Welcome to the home page of the Square Enix Independent Wiki Alliance.
The first three members have arrived! Say hello to Kingdom Hearts Wiki, Chrono
Wiki and Dragon Quest Wiki.
Our secret project - Square Enix Wiki - is up, running and ready for editing! (the skin is temporary, and a new one will be rolled out with the next version of this page's).
Also, they are now a member of SEIWA!
It's an oft-told tale in every tavern and pub: a cadre of faceless
overlords that entice workers with promises of support or wealth, then force
their captured prey to submit to exploitative policies or degrading baubles.
Eventually, though, a band of dissidents will speak up, and fight to allow
freedom for the workers.
Despite what it sounds like, this isn't the story to a role-playing game; it's
the story of this organization's founding. The founders of this organization
were all hosted under the same host, but were constantly forced to accept new
features against their will, all in the name of getting more advertising
dollars, or attracting those who only cared about the baubles, not the editing
or material.
The editors submitted to the changes, until the final straw: the cadre not only
forced the use of a new skin that sacrificed the material for advertising
space, but also removed what skin options the editors had previously had. When
the editors complained, the words of the original ToC were twisted to forbid
dissent. When the editors decided to leave, the cadre claimed that all of the
material the editors had worked so hard to make belonged to the cadre alone,
and that not even a new community would be allowed to change or remove
it.
So the editors left. They copied their material to a new server, one that they
hosted themselves, and continued to provide quality content. To assist other
wikis, to show them that the cadre's way was not the only way, they formed the
Square Enix Independent Wiki Alliance.
It took almost a half-year to complete, but in June 2011, the SEIWA started up
with the Kingdom Hearts Wiki as its first member, while its second member,
Chronopedia, began performing its own transfer.
SEIWA's main tenet is to always give its member wikis the freedom to decide how
they will operate. SEIWA will never force any policy on a member wiki, and will
always focus on community and material over dollars and cents. A member wiki
and its material will belong to its community, not the SEIWA, and not
anyone else.
Furthermore, SEIWA acts as a safe haven from the profit-oriented wiki farms
that ignore their workers and restrict their freedom like a boa does its prey.
Any wiki that meets the basic policies outlined on our "Rules" page will be
free to apply for membership. SEIWA also acts to promote fellow independent
wikis, encouraging traffic and editing across member wikis. Even these minor
policies will not be forced on a wiki -- if it decides that it does not like
them, that wiki is free to leave, without the alliance making a grab for its
content.
We, SEIWA, exist to provide an alternative to the oppressive rule of
wiki-farms; a path that will never sacrifice the wiki pillars of freedom,
cooperation, and quality for the chance at an extra buck.