Disclaimer: I don't really know about the backgrounds of tf2wiki.
Exactly, the guy who owns the site just regged the domain and whacked some open source wiki software on it ... all the content that actually makes the site valuable was public domain.
There's more to creating a community than just installing a software on a server. And mediawiki is by no way simply download & install, believe me.
The other way were to say Valve simply gave the wiki a new home, since by selling the domain the continuance of the content was by no means guaranteed.
Afaik he sold it after Valve said no.
Shawner at a guess is maybe the new owner.
He's an 'Bureaucrat':
http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Team_Fortress_Wiki:Bureaucrats#BureaucratsI'm not sure what HarriL is trying to achieve removing the admins perhaps he doesn't understand that wikibots from other wikis don't need admin access to copy stuff. Perhaps he's angry maybe he's bored.
My guess? He banned them in order to silence them and the user page is kind of the personal representation of a user.
The old owner afterwards then ripped off someone on that auction site.
100% agreed.
The only downside is the contribution logs are lost and its doubtful those will ever be seen again so its not really possible to see who did what anymore. But its not like I ever really check on a wiki who wrote it, the anonymity makes that pointless anyway.
Logs are lost, the status of moderators etc. are restored though.
I'm not sure what else I would have preferred...I don't see better solution to be honest, but like I said...just taking the stuff feels 'mean' for a lack of better words.