheats. I primarily chose the Revenge ending and just played the Deal ending to see what happened. I preferred the Revenge ending. After completing the Revenge ending I simply saved on another file so that I could go back and complete the Deal ending without replaying the entire game. I have also received 100% completion in my no cheats save game. This makes GTA IV the only GTA game in which I have achieved 100%.

I have also played GTA Chinatown Wars once through the storyline on my iPhone. I have not played either of the episodes of GTA IV, and at this point, it seems unlikely that I will. I had wanted to, in order to fill in the missing pieces of the storyline - But the long-term exclusivity for the Xbox 360, coupled with personal circumstances, prevented me from playing them when they were new. Now these games simply aren't my priority.

I was, a while back, eagerly awaiting GTA V. However, I started to lose interest several months before release. GTA V releases only about two months before the PlayStation 4, which I intend to be an early adopter of. I see the new generation as a chance to start fresh, as I have missed so many key games this generation due to personal circumstances. Now that has changed, so I want this new generation to be completely different, right from the start. Once I have my PS4, I don't want to be swapping consoles in and out. I would also feel pretty weird playing my PS3 after spending so much money on the PS4, not to mention having to use the old controller... =P With work and other commitments, I don't think I can experience an entire Grand Theft Auto game in two months, especially considering the scale of GTA V, and that's why I started to lose interest. There will be other games to play. I will consider buying GTA V if there is a PS4 port later, but any true next-gen game that I want to play will always take priority over a port.

My favourite GTA protagonist is Niko Bellic, followed by Huang Lee (despite not even having a voice, I like his personality]]). Some of my other favourite characters include Roman Bellic, Francis McReary and Wade Heston.

I discovered Grand Theft Wiki in July 2008, when I was searching the Internet for a source of information on the wanted level system of GTA IV, as I noticed that it was very different to that of the past. I then decided to help make this wiki the largest GTA resource on the web. I have used this wiki to get a lot of information, and have added a lot as well. I initially had no intention to stay a part of this wiki, but was convinced by the friendly users here that this wiki was a fun environment. The fact that I initially had no intention to stay explained my original username, Biggest gta fan ever. I just put in the first thing that came to my head, giving no consideration for the future. I had since tried to have my username changed to something more personal, but Wikia staff wouldn't change it, saying that only specific circumstances qualify for a username change. I eventually got my username changed after Grand Theft Wiki moved away from Wikia.

I used to help Wikipedia, but don't any more. When I first started on GTW, I noticed that the people here were much friendlier, and I enjoyed it here. The general idea on this wiki is to encourage the placement of information into pages, so then we can fix it up later - Something is better than nothing. This is always my approach with new users, but in more recent times, however, I have realised that not all experienced users and staff agree with this notion.

My first GTW friend was Eganio. Ironically that friendship started with him correcting my edits. He explained what I did wrong and we became friends (like I said earlier, the people here were much friendlier than Wikipedia). He taught me the power of actually reading and adding to talk pages.

I became an Administrator of Grand Theft Wiki in October 2008. When I got the email that Gboyers had edited my talk page, I had no idea what he was going to say, and the last thing that I thought he was going to say was that I had been promoted. In fact, I was busy and hadn't been on the wiki for three days when I read that email. I however did know that it was something good, as he had also added me as a friend. Confusing me further was the fact that someone had edited my userpage (I didn't yet know who it was). I later found out that it was Gboyers, adding the {{Admin}} template. When I reached my talk page, before I knew that it was about a promotion, my Internet was acting slow, so the extra tools at the top of the page didn't show up straight away, meaning that I didn't notice anything until after I read the message. Sometimes I wonder if Gboyers regretted the decision to promote me, purely because of the amount of time that I spent asking him stupid questions after that =P.

In April 2010, I along with all of the other Administrators, was given the opportunity to be promoted to Manager. This surprised me, as I was at the time on a very long wiki break, and assumed that I had been forgotten. I was promoted to Manager in October 2010, soon after GTW left Wikia.

I used to think that Wikia was an excellent wiki hosting service, the best there was. This was because they provided excellent community support, and had a number of installed extensions. The service was second only to self-hosting, but came with the advantage of not needing to maintain the wiki software or extensions. However, over the years, Wikia's new features began to become pure advertising, and they began to harm the wiki experience. I contemplated leaving Wikia, and thus, Grand Theft Wiki.

Wikia's new skin, Oasis, was what finally forced me to leave Wikia, as it looks awful, gives advertising precedence over content, and made each individual wiki seem like just a few pages of the larger Wikia site. In addition, Wikia staff completely disrespected the community, who strongly opposed the new skin. I was very happy to be a part of moving GTW away from Wikia.

I was (and still am) a huge fan of Wikia's former skin, Monaco. I find Monaco to be the most user friendly MediaWiki skin that I have ever used. I can't stand Monobook (Wikipedia's former skin), and while Vector (GTW's current skin) is an improvement over Monobook, it still has its issues in my opinion. I also feel that Monaco was designed with customisability in mind, so that every wiki on Wikia could look different. Oasis, on the other hand, was quite the opposite, designed to make every wiki look the same.

I left GTW in September 2013. I still love this wiki's content and community, but loss of interest in GTA combined with continuing disagreement with policy changes have made editing here less enjoyable in recent times. There was a time when I seemed to agree with every policy of GTW, and actually couldn't join in at other communities because of the the differing policies, but those days are slowly drifting away. It doesn't feel like the community has a voice anymore - Rather, a couple of the staff members pretend to hold communities discussion, but the discussion pages are biased, and these staff just end up doing whatever they want anyway, regardless of what the community consensus is. I also feel that some of the staff that used to be our best editors, are now too busy performing meaningless edits like bypassing redirects in all links, which I think is absolute rubbish. It's an utter waste of time, which doesn't improve the wiki in any way, unnecessarily fills up the list of recent edits, and makes the wiki MORE difficult to use because of the piped links everywhere. I believe that redirects exist to make pages easier to link to, and that there is no point in avoiding them. I certainly don't believe in the excuse that it makes the wiki more "professional". Additionally, the wiki software seems to always be broken in one place or another, which makes some tasks annoying or even impossible. Leaving GTW was a difficult decision, because I have definitely enjoyed my time here, and I was sort of hoping for a future more similar to the wiki's past.

To-do list for User:JFletcher: edit · history · watch · refresh

I help anywhere I can on the wiki. I use Recent Edits to find pages that I can help on. I also use Tasks and the list of special pages to find any job that needs to be done. These are just my main projects.

  • Enforcing the Policy - Keeping the wiki running smoothly by enforcing the Rules and fixing pages to follow all Policy. Mainly Consistency and mainly in the form of page name capitalisation, page names in general, but also consistency within pages.
  • Categorisation - An easy, "fun", yet important job that needs to be done on the wiki. I mainly help by renaming categories and deleting unused categories, but I also categorise pages when I see them needing it.
  • Helping Other Users - If I find something that needs to be fixed, I don't just fix it, I use the page history to see who did it and tell them, so that they don't make the same mistakes in the future. I also like to help users with their problems by reading talk pages, and I like them to come to me.
  • Patrolling - My goal at the end the day (Australian time zone) is to have all edits in that day patrolled using the staff patrolling system (excluding talk page edits and user page edits, though I do go to the talk pages to help out). I do this by marking a few each Grand Theft Wiki session.