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In the Shoes of a Moderator

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If there are any moderators out there who is reading this thread, I would like to know how life on SMWCentral goes on for you guys. How different does the site look, is it fun or easygoing, etc.


YY-CHR > Photoshop.
It's not as different as you might expect. You're still basically a user of the site like any other, except with the addition of a handful of responsibilities (you have to spend a ton of time moderating file submissions if you're a section moderator, you have to read posts and fix/delete broken or spammy ones if you're a forum moderator, etc). I wouldn't say the site looks super "different" otherwise, though it's nice being able to contribute to the community that I've spent so many years on.
Twitter
The handomest people in the world are ones who follow my Twitch
Oooh, that's nice, I'd like to see what the other moderators say!


YY-CHR > Photoshop.
As a non-moderator, I often constantly checked the waiting section of the music, feeling pretty desperate and impatient about my submissions. While yes, I did have some imagination too that it might be a taxing task (and I'd even thank the moderators for taking the time), I didn't actually get the experience so I couldn't relate.

Now that I'm a moderator, I can see how exhausting it is to check a piece of music (varies from mildly to intensely), looking for wrong notes/optimization/bad feels/etc. so I shouldn't have to feel quite desperate to the moderators when they're using their time to mindfully observe the submissions well, especially when moderators have been swamped with IRL tasks that can already burn them out. I still thank the other moderators for moderating my submissions too.

Otherwise, I feel like another site member.
I've been a moderator twice (2017 and 2020) and to me the coolest thing about it is to be able to contribute to various things in and out of your assigned task. At some point, I noticed my interest in helping wears off (plus real life responsibilities always end up arising), but especially in my first months I always tried to help with as much as I could.

My two experiences were vastly different. Back in 2017 there was always drama and fights happening internally and externally which, while I sorta enjoyed dealing with, got stressful pretty fast. Internal issues were basically nonexistant in 2020, so it was a lot more chill. But yeah, aside from the power of doing things and having access to the staff chats and whatnot, there isn't much else special about being a mod. Especially now when it's much easier to get in the team than it was a decade ago. If I had to guess, to certain mods (like some streamer hack mods), it barely feels any different from being a regular member with a task.
It's easily the best thing I've done
So why the empty numb?
I was a Kaizo moderator in 2014. Hack moderation was fun at first but eventually felt suspiciously like homework. Was kinda cool to get to see a forum that regular users couldn't even see. I don't think I really miss being a moderator.
Legacy custom music
A site with a non-useless dislike button
SMW hacking channel

I rather like taking care of userbase moderation on the discord server. The majority of the time I'm still basically just a regular user, but when certain situations come up like spam or something tasteless, I'll step in and deal with it accordingly. The team is great to work with and I trust their judgment when we discuss things as a group.

I've been a moderator four times, and while the first three times were stressful as fuck (tense internal discussions and all), the most recent time was actually more relaxed. I used to moderate hacks as a main duty, but I eventually grew tired as time flew by and decided to just lean towards forum moderation. Dealing with troublesome users and other fields was really fun, and I'm glad to have helped as much as I could. On the other hand, I killed the curiosity I always had of what the staff forums and chat were like. Nonetheless, the team was great to work with and I have no regrets.
Windowless ride, feeling alive
Are you alive or just breathing?
Back in my early SMWC years I saw being a moderator differently than I do now. I used to see forum staff as the most super-ultra-awesome-greatest shit you could ever be, like if you were staff in a big community like this one you were already one step above the average human being. So, if you were a moderator, you were pretty much like God's left hand in my eyes, and if you were and administrator, then you already achieved God status.

Now, I don't see being a mod or admin, or any staff role as anything particularly special. There are a lot of communities in the internet and it’s not uncommon for most people to have at least one such role somewhere. And it’s really no big deal, being staff just means you get some authority over a small internet space in exchange of a lot responsibilities.

So, like, these days, when I talk to someone who has a staff position in this site or elsewhere, I no longer feel like I'm talking to a divine being or someone who is above (or bellow) me in the food chain. The same goes for me when I was a staff here in 2011-2014 and in 2019, during the later, I didn't take my staff job too much to hearth like I did the first time.
First time I was on staff in 2011-2013 it was only slightly different than it is today. It isn't too insanely different, just a couple extra bells and whistles we see on our ends to help with the duties assigned to us and our sections.

When it comes down to it, the staff team is just like everyone else. We all share mostly the same interest and goals in helping the community as best we can. Like Aja said, back in the day when she and I were on staff a decade ago it felt like this top tier elitist group. Back then it was seen as kind of unpleasant for some, myself included, lots of shade being thrown, no communication but I'm happy the admins gave me a second chance in 2020 after my long hiatus.

The site, along with the userbase as well as myself have all changed and grown over the years and times are different and it looks like people have kept up with them which is always a good thing.
I think a post layout goes here somewhere...
User: Hinalyte / ID: 1553 ~ loading kotori.css
There's not much difference on being a staff member: you're still a regular user of the site and you should still follow the rules, even if you could be one of the people making them. The section and forum moderation are just "simple" jobs that ensures that the respective sections are all updated to the current standards, but if you're into helping the community and this site to be a better and fun place to be, being a staff member allows you to participate in creating site events, where most of them brings the community together. That's pretty much it.

As a former staff member in 2013-2019, I could see how much the site and its members have changed over those years. There was a lot of disjoint everywhere, but ultimately we ended up being more nicer and welcoming to more users which is what I'm seeing nowadays.
Being a moderator was probably one of the most fun points of my life.

When I was made a staff member in 2010, I had only been registered on SMWC for about eleven months and active for about four or five. This meant that I was still a new user but I had a say in how things went here.

I had to learn Internet people skills very quickly, as I don't think I entirely had them before I started. I had to learn that people may not like you. I had to learn how not to just follow the rules, but also how to make rules that were fair. It did not always work out.

I had to learn how to work on a team with people who did not agree with me. I had to learn how to express my opinions in a respectful way.

If I banned someone, I had to explain why I did it. Oh, and banning people isn't always fun, and if you aren't careful, your ban can really hurt someone's feelings.

The more I fell into this role, the more I saw people treat me differently. There were users who liked my style, and there were others who hated it. There was drama, some of which I caused, some of which I had to resolve.

As a submission moderator, I had to learn how to deny a hack or piece of music in a way that made the person who submitted it want to try and fix the issues and resubmit. It meant listening to a lot of really bad ports and playing some really...not so great hacks, then writing up denial reports and submitting them with a decent turnaround time.

We had an actual staff meeting at one point over Skype. It involved taking meeting minutes and a roundtable discussion about the site. We took our shit seriously.

But...it was fun! I wanted to do the hard work and enjoyed being able to have a say here. I liked helping people. We had Skype groups and would talk about staff-related things for hours because me and the other staff members liked getting along with each other. I still have some of them on my actual personal Facebook and like hearing from them, even if it's been years.

Being a moderator here basically summed up my early 20s. I wouldn't trade those days for anything.

Thanks for reading.
As the melodious sounds of the garden warbler and the blackbird drift from the gardens to his luxurious bedroom, FPzero awakens and taps the silver bell to his left. Immediately, a butler comes forth and hands him the tray: a breakfast of seared foie gras and white Baca la luz figs, accompanied with a delicate balanced glass of Dom Perignon Reserve de L'Abbaye. After taking a few sips and ushering the butler away, he taps the second silver bell, prompting a second butler to enter carrying a large piece of parchment paper. FPzero glances over the scroll. Ah, the daily lists of bans. One of the most delightful aspects of his morning routine (aside from the daily polo match, of course). He reads through the list, feeling a small twang of pity for the sad bunch, the dozens of names soon to have their access to SMWC wiped for eternity. He takes one last look at the names before ringing a third silver bell, a larger one with the words "BAN" inscribed on the side. Immediately, the user's accounts are wiped from existence. Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, it was time to relax after such exhausting labor. It was time for afternoon tea. As he sipped in his stateroom, he scrolled through the SMWC forums, carrying out the ever important duty of finding accounts to remove. One sorry lad had forgotten to use a period to end a sentence. Ban. Another poor individual had inadvertently stretched the table upon eagerly posting a screenshot of their new hack demo. Account disabled. Did he feel sorrowful for them? Perhaps. Yet, a moderator must carry the great burden of moderation with honor and dignity, regardless of the consequences. He dinged the silver BAN bell one last time for the evening.
Originally posted by GbreezeSunset
As the melodious sounds of the garden warbler and the blackbird drift from the gardens to his luxurious bedroom, FPzero awakens and taps the silver bell to his left. Immediately, a butler comes forth and hands him the tray: a breakfast of seared foie gras and white Baca la luz figs, accompanied with a delicate balanced glass of Dom Perignon Reserve de L'Abbaye. After taking a few sips and ushering the butler away, he taps the second silver bell, prompting a second butler to enter carrying a large piece of parchment paper. FPzero glances over the scroll. Ah, the daily lists of bans. One of the most delightful aspects of his morning routine (aside from the daily polo match, of course). He reads through the list, feeling a small twang of pity for the sad bunch, the dozens of names soon to have their access to SMWC wiped for eternity. He takes one last look at the names before ringing a third silver bell, a larger one with the words "BAN" inscribed on the side. Immediately, the user's accounts are wiped from existence. Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, it was time to relax after such exhausting labor. It was time for afternoon tea. As he sipped in his stateroom, he scrolled through the SMWC forums, carrying out the ever important duty of finding accounts to remove. One sorry lad had forgotten to use a period to end a sentence. Ban. Another poor individual had inadvertently stretched the table upon eagerly posting a screenshot of their new hack demo. Account disabled. Did he feel sorrowful for them? Perhaps. Yet, a moderator must carry the great burden of moderation with honor and dignity, regardless of the consequences. He dinged the silver BAN bell one last time for the evening.

I was staff in a simpler time, when there were no such things as section managers, event planning, userbase mods, strict rules, documented bans, or separate threads for each resource removal. I had fun posting in the staff forums, changing my custom title, closing bumped threads, and moderating a hack here and there. (I didn't even ask to be a hack mod, I was given that role when I was promoted and just rolled with it. :V)

I don't think I took part in a lot of important decision-making (whatever counted as important then). In the current staff landscape I would definitely feel out of place and not be pulling my weight. Being a ~~**MOD**~~ seemed like the coolest thing back then and I was overjoyed to be one, but now I'm not so ethusiastic about it, and happy to be a regular member with a custom name color. (though I wouldn't mind being able to read the staff forums. #tb{''})


 
Originally posted by GbreezeSunset
As the melodious sounds of the garden warbler and the blackbird drift from the gardens to his luxurious bedroom, FPzero awakens and taps the silver bell to his left. Immediately, a butler comes forth and hands him the tray: a breakfast of seared foie gras and white Baca la luz figs, accompanied with a delicate balanced glass of Dom Perignon Reserve de L'Abbaye. After taking a few sips and ushering the butler away, he taps the second silver bell, prompting a second butler to enter carrying a large piece of parchment paper. FPzero glances over the scroll. Ah, the daily lists of bans. One of the most delightful aspects of his morning routine (aside from the daily polo match, of course). He reads through the list, feeling a small twang of pity for the sad bunch, the dozens of names soon to have their access to SMWC wiped for eternity. He takes one last look at the names before ringing a third silver bell, a larger one with the words "BAN" inscribed on the side. Immediately, the user's accounts are wiped from existence. Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, it was time to relax after such exhausting labor. It was time for afternoon tea. As he sipped in his stateroom, he scrolled through the SMWC forums, carrying out the ever important duty of finding accounts to remove. One sorry lad had forgotten to use a period to end a sentence. Ban. Another poor individual had inadvertently stretched the table upon eagerly posting a screenshot of their new hack demo. Account disabled. Did he feel sorrowful for them? Perhaps. Yet, a moderator must carry the great burden of moderation with honor and dignity, regardless of the consequences. He dinged the silver BAN bell one last time for the evening.


Originally posted by GbreezeSunset
As the melodious sounds of the garden warbler and the blackbird drift from the gardens to his luxurious bedroom, FPzero awakens and taps the silver bell to his left. Immediately, a butler comes forth and hands him the tray: a breakfast of seared foie gras and white Baca la luz figs, accompanied with a delicate balanced glass of Dom Perignon Reserve de L'Abbaye. After taking a few sips and ushering the butler away, he taps the second silver bell, prompting a second butler to enter carrying a large piece of parchment paper. FPzero glances over the scroll. Ah, the daily lists of bans. One of the most delightful aspects of his morning routine (aside from the daily polo match, of course). He reads through the list, feeling a small twang of pity for the sad bunch, the dozens of names soon to have their access to SMWC wiped for eternity. He takes one last look at the names before ringing a third silver bell, a larger one with the words "BAN" inscribed on the side. Immediately, the user's accounts are wiped from existence. Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, it was time to relax after such exhausting labor. It was time for afternoon tea. As he sipped in his stateroom, he scrolled through the SMWC forums, carrying out the ever important duty of finding accounts to remove. One sorry lad had forgotten to use a period to end a sentence. Ban. Another poor individual had inadvertently stretched the table upon eagerly posting a screenshot of their new hack demo. Account disabled. Did he feel sorrowful for them? Perhaps. Yet, a moderator must carry the great burden of moderation with honor and dignity, regardless of the consequences. He dinged the silver BAN bell one last time for the evening.

Wow, this is so fake. FPZero wouldn't ring the BAN bell, he'd call another butler to do it for him.
Originally posted by Aja
Originally posted by GbreezeSunset
As the melodious sounds of the garden warbler and the blackbird drift from the gardens to his luxurious bedroom, FPzero awakens and taps the silver bell to his left. Immediately, a butler comes forth and hands him the tray: a breakfast of seared foie gras and white Baca la luz figs, accompanied with a delicate balanced glass of Dom Perignon Reserve de L'Abbaye. After taking a few sips and ushering the butler away, he taps the second silver bell, prompting a second butler to enter carrying a large piece of parchment paper. FPzero glances over the scroll. Ah, the daily lists of bans. One of the most delightful aspects of his morning routine (aside from the daily polo match, of course). He reads through the list, feeling a small twang of pity for the sad bunch, the dozens of names soon to have their access to SMWC wiped for eternity. He takes one last look at the names before ringing a third silver bell, a larger one with the words "BAN" inscribed on the side. Immediately, the user's accounts are wiped from existence. Wiping a bead of sweat from his brow, it was time to relax after such exhausting labor. It was time for afternoon tea. As he sipped in his stateroom, he scrolled through the SMWC forums, carrying out the ever important duty of finding accounts to remove. One sorry lad had forgotten to use a period to end a sentence. Ban. Another poor individual had inadvertently stretched the table upon eagerly posting a screenshot of their new hack demo. Account disabled. Did he feel sorrowful for them? Perhaps. Yet, a moderator must carry the great burden of moderation with honor and dignity, regardless of the consequences. He dinged the silver BAN bell one last time for the evening.

Wow, this is so fake. FPZero wouldn't ring the BAN bell, he'd call another butler to do it for him.


Wrong. He;'d ask me to run a Jeopardy! knock-off and ban people who gave wrong answers. I mean he did it once before.
Honestly I find it kinda stressful, especially being a section manager. I really worry about the work/life balance of my team members lol. Actually moderating isn't so bad though. It's really straightforward, especially rips. The hard part is sniping claims as they come in, Anorakun is pretty quick at getting things through queue on his own, so it can be a little competitive.

Back when I was just starting out as graphics mod though I'd second guess literally everything I moderated and asked the rest of the team for advice. Nothing wrong with getting extra opinions of course, but I feel pretty bad about it in hindsight.

Otherwise the site feels pretty similar to when I was a normal member. Basically just lurking, uploading the occasional thing once every c3 or unfinished cldc entry, posting rarely. There's some fancy hidden forums for staff stuff but it's basically the same experience.

Originally posted by Aja

Wow, this is so fake. FPZero wouldn't ring the BAN bell, he'd call another butler to do it for him.

that was my job when i first joined staff. :)
Originally posted by Teyla
Anorakun is pretty quick at getting things through queue on his own, so it can be a little competitive.




There isn't so much difference between being staff or a normal user, at least for me. Moderators just have more responsabilities and stuff to do. And there's the extra of hosting an event or even judging it, if necessary. Section Managers and Admins seems to have a lot more to think about, and I can't speak for them.

Anyway, it's not an otherwordly thing or a magical fun ride. There's tons of tasks we have to do to keep the site moving forward, so sometimes, can be a bit tough.


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