Staff Application

Welcome to the Mineplex Trainee Application form.

As a Trainee, you will undergo a 2 month trial in order to become a Moderator. As a staff member you will assist players with any concerns, including answering questions and punishing rule breakers, alongside interacting with the community and staff team. You will also get the opportunity to gain extra responsibilities and further help Mineplex.

Before applying, make sure to do the following:
Read over the Becoming a Trainee thread.
Read over the Rules and FAQ.
Fill out this application with as much detail as possible.
Be completely honest in your application.

You will receive a response to your application within 10 days, where you will be informed if you have been invited to an interview, or denied.

Please be patient while waiting for your application to be answered. If you ask any staff to review your application, it will be denied.

Good luck with filling out the application!
Background Information
What is your in-game name?
BartandLees
How old are you?
Value: 14
Which server do you play on most?
EU
What country are you currently living in?
United Kingdom (UK, Timezone: GMT)
What language(s) can you speak?
I can speak fluent English, and conversational Polish.
What times are you most active on Mineplex?
In the weekdays: 5pm-9pm usually, and in the weekends: 11am-9pm usually.
Do you have a recording device?
Yes, I use LoiLo Game Recorder.
Do you own a microphone?
Yes.
What is your Skype username?
Nickname: BartandLees, Name: bartandlisa123
What is the link to your most recent application, if any?
The most recent one I can find is: http://www.mineplex.com/dashboard/applications/application?app_id=7249164
Mineplex Experience
How long have you been playing on Mineplex for?
I have been playing on Mineplex, for at a guess (because it has been so long I cannot remember the exact date), May 2014.
What game do you most actively play?
On Mineplex, I like to play a lot of the 'Classics' games, such as SSM (Super Smash Mobs), SG (Survival Games), and with my friends I like to play Mixed Arcade for a bit of variety. My favourite games that I like to play on (in Mixed Arcade), are: Death Tag, OITQ (One in the Quiver), and Micro Battles.
Which areas of the Mineplex network do you enjoy the most?
I enjoy the server the most, because it is the part I play/am active on the most, however I like to browse the forums to; Check the hacker reports, and think about my opinions on them, and to browse the recent threads; to see if anyone has any good suggestions.
What has motivated you to apply for a staff position at Mineplex?
Since the first time I joined Mineplex, I decided to endeavour into how big and how famous and how good the server actually is. I play/played on this server a LOT, gaining more coins, gems, and the recent edition: treasure shards. From that day when I joined, I saw major/minor changes, modifications, improvements, to the server as a whole, most of them improvements. These changes are one of the main reasons I stayed on Mineplex, and have now aspired to be staff on Mineplex as a whole. It is to see what benefits I can provide, take, and give to the community and people as a whole. My main goal, now, is to make the server a better place; by any means neccesary.

After I joined this server, I aspired to what I could actually help and benefit this server, whether it be working on projects that unfortunately never got finished (an example would be the parkour signs introduced in the lobby where you wait for games and pick your kit), answering questions and learning things about people (basically being a good friend and person to be near), and to make other players have a nice and welcoming time on Mineplex.

My other friends have aspired me to become staff on a server, and after my previous experiences with being staff on some minor servers, such as; DarkRP servers, and a general server that my friend owned; I aspired to become staff on a server that wouldn't fall like the other servers I have become staff on. I would do anything in my power to keep Mineplex alive and a good place to be in. This is why I wanted to become staff on Mineplex; so I could be staff with great people, with professionals who know how to operate, develop and run things and hopefully, to keep the server alive, and a good server to be in.

I feel that I could be one of those professionals, or veterans on this server. I feel that I could learn more and more to be able to know how to handle players who have queries, or want to break the rules, or want to have fun/play with me (if they wanted to).
What interactions have you had with our staff team in the past?
I have had two interactions with your staff time in the past:

• Being banned for permanent, then getting unbanned.
Like it says, I have been banned for permanent, then got unbanned. This was around 2 years ago when I was young, and bored a lot of the time. I will now explain what I think my intentions were about hacking, this is NOT what I think now:

When I was younger, I was bored with a lot of things so I decided to hack on some servers but the only one I had fun on hacking was Mineplex. I decided to hack on it, and after a few days I got banned for permanent. I swiftly learned how hacking is a short-term solution which later leads to longer term consequences. The consequences overruled the positive features so I decided never to hack again. About a year later, and several appeals, I got unbanned. I was so happy. Like I said, this is what I think I thought when I was younger, and more idiotic. Hacking is NOT a way to have fun because it brings much worse consequences.

• Making ban reports about other people hacking.

When I had the opportunity I made ban reports, and recorded people with my recording software. Unfortunately, I guess hackers may never end, unless the AntiCheat plugin gets improved (which I have read upon, it will) or more stricter actions take place (which then again, probably won't make a difference).
Have you received any punishments at Mineplex, or any other server?
Like I mentioned in the 'Being banned for permanent, then getting unbanned' section, of the previous section, I have been banned for using general hacks, (all the ones in the book), then got unbanned. What I have got from this is that hacking is only a SHORT-TERM solution to a much LONGER TERM consequence, which is getting banned. The negative consequences overrule any fun anyone may have gotten when being banned.
All About You
Why should we choose you to become a Trainee?
When I first joined Mineplex, I was instantly impressed with the well made lobby, (which was 2 years ago, at a guess). I then started to discover the very addictive, and good games that were on there at the time. As such, I decided to stay on Mineplex, introduce it to my friends, and play on the server for extended periods of time. I did this over the approximate 2 years I have played on Mineplex. In my Mineplex career, I have experiences countless amount of changes, bug fixes, modifications, improvements and events that the server had done. This made me think I could introduce myself to the server more and see what I could give back for the countless hours of entertainment it has given to me.

I want to give this server anything that I can, and I feel that becoming trainee on Mineplex is one of, if not, the best ways to achieve this. After reading up on what I had to be as a Trainee, I realised what I needed to be and swiftly changed my opinions and thoughts about what I want to be as a Trainee. As a Trainee, I want to be a good 'customer service' point to other players seeking and searching for help, because they want to help Mineplex becoming a better place as well. I want people to feel comfortable to seek guidance, or if some people want to favour me, they could. I want to be able to provide good customer service in anyway possible whether that be:

• Through banning over rule breakers for breaking the rules.
• Through answering peoples queries, questions, or clear up any misconcerns either on the server, forums or TeamSpeak.
• Through being friendly to people, and possibly say or do something that brightens their day up.

I realised in the last staff application that I floated heavily towards punishing players, which is NOT the primary focus for being Trainee or Mod. The primary focus point is to provide what I read as 'good customer service', I understand this to be a general ability to become staff, not just by banning hackers, but by answering peoples queries, showing knowledge of Mineplex, endurance, patience, good public speaking, being professional and even more points I haven't mentioned

My last point is controversial, as it points out a retaliation from why hacking is bad and neglects why I tried away from punishing people. Likewise, I will still say it. I have experimented, in the past with different hacks with singleplayer worlds, to understand what they mean and how they work. From my research, I believe that I know a lot of aspects to how general hacks work. I have assisted my friends on other servers who have asked me for help with hacking evidence, and nearly all of them were legitimate. I have had a lot of experience with hacks, and know how most of them work; such as KillAura (most common headsnaps, or just hitting you without looking at you), forcefield (hitting you without looking at you), why "Reach" hacks, does not exist and instead is a misconception based upon lag and ping, and things more obvious but slightly discreet (such as people (I'll give an example in SSM), using Iron Golem's Seismic Slam ability as an excuse to use hacks and fly a tiny bit extra to avoid anticheat or other peoples suspicions.)

Most of the time, I already try to help people by answering common questions I see people ask inside the server, such as TypeWars, and 'How do I play this game'. I most often just tell them to enter the names of the mobs they see into the chat, like how they just communicated just then, and Mineplex lobbies such as 'How do I get treasure shards?'. I reply, to get treasure shards you need to either purchase them from the store (and link the store page), or you may randomly, but rarely get them in games.
In what ways could you positively contribute to the community?
I feel I can contribute positively to server in multiple ways. Here is some of the ways I feel I can contribute:

• By completing unfinished projects, or helping people with projects.
There are some projects on Mineplex that haven't been completed, and I feel I can help staff as a whole, by assisting to complete them. The main one that comes to mind is the long-awaited parkour in the lobbies whilst you pick your kit that have never been added. This is a minor factor, but it would help a level of detail to Mineplex, and positively benefit Mineplex as a whole.

• By answering peoples queries, questions, concerns etc.
I feel I have enough knowledge, or would to be able to share enough legal knowledge about the server, and if some people have some questions about the server, like how to play or get certain items on it I would be able to explain in clarity, but with enough detail so that said person would be able to understand it. Here are some ways in which I can demonstrate my knowledge:

► If someone asked on 'X' game, how do I play?
Based upon the game I would explain in detail, but with clarity how to play 'X' game. For example if someone asked how to play TypeWars; I would say something along the lines of:
"Type the names above the mobs' heads as they pass by. You enter them into chat by pressing T and typing them, like how you just communicated just then."
I would do this in most games but I only gave an example for TypeWars, because that questions is asked commonly.

► How do I get 'X' kit/item?
I would explain how to get 'X' kit/item. An example of these would be:
If someone asked on SSM, How do I get the Squid kit? I would say:
"You must save up gems and obtain the gems by right-clicking the mob, and clicking the emerald block saying "Accept". The amount of gems you need is displayed above the mob."
If someone asked, how do I get gems/treasure shards? I would say:
"You get gems by playing games on Mineplex. The more you play, eventually the more gems you earn."
"To get treasure shards, you can either purchase them from the website: www.mineplex.com/shop."

• By banning rule breakers.
Rather than focus my entire application about banning rule breakers, I will allocate this one bullet point to primarily explain how I would ban rule breakers.
I have quite a bit of knowledge of the Mineplex rules and can have them up and handy at any time. I know, for the most part, what severity most incidents are as can be shown from my ban reports. Only a few have been denied. I have experimented, in private, with certain hacks, so I have extensive knowledge of them and how they work. Sometimes, my friends (who are staff on other servers) ask for help, and my opinion on a hacking video.
What experiences do you have with moderating a community or game?
The only experiences I have with moderating servers are ones that have fallen down, and closed. These are primarily DarkRP servers, and some other servers that my friends have owned. I suppose my ambitions have been too high on certain servers as I haven't been staff on a major or big server like Mineplex. This is why I think it could be a beneficial and good experience, so I can learn more and provide better assistance.
If accepted, what are the top 3 goals which you would aim to complete during your time as a staff member?
If I would get accepted, I would focus on these three goals.

1) Improve the Mineplex atmosphere by any means possible.
Like I explained earlier in several questions, I want to give to the Mineplex server as a whole as much I can. This is by any means such as:

►Banning hackers.
►Answering questions/queries/concerns.
►Interacting with a lot of people so they feel comfortable and open talking to me and not feel rejected.

2) Learn as much as I can about becoming staff and how Mineplex deals with them.
I will learn a lot from not only the Trainee program alone, but by helping and dealing with people every day. By this I hope to build up my knowledge on how to administrate servers and hopefully be known as a person who "knows his thing".

3) Be the best little mod I can be.
This may sound silly but this is what I want for myself. I don't want to be a lazy person who hardly goes on the server at all, but apparently is still a mod on it, but I want to be a well-known, good person; who is experienced, friendly, plays a lot, efficient. I want to be able to show, that I can take anything you can throw at me, that I can take all the duties and responsibilities that a Trainee/Mod will enlist.

Like one of the denial reasons said: "With great power, comes great responsibility". I want to show that I can take this responsibility, and show that I can use great "power" for good use to benefit the community in ANY MEANS POSSIBLE.
What type of mentor would you prefer?
A casual mentor who lets you be independent.
Is there anything else which you would like to add?
Thank you so much for reading my staff application, and for using your time to respond to me.
I know in this application I use the phrase "by any means possible" and I truly mean that. All the points I listed are some of the ideas that I had whilst writing this application, but I will do anything to help the community even sacrificing my own time just to help other people. I truly want to give a lot for what I have received and experienced. I want to show that I am not what some people stereotype to be: a hacker, 12/7 year old, inexperienced, unprofessional, because I believe that I am not those things. The only way to show that truly, I think is to test me.

I would like to ask a question to the person reading this whether it seems off-topic. I want to know this. How are you, and how was your day? I hope it was good :).

I will say again, thank you SO MUCH for reading this application. I hope you consider me for Trainee. Even if I get denied for whatever reason, I will learn and improve, and apply again.

I will now explain who I am in real life:

Hello. I consider myself to be a relatively nice person, who can get frustrated at times for personal reasons, however not that often. The main reason why I get frustrated is that I dislike having effort wasted in any way, shape or form. However, I digress. I am a person, who is quite friendly and likes/has hobbies/passions in: football, developing, and of course: VIDEO GAMES! Some of favourite video games include: Garry's Mod, Life is Strange, Shovel Knight, Minecraft and much more.

I will tell you more, if you want to know more in the interview. Just be aware: I have been told my voice is quite high, I am 14 years old. It's just my voice is quite high in pitch.
Agreements
Do you understand that if you ask a staff member to look at your application, it will be instantly declined?
Yes
If you are denied, do you agree not to argue with the decision of the Recruiter, and instead take on the responsibility of improving in that area?
Yes
Do you understand that as a staff member, you are expected to behave in a professional manner at all times?
Yes
Do you agree to help any and all players who request your assistance, even if you are not accepted?
Yes
Thanks for completing the application form!