Spodermen's Operator Application

Steam Name: Spodermen

Steam Profile Link: http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198079363164

Steam ID: STEAM_0:0:59548718


1. How old are you? Seventeen



2. How long have you been playing on the server? I have been playing on the server a little over one month.



3. Why do you want to be a staff member? I often see people in disputes or breaking rules and either no admin is called or the admins are too busy. I enjoy helping people and I want to help make the server better for everyone involved. I can think of many times where I have left a server due to lack of attention from staff. I am available almost every day and I have some past experience being an admin on three Dark RP servers.



4. What factions are you currently whitelisted for? Just MPF and OTA. None of the other factions really interested me.



5. How well known are you on the server? I believe I am pretty well known. I know I'm considered a regular. I have RPed with many people. I am probably most known by the MPF guys since I play my MPF character most often.


6. Do other players on the server like you? I believe they do. There will always be a few who may not like me, but I'm sure the vast majority of people like me.



7. Have you ever been banned? Never.



8. Have you ever been kicked? Never.



9. Have you ever been warned? Once for calling Golden-Spy an idiot and another for power-gaming. This was back when I was pretty new to RP and has not happened since. I always try to be as nice to people as possible, and I have learned the rules of RP.



10. Why should we choose you as an operator? First of all I am mature. I can handle myself in a tense or annoying situation. Also, my experience as a Dark RP admin has taught me how to deal with a dispute and what types of punishments to give out. I know that Dark RP is nothing like HL2RP, but my experience taught me a lot about dealing with people.



11. Have you helped anyone on the server yet? I always try to help people on the server, even if it's as simple as answering an OOC question.



12. Have you ever helped someone on the server? Give an example if so. Back when we were on the City 17 map, I would stand at the train station checkpoint as my MPF character. When new players came by I would make sure they knew how to use /apply and showed them what an MPF unit would do if they were getting in trouble. I believe this helped the citizens not feel too awkward when dealing with the MPF, and also made the MPF unit's job easier. I did that because I remember when I first started playing serious RP. I was so confused when dealing with the MPF. I also try to answer most questions asked in OOC in regards to rules, controls, or just anything about the server. I have also taught people how to make proper physical descriptions.



13. Why are you more mature than other players? I've been an admin on three other servers, and know how to handle a situation. I'm also 17, and I've had real life jobs before, so I understand the concept of following directions and listening to a boss. I have the highest respect for authority. Overall I always follow the rules and try not to get in disputes with other players.



14. Are any of your characters important? No. I hope to have an important character in the future.



15. Are you active on the server? Yes I am very active. I play almost every single day. Vortex is the only Garry's Mod server I play on at the moment.



16. Will you be able to be active a lot? Yes. I am available from around 2pm-11pm EST on weekdays and all day on weekends. If I was ever needed, but was offline, I would always welcome a steam-message asking for my assistance.



17. What do you do in this situation:

Two players are arguing in OOC, one is angry because the other stole his ration before he could get a chance to pick it up. You have no clue where the players are at the moment.

First of all, I would tell the players to stop arguing in OOC. This disrupts everyone's fun. Then I would bring the two citizens to an isolated area. I would hear each side separately and then, together, we would work out a solution. Depending on whether or not the thief properly RPed the theft, I would see what a punishment would be and who would get the ration.

18. What do you do in this situation:

A citizen is mingepunching a civil protection officer, he isn't listening to what they explain to him in LOOC, and he continues.

I would bring the mingepuncher to a secluded area. I would then explain the rules of RP to him and, if he was respectful and showed that he wanted to try again, I would let him back on the streets. If he did it again I would speak to him again and he would be kicked. Further trouble from him would result in a ban.


19. A citizen sneaks up on a unit while they were preoccupied, and hit the unit on the head with some sort of object. The unit is upset because the citizen did not roll. Who is right, and why?

The citizen is correct because the server is P2L by default. If the citizen did a sneak attack and they didn't agree to roll, then the MPF unit has to P2L.


20. A group of citizen attacks an overwatch unit with no weapons whatsoever. The overwatch unit overpowers them and amputates all of them on the spot. The citizens are upset that they didn't have a chance to win, or that the overwatch unit didn't play to loose. Who is in the right and why?

The Overwatch unit is in the right. A heavily armed, and well trained OTA can overpower a group of citizens with no trouble. The citizens have to P2L and accept that the OTA is stronger than them.


21. A citizen climbs into the City Administrator's mail cute with the help of another citizen. They're both a bit bored, and feel like messing around. What do you do?

I would take the citizens out and explain that they broke the rules. I would suggest that they go try some passive RP. I would then undo anything they messed with. If they did it again, they would be kicked.



22. What can you offer to our community? I can offer the community a friendly and helpful attitude. I am always looking to help new players and players who are being hassled by rule-breakers. I respect the RP community and want to make the server a safe place for serious role-players to come and have fun.



23. Do you tend to mess around a lot in LOOC chat? This includes but is not limited to the following:
"XD" "LELELELEL" "LOLVOID" "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

No. I do occasionally joke around, but never like that. That is just annoying.

24. Do you tend to do crazy things, and then void them right after?
No. If so, very very rarely and only around friends when no actually serious RP is going on.


25. Do you get upset if you do not get your way?

Never. I always try to see things from the other point of view, and I understand that I'm not always right.

26. Will you get angry if you do something wrong, and a higher staff member corrects you?
No I won't. If the higher staff member is being rude about it and calling me an idiot, I may be a little frustrated, but other than that, I am always open to constructive criticism and use it make myself better at what I do.


27. Why do you like the server? Why is it unique to you?
I fell in love with Vortex from the moment I joined. I had finally found a Serious RP server that is populated, has friendly members, and isn't doing stupid events all the time. I've been on servers that have daily terrorist attacks and rebel's fighting CPs. That just gets boring after a while. I love how Vortex keeps it serious and realistic 24/7.

+Support

I have known Spodermen a long time. He can be very mature and reasonable (most of the time  ) when a situation comes his way and I believe this application is at least 99.99% truthful. I have also seen his prowess as a DarkRP admin and it would be very much the same on Vortex.

-Support.

My experiences with him have shown him to be very immature. If you do a little tiny pebbles worth of harm to you, he'll flip his shit, and NEVER get over it. And even if he says he is, he's biased in the future.

VERDICT: Immature and holds grudges. No light way to put this...a dick.

Not sure about Spoderman, no + or - here.

Kookie wrote:-Support.

My experiences with him have shown him to be very immature. If you do a little tiny pebbles worth of harm to you, he'll flip his shit, and NEVER get over it. And even if he says he is, he's biased in the future.

VERDICT: Immature and holds grudges. No light way to put this...a dick.

Thanks for your input Sorry I couldn't keep you on my steam friend's list. The hate messages were a little annoying.

Spodermen wrote:

Kookie wrote:-Support.

My experiences with him have shown him to be very immature. If you do a little tiny pebbles worth of harm to you, he'll flip his shit, and NEVER get over it. And even if he says he is, he's biased in the future.

VERDICT: Immature and holds grudges. No light way to put this...a dick.

Thanks for your input Sorry I couldn't keep you on my steam friend's list. The hate messages were a little annoying.

Hahaha typical internet hate

My apologies but -Support, I shall not state why.

<::Toxic Oktuberfest::> wrote:My apologies but -Support, I shall not state why.

I guess that's your opinion, but I have the strong suspicion that it is due to out-of-game factors; not at all based on the app or in-game experiences with me. If not then you should voice it to me so I may improve myself.

Spodermen wrote:

I guess that's your opinion, but I have the strong suspicion that it is due to out-of-game factors; not at all based on the app or in-game experiences with me. If not then you should voice it to me so I may improve myself.

Believe what you will. Thank you for not responding in a negative way.

While I believe you think your heart is in the right place, I do not believe your experience or reactions are.

To begin with, you state that you are more mature than other players due to your age and that you've had real life jobs before. I find this as incredibly irrelevant as someone's age is not always a major factor in their maturity and holding down a job only shows you can take orders, something expected from admins. Considering a super admin I knew on a now defunct community was thirteen when I joined and was by far the most productive admin I've ever known, your age is far less important in this than you might think. You fail to expand on how you can be mature aside from your respect for authority, and even then you saying you obey authority is a moot point considering you would need to cooperate with other members of staff for your own career to even work out. You also lack compassion for the playerbase as well as a clear lack of understanding on how human psychology works.

For instance, your topic attacking players that wanted to leave originally, as seen here, shows the mindset of a black and white thinker. You quite literally think that someone who is leaving is an opponent, regardless if they intend to harm the community or not. In fact, on that same thread you use 'you're either with us or against us' and I find it quite disheartening that someone that wants to be an operator has such a limited scope of the situation. You claimed that you avoid getting into disputes with other players, but recent events prove otherwise as you have an antagonistic personality and even try to justify your attacks, trying to write off your critics as people who are overstating your actions, as seen in this reply. You seem to think that being overly hostile will win people back in times of stress when, in many cases, this is actually the opposite. You can, and will, push players away if they leave for stress reasons and you labeling them as traitors only serves to bolster your own image as opposed to even making a reason to stay. An example of how to better your stance is to  do what Ferub did and talk about the good times and what could be. Ferub shares your ideal of staying, yet does not resort to name calling or even trying to terrorize players.

Oddly enough, you use a quote in your post relating to the American Revolution. A powerful quote, indeed, but one that blows the situation well out of proportion. This was a heavy blow, but Sheeplie has not been deterred once and has been working hard to bring the server back up. You associate a pivotal moment in America's history to a small speed bump in the history of a community on a game. You are trying to associate a war for independence to what is the equivalent of a sucker punch in an alley. It was unfair and it was painful, but it's certainly not impossible to stand back up.

You are also failing to live up to a statement made in this very application.

Spodermen wrote:
25. Do you get upset if you do not get your way?

Never. I always try to see things from the other point of view, and I understand that I'm not always right.

You have yet to ask why people originally wanted to leave the community. You are seeing the event and then the follow up decisions in a black and white world where you are just and those that wanted to leave are not. It is not fitting for an operator or administrator to have such a limited mindset as each player has their own individual reasoning. Many of the departure topics have been deleted, but one I would like to use as an example shows exactly what I'm talking about. klindahl14 voiced their reason, and it is a very valid reason. Some players can tire over repeated attacks and simply cannot handle the stress of the situation anymore. It wasn't even an overlong post with music attached to it, simply explaining they were done because they cannot take it anymore. It's a valid reason to want to leave and many of the goodbye posts included that very same reason. You have, as of yet, asked why someone would want to leave without starting it as an insult or ending it as an insult.

Your behavior I find incredibly unfitting for an operator position as you will represent the community, regardless of whether you want to or not. You seem to not mesh well with people of different ideologies and this can lead to serious future risks as staff come and go. You are fiercely loyal to Vortex, that much I can see, but you are aggressive to the point of coming off as hostile. New members should not feel threated by staff nor should they be afraid to approach you with questions, but regardless of your intentions that is what will happen.

I have not directly interacted with you on the server to my own knowledge, so I will leave no positive or negative support in this, but I will say you seriously need to work on your attitude and overall mentality of black and white logic. There are shades of gray for this that you are overlooking and that is a trait that would be remarkably detrimental to your time as an admin. Do not stop supporting Vortex, but start supporting the players as well instead of being hostile towards them.

I will answer any question you have for me and I certainly hope I can help your growth in this instance.

Nugget and Skull wrote:While I believe you think your heart is in the right place, I do not believe your experience or reactions are.

To begin with, you state that you are more mature than other players due to your age and that you've had real life jobs before. I find this as incredibly irrelevant as someone's age is not always a major factor in their maturity and holding down a job only shows you can take orders, something expected from admins. Considering a super admin I knew on a now defunct community was thirteen when I joined and was by far the most productive admin I've ever known, your age is far less important in this than you might think. You fail to expand on how you can be mature aside from your respect for authority, and even then you saying you obey authority is a moot point considering you would need to cooperate with other members of staff for your own career to even work out. You also lack compassion for the playerbase as well as a clear lack of understanding on how human psychology works.

For instance, your topic attacking players that wanted to leave originally, as seen here, shows the mindset of a black and white thinker. You quite literally think that someone who is leaving is an opponent, regardless if they intend to harm the community or not. In fact, on that same thread you use 'you're either with us or against us' and I find it quite disheartening that someone that wants to be an operator has such a limited scope of the situation. You claimed that you avoid getting into disputes with other players, but recent events prove otherwise as you have an antagonistic personality and even try to justify your attacks, trying to write off your critics as people who are overstating your actions, as seen in this reply. You seem to think that being overly hostile will win people back in times of stress when, in many cases, this is actually the opposite. You can, and will, push players away if they leave for stress reasons and you labeling them as traitors only serves to bolster your own image as opposed to even making a reason to stay. An example of how to better your stance is to  do what Ferub did and talk about the good times and what could be. Ferub shares your ideal of staying, yet does not resort to name calling or even trying to terrorize players.

Oddly enough, you use a quote in your post relating to the American Revolution. A powerful quote, indeed, but one that blows the situation well out of proportion. This was a heavy blow, but Sheeplie has not been deterred once and has been working hard to bring the server back up. You associate a pivotal moment in America's history to a small speed bump in the history of a community on a game. You are trying to associate a war for independence to what is the equivalent of a sucker punch in an alley. It was unfair and it was painful, but it's certainly not impossible to stand back up.

You are also failing to live up to a statement made in this very application.

Spodermen wrote:
25. Do you get upset if you do not get your way?

Never. I always try to see things from the other point of view, and I understand that I'm not always right.

You have yet to ask why people originally wanted to leave the community. You are seeing the event and then the follow up decisions in a black and white world where you are just and those that wanted to leave are not. It is not fitting for an operator or administrator to have such a limited mindset as each player has their own individual reasoning. Many of the departure topics have been deleted, but one I would like to use as an example shows exactly what I'm talking about. klindahl14 voiced their reason, and it is a very valid reason. Some players can tire over repeated attacks and simply cannot handle the stress of the situation anymore. It wasn't even an overlong post with music attached to it, simply explaining they were done because they cannot take it anymore. It's a valid reason to want to leave and many of the goodbye posts included that very same reason. You have, as of yet, asked why someone would want to leave without starting it as an insult or ending it as an insult.

Your behavior I find incredibly unfitting for an operator position as you will represent the community, regardless of whether you want to or not. You seem to not mesh well with people of different ideologies and this can lead to serious future risks as staff come and go. You are fiercely loyal to Vortex, that much I can see, but you are aggressive to the point of coming off as hostile. New members should not feel threated by staff nor should they be afraid to approach you with questions, but regardless of your intentions that is what will happen.

I have not directly interacted with you on the server to my own knowledge, so I will leave no positive or negative support in this, but I will say you seriously need to work on your attitude and overall mentality of black and white logic. There are shades of gray for this that you are overlooking and that is a trait that would be remarkably detrimental to your time as an admin. Do not stop supporting Vortex, but start supporting the players as well instead of being hostile towards them.

I will answer any question you have for me and I certainly hope I can help your growth in this instance.

Great point Nugget and Skull, as well as kindahl joined back but is now on vacation.

I feel the same way as Nugget and Skull. I did not state anything earlier specifically because I did not exactly know how to put it into words.

Nugget and Skull, first of all, I would like to thank you for your feedback. I enjoyed reading your opinion and will work to better myself from what you have said. Now I would also like to make a few points in my defense. I apologize, but I am pretty new to forums in general, so I do not know how to directly quote from your post. Quotes from you will be in red letters.

“To begin with, you state that you are more mature than other players due to your age and that you've had real life jobs before. I find this as incredibly irrelevant as someone's age is not always a major factor in their maturity and holding down a job only shows you can take orders, something expected from admins.”

I am forced to agree with some of your statement. Age does not always equal maturity. We have a few 18-19 year olds on the server who are pretty immature. On the other hand, I still believe that real-world jobs do somewhat show maturity and ability to be an Operator. A job is not simply “taking orders” as you have stated, but requires an ability to work with people. To hold a job you need to have the ability to solve problems you face on a day-to-day basis. You have to have people skills in order to ensure that the customer is happy. I believe that being an Operator is also a job. A very important one at that. These real life skills are certainly applied in the daily operation of the server. Denying that would be foolish.

“You fail to expand on how you can be mature aside from your respect for authority, and even then you saying you obey authority is a moot point considering you would need to cooperate with other members of staff for your own career to even work out.”

I mentioned respect for authority because I was attempting to show that I would not complain about different aspects of the server. I’ve seen admins constantly complain about server rules and such, and it is pretty useless. I realize that the server-owner has the final say, that is all. Secondly, I did expand on my maturity. I stated later on that I listen to every side of a dispute before making a final decision of where I stand. I respect new players, and I am constantly answering OOC questions that go ignored by others. I rarely call people “minges” and I always try to teach people how to play the game. I am a good listener and always take feedback politely, as long as it is directed at me politely.

“ You also lack compassion for the playerbase as well as a clear lack of understanding on how human psychology works.”

I honestly find this comment a little insulting. I have given this server so much of my time, being online almost every single day for the few months that I have been a member of this community. I fell in love with vortex because of its friendly and (for the most part) mature playerbase. I do care about the playerbase, and all I want to do is help this community grow and become a better place for the players. I have made Vortex part of my life, and it hurts me to see such a comment. Secondly, I admit that I do not have an “understanding on how human psycology works”. In my defense, I am applying for Operator, not Vortex Psychologist. My job is to help the players in any way I can, and make sure that the server rules are being enforced. I do that very well. I have the ability to listen to all sides and make an educated decision based on facts and evidence. If you believe that every Operator needs to be even remotely interested in human psychology then you are sadly mistaken. I have enough experience and people skills to understand what someone is thinking in a given situation.

“For instance, your topic attacking players that wanted to leave originally, as seen here, shows the mindset of a black and white thinker. You quite literally think that someone who is leaving is an opponent, regardless if they intend to harm the community or not. In fact, on that same thread you use 'you're either with us or against us' and I find it quite disheartening that someone that wants to be an operator has such a limited scope of the situation.”

I was not “attacking” the players that were leaving, I was giving them a reason to stay. As Ferub stated, those that leave are just poking holes in a sinking ship. They are unknowingly taking part in Vortex’s downfall. It was an emotional and heartfelt post that was supposed to show that Vortex was still fighting, and that we need everybody to get through this situation. I don’t expect people to sit on the forums all day waiting, but at least come back when the server is back up. Don’t “leave” the community because the server is down for a little while. Secondly, you took the “you’re either with us or you’re against us” comment completely out of context. I was stating that to Brown Kookie, who is friends with Kemerd. I was telling him that he needs to choose between Vortex and Kemerd. I was not referring to the community as a whole. I do not have a “black and white” view of the situation, I simply feel that the Vortex community needs to come together to solve this problem, not leave. Sheep obviously liked my post and the message it sent, or else he wouldn’t have stickied the post.

“Oddly enough, you use a quote in your post relating to the American Revolution. A powerful quote, indeed, but one that blows the situation well out of proportion. This was a heavy blow, but Sheeplie has not been deterred once and has been working hard to bring the server back up. You associate a pivotal moment in America's history to a small speed bump in the history of a community on a game. You are trying to associate a war for independence to what is the equivalent of a sucker punch in an alley. It was unfair and it was painful, but it's certainly not impossible to stand back up."

I was not trying to equivocate anything to anything. The quote was simply to demonstrate a community coming together in a time of struggle. Yes, this may not be a war for independence, but the message is still the same. If you love your community, don’t abandon it when the times get tough. Persevere, and make the community even better than it was before. I don't see why that is so hard to understand. People need to look past the context of the quote, and look at the larger meaning. This is the second time I have been told something like “this is a game, not a revolutionary war”. To me this server is important, and deserves the same respect as an actual community in a time of need. Again, Sheep obviously felt that the post would be helpful to him and the community, so he stickied the post.

“You have yet to ask why people originally wanted to leave the community. You are seeing the event and then the follow up decisions in a black and white world where you are just and those that wanted to leave are not. It is not fitting for an operator or administrator to have such a limited mindset as each player has their own individual reasoning. Many of the departure topics have been deleted, but one I would like to use as an example shows exactly what I'm talking about. klindahl14 voiced their reason, and it is a very valid reason. Some players can tire over repeated attacks and simply cannot handle the stress of the situation anymore.”

Klindahl14 stated that he left after reading Duspende’s goodbye post. This makes his reasoning invalid because Duspende left because of staff related reasons. Duspende himself stated that people who left because of him were leaving for the wrong reasons. Klindahl14 also realized this faulty reasoning, and decided to stay. This situation is not that stressful that you have to simply abandon the community. The only one who should be complaining about stress is Sheep.

“Your behavior I find incredibly unfitting for an operator position as you will represent the community, regardless of whether you want to or not. You seem to not mesh well with people of different ideologies and this can lead to serious future risks as staff come and go. You are fiercely loyal to Vortex, that much I can see, but you are aggressive to the point of coming off as hostile. New members should not feel threatened by staff nor should they be afraid to approach you with questions, but regardless of your intentions that is what will happen.”

Like I said before, please do not judge me solely based on my forum posts regarding the Kemerd situation. I love Vortex and hate to see everyone’s hard work destroyed. I am not normally like this, as many people who have encountered me on the server can tell you. Kookie will state otherwise because I called him out on past immaturity. For some reason he is holding a grudge. I am usually a very lighthearted and friendly person, as many players can tell you. Bomber152, Miraak, and Jedinator are a few examples of people who actually know my personality. You may speak with them if you wish. I have experience as an admin on DarkRP servers, and I know how to deal with players and disputes. Again, please do not judge me on my attempts to keep people loyal to the community I love.

I do not have any questions for you, I simply ask that you get to know me as a person, and understand that I have a strong devotion to Sheep and this community. I will stick with it to the end and I hate to see it being taken down. I care very much for the community and its players. I am concerned about their happiness, but more recently I have been more concerned with the very existence of our community. This problem will be fixed by strength and perseverance, not hugs and kisses. Again I would like to thank you for your input, and would welcome any questions or comments you have about this post.

I can tell anyone who is reading this post that what Spodermen has said, is 100% true. He knows his stuff and is a great candidate for an Operator position.

I have also noticed some kind of conflict between the major MPF characters and the more rebellious or citizen characters on the forums. This may be simply because we have not gotten to know each other as much since we are, in a way, on different sides of RP. Just my observation.

+SUPPORT

Honestly, He is a pretty good Roleplayer and I think he knows What and When to do something when something is up. As well as a pretty good application.

There is a spiral of Op apps lately, I think I am going to apply when the server is back into it's "Golden age" and such, I would also need more people to know me and such. I think atleast a fair number of people know me and I haven't made an "enemy" of sorts, or atleast not intentionally.