This is a thread for all those aspiring to become a staff member here on the Skyblock network. If you're considering applying for Mod, now or in the future, I recommend that you read through this first. As being a staff member on many popular servers, I have had experience with horribly written applications, and I am here to help those who are aspiring for Moderator. No one's forcing you to apply, if you don't feel like you can live up to these expectations or if you think that any of them are unfair, simply don't apply, or you can give it a try! Getting yourself in the door. 1. Join the community - Before you even think about becoming a mod here, get to know the people you play with. Making a name for yourself as non-staff will help the staff recognize you when you eventually apply, it's easier for players to ask for help from someone who they've seen and talked to before than someone they've never even seen on the server. 2. Get to know the server - Don't be afraid to ask questions! Lots of players would be happy to answer any questions you may have, how will you know something if you don't ask? Learn and know: The rules, basic commands, what certain staff members can and can't do, how the forums work, the rules of the forums, etc. Learning the basics of the server will help you in all aspects and will be great for when you're trying to help others. No one's going to want to ask for help from someone who doesn't know what they're talking about, keep that in mind. 3. Be active! - Be as active as possible both in-game and on the forums! It shows that you are dedicated to the network and it will increase your chances! 4.Make a name for yourself! - Make yourself well known on the server and on the forums! Make sure you are known for all the right reasons though! Support the community! You can support by donating and increasing the Skyblock population by telling your friends, making videos, voting for the server, etc! Without the players and donations; the server wouldn't be where it is today. Common Sense. 1. Be aware of the rules - Whether you're trying to help or not, breaking a rule is breaking a rule, never break a rule even with the intention on helping, it is very unprofessional and won't score you any points. For example: Trolling and Flaming is against the rules, do not troll, period. Just because you mass message asking "Who needs help?" doesn't make you exempt from the rules. Be aware of all rules at all times, instead of breaking rules to help, enforce them(politely) and ask a staff member for help if the player(s) in question don't/doesn't listen. 2. Never imitate staff - No matter how bad you want to be staff, it doesn't make you one. Though you're helping and trying to become a mod, you still have no higher authority over anyone else. Saying things like "Stop or I'll ban you" or anything of that nature is not professional. Pretending to be a member of staff can (at least in my knowledge) lead to a ban. 3. Knowing your limitations - Before you become staff, research what staff can and can't do, never attempt to do something you're unsure of, always ask higher staff if you have any questions on it. Trust. Before you can even be considered for staff you should become a trusted member of the community. You can achieve this through devoting time to the server and the forums, helping out in-game and on the forums, making friends with staff and other players, and donating to the server (optional, but shows you're dedicated). All these help establish trust knowing that your time and money will be at stake if you abuse. 1. Devoting time - The longer you spend with the community, the better. It shows your loyalty to the server which is a big plus for when you apply for Moderator. 2. Donating - Donating is not necessarily mandatory to become a Moderator, but I recommend doing so. Donating not only shows your support for the server, but it establishes a trust that if you abuse in anyway that money is gone and you accept that risk as a promise not to abuse. 3. Befriending players, staff or otherwise - For obvious reasons this will help establish trust. Don't fake a friendship just to "score yourself points", but if you find a player or staff member that you genuinely get along with then befriend them. Respect. ALWAYS respect ALL players! Don't treat them wrong just because you have a vendetta with them, or because of their MC skin or their interests; never disrespect another player, especially staff. Be professional. Though being on staff is not a paid position (except if you're a dev), it is still a job and should be treated as such. 1. Be the bigger person - If you want to become a mod, you need to let go of and eliminate any and all grudges, you can't refuse help to someone just because you don't like them. 2. Patience is a virtue - There's NO reason to ever rage on a player in-game just because they type slow, or for whatever reason you have. This server has players of all ages and you need to be patient when talking to younger users and users who may not know what they're talking about. Help them by asking what they mean, don't write them off right away as if they are un-helpable. 3. Stay calm - As staff you will get people trying to purposefully get under your skin, but under no circumstances can you let what they say get to you. A calm person makes better decisions than an angry person, remember that. By raging at the person it shows staff that you're not ready to handle the stress that comes along with being a staff member. 4. Be a role-model - Staff are expected to conduct themselves in a well behaved manner as we are looked up to by the other players. If you're trying to become a Moderator, but you're posting on your wall about how you went and griefed another server because they're not as good as Skyblock, you're not going to score ANY points. 5. Proper grammar and spelling - Players respond better to someone who acts professional in the way they speak and type. When typing please don't use abbreviations like "PLZ" and "Sry" write out the full word, it doesn't look professional and some of the older players will not take you seriously. Use proper grammar to the best of your abilities, there's no reason why you can't put periods, commas and apostrophes into your writing, I'm not saying you can't make a mistake and forget something here or there, but no one wants to read a wall of text without proper punctuation (well, some would.). Make sure when you're typing you get your point across clearly, re-read what your typing before you push enter. Being responsible. 1. Admittance - If you do something wrong, admit to it. Letting someone else take the fall for you or pretending like you didn't do anything wrong will only escalate any situation. 2. Manage your time - As being a staff member of many popular servers, you'll need to make sure that you have time for the community, staff members needs to be as active as possible. The staff have stuff going on in their lives that makes it impossible for them to commit 100% or even 25% of our time to the server, that's just completely unrealistic, but if you are going for staff, you're saying that you will be able to commit a reasonable amount of time to the server. Don't apply for mod if you can only play once a month and don't apply for mod if you know you'll be spending the majority of your Minecraft time playing on other servers and stopping into the server every once in a while. Trust me, I have seen many servers with staff that don't even help, and are just there for display. 3. Loyalty - Be loyal to Skyblock, as mentioned in bullet two, don't expect to become a mod if you're playing on other servers 90% of your Minecraft time and then Skyblock 10%, it just shows that you won't be much help to the players. Limit your time on other servers and be exclusive on Skyblock, if you're staff on another server then be sure to divide your time between your two (or more) beloved server networks. Commitment and dedication. 1. Misconceptions - Staff is not an easy job, don't expect it to be. 99.9% of your time will be helping players, don't expect to be able to do anything you want constantly and have unlimited items to do so with. Your job is to help people, that's it, doing what you want is on your own time when no-one's asking you for anything which is honestly a rarity. 2. Be ready - Don't apply and then slack off once you're accepted. Once you're accepted you need to be ready to take up your job right away after a little on the job training from higher staff. 3. Know what you're signing up for - By now you should realize what the job entails and know what you're signing up for. Becoming staff is a big commitment and you need to honor your word. If you can't handle the job tell higher staff and step down, don't go inactive and go play on other servers, it makes you look bad, just own up to it, step down and remain professional about the situation. Previously stated in 'Being responsible': 4. Manage your time - You'll need to make sure that you have time for Skyblock, staff needs to be as active as possible. We all have stuff going on in our lives that makes it impossible for us to commit 100% or even 25% of our time to the server, that's just completely unrealistic, but if you are going for mod you're saying that you will be able to commit a reasonable amount of time to the server. Don't apply for mod if you can only play once a month and don't apply for mod if you know you'll be spending the majority of your Minecraft time playing on other servers and stopping into the server every once in a while. Previously stated in 'Being responsible': 5. Loyalty - Be loyal to the community, as said in bullet two, don't expect to become a mod if you're playing on other servers 90% of your Minecraft time and then Skyblock 10%, it just shows that you won't be much help to the players. Limit your time on other servers and be exclusive on Skyblock, if you're staff on another server then divide your time on both networks. Follow everything in this guide and you'll be doing well on your path to become a future Moderator for the Skyblock network. Think you're ready to apply? Go to the forums, under Applications to see if you have what it takes. I wish you good luck, young Padawan. Cheers, Purge | Garren
As said in the guide, it shows that you are showing loyalty and dedication to the network by donating.
Meh, I got A LOT of this down. xD But seriously, it seems you know the insides and outs of a community and how to act in one... Especially one the size of this. Very well written and with factual information... I like dis. (You may see some of my posts with spelling 'leik dis m8' I'm just making fun of it. xD) These are things I always say to players that're boss, but not replied too much. "Start at the forums... You're bound to start off there pretty well" It's exactly how I'm a bit known throughout the community...
All this notes are amazing and very helpful for a beginner. If only i had a guide like this before I stuffed up on my previous Gta server but yes, those things thought me a lot, and that is why I'm here today. For all the people in hunger for mod out there, Like the guide says Join the community.That was my first step, I didn't care about making money or having the best island ingame, all i cared about was knowing everyone, the more and more i stayed on the forums, the more and more i got more recognised. From my opinion the only reason why I'm here today as a mod is because of the forums, before i knew it, i had tons of people supporting my application some of them I never knew of, and then within 2 weeks I was a Tmod. So i truly believe this was my way of getting mod. Just be yourself and get to know everyone, don't make an application and hide in the corner while everyone is having fun. From this i mean, don't always stay ingame, try to show yourself on the forums too This is just the basics, all the rest is in the guide.
It really depends on why you donate. If you donate for the items or just to get mod, it doesn't help you, but if you donate because you genuinely love the server, it really shows.
