AoD - Declined Rune's AoD Application

[Rune]

What's your In-Game name?
Runemen4

What timezone do you live in?

GMT/UTC-1 (BST)

How many hours have you played on the server for?

31 (A lot more throughout my time on AoD, but this is for it's latest iteration after the recent player crash where no one really came on. It feels like I have around maybe 5-10 days on AoD but it's probably less)

References:

HKCaper, Iggish, Hex

How many hours can you spend helping out the server per week?

About 1-3 hours on the weekday, due to school but a lot more on the weekday;

What prior staffing experience do you have?

I personally have staffed MC servers (back in the day, and are sadly dead), which includes S1.MCEnderman.net - Head Administrator, KKRO - Moderator, Uniqueminecraft SMP - Owner. I have probably staffed more servers than most people, due to friends playing and also being an active Minecraft player.

I also staffed our DarkRP server which is sadly shutdown, but I was the longest lasting moderator and have sticked with the server until it's death which shows both my dedication to the server that I staff.

I also run a website, where I'm one of the Administrators and roughly bring about 800 views per day on the website, which is a big achievement for such a niche hobby (Shortwave radio).

And finally, I run the community meeting where I'm the speaker; which shows my dedication to Escape Restart and also the responsibility to be the face of the community when meetings happen which also applied to the whole community.

What do you think the role entails?

As a previous moderator, I have learnt lots of things; and the number one thing which stands out is to have fun, over being serious all the time. I'm personally quite a chilled out person, and that I'm able to have 2 sides of the the coin; having fun and being serious. A moderators job is to not just keep the peace, but to also moderatate other aspects such as chat and also to be the rolemodel of both the server itself but also the entire community.

Newbies, who joined AoD to have fun will both be guided on how to play AoD; but also how to both respect each other and to most importantly; how to have fun themselves without ruining others fun. I can also help on other aspects such as the maps, using my previous expertise such as my ontimes for minecraft servers such as Create and AoD; and also to use my skills which I have learnt by being part of the RoF Map Commitee; where I both approved maps based on it's functionallity and aesthetics.

I'm just here to have fun, and I'll try to both help everyone as much as possible; giving advice on gameplay but also to be that person who isn't just a moderator, but a friend. This allows you to both make clearer choices in cases where somebody who is intentionally trying to ruin everyones fun.
As a moderator, you should have thorough knowledge of the rules, which would help you make a fair judgement in a situation where someone goes out of line or to identify a situation before it goes out of hand. Situations will always vary between players, but you can always reach the best comprimise to be fair to both sides; especially as a moderator.

Why do you want to be a staff member?

I personally want to get back into staffing, I miss the interaction that you usually get with staffing and how you have the responsibility of being a staff member. This would let me to continue to improve myself as a leader and as a friend and to most other people, have the satisfaction of helping others. Being staff isn't just something you easily get, but something you work towards; and it's how you work with people is the most rewarding part of the job. I have friends on AoD who I play with regularly, have laughs and also times where things get serious; but as a human being myself; staffing allows me to improve my confidence and skills.

Staffing would allow me not to just improve myself, but to improve many things such as players, the gamemode, the server itself but also the community. Interactions between newbies who want to learn and also interactions between oldies really shows that the glue to the player dynamic is the moderators.

AoD has been one of my favourite servers to go on, and is probably one of the most active sections of the community that I am in. I know that when I go onto AoD, I'm garunteed to have fun with everyone and as a moderator, it allows me to spread the fun to other people. This is what's important to staffing for me, being the glue which binds the players to each other and also the community.

What qualities can you bring to the current staff team, that set you apart from other applicants?

I personally have lots of experience in staffing on both Minecraft and also other games, and have become experienced in interacting and also moderating on servers. I have the knowledge to hand out both punishments but to be fair with with each and everyone. My passion for Minecraft, it's community, this community and also AoD really shows my dedication and also my drive to improve the community even more. This experience just doesn't apply to staffing, but I also have experience on dying communities and servers and how to prevent such a thing from occuring. I know the struggle of a inactive server, and I will strive to both improve and polish the server as much as possible to bring as many people to the fun as possible.

Each and every staff member has a style, and also the way that they interact with elements and with my experience and also my dedication, I'm sure I can bring something which sets me apart from other staff members and applicants instantly. It's through this combination of different looks on situations and the server is how you improve and exceed the impossible.
How would you approach a problem that you are unfamiliar with?

I would ask someone who is more knowledgeable about that situation, such as ComputerGuy_ or Arelic if I was faced with a situation which needed the consultation of a higher-up to make sure if my resolution was the best. It would allow me to learn that problem and to tackle it in the future. This, combined with my previous staffing experience would allow me to tackle the situation as effectively as possible. I seek to reach the best resolution as possible, with each party being happy. People may not agree or like your resolution, so I will always be in the lookout of how to improve myself, and to take in that critisism to make myself a better staff member. As a moderator, you will need to be able to adapt to each and every situation, to be able to resolve it as well as possible and this adaptation allows you to be independent in situations where you already have the experience to resolve it.

Is there anything else we should know or you want to tell us?

No, not really. My activity on the server is due mostly to having other things in the way which is slowly being cleared out; allowing me more and more time on the server which I have the pleasure of having fun on and also the server which I interact with people quite a lot.

 

[Unusual_Dood]

Hello, Rune! Thanks for applying.

I have seen you around in this community for a long time. You are a fun guy to play and talk with. I am sure you understand and know the game pretty well. You also earlier have good experience staffing and dealing with maps, which is important in this position. I know you are mature and capable of handling both minor and more difficult situations.

However, my concern and also the reason I did not give you my reference, is that I have not seen you much around yet. However, you have told that you will become a lot more active now, and I believe and hope so.

That is why I believe you will be a good addition to the staff team, and therefore will get my +1

 

[HKCaper]

Hi Rune, I want to thank your for applying.

You asked me for a reference a while back (not that long ago though), which I decided to give you for a couple of reasons. I have only known you since the start of LoP, where we both were in Aeres. You always showed dedication to help out and spent a lot of effort into doing the things you loved to do. Over time I got to know you were a moderator on DarkRP. From what I have heard and seen from you, I have all the reasons to believe you have a ton of experience as staff and really love staffing. Hence I decided to give you a reference, with the hope that I would see some more of you in the time between the reference and your application.

Now your application is here, and I must say that what I read pleases me. Your application once again shows me you really admire staffing and are dedicated to make the most of it. Other things that come forward are your experience with maps, looking at both looks and gameplay, and you are very eager to get back to staffing after the end of DarkRP.

Taking all of this into consideration, I would have been certain to give you a positive vote, if it werent for one thing. I have heard a lot of good things about you, but I haven't actually seen all too much of you, only considering AoD (for the rest I have seen a ton of you). This specific quote stood out to me when reading you application:

Being staff isn't just something you easily get, but something you work towards

That being said, I would have liked it if you had done a bit more work on AoD, to prove me that, besides having what it takes to be staff, you have what it takes to be staff on AoD. I don't want you to rush into it, simply because you want to go back to staffing. If this was an application for Helper, I would have given you a positive vote in no time.

This is what it boils down to. You told me you will become more active, as you have been dealing with some things, which are slowly coming together. You have proven to be a good staff member in general, and are eager to take that to AoD. Although I have expressed my concerns about you becoming AoD staff, I believe you have the ability to prove me that you can do it, and I believe you can make a great addition to team (just get your ass online).

+1

 

[Guest35486]

Hi Rune, thanks for applying!

Your application certainly covers many areas that you believe would be beneficial for staff. As the previous responses have stated, you do have past experience with the community and as a staff member for DarkRP. It's nice to see your previous Director's reference to provide an idea of how you did as a Moderator. Other than that, I appreciate how you clearly put in a lot of effort into this application. However, there are points I would like to address before giving my vote:

While you do meet the required hours for the application, I would like to see more of you. Looking back, I do not recall you chatting in the server much. Granted, most of the AoD regulars chat on Discord VC, but I would like to see you engage with the other players more, as this is one of the main points you've brought up. In more than one instance, I've seen new players join while you were online, but you did not attempt to help or guide them. This may partially be my fault since I launch into explanations pretty fast.

Many of your points are related to being able to help the server with moderation powers. From your time on the server, I'm sure you've noticed that AoD does not have many rule breakers. Other than assisting new players, most of the tasks are trying to improve gameplay through suggestions and modifications. Yet, I've barely seen you give feedback or opinions on maps, gameplay, or others. This is a major point you're lacking in your application. Can you elaborate on how you can improve the server and contribute to the AoD staff team especially when your ontime may be a bit low compared to the map helpers and staff? While it's easy to say "this map isn't good," "survivors don't have much of a chance," or other vague statements, I want to see specific concerns and suggestions for how to fix issues on the server.

I personally want to get back into staffing, I miss the interaction that you usually get with staffing and how you have the responsibility of being a staff member.

To me, that reads as, "I want to apply for the rank." Other than that, you've asked me for my reference the day you lost your Moderator rank. This concerns me especially since you have been rather inactive until the past two weeks. Along with the point brought up earlier, I've seen you mention nothing about AoD itself. You often bring up players, moderators, and the community, but have not gone in depth about how you can contribute to AoD specifically.

It's good to see that you've remained active in the Minecraft community even as a DarkRP mod. I would like to point out that while it's good that you've participated in the RoF committee, AoD maps function very differently. You've also mentioned that each staff member has a style of staffing, but can you elaborate on your staffing style more than simply "I'm sure I can bring something which sets me apart from other staff members and applicants instantly."?

I see that you've promised to be more active and stated that you're sorting out other things. Do you mind clarifying this? If it's a personal issue, feel free to PM ComputerGuy_ and me instead. We do not wish to pry, but we would like to know if this will affect your activity on the server.

Lastly, I would like to address your attitude as a staff member. While I have no doubt that you will not abuse your powers due to your experience in DarkRP, I do have other concerns. At times, it may seem like you're too stubborn to let a situation go. One specific incident that happened on AoD was an argument involving you and Chao (who is now banned). We've asked both of you to stop, but it dragged on much longer than it should have. While he may have been provoking you, if you're a staff member, it is important to know when to quit an argument.

 

[Iggish]

Ok, as you know, I gave you my reference for moderator. I gave you my reference as i believe that you would contribute to the AoD server for a number of reasons.
In general, you are a positive person who communicates his point across well whether this be on discord VC or elsewhere. Arelic's points are valid however. "In more than one instance, I've seen new players join while you were online, but you did not attempt to help or guide them. This may partially be my fault since I launch into explanations pretty fast." I can say that this is true and you aren't seen often helping a new player or engaging with the other AoD players outside of discord.

Your attitude sets you apart from everyone else whether that be for the better or for the worse. Generally, you are a friendly, funny guy. One of your most noticeable qualities is that you aren't afraid to speak your mind and aren't shy of anything that comes your way. One example of this is when you actually asked in a voice chat if there were any aspects of you that could be worked on to become a suitable moderator. However, this also leads to you being stubborn. As Arelic rightly said, it is rare for you to back down from an argument (which to your credit is also a merit as it shows that you stand by your opinion) and one thing which you need to do on a staff team is listen to other people's opinions. Even if you don't agree with their opinion, you have to be able to take their advice on board and be able to analyse their point of view and comment on it, not just disregard it. This shouldn't be a problem however as you received a reference from Hex (your former admin) which shows that as a DarkRP moderator, you were able to work in a staff team effectively (however I do remember you getting into a few conflicts with the other darkrp staff which might relay back to the topic of your stubbornness). I can also vouch for your effectiveness in working as a team as you were in the same clan as me in LoP. There, you worked with the rest of us effectively on many projects. You made the vault for our Aeres base which shows that you don't shirk away from responsibility and in doing so also showed a creative and imaginative side which is an asset for an AoD moderator.

As mentioned in previous posts before this one, one role of a moderator is to be able to edit maps and give feedback on maps. I haven't seen you do this. Because of this, I'd recommend you go for the helper role instead with sights on moderator further down the road. This worked very effectively for HKCaper. Amid doubts of his staffing ability, he proved that he was definitely up for the job of moderator. Also, by being a helper you can get to learn more about the ins and outs of AoD, work with the other helpers and staff members and wash away the doubts which we do have.

As a result of what I said above, I'll give you a 0 for moderator at the time being but a definite +1 for helper. I'll also be interested in your response to Arelic, Unu and HK's comments.

 

[Rune]

I'll start off with everyone's concern with my activity. Due to personal matters of my own which affected both my activity on AoD but Minecraft in general. I personally chose to lay off Minecraft for a bit; it was taking too much of my time and not giving a lot of benefit. I have already spoken to both Arelic and ComputerGuy_ about my personal matters; which Hex and Hoog already know. I wouldn't consider my inactivity for that period a concern; due to me being very active before all of that went down. I chose to get back into AoD as I saw a reviving player community and an opportunity to get back into it as some of my personal life is being cleared. AoD is probably one of my favourite Minecraft servers, as it really makes you forget about drama in life and it's not as toxic as Hypixel or Mineplex; where there is all of these effects which really detract from the gameplay itself.

Secondly, lets quickly mention about new players joining. It's a habit of mine to say hello and welcome to the server but usually a moderator is active while a new player joins. Before I can go through AoD itself and how it works, a moderator usually has replied before then because my statements are a lot thorough than someone elses, which takes more time. I do this because I think a more in-depth and clearer reply is more important than telling a newbie "in zombie, you have to kill others and win" or "in infection, its like it". I'm sure, if I did become a moderator; that I would be the first to a guide a player and that my replies will be concise and considerate to the player to be able to make them better understand AoD. If they also have any questions or concerns then I will gladly reply with an answer to the best of my ability. This certainly isn't all the time where a moderator isn't active or even on the server, and I guarantee when a player does request help, I'm usually the one who will explain to them how AoD works. Being a moderator would give me more of a reason to improve on the speed of my replies; as you are the first person a newbie expects help from, and if you can't even explain something concisely enough for them to understand then something is definitely wrong. I'm certain that when I'm a moderator, newbies who do join the server would be able to integrate into the community due to my help and the way that I help the player. This includes teaching them how the server works, what commands to use, how the maps work and what to do on the maps, what not to do and how to properly behave on the server, how to become better at their overall skill in AoD and Minecraft, and general questions on how AoD functions. A moderator needs to be good at this, and I'm sure that I will be able to do this excellently.

Comments on maps are vital to the balance and running to said map. I continuously judge and point out issues of maps, I may not say it that much on in-game chat, but my concerns are usually covered. For instance, yesterday I was talking about House of Terror; and how it's not a good map for peak times, when there is a lot of people on. I did not have time to cover it and due to Minecraft's chat being a lot less efficient for lets say, Trello I didn't go into detail which I will go into now. Due to House of Terror being such a small map, especially for Zombie; surviviors are easily overwhelmed and killed off early due to Hunters having a better kit and also due to there being many players at that time if there is a lot of people; loot is usually spread out evenly which makes the survivors a lot less underequiped than Hunters. This causes them to die off early, due to them possessing a wooden sword or potentially a stone sword with a couple of pieces of chain armour unlike Hunters who can possess a fire aspect gold sword or a stone sword with better armour. In the end, survivors depend on hiding in the one decent hiding spot in the map; the trees which is difficult to hide in and you would most likely be caught in the end or be more aggressive and lucky enough to either have a really bad hunter who isn't able to get kills or that you are lucky enough to get good enough gear to be able to defend yourself; which is even more difficult if you are the only survivor left out of lets say, 20.

I can easily look at maps, and point out its flaws because you may say that AoD maps are totally different from RoF maps and how they operate but the basics still apply. You wouldn't add a map which looks bad, you want a map with good aesthetics and you also want to have a map with good functionality. For instance, if we look at CTF; you wouldn't have a map which is just a flat piece of land with no obstacles what so ever. Firstly, it looks rushed and not well made and secondly; people will just keep on dying because there is NO cover; so everyone is able to pick each other off. You end up with a stalemate in the end, because nobody is able to avoid the lasers for long enough. In fact, general chest checking also applies to both RoF and AoD. Let's have an extreme scenario where you have a chest with FULL diamond gear which is fully enchanted with a sharpness 5 diamond sword for Zombie. It's too OP, and you are gonna end up with basically a juggernaut which is unkillable. You have to balance chests out which makes sense and brings some sort of minor advantage to not make it useless like having levers which you can't place but maybe a sword which will replace a lower tier sword but not an extreme one where you are basically unkillable. It makes it not fair, not fun and certainly not fun for the person who has all the gear because it takes away the point of surviving on Zombie.

Same thing applies to kits, like FFA. You won't have one kit where it has full iron armour with a diamond sword and another one with wooden tools and no armour. It ruins gameplay and the feel of FFA where your PvP skills actually matter. All these criticisms on maps can be grouped into similar categories such as kits, aesthetics, functionality, chests, cheeky spots and even how likely someone will go down a route or play in a certain area. These all contribute to the final score of giving a map a chance on the server, to tell the person they have to improve which I would gladly help as I want to encourage all players to continue making new and better maps for AoD which are fun and suits our server. This includes helping the player on Create where they may have built the map and to tell them their criticism.

In fact, I have tested some maps and told them my criticism; such as testing some of Unu's maps and other people's maps. These maps are even in rotation, which shows the lasting effect of helping out and improving maps to generally improve gameplay and to make everyone happy.

Now, moving on to what I can do for AoD specifically; I can mention a couple of things. For instance, there has been a recent lack of events on AoD; which brings in a lot of players when it is successful. This is due to more hype being generated for AoD and also a new feature usually being added which retains players for a longer time. Also, I am a Computer Science student and have knowledge in Java. In fact, I was working on my own gamemode for a while; which was called Quickrush. It was 2 gamemodes combined into one, one which is like simple quicksand where blocks disappear under you as you run and an inverse version where blocks fall above you like snake. I'm sure I can help ComputerGuy_ with the backend/the code itself also which would really flesh things out as you got another person commenting on whats going on. Other things which I'm sure I can contribute for ideas is potentially a different way people can improve their rankings other than getting XP each game; like for instance minigames you can do while you are dead in mob or other ways to get XP like having the amount of hunters chasing you or to include ways to encourage the person to be more active on the server such as more rewards and potentially a system where players get rewarded on their on time based on the week. I'm willing to consider people's ideas and that I will be the voice to push these suggestions forward because a bigger thinking tank is better than just one. I have a lot more ideas which I can't fit here but I'm sure that my contributions will make AoD a much more fleshed out and better server for all and that I know there won't be any doubt in my ability to think of suggestions.

Moving onto my staffing style, like I have said before I am somebody who will switch to being serious when the situation needs to be serious to really drive home the message that the person who is in the situation that it's something serious and not a joke. I would say this is an attribute, as members can easily tell when I can have a laugh and have fun or when I'm more serious towards them; which lets them understand that it's serious and not the time to have a laugh. When I am serious, some people may say that I'm strict but that's just due to my experience as a staff member throughout the history of Minecraft since the early days of Minecraft multiplayer. I have played and modded Premium versions and Cracked versions where basically anyone can join and have met hundreds, even thousands of different players. I work off a system where you warn somebody first if they have done something really wrong and then if they mess up again; a bigger punishment will ensue such as a mute or even a temp ban. This of course depends on how long the person has been on the server for, the severity of the situation and other factors. I won't be strict to anyone who done a simple, innocent mistake who is willing to correct it and to improve on it but I will be a lot stricter on somebody who hacks or is abusing somebody on purpose, because I have dealt with those issues for years and the best way to deal with them is to move them away from everyone else to stop ruining everyones fun even if I have to resort to a ban.

In fact, I have been a staff member for communities throughout Minecraft's life that I have a bigger sensitivity to somebody who hacks. It's obvious to me, where it may not be obvious to someone else to even a moderator and have dealt with them for so long that I would call myself experienced even if hacking is rare on AoD. I take a zero tolerance policy on that, but I am willing to forgive them if they promise to disable/remove it because even though they hack; I don't want them to be driven away by me because of a ban and it's even more important because I don't want to potentially lose a potential future active member.

I'm gonna quickly talk about why it looks like I'm jumping into trying to become a moderator for AoD. It's something which I had planned for a while, because I knew that something would happen to DarkRP. I didn't want to apply for AoD at that time because I don't see the point of being mod for 2 servers, where you split your time between the two which makes everything less productive and efficient. I'm not a careerist, but someone who geniuinely cares for a server and I will not be afraid to put everything into it. I know how a loss feels like to a server, so I don't want any more servers to experience that. I have seen so many servers come and go that I want a server to last as long as possible which everyone enjoys. I did not feel confident enough or was ready at that time but I know that I'm ready now. And how do I know that I'm ready? Because of my activity, my inputs, the outputs and everything in between. It's something you can't put your finger on but you know when you are ready; and I got that feeling right now.

Now, moving onto stubbornness. This is something which isn't an issue in the area that I live in, where you are encouraged even required to be stubborn in situations. It's a habit which I hope to break and bury. I can't say much about this however, it's something which I have not really noticed until recently because nobody points it out over here in my area, it's normal which may seem abnormal to other people but I know I can be a lot more considerate and forgiving to people, I have done it before and I'm not afraid to admit that I am in the wrong. I can understand how this is an issue, but compared to how I was earlier last year; it's a huge improvement and I KNOW that I can keep on improving on breaking the habit. I'm not afraid to admit that I'm stubborn, because I know I am but I'm not afraid to break it and move on because I don't want to look like somebody who looks like they argue all the time. It's both necessary for me to break this habit because as a staff member; you are not expected to argue with players because it makes you look immature and that you are in fact expected to be considerate to what they say and to have a proper thought out reply. Beyond a shadow of a doubt I will KNOW when to quit an argument now, because it won't happen in the first place and if it does; it will be ended swiftly. I'm sure that when it comes to it, I won't argue or try to cause a scene because that's not my job; my job is to improve AoD in the whole and if it's something I got to sacrifice to be able to do my job effectively then it HAS to be done and I know it will be done.

If you have any other concerns, then make sure to speak with me because I want to clear everything up and know any issues before anything else. I won't be a perfect human being but I will be a good one, who will make AoD both a fun and exciting place to play on; and that I am hoping that this reply will clear everything up and make things look better for me. I may look inactive, stubborn, not experienced but I know that this is something which is wrong/easily correctable and that I will prove that I will be an excellent AoD mod if given the opportunity.

Lots of love:

-Rune

 

[Comp]

First of all, thank you for applying rune.

I share many of the same concerns which Arelic expressed in her reply to your post, but also a few more which I don’t think she covered. However, my reply is going to be focussed on your reply to her reply.

Starting off in regards to activity and personal issues – thanks for discussing this with myself and Arelic, and I understand exactly what the issue is in this regard. I did check your previous on time on AoD before the reset last August, and you had about 4 days. Although this is a good amount of ontime to have and you would have had good experience with the map rotation at that time, I feel that right now having 1 day of ontime is not enough in comparison to other helpers and staff as, like Arelic pointed out, map rotations change over time and I think knowing maps well is pretty vital. You mention that you are going to get back into AoD, although I haven’t seen too much of an increase in activity after you posted your application. I think I may be correct in saying you also have exams coming up soon which you didn’t mention, although correct me if I am wrong about this.

Next, I’d like to address your point about welcoming new players. Although it is true that often staff reply first, I see some massive contradictions in what you say. Firstly, you say it’s a habit of yours to welcome new players to the server, however searching discord logs I have found no evidence of you ever saying anything like this to new players. It is also complete rubbish to say that your replies are more concise and informative than others and this is why you don’t reply first. As I mentioned due to having less ontime than others and seemingly never having welcomed new players to the server. Secondly, you say that if you were Mod you would for sure be the first person to do this, however I see no logic in this. If what you say is true, that the main issue is both the speed of your replies and the depth of these, how would having a rank improve the speed at which you reply? Either it wouldn’t or you’d have to theoretically reduce the quality of your responses. Giving advice on maps is good, although if you don’t have as much ontime as other players I’m not sure how easy this would be to do.

On to your points about maps. Firstly, I fail to understand how you can both continuously judge and point out issues in maps but then not say about it in chat. If you have ideas on what to improve on maps, why not discuss it in chat or send myself or another staff member a PM detailing your suggested improvements so we can discuss it. On that note, I don’t really ever see you contribute much to AoD outside of the server, such as posting a suggestions thread on the forums. You need to demonstrate to us that you want to help rather than telling us in your application post.

I would like to thank you for pointing out some issues with House of Terror – we as staff did discuss about the map yesterday after reading your reply. However, it isn’t important to your application, so I’ll just skip over it. Secondly, you mention about how both AoD and RoF maps need to have good aesthetics. We all agree on this, and I’ll take you at your word when you say you can help in this regard. However, the extreme examples you point out are obvious to all AoD players, and doesn’t show any good knowledge of the maps or game modes. Clearly this isn’t a scenario which would happen, so If you wanted to demonstrate your knowledge of maps and the game modes on AoD it would have been better to include more specific examples instead.

On to your point about events. I think most people in the community agree that events are a good way to attract players to the server (although I would argue the overall quality of the server is way more important, as this is what retains players over a long period of time rather than staying for an hour or two in the event). However, all you do here is point out that events are good, you don’t include any examples of events which you could help set up, or even any ideas for ones.

Thanks for the offer on helping with backend, although this is really an admin’s job and I would rather just develop AoD by myself because I can probably get features done quicker. If you can demonstrate that you would be a very good addition to the dev team, then this is something we could potentially revisit.

It’s good that you posted some suggestions for the server, although I would prefer it if you posted about these outside of your staff application and make them more fleshed out, as right now you don’t have any specific details. I also feel like these are some things you just thought of while writing your reply to give yourself more credibility. You say about how having more opinions on the server is a good thing, which I would mostly agree with (except for the old saying “too many cooks spoil the broth” (is that just an English saying?)), although there was nothing stopping you from posting about these before you submitted your application.

On to your comments about your staffing style. Being able to be serious but also interact with the player base is something which is important for staff – I personally prefer players to feel like they are on the same level as staff and can openly discuss things with them is important. You say that you have good staff experience, and I can only take you at your word about this (although asking Hex and Hoog about your role and performance as a DarkRP mod was certainly insightful). The main issue I have with this paragraph though is your comments about the system you work in for moderation. It is important that as a Mod, you are consistent with the rest of the staff team, and really as much as you can, across the rest of the community servers. Although this is something we have all struggled with, it is important that you try to integrate rather than going your own way in this regard.

I am pleased that you have experience on knowing when a player is hacking – I would say I also am better at judging this than many of the other players, and I can only take you at your word on this. The only slight issue here is that often hackers don’t hack when a staff member is online, although there isn’t much that can be done about this.

Next, you say that you feel you are ready for AoD mod now, and that you were planning to apply for a while. I think it’s good that you didn’t apply for AoD mod while still being a mod of DarkRP, as it often splits your time too much to be an effective moderator on either server. However, you say that you know what losses feel like on servers, but then you also say, in your initial post, that you are good at preventing servers from dying. I don’t honestly see how both can be true. Your comment about being ready, is again a load of rubbish. I don’t think your ontime is especially great, and what "my inputs, the outputs and everything in between” is meant to even mean I don’t know.

So your last paragraph on stubbornness. All I can say here is I’m glad you’re trying to work on it, although I’m not sure its something you can change too easily. It’s the next section which again is problematic though, You say that “I will KNOW when to quit an argument now, because it won't happen in the first place and if it does; it will be ended swiftly”. I don’t know how this makes any sense – you state that you won’t argue but yet you say that you’ll end any arguments you have swiftly.

So on to my decision on your application. If my response came across as hostile, it wasn’t intended to be, I just wanted to reply to all your points mentioned in your reply. I think one of the main issues is that you, instead of demonstrating that you want to help, you simply state it in your application.

I have discussed this with other staff, and although you have two positive votes for a trial or mod, I think the best course of action I think would be to decline your application for now. I would like to see you demonstrate that you want to help the server – helping out new players, giving suggestions for the server, suggesting specific ways to balance maps are all things which you could do. I would like you to re-apply in a few weeks after doing both this and getting some more ontime.

-Declined. You can re-apply in 3 weeks.