Even aside from a biased editor wanting to control a subject, reputation, edit history, and voting on administrative decisions are all important parts of a Wiki

Even aside from a biased editor wanting to control a subject, reputation, edit history, and voting on administrative decisions are all important parts of a Wikipedia editor's account and experience of Wikipedia. Enough 'good' participation can get you an administrator account and further privileges. This turns Wikipedia into a game for these people which, inevitably, to arcane rules-lawyering. Creating content is hard, and when you want to increase your metrics and contribute to the community because it is the community and not because you have a passion for Subject X, creating content is not a sustainable strategy in the long-term. You can't know everything, you can't be an expert on everything. It's much easier to revert, to rules-laywer, to delete. So that's what happens.