My main purpose at Wikipedia was always to create, expand, and improve articles. In the five years or so since I started editing, I branched into discussion on the guidelines behind those articles, because to me that aided my desire of having well-written articles on various topics that, most of the time, were ones of interest to me. Of course, as I gained more confidence about my editing and became a more experienced editor, I also started doing more vandalism combat and joining in policy discussions and enforcement. While I have had my share of detractors and have stepped on toes, my focus has always been on what is best for the articles. It is one reason choosing to walk away from this site was one of the hardest I'd made. I have always taken great pride, and probably more than I should, in my work on articles, but I love writing and the researching behind the writing. I have learned a lot through my work here, from the history of a frozen treat I loved as a child to the truth behind why I could never find a film I loved on video for so long to learning the hilarious background of one of the best B-movies ever to discovering an amazing author I now admire for her dedication to her art. I worked on a range of topics, from B-movies to historical landmarks to anime to magazines and everything in between.
I know at times I've been seen as prickly, occasionally lost my temper and stepped on some toes, and my way of communicating was termed "abrasive" more than once. While I think in the end I gained more comrades and friends here than not, I know I have made my share of enemies. Unfortunately, over the last year or two, it has gone above and beyond just someone being annoyed and our having a one time argument. There are quite a few mentally ill people who edit Wikipedia. I have been stalked and harassed by more than one person here during my tenure, and while almost all of those folks were eventually indef blocked, after awhile, it gets to be too much. It is emotionally and physically draining. While some were mostly annoying time sinks who seemed to be just desperately seeking the attention they must have lacked in their real lives, others have displayed all the signs of full-blown psychosis, particularly in engaging in cyberstalking both on and off Wiki. I foolishly attempted to deal with through a rename, but alas, to my own stupidity I didn't think about the fact that it would be a public process. I've also attempted to remove the mentions of my old name and point them purely to my new name, to at least reduce the search engine impact of the edits. While I was able to get thousands done, the effort was met with much resistance by some of those folks whose toes I've stepped on in the past, and efforts sympathetic users made to aid me were quickly halted and those users wrongly attacked for it. Some of those who have stalked me have, unfortunately, not been content to stick to doing it on Wikipedia. Some have taken it to multiple other sites, attacking me through blogs, social sites, and finding my accounts elsewhere to attempt to harass me there. Dealing with that kind of mess just isn't something I signed on to do. Things seem to only be getting worse, and it has led to very real concerns that they will no longer be content with the Internet activities and try to find ways to take it offline.
In the end, though, Wikipedia is just no longer fun for me to work at. I can no longer just focus on my research and writing. My editing has gone down significantly in the last two years, most especially in the last 6 months. I used to do 3500-4500 edits a month, now I barely do 1000 (and that's mostly doing reverts of the vandals and performing some other automated tasks). I also drastically cut down my watchlist, from over 2000 items to less than 450, most being my FAs, GAs, FLs, and articles I'm currently working on. It hasn't helped. The real world is stressful enough without having what is, in the end, a hobby add to it.
Nearly five and a half years, over 100,000 edits (nearly half to articles), 24 did you knows, 18 good articles, 7 featured lists, 6 featured articles, 2 featured topics, created 127 articles, and numerous other articles greatly improved. Won a "four award" for my work on one article, was twice elected coordinator for the Films project, had over half a dozen folks suggest I run for admin or say they'd support such a run, and have had two separate editors doing "awesome wikipedian" days give me a day. All in all, it was a good run and while I regret the last year or so, I don't regret the rest. To those who I would name among my Wiki-buds (and hopefully you know who you are), I greatly appreciate your support over the years, and have enjoyed working with you all. Ditto those of you who I have worked with in the various projects I've been involved with. You taught me a lot, even if I didn't always seem to appreciate it. :-)
Probably an overly long "goodbye", but would you expect any less from me? :-)
~~ AnmaFinotera