[chelllman]

Hi Everyone,

I'd just like to quickly share my own thought process when I read/digest comments on staff applications.  My thoughts are my own and in no way represent the views of the other PH admins or the views of the other Dink's server admins.  I feel some transparency in how I analyze/make decisions about apps would be beneficial for the community to see.  For brevity, things that I care about for lower ranks also apply to the higher ranks (within reason of course).

Trusted:
Trusted is the first staff rank.  Applicants do not need to be perfect; in fact, I'd argue that we should expect them to make mistakes.
I care that:
1.  They ping staff if there is a problem (helps us know they can at least recognize problems like ghosters/hackers/racists, etc).
2. They are friendly with people on the server ie: they don't instigate/cause problems for other players on the server
3. No recent bans/punishments from staff
4. They take criticism gracefully, and act "professionally" when trolls are on the server.  If I my gut says that someone will lose their cool when dealing with trolls, then they might not be fit for staff at this time.
5. They are active on the server.
I don't care that:
1. They have minimal involvement on the forums or anywhere outside the PH section of the Dink's discord.  I care mostly that they regularly play on the server and that people from the server know who they are.
2. They don't have any ban requests.  If they can recognize problems and ping us in the discord, then I know I can probably train them well to collect evidence and make ban requests.  Ban requests are definitely a plus, but I'm not going to hold it against them if they don't make them (well, I will if they complain that staff never get on to help solve the problem, then refuse to make ban requests...).

Test Mod:
Test Mod is the second staff rank.  This is the rank where they are preparing to become moderators.  Mistakes are expected as they are granted ban powers, but they should always ask questions for "tricky" bans such as clever ghosting/hacking.  It's better to ask for backup than unjustly ban someone.  For Trusted applying for Test Mod:
I care that:
1. They continue to ask questions as Trusted and make an active effort to learn from their mistakes.
2. They make a healthy number of ban requests showing they understand how to catch ghosters/hackers.
3. They show that they are capable of managing difficult lobbies, but also recognize (and ping staff) when they need backup.  They know their limits.
4. They make an effort to interact with new/old players on the server and in the discord.  They should also start participating in some discussions on the forums.  Dinks PH does not exist in a vacuum.
5. They have no staff infractions.
I don't care that:
1. They don't interact anywhere outside the PH discord and the forums.  I don't think it's fair to punish someone for interacting with just the PH community if they have no interest in playing TTT/Murder/DR.


Moderator:
Moderator is the final rank most staff can get.  Test Mods applying for moderator need to have demonstrated good judgement because moderators can help decide the direction of the PH server, and vote if there are no PH admins.  At this point, Test Mods need to have demonstrated that they can make judgement calls for permanent bans.  They need to be impartial and analyze information objectively.  If I don't believe they are capable of this, then I will always vote against them being promoted to Moderator.

For the Moderator rank, I would prefer they interact more broadly with the Dink's community both in the discord and on the forums.  Mods should lead by example and be willing to help lower staff learn.

What do you think?  What do you care about for any of the ranks and why?

[RussEfarmer]

Yeah yeah when you get moderator you get the ability to make calls like giving permanent bans and stuff that you used to have to ask other people to do, but you also start being a community pillar, you're the guy people go to for help with stuff and you're who people look up to first... don't let the whole being staff thing go to your head and still remember to be a cool player

(when I used to vote on staff apps) thats what I look for

[Salty]

You and I have discussed this on several occasions, and I have to say we wholeheartedly agree on the viewpoints of the staff totem pole.

Trusted is an entry level position, things like forum engagement and ban requests are great and all but if that is the only reason you're denying someone... that's asinine. What's more important is the rapport they have with the people on the server. They're not going to listen to someone just because they make ban requests on the forums or have regular interaction on here (90% of our player base almost never uses these forums anyway). They're going to listen to someone they respect.

Trusted going for Test Moderator positions need to have shown ample proof that they are active, engaged in community of their respective server. This is where ban requests and forum engagement WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THEIR RESPECTED FIELD is something I need to see in order to support the promotion. Even if I've not played with someone, I can easily check their engagement and see things they have said publicly whether it is on the discord or the forums and make what I feel is an appropriate decision.


Moderators should strive to get involved in all community aspects. The argument of "staying in your lane" is an asinine approach that I used to thoroughly believe in, but those days are long gone. When you are respected enough by your peers to be given banning power, you can provide insight to other staff members that maybe they aren't thinking of. You might be like "it's not that hard to do !ban STEAM ID 189254892158912892589189598210985" (I don't care if the ID is fake), but there is a process that has to be followed with banning. That kind of discipline and patience can come in handy in several situations.

The biggest thing to keep in mind is like what Russ said, you have to maintain being a cool player. Don't go on a power-trip because you're a staff member on a video game that is older than some of this community's members. You're a gamer just like the rest of us.

[Wrong]

tmod shouldn't exist it's a pointlessly arbitrary stepping stone rank. you should either have baby powers (trusted) or real powers (mod)

[RussEfarmer]

tmod shouldn't exist it's a pointlessly arbitrary stepping stone rank. you should either have baby powers (trusted) or real powers (mod)

It made sense in ancient times, trusted used to not be a staff rank. You had trusted, which had the commands it does now, but it was like donor where you weren't actually a part of the staff team. Then the first actual staff rank was tmod, and then mod.

[BillyBob]

agreed about the lacking of ban requests for trusted, depending on the situation or if you have an active staff team most of the time an issue gets resolved before a ban request is even needed.

i still think tmod is a good rank in-between because it allows an additional set of time to gauge the maturity of a player before they take that step up. i do think tmod should have more commands available to them tho.

[jax]

“Based” - this rank is exclusively given to jax

[Carson]

“Based” - this rank is exclusively given to jax

True!

[dong]

I had these same views whenever I still held admin +1