"My node Blah blah blah needs to go. It is a mistake node, since it is improperly formatted and ugly, and I have more info I want to add. I just want to re-node it because it has potential and it's a good node. If I just fixed it, no one would see that I did all that work to make it better. Thank you." --newbie noder

I ran into a nuke request similar to the above quote. I had already nuked the requested node after talking to another (long-time) editor/god. After chatting about it, I nuked with a 5xp penalty. Killing a node so it can be done correctly, then having it re-appear in the New Writeups nodelet so it can get (hopefully) upvoted is not something the E2 "workers" want to do, for several reasons:

• It creates extra work for the Content Editors and Gods. We have a hard enough time keeping up with the trolls and digging out the older sub-par nodes. Remember two things: we do this on a voluntary basis and we do this because we actually give a shite about the database.
• It creates a bad precedent. The whole point to hitting the sumbit button is saying to yourself that it is done to the best of your abilities. If it is posted with a bunch of errors or not formatted properly (as in the above case), one must take responsibility for that work. If it is sitting at -7, quite frankly you have fsked up by posting it before it was ready. Note that this is not directed at the original person who requested the above as a personal attack, but to the membership in general.
• If this became an accepted practice, then some folks would take advantage of the system, asking for kills of their best work so it could be re-posted. In any society, even digital ones like E2, there are folks looking for the shortcuts and loopholes. Earn Your Bullshit applies at this level.
• Since this is the first time I ran into this situation, I had to think of what should be done. Luckily there are some helpful and wise individuals in the God and Content Editor roles. I decided in this one instance that I would comply with the request with the aforementioned penalty. I think that it won't be repeated, however.

Additionally, it is considered bad form to post an E2 Nuke Request for somebody else's work. You can always /msg one of the online editors (as shown by the $ next to a user name in the Other Users Nodelet). E2 Nuke Request is intended to be a way to permanently remove your sub-par work or mistakes. Remember, E2 Nuke Request is not a -xp toilet! It is for the occasional error in judgement. I have a couple of goof-ups of my own sitting in my Node Heaven, there to remind me to node for the ages. If you find yourself using it daily, you have a problem. Think before hitting the submit button. If you have a doubt, post it on your homenode and ask the opinion of your local Editor or God.

Normally, if you have a doubt, there is no doubt.

Frequent visitors to bones' homenode will have seen his declaration: "I have 1200 entries in my Node Heaven". This either actively or tacitly encourages requesting the deletion of your substandard nodes, depending on your vantage point.

The editors are generally swift to process Nuke Requests, and we rarely see what other users are deleting, until we miss one that's gone. Often, they're better off in Node Heaven and are not missed. Often, but not always.

Somebody's homenode - I don't recall whose - has this:

Klaproth says Re: E2 Nuke Request - not unless you give chigrub a good reason

To my mind this doesn't happen often enough.

Editors are often cautious, even over cautious, when it comes to nuking writeups. Generally, newbies get little mercy and have to adhere to higher standards than those who have earned their bullshit. Many editors are downright scared to nuke other editors or gods' writeups.

Editors have been appointed to monitor the content of Everything2, with a view to improving the general standard. This means preserving the quality writeups as much as it means nuking the sub-standard writeups.

Users nuke request for as many different reasons as they write in the first place. Some users nuke request because they feel they can do better, some because they realize that what they have posted is sub-standard, some because the writeup has low rep and is pulling their merit down.

In the first case, I would appeal to the user to, quite simply, do better. You posted that writeup for a reason, do it justice, and do yourself justice. XP Stoicism, my friends: don't nuke and repost. Update, softlink about on New Nodes, recently Cooled Nodes, Editor Cooled Nodes, put a note on your homenode. If all of that fails, /msg a Level4+ user who you know will enjoy your writeup or else a Content Editor, to give it the glory it deserves^* .

If what you've posted is sub-standard, and the reason you posted it in the first place was poor (like Noding for Numbers), then by all means, Nuke Request away. If it was totally trite and not even the nodeshell deserves keeping, then while you're Nuke Requesting, you may consider Nodeshell Deletion Requesting too, as only gods can process these.

In these confusing days leading up to the implementation of the Honor Roll, many are tempted to nuke request writeups that are dragging down their merit. This is something that plagues older users more so than newer users, as the writeups were posted quite simply when fewer votes and C!s were being spent every day. Generally these old writeups are unsoftlinked, which means they get no traffic. Softlink them, you'll be surprised.

What if you've noded something that has nothing wrong with it, but you no longer want to be associated with the writeup. Perhaps it's a story you wrote which you feel is well below your personal standard, even though it meets bar raising criteria? Or a political insight that you no longer agree with? Or if you now find yourself taking on a more responsible role on E2, maybe mentoring, and you don't want impressionable noders stumbling across your Butterfinger McFlurry?

You have every right to be disassociated from the node you have written, please don't pull an asamoth. This is where the Editorial judgment must come in: does this writeup contribute positively to Everything2? If the answer is yes, then, dear editor, don't nuke it, discuss it with the user. If the answer is maybe, then discuss it with other editors. So what to do if a writeup pays a positive contribution to E2, but the user is adamant they don't want it? Node for the Ages, my friends:

Ladies and gentlemen, the everyone account.

Reparenting is something gods can do, but quite rightly are reluctant to do. I'm not advocating reparenting as an everyday occurrence. No more so than Node Title Edits. Fortunately, users rarely nuke request writeups that positively contribute to the database. Yes often enough to warrant this discussion, but not too often for the everyone account to suddenly become Everything's Best User.

Superseded Writeups

E2 FAQ: Assimilating old writeups is a good place to begin.

You've been around here a while, and have a writeup at the top of a node with several other writeups. It's more than likely been C!hinged, and thanks to those other users posting writeups below, you've had plenty traffic over the months and it's got a rep of +35 or more. Now some newbie comes along and supersedes it, making your higher-rep, equally C!ed writeup look more than a little thin, even though it's still getting its fair share of upvotes thanks to its pristine position. Then suddenly that newbie starts suggesting that you nuke request your writeup, but it's in your Top 50. What to do?

Rise to the challenge: supersede theirs. Don't have the time? Don't have the energy? Don't have the inclination? Don't think you can actually do better? Then C! theirs and nuke request yours. Maybe the editor who processes your Nuke Request will /msg a god and get you blessed for your trouble.

This is about Noding for the Ages, caring for the integrity of the database, realizing that our time is but a split second on the Everything clock. You don't have to look far before you find a wharfinger, a moJoe, a hoopy_frood -- people who once felt even more strongly about this site than you do now, and who were given editorial or god powers in recognition of how much they could contribute. In ten years time, will you remember that writeup? Probably not, but every Tom, Dick or Sally doing a Google search of the Node Title will find it.

* Yes I know this is not very humble, but Content Editors have a passion for this site, they'd much rather be /msg'd about a good writeup that everybody has missed than about several poor ones that need nuking.