Smeags's Moderator Application

Joey, here it is. I hope you feel this endeavor was worth it. .-.
Thanks for reading everyone. I have been wanting to reapply again for sometime, but it was Joey's plunge that gave me the final incentive. Hence this thread. cx

What is your Minecraft name?

My MC name is smeagolz.
Although my wish was granted in the ability to capitalise the 's' in my IGN, I have encountered an old, yet unprecedented foe; laziness.
Note: I also have a couple of alternate accounts.


Why do you play Minecraft?

I play MC mostly for entertainment purposes (which is what it's made for anyway ;3). But I also play MC to interact with people I don't know, to make new friends out of these unknown people (and interact with old friends of course).
I also play all the different mods and custom games in MC, the most obvious being Factions. But I've tried most games you've heard of that are implemented into MC.


What is your time zone?

My timezone is GMT/UTC +10.


When are you usually online?

Depends on what day it is. Monday and Tuesday I'll be on from 4pm to generally 8pm. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday it'll be from 6/6:30pm - 8:30pm. I'm on less  because I work on those days. Saturday and Sunday it'll generally be from 12/12:30pm to anytime of the night, if I'm not doing stuff or called into work. Please note that this is only on the actual server. I'm on the forums a lot more and in a less predictable pattern.


How many hours a day can you play? How many hours do you actually play?

I can play as many hours as I listed before on those particular days. I actually play maybe half the time I mentioned, but this is when I'm actively speaking in chat and not afking. If I was to include the amount I afked, it would be closer to the time I can play.


How long have you been playing SquadCraft?

Firstly, does this actually matter?
But anyway, I have played SC on multiple accounts. The first time I logged in was sometime in 2011. Please take into notice that this was on a different account, one that I can no longer access or remember, which may seem awfully convenient, but you try misplacing a login, leaving it for a few years and then trying to remember it. Pretty sure it'd be difficult to say the least without a photographic/eidetic memory.


What's your favorite memory on SquadCraft?

I have multiple memories of Squad that are lined up as my favourites.

The first would obviously be when I donated for Bedrock rank. It was extraordinarily cheap at the time ($180, since it was a 50% sale, and the previous ranks I'd gotten were cumulative towards the total), so I thought I'd just go for it. Turns out I donated for it just after drunkexcop.

The second is when I donated for Buttpiracy, FallenHaloElf, soccer98878 and naomieater. They were my closest friends on the server at that time period, and we spent hours every night chatting and messing around. As a result, Buttpiracy let me kill him for his head 64 times. The amount of people who messaged me asking for one of them was absolutely ridiculous.

The third and final one is kind of a mixed feelings one. It was rather more recent, being back in September of last year. I donated for about 20 people (all rank upgrades from their current rank). From the top of my head I can list KingFroggy, urtoast, mightymouse, Eth0ss, nygiantsplaysmc, RangerDoesYT, and Fadily (now SquadCraftPvP). Of course, the result was I nearly got IP Banned from Squad, but it was still a good memory, considering that these people still play.


Where do you spend your time at SquadCraft?

I play Factions usually, but I also go on KitPvP, Skywars and occasionally Creative to chat with people.


Why do you want to be a moderator? What is your goal as a SquadCraft moderator?

This is the big one isn't it?
My reasons from my last mod application still haven't changed, bar the last one, which still applies just in a different way then before.
I could just copy and paste them all, but then I suppose it wouldn't be 'authentic' would it?
Once again, I'm going to list my reasons before I explain them. Here it goes.
I, as a moderator, still want to:
1) Uphold the rules on Factions, and be there as a moderator when no other moderator is online.
2) Assist new players, and explain the rules.
3) Be someone you can talk to, and get assistance from.
4) Help the server, in any way I can.

1) Uphold the rules on Factions, and be there when no other moderator is online.
So, because of the fact that I live in Australia, there is usually no moderators online when I get on. I regularly see Oman, occasionally see CREEPERBOT, and rarely see EA. But there is still a huge gap from when Americans and Brits sleep, which is around 10 hours. I can be on for at least a part of this period, which will shorten the time that no moderators are 'reachable'.

Which brings me to my next point, hackers, spammers and rule breakers in general. A higher percentage of them frequent the server now, and constantly in chat there are complaints of 'Nice hax/cks mate' or 'Hacker! Such and such hacks!' If a moderator was on during this time, they could investigate these claims, and silence the spammers that inevitably pop up.

2) Assist new players and explain the rules.
While this may not be as frequent, I still do see people in chat ask how to make a Faction, what they are supposed to do, how to make money, how to report someone they think is hacking, etc. While I try to explain this to the best of my ability anyway, I know that staff get through easier, and that more people listen to them than they would a donator. Assisting and making new players feel welcome is a possible way to attract more people to the server, because if that member who has recently joined enjoys the server, he/she may bring his/her friends in, and if they enjoy it, they could bring their friends in, and so on and so forth.

3) Be someone to talk to and get assistance.
While the above reason may state this already, I want to be someone that everyone- member to god- can go to for help, and hopefully get help from. I am used to being spammed with private messages, and it has helped me learn to respond quickly and efficiently, which to me equals professionalism, since in the real world, there are deadlines to everything. This is true in an actual job as well, since if I wasn't fast enough to help people, take orders from customers and such, that business would lose money and I would be fired (I work in a cafe, so this stuff is absolutely essential). When people ask for help, I would do so with most things, like raiding a vault, helping to build one, assisting with commands, going to PvP to watch a battle, and more. Its these types of things that I think a moderator should do, and maintain a calm, and helpful attitude at all times.

4) Help the server in any way I can.
This is the one that has changed a lot for me. Now that Yonda has started his own server, this reason should be gone right? No, definitely not. This is still the same server that I've spent countless hours on, donated potentially thousands to, and met some of the most amazing, inspirational electronic block pixels I'll ever get the chance too speak with. I still want to help. Ever since Noah ditched, this server has fallen dramatically, there's no denying it. But there is absolutely no reason it can't become even better than before, can it? I want to be a part of this comeback, and I would do almost anything to help. Sure I can pay a crapton of money to help pay for it, but that's kind of hollow isn't it? I want this to be absolutely sincere.

This concludes my reasons.


As a moderator, how will you affect SquadCraft?

How will I affect Squad as a moderator? That's simple, one would usually say.
I'll mute the spammers.
I'll jail the hackers.
I'll ban the DDoSers.
And I'll kick the advertisers.
But there is more too it for me. Being a moderator is about having a positive effect on people, and the place you're moderating. I don't want people to see me on and go;
'Oh, there's smeagolz the mod. Great, now we have to watch ourselves.'
I want them to say, 'Cool! Smeagolz is on! I'm going to have a chat with him, etc.' It's all about the positive relationships with the majority of the players. However, the few that do break the rules and aren't remorseful for it won't be shown much, if any, sympathy. Everyone gets a fair turn, and if you try to remove that fairness you'll be caught. Simple as that.


Do you want Mod just to have Mod next to your name?

This would be utterly ridiculous. If I wanted mod, just to have a fancy prefix, then I wouldn't have bothered to make this application. There is literally no point to do that, since I'm a Bedrock donator. No, I would like mod to assist and moderate the server, as previously stated.


What happens if you are not chosen to be a moderator?

Considering that I was denied before, I know what it feels like to not get the position. Since I've experienced it, I know what to expect and how to deal with it. I won't put up a huge fuss about it, I'll simply accept it and move on. Of course, I'll probably decide to reapply once more eventually, unless I'm explicitly told 'You will never be mod on this server', or something along those lines.


What kind of skills do you have?

The ability to interact with players, stay calm in practically every situation, deal with rule breakers quickly and effectively using the commands I have available, and experience with how SquadCraft works. I've broken up fights with players on here before as well (I know that Slender will back me up on this), and this shows that I can get through to angry people.


Have you ever been banned? If so, why?

I have never been banned from Squad. Hopefully I never will in future either.


Have you ever cheated, used hacks? If so, why?

Never. They ruin the fairness of the game. What fun is it when you always win? In my opinion, it takes a lot of maturity and humility to accept that you can't win at everything. No one is perfect, and it just shows how most of the people who hack and break the rules are considered immature by other people who don't.


How do you treat younger players?

This depends. If they're respectful and polite I have absolutely no problems. I gladly answer any question they have, and help them if they really want it. But if they're breaking rules then I treat them as I would any rule breaker.


Do you use TeamSpeak or skype?

I have the ability to use both, but favour Skype a lot more. I know Skype is much more likely to get me DDoSed, but I've never had it happen to me on Squad, which I consider an achievement.


List the things you've done to help the SquadCraft community and the SquadCraft server.

-Donated for multiple servers.
-Donated for multiple people on multiple servers.
-Assisted new members with the server rules, and getting started.
-Helped people report rule breakers and reported some myself, once upon a time.
These are just the things off of the top of my head that I thought relevant.


How many applications have you submitted before? When was the last one?

I've submitted one other application, which can be found in the Declined Applications section of the Moderator Applications area. This was posted on November 5th.


Is there anything else you would like to say?

I am hugely active on the forums. I would go so far to say I am one of the most active members that go online regularly. If needed, you could contact me through a private message on forums and I would probably answer it faster than if you asked me in game.

The one other thing I want to add is about the chargebacking situation. I'm sick and tired of people bringing it up like a black cloud so I'm going to explain it all right here.

I donated for people. I don't regret the choice, even though it was stupid.
My parents found out, so they contacted PayPal, and asked them to retract all payments.
They tried to do this, which is why so many people were getting banned from 'chargebacking'.
Surge or Yonda, I'm not sure which, managed to refute the money from going back, so everyone got their ranks anyway. Technically, there was no charge back. I know it looks extremely suspicious, but I would never, ever do that on anyway server. I consider this place my MC home, and it really saddens me that people think I would try this. I don't want to be IP banned on a server I've practically lived on for most of my MC life.


Do you have any experience as a staff member of any organization? (doesn't have to be Minecraft)

Aside from my IRL job, which I will not give details about, I've only been staff on half a dozen smaller servers that had less than 20 people each on them. Nothing major like other people. These servers were not 'official' servers and as such were not named, and have been shut down. On each of these servers I was either Moderator or Admin. I cannot show proof of this, due to the fact that I didn't think about the fact that I could possibly require it eventually. The benefit of this though, is that I know my way around commands like /kick, /jail and /mute. Even though only a couple of these are now used in Factions, it is still good knowledge to have. Another example is /god, which  used to be used to observe PvP fights to check for hacking. Although my experiences are not as numerous as I would like, I believe they are adequate enough for me to adjust to the size of SquadCraft and use these commands efficiently, and as they are required in the large environment of Factions.


Tell us about yourself, about you, your character, personality and values.

I'm generally referred to as a sarcastic, witty, misanthropic ass. Those are mostly compliments though, so no worries. I'm strongly opinionated, and incredibly stubborn (according to lexi). I'll defend what I consider to be right, sometimes to the point of silliness, but in most topics I like to debate about, there isn't really a correct answer, so that isn't an issue. I hold value to my books, my electronics and my pets. I have a psychopathic fish that has committed murder, and actively tries to splash water over my food. Incredibly annoying, yet strangely endearing. I have a cat, which leaves hair everywhere and three chickens, which chase you around amusingly if they think you have food. I work two jobs, one in a cafe and the other at a restaurant, so I suppose I'm being trained in Hospitality (hey, another reason I should be mod! I'm trained to be hospitable towards complete strangers! ;D). I'm looking towards University, but I haven't really settled on something to work towards yet. I suppose that concludes everything I'm willing to share about myself.


Thanks for reading this everyone, once again! It would be really appreciated if you could leave a comment about what you thought about the app, and whether you support my application or not. c: