It's just like when we mess with you on Skype

Quote from: Ingloriouswho98 on August 26, 2015, 04:49:05 PM

I honestly hate every last one of you :/

Oh don't worry, we don't like you either.

That's a-ok friend

Honestly I just wake up to go back to sleep

I really don't understand this idea of there being some secret circlejerk going on where staff members are picked based entirely on the personal ties with the current mods. Because if such a thing really exists, I must have missed it for the entire duration of me being a member here and somehow ended up as a (master) ninja without being part of it.

I became a monitor, mod and master mod without being part of any other forum, group or chat (other than our very own staff chat eventually). While I got along with many of the people here, I never had to rely on relationships to make that happen. I never sucked up, kissed ass or was part of some smaller group that led to me being on the staff and yet here I am.

The one thing that I've been advocating here from way before I became a staff member is transparency. While some things necessarily need to be kept somewhat private, I always thought and said that the staff needs to be open about what takes place "behind the scenes", and I feel like I've done a pretty decent job at doing so, hence this long explanatory post.

This decision is not the result of us mods and admins laughing loudly while discarding the community's wishes and picking our own friends from the circlejerk skype group. What it is, is the outcome of hours of talks in the mod skype chat and a number of threads in the HQ board dedicated to this alone. Everyone of us put in their own picks and we talked extensively about why we thought which candidates would make the best choices.

As LC already mentioned, Kupo and Kitsune aren't close friends with the staff or part of an imaginary circlejerk. For example, my interaction with Kupo has been limited to a few posts in the Gaming forum, and with Kitsune to a single request by PM to lock a thread of hers. While other mods might talk to them more often, I can assure you that their promotion is not the result of cronyism / friend politics.

This time around, we weren't looking for new moderators. As already been shown earlier, just because someone is a monitor does not mean that they'll end up as a mod. As a result of this, we looked for people who could be a friendly face of the community. People with the time and energy to show new members the ropes, to voice community concerns, recruit new members, lay ties with other communities and to keep their eyes open to occasionally move or lock a thread when it's necessary and there are no mods around.

As it stands, we felt that Kupo and Kitsune are both active members who are generally liked by the community as a whole, make a good "friendly face", can attract new members and are capable of doing all of the things I mentioned above. As such, they're now given a chance to show us whether we made the right decision. They'll of course be evaluated and we welcome all community criticism and advice.

Just because you didn't get picked this time, doesn't mean that we think you're a terrible candidate whose application will be discarded next time around.

To conclude*, here's the official Flee's Tips and Tricks On Becoming a Monitor or Staf Member™:

- Be active. While this definitely isn't the most decisive criterium, it matters quite a bit. Post often and in all the different boards too. We don't pick mods / monitors for just a single section of the site, so try to branch out a little if you almost exclusively stick to a single board or two.

- Contribute. Offer to help with things in the community and site whenever you can. Organize game nights, make youtube videos, write reviews, make news entries, host forum games, spread the word and recruit members, design stuff in photoshop and so forth. It shows commitment and helps you stand out.

- Show that you can be serious / responsible. Of course, make sure not to have a stick up your ass and don't take everything too seriously all the time either, but make clear that you have a more serious side too. It's very hard for us to make a proper assessment of your staff skills if all you do is memepost 24/7. You might have what it takes to the best and most diplomatic mod on the internet, but we can't exactly figure that out if you never show any signs of it.

- Stand up for what you believe in. Not in the sense of "DEATH BEFORE COMPROMISE", of course, but we do want a relatively diverse staff team that can give multiple perspectives on certain issues. Speak up if you believe something is wrong and suggest how to change it. Don't unnecessarily cling to something if it's not going to happen, but don't try to suck up to the staff. Speaking your mind in a reasonable and adult manner, pitching new ideas, coming up with your own solutions and civil disagreements with current policies go a lot further than always agreeing with what others say just because you think it'll make you a better candidate.

- Hit that report button when something breaks the rules. It shows us that you pay attention to the rules and that you want to help out by getting our attention.

- Be friendly. This doesn't mean you always have to agree with everyone, put smileys after each post and never get to take the piss out of something, but a generally friendly demeanor does go a long way. Nothing wrong with some obviously joking insults and arguments, but going off on raging tangents and insulting others when people disagree doesn't come across very well.

- Don't get too involved in drama / grudges / salt. When you spend enough time on here you are naturally going to get involved in some of it, but be sure not to let it get to you. Shitflinging, flamewars, holding grudges, insults and being salty when certain things don't go your way only makes people question your objectivity, neutrality and capability of letting things to when necessary. It doesn't speak in your favor when other members don't think you could be unbiased when dealing with certain members. It's a lot better when you can a let things go and be mature and understanding differences in opinion than when you keep grudges or throw a hissy fit over setbacks.

- And as cliche as it might be: have fun. It's the main reason we're all here, after all. The last thing we want is someone who might have the right skills for the task, but treats coming here as an unwelcome chore. We're all here to mess around, talk to people and have a good time (while still keeping things running smoothly and not to get out of hand), so just enjoy yourself.

tl;dr: be active, be nice, apply common sense, show that you could be responsible and capable of doing some mod stuff and have fun.

*Disclaimer: these are just some of the things that I'd recommend to those wanting to become a staff member. I'm not speaking for anyone else on the staff. And for those with absolutely no interest in this, you are obviously just as welcome to continue funposting and spreading the dankest memes on the world wide web.

Nice mein kampf there

"lol"

I type xD, haha, lol, or :] after every message because I'm insecure

First day in band
I'm the only tromboner
Haven't played all summer so I sound like shit
We were playing this song and then there was this part that was trombone only and since I was the only tromboner, I was shoved into the spotlight
Now this is the advanced band so everyone already knew each other and I'm that new guy

So I was playing out of tune while the whole class watched me
And the worst part was that nobody said anything
We all sat in silence but I knew what they were thinking and I would've rather they said it

But anyways
Good for you
At least you won't have meningitis now 

I used to think on purpose meant accident so some kid whose foot I stepped on got really confused

Quote from: Ingloriouswho98 on August 24, 2015, 06:47:09 PM

What did you say PUNK?

These claws ain't just for attracting mates

I'm trying to imagine Verbatim saying that.

Rock cocked and ready to cock

He's a turkey

You'll get ass raped

Good lol

this site is the embodiment of that lol