Forum:Changing requirements for rollback requests

I'd like to discuss whether we should change our expectations for users' requests (or nominations) for rollback. Specifically, I would like to remove the requirement that users have an anti-vandalism history.

I'm proposing this change because of the way that our wiki promotes users to administrator. Namely, you have to be a rollbacker in order to be eligible to become an administrator. But there are several competent, efficient and otherwise strong editors who simply don't have a history of reverting vandalism. There may be several reasons for this. The Sims Wiki almost always has at least one admin or bureaucrat online, ready to revert vandalism at a moment's notice; several of these users may simply not be quick enough to respond. Additionally, non-admins may be afraid of asserting themselves out of concern that they may be overridden or even punished by an administrator for stepping out of line; this fear may be preventing them from taking appropriate action. Finally, the Abuse Filter has cut down on the amount of vandalism committed on the wiki, reducing the amount available for non-admins to revert.

The rollback user "rank" puts an undue emphasis on anti-vandalism at the expense of other qualities an editor may possess. This means, when it comes to nominating new administrators, we're limited to only those users who have a strong anti-vandalism history, even if there are non-rollbackers who are otherwise competent and active enough to make decent administrators. After all, reverting vandalism and addressing vandals is only one aspect of administratorship. Additionally, while the rollback tool is specifically an anti-vandalism tool, the users who occupy that rank are among the most active and experienced editors, excluding administrators. We should be selecting potential rollbackers for their editing skill, trustworthiness, and overall strength of contributions, not simply because they know how to use the 'undo' button. A skillful, trustworthy and strong editor can be taught to combat vandalism, after all.

Ultimately, I feel that eliminating the anti-vandalism history requirement allows otherwise experienced editors to step into a role that is only marginally more powerful than that of a regular editor, but it opens the door for those users to become even stronger editors, and possibly to become administrators in the future. Thoughts? --  LostInRiverview talk ~ blog 01:55, April 27, 2014 (UTC)