First of all, I will give credit where credit is due. @pbrassat17 made a similar thread a year ago: http://www.ecocitycraft.com/forum/threads/45125/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I still believe everyone should read what he put in there as it has many good points, some of which I may end up restating. That being said, there are many things I feel haven't been said and probably should be. The reason I've come realize this needs to be said is many recent events. These events make me think some players are not fully understanding what the staff position is. So, this thread will be have two points. First of all, I'm going to explain what it really means to be a staff member. I have been every rank available to staff currently. I have been blue, I have been a super and a GameAdmin and now, I'm the ServerAdmin. I would at least like to think I'm currently qualified to explain what it means to be staff. Secondly, I will allow some Q&A's on what it is like to be staff. I will NOT answer any specific questions like 'Why didn't I get staff.' or 'Why did so and so get staff.' Any posts like that will be deleted. We don't need them. What is it like to be staff: Staff is a full time job that doesn't pay. I recognize that I am the ServerAdmin, but, even as a Supermod I was probably putting 70+ hours a week into this. That is literally a full time job. Yes, you can do a minimum of 21 hours a week aka 3 hours a day. It is still a job. What does that mean? It means that you are going to have less time to play. You are going to be expected to be basically professional 24/7. Yes, it is a little different from a normal job because the staff are allowed to joke around, do other things, etc. Yet, we are on duty anytime we are online. If you are logged in and you are a staff member and something happens, you are expected to respond to it if you can. This is not a magic celebrity title. This is not something we want to make our ECC Lives easier. The people who are good for this job are not the ones who are looking for attention from it. Your heart needs to be in the right place. You need to recognize that you are volunteering to help the server. Not just people you like, not just people who give you attention/adoration. The whole server. When I joined the staff team I was an unknown random President. I'd been on the server an incredibly short time period and knew no one. I didn't join the staff team to fix me being unknown. I could not care less if people knew who I was. I wanted to help. If you are filing an application today or tomorrow or any round you need to ask yourself if you actually want to help. If you are joining for the power or the fame or whatever reason then I will be frank, don't bother. Power and attention hungry people have been demoted in the past and trust me, that is not a shame you want. Being on staff means you need to be incredibly mature. Why? Because we deal with a lot of things that require a mature level head on a day to day basis. A temper is not conducive to this job. If you get angry and react badly often, you probably shouldn't be on staff. For example: About 5-6 months ago a player asked me why I was willing to talk to a trouble maker. Now, this trouble maker was certainly an often problem for myself and the staff. I responded with, and I mean this to this day, “I refuse to constantly judge a person. A person can change. A person can evolve. Yes, there are many who don’t and if they continue to act that way, then they will receive new judgements, but I will not simply assume based on previous behavior that a person will continue said behavior. I will always hope they will prove that previous behavior wrong. I will always hope that they can improve themselves.” I have seen many players who have improved and moved past their not so good pasts. I have also seen many that haven’t. I have still not lost my hope that people can change and adapt as time goes on. There are players on this server I do not get along with, but I will not treat them unfairly as a staff member for that. So, if you have a temper or hold grudges, then you need to work on that before you even consider applying. This is not the place to get your revenge and this is not the place to learn how to cope with your problems with others. Know how to cope ahead of time. There will always be a player at some point who will hate your rulings and that is another reason that learning how to handle anger is important. I have, over the past year and a half I’ve been on staff, dealt with countless angry players. It happens and you need to know how to keep calm and carry on. Sometimes this means telling a player the same thing 10 times. Sometimes this means telling them to send a staff complaint in. Sometimes it means simply sitting there and getting yelled at until the person calms down. It could mean a lot of things, but you cannot respond hastily and you cannot respond in anger. Why? Applying for staff does two things. 1) It puts the entire player basis eyes' on you. 2) It paints a target on your back. A target you say!??!? Yes. People target staff and will use almost anything to show they aren’t infallible. That simply happens. You put anyone up on a pedestal and someone will make it their goal to knock you off it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Being on staff can improve your typing speed immensely. You are likely to be typing 3-5x as much on staff then you did off of staff, if not more. That being said, you need to be able to type properly. Yes, it is okay to have mistakes. Yes it is alright to have some trouble at first. Overall though, you should be able to communicate in game through typing without a problem. It also means that you need to be able to concentrate on multiple things at once. At any given point in time you could have 5+ in game messages. This can be stressful and even annoying, but you need to be able to deal with it. At first it is something you need to get used to, but at the same time you need to be able to concentrate on the rest of chat. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Teamspeak. Teamspeak isn't a staff requirement per se, but it is something you will likely have to deal with a lot. Teamspeak is where staff sometimes go to communicate with each other as well as where we go to deal with problems that arise there. Moderating Teamspeak requires you to be able to calmly talk to someone verbally, not just through writing. You need to be able to keep yourself in check and not over react to situations because on Teamspeak you are thinking fast and responding as quickly as you can to the needs of the players. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, I'd like to address what it means to be staff on the forums. The forums is an extension of in game with many different functions. You should likely have a basic grasp of how to use the forums and the player sections before you apply. The forums are a requirement. A good portion of a staff member's job is on the forums. There are many new buttons/things that pop up for staff that need to be dealt with and if you have a basic concept of the forums then you will find adapting much easier. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Overall, what I am trying to say is to actually evaluate your skills, abilities, and motives before you apply for staff. Staff isn't something to be rushed into. It is time consuming. It is stressful. That isn't to say you should be discouraged from applying. Staff can also be fun. I wouldn't have stayed on this team this long if I didn't enjoy it. The staff team is a giant family and we work together to keep this server running smoothly. Yet, you should also do your part when you apply by considering everything I've said. Feel free to ask questions below. -Revanrose6
Hello, I'm a shy individual with bipolar who has been thinking about becoming staff since joining the server and I have a question about TS: I know you said that TeamSpeak isn't a necessity, but that it could become one... so should I just give up on trying to be staff knowing my anxiety would likely get in the way on TS?
Hey Revan, I have a question about the vanish ability when it comes to being a staff member. I know there are many times when staff need to use the command for staff related reasons. However, can it still be used for non-staff related reasons, if the staff member is still getting 4-5 hours of "moderating" time in a day as well?
No, I wouldn't suggest giving up on staff, just trying to improve yourself if you feel you fall short in a certain area.
There is only 2 staff ranks that receive vanish for staff purposes: GameAdmin and ServerAdmin. Both of which often are vanished due to many factors/things that need to be handled/etc. The Blue mods and supermods do not get access to vanish. If they have purchased the command then they can use it as they please, although it does cause a problem if players need to privately message you.
Is teamspeak an absolute obligation for staff? My microphone does not work well so I am forced to use my phone when I skype.
As the section on Teamspeak says, it isn't an obligation, but it is likely something every staff member will end up using for some purpose or another at some point.
Thanks for the answer, though I wont be able to even try and improve in that area, because my anxiety is too much. I just hope that doesn't screw with my chances too much. I'm good with talking via chat, but when it comes to talking via voice chat, I just kind of... sit there frozen.
As a Supermod who has /v I find that if I am using it, it is because of 3 reasons: 1. I am on the forums doing forum work, 2. I am recieving too many pm's atm and I turn it on while I handle other peoples requests first since they already have access to /r me, or 3. I have already put in 7-8 hours in just doing staff duties and I am trying to accomplish a non-staff goal. Usually though I only do this if I feel there are plenty of other mods on to help at that time, if not I try to leave /v off. Sometimes I do manage to forget I have it on so if people say hey HCP I can't pm you I turn it right off and pm them.
Not all staff are strong in all areas and this includes speaking to others verbally, and like revan said you may have to deal with situations like this on occasion, and when that happens and you find you are having issues handling other users us other staff are also there to poke and prod and seek aid as backup if you need, at least until you feel more confident.
This is definitely something I had to work on. I applied for staff 5-6 times before I received the rank, because of the fact I had things to work on, and I knew that, and I knew what they were. It definitely wasn't easy not being accepted so many times, but eventually I got it right and made it on the team. I always worked on what people would point out in my apps using the community as a big help to better myself. I feel this is one thing people need to work on. Believe me, I understand that some people will say stuff because they don't want you to be staff, This can be because of jealousy, grudges (as Revan said), or just because they don't like how you do things. The thing about this is, you need to be willing to accept any and all criticism. Don't sit there flustered and get angry at what people say, but take it to heart and work on it. If you keep pushing things off and ignoring them, you will never improve, because frankly, the community know you the best. If you listen to what people are saying and work on them and better yourself, people won't continue posting things on your staff app that are bad just because they dislike you, but rather good things out of respect because you took what they said to heart. Now I know the comments on applications aren't what matters, but sometimes the way you react to them is what can make or break you. Just my two cents from being in the position, I hope it helps.
Thank you for this thread. I will be keeping this in mind for now, and will use it when I believe I am ready to apply for staff. As of right now, I know there's a bunch of things that I need to fix.
Hello, I just wanted to say thank you for creating this thread Revan! By reevaluating many of these topics, I realize many things I can work on, fix, or even just do more of. Just a small thread like this goes a long ways. Thanks again, Blowtube
Thank you so much, this has made me feel a bit more confident in applying. :3 I'm glad this community is so friendly and it's making me feel happier within myself to try applying for mod again. ^^ This server is epic!
I'd like to throw a few words in here. As a former staff member, I entirely feel what Revan says is 100% grade A true. Some people want to become a staff member for the mere sake of saying they did it. In reality, you should enjoy helping people regardless of whether you are a special color or not. A staff position is only a tool to help, not exert influence, flaunt flair, or brag about. Staff is time consuming. Very time consuming. You have to be willing to sacrifice your free time for staff duties, and more. When I was a staff member, within hours, I found that a lot of the projects I had planned for myself had to be put on hold. Some people manage their time better. Regardless, I don't regret it. I honestly enjoyed interacting and helping people and helping the server as a staff member. As much as building, trading, making ecd is an entertainment, I found staff duties to be an entertainment that I cared about a lot. I think that in order to be a successful staff member, you need to find the duties to be a true entertainment so that you can be engaged, focused, interested to explore new venues, and willing to put others before yourself. On several occasions, I was happy to spend a lot of time helping people understand server rules, policies, or even just to listen to them, and if they needed it, proposed advice. If you feel any desire to be a staff member, evaluate your inner desires, motivations, hopes, and activities. As a side message, even though I may no longer be a staff member, if you need help with something, or would wish someone to listen to you, I want to make myself available. I know sometimes something can be stressful, and while global can be a great place for help, sometimes things are just hard. Send me a forum pm any time, or try to get at me in game, and I will do my best to help.
