What's your end goal here? In your helper application you made it sound like you were only applying to help out while the staff numbers were low.
I don't know the details about you spawning in gold blocks, only what you yourself said...
Personally, I'm surprised you weren't banned for it, but I obviously wasn't there or know the full story.
I wouldn't trust you with a staff position with any real power. You had your chance to be a leader, to set an example for both other staff members and the community but you choose to abuse your power. You're knowledgeable and are both generally liked and respected but I think that would give reason to be more cautious, not less.
You obviously have a head on your shoulders, are mature and want to prove yourself trustworthy again. I just don't think two weeks is enough time to prove anything.
Honestly, if the staff is willing/does trust you already, they should just go ahead and promote you to whatever position you are planning on ending up at. You were admin before, if memory serves me right, and you can fill whatever roll they might need you for with minimal training.
GL, either way.
~ @Woddorl
Good questions, I'll attempt to cover them one at a time. I did spawn in quite a lot of gold, and I was subsequently banned for that action. While not going into multi-paragraph answers about it, as I'm sure they can be easily found on the forums, I can say that this was a terrible mistake, one that I have surely learned from, and will not repeat it, nor will I over-step my bounds or abuse the trust again. Pretty much, I totally screwed up, and then I moved on.
When I applied for helper, I had no immediate plans to apply, nor was it outlined to be applying 2 weeks after. However, once I truly realized that the limitations of helper are binding, I decided to speed that process up quite a bit. As many know, Helpers are mostly the front line worker, they handle the questions and complains, but all in all have very little say in policy, recruitment, and many other areas. It's not that helpers are worse than any other rank, the role is just different. However this is where my strength really shines, as a moderator, I will be able to more easily influence the direction of the ship as helper.
To explain what I mean I'll use an example, when I first joined as helper, I immediately began flooding the staff with suggestions on things to change, while I may not always be right, I always try to take the time to explain why I think a certain change is beneficial, or a hindrance. One particular advancement I've had is suggesting a way to reformat the suggestions thread. With a simple addition of a sub-category, and the change of another, we are now more easily able to convey our progress to the greater player base. Before we had a couple folders where it essentially became a purgatory, good suggestions would sit there for long periods of time with no update on progress. What we have now is a series of steps a suggestion can take, from going into Under Consideration (Good suggestion, but most likely cannot/will not be done), to Accepted (These are great suggestions that probably can be done, but there is no ETA on completion), and then finally Pending (These are suggestions we are currently working on with some reasonable, perhaps not accurate, ETA on completion).
This is certainly not me trying to brag, but to point out this is the area where I really excel. I always try to analyze processes, try to drive out inefficiencies, and add in standardization, for the most part. Another thing I'd love to do as a moderator is set up a true mentoring program for new helpers coming into the fold. This is where an experienced helper, or a moderator takes helpers under their wing and monitor them more closely to try to reduce the gap in interpretations of rules, and subsequent ban times. An additional benefit to this is that with a standardized program to show new helpers the ropes, we'll be seen as a much more unified, and solid force in the eyes of the players. This is also not to say that this staff is bad in any way, shape, or form, but there are ways to decrease inefficiencies, or instances where staff are sending two different messages, more or less, we should be in lock & step with each other.
Another reason I wasn't planning on applying for moderator right away is because I wanted to re-confirm with myself that I was capable of still doing the role of helper first. To this end, I have satisfactorily shown myself that I still excel in the areas I feel are most important to the job, which are customer service. It is not enough I can do a massive amount of modreqs, but that I also give each individual one my utmost attention, this includes not just answering the question they originally asked, but to make sure they have a firm grasp on the answer, and that there is no other information they are confused on. The goal for me was to put a smile on each person who modreq's face, I wanted them happy they filed a modreq and got a quick answer, in addition to a friendly face, and someone who genuinely wants to help them out to their 100% satisfaction. Sometimes that even includes a friendly little chat with players who just needed to know we see them in the wider Meep world, and they aren't in the background. These are the qualities I want to bring with me to the next step up, making sure all our helpers provide the same 110% service (and they do) that I've tried to provide with the players myself. Not only that, but as a moderator I will have a greater role in who we recruit, policy in general, and many other things that I can use to try to bring as many suggestions I feel will benefit things to the table. Again, all my suggestions aren't the answer, and some are quite bad, but I think the minute we stop suggesting is the minute we degrade.
Hell, let's be honest, because of my past, I do not expect to go above Moderator, and that is fine for me. When I said as a helper, I wasn't concerned about the next step, it was the truth, at that time I wasn't. It was only until I saw the limitations and they came into conflict with how involved I want to be in direction of the server, at that time I had decided the next step will allow me to better accomplish what I want to accomplish. The same applies now, I'm not going to worry about the next step until I have cause to worry about it, and at this time I simply have none. And as I said before, even if I wanted too, I have no real expectations of actually being able to do that, and that is fine because it was my own doing.
I hope I've answered at least some of your questions to your satisfaction, if not, or if there is anything else you'd want me to clarify, do not hesitate to ask here or in a PM.
