Helper Application from smk

Member Name smk

Additional In Game Names: MeepMe

How old are you? 18

Location: United States (EST)

Do you have Discord? Yes

How many hours per day do you play MeepCraft? (weekdays) 1-4

How many hours per day do you play MeepCraft? (weekends) 2-10

Have you ever been staff on this or any other server? Yes

References: Please give IGN's CluelessKlutz, EllieEllie, Savage2k17, Kling, Courtneyyy (these were for the last app, I’m just leaving them)

When did you join Meepcraft? Fall/Winter 2013

Introduction: Hiya meeplings! I am smkorpi, or smk, or Shawn. I am now in college and am finding ways to pursue my passions while maintaining exemplary grades in school.

Why should you be Helper? I believe I have many of the qualities needed to be a good staff member. And because of these qualities and my experience, I believe I can thrive as a helper again.

I will go over my experience first. I gained my experience as a staff member by becoming a staff member in the past. I have learned how to use staff tools such as prism, how to handle modreqs, deal with obscure cases, how to communicate with a team, and many more useful lessons. I believe through my time as staff that I now understand better how to handle rule breakers and players that are troublesome, and this is an amazing experience to have. The normal mistakes a brand new helper would normally make should be behind me by this point. I could need a light touching up on some of the commands, but within a week I could be back to normal from the past.

The rest of my qualities are things I have worked on since my last time as helper.

Passion. I am very passionate about many things that I do, and meepcraft is one of them. I know in the past I have shown extreme negativity towards some changes, but I would not have been upset with a change if I didn’t care about the server. I have been playing in this server for almost seven years. That is just about a third of my life. So for ⅓ of my life, I have played on Meepcraft. I would have quit in less than a year if I didn’t care. I have had thoughts of applying for staff after my first year playing Meepcraft, but I never pursued them until this year; and I couldn’t be happier with the time I had as a staff member. My passion for the server is the reason I can play for hours on end, only talking to the community. I am willing to utilize much of my free time on meep.

I feel that a deciding factor for these applications is what any applicant can bring to the team that isn’t already prevalent. And in honesty, there isn’t much that the team doesn’t seem to have covered at the moment. I mentioned before that one of my goals if I were to become a helper again would be to try better team communication. On top of this, I already have good communication with the community, and understand what would be able to help the server as a whole. One of the main ways I can think of helping the server is through suggestions. Which is why I have made many suggestions in the past. If I become a helper again, I would not stop suggesting things. I pride myself in being a problem-solver, and in most scenarios I can at least weigh as many options as possible and try finding the best solution. I hope to have another chance to try and use any problem solving skills I have to help meep.

Another thing I decided since my application is clearly what I want to do on the team. Countless poeple asked what I could contribute, and I will clarify my answer. I will be able to help with decision making on the server. I am very analytical, and I believe I am becoming quite good at analyzing all sides of a situation, and coming up with the best possible solution. One of my main goals if I’m allowed to join the team again is to help in fixing skyblock. Through various discussions, I believe I truly understand the problem that is making skyblock unfair, and through suggestions I have been trying to help; but as a staff member, I would be able to try to help fix skyblock, and be more effective. On top of skyblock, I also have experience playing kitpvp, and would be able to help with kitpvp. Halo is also something I’m passionate about, and I could also try working on gun revamps or look at what needs balanced. The final thing I would like to help on is a tad of the eco. Now, I know that changing the economy is very risky, and must be looked at with extreme caution.

I want to finish this part, I have already been trying to help the server, and skyblock, kitpvp, halo, and towny economy through suggestions. But as a staff member, I would have a much easier time finding the best solution as I would have direct access to the people making decisions. And through my past experience as a staff member, I am already prepared for the challenges around the Helper position.
I also have a passion for problem-solving and coming up with ways to keep the game interesting. If I am given the opportunity to be a staff member once more I will try to use any problem-solving skills I have to help with decision-making and ensuring the best quality of experience for players whenever I am given the chance. In the future I would like to aid especially in a potential Skyblock Revamp, which I have years of experience playing. Another passion that I enjoy is writing, and I would love to be able to help make MeepTimes again (as qaz and clue probably saw considering I was about to make a MeepTimes right before the Revamp dropped)

What are your weaknesses? Composure. When I was a staff member, I had a fall out with a player. I handled the situation very terribly, allowing some of the worst parts of me to come out. I defended how I handled it, but I was simply wrong. I learned in this situation that people make mistakes, that you can move past things. I learned to control myself in the next two months afterwards, and I can assure you that a similar situation will never happen again. Outside of that one occasion during my time as staff, I never lost my composure. I do not plan on letting any such thing happen again.
School/Time Commitments. School is still my number one priority, and that would not change if I were to join the staff team again. While I have this in the weakness section, it should not affect my activity drastically, as I am currently playing and maintaining a 4.0 rather easily.

Passion. I am very passionate about quite a few things on the server, and I am not afraid to show my opinion. I try to keep my composure and give my opinion respectfully, but some of my posts can be interpreted as inflammatory. Because I recognize this as a weakness, I make sure to tag on the bottom of my posts when something isn’t meant to be inflammatory. But it is something I will continue to work on.

Please give any other information you might think is useful for us to know: This application is built off of my last application. I figured the majority of staff members already know me and have an opinion, so I doubt most of this application will be necessary to change anyone’s mind.

Thanks for reading, if you have any questions / comments / criticisms feel free to comment below or /mail me in game, or start a convo on forums.

 

+1 need I say more?

 

So you -1 the most experienced meepcraft staff applicant in the server's history, but you commend him with no critique at all?

Also smk, be more specific about this "falling out" you mention in weaknesses. From the readers' perspective, this could be anything from some mild intra-town drama while you were staff to wrongly perming someone.
Finally, there is no such thing as a disrespectful opinion. If people don't like it, they simply won't listen.
+0.87

 

In the past I have had some instances of disagreements with other players. This led to some not-so-fun interactions for the players and staff. I was not happy with some of these disagreements, and look back negatively on them. But for my application last year (the one I used to template the majority of this application), I made sure to remedy and amend every instance of disagreement I had.

If you want examples, one was a plot dispute when I was sold my starter plot to my own town, then the owner forced staff to remove the plot. Another was another plot dispute over claiming within 3 plot border and holding plots hostage.

I did not perm anyone though

 

I've had the pleasure to see smk the staff member as both a player and as a fellow mod. You have a good work ethic, you're good at pushing for change, no question about it.

However, I'm concerned. You came back two days or so before applying. Before that, your activity has been sparse for over a year. When you did interact with the community during that time, it was often in a toxic manner. If I were to advise you, I would have recommended waiting a month to apply, so that you could hopefully show us that you're again a productive member of this community, and that you're willing to be active. But you have already applied, so I ask you to address these two issues in text instead.

 

Just let the guy be staff, we need more people from diff time zones and playing hours anyways

 

Passion is the short answer. I despise seeing something I have done attachment to (this server for sone reason) not doing well. It is even more agitating not being able to do anything about it. My inactivity for a lot of the past year has been because of a lack of drive and nothing changing. When MeepTimes stopped I didn’t even do anything when I was staff. There was no moderation to be done, an inactive overpopulated team, with (at that time) non-active upper staff (which has changed with promotions since then. I wanted to move on past Minecraft, I’m addicted to this game and that hasn’t changed.

While I’ve been inactive in game, I’ve never been far. I stalked forums almost daily, and player count to see if it improved, but I wanted to move on so I tried not to go on.

So what has changed? The server. My interpretation of Minecraft. I’ve changed my mind about the game; I’m done viewing it as a game targeted for a younger population, a game I shouldn’t be spending so much time on. Instead, I’m playing for the aspects I enjoy; I’m playing for an economy, I’m playing with friends, I’m actively trying to come up with innovative ways to improve my small town or protect myself from dangers such as the Map and being raided. I’ve fell in love with the game, and I don’t see myself leaving it very soon.

Regarding activity, I’m no less busy than before. I have a job (which is considered “essential” — yay), a social life, and never mending school work. I’ve balanced this my entire life; I will not have difficulty spending my free time on Minecraft. But again, my mindset has changed. Where before (even when I was ultra active and even was a staff member) I was reluctant to spend time on the game; now I don’t. Just this week I brought a real life friend on the server.

Regarding toxicity, I have not given you enough time to prove I am not toxic, so you can believe me or not. There was a time where I was not toxic at all, and there has been a time (more recent) that I have been toxic. Being toxic is a choice, when I didn’t care it didn’t matter if I was toxic. I am not going to be toxic. It doesn’t improve my game experience, nor anyone else’s. Toxicity isn’t beneficial in any way, shape, or form; that’s just easily put. I will not be toxic, regardless of the outcome of this application.

You question my intention, I will answer honestly. Moderating chat and banning people I not my goal. While a majority of the helper position is basic helping and handling of modreqs; that is not my main intention. I can do a lot of the helping part without a position; anyone can. I enjoy helping people (I think only a fool would apply for this position if they don’t enjoy helping people), and one of my intentions is is also to be able to do the less talked about aspects of being a helper; the behinds the scenes stuff. I love doing stuff like MeepTimes, where I can actually implement ideas for maybe a new section easily and allow people to flex their skills. I also loved being able to participate in staff meetings and discussions about suggestions. I want to be in the room where it happens. I would be lying to say I only want the position to help people. I know what comes with the helper position, and I want the full position; from 4 hour boat case settlements to interviewing a new player for a player spotlight.

I appreciate the response and the opportunity to answer, I apologize if you have changed your mind about the reference (I should’ve confirmed with everyone from before).

edit: Timezone would be a disadvantage; I’m part of the most populated time zone for staff members and players. But I also play at obscure hours late at night for EST.

 

+1 chill dude ok

 

I hope you don't take this personally, but I'm not sure whether you will be able to add anything special to the current staff team. Yes, you have experience, you're willing to work on the MeepTimes, you can suggest things, and you're able to help. You're technically meeting the criteria of a good helper, you haven't convinced me that you will be a great helper. Because we are currently not short on helpers (in my opinion), I am leaning towards a -1.

Your claim to passion is unsubstantiated - rather the fact that you left the server because it was failing suggests otherwise. We need people who can proactively drive changes, as Clueless has done, not people who react to changes. I really don't want to be this negative, as you are a good person and your application was good. You might have really changed, but there's currently no way we could know that. That's why qazini suggested that it may be wise to wait and prove that you are what you say.

 

I'm with Qaz. You have a solid record, but this application is premature. If you maintain all of the positive traits listed in your app, then there's no doubt that you'd make it in a month's time. Until then, however, I don't think that there have been enough recent interactions with you to convince most people of your ability to be staff.

From past interactions, I'm 100% a +1. I've never had a sub-par interaction with you, helper or otherwise. Good luck.

 

I saw you log in maybe once when I was on. I'm not on very often, so that doesn't really say much.. but idk. I didn't expect this at all. You were great staff when I was around, and I think it'd be great to see you back. But honestly, I'm with everybody else on this one. I think you should have given it more time before applying again. Applications out, and it's great- so that's that I guess.

I'm just gonna say it's +/- for me. Greatest of luck and great seeing you again