So take this with a huge (I mean, seriously massive) grain of salt since I really haven't been all that active in more than a year. I have no real clue how things happen around here anymore, and I know very little about those currently on the team. I'm just speaking from experience from when I was staff and what I went through to get it.
First of all, I like VKL (despite pronouncing his name wrong as Vay-Kay-El the entire time I've know him). Even when I was staff, I genuinely liked him as a person - but just because you may or may not like someone as a person when you're staff, doesn't mean you'll accept or deny them based on that. Plenty of people I disliked or didn't want as staff got into it when I was a staff member, and many people I liked or thought would make good staff didn't. It's 100% a group staff decision, no one or two people make it which is something you have to keep in mind.
I don't know what he's like anymore, but like all people do, I'm sure he has matured. Heck, when I was still staff a year ago, I felt with a little bit more shaping up, VKL could be an extremely good staff member.
But I know from personal experience that VKL has a very, very steep uphill battle in which he has to push a huge boulder three times his size up this extremely steep hill. Analogies aside, he is the most infamous player on Meep. He's been infamous for his countless bans since before I joined in 2012. He has a history of ignoring staff and breaking rules.
As someone who had a much less known history of ignoring and fighting staff when I applied for staff, I also had an uphill battle. I had to prove that I was no longer the person I was when I was constantly fighting and being a bother to the staff at the time.
VKL needs to very, very clearly prove that he doesn't intend to continue with the things he's so notorious for. He needs to spend a ton of time and energy proving this, as I'm sure he already has to a point, to even be considered as someone who could uphold the rules he so often broke. And honestly, it's possible that the mistakes he's made are ones that he can never come back with. It's unlikely, but possible.
I guess the TL: DR; to take away from this is that becoming part of the staff team, at least in my opinion, shouldn't be about diversifying personalities or having people who fight against authority. It's about having mature people, who are good role models, know the rules, can help out, and all around have the self-awareness and responsibility to know when to press back and when to bend. And honestly, I think your post makes the point that while VKL knows when to press back, he's not quite able to bend when needed yet.
In the end, it's also up to the staff team. As a casual player now, I trust the judgement of those who are in power to promote the people who fit the most with the values they uphold and with what their team needs. Apparently, at this time, that person is not VKL.
- Just the 2ยข of a previous staff member, like I said take it with a grain of salt because it's been awhile since I've been here.
