Qualia - Today at 6:05 PM
Hey Shaun, are you there?
Shaun - Today at 6:05 PM
Oh this is awkward
Hey Nat
Natalie - Today at 6:06 PM
Hello Shaun :)
Welcome to the interview for the Forum Moderator position!
Shaun - Today at 6:06 PM
And yes I am here xD
Qualia - Today at 6:06 PM
Haha, don't worry. My interviews aren't too formal. Just a good chat and a few questions
Shaun - Today at 6:06 PM
Sounds good
Qualia - Today at 6:07 PM
So, Shaun. You're applying to be a forum mod. You've covered your prior experience with similiar roles in your application. Can you tell me a little more about your duties in those positions?
Shaun - Today at 6:08 PM
Just to clarify, my previous positions?
Qualia - Today at 6:08 PM
You have experience being a mod before, right?
Shaun - Today at 6:08 PM
Yep
So on Insanity, which was probably where I was staff for the longest
It was mainly just dealing supervising, dealing with google advertisement bots (and dealing with them through the modCP). Making sure people didn't gravedig (necropost), infracting people when going off topic, making sure that threads are in the right section, making sure people didn't clutter the forums with excessive things such as multiple market threads.
I also worked on the servers item mall on the website, adding fashion sets
Which is where I was temporarly given administrator to do so
Qualia - Today at 6:10 PM
Great. Did you enjoy this work?
Shaun - Today at 6:10 PM
Of course, it would have been more enjoyable if the owners had the same passion as me but :p
Eventually down the line (years down the line) I kind of gave up
Years with no updates
Constant lying to the community pretending it would all be okay
Qualia - Today at 6:11 PM
I'm curious to hear more about this difference between you and the admins. That must have been a stressful position to be in at times. How did you deal with all this?
Shaun - Today at 6:11 PM
So on there
The administrators have never really changed
It's kind of like a group of friends if that makes sense?
From the very beginning I got hired, I was trying to be very positive and encourage that we really fix the problems present both ingame and on the forums
(Since I was a moderator in both)
In the beginning the relationship was okay, but it really takes a toll on you
It did kind of affect my work ethic, staying motivated is one thing but when you work for someone you want the same out of them, that you put in.
And I just wasn't getting that.
Heres an example of the item mall additions by the way

It's also important to note that on ther
A staff position is nothing more than a glorified help desk
You are not given any real powers ingame to deal with problems, all bans/mutes etc were done through admins only and they were very inactive
As such we had a backlog of tickets on our website, ranging up to 100+ at a time
I did answer as many as I could but without the proper permissions, a lot of us staff members were found unable to really do anything about it xD
Qualia - Today at 6:15 PM
I can see why that would take a toll on you. It's all too common in the flyff pserver scene. Was there ever a time when you publicly sided with the community due to the staff's lack of ethics?
Shaun - Today at 6:15 PM
There was, yes.
I did go against their wishes near the end of my position as staff.
Qualia - Today at 6:15 PM
Can you tell me about that?
Shaun - Today at 6:15 PM
And I only did so because a staff team should not lie to their community.
Insanity is a shroud of lies
You can tell so when you go on the website
The counter on the website is multiplied 3.5x
They have promised something known as "FlyFF HD"
High definition graphics, as such they have put off all content and a lot of  bug fixes for years.
As staff we are told to tell people that this new game will be the next big thing etcetc
All PR bullshit
Near the end I just told them exactly what was going on behind the scenes
Nothing was being done
They promised all the bugs would be fixed in FlyFF HD
Nothing had changed on it
Our server owner, Hells is pretty notorious too
He was giving donators behind the scenes deals
That were ruining the economy
I'm talking like ruining it bad.
Over there 500 euros gets you 75000 IPoints
He was doing 500 euros for doubel that behind the scenes
I think one thing that kind of led me to make that decision was at the time, it had been over a year and a half of constant bullshit. And just like them, I was a player of the game. I wanted to see improvement and it just wasn't happening. I didn't want to be lied too but I knew the truth
And admittedly, the player base kind of knew the truth as well. I was just rehashing prior knowledge to some xD
Qualia - Today at 6:20 PM
That's some terrible stuff. Sorry to hear you were subjected to that and expected to cover the lies. Ignite flyff is definitely much different from that. In saying that, though, there are times when details cannot be revealed to players for various reasons and for a staff member to undermine that would also be a terrible thing. Tell me why you do or do not think that would be an issue here
Shaun - Today at 6:20 PM
I absolutely agree.
I would never leak any confidential information of course, however there is an exception to that.
If a server is blatantly lying to people
Especially one that has income
I would much rather not be a part of that staff team.
That's different here though.
They have a good vision and it's genuine.
I would do everything I could in order to help that, so in terms of confidentiality and keeping things private within the team, then yeah
I would never let anything go out. All I did in the past was honestly try and force the owner to own up to his bullshit
I hate corruption xD
Qualia - Today at 6:22 PM
Ok, thanks for that.
Is there ever a time when you would feel a white lie would be best for the server?
Shaun - Today at 6:23 PM
I think it was a very emotional thing for me
Being led on etc
That depends
On the circumstance
Qualia - Today at 6:23 PM
I can definitely understand that
Shaun - Today at 6:23 PM
Keeping the community happy is very important
If there was a need to cover something up for the  greater good
Provided the situation was right, I could kind of see it being okay
But that's very dependent on the circumstance
Because there are many different forms of white lies  xD
For the most part I would always prefer honesty
Qualia - Today at 6:24 PM
I can understand the need for that answer. And I appreciate your honesty
Shaun - Today at 6:24 PM
Sometimes
We need to consider things for the  greater good
That's just how the world works
So if something did arise where that situation actually occured
Qualia - Today at 6:24 PM
I can definitely understand a utilitarian approach like that
Shaun - Today at 6:24 PM
I wouldn't necessarily be against it
But
It's really subjective
Qualia - Today at 6:25 PM
It is. Ok thanks, we best move on to the next question!
How much knowledge do you have of  the server specific info/gameplay?
Shaun - Today at 6:26 PM
Pretty good I'd say
Enough to answer a lot of questions
The only part that's lacking is probably the technichal side
Like if someone was to post an error log
I wouldn't be able to instantly help them
In terms of general knowledge like, what direction to go in, information about classes
I've been playing this game 9 years and this server isn't that different
I've already become acustomed to most of its systems
So I feel pretty confident I could answer questions absolutely up to at least a GM level
but I think the best part about  being a GM is that
You also learn more about the game
As people ask you questions xD
Same as FM really
Qualia - Today at 6:27 PM
That's good to know, and I appreciate your honesty about those technical problems
Shaun - Today at 6:27 PM
You get exposed to different kind of things
I think in time I'd be able to help with the basic ones
But for now I'd probably have to link them to our tech support on discord or give the standard reinstall reply
Qualia - Today at 6:27 PM
How much time do you think you would have to offer our team for work?
Shaun - Today at 6:28 PM
I think I could offer a fair bit on the forums to be honest, I'm usually always on my phone when I'm awake and I'm not doing much right now, so there would definitely be several hours avaliable
The forums right now are very quiet however
Qualia - Today at 6:28 PM
per day?
Shaun - Today at 6:28 PM
Probably like 8 realistically
More if needed
Say if we got hit by a bunch of spam bots
I would be monitoring them more actively
Qualia - Today at 6:29 PM
That's understandable
Oh yeah, Nat, feel free to chime in if you have any questions
Natalie - Today at 6:29 PM
You mentioned in your application that you wanted to integrate the forums and in-game some. Could you explain to us more about what you had in mind when saying this, and perhaps elaborate on some of your potential future plans if you were to be hired?
Shaun - Today at 6:29 PM
Back when I used to work there
We had a lot of events that required players
To do something ingame
And then post their results on the forums, you've also done the same
Events such as
Fashion of the week (or seasonal depending on what's coming up, i.e: Valentines day)
There was one I really liked where we took a picture ingame and used an application to turn it into puzzle pieces
We'd shout ingame to check the forums and players would have to figure out where we are
By completing the puzzle
I have a few things in mind but I'd have to brainstorm for a bit and write more things down
I think that as a team we should definitely be working together more to get people involved on the forums more. But at the moment
People are mianly interested in rewards (so events)
Once we get people stuck on there we can probably look at better things
Natalie - Today at 6:31 PM
So basically more Forum-related events that correspond to in-game activity then. Both for short-term events that are ongoing at the very same moment, and the ones that last for a few weeks?
Shaun - Today at 6:32 PM
I feel like if we had forum events every week
It would definitely expose more people
We managed to keep a fashion of the week event going for like 30 weeks at one point
There are many different kinds of apporaches we can take
But I think we could really look into hosting these events frequently
Weekly/Fortnightly, whatever works.
It doesn't really cost us anything, the rewards don't have to be that much either.
It's just about getting peopled involved
The usage of forums has kind of decayed  recently
Due to the introduction of discord
That is shown over many different platforms
Qualia - Today at 6:33 PM
Is that something that you would be willing to take control of and employ yourself?
Shaun - Today at 6:33 PM
But I still think we could use our forums for a lot
Absolutely
Given the permission
Qualia - Today at 6:33 PM
Great
Shaun - Today at 6:33 PM
I would like to be able to work with the GMs ingame
Because obviously
As a forum moderator
There is no way to really advertise anything
No powers ingame
And you know
The more people working on something
The better results
Especially with two new GMs
Qualia - Today at 6:35 PM
I can definitely understand the more synergistic/whole approach. Perhaps in the near future this would be something to put into practice on Ignite.
Shaun - Today at 6:35 PM
The main part about hosting a lot of events is that we can't introduce our community into a environment which will lead them to be spoiled
Have to maintain a good balance
Events are good both ingame and on the forums
But we can't really go overboard
We could look into adding custom titles later on as well honestly, maybe even a forum shop if things really went well
But thats wayyy down the line
Qualia - Today at 6:38 PM
I have one more question about our current forums. It's about applying a subjectively correct amound of moderation and, if required, censorship. Can you tell me about what that means to you? And include when these things need to be put into practice. Consider current/recent threads on the forums if you like.
Shaun - Today at 6:38 PM
I understand the need for complaints sometimes. But it gets overexcessive.
And the bandwagon effect is something very real in the world.
If a thread was getting over the top, I would absolutely attempt to at the very least calm the situation down, if not silence it.
If we were to use a realsitic situation for our server
The current complaints about several different things are very clear, people making quitting threads pointing out problems etc
Now for the most part, I think we do need to let some of that be shown, because it shows our staff that we can definitely improve in some areas. If they already know that, then I feel like more needs to be done at getting that out to the community
So they also know that there are fixes in mind.
But when people do go over the top
I think firstly I would try and talk to them privately
And if that didn't work, then actual moderation would be applied
The thing about a lot of people qqing is that
If you silence them without telling them, they'll just keep qqing and lose more faith
Gotta approach it properly.
Qualia - Today at 6:41 PM
Ok, thanks for the detailed answer.
I don't have any more questions for you. Natalie, do you have anything else you wish to cover?
Natalie - Today at 6:41 PM
I do have one more question too! How do you think your personal relations will affect your judgement when applying moderation to the forums?
Shaun - Today at 6:42 PM
If someone broke the rules, they could be married to me and I'd still give them the same punishment.
They should know better
No need for bias
Rules are rules
But for the most part, many of the rules allow warnings
Unless they are severe (such as advertising, having illict things in posts/sigs) etc
Natalie - Today at 6:43 PM
Alright, that's good to hear :)
Shaun - Today at 6:43 PM
I think that
Staff members should not be exempt from that either
If a GM is breaking the rules and going off topic
I do believe they should be spoken too
Obviously not in the same way as a player
But I'd still let them know
Natalie - Today at 6:44 PM
If a person of superior rank to you were to break the rules, or behave in a way you think is inappropriate, would you still take it up with them?
Shaun - Today at 6:44 PM
Absolutely
If they were not willing to listen
Then there would be something wrong with how the staff worked
I believe that being a part of the staff is being a part of a team
Regardless of your position
Rules are rules
No one is exempt from that
I mean I wouldn't go and outright harass them
But a reminder is definitely not a bad thing, we are all human right?
Natalie - Today at 6:45 PM
Okay, thank you for your honest answers :)
Qualia - Today at 6:45 PM
Would you do this publicly? or privately?
Shaun - Today at 6:45 PM
Privately
Publically causes drama
Qualia - Today at 6:45 PM
Thanks
Shaun - Today at 6:46 PM
If they see that staff are arguing publicly
That is bad both for our image
And for how we work as a team
Qualia - Today at 6:46 PM
Anything further Natalie?
Natalie - Today at 6:46 PM
No, I think I covered what I wanted to know, it looks good to me!
Qualia - Today at 6:47 PM
Ok, great. Do you have any questions for us Shaun?
Shaun - Today at 6:47 PM
Only one really
Since you are both staff
What do you want to see out of the serve
Server
Its a bit
I dunno
Hard to answer
But what do you want from here
Qualia - Today at 6:47 PM
I'm happy to go first.....
Shaun - Today at 6:48 PM
Its 8am for Nat
And she hasn't slept
So I don't really mind if there is no answer from her hahah
But I'm just interested
Everyone has their own reasons afor playing
Qualia - Today at 6:48 PM
I'll keep it brief haha, but yes...
Shaun - Today at 6:48 PM
And for helping/staffing
Qualia - Today at 6:49 PM
I'd like to see the server retain around 1k players and continue the plan to roll out the content we have been talking about and working on.
I'd also love to have the most harmonious community around
in the pserver scene
which is a massive feat, but thats my personal goal
It's also a learning experience for me. I love self improvement.
Shaun - Today at 6:50 PM
I like that answer
Qualia - Today at 6:50 PM
That's my answer :smiley:
Natalie - Today at 6:51 PM
First of all, I think the Staff behind this server has a really great mentality when it comes to both handling community and approach to the game itself. It is a game I grew up with and love, and of course I spend a lot of my hours playing it, so I would like to keep it growing and shape it in a way that I think would improve the game itself, in a way that was never achievable on the official game. Secondly, I love helping people and making everyone else smile or have a little bit better day, so I do my best to try and help them. So if I can both enjoy myself in a game I love, and do something that I love doing in life, at once, then I'm happy.
Shaun - Today at 6:51 PM
That's great
I want to be able to contribute both as a player and a staff member
I play the game and enjoy it
Natalie - Today at 6:51 PM
And for the server itself, I hope it continues to grow, and that we continue to expand our Australian community

Shaun - Today at 6:51 PM
But I'd also like to help outside of that
XD
Insanity FlyFF for me
had so much potential
Qualia - Today at 6:52 PM
Ok, great. Well I think that sums it all up for now!
Shaun - Today at 6:52 PM
I watched it all disappear over the years I was there
This has even more
I don't want a repeat
I want to see it succeed
Qualia - Today at 6:52 PM
I'm glad to hear
well, read. haha
Shaun - Today at 6:52 PM
The people who own this server are genuine and they are not about the money.
That is the big indicator for me that it can go far
People run these games for money
It's different here
Qualia - Today at 6:53 PM
I'll be in touch as soon as practical with an answer for you :smiley:
Thanks for your time!
Shaun - Today at 6:54 PM
No worries
Natalie - Today at 6:54 PM
Thanks for the chat, and have a good day :)
Shaun - Today at 6:54 PM
You too