What does it mean to be a moderator on here?

[ShadowMT13]

Let me just be clear I am just asking out of curiosity, I am not asking to be one because I am pretty sure that is not how it works on here. I am just curious as all so I wanted to post a discussion to ask a few questions that for a while ever since joining Feral Heart I have been curious about, since I have been a moderator on other people's websites, groups, ect. in the past. Here are my questions:

How are Moderators chosen on the Forums?

What types of responsibilities do you Moderators have?

Is it stressful dealing with people on here?

Do you enjoy being a Moderator?

What is your favorite part of being a forum Moderator if you have one?

Have you ever met each other in real life?


It will be interesting to see your responses! Thanks for reading and replying if you did!

[Kynvuu]

I might as well throw in my two cents to this discussion as I think it's important for users to know about the kind of people their staff members are and how they handle their job. I'm sure there's lots of curiosity being thrown around as well. c:

Concerning your questions about how moderators are chosen, you can refer to THIS thread for a basic overview of the process. Generally though, staff members are chosen from the community by current staff. Current staff will carefully consider a wide variety of respectful, kind, helpful, and mature members who they think will make a good addition to the team. It really depends in each situation, as there are many factors that staff have to consider before giving that member moderating responsibilities, as it is a job that entails a lot of trust and hard work.

Usually, a moderator's job will include looking over both the game and forum, and making sure everything's running smoothly. We handle any situations that may occur in game as well as look out for rule breakers in order to keep the game safe and friendly for all users. On the forum side, we make sure the boards stay clean and organized, as well as keep our eye out for any bad behavior. Of course, a moderator's job is much larger than simply looking after the game and forum. We also handle numerous troubleshooting issues with the game and site, assist users when they experience issues, plan and organize community events, as well as maintain outside Feral Heart affiliates, such as the DA group and Tumblr page.

On the more personal side of things, being a moderator means a lot of different things to me. Feral Heart is my first moderating job, and I really didn't know what to expect when I first became MIT. When combined with real life, moderating can become stressful at times because there is always something to be done, or a responsibility to uphold. It is an around the clock job which entails a lot of care and attention out of our daily lives. That being said, I've never been so stressed out as to not enjoy my job. Every day you encounter a new task or issue that needs to be taken care of, so the experience is always new and exciting. Also, everything we do is for the benefit of the community, and the feeling of being able to help people and the game is probably one of the most rewarding parts of the job.

My favorite part of moderating is probably being able to help out people and just really getting to know the people in the community that I help to take care of. Through assisting users, I have grown more aware of the people in the community, and I have made connections and friendships with people that I probably would have never encountered before. I'm even able to apply my real-life skills to helping people here, such as my biliteracy (I once had to help a Spanish-speaking user, as I speak both English and Spanish), which I think is really neat and eye opening.

Staff are all very good friends, but to my knowledge, none of us have met each other in real life. We do often times mention it or joke about it, but I wouldn't say it's an impossibility. Maybe one day in the future!

A very interesting topic you have here! I hope that other staff and community members contribute their opinions here as well, because as I said before I think it's important to know who your staff members are. c;

[ShadowMT13]

That's vary informative and interesting honestly, basically I made this so that the moderators could share some stuff about themselves and also express what it means to THEM to be a moderator and what they like about their job. I myself have been a moderator on other people's groups, websites, and forums in the past so I was intrigued to ask the moderators here about what this means to them to be a moderator :3 Thanks for the reply nice to know we have something in common as to what we like about moderating, for me I also like helping people and so that was one of my favorite parts of being a moderator on other people's groups. Thanks for sharing!

[Kerriki]

Figured I'd throw in my two cents as well ^^ Kyn answered your first two questions pretty well there, so I don't feel the need to answer those c:

Is moderating stressful? I wouldn't say so, no; though that may just be me (I tend to not stress about things in general). As for handling users, it can get rather complicated when users may not agree with you/the rules etc etc, and these types of situations require lots of patience. I personally tend to get anxious about this sort of stuff when I approach a user about something, but most of the time members of the FH community are very understanding and reasonable so it goes very smoothly~

Yes! I do very much enjoy being a moderator. Being offered an MIT position isn't something that happens every day, and it was very exciting for me (seriously, I couldn't get to sleep that night xD). Since then I have enjoyed being there for the community and, in a way, serving as a role model

We have certainly joked about meeting each other in real life, saying stuff how we needed to have a sleepover etc xD But, of course we live very far away from each other and it would be very difficult for us to meet up -- we can barely find the time for all six of us to meet up in-game! I know that in the past moderators have met up irl (names will not be given for privacy), but how much has this happened? Not sure, but I can say that it isn't a common occurrence at all

I hope this was helpful c:

[ShadowMT13]

Nice to know! And I did not really need something to help me I was just curious, like I said above I posted this because I wanted the moderators to share stuff that they would like to share. I used to be a moderator for different DA groups and even groups of other social media websites, I have to say I am surprised you don't get stressed with your responsibilities, I use to get stressed all the time if someone was wreaking havoc in someones group which I moderated. Typically I did not really stay stressed for long since I worked by a more 3 strike warning system and depending on how cruel they were being to the other members, I would usually bring the hammer down on them fast or tell them off to get them to stop. Luckily most members of the groups I have moderated in the past where pretty well behaved, but as always there are the occasions where you got a troll or someone is just starting stuff. Thanks for sharing your opinions and it will be interesting to see the other moderator's opinions :3 Have a nice night!

[Warriorstrike]

I'm happy to add some of my own thoughts here. c:

Kynnvu has put the icing on the cake with the first two questions, so I'll focus on some of the other questions of yours.

Is it stressful dealing with people on here? I think the answer to this question varies depending on the staffer, because what causes stress and pushes your buttons is different from one individual to another. There are certainly times when moderating can get you swept up in the spur of a moment, but as a whole, I wouldn't consider it a generally stressful job. Oftentimes, the most stressful moments for me are when staff is hosting an event, and I'm needed to make sure that something goes well-- the radio playlist going wack or accidentally cutting out a large chunk of songs during a party livestream would definitely have me laser-focused on trying to fix the error, because I'm aware that whatever results will affect a large group of people. In truth, most are quite minute details compared to some of the other incidents that occur, but as far as stressful reoccurances goes, I would say those are more common for me to stress over than, say, trying to find time to check the maps in the game. (Although, these things happen and cannot always be avoided.) Of course, you'll have the occasional report where you're needed to be somewhere as soon as possible, so if you're not at home or able to attend to it, that isn't a good feeling. (At this point, though, it is the moderator's job to contact another staff member if he isn't able to readily be there and is aware that it needs immediate attention.) Sometimes, you'll slip up or feel like you're having a lot of different things thrown at you at once, which can be stressful if you have a lot on your plate or are new to staffing. My most stressful moments are more often than not caused by myself, rather than others. It can get difficult at times when you need to multitask, which isn't a quality I thought would be so necessary when first joining the team, but I've found it to be an important one. You may be answering a whisper in the game, creating a thread for a contest, and livestreaming (maybe monitoring LS comments and/or radio requests), all at the same time, so if doing too many things at the same times can get you frazzled, then it can be stressful, for sure. Usually, each staffer finds what works best for him, though, as far as managing time and resources goes. I've found that the more you stick to it and the steadier steps you take, most of it can be solved with a deep breath and a quick mind reset. Time constraint is probably the greatest stress inducer for many who have staffed before-- real-life responsibilities, such as school, work, personal matters, etc, can sometimes hinder one's ability to properly moderate the game/forum, and thus making it stressful if someone isn't able to meet his staffing duties.

Do you enjoy being a Moderator? Yes. c: From my personal experience, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages to the position. It's a great joy to be able to help people out with a game that I grew up loving and feeling as a second home and to be able to see how things are actually made possible as new additions to Feral Heart. While the responsibilities have their fair share of difficulties, I enjoy the work and look forward to checking in and seeing what everyone is up to. Moderating is really what you make of it-- if you don't enjoy playing the game or helping people out, or if you don't enjoy the responsibilities that are entailed (forum-check ups, monitoring the maps, planning contests), then it can be somewhat of a chore or burden. Someone once said that (forgive the lack of accurate quoting) if you love what you do, it will be much easier and do-able, but if you despise it, it will bring you only sorrow. The enjoyment of staffing improves/decreases by your approach to it, I think.

What is your favorite part of being a forum Moderator if you have one? The ability to help people whom are unitedly part of this game. Being able to help out and see Feral Heart bring enjoyment to people has been a pleasure, and one that I hope to not forgot.

Have you ever met each other in real life? I have never met another staff member, in person, although I do know that some in the past whom have. I'd love to see a great staff get-together, at some point. c:

Thank you for these questions. Hopefully my thoughts helped to answer them.~