SwagDaddy Application

This application contains 5042 words and 27448 characters enjoy!

Before you read my report and gain all the cognitive biases associated with it, I would encourage you to discretely spectate me during my admin sits. Hopefully this will allow you to gain an insight into my outlook, demeanour and personality. This way, you do not have to compare what is basically a CV in essay format with what you think is likely to be the reality, and then can read my application with more certainty of truth.

I also apologise for the lack of formatting on this document, I would have preferred to make a word document, but paste bin was specified.


	Personal information

Your TeamSpeak username(s): 	SwagDaddy

Your given name (real first name): 	Patrick

Your Steam profile name(s):	 SwagDaddy

Your Steam profile link: 	http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198047719088

Your age: 	15

In-game rank: 	Admin

Country of residence: 	Ireland

Preferred server(s): 	Server #2 would be ideal, but I am active on server #1 also.


	Questions

*** What made you want to send an application?

	I want to help people. Because people only break rules, cheat and lie when they are unhappy. My interest is to find the root of that unhappiness and resolve it, whether it be due to the situation they are in, or personal circumstances. When I go into a sit, my main goal is to make sure at the end of it, both parties leave happy. Happy in the resolution of the sit, and happy with the server. I have found that people who leave a sit happy have on average a very small percentage chance of re-offending.

	However, as an admin, I can only take as many sits as time allows, and there will usually be more sits than I can take alone. That is where I believe the problem is. If there is just one staff member who is not polite, or courteous or fair, it will make people angry, and the re-offending rates will rise. My aim is to teach those kinds of moderators in the arts of psychology and customer service. Sadly as an admin, often my advice will go unwelcome, and only serve to worsen their relationship with me. I believe that if I can be let loose, and teach the current and future staff in a master class so to speak, one to one, all questions answered, then I can improve the service quality of the staff immensely.

	I do have my staff guide on the forums, but to be frank, the type of moderators which I am aiming to teach are also most likely not to read something for self improvement, and so I would like to take a less evadable approach giving them a quick education in person on my big 3 areas of staffing; Be polite, Be understanding, Be fair. Once those moderators try it out, (and I would be watching) I believe that most of them would gain a sudden boost in passion for staffing, as they will see the difference in reaction of their sit participants.

	So to give a brief outline: Somebody has just been accepted as a trial, I teleport them to the admin area. The usual congratulations, then a master class. This would encompass my staff guide but cut down in size to be easier to remember. The basic commands, the need to be polite, and then I would bring them and do a sit myself (with them present). This would hopefully give them an idea on what to attempt to recreate, and then I would sit in in a few of their sits (discretely if possible) and assess them.



*** Are you fully aware that being in this position means that you are voluntarily taking on a huge responsibility and that it may be stressful at times?

	Yes, yes I am. However, I am quite a relaxed person (except for with specific people which will be mentioned in the frustration question), and because I am relaxed and enjoy helping people, I do not see server workload as a burden. More of a "you have to open the biscuit tin to 	have one" if you understand that analogy. So although I am prepared to face stressful situations, I do not suspect there will be many 	with my approach to life.

	Taking on responsibility would be my aim in applying for Head of Staff, so that is expected, and will be cherished.


*** "Due to circumstances you may not always be assigned a duty as Head of Staff to your preferred server(s)."

*** Do you fully conform with the statement above?

	Yes. My plan is to improve the service quality of the staff as a whole and therefore create a happier community, so it does not matter to me which server I begin with! However, I am already well known on server #2 and to a lesser extent on server #1, and it would make it easier to initiate my plan on a server which I already have roots in. i.e I am an accepted part of the servers sub-community.



*** How active are you in the community (forums, TeamSpeak, servers, etc.)?

	Having tracked my "2 week playtime" of Garry's mod for several weeks now, my average is about 50 hours a week on the servers, mainly server 2. If I am on the server, I will usually also be in a room on teamspeak. I do not tend to participate in locked lobbies however, as I want people with problems to be able to come into my room so that I can sort them out.

	Due to phones being allowed in my school, I am on the forums throughout the day, focusing on the unban requests, staff abuse reports and my staffing guide, if I am browsing and see an unread topic I will check it out.



*** How much leisure are you willing to spend on doing this job?

	I spend all my leisure time on the community, it is quite sad when I write it like that, but any time that I am not 1) at school or 2) at training, I am participating in the community, either on the forums or on the server.

	As said above, in my calculations, that is about 50 hours a week, though obviously it will increase during holidays, and decrease during exam season.


*** If everything works out, how long do you plan on doing this?

	Basically, for as long as you will have me! I gain great enjoyment from helping people, whether it be in a sit, or teaching a new staff member how to do this or that, so I do not see a reason for me to stop. As long as there are people to enlighten I will be sticking around.



*** How responsible are you as a person and why?

	I would like to think that I am very responsible person, I take my education very seriously getting top grades, do not embroil myself into drugs, alcohol or illegal activities, I do not overeat or under sleep, I do sports regularly to keep fit, and I believe myself to be a mature individual.

	I understand that responsibility is earned through hard work, and being trustworthy, if I do something that is wrong or otherwise unwanted I will take responsibility and any punishments that go with it, using the best of my ability make sure it never happens again. I believe in being consistent, reliable, and am willing to commit to things that I believe will improve me as a person or the community as a whole. But in the end, that is for you to judge.



*** Why do you think you would be suitable to be in a leading position?

	I work well in groups, having studied Social along with Behavioural Psychology (more info on my studies in the intellect question) I am able to manipulate the views and opinions of the group in a discrete yet effective way, maintaining an aura of teamwork whilst quietly guiding. I believe that I can bring people closer and ensure that they work together in a hostility free environment, where their own personal ideas and beliefs are free to be expressed, but they still understand that they must conform to the rules and boundaries of the group.

	I aim to be naturally friendly and inviting, hopefully creating an aura of approachability allowing people to feel comfortable sharing their problems and queries with me, which in my opinion is core to a leadership role. Having said that, I am able to be stern if the situation calls for it, in scolding staff members or players alike.



*** What is required for someone to be a good leader in your own opinion?

	A good leader would need to: Be approachable, listen to his co-workers, be able to make decisions not taking into account personal biases, be able to swap from friendly and approachable to stern and scolding in a flash that would discourage people from steering from the group guidelines, be calm and relaxed to deal with difficult situations, know the community and workforce well to be able to locate problems or hotspots before they become a major issue, be an exemplary example to all those that look up to him/her, and most importantly of all, not take power to his/her head, as that will ruin any leader, no matter how proficient.



*** What do you think of Near Reality Gaming as a community?

	I was quite surprised with NRG as a community, mainly for the noticeable lack of negativity. Sure there is the occasional rift between two people who absolutely hate each other, but this rarely lasts more than a few days. I was surprised when I didn't notice many "parasites" i.e. people who use lying and power for their personal gain, and those that I had noticed are now banned.

	This absence of bad influences is what encouraged me to buy mod, and see if I can scrub the community up to perfection! The only negative thing I see in the community is a slight lacking in the staff's manner, mainly prevalent in the VIP-moderators, but that will be mentioned in the question on plans for the community.



*** How are you in social settings, and do you have social anxiety?

	I do not suffer from any mental or physical disabilities or disorders. In response to social settings, if I was in a group which was working effectively, I would prefer to sit back and study them, locate the leaders, locate the people with the ideas, and locate those that are just there, not doing anything productive. I will then start interacting with the group, and I find I usually make my way up its chain, until I am at the top, and then I promote the people with ideas, and attempt to get the people which are not participating to get more involved with the group.

	Basically, I enjoy finding a new social group, and then using Psychological tactics to shape it into something that is either better, or if nothing else, less bad.

	I prefer to watch and listen to a group, so that when I take a leading position in it, I know the environment and the troublemakers well, those that will comply and those that won't. However, sometimes I will notice a group is not productive e.g competing for who is the best at looking at their shoes. At that point, I take on a leadership role before I study the group, as it is self evident nothing good will come of the group. I encourage participation, and act more extroverted that I would naturally be, so that I can be a role model to the "wanna be" leaders of the group. Once they see how to do it, and begin leading themselves, I fade back into the listening role, enjoying the fact that I have just made someone's dream a reality.



*** How emotionally intelligent would you rate yourself and why?

	 I would like to think I am quite emotionally intelligent, from studying social interactions in such depth. I was accepted into CTYI (Center for Talented Youth in Ireland), but that is more to do with IQ. During my studies at CTYI (3 week, working day courses) I studied Behavioural Psychology along with Social Psychology, in those courses, I learned about mental disabilities, cognitive functions such as biases, and I specialised in manipulation of social groups. I have also completed work experience with a marketing psychology firm, and since then I have been putting my new found skills to use on groups, as described above. I rarely lose control of my emotions, and generally am able to a minor extent control others emotions also.



*** Do you take initiative?

	As described above, I take the initiative to teach others to take the initiative. I do not believe in running any social group as the lone initiator. Because, if for some reason I was to stop taking initiative, the group would collapse. I teach by example, taking initiative and showing people how to.

	On matters that other people shouldn't need to take initiative, such as my moderating and in future staff management, I would take the initiative. Because I hold the server and community in such high regard, I enjoy taking the initiative, as any improvement I can bring about, will not only improve the community, but my time spent here also.



*** How aware are you about your own flaws, and how do you typically deal with them?

	Because I study social interactions I will often see some of those flaws that I study in my own actions. This is where an alarm goes off in my head, and I note it, along with the situation that caused my flaw to be portrayed. I will then strive to avoid acting the same way the next time I arrive at a situation which is similar, and if I repeat this enough times, eventually my default reaction will be flawless.

	In short, I kick myself when I realise I have done something which is less than satisfactory, and make sure that if the circumstances repeat, it would not happen for the second time. Trial by error is my way of dealing with my flaws, any input by you would be welcome!


*** Name a few things about yourself which you see as a flaw that you need to improve on.

	I believe that one of my flaws, is the fact that I can be lazy. In school for example, if there is homework due, I will only get around to doing it, the day before it is to be handed in. If there are things to be learned, it will be learned on the train as I am going to school. I find that I still do well at school, but I am just riding on the fact that I am lucky enough to be smart. Fortunately, because I find server work to be more of a reward than chore, I have not suffered the same lazy attitude.

	Another flaw which I personally am working on is my humour. No this isn't one of those flaws which isn't really a flaw like working too hard. I feel that sometimes, my humour which is inherently dark can offend some people. I now refrain from using it until I know a person well enough to know they won't be offended, but sometimes I will misjudge, and leave some poor guy upset (for example if I did not know of a personal situation in their past).

	As I am obviously biased in naming my flaws, I asked about 5 staff members on the server what they thought was my biggest flaw, sadly the only result I got was that one person said I was too kind, and they thought all the Sir and friend was just annoying.


*** Do you have negative thoughts or suffer from things like depression?

	No, I am quite a happy person, and gain more happiness from helping people, so negative thoughts have never been a problem. And once again I do not suffer from any mental or physical disabilities or disorders.



*** Do you take care of yourself (e.g. eat a healthy diet, exercise or sleep)?

	I should hope so! I sleep 8 hours a night, I am slightly under average weight (genes), I train 5 times a week, and walk 4.5 km a day (round trip from train to school and back). I have a healthy mental attitude focusing on happiness from helping people, and I generally surround myself with cheerful peers. (Though there will be the occasional sad person, which I take on to make happy again)



*** Are you attached to any specific beliefs?

	I am not attached to religious beliefs (Atheist), but I am strongly attached to the belief that if I can make someone happy, that in turn will make me happy. I try to have no prejudice to any type of people, and I believe in giving people a second chance if they feel as if they have squandered their first one (along as they are truly sorry).



*** Do you have any fixations?

	I personally am, well fixated is quite strong, I personally would prefer to have good customer service. I strive to provide that to people, and I would hope other people do to. I am quite distraught when I see people provide the likes of a fast food chain customer service, and will do my best to have the person mend their ways.

	I also strongly believe in rational argument. If a rational argument of opposite viewpoint to my own is presented, I will with happiness assess it and provide rebuttal. If the opposite viewpoint is of stronger rational argument to my own, I will gladly take it on.



*** Do you get negatively affected by peer pressure and why?

	Being of relaxed or chilled nature, I have no need to prove myself to people. If I see an action causing damage to me or my reputation or that of the community, I will obviously not do it. I have never had problems with self confidence (I hope you can see in this several page application :D ), and I tend to require a rational argument before I partake in any activities I am being encouraged to join.

	The rational argument requirement, is how I filter out any negative peer influence from the positive. If something is positive for me or the social group, then there would be a rational argument for it, which applies not just to the person asking for the favour.



*** How do you show respect to people?

	I address people as Sir (madam if the person is female) or friend, I always respect others opinions, letting both sides share their version of the experience before coming to a decision. I always refrain from using profanity or negative language whilst providing the moderator service and playing on the server in general, and I will always volunteer to help people if they are willing to accept my help. I will never begin a sit by saying "Why did you RDM such and such" as that is an obvious indicator of prejudice, and I wish to remain neutral if at all possible.

*** How well do you get along with people in the community (e.g. players and staff members)?

	For this question, I would like the community to answer. I personally do my best to provide a positive image of a role model which people can admire, and I will never treat someone negatively even if I personally do not agree with their actions. From my side, I believe I have an excellent relationship with the community as a whole, but it is not my card to call. Ask some people on the server, for a fairer answer to this question.



*** Have you ever ran into trouble or have an argument with someone (e.g. a player or staff member)?

	Only once. I had a disagreement with another staff member on what is deemed acceptable staff behaviour and what is not. It ended up becoming a messy debate, but has since dissolved, and is no longer an on going thing. This would be an example of when I did not keep my cool, because before that, I had expected staff members to have acted more appropriately, and this caught me off guard.

	Since then however, no problems have arisen, and I maintain a happy and friendly relationship with all in the community. The only people which will dislike me in the community, are those which refuse to listen to rational argument, preferring to fixate on their belief, usually that they were not in the wrong in an admin sit. There is not much I can do for those, except explain the situation from the point of view of the rules.



*** How do you remain calm during extremely heated situations?

	I continue to talk in a calm demeanour, refusing to escalate to the high of an angered person, if it is in a sit where two people are arguing about what happened, I will have them both stop (or gag them if they persist), and make them hear each other out, so that they see that behind the "RDMer!" and "Cunt!" there is a human being that is just as upset as they are.

	If the situation is between myself and another person, I will hear out their problem, then ask to be able to answer it without interruption. I will attempt to address all the areas of their problem, explaining from where each of my views originates i.e. from the rules or personal opinion. I will not resolve to slurs and personal attacks, because there is no need for them. If no agreement can be reached, I will ask to postpone the argument until we can arrange a higher power whether it be staff or someone more knowledgeable on the topic to come to a decision on who is right.



*** Do you ever get frustrated with people and why?

	Only one kind of people get past my calm and chilled nature, those that lie and use their power for personal gain. The guy that lies about a player they don't like threatening him with DDOS just to remove someone from the community because they do not like them. I feel strongly against those people, and they frustrate me. I do not treat them any differently in sits or role play (though I haven't role played in about 4 weeks anyway), but I will definitely be less happy the longer I have to deal with them.



*** Do you hold grudges?

	Most certainly not! As long as someone is willing to admit what they did was wrong and or apologise, I will always give them a second chance. Though if I notice that they are just apologising to abuse the system, I deal with them swiftly. I don't see the point of holding a grudge, if the person has changed, so should your idea of them.



*** How do you deal with unwanted criticism?

	All criticism is wanted. I want to hear what people think of me, and where I can improve. As long as there is a valid reason for them to think a certain way of me, I will gladly accept their criticism and take note. Any criticism that is unfounded however, I will attempt to discuss its basis with the person giving it. If they are unwilling to participate in the discussion, their criticism will be ignored. Once again, I don't really mind what people think of me, as long as I know that I am working to the best of my ability.



*** How do you socialize with people you do not like as much?

	I would avoid unnecessary contact with said person such as having a casual chat with them as I fly by. I would not however, treat them any differently to anyone else during on-duty sits. I would treat them as any other person who needed an admin, or was accused of breaking rules, and keep any differences in opinion to private conversation if they are being brought up.

	After all, even though I don't like someone, doesn't mean they are not making someone else happy through friendship. I would treat them the same, maintaining my tone of professionalism.



*** What are your thoughts about drama in the community?

	I believe that drama in the community is the perfect way for the leaders of the community to show that they are strong, and an amazing way for them to gain respect from the community. If two people are having a large and public argument or disagreement, it will be seen favourably if the leaders of the community step in (privately) and then after a short time the drama is resolved. It will make people think "There was an argument which looked pretty serious, but the owners made the guys become friends again", which will have a positive effect on PR.

	On the other hand, constant drama will have a negative impact on the community, as it will make it look unstable or uncontrolled. I believe that smaller disagreements should be swiftly settled by the "highers up", whilst more public and difficult disagreements should be resolved fairly and courteously, to show the community that the leadership is powerful at negotiating, which will lead to gained respect among the public.



*** What does the title of Head of Staff mean to you?

	In most simple terms, it means university professor. The Head of Staff teaches the staff how to act, leading by example through showing them what is wrong through decisions on staff abuse reports, and also through teaching them on the server. The staff then represent the teachers, which will go out and teach the community what is right and wrong, and how to behave appropriately.

	Another such anology would be to call the Head of Staff the sniffer dog trainer. They will teach the sniffer dogs what to pick up on, and what to avoid, how to act and how to approach situations. Those sniffer dogs will then be brought into a situation where there is conflict, and they will use their trained senses to find the root of the problem, and mend the relationship.



*** What motivates you to spend your time to volunteer as a Head of Staff?

	As I have said many times, helping people motivates me. I gain an amazing buzz from helping people, and the more I can help, the better. I enjoy my time on the server immensely, so there is literally no negative to volunteering my time as Head of Staff. There will always be people on the servers that are unhappy, by my goal is to help as many as humanly possible. The Head of Staff rank would act as my catalyst.



*** Having read and watched the Leadership Guidelines, what is your opinion of it?

	For me, they emphasised lots of what I had already learned throughout my study of Psychology. I completely agree with them, and in some cases think we should be doing above and beyond what is suggested. Communication is the most important topic I picked up on, before having watched all of the videos, I had placed an emphasis on making sure everyone understood what was going on, but afterwards, I have decided to double my efforts in this area, as it is so vastly important.



*** Do you have any plans for things that you want to change in case you become a Head of Staff?

	Yes, several in fact. Here are a list of a few of the main ones:

			1)	The rules: I would like to make one of our monthly meeting specifically set on the rules. I would have every staff member read the rules (to refresh them in their mind), and write down any possible loopholes or lackings within them. There are not many, I give Yuriy that, but there are some, and we would be better off as a community if we plugged them.

			2)	I would like to place quite a large emphasis on peoples mental states for the staff members in their sits. It is common sense that people generally only break rules on purpose when they are upset. If we can notice that someone is upset in a sit, the moderator can probe for more information, possibly locating the source of the problem. Because once the source is located and solved, the person will be a happy member of the community, and grateful for us making him so.

			3)	I would like to introduce a system where those that buy mod have their name jotted down, and handed to me or my Head of Staff partner for a quick master-class on staffing. Trial staff would be subject to this naturally, but I do not believe that pay for staff should slip through the cracks, possibly reducing the respect for staff in the eyes of the community. The master-class would be brief and friendly, but I believe it is vital in teaching otherwise new moderators how to act, and highlighting that just because they bought the rank, they are still subject to the same rules and guidelines as the rest.

			4)	I would introduce a more organised staff meeting environment. Currently it is a competition of who can spam their question the most, including the maximum amount of signs and arrows to gain the attention of the quickly speeding past chat. In an ideally organised staff meeting, people would be told that on the count of 3, everyone posts 1 question that they want to ask. Then no one posts anything else. The questions are gone through systematically, and everyone is told not to repost their questions. Then a second and third round would go on, until all the questions are answered. I believe that this is the most effective way to show the staff that we are an organised machine, which might just encourage them to change their attitude to NRG for the better!



Well, congratulations on reading all of that. Quite a mouthful? :D	If you would like to know anything else, please pm me, and I will strive to answer.