Since the first thread was relatively successful, I have decided to make a few more! There are a lot of players who want to become a Moderator which is why this is my next topic. (The next will be about Honor Students) First of all, you must remember a few things. Be at least 18 years of age. Have an account at least 6 months active. Be an active member of the community and show a helpful and considerate attitude to others. Have no history of account or recent history of silences. Having a history of silences wouldn’t automatically disqualify you as a Moderator though. If you show that you understand your mistake and do intend to change, you have a chance! Plus, with the new system, you can earn your way to a squeaky clean record. Being Moderator You get that shiny green name that sets you apart and a magic wand to battle evil-doers! At least, that’s what it looks like. Being mod is a lot of work and it requires a ton of patience and maturity to deal with people. It isn’t easy and I would recommend players to have a really good understanding of the game before applying. You want to be able to really help the players who need you after all. PROS Everyone’s favorite. The ability to silence. You get to actually do something about those pesky rule breakers you see around PIMD and keep the peace. You get direct contact with ATA You get to be a forum master. Basically, deleting posts or threads, locking them, editing them and the like. You will be generally looked up to by the community You get a ton of speakers. You get to test and give feedback on new updates Of course, the shiny green name! CONS “With great responsibility, comes a great headache.” People will be very critical of your actions. Sometimes, you will be called an ass kisser even if you genuinely want to help Some people will complain about your silencing. Even if you justify your silence, people won’t care if they’re angry enough about it. Some people will really test you to see if you know what you’re doing and will do what it takes to make it look like you don’t know how to do your job. If players aren’t pleased with you, they will farm you You will be restricted from certain opinions and have to be careful as you are a role model for the community. If you are lenient, people will say you don’t do your job. If you actually do your job, people will say you’re abusing power. Some players assume you can do anything only a developer can and will take your actions personally over things you have no control over. If you aren’t careful with your silencing, you can create an even bigger problem. Your wall, your poor wall. Pictured above: Your wall as a mod. There are a lot of cons but this isn’t meant to discourage your dreams to become a moderator! This is only to let you know what you’re getting yourself into. Remember, you will be guiding the entire community so you had best be prepared for it. BONUS TIPS If you don’t know how to become a moderator, you really can’t become one. Read up on the rules of the game. There are a lot and a bunch of rule updates as well. Get to know the community. The more you know, the more helpful you will be. People prefer a mod who is more well known, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is a genuine interest to help. Players will eventually warm up to you. Don’t keep sending in applications. And on that note, take your time in answering the questions. If you aren’t confident, just back out and save it for when you feel you are ready. Always remember that you don’t have to be a moderator to help people out. There you have it. I hope this somehow helps! Thanks for reading.
Another monotonous day on campus and everyone is buzzing with trades, banners and requests for love that never end well. Here comes the update spams of parties starting and new players with vulgar names that immediately get silenced. Suddenly, a flash of blue appears and everyone watches the spectacle that has just appeared before them! “It’s blue!” one gasps. “A blue mod!” another exclaims. It’s just another day for an honor student. No, it’s not really that dramatic but you get the idea. There’s not much PROs or CONs to being an honor student, really so I have more leeway to mess around here! Being/Becoming Honor Student PROS First thing people notice is that shiny blue color! Some say it’s better than moderator green. (Some mods have told me this!) You get an apple. No, not a macbook or anything. It’s an award and someone took a bite out of it. It kinda explains what honor student is about. You can be glad knowing that ATA senpai has noticed you. People are not as critical of your actions compared to being a moderator. Trading is much easier because people trust us. CONS People will call you a smurf and talk about you like you aren’t there Your wall = BLUE HOW?? / HOW TO BECOME LIKE YOU? / WHAT DID YOU DO TO BE BLUE / I see you sucked up to ATA People are still somewhat critical of your actions. Contrary to “popular” belief, we do not have silencing powers. And because of this, we sometimes get accused of not “doing our jobs”. (At least, I have.) No, we do not have a huge supply of speakers. We ge the same amount everyone else does! We don’t get inside info from ATA either. In my opinion, it is much harder to be chosen as HS than to be picked as moderator. But why is it harder to be chosen as an honor student than to become moderator? First off, I’d like to make it clear that this is my opinion on the matter. Mods are chosen several times throughout the year while, based on experience, honor students are chosen annually. This can change, of course, with ATA’s discretion. Next is the ambiguous nature of how you’re chosen. Basically, you have to be awesome and contribute positively to the community. That, itself, is already subjective. Most want to be honor student just for the blue color. Unfortunately, because of what being honor student is about, if you want it for the color, you will most likely not get it at all. [/b]Tips! My best advice is consistency. The single thing we have in common would be that. We basically kept doing what we did. Learn from the community. Their reactions of what you contribute to the game will be a good gauge of how well you’re reaching out. So, do listen to their reactions but at the same time, do not be dictated by it. Be yourself. A lot of people who try for HS fail when they try the same formulas the current HS have done to get to where they are. Remember, we didn’t do these because we wanted HS. I didn’t know it existed when I did comics. I made them because it seemed to make people happy and I liked that. Comics, guides and helping others isn’t the only way to contribute either. Just forge your own path in the way you’re most comfortable. Thanks for reading and I hope this somehow helps!
Another monotonous day on campus and everyone is buzzing with trades, banners and requests for love that never end well. Here comes the update spams of parties starting and new players with vulgar names that immediately get silenced. Suddenly, a flash of blue appears and everyone watches the spectacle that has just appeared before them! “It’s blue!” one gasps. “A blue mod!” another exclaims. It’s just another day for an honor student. No, it’s not really that dramatic but you get the idea. There’s not much PROs or CONs to being an honor student, really so I have more leeway to mess around here! Being/Becoming Honor Student PROS First thing people notice is that shiny blue color! Some say it’s better than moderator green. (Some mods have told me this!) You get an apple. No, not a macbook or anything. It’s an award and someone took a bite out of it. It kinda explains what honor student is about. You can be glad knowing that ATA senpai has noticed you. People are not as critical of your actions compared to being a moderator. Trading is much easier because people trust us. CONS People will call you a smurf and talk about you like you aren’t there Your wall = BLUE HOW?? / HOW TO BECOME LIKE YOU? / WHAT DID YOU DO TO BE BLUE / I see you sucked up to ATA People are still somewhat critical of your actions. Contrary to “popular” belief, we do not have silencing powers. And because of this, we sometimes get accused of not “doing our jobs”. (At least, I have.) No, we do not have a huge supply of speakers. We ge the same amount everyone else does! We don’t get inside info from ATA either. In my opinion, it is much harder to be chosen as HS than to be picked as moderator. But why is it harder to be chosen as an honor student than to become moderator? First off, I’d like to make it clear that this is my opinion on the matter. Mods are chosen several times throughout the year while, based on experience, honor students are chosen annually. This can change, of course, with ATA’s discretion. Next is the ambiguous nature of how you’re chosen. Basically, you have to be awesome and contribute positively to the community. That, itself, is already subjective. Most want to be honor student just for the blue color. Unfortunately, because of what being honor student is about, if you want it for the color, you will most likely not get it at all. Tips! My best advice is consistency. The single thing we have in common would be that. We basically kept doing what we did. Learn from the community. Their reactions of what you contribute to the game will be a good gauge of how well you’re reaching out. So, do listen to their reactions but at the same time, do not be dictated by it. Be yourself. A lot of people who try for HS fail when they try the same formulas the current HS have done to get to where they are. Remember, we didn’t do these because we wanted HS. I didn’t know it existed when I did comics. I made them because it seemed to make people happy and I liked that. Comics, guides and helping others isn’t the only way to contribute either. Just forge your own path in the way you’re most comfortable. Thanks for reading and I hope this somehow helps!
These are some shots we got of the lunar eclipse tonight. We didn't stay out the entire time, since the temperature dropped like 20 degrees from the time we went out to the time we came back in. I'd say they could have been better, but they're still interesting to look at.