This user is no longer active on Wikipedia as of January 2024.
I've enjoyed editing Wikipedia for many years. I've learnt a lot – both factually and about human nature – and it's greatly improved my translation skills! I've enjoyed creating, expanding and improving thousands of articles.
Sadly I've witnessed the steady degradation over time of high quality articles as editors make 'improvements' without understanding the subject or context. The last of many straws has been the enforcement of lower case 'style' (actually spelling) on articles such as card games and wildlife, a form of pedantry that adds no value to the articles whatsoever. This may seem a minor issue, but it is clearly not so in the eyes of the style 'champions', since it is enforced regardless of the fact that the relevant literature overwhelmingly uses title case. House style is a choice, not a law. It can be improved on. If we allow style to triumph over substance Wikipedia will never become great. On the other hand, if Wikipedia can accept diversity as it does with WP:ENGVAR, the problem could be easily resolved.
In the meantime, I feel that if we can't follow the best practice in the relevant, reliable sources, then I am wasting my time creating articles or bringing them up to a high standard.
So it's time for me to retire from Wikipedia and concentrate on researching and writing for journals and professional online sites. I could be persuaded to return if Wikipedia could apply the same inclusive approach to individual topics as it does to versions of English, not based on an editor's whim but on reliable sources.
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