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data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.unpin">hide</button> </div> <ul class="vector-toc-contents" id="mw-panel-toc-list"> <li id="toc-mw-content-text" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a href="#" class="vector-toc-link"> <div class="vector-toc-text">(Top)</div> </a> </li> <li id="toc-The_meaning_of_"gaming_the_system"" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#The_meaning_of_"gaming_the_system""> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1</span> <span>The meaning of "gaming the system"</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-The_meaning_of_"gaming_the_system"-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Examples" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Examples"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Examples</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Examples-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Examples subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Examples-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Gaming_the_use_of_policies_and_guidelines" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Gaming_the_use_of_policies_and_guidelines"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>Gaming the use of policies and guidelines</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Gaming_the_use_of_policies_and_guidelines-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Gaming_the_consensus-building_process" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Gaming_the_consensus-building_process"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2</span> <span>Gaming the consensus-building process</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Gaming_the_consensus-building_process-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Gaming_of_article_titles,_review_processes,_and_deletion_processes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Gaming_of_article_titles,_review_processes,_and_deletion_processes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.3</span> <span>Gaming of article titles, review processes, and deletion processes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Gaming_of_article_titles,_review_processes,_and_deletion_processes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Gaming_of_sanctions_for_disruptive_behavior" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Gaming_of_sanctions_for_disruptive_behavior"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.4</span> <span>Gaming of sanctions for disruptive behavior</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Gaming_of_sanctions_for_disruptive_behavior-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Gaming_of_permissions" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Gaming_of_permissions"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.5</span> <span>Gaming of permissions</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Gaming_of_permissions-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Spurious_legalisms" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Spurious_legalisms"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Spurious legalisms</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Spurious_legalisms-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Various_levels_of_intent" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Various_levels_of_intent"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Various levels of intent</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Various_levels_of_intent-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Abuse_of_process" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Abuse_of_process"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Abuse of process</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Abuse_of_process-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-namespace">Wikipedia</span><span class="mw-page-title-separator">:</span><span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaming the system</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 29 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-29" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">29 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A7:%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%A8_%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85" title="ويكيبيديا:التلاعب بالنظام – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="ويكيبيديا:التلاعب بالنظام" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-azb mw-list-item"><a href="https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%DB%8C%DA%A9%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D9%BE%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%A7:%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%85%DB%8C_%D8%A7%D9%88%DB%8C%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%82" title="ویکی‌پدیا:سیستمی اویناتماق – South Azerbaijani" lang="azb" hreflang="azb" data-title="ویکی‌پدیا:سیستمی اویناتماق" data-language-autonym="تۆرکجه" data-language-local-name="South Azerbaijani" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>تۆرکجه</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bn mw-list-item"><a href="https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%89%E0%A6%87%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A1%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BC%E0%A6%BE:%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%AC%E0%A6%B8%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A5%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%AA%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0_%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A5%E0%A7%87_%E0%A6%96%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BE_%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%BE" title="উইকিপিডিয়া:ব্যবস্থাপনার সাথে খেলা করা – Bangla" lang="bn" hreflang="bn" data-title="উইকিপিডিয়া:ব্যবস্থাপনার সাথে খেলা করা" data-language-autonym="বাংলা" data-language-local-name="Bangla" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>বাংলা</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ba mw-list-item"><a href="https://ba.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%8F:%D2%A0%D0%B0%D2%93%D0%B8%D2%99%D3%99%D0%BB%D3%99%D1%80_%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD%D3%99%D0%BD_%D1%83%D0%B9%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B0%D2%93%D1%8B%D2%99" title="Википедия:Ҡағиҙәләр менән уйнамағыҙ – Bashkir" lang="ba" hreflang="ba" data-title="Википедия:Ҡағиҙәләр менән уйнамағыҙ" data-language-autonym="Башҡортса" data-language-local-name="Bashkir" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Башҡортса</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedie:Pohr%C3%A1v%C3%A1n%C3%AD_si_se_syst%C3%A9mem" title="Wikipedie:Pohrávání si se systémem – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Wikipedie:Pohrávání si se systémem" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:No_abuses_de_las_reglas_del_sistema" title="Wikipedia:No abuses de las reglas del sistema – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Wikipedia:No abuses de las reglas del sistema" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%DB%8C%DA%A9%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D9%BE%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%A7:%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B2%DB%8C_%D8%A8%D8%A7_%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%87" title="ویکی‌پدیا:بازی با سامانه – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="ویکی‌پدیا:بازی با سامانه" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Ne_jouez_pas_avec_les_r%C3%A8gles" title="Wikipédia:Ne jouez pas avec les règles – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Wikipédia:Ne jouez pas avec les règles" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-gl mw-list-item"><a href="https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Xogar_co_sistema" title="Wikipedia:Xogar co sistema – Galician" lang="gl" hreflang="gl" data-title="Wikipedia:Xogar co sistema" data-language-autonym="Galego" data-language-local-name="Galician" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Galego</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%9C%84%ED%82%A4%EB%B0%B1%EA%B3%BC:%EC%B2%B4%EC%A0%9C%EC%97%90_%EB%8C%80%ED%95%9C_%EC%8B%9C%ED%97%98" title="위키백과:체제에 대한 시험 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="위키백과:체제에 대한 시험" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hr mw-list-item"><a href="https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedija:Varanje_sustava" title="Wikipedija:Varanje sustava – Croatian" lang="hr" hreflang="hr" data-title="Wikipedija:Varanje sustava" data-language-autonym="Hrvatski" data-language-local-name="Croatian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Hrvatski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hu mw-list-item"><a href="https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:A_rendszer_kij%C3%A1tsz%C3%A1sa" title="Wikipédia:A rendszer kijátszása – Hungarian" lang="hu" hreflang="hu" data-title="Wikipédia:A rendszer kijátszása" data-language-autonym="Magyar" data-language-local-name="Hungarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Magyar</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ml mw-list-item"><a href="https://ml.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B4%B5%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%95%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%AA%E0%B5%80%E0%B4%A1%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%AF:%E0%B4%B5%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%AF%E0%B4%B5%E0%B4%B8%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A5_%E0%B4%89%E0%B4%AA%E0%B4%AF%E0%B5%8B%E0%B4%97%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%9A%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%9A%E0%B5%8D_%E0%B4%95%E0%B4%B3%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%BD" title="വിക്കിപീഡിയ:വ്യവസ്ഥ ഉപയോഗിച്ച് കളിക്കൽ – Malayalam" lang="ml" hreflang="ml" data-title="വിക്കിപീഡിയ:വ്യവസ്ഥ ഉപയോഗിച്ച് കളിക്കൽ" data-language-autonym="മലയാളം" data-language-local-name="Malayalam" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>മലയാളം</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-arz mw-list-item"><a href="https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A7:%D8%AA%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%A8_%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85" title="ويكيبيديا:تلاعب بالنظام – Egyptian Arabic" lang="arz" hreflang="arz" data-title="ويكيبيديا:تلاعب بالنظام" data-language-autonym="مصرى" data-language-local-name="Egyptian Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>مصرى</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ms mw-list-item"><a href="https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Memainkan_sistem" title="Wikipedia:Memainkan sistem – Malay" lang="ms" hreflang="ms" data-title="Wikipedia:Memainkan sistem" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Melayu" data-language-local-name="Malay" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Melayu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-min mw-list-item"><a href="https://min.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Mampamainan_sistem" title="Wikipedia:Mampamainan sistem – Minangkabau" lang="min" hreflang="min" data-title="Wikipedia:Mampamainan sistem" data-language-autonym="Minangkabau" data-language-local-name="Minangkabau" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Minangkabau</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Het_systeem_bespelen" title="Wikipedia:Het systeem bespelen – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Wikipedia:Het systeem bespelen" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:%E8%A6%8F%E5%89%87%E3%81%AE%E6%82%AA%E7%94%A8" title="Wikipedia:規則の悪用 – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="Wikipedia:規則の悪用" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Subvers%C3%A3o_do_sistema" title="Wikipédia:Subversão do sistema – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Wikipédia:Subversão do sistema" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%8F:%D0%9D%D0%B5_%D0%B8%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82%D0%B5_%D1%81_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B8" title="Википедия:Не играйте с правилами – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Википедия:Не играйте с правилами" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ckb mw-list-item"><a href="https://ckb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%DB%8C%DA%A9%DB%8C%D9%BE%DB%8C%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%A7:%DB%8C%D8%A7%D8%B1%DB%8C%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%86_%D8%A8%DB%95_%D8%B3%DB%8C%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%85" title="ویکیپیدیا:یاریکردن بە سیستم – Central Kurdish" lang="ckb" hreflang="ckb" data-title="ویکیپیدیا:یاریکردن بە سیستم" data-language-autonym="کوردی" data-language-local-name="Central Kurdish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>کوردی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sr mw-list-item"><a href="https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0:%D0%92%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%9A%D0%B5_%D1%81%D0%B8%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B0" title="Википедија:Варање система – Serbian" lang="sr" hreflang="sr" data-title="Википедија:Варање система" data-language-autonym="Српски / srpski" data-language-local-name="Serbian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Српски / srpski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sh mw-list-item"><a href="https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedija:Izigravanje_sistema" title="Wikipedija:Izigravanje sistema – Serbo-Croatian" lang="sh" hreflang="sh" data-title="Wikipedija:Izigravanje sistema" data-language-autonym="Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски" data-language-local-name="Serbo-Croatian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tr mw-list-item"><a href="https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikipedi:Sistemle_oynamak" title="Vikipedi:Sistemle oynamak – Turkish" lang="tr" hreflang="tr" data-title="Vikipedi:Sistemle oynamak" data-language-autonym="Türkçe" data-language-local-name="Turkish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Türkçe</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%92%D1%96%D0%BA%D1%96%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%B4%D1%96%D1%8F:%D0%9D%D0%B5_%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%8F_%D0%B7_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B8" title="Вікіпедія:Не грайтеся з правилами – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Вікіпедія:Не грайтеся з правилами" data-language-autonym="Українська" data-language-local-name="Ukrainian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Українська</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-vi mw-list-item"><a href="https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Ch%C6%A1i_tr%C3%B2_lu%E1%BA%A9n_qu%E1%BA%A9n_v%E1%BB%9Bi_h%E1%BB%87_th%E1%BB%91ng" title="Wikipedia:Chơi trò luẩn quẩn với hệ thống – Vietnamese" lang="vi" hreflang="vi" data-title="Wikipedia:Chơi trò luẩn quẩn với hệ thống" data-language-autonym="Tiếng Việt" data-language-local-name="Vietnamese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Tiếng Việt</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-wuu 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from <a href="/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:GAME&redirect=no" class="mw-redirect" title="Wikipedia:GAME">Wikipedia:GAME</a>)</span></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Wikipedia policy page</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">"WP:GAME" redirects here. For other uses, see <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:GAME_(disambiguation)" class="mw-disambig" title="Wikipedia:GAME (disambiguation)">WP:GAME (disambiguation)</a>.</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238436933">.mw-parser-output .ombox{margin:4px 0;border-collapse:collapse;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;background-color:var(--background-color-neutral-subtle,#f8f9fa);box-sizing:border-box;color:var(--color-base,#202122)}.mw-parser-output .ombox.mbox-small{font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ombox-speedy{border:2px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ombox-delete{border:2px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ombox-content{border:1px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ombox-style{border:1px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ombox-move{border:1px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ombox-protection{border:2px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ombox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.9em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ombox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.9em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ombox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.9em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ombox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ombox .mbox-invalid-type{text-align:center}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ombox{margin:4px 10%}.mw-parser-output .ombox.mbox-small{clear:right;float:right;margin:4px 0 4px 1em;width:238px}}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output table.ombox img{max-width:none!important}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .ombox-speedy{background-color:#310402}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .ombox-speedy{background-color:#310402}}</style><table class="plainlinks ombox ombox-notice" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><span typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="Blue tick" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Blue_check.svg/30px-Blue_check.svg.png" decoding="async" width="30" height="30" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Blue_check.svg/45px-Blue_check.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Blue_check.svg/60px-Blue_check.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="600" data-file-height="600"/></span></span></td><td class="mbox-text"><b>This page documents an English Wikipedia <a href="/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_behavioral_guidelines" title="Category:Wikipedia behavioral guidelines">behavioral guideline</a>.</b><br/><div style="font-size: 90%;">Editors should generally follow it, though <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Ignore_all_rules" title="Wikipedia:Ignore all rules">exceptions</a> may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:PGCHANGE" class="mw-redirect" title="Wikipedia:PGCHANGE">consensus</a>. When in doubt, discuss first on <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Gaming_the_system" title="Wikipedia talk:Gaming the system">this guideline's talk page</a>.</div></td><td class="mbox-imageright"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1252059228">.mw-parser-output .module-shortcutboxplain{float:right;margin:0 0 0 1em;border:1px solid var(--border-color-base,#a2a9b1);background-color:var(--background-color-base,#fff);padding:0.3em 0.6em 0.2em 0.6em;text-align:center;font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .module-shortcutboxleft{float:left;margin:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .module-shortcutlist{display:inline-block;border-bottom:1px solid var(--border-color-base,#a2a9b1);margin-bottom:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .module-shortcutboxplain ul{font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .module-shortcutanchordiv{position:relative;top:-3em}.mw-parser-output li .module-shortcutanchordiv{float:right}.mw-parser-output .mbox-imageright .module-shortcutboxplain{padding:0.4em 1em 0.4em 1em;line-height:1.3;margin:0}</style><div class="module-shortcutanchordiv"><span id="WP:GAME"></span><span id="WP:GAMING"></span></div><div class="module-shortcutboxplain noprint" role="note"><div class="module-shortcutlist"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Shortcut" title="Wikipedia:Shortcut">Shortcuts</a></div><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style><div class="plainlist"><ul><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:GAME&redirect=no">WP:GAME</a></span></li><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:GAMING&redirect=no">WP:GAMING</a></span></li></ul></div></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238436933"><table class="plainlinks ombox ombox-notice nutshell" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><span typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Walnut.png/30px-Walnut.png" decoding="async" width="30" height="30" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Walnut.png/45px-Walnut.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Walnut.png/60px-Walnut.png 2x" data-file-width="192" data-file-height="192"/></span></span></td><td class="mbox-text"><b>This page in a nutshell:</b> Playing games with policies and guidelines to avoid the spirit of consensus, or thwart the intent and spirit of the policy, is strictly forbidden.</td></tr></tbody></table> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist 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.sidebar-content-with-subgroup{padding-top:0.15em}@media all and (min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .help-box{width:auto;max-width:22em}}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .help-box{background:#0d1a27}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .help-box .sidebar-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .help-box .sidebar-heading{background:#082849}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .help-box{background-color:#0d1a27}html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .help-box .sidebar-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .help-box .sidebar-heading{background:#082849}}</style><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><table class="sidebar nomobile nowraplinks help-box noprint hlist" style="clear:right;width:21.5em;"><tbody><tr><th class="sidebar-title"><a href="/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_guidelines" title="Category:Wikipedia guidelines">Wikipedia guidelines</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_guidelines" title="Wikipedia:List of guidelines">Guidelines list</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_policies" title="Wikipedia:List of policies">Policies list</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <a href="/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_behavioral_guidelines" title="Category:Wikipedia behavioral guidelines">Behavioral</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <table class="sidebar nomobile nowraplinks" style="background:#f5faff; background-color: transparent; color: var( --color-base ); border-collapse:collapse; border-spacing:0px; border:none; width:100%; margin:0px; font-size:100%; clear:none; float:none"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="padding-top:0.2em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Assume_good_faith" title="Wikipedia:Assume good faith">Assume good faith</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest" title="Wikipedia:Conflict of interest">Conflict of interest</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Courtesy_vanishing" title="Wikipedia:Courtesy vanishing">Courtesy vanishing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Disruptive_editing" title="Wikipedia:Disruptive editing">Disruptive editing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_do_not_bite_the_newcomers" title="Wikipedia:Please do not bite the newcomers">Don't bite the newcomers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Do_not_disrupt_Wikipedia_to_illustrate_a_point" title="Wikipedia:Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point"><span class="wrap">Don't disrupt to make a point</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Etiquette" title="Wikipedia:Etiquette">Etiquette</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Gaming the system</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:User_pages" title="Wikipedia:User pages">User pages</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_guidelines#Other_behavioral_guidelines" title="Wikipedia:List of guidelines">Other behavioral guidelines</a></li> <li><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Friendly_space_policy" class="extiw" title="wikimedia:Friendly space policy">WMF friendly space policy</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="background:#e5eef8;"> <a href="/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_discussion" title="Category:Wikipedia discussion">Discussions</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="padding-top:0.2em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Talk_page_guidelines" title="Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines">Talk page guidelines</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Signatures" title="Wikipedia:Signatures">Signatures</a></li></ul></td> </tr></tbody></table></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <a href="/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_content_guidelines" title="Category:Wikipedia content guidelines">Content</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">Citing sources</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:External_links" title="Wikipedia:External links">External links</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_sources" title="Wikipedia:Reliable sources">Reliable sources</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Identifying_reliable_sources_(medicine)" title="Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources (medicine)">medicine</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Fringe_theories" title="Wikipedia:Fringe theories">Fringe theories</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Non-free_content" title="Wikipedia:Non-free content"><span class="wrap">Non-free content</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Offensive_material" title="Wikipedia:Offensive material">Offensive material</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Do_not_include_the_full_text_of_lengthy_primary_sources" title="Wikipedia:Do not include the full text of lengthy primary sources">Don't copy long texts</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Do_not_create_hoaxes" title="Wikipedia:Do not create hoaxes">Don't create hoaxes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Patent_nonsense" title="Wikipedia:Patent nonsense">Patent nonsense</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_guidelines#Content_guide" title="Wikipedia:List of guidelines">Other content guidelines</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <a href="/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_editing_guidelines" title="Category:Wikipedia editing guidelines">Editing</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <table class="sidebar nomobile nowraplinks" style="background:#f5faff; background-color: transparent; color: var( --color-base ); border-collapse:collapse; border-spacing:0px; border:none; width:100%; margin:0px; font-size:100%; clear:none; float:none"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="padding-top:0.2em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Article_size" title="Wikipedia:Article size">Article size</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Be_bold" title="Wikipedia:Be bold">Be bold</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Make_technical_articles_understandable" title="Wikipedia:Make technical articles understandable">Understandability</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_guidelines#Editing" title="Wikipedia:List of guidelines">Other editing guidelines</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="background:#e5eef8;"> <a href="/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_categorization" title="Category:Wikipedia categorization">Categorization</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="padding-top:0.2em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Categories,_lists,_and_navigation_templates" title="Wikipedia:Categories, lists, and navigation templates">Categories, lists, templates</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Categorization" title="Wikipedia:Categorization">Categorization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Disambiguation" title="Wikipedia:Disambiguation">Disambiguation</a></li></ul></td> </tr></tbody></table></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <a href="/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_style_guidelines" title="Category:Wikipedia style guidelines">Style</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style">Manual of Style</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Contents" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Contents">contents</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Lists" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lists">lists</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Tables" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Tables">tables</a></li></ul></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <a href="/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_deletion_guidelines" title="Category:Wikipedia deletion guidelines">Deletion</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Deletion_process" title="Wikipedia:Deletion process">Deletion process</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Speedy_keep" title="Wikipedia:Speedy keep">Speedy keep</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Deletion_guidelines_for_administrators" title="Wikipedia:Deletion guidelines for administrators">Deletion guidelines for administrators</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <a href="/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_project_content_guidelines" title="Category:Wikipedia project content guidelines">Project content</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Project_namespace" title="Wikipedia:Project namespace">Project pages</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Council/Guide" title="Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Guide">WikiProjects</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Template_namespace" title="Wikipedia:Template namespace">Templates</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:User_pages" title="Wikipedia:User pages">User pages</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Userboxes" title="Wikipedia:Userboxes">User boxes</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Shortcut" title="Wikipedia:Shortcut">Shortcuts</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Subpages" title="Wikipedia:Subpages">Subpages</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_guidelines#Other_guideline_categories" title="Wikipedia:List of guidelines">Other</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_guidelines#Naming_conventions" title="Wikipedia:List of guidelines">Naming conventions</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_guidelines#Notability" title="Wikipedia:List of guidelines">Notability</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading"> <a href="/wiki/Help:Searching#Administrative_namespaces" title="Help:Searching">Search</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="mw-inputbox-centered" style=""><form name="searchbox" class="searchbox mw-inputbox-form" action="/wiki/Special:Search" id="style-searchbox"><div class="cdx-text-input"><input class="mw-inputbox-input mw-searchInput searchboxInput cdx-text-input__input" name="search" placeholder="" size="20" dir="ltr"/></div><input type="hidden" value="deepcat:"Wikipedia guidelines"" name="searchfilter"/><br/><input type="hidden" name="ns4" value="1" id="mw-inputbox-ns4-style-searchbox0.096767537240" checked=""/><br/><input type="submit" name="fulltext" value="Search for a guideline" class="cdx-button"/><input type="hidden" value="Search" name="fulltext"/></form></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Guideline_list" title="Template:Guideline list"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Guideline_list" title="Template talk:Guideline list"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Guideline_list" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Guideline list"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><b><a href="/wiki/Gaming_the_system" class="mw-redirect" title="Gaming the system">Gaming the system</a></b> means deliberately misusing Wikipedia <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines" title="Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines">policy</a> or <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Process_is_important" title="Wikipedia:Process is important">process</a> for personal advantage at the expense of other editors or the Wikipedia community. This may range from <a href="/wiki/Bad_faith" title="Bad faith">bad faith</a> attempts to thwart the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Purpose" title="Wikipedia:Purpose">aims of Wikipedia</a>, to simply engineering "<a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_is_not_about_winning" title="Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not about winning">victory</a>" in a <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Dispute_resolution#Resolving_content_disputes" title="Wikipedia:Dispute resolution">content dispute</a> or an <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:False_consensus" title="Wikipedia:False consensus">untoward result</a> in an <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment" title="Wikipedia:Requests for comment">RfC</a> or other community discussion. Gaming the system may represent an <a href="/wiki/Abuse_of_process" title="Abuse of process">abuse of process</a>, <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Disruptive_editing" title="Wikipedia:Disruptive editing">disruptive editing</a>, or otherwise evading the spirit of community <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Consensus" title="Wikipedia:Consensus">consensus</a>. Editors typically game the system to <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Do_not_disrupt_Wikipedia_to_illustrate_a_point" title="Wikipedia:Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point">make a point</a>, to further an <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Edit_warring" title="Wikipedia:Edit warring">edit war</a>, or to enforce a specific <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view" title="Wikipedia:Neutral point of view">non-neutral point of view</a>. </p><p>If an editor finds and uses a <a href="/wiki/Loophole" title="Loophole">loophole</a> or trick that allows them to evade community standards or <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators#Grievances_by_users_("administrator_abuse")" title="Wikipedia:Administrators">misuse administrator tools</a>, it should not be treated the same as a <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Assume_good_faith" title="Wikipedia:Assume good faith">good-faith</a> mistake. However, <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Blocking_policy#Purpose_and_goals" title="Wikipedia:Blocking policy">Wikipedia sanctions are meant to be preventative, not punitive</a>. A warning from an administrator is usually the best way to prevent gaming, because a clear warning should help correct both <em>good-faith</em> mistakes and <em>bad-faith</em> games. If an editor ignores a warning and repeats their behavior, or if they find new creative ways to achieve the same disruption, it is likely that editor is gaming the system in bad faith. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc"/> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 ext-discussiontools-init-section"><h2 id="The_meaning_of_"gaming_the_system"" data-mw-thread-id="h-The_meaning_of_"gaming_the_system""><span id="The_meaning_of_.22gaming_the_system.22"></span><span data-mw-comment-start="" id="h-The_meaning_of_"gaming_the_system""></span>The meaning of "gaming the system"<span data-mw-comment-end="h-The_meaning_of_"gaming_the_system""></span></h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Gaming_the_system&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: The meaning of "gaming the system""><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>An editor <i>gaming the system</i> is seeking to use <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines" title="Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines">policy</a> in <a href="/wiki/Bad_faith" title="Bad faith">bad faith</a>, by finding within its wording some apparent justification for disruptive actions and stances that policy is clearly not at all intended to support. In doing this, the gamester separates policies and guidelines from their rightful place to document community consensus, and attempts to use them selectively for a personal agenda. An editor is <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Disruptive_editing" title="Wikipedia:Disruptive editing">disruptive</a> if they are using a few words of policy to claim support for a viewpoint that clearly contradicts those policies, to attack a genuinely policy-based stance by willfully misapplying Wikipedia policies, or to derail Wikipedia processes. </p><p>Gaming the system may include: </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikilawyering" title="Wikipedia:Wikilawyering">Wikilawyering</a>, <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pettifogger" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:pettifogger">pettifogging</a>, and otherwise using the <em><a href="/wiki/Letter_and_spirit_of_the_law" title="Letter and spirit of the law">letter</a></em> of policy to violate the broader <em>principles</em> of the policy.</li> <li><span class="anchor" id="Filibuster"></span><a href="/wiki/Filibuster" title="Filibuster">Filibustering</a> the consensus-building process by reverting another editor for minor errors, or sticking to a viewpoint that the community has clearly rejected.</li> <li>Attempting to twist Wikipedia sanctions or processes to harass other editors.</li></ul> <p>In each case, willfulness or knowing is important. Misuse of policy, guidelines or practice is not gaming if it is based upon a genuine mistake. But it may well be, if it is deliberate, where the editor continues to game policy even when it is clear there is no way they can reasonably claim to be unaware. </p><p>Actions that game the system may also overlap with other policies: </p> <ul><li>Misusing Wikipedia processes in order to be intentionally <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/invidious#Adjective" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:invidious">invidious</a> towards another editor, prove a point, or muddy the water in a dispute can also be a form of gaming. However, it is more often categorized as <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Do_not_disrupt_Wikipedia_to_illustrate_a_point" title="Wikipedia:Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point">using Wikipedia to prove a point</a> or <a href="/wiki/Abuse_of_process" title="Abuse of process">abuse of process</a>.</li> <li>Using policies and guidelines to build (or push) a patently false case that some editor is editing in bad faith, with the "evidence" for this itself being an obviously unreasonable bad-faith interpretation of that person's action. This is more often categorized as a breach of the guideline to <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Assume_good_faith" title="Wikipedia:Assume good faith">assume good faith</a>; and in particular, repeated unjustified "warnings" may also be viewed as a breach of <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Civility" title="Wikipedia:Civility">civility</a>.</li> <li>If gaming is also knowingly used as a basis to impugn another editor or to mischaracterize them as a bad-faith editor, then this may also violate the policy of <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:No_personal_attacks" title="Wikipedia:No personal attacks">no personal attacks</a>.</li></ul> <p>Disruption of any kind merits being warned (or <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Blocking_policy" title="Wikipedia:Blocking policy">blocked</a>) by an administrator. Violating the principles of Wikipedia's behavior guidelines may prejudice the decision of <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators" title="Wikipedia:Administrators">administrators</a> or the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Arbitration_Committee" title="Wikipedia:Arbitration Committee">Arbitration Committee</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 ext-discussiontools-init-section"><h2 id="Examples" data-mw-thread-id="h-Examples"><span data-mw-comment-start="" id="h-Examples"></span>Examples<span data-mw-comment-end="h-Examples"></span></h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Gaming_the_system&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Examples"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1252059228"><div class="module-shortcutanchordiv"><span id="WP:GAMETYPE"></span></div><div class="module-shortcutboxplain noprint" role="note"><div class="module-shortcutlist"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Shortcut" title="Wikipedia:Shortcut">Shortcut</a></div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist"><ul><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:GAMETYPE&redirect=no">WP:GAMETYPE</a></span></li></ul></div></div> <p>There are several types of gaming the system. The essence of gaming is the willful and knowing misuse of policies or processes. The following is an (incomplete) list of examples. Actions that are similar to the below, where there is no evidence of intent to act improperly, are usually not considered gaming. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Gaming_the_use_of_policies_and_guidelines" data-mw-thread-id="h-Gaming_the_use_of_policies_and_guidelines-Examples"><span data-mw-comment-start="" id="h-Gaming_the_use_of_policies_and_guidelines-Examples"></span>Gaming the use of <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines" title="Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines">policies and guidelines</a><span data-mw-comment-end="h-Gaming_the_use_of_policies_and_guidelines-Examples"></span></h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Gaming_the_system&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Gaming the use of policies and guidelines"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1252059228"><div class="module-shortcutanchordiv"><span id="WP:PLAYPOLICY"></span><span id="WP:SPURIOUSPROTECT"></span><span id="WP:FORCEDINTERPRET"></span></div><div class="module-shortcutboxplain noprint" role="note"><div class="module-shortcutlist"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Shortcut" title="Wikipedia:Shortcut">Shortcuts</a></div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist"><ul><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:PLAYPOLICY&redirect=no">WP:PLAYPOLICY</a></span></li><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:SPURIOUSPROTECT&redirect=no">WP:SPURIOUSPROTECT</a></span></li><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:FORCEDINTERPRET&redirect=no">WP:FORCEDINTERPRET</a></span></li></ul></div></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines#Bold" title="Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines">Policy on changing rules to gain advantage in a content dispute</a></div> <ol><li><span class="anchor" id="WIKILAWYER"></span>Bad-faith <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikilawyering" title="Wikipedia:Wikilawyering">wikilawyering</a> – arguing the word of policy to defeat the principles of policy. <dl><dd><small>Example: Posting a neutral notice that does not violate <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Canvassing" title="Wikipedia:Canvassing">the guideline on canvassing</a>, while using a different set of notifications to lure a partisan audience to view that neutral notice.</small></dd></dl></li> <li><span class="anchor" id="PLAYPOLICY"></span>Playing policies against each other. <dl><dd><small>Example: Saying you refuse to remove content that violates <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">the policy on verifiability</a>, because that content is protected by the policy that "<a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:What_Wikipedia_is_not#Wikipedia_is_not_censored" title="Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not">Wikipedia is not censored</a>".</small></dd> <dd><small>Example: Telling another user that by reverting your <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Vandalism" title="Wikipedia:Vandalism">vandalism</a> edits, they are <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Edit_warring" title="Wikipedia:Edit warring">violating</a> the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Edit_warring#The_three-revert_rule" title="Wikipedia:Edit warring">3-revert rule</a>. (<a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Edit_warring#Exemptions" title="Wikipedia:Edit warring">Vandalism is an exception to the 3-revert rule.</a>)</small></dd></dl></li> <li><span class="anchor" id="CHERRYPICKING"></span>Selectively "cherry-picking" wording from a policy (or cherry-picking one policy to apply, but willfully ignoring others) to support a view that does not in fact match or comply with policy. <dl><dd><small>Example: Adding content that is restricted under the policy on <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:What_Wikipedia_is_not" title="Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not">what Wikipedia is not</a>, while cherry-picking the words that "<a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:What_Wikipedia_is_not#Wikipedia_is_not_a_paper_encyclopedia" title="Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not">Wikipedia is not a paper encyclopedia</a>" to evade those restrictions.</small></dd></dl></li> <li><span class="anchor" id="SPURIOUSPROTECT"></span>Spuriously and knowingly claiming protection, justification, or support under the words of a policy, for a viewpoint or stance that actually contradicts policy. <dl><dd><small>Example: Saying that content meets <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">the policy on verifiability</a> because it is <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">cited</a> to a source, when in fact the source is not <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_sources" title="Wikipedia:Reliable sources">reliable</a>, or the content twists the source's <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view" title="Wikipedia:Neutral point of view">point of view</a>. (<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1033199720">.mw-parser-output div.crossreference{padding-left:0}</style><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><span role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable crossreference">See <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view#Due_and_undue_weight" title="Wikipedia:Neutral point of view">WP:Neutral point of view § Due and undue weight</a>.)</span></small></dd></dl></li> <li><span class="anchor" id="FORCEDINTERPRET"></span>Attempting to force an untoward interpretation of policy, or impose your own novel view of "standards to apply" rather than those of the community. <dl><dd><small>Example: Presenting a <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_essays" title="Wikipedia:Wikipedia essays">Wikipedia essay</a> that was written by a single editor as though it were a consensus policy.</small></dd></dl></li></ol> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Gaming_the_consensus-building_process" data-mw-thread-id="h-Gaming_the_consensus-building_process-Examples"><span data-mw-comment-start="" id="h-Gaming_the_consensus-building_process-Examples"></span>Gaming the consensus-building process<span data-mw-comment-end="h-Gaming_the_consensus-building_process-Examples"></span></h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Gaming_the_system&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Gaming the consensus-building process"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1252059228"><div class="module-shortcutanchordiv"><span id="WP:STONEWALL"></span><span id="WP:ONEHANDGIVES"></span><span id="WP:FILIBUSTER"></span></div><div class="module-shortcutboxplain noprint" role="note"><div class="module-shortcutlist"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Shortcut" title="Wikipedia:Shortcut">Shortcuts</a></div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist"><ul><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:STONEWALL&redirect=no">WP:STONEWALL</a></span></li><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:ONEHANDGIVES&redirect=no">WP:ONEHANDGIVES</a></span></li><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:FILIBUSTER&redirect=no">WP:FILIBUSTER</a></span></li></ul></div></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">"WP:STONEWALL" redirects here. For the Wikipedia essay on status quo stonewalling, see <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Status_quo_stonewalling" title="Wikipedia:Status quo stonewalling">Wikipedia:Status quo stonewalling</a>.</div> <ol><li><span class="anchor" id="Stonewall"></span><span class="anchor" id="Filibuster"></span><span class="anchor" id="Filibustering"></span><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238216509">.mw-parser-output .vanchor>:target~.vanchor-text{background-color:#b1d2ff}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .vanchor>:target~.vanchor-text{background-color:#0f4dc9}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .vanchor>:target~.vanchor-text{background-color:#0f4dc9}}</style><span class="vanchor"><span id="Stonewalling"></span><span class="vanchor-text">Stonewalling</span></span> or <a href="/wiki/Filibuster" title="Filibuster">filibustering</a> – <em>repeatedly</em> pushing a viewpoint with which the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Consensus" title="Wikipedia:Consensus">consensus</a> of the community <em>clearly</em> does not agree, effectively preventing a policy-based resolution. <dl><dd><small>Example: An editor refuses to accept a change unless some condition is complied with, but it is not a condition that has any basis in <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines" title="Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines">Wikipedia policies or guidelines</a>.</small></dd> <dd><small>Example: Editors reach a consensus, except one (or a <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Tag_team" title="Wikipedia:Tag team">tag team</a>) insisting that the change sought violates some policy or other principle, in a way they cannot clearly demonstrate.</small></dd> <dd><small><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1033199720"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><span role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable crossreference">See also the policy <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Disruptive_editing" title="Wikipedia:Disruptive editing">WP:Disruptive editing</a>, especially on <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Disruptive_editing#Failure_or_refusal_to_"get_the_point"" title="Wikipedia:Disruptive editing">"refusal to get the point"</a>; and the essays <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:What_is_consensus%3F#Not_unanimity" title="Wikipedia:What is consensus?">WP:What is consensus? § Not unanimity</a>, <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Don%27t_bludgeon_the_process#No_one_is_obligated_to_satisfy_you" title="Wikipedia:Don't bludgeon the process">WP:Don't bludgeon the process § No one is obligated to satisfy you</a>, <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Status_quo_stonewalling" title="Wikipedia:Status quo stonewalling">WP:Status quo stonewalling</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:BRD_misuse#Filibusterers" title="Wikipedia:BRD misuse">WP:BRD misuse § Filibusterers</a></span></small> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1252059228"><div class="module-shortcutanchordiv"><span id="WP:BADFAITHNEG"></span><span id="WP:BFN"></span></div><div class="module-shortcutboxplain noprint" role="note"><div class="module-shortcutlist"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Shortcut" title="Wikipedia:Shortcut">Shortcuts</a></div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist"><ul><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:BADFAITHNEG&redirect=no">WP:BADFAITHNEG</a></span></li><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:BFN&redirect=no">WP:BFN</a></span></li></ul></div></div></dd></dl></li> <li><span class="anchor" id="BADFAITHNEG"></span><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238216509"><span class="vanchor"><span id="Bad-faith_negotiating"></span><span class="vanchor-text">Bad-faith negotiating</span></span> – luring other editors into a compromise by making a concession, only to withhold that concession after the other side has compromised. <dl><dd><small>Example: An editor negotiates a consensus to remove <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_sources" title="Wikipedia:Reliable sources">well-verified material</a> from one article, because it is already covered in a second article. Afterward, the editor deletes the material from the second article.</small></dd> <dd><small>Example: Editors reach a consensus. The author of the final agreed-on text is supposed to post it but never does. Weeks later, a second editor tires of waiting and posts a modified version, which the first editor immediately reverts.</small></dd> <dd><small>Example: An editor withholds agreement to a change unless additional, more satisfactory sources are provided, but declares all the new sourcing to be unsatisfactory despite the citation work clearly fulfilling the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Core_content_policies" title="Wikipedia:Core content policies">core content policies</a>.</small><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1252059228"><div class="module-shortcutanchordiv"><span id="WP:FIXFIRST"></span></div><div class="module-shortcutboxplain noprint" role="note"><div class="module-shortcutlist"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Shortcut" title="Wikipedia:Shortcut">Shortcut</a></div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist"><ul><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:FIXFIRST&redirect=no">WP:FIXFIRST</a></span></li></ul></div></div></dd></dl></li> <li><span class="anchor" id="REMOVELARGE"></span><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238216509"><span class="vanchor"><span id="Removing_a_large_addition_for_a_minor_error"></span><span class="vanchor-text">Removing a large addition for a minor error</span></span>. If the error is minor, then <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Editing_policy#Try_to_fix_problems" title="Wikipedia:Editing policy">fix it</a> (or at least <a href="/wiki/Template:Inline_cleanup_tags" title="Template:Inline cleanup tags">tag it</a> for clean-up). <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Editing_policy#Wikipedia_is_a_work_in_progress:_perfection_is_not_required" title="Wikipedia:Editing policy">Perfection is not required</a>, and Wikipedia is built through incremental improvement. <dl><dd><small>Example: An editor adds a paragraph of <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">verifiable information</a>, but it is removed entirely because of a typographical error that could easily be fixed.</small></dd> <dd><small>Example: An editor performs page-wide, uncontroversial copy editing and code cleanup, but another editor thinks some ostensibly minor changes subtly altered the meaning of two sentences, and so reverts several hours of work instead of just the two disputed changes.</small><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1252059228"><div class="module-shortcutanchordiv"><span id="WP:GASLIGHT"></span><span id="WP:GASLIGHTING"></span></div><div class="module-shortcutboxplain noprint" role="note"><div class="module-shortcutlist"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Shortcut" title="Wikipedia:Shortcut">Shortcuts</a></div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist"><ul><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:GASLIGHT&redirect=no">WP:GASLIGHT</a></span></li><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:GASLIGHTING&redirect=no">WP:GASLIGHTING</a></span></li></ul></div></div></dd></dl></li> <li><span class="anchor" id="GASLIGHTING"></span><span class="anchor" id="Gaslighting"></span><span class="anchor" id="Gaslight"></span>Employing <a href="/wiki/Gaslighting" title="Gaslighting">gaslighting</a> tactics – such as history <a href="/wiki/False_attribution" title="False attribution">re-writing</a>, reality <a href="/wiki/Denialism" title="Denialism">denial</a>, <a href="/wiki/Handwave" class="mw-redirect" title="Handwave">misdirection</a>, baseless <a href="/wiki/Ipse_dixit" title="Ipse dixit">contradiction</a>, <a href="/wiki/Psychological_projection" title="Psychological projection">projection</a> of your own foibles onto others, <a href="/wiki/Proof_by_assertion" title="Proof by assertion">repetition</a>, or <a href="/wiki/Red_herring" title="Red herring">off-topic rambling</a> – to <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:What_Wikipedia_is_not#Wikipedia_is_not_a_battleground" title="Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not">destabilize</a> a discussion by sowing doubt and discord. <dl><dd><small>Examples: Denying that you <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Simplest_diff_guide" title="Wikipedia:Simplest diff guide">posted what you did</a>, suggesting someone <a href="/wiki/Straw_man" title="Straw man">agreed to something they did not</a>, <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Disruptive_editing#Failure_or_refusal_to_"get_the_point"" title="Wikipedia:Disruptive editing">pretending</a> your question has not already been answered, misrepresenting what a <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikilawyering" title="Wikipedia:Wikilawyering">policy actually says</a> or means, <a href="/wiki/Fallacy_of_equivocation" class="mw-redirect" title="Fallacy of equivocation">prevaricating about the obvious meaning</a> of a claim, or <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:How_to_lose" title="Wikipedia:How to lose">refusing to concede</a> when your position has been disproved or rejected by consensus.</small><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1252059228"><div class="module-shortcutanchordiv"><span id="WP:TRANSACTIONAL"></span><span id="WP:TITFORTAT"></span></div><div class="module-shortcutboxplain noprint" role="note"><div class="module-shortcutlist"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Shortcut" title="Wikipedia:Shortcut">Shortcuts</a></div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist"><ul><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:TRANSACTIONAL&redirect=no">WP:TRANSACTIONAL</a></span></li><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:TITFORTAT&redirect=no">WP:TITFORTAT</a></span></li></ul></div></div></dd></dl></li> <li><span class="anchor" id="TRANSACTIONAL"></span><span class="anchor" id="Transactional"></span><span class="anchor" id="TITFORTAT"></span><span class="anchor" id="Tit_for_tat"></span>Transactional politics or <a href="/wiki/Tit_for_tat" title="Tit for tat">tit for tat</a> – asking an editor to take an action (e.g. change their stance in a discussion) on the basis of your efforts taken elsewhere on their behalf; or suggesting that you will withhold efforts on their behalf unless they take your desired action. <dl><dd><small>Example: An editor asks another to change their vote at <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:RFA" class="mw-redirect" title="Wikipedia:RFA">RFA</a> on the basis of prior support given or other actions taken on their behalf by the first editor.</small></dd> <dd><small>Example: An editor asks an admin to warn another editor for alleged <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:NPOV" class="mw-redirect" title="Wikipedia:NPOV">PoV</a>-pushing, and hints that the first editor's pending <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:GAN" class="mw-redirect" title="Wikipedia:GAN">GAN</a> or <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:FAC" class="mw-redirect" title="Wikipedia:FAC">FAC</a> review of the admin's article may be in jeopardy if action isn't taken by the admin.</small></dd> <dd><small>Example: An editor asks another editor to support their <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:RfC" class="mw-redirect" title="Wikipedia:RfC">RfC</a> in exchange for their support in another discussion.</small></dd></dl></li></ol> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Gaming_of_article_titles,_review_processes,_and_deletion_processes" data-mw-thread-id="h-Gaming_of_article_titles,_review_processes,_and_deletion_processes-Examples"><span id="Gaming_of_article_titles.2C_review_processes.2C_and_deletion_processes"></span><span data-mw-comment-start="" id="h-Gaming_of_article_titles,_review_processes,_and_deletion_processes-Examples"></span>Gaming of article titles, review processes, and deletion processes<span data-mw-comment-end="h-Gaming_of_article_titles,_review_processes,_and_deletion_processes-Examples"></span></h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Gaming_the_system&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Gaming of article titles, review processes, and deletion processes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1252059228"><div class="module-shortcutanchordiv"><span id="WP:GAMENAME"></span></div><div class="module-shortcutboxplain noprint" role="note"><div class="module-shortcutlist"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Shortcut" title="Wikipedia:Shortcut">Shortcut</a></div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist"><ul><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:GAMENAME&redirect=no">WP:GAMENAME</a></span></li></ul></div></div> <ol><li>Using different or variant forms or spellings of an <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Article_titles" title="Wikipedia:Article titles">article title</a>. <dl><dd><small>Example: Submitting multiple drafts with almost the same title to <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_creation" title="Wikipedia:Articles for creation">Articles for Creation</a>, such as <a href="/w/index.php?title=Draft:Ralph_Zwogli&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Draft:Ralph Zwogli (page does not exist)">Draft:Ralph Zwogli</a>, <a href="/w/index.php?title=Draft:Ralph_A._Zwogli&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Draft:Ralph A. Zwogli (page does not exist)">Draft:Ralph A. Zwogli</a>, and <a href="/w/index.php?title=Draft:Ralph_Zwogli_(businessman)&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Draft:Ralph Zwogli (businessman) (page does not exist)">Draft:Ralph Zwogli (businessman)</a></small></dd> <dd><small>Example: Submitting a draft or article with almost the same title as a recently deleted article</small></dd></dl></li> <li>Use of <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppetry" title="Wikipedia:Sockpuppetry">sockpuppet</a> accounts to conceal a <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest" title="Wikipedia:Conflict of interest">conflict of interest</a>. <dl><dd><small>Example: Submitting a <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons" title="Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons">biography</a> from a sockpuppet account after a previous submission has been declined because it is seen to be an <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Autobiography" title="Wikipedia:Autobiography">autobiography</a>.</small></dd></dl></li> <li>Gaming the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_creation" title="Wikipedia:Articles for creation">Articles for creation</a> process. <dl><dd><small>Example: Removing the record of previous reviews (which says not to remove it) and resubmitting a draft.</small></dd> <dd><small>Example: Resubmitting a draft that has been rejected by removing the rejection rather than discussing it with the reviewer.</small></dd></dl></li></ol> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Gaming_of_sanctions_for_disruptive_behavior" data-mw-thread-id="h-Gaming_of_sanctions_for_disruptive_behavior-Examples"><span data-mw-comment-start="" id="h-Gaming_of_sanctions_for_disruptive_behavior-Examples"></span>Gaming of sanctions for disruptive behavior<span data-mw-comment-end="h-Gaming_of_sanctions_for_disruptive_behavior-Examples"></span></h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Gaming_the_system&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Gaming of sanctions for disruptive behavior"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><span class="anchor" id="Gaming_sanctions_for_disruptive_behavior"></span><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1252059228"></p><div class="module-shortcutanchordiv"><span id="WP:SANCTIONGAME"></span><span id="WP:SANCTIONGAMING"></span></div><div class="module-shortcutboxplain noprint" role="note"><div class="module-shortcutlist"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Shortcut" title="Wikipedia:Shortcut">Shortcuts</a></div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist"><ul><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:SANCTIONGAME&redirect=no">WP:SANCTIONGAME</a></span></li><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:SANCTIONGAMING&redirect=no">WP:SANCTIONGAMING</a></span></li></ul></div></div> <ol><li><span class="anchor" id="MISCHARATERIZING"></span><span class="anchor" id="MISCHARATERISING"></span><span class="anchor" id="MISCHARACTERIZE"></span><span class="anchor" id="MISCHARACTERISE"></span>Mischaracterizing other editors' actions to make them seem unreasonable, improper, or deserving of sanction. <dl><dd><small>Example: Refusing to provide a proper <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">citation</a> to an editor looking to <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">verify</a> your claim, and accusing the editor of being disruptive for making repeated requests. Citations should be accurate so that other editors may verify them.</small></dd></dl></li> <li><span class="anchor" id="WALKBACK"></span><span class="anchor" id="WALKINGBACK"></span>"Walking back" a <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:No_personal_attacks" title="Wikipedia:No personal attacks">personal attack</a> to make it seem less hostile than it was, rather than apologizing. <dl><dd><small>Example: An editor responds to a disagreement by saying, "You're obviously wrong, wrong, wrong. Did you even pass 9th-grade history?" Later, they defend this statement as a good-faith question about the other editor's education.</small></dd></dl></li> <li><span class="anchor" id="BORDERLINING"></span><span class="anchor" id="BORDERLINE"></span>"Borderlining" – habitually treading the edge of policy breach or engaging in low-grade policy breach, to make it hard to prove misconduct. <dl><dd><small>Example: An editor never violates the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Edit_warring#The_three-revert_rule" title="Wikipedia:Edit warring">three-revert rule</a>, but takes several months to repeatedly push the same edits over the objections of multiple editors.</small></dd></dl></li> <li><span class="anchor" id="RETRIBUTION"></span>Retribution – deliberately reverting an editor's edits in one article in retaliation for a dispute in another. <dl><dd><small>Example: Editor A reverts an edit made by Editor B because it did not adhere to a neutral point of view and they did not provide a reliable source. Editor B starts a discussion on the talk page in which Editor A participates, but the discussion fails to generate consensus. Later on, Editor B reverts a well-sourced, neutral addition that Editor A made, saying it did not comply with the Manual of Style.</small></dd></dl></li> <li><span class="anchor" id="PLAYINGVICTIM"></span><span class="anchor" id="PLAYVICTIM"></span>Playing victim – violating a rule and at the same time claiming that others are in violation of the same or a closely related rule. Also known as hypocrisy. <dl><dd><small>Example: Editor A posts uncivil comments while at the same time accusing Editor B of uncivil behavior, demanding sanctions and citing policies that Editor A clearly violates.</small></dd></dl></li></ol> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Gaming_of_permissions" data-mw-thread-id="h-Gaming_of_permissions-Examples"><span data-mw-comment-start="" id="h-Gaming_of_permissions-Examples"></span>Gaming of permissions<span data-mw-comment-end="h-Gaming_of_permissions-Examples"></span></h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Gaming_the_system&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Gaming of permissions"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1252059228"><div class="module-shortcutanchordiv"><span id="WP:PGAME"></span></div><div class="module-shortcutboxplain noprint" role="note"><div class="module-shortcutlist"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Shortcut" title="Wikipedia:Shortcut">Shortcut</a></div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist"><ul><li><span class="plainlinks"><a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:PGAME&redirect=no">WP:PGAME</a></span></li></ul></div></div> <ol><li>Making unconstructive edits to raise your <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:User_access_levels" title="Wikipedia:User access levels">user access level</a>. <dl><dd><small>Example: A new editor makes 10 <a href="/wiki/Help:Dummy_edit" title="Help:Dummy edit">dummy edits</a> to become <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:User_access_levels#Autoconfirmed_and_confirmed_users" title="Wikipedia:User access levels">autoconfirmed</a>, and then makes controversial changes to <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Protection_policy#Semi-protection" title="Wikipedia:Protection policy">semi-protected</a> articles, <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Moving_a_page" title="Wikipedia:Moving a page">moves</a> a promotional draft to article space, or otherwise edits disruptively or <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Vandalism" title="Wikipedia:Vandalism">vandalizes</a> articles.</small></dd> <dd><small>Example: An editor makes many unconstructive edits in a <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About_the_sandbox" title="Wikipedia:About the sandbox">sandbox</a> to become <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:User_access_levels#Extendedconfirmed" title="Wikipedia:User access levels">extended confirmed</a>, and then makes controversial changes to <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Protection_policy#Extended_confirmed_protection" title="Wikipedia:Protection policy">extended confirmed protected</a> articles.</small></dd></dl></li></ol> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 ext-discussiontools-init-section"><h2 id="Spurious_legalisms" data-mw-thread-id="h-Spurious_legalisms"><span data-mw-comment-start="" id="h-Spurious_legalisms"></span>Spurious legalisms<span data-mw-comment-end="h-Spurious_legalisms"></span></h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Gaming_the_system&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Spurious legalisms"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Because <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:What_Wikipedia_is_not#Wikipedia_is_not_a_bureaucracy" title="Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not">Wikipedia is not</a> a <a href="/wiki/Court_of_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Court of law">court of law</a>, legal procedures and terms have no bearing on Wikipedia. Typically, <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikilawyering" title="Wikipedia:Wikilawyering">wikilawyering</a> raises procedural or evidentiary points in a manner analogous to that used in formal legal proceedings, often using ill-founded legal reasoning. Wikilawyering often serves to evade an issue or even obstruct the crafting of a workable solution. For example, it is often impossible to definitely establish the actual user behind a set of <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppetry" title="Wikipedia:Sockpuppetry">sockpuppets</a>, and it is not a defense that none of the sockpuppets which emerge were named in the request for arbitration. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 ext-discussiontools-init-section"><h2 id="Various_levels_of_intent" data-mw-thread-id="h-Various_levels_of_intent"><span data-mw-comment-start="" id="h-Various_levels_of_intent"></span>Various levels of intent<span data-mw-comment-end="h-Various_levels_of_intent"></span></h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Gaming_the_system&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Various levels of intent"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Use of the term "gaming the system" should be done with caution, as it can be interpreted as an <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Assume_good_faith#Accusing_others_of_bad_faith" title="Wikipedia:Assume good faith">accusation of bad-faith editing</a>. Although users might engage in the practices described above, that activity should not be considered proof of malicious intent. The actual level of intent should also be considered separately, as to whether the action was premeditated, or spur-of-the-moment, or merely copying an older tactic that seemed effective for other editors in the past. The term <i>gaming the system</i> is not meant to vilify those involved, with the word "gaming" also referring to playful activity in the manner of a game of sport. The goal is to focus on Wikipedia activities as a serious effort to improve articles, not an arena for playing games and sparring with opponents as a form of amusement. Judging intent might include discussions with others, rather than escalate the situation as an issue for direct confrontation. The situation might warrant special mediation <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1033199720"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><span role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable crossreference">(see <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Mediation" title="Wikipedia:Mediation">WP:Mediation</a>)</span> or perhaps even, in extreme cases, formal arbitration <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1033199720"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><span role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable crossreference">(see <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Arbitration" title="Wikipedia:Arbitration">WP:Arbitration</a>)</span>. The risks of continued involvement should be carefully considered, especially if the intent seems overly severe or <a href="/wiki/Obsessive%E2%80%93compulsive_disorder" title="Obsessive–compulsive disorder">obsessive–compulsive</a> behavior. However clear such an intent might subjectively seem, you should not <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Casting_aspersions" title="Wikipedia:Casting aspersions">cast aspersions</a> about the mentalities or motivations of other editors. Wikipedia has a variety of <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Noticeboards" title="Wikipedia:Noticeboards">noticeboards</a> for dealing with problematic editing behavior, patterns of which tend to speak for themselves when properly <a href="/wiki/Help:Diff" title="Help:Diff"><i>diff</i>ed</a> with evidence. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 ext-discussiontools-init-section"><h2 id="Abuse_of_process" data-mw-thread-id="h-Abuse_of_process"><span data-mw-comment-start="" id="h-Abuse_of_process"></span>Abuse of process<span data-mw-comment-end="h-Abuse_of_process"></span></h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Gaming_the_system&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Abuse of process"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><a href="/wiki/Abuse_of_process" title="Abuse of process">Abuse of process</a> is related to gaming. It involves knowingly trying to use the communally agreed and sanctioned processes described by some policies, to advance a purpose for which they are clearly not intended. Abuse of process is <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Disruptive_editing" title="Wikipedia:Disruptive editing">disruptive</a>, and depending on circumstances may be also described as gaming the system, <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:No_personal_attacks" title="Wikipedia:No personal attacks">personal attack</a>, or <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Do_not_disrupt_Wikipedia_to_illustrate_a_point" title="Wikipedia:Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point">disruption to make a point</a>. Communally agreed processes are intended to be used in good faith. </p><p>What is "intent", consciously or otherwise, and what actually is "good"-enough "faith" must also be clearly defined. Only then, the definers's power and status position must also be openly noted when making such any determinations. The common assumptions that what is claimed as "communally agreed" must include more than a select group, and thus is also a questionable number, perhaps unverifiable, and even if is said to be any legitimate majority of contributors – like those who were recently allowed to write on Wikipedia. Vague words of idealistic concepts are dangerous and may be misleading from what is then experienced in actuality when reading or writing on Wikipedia. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 ext-discussiontools-init-section"><h2 id="See_also" data-mw-thread-id="h-See_also"><span data-mw-comment-start="" id="h-See_also"></span>See also<span data-mw-comment-end="h-See_also"></span></h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Gaming_the_system&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1184024115">.mw-parser-output .div-col{margin-top:0.3em;column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .div-col-small{font-size:90%}.mw-parser-output .div-col-rules{column-rule:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .div-col dl,.mw-parser-output .div-col ol,.mw-parser-output .div-col ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .div-col li,.mw-parser-output .div-col dd{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}</style><div class="div-col" style="column-width: 22em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Gaming_the_system" class="mw-redirect" title="Gaming the system">Gaming the system</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Unclean_hands" class="mw-redirect" title="Unclean hands">Unclean hands</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Maxims_of_equity#He_who_comes_into_equity_must_come_with_clean_hands" title="Maxims of equity">He who comes into equity must come with clean hands</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Consensus#Forum_shopping" title="Wikipedia:Consensus">Wikipedia:Consensus § Forum shopping</a> (policy on seeking out a supportive forum)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Civil_POV_pushing" title="Wikipedia:Civil POV pushing">Wikipedia:Civil POV pushing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Disruptive_editing" title="Wikipedia:Disruptive editing">Wikipedia:Disruptive editing</a> (guideline)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Do_not_disrupt_Wikipedia_to_illustrate_a_point" title="Wikipedia:Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point">Wikipedia:Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point</a> (guideline)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Don%27t_stuff_beans_up_your_nose" title="Wikipedia:Don't stuff beans up your nose">Wikipedia:Don't stuff beans up your nose</a> (humorous essay)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Griefing" title="Wikipedia:Griefing">Wikipedia:Griefing</a> (essay)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Ignore_all_rules" title="Wikipedia:Ignore all rules">Wikipedia:Ignore all rules</a> (policy)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Maldoror%27s_Conjecture" title="Wikipedia:Maldoror's Conjecture">Wikipedia:Maldoror's Conjecture</a> (essay)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Not_here_to_build_an_encyclopedia" class="mw-redirect" title="Wikipedia:Not here to build an encyclopedia">Wikipedia:Not here to build an encyclopedia</a> (policy supplement)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Policy_shopping" title="Wikipedia:Policy shopping">Wikipedia:Policy shopping</a> (essay)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:POV_railroad" title="Wikipedia:POV railroad">Wikipedia:POV railroad</a> (essay)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppetry" title="Wikipedia:Sockpuppetry">Wikipedia:Sockpuppetry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Tag_team" title="Wikipedia:Tag team">Wikipedia:Tag team</a> (essay)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Too_long;_didn%27t_read" title="Wikipedia:Too long; didn't read">Wikipedia:Too long; didn't read</a> (essay)</li></ul></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output 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rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1038841319"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1038841319"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1038841319"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1038841319"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1038841319"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1038841319"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Wikipedia_key_policies_and_guidelines_(?)" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Wikipedia_policies_and_guidelines" title="Template:Wikipedia policies and guidelines"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Wikipedia_policies_and_guidelines" title="Template talk:Wikipedia policies and guidelines"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Wikipedia_policies_and_guidelines" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Wikipedia policies and guidelines"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Wikipedia_key_policies_and_guidelines_(?)" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em">Wikipedia key <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Policies_and_guidelines" title="Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines">policies and guidelines</a> <span class="rt-commentedText tooltip tooltip-dotted" title="Wikipedia's policies and guidelines are developed by the community to describe best practices, clarify principles, resolve conflicts, and otherwise further our goal.">(?)</span></div></th></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"><div> <ul><li><b><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Five_pillars" title="Wikipedia:Five pillars">Five pillars</a></b> <ul><li><b><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Ignore_all_rules" title="Wikipedia:Ignore all rules">Ignore all rules</a></b></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="text-align: center;;width:6.9em;text-align:left;">Content <span class="rt-commentedText tooltip tooltip-dotted" title="defines the scope of the encyclopedia and the material that is suitable for it">(?)</span></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left; font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="color:#118811;"><abbr title="Policies"><span style="font-size:120%">P</span></abbr></span></b></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">Verifiability</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:No_original_research" title="Wikipedia:No original research">No original research</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view" title="Wikipedia:Neutral point of view">Neutral point of view</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:What_Wikipedia_is_not" title="Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not">What Wikipedia is not</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Biographies_of_living_persons" title="Wikipedia:Biographies of living persons">Biographies of living persons</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights" title="Wikipedia:Copyrights">Copyright</a> (<a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyright_violations" title="Wikipedia:Copyright violations">Copyright violations</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Image_use_policy" title="Wikipedia:Image use policy">Image use</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Article_titles" title="Wikipedia:Article titles">Article titles</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left; font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="color:#0077A4;"><abbr title="Guidelines"><span style="font-size:120%">G</span></abbr></span></b></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Notability" title="Wikipedia:Notability">Notability</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Autobiography" title="Wikipedia:Autobiography">Autobiography</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">Citing sources</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Reliable_sources" title="Wikipedia:Reliable sources">Reliable sources</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Identifying_reliable_sources_(medicine)" title="Wikipedia:Identifying reliable sources (medicine)">Medicine</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Do_not_include_the_full_text_of_lengthy_primary_sources" title="Wikipedia:Do not include the full text of lengthy primary sources">Do not include copies of lengthy primary sources</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Plagiarism" title="Wikipedia:Plagiarism">Plagiarism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Do_not_create_hoaxes" title="Wikipedia:Do not create hoaxes">Don't create hoaxes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Fringe_theories" title="Wikipedia:Fringe theories">Fringe theories</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Patent_nonsense" title="Wikipedia:Patent nonsense">Patent nonsense</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:External_links" title="Wikipedia:External links">External links</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="text-align: center;;width:6.9em;text-align:left;">Conduct <span class="rt-commentedText tooltip tooltip-dotted" title="describes how editors can successfully collaborate and what behavior is acceptable">(?)</span></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left; font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="color:#118811;"><abbr title="Policies"><span style="font-size:120%">P</span></abbr></span></b></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Civility" title="Wikipedia:Civility">Civility</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Consensus" title="Wikipedia:Consensus">Consensus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Harassment" title="Wikipedia:Harassment">Harassment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Vandalism" title="Wikipedia:Vandalism">Vandalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Ignore_all_rules" title="Wikipedia:Ignore all rules">Ignore all rules</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:No_personal_attacks" title="Wikipedia:No personal attacks">No personal attacks</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Ownership_of_content" title="Wikipedia:Ownership of content">Ownership of content</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Edit_warring" title="Wikipedia:Edit warring">Edit warring</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Dispute_resolution" title="Wikipedia:Dispute resolution">Dispute resolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Sockpuppetry" title="Wikipedia:Sockpuppetry">Sockpuppetry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:No_legal_threats" title="Wikipedia:No legal threats">No legal threats</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Child_protection" title="Wikipedia:Child protection">Child protection</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Paid-contribution_disclosure" title="Wikipedia:Paid-contribution disclosure">Paid-contribution disclosure</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left; font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="color:#0077A4;"><abbr title="Guidelines"><span style="font-size:120%">G</span></abbr></span></b></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Assume_good_faith" title="Wikipedia:Assume good faith">Assume good faith</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Conflict_of_interest" title="Wikipedia:Conflict of interest">Conflict of interest</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Disruptive_editing" title="Wikipedia:Disruptive editing">Disruptive editing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Do_not_disrupt_Wikipedia_to_illustrate_a_point" title="Wikipedia:Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point">Do not disrupt Wikipedia to illustrate a point</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Etiquette" title="Wikipedia:Etiquette">Etiquette</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Gaming the system</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_do_not_bite_the_newcomers" title="Wikipedia:Please do not bite the newcomers">Please do not bite the newcomers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Courtesy_vanishing" title="Wikipedia:Courtesy vanishing">Courtesy vanishing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Responding_to_threats_of_harm" title="Wikipedia:Responding to threats of harm">Responding to threats of harm</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Talk_page_guidelines" title="Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines">Talk page guidelines</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Signatures" title="Wikipedia:Signatures">Signatures</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="text-align: center;;width:6.9em;text-align:left;">Deletion <span class="rt-commentedText tooltip tooltip-dotted" title="explains the processes by which pages, revisions, and logs may be deleted">(?)</span></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th id="P" scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left; font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="color:#118811;"><abbr title="Policies"><span style="font-size:120%">P</span></abbr></span></b></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Deletion_policy" title="Wikipedia:Deletion policy">Deletion policy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Proposed_deletion" title="Wikipedia:Proposed deletion">Proposed deletion</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Proposed_deletion_of_biographies_of_living_people" title="Wikipedia:Proposed deletion of biographies of living people">Biographies</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Criteria_for_speedy_deletion" title="Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion">Criteria for speedy deletion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Attack_page" title="Wikipedia:Attack page">Attack page</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Oversight" title="Wikipedia:Oversight">Oversight</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Revision_deletion" title="Wikipedia:Revision deletion">Revision deletion</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="text-align: center;;width:6.9em;text-align:left;">Enforcement <span class="rt-commentedText tooltip tooltip-dotted" title="explains the various means by which standards may be enforced">(?)</span></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th id="P" scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left; font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="color:#118811;"><abbr title="Policies"><span style="font-size:120%">P</span></abbr></span></b></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators" title="Wikipedia:Administrators">Administrators</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Banning_policy" title="Wikipedia:Banning policy">Banning</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Blocking_policy" title="Wikipedia:Blocking policy">Blocking</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Protection_policy" title="Wikipedia:Protection policy">Page protection</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="text-align: center;;width:6.9em;text-align:left;">Editing <span class="rt-commentedText tooltip tooltip-dotted" title="documents the various protocols about style and grouping">(?)</span></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left; font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="color:#118811;"><abbr title="Policies"><span style="font-size:120%">P</span></abbr></span></b></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Editing_policy" title="Wikipedia:Editing policy">Editing policy</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left; font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="color:#0077A4;"><abbr title="Guidelines"><span style="font-size:120%">G</span></abbr></span></b></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Article_size" title="Wikipedia:Article size">Article size</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Summary_style" title="Wikipedia:Summary style">Summary style</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Be_bold" title="Wikipedia:Be bold">Be bold</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Disambiguation" title="Wikipedia:Disambiguation">Disambiguation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Hatnote" title="Wikipedia:Hatnote">Hatnotes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Broad-concept_article" title="Wikipedia:Broad-concept article">Broad-concept article</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Make_technical_articles_understandable" title="Wikipedia:Make technical articles understandable">Understandability</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left; font-weight: normal;">Style</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style">Manual of Style</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Contents" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Contents">Contents</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Accessibility" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility">Accessibility</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Dates_and_numbers" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers">Dates and numbers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Images" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Images">Images</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Layout" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Layout">Layout</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Lead_section" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lead section">Lead section</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Linking" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Linking">Linking</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Lists" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lists">Lists</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left; font-weight: normal;">Classification</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Categories,_lists,_and_navigation_templates" title="Wikipedia:Categories, lists, and navigation templates">Categories, lists, and navigation templates</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Categorization" title="Wikipedia:Categorization">Categorization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Template_namespace" title="Wikipedia:Template namespace">Template namespace</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="text-align: center;;width:6.9em;text-align:left;">Project content <span class="rt-commentedText tooltip tooltip-dotted" title="protocols related to administration">(?)</span></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th id="G" scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left; font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="color:#0077A4;"><abbr title="Guidelines"><span style="font-size:120%">G</span></abbr></span></b></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Project_namespace" title="Wikipedia:Project namespace">Project namespace</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Council/Guide" title="Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Guide">WikiProjects</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:User_pages" title="Wikipedia:User pages">User pages</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Userboxes" title="Wikipedia:Userboxes">User boxes</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Shortcut" title="Wikipedia:Shortcut">Shortcuts</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Subpages" title="Wikipedia:Subpages">Subpages</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="text-align: center;;width:6.9em;text-align:left;;background: #dddddd;color:inherit;"><abbr title="Wikimedia Foundation">WMF</abbr> <abbr title="official policies and statements of the Wikimedia Foundation">(?)</abbr></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th id="P" scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%;text-align:left; font-weight: normal; background: #e6e6e6;color:inherit;"><b><span style="color:#118811;"><abbr title="Policies"><span style="font-size:120%">P</span></abbr></span></b></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct" class="extiw" title="wmf:Policy:Universal Code of Conduct">Universal Code of Conduct</a></li> <li><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Terms_of_Use" class="extiw" title="wmf:Terms of Use">Terms of Use</a></li> <li><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policies" class="extiw" title="wmf:Policies">List of policies</a></li> <li><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Friendly_space_policy" class="extiw" title="wmf:Friendly space policy">Friendly space policy</a></li> <li><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Licensing_policy" class="extiw" title="wmf:Resolution:Licensing policy">Licensing and copyright</a></li> <li><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Privacy_policy" class="extiw" title="wmf:Privacy policy">Privacy policy</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2" style="text-align: center;;font-weight: normal;"><div> <ul><li><b><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_policies_and_guidelines" title="Wikipedia:List of policies and guidelines">List of all policies and guidelines</a></b> <ul><li><b><span style="color:#118811;"><span style="font-size:120%">P</span></span></b>: <b><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_policies" title="Wikipedia:List of policies">List of policies</a></b></li> <li><b><span style="color:#0077A4;"><span style="font-size:120%">G</span></span></b>: <b><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_guidelines" title="Wikipedia:List of guidelines">List of guidelines</a></b></li></ul></li> <li><b><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Principles" title="Wikipedia:Principles">Summaries of values and principles</a></b></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Gaming_the_system&oldid=1257809046">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Gaming_the_system&oldid=1257809046</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Category</a>: 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