What the Hell Happened to the AltHistory Wiki?

From 2009 to 2011, I considered myself an active member of the AltHistory Wiki community. I was a regular contributor to "1983: Doomsday" and other timelines. I also pitched in with combating vandals and I must have made myself a big enough annoyance that someone decided it would be easier just to make me an administrator to the Wiki instead of reading the ton of messages I left on people's talk pages warning them of the damage. I took my role as administrator seriously and used my limited free time to do my best to clean up the Wiki. I helped institute new policies to govern the wiki more effectively and promoted ideas I thought would help encourage a stronger sense of community, like the Stirling Awards and revamping the way Featured Timelines were selected. I was proud of what I accomplished and of the people who followed in my footsteps.

In 2011, I retired from my post as a member of the "Brass" (the administrator rank which, besides having the power to ban members, can also grant administrative powers to other members) and eventually created Alternate History Weekly Update. At the time I said that I wanted to focus more on my own writing because I felt that managing the Wiki was distracting me from it. That, however, was only part of the reason why I left. To be frank, I was burnt out from dealing with the Wiki. As time went by, many of the people I befriended there had left and the newcomers, although many were talented writers and all-around pleasant people, had some major ego cases in their ranks. I became tired of all the arguments and the snark. I also had creative differences with the direction "1983: Doomsday" was going. It had quickly turned from a grim world of nuclear war where the United States had fallen apart while a rump-Soviet Union lived on, to an atompunk fantasy. It became clear that I needed a break.

So I left the Wiki and started blogging and the rest, as they say, is history. I eventually did return to the Wiki, but only as a lurker and I maintained that my retirement from the Time Stream Protection Task Force (or the TSPTF, which is the collective name the administrators refer to themselves as) was still in effect. I even dropped into their Chat a couple of times and was surprised not only to see that many people still remembered me, but that a lot of the new faces who I had never met knew of me. It felt good and made me happy that I had decided to return in my limited capacity.

Then things started to go downhill. I noticed that on other alternate history sites, most notably AlternateHistory.com, the AltHistory Wiki had a reputation for bad alternate history and immature users who only produced Map Games. Now I am not a fan of the Wiki's Map Games. I don't have any particular dislike for them, they just aren't for me. To be fair the Map Games didn't seem all that different from AlternateHistory.com's Shared Worlds forum, so I didn't think they had that much right to complain. That being said, yeah I read my fair share of bad alternate histories on the Wiki, but you can find those on any community. The Wiki does have good timelines (last month I featured "Winged Hands of the Reich" by SpanishSpy), but an argument can be made that the format of the Wiki means its hard to find them and bad timelines often get pushed to the front.

What I am saying is that at first I wasn't concerned about the criticisms I was hearing. The longer I lurked on the AltHistory Wiki, however, the more weight I gave to those criticisms. The aforementioned Chat had no content restrictions enforced and often would degenerate into flame wars that would spill into other parts of the Wiki. I stumbled upon a subreddit for the Wiki that actually had threads to organize attacks on specific members. While scanning some of these arguments and attacks, I even began to notice cliques forming that often spent more time harassing outsiders than discussing alternate history. Meanwhile, TSPTF members were either increasingly absent or just didn't care, sometimes even participating in these disputes by egging on the combatants. The final straw for me was seeing another spill over from a Chat fight on the TSPTF talk page referencing "penile yeast infection", gay jokes and seeming unconcern that people were using sockpuppets.

You know what this all reminds me of? The Fall of Alternia. Just like with the AltHistory Wiki, you had a divided community that was more interested in arguing about everything besides what the community was supposed to be talking about: alternate history. The AltHistory Wiki in my mind has devolved into a haven for Internet trolls that deserves its poor reputation. What is even worse is that the Wiki is suffering a brain drain. You know where I found all those people I first met when I started editing back in 2009? AlternateHistory.com. You know where I talked to SpanishSpy after he noticed I had featured his work on Timeline Thursday? AlternateHistory.com. The good writers have left and will continue to leave before everything collapses, just like with Alternia. The difference is that I don't think there is a way to delete the Wiki once it all falls apart, since the ultimate owner of the place is Wikia.

Is there a solution? Well I got a few ideas off the top of my head. First, get rid of Chat, just close it down entirely. Its a source of a lot of the fighting and the current user base has already shown they can't regulate themselves. The AltHistory Wiki needs to take a stand that they will focus solely on alternate history and not be distracted by off-topic conversations. Second, spin off the Map Games into their own separate, but affiliated, wiki. I am perhaps being unfair to the Map Gamers, but it seems to me that a lot of the major troublemakers are from that group of users. Third, find a way to highlight the good alternate histories besides the Featured Timelines and the Stirling Awards. To be honest, I have no specific ideas on how to do that, but the Wiki needs to work on repairing its reputation and doing nothing to better showcase the good is not helping. Perhaps one thing they can do immediately is purge themselves of poorly constructed timelines and their affiliated articles that haven't been edited in years. It will certainly be a start in removing the bad so people can find the good.

I would also recommend that the AltHistory Wiki start purging some of the worst trolls. I'm not going to start naming names, simply because I am not active enough in the community currently to do a fair job of it, but I am sure that if the Wiki's users thought about it they could pick some people who have been the worst of the worst. Those whose damage they cause is greater than whatever benefit they bring to the Wiki. This, and spinning off the Map Games into its separate wiki, would likely see the active user base drop significantly, but it would give the community time to return to what they do best: collaborative alternate histories. Perhaps it will also see new blood joining, who may have been scared away by the people they ran into while editing.

Finally, and this is my most important point, the community has to do this. Let me reiterate: the COMMUNITY has to do this. The TSPTF will have their role (and besides they should only be volunteers who help with the technical aspects of the wiki and NOT the sole decision makers) and leaders from outside the administrators will emerge, but the community has to do it together. The AltHistory Wiki has always been more communal in its governance than other alternate history communities, like AlternateHistory.com. That has made it unique and perhaps explain why shared universes like "1983: Doomsday" were able to thrive. If the AltHistory Wiki is going to be saved, every single active member must step up and play their role. It shouldn't just be assumed the TSPTF or someone else will take care of it.

Well now that I said all of the above I probably just alienated a good portion of my reader base. I easily could be exaggerating some of the problems the AltHistory Wiki faces and I could have been one of the reasons why it is in its current state. That being said, the Wiki still has some major problems, but there is still time to pull it back from the brink. It will take a lot of work, but I still think the AltHistory Wiki can be fixed, if the community cares enough to do it.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.

The Fall of Alternia

This post is not about some fantastical kingdom located in-between realities (though that would have been cool).  Alternia was actually an alternate history forum that was not in any way related to AH.com (Gasp!).  I know it is hard to believe, but AH.com was not always the behemoth of relatively polite discussion it is today.  At one point it had challengers for the crown of largest and most popular alternate history discussion group on the Internet, and Alternia was one of them.

Now AH.com does have their own story on the history of their unknown rival, but it is an incredibly bias and unfair history of the defunct community.  As someone who was there during the collapse, I want to provide a different and friendlier perspective on this failed forum.  While it may not be entirely balanced, perhaps after you have read my version of the events along with AH.com's version, you may leave with a better opinion of Alternia. Admittedly the entire story of Alternia is not known to me, however, I will do the best that I can to give you as detailed of history as possible. 

There were three versions of Alternia: Alternia 1.0 (which was founded by TheAdmin), Alternia 2.0, (a.k.a. Free Alternia) and the final good version Alternia 3.0, which is also the one I had the most experience with.  Believe it or not, Alternia was not a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" as some would lead you to believe.  That label was gained after a troll by the name Hashemite somehow managed to gain a position of importance in one of the earlier versions of Alternia.  He was later banned from both AH.com and Alternia.  Exactly where he is now is unknown.

Alternia 3.0, whose hosting was provided by administrator Hey, was discovered by myself in 2007.  I arrived after most of the members of OtherTimelines.com (which Korsgaard will speak of in more detail in a future post) merged with Alternia in April 2007.   I discovered quickly that Alternia had some top quality posters.  Among them were AH.com veteran Wendell, J. T. Tate, map maker Lord Sander and Changing the Times author Chris Oakley.  Alternians were generally welcoming and provided constructive criticism of my own work.  It was in this environment that I first introduced one of my more humorous creations: Sgt. Mitro.  Sgt. Mitro was a stereotypical Space Marine who gave advice on a variety subjects, though his advice always ended with him suggesting that the advice seeker should join the Space Marines where they would likely end up either killed or horribly maimed.

During my tenure there was a sense of growth and optimism in the air.  Alternia had absorbed several smaller forums and with OTL.com going defunct and being absorbed by Alternia, it was now the second largest alternate history forum on the Internet.  For many there was nowhere Alternia could go but up and some believed that it was entirely possible for Alternia to one day surpass AH.com.  Alternia continued to grow after the controversial banning of S. M. Stirling.  AH.commers such as the famous map maker Diamond and Matt left to join Alternia in protest over the ban.  Though Stirling did make one post on Alternia, he never became an active member as some claim.  Nevertheless, the controversy over at AH.com furthered the drive of many Alternians to make their forum the most important alternate history forum on the web.

The problem was that many Alternians began to take their rivalry with AH.com too seriously.  Alternia could be considered more right-wing in their politics then the more left-wing AH.com.  It was these political differences that caused many Alternians to leave AH.com, but they took their issues with the larger forum personally.  Anti-AH.com posts were very prevalent, and for a time I believed them.  Worse, as time went by, people cared more about arguing politics, and later forum politics, then actually discussing alternate history.  When an alternate history forum stops discussing alternate history, you know you are in trouble.

Alternia began to collapse shortly after I was chosen to be a moderator (trust me, neither event had anything to do with each other).  Apparently there were issues between the forum management and TheAdmin.  Though he was the original founder of Alternia, TheAdmin was not the highest ranking admin since he was no longer hosting the forum.  Hey, nevertheless, gave him admin abilities out of respect for his seniority.  Problems, however, arose between TheAdmin and other administrators who felt that he was somehow holding Alternia back. 

What exactly TheAdmin was doing to stunt the growth of Alternia I never discovered because events began to spiral out of control from that point onward.  Somehow a cabal of admins managed to convince Hey to remove TheAdmin's administrator abilities.  TheAdmin responded with an angry post on the forum attacking the current Alternia leadership, which got him banned.  The entire community erupted over this leading to more bans and people leaving the site voluntarily.  All of this happened during a weekend I was in Wisconsin with my girlfriend (and later wife) enjoying my real life, unaware that my virtual life was in upheaval.

As it looked like the site was about to spiral out of control, Hey was convinced by a group of moderators to reinstall TheAdmin's privileges and ban the admin involved in the banning of TheAdmin.  That, however, did not fix anything.  The banning of TheAdmin opened a can of worms that tore Alternia apart.  Issues with past decisions by Hey and the other admins were dug up and fought over.  The most contentious issue was treating the members of OTL.com as a special minority by allowing them a unique color scheme for their user names and always making sure one of their members was in a position of authority.  Others complained about how the forum was being administered and several people began proposing "constitutions", as if Alternia was a virtual state that needed to be governed.  Hey, meanwhile, showed poor leadership by doing nothing to calm the growing discord among the community.  In fact his participation on the forum dropped considerably.

A moderator by the name of Albus Dumbledore was the most vocal agitator during the chaotic collapse of Alternia.  He was a major proponent of getting rid of the special status of OTLers, among other changes he wanted to make to the forum.  He because very unpopular with members with his constant demands for change.  Many accused him of being motivated solely for the sake of gaining more power in the forum, so Dumbledore resigned as moderator, but kept pushing his "reforms".  I myself because so disgusted with arguing with him, which took away actual discussion of alternate history, that I resigned my post as moderator and began limiting my time at Alternia.  Dumbledore's one positive contribution during this chaotic period was his crusade to end the tension between Alternia and AH.com.  Sadly this goal became moot after the forum finally collapsed.

Though there were many factors that caused the collapse of Alternia, in my most humble opinion I feel they were made worse by Dumbledore's action.  Perhaps he had the best intentions, but he caused fights over things that were better left ignored.  When Dumbledore stopped posting for a couple of weeks to go on vacation, things began to return to normal.  No one was writing posts on forum government and interest in alternate history increased.  When Dumbledore returned, however, things became worse.  Dumbledore's renewed calls for reforms reignited old arguments and the forum collapsed as users left to form successor forums.

The largest and most successful was Different Worlds (later renamed Other Timelines), which was formed from among the OTLers.  They ignored forum government issues and instead focused on alternate history again.  Alternians like Hey and Dumbledore were given preemptive bans, yet Dumbledore's ban was eventually overturned.  When a general science fiction forum created by TheAdmin was absorbed by Different Worlds, it was discovered that a poster by the name of Mithrandir was actually Dumbledore.  Dumbledore was allowed to stay, however, since he had behaved himself while on the other forum and was unwilling to start anymore fights over forum governance.

What lessons can we learn from Alternia's legacy?  First, avoid becoming to enamored with off-topic discussions on politics and religions.  If you are not careful they can spiral out of control and destroy your alternate history forum.  Better that communities adopt a "No Cross, No Crown" policy and tell their users to seek debate on those topics elsewhere.  Certainly the Internet has no shortage of such places so there really is no reason to sponsor them at your alternate history forum.

Second, the small size of the genre makes it very difficult to challenge an already entrenched institutions like AH.com, the AH wiki, Changing the Times and other alternate history communities.  Unless your product is unique enough, it is unlikely to survive competition with another community that already exists.  Better to be on the ground floor of bringing alternate history to a new medium (does Google Plus have an alternate history group yet?) then challenge something that already exists.

Believe it or not Alternia does still exist!  Over at Zeta Boards you can find the little known fourth version of Alternia.  Old Alternia veterans like Straha post there, but sadly nothing new has been added since July.  Perhaps Alternia truly is defunct, which is likely for the best.  I rather remember Alternia as it was, a welcoming community of alternate historians always willing to listen to a new idea.

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Mitro is founder, editor and contributor of Alternate History Weekly Update.  When he is not busy writing about his passion for alternate history, he spends his time working as a licensed attorney in the state of Illinois and dreams of being a published author himself one day.