(continuing from Xizor's reply).
With the power structure as it is now, hypothetically, could i:
#1) get 50 of my friends all signed up for WikiBound (none of them being EarthBound fans), give them admin access and have them become NIWA staff, and then tell them to vote for a specific option in the polls?
If you did that, as I said, we have no rules in place, so you'd basically ruin a poll and force us to put aside an important issue to deal with a childish outburst from a Wiki trying to achieve who knows what. But honestly, it'd never get to that point, because at some point we'd notice you padding your own numbers and we'd all put a cap on it and probably be forced to cut staff in order to even things out, or rather take away each staff member's vote in certain situations, and then go back to the way we used to do things, which was have on person "represent" each wiki in certain votes.
I know I said never to compare to government, but this is the best example I can think of: The US House of Representatives - larger states get more votes and thus more influence, but rarely will every member of such a delegation sycophantically take the orders of someone at the top. I know I said everyone has equal say, and that equal say can be asserted even if you have a smaller staff. Your Wiki's staff would be proportionate to your Wiki's needs. Honestly, we operate under the assumption that we're all here to work together and achieve great things overall, rather than be d***s and throw tantrums. If any wiki did what you described, I'd seriously question their membership in the organization, because that honestly goes against just about every principle of the thing. Thus, larger Wikis would not abuse their size to bully smaller Wikis, because we're all here to help each other. Even further, there's very little bullying to be had, because NIWA does not enforce anything, and it's nigh impossible to cut someone out of resources and help, such as all the boards we have available, and the new CrossWiki Team.
#2) Post an idea on the staff forums, get one "yes", and immediately assume i have the support of the staff? (This based on the fact that one of my interpretations of what you said is, "even if one wiki says 'no' to something, the rest will say 'yes'.")
I'm not sure how you misinterpreted me here, but it means that throughout the length of a discussion, even if one Wiki objects, if we can determine that it won't hurt that wiki, we can still do something if a great majority feels that we should do something. I really don't know how you took anything I said to mean you can assume something is settled from one reply. Maybe because I said something about apathetic members?
Also, without an "admin without outside obligations" who do we talk to about changing things around the forums, making announcements by the wiki's, changing wiki-related information on the NIWA hubsite, forums, etc.
The admins now take care of these things, myself included. In fact, all of those things you should funnel through me. That's why we created the Coordinator position. I know who to delegate to, and things will get taken care of by the people who have always taken care of them.
Also Also, what do you mean "is nothing without the wiki's"? i mean, there is a site, and forums, so there is something that exists independent of any wiki.
I've said before that this place would cease to exist if every wiki left. We're an Alliance, and an Alliance is what it is because of its members. There would be no United States of America without the 50 states. There would be no European Union if all member states left. There would be no NATO if all member states left. There would be no NFL if all teams disbanded/left the league (which has happened with Sports leagues). There is no NIWA without the Wikis. Yes, there may be REMNANTS of a structure from before, but that structure is meaningless without any members.
Also Also Also, how is thinking NIWA as an Organization separate from the Wiki's a bad thing? I'm still confused on this point.
Because, as I've just said, NIWA is only the summation of its members and their needs and the methods by which we address those needs. These forums have no point or purpose outside of that. Wiki tools, community building, interwiki friendship, all of those things and more are part of the members and their needs. NIWA was nothing before its members created it, and they created it in coming together. It wasn't like NIWA started up with no members, and then started recruiting. It only exists because Wikis came together and made it so.
What are NIWAs plans for expansion? There's only a finite number of Nintendo franchises to cover, then what?
What Nintendoguy said sits with me pretty well. Eventually, yes, NIWA may no longer be gaining new member Wikis, but those Wikis are always working to improve. That is the overall point of potential other "IWA" organizations, because trying to cram 200+ wikis into something like what we have will not sustain itself, and will either collapse or be forced to function like Wikia. It is not what we want.