Quick summary if you're busy: DO consider: How helpful is this player? How active is this player? Is this player mature? What's the players background? (Bans, warnings, so on) How experienced is this player? DON'T consider: Is this player a donor? Is this player a good builder? (MODERATORS DON'T GET /GAMEMODE) Does this player give out lots of free stuff and enchants? Introduction to supporting applications One of the cornerstones of the Mineverse community is the heavy participation from players when it comes to moderator applications. The incredible amount of feedback given to every moderator applicant of the server every single day is not only heartwarming, but incredibly admirable. We, the staff, and the (hopefully) soon-to-be staff all owe you a huge thanks for your input, whether it's simply "support", or lines and lines of constructive criticism. You're all helping the applicants improve upon their applications before entering the Mineverse team, and helping the staff make insightful and intelligent decisions when it comes to selecting new moderators. Unfortunately, there are no clear guidelines as to what your support really means (or should mean), and how exactly you should judge an applicant. So here's a quick run-through of all the important factors to take into account before leaving your support stamp on an application. What your support means. Whenever you leave support on an application, essentially you're giving the player your stamp of approval. You're telling them that you think they would be a qualified moderator, and that you would like to see them manage the server with the rest of the staff. You're not telling them that you like the way they wrote their application, or that you think they have a cool skin. All that you can add to your post afterwards. The term "support" here on Mineverse means: "I've taken a lot of things into consideration, and I think you're qualified for the job." This is important because many of you seem to judge applications based on how pretty or colourful they are, or how much time you've spent building with the players in-game, and this is very misguided. So how do you actually judge an application? How to judge a person Here is a quick run-through of the most important things to consider when judging someone: "How helpful is this player?" not only to you, but to the server in general. How much do they participate in the chat, and how many questions and concerns do they answer when some are it does NOT matter how many items they god-enchant for free, or how many islands they help expand. Doing these things is considered a friendly gesture, but it has nothing to do with moderator work. "How active is this player?" in general. How many hours a day do you see them online, how much do you see them participate (constructively) on the forums, in the sections that can benefit other players. It does NOT matter how much you see them active in the "Forum Games" section, or being semi-AFK on their own island. While to some this may seem like activity, again it has absolutely nothing to do with what we do as moderators, and will not benefit anyone one bit once they enter the staff. "What is this player's background?" I.e., how does their ban history look, how do they behave on the forums? Have they recently been banned for serious infractions, or picked a fight with someone over things that should be considered completely mundane? It does NOT matter what they were banned for a year and a half ago, if they've improved since then. What matters is what they did in the past months, and who they are now. "Is this player mature?" in every given situation. Do they handle disputes well, and carry themselves? Do they keep their manners, and always aim to make informed decisions? Do they behave and accept that sometimes you can't get your way, even when it feels really, really unfair? Do they treat everyone equally, without judging on first impressions? It does NOT matter if they type and spell like adults, if they don't carry the personality that comes with it. You can write like Shakespeare and still be a jerk to everyone you meet, and those are not good qualities to have if you're the one who's supposed to help everyone equally. "How experienced is this player?" in terms of moderating and coordinating communities. Do they have a lot of experience from forums they've moderated before, Minecraft servers they've held a staff position on, or even a job that required them to provide a high level of customer service? Are they able to articulate their experience, and bring out their strengths and weaknesses in an honest and straight-forward way? Have they only moderated friends' servers with less than 10 players, or do they know the ropes and know how to handle large amounts of people? What NOT to judge upon "Is this player a donor?" is a completely irrelevant question. Paying money for a few benefits on the server does not make you a better person or a better moderator, and thus Mineverse should be considered an equal opportunity employer for donors and non-donors alike. Don't judge based on the colour of their name tag. "Is this player a good builder?" is another question that holds no weight. Moderators do not have any obligation to help players build or expand on their islands, and in most cases we choose not to. It's simply too time-intensive, and it is by no means part of our job. As a moderator YOU ARE NOT HIRED TO BUILD ANYTHING AND DO NOT GET CREATIVE MODE. I can't stress it enough. Being a good builder means squat. "Does this player give out lots of free stuff and enchants?" this one I shouldn't have to elaborate on, but I'll explain to you why very briefly: Moderators rarely hand out free items, and if they do, it's items they earned themselves the hard way. It's not part of our job. Keep these things in mind when you judge new applicants on the forums, and you'll make it easier not only for yourself, but for the staff who picks the applicants as well. Thank you for your time. - Credits to Artificiality for writing this up!
