A message to potential moderator applicants

[nobot28]

thanks in two years this may be helpful!

 

[Ceroria]

I do agree with the points supplied in this, including the forum activity, but if anything I have considered myself more active on the forums than ever, whether it's doing report abuses, helping with thread locks, or just going around and posting!

Maybe that's just me and nobody has seen me and I'm just a ghost ;-;

 

[Miner9823]

I would honestly think that this should be recognized for those who are ambitious towards applying, such as myself. But I will still try to go for it when I achieve the standards required for it and pre-organize my time if I have to if I get accepted. Overall, I admire this thread because of how it shows the reality and the necessity of becoming a moderator, because acquiring such an honourable rank will require a lot of dedication, and could have a large impact towards your life in general. Thank you again, Mooclan, it is helpful for those who still need to consider the things that they will have to endure when they become a moderator. But I still wish luck for those who are still going to apply!

 

[GOFORGOLDCROZ]

why i don't apply

Hello,
A lot of members who browse the forums intend to apply for the Moderator position. Some already have, some are in the process, and others are biding their time.

But before you do that, there are a few things that sometimes go overlooked. Some Mod applicants do consider these things, but others don't. To those of you who don't, please rethink it.

I don't mean to discourage people from applying for Mod. Please, by all means, apply and go after your dream. I do, however, want to make sure that you make a choice that is good for both MCG and you.

-1- You will have less personal time. This one is a big, obvious one that all Mods know, and it's fairly self-explanatory. When you're a Moderator, you'll have to dedicate time to moderating the servers, TS, and Forums. Maybe not all three, but you'll have to put in work. This leaves you with less time for yourself, family, friends, and even pets. Obviously, the amount of time that is taken away will depend on how dedicated you are to being a Mod and how much time you choose to spend doing your role.
If you're on TeamSpeak, you WILL get a ton of pokes. Even if you have full iron, diamond sword in Death Match and the other two people both have leather gear and wooden swords, you'll have to /kill yourself and go check out that "h4x0r in AU22 who has 360noscope hax"
This can also take away from homework time, something which I know 8/10 parents will hate.
As you have less time to do things, you'll probably end up talking to your family less. They might notice that you grow a little bit distant. This won't happen to all people, but I do know a few cases in which it has. And considering that it was a good two fifths of the Moderators that I know well, that's not particularly good numbers.
I'd also like to stress to forumers who are aiming for Mod - Do not expect to maintain the same degree of forum-activity that you normally have once you become a Moderator. I've seen the vast majority of Mods decrease their forum activity in exchange for Mod-activity. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of any Mods except for Moose and duckluv321 who are still as forum-active as before, and I mean of all time, not just right now. I can only assume that most other forum-mods either dedicated their time to in-game/TS activities, or decided to start doing more behind-the-scenes things like handling report abuses.

-2- You will have to restrict what you say and express. This one isn't as obvious to as many people at first, but Moderators can't go around being nice to their friends and then secretly flipping off their foes. It doesn't work that way. While some of us (lol you know who you are) do this as regular members, if you were to become a Moderator you could risk your rank and maybe even get banned if you are reported doing something like that. Not only are you harming yourself and your personal reputation, but you're also harming the reputation of the MCGamer Staff Team.
You are expected to maintain the highest standard of behavior and morals when publicly representing the MCG Staff Team. Even when off-duty, as long as you have the [Mod] tag or red name, you have to behave. (Unless you're in private. I know plenty of mods who jack around in private, it's actually sort of funny.)

-3- You can't always tell people your opinion. Sometimes you can, yes, but only if it doesn't conflict with the views, opinions, or dogma of the MCG Staff Team. For example, if player A was a Mod and said "I don't really like the staff team, they seem mean," they would probably get warned (maybe even demoted, if it was a repeated thing). However, if person B is a regular player and said the exact same thing, they might have a few other people come and debate with them, but they wouldn't be risking a ban (unless a senior mod+ took it super offensively, which shouldn't happen.)
In addition, if you are constantly causing friction and debating a different view among the staff, there is a history of people like that being demoted or pressured to resign. Whether it be something like the rule on deleting evidence or constantly bugging the senior staff about unfair bans, annoying the higher ups never ends well, even in real-life corporations. This is not official, but rather this is a personal statement that I've heard from at least four ex-staff and two current staff members who will remain unnamed.
(Then again, last time I said that I would keep someone unnamed in something like this I got dragged into a Senior Mod channel at 1:30 AM and lectured for an entire half hour, plus threatened with a permanent ban, and Chad came in with a cigarette in one hand and his phone in the other, sitting in his hot tub. Let's not repeat that, shall we? That was rather awkward.)


I'm 100% positive that I had a -4- and -5-, but I can't remember what they were, because I got sidetracked by two simultaneous conversations and a phone call. GG.
If anyone would like to help me remember what #4 and #5 were, that'd be fantastic. <_< This is driving me mad but I don't have enough time to stagnate in front of my computer for another 30 minutes brainstorming.

And in case anyone is wondering, yes these are three of the larger reasons that I don't apply for Mod.
I don't mean to seem cocky or arrogant, but a number of people were expecting me to apply for Mod as soon as the new 1-year ban rule was put in place, and I was asked "Why?" multiple times. So to those of you who asked me that question before... here's your answer.

Wooh I just checked the length of this thread - It's a full two pages!

 

[Creepah]

I get your point around forum activity. I browse the forums quite a lot, however now that I'm a Moderator I tend to refrain from posting because I tell myself 'Is there much point of posting this?' or 'What will people think if a Mod posted that?'. It definitely changes the way you act, and I probably shouldn't be thinking that way too much, as one of my goals is to become more forum active.

I also encourage players who may be thinking of applying to do so, and to not be put off by this thread or post. Becoming a Moderator, as long as your intentions are honest and truthful, will be fulfilling, however it may change the way you do things around the community such as a professionalism and often a lot of loosely directed distrust towards Mods by some players. But do apply, and do gain the experience, as it's all a part of the challenge which makes me love the job.

 

[TheOnlyChanse]

thx time to become a mod