What date did you register as a CS member?:
October 7th 2009
Actually I didn't become truly active until mid 2010, but thats not really important
How many posts have you made in the forum (at the time of applying):
As of this moment; 10378 posts
How many days a week do you usually visit CS, and how many hours do you usually spend per day?
I get on CS 7 days a week unless I am unable to access the internet, and I typically spend about 4-8 hours roaming CS on weekdays depending how tired I am after work, and on weekends I spend up to 12 hours or more. Not all of that is spent only on CS due to my lack of chatting, but I always have CS up on a tab monitoring it and can easily spend more time on CS and less on other sites or drawing.
Have you moderated on any other forums before? If so, please link to them
The only forums I have done 'real' moderating on are the Chibifurs forums. [My profile on the Chibifurs forums] I'm only an artist on the site, but I have moderator capabilities and do moderating of the forums like deleting spam, banning spam bots, answering questions, welcoming new members, and referring members to the real mods if they break the rules.
Have you participated in many roleplays outside of CS before?
Yes, I've been roleplaying since 2008 and have loved every minute of it. I usually only do literate or semi-literate roleplays. I also mostly do one on one RPS right now, but I've done plently of group RPs as well. I've roleplayed on Wajas, Felisifre, and Magistream to name a few. Here are some links to a few roleplays I have participated in. [Wajas #1] [Wajas #2] [Felisfire] [Magistream] There are plenty more but I don't keep links.
Have you participated in many roleplays on CS before?
Unfortunately, no. I found CS to have so many one-liner roleplays that all of the literate and semi-literate ones got buried. I don't enjoy one-liner RPs as much so rather than struggling to find a good lit/semi-lit RP to join or trying to get enough people to join my own, I simply went to other sites to RP. Just because I haven't roleplayed here doesn't mean I'm less knowledgeable that someone who RPs all the time here. My literate RPs get to be a good 4-5 big paragraphs long each post. I understand basic RP rules, and can easily learn the specific RP rules to CS. I'm quick to learn because I'm so OCD about making mistakes, and I'm always sure to follow them exactly, as well as to use common sense.
Why do you want to be a roleplay moderator for CS?
Ah, the big question. Well, to be completely honest, because I want to help make CS better. Early last year I finished getting all of my dream pets, which wasn't much really, the dragon PPS was the highest on the list. And after finishing I kept trading up rares list pets without really having anything in mind I wanted to do with them, just trading because I like trading. But after a while I took a good look at what I had, a couple advents and a not-too-popular mid September list pet. Not much at all, but I felt I needed to set some sort of goal for myself, so I could keep trading them up and have a reason to trade them up, something to remind myself to keep going. So I thought up the most outlandish thing I could think of. Trade up to a Sunjewel, then give it away. Crazy right? I thought so. I didn't once believe I could really do it. It was just something to keep me trading, but low and behold, thanks to some extremely generous users, my own determination, and my own want to help recognize those users who are really amazing, when August rolled around I had a Sunjewel sitting in my groups. And two of those months I wasn't even able to get onto the computer(one-time thing, no way I'm going through that again) It was by far the most amazing experience I've had on CS, I traded it for 77 rares list pets and gifted them all away to users who are really amazing. I wanted to show people that even though getting a Sunjewel sounds ridiculous and out of reach, its possible. A lot of users have told me they have been inspired by what I did. And its not the fact that I inspired them that I'm proud of, its the fact that I have contributed in helping make CS a better place, however little I have contributed, I have given people a new hope to get their dreamies, and I've shown people that gifting away a Sunjewels worth of rares list is just as rewarding as being gifted those pets. And I want to do more. I want to help make CS better, to help teach people who want to learn, I want to help guide people in the right direction. Thats why I created Adopt A Newbie, because I want to help make CS better and I want to help people.
At times I can be soft, I'm a forgiving person. I don't anger easily, and while yes I am sometimes blunt with people, or every once in a blue moon I do rush in with eyes flaming about ready to pound someone out of frustration, I go back and I look at that, and I learn from my mistakes, and I don't repeat them. I know I'm not perfect. Far from it. But every time I read something or write, I think about the person on the other side of the screen. We are all people, from a lot of different places, and we all come here, and we all choose to do something with this mask we put on every time we log on. Some people choose to troll around and stomp on people and do whatever the heck they want just because they can. And for those people I have no sympathy. Because they don't think twice about what the other person they just trolled on feels, and I don't like that. I hate it. I would like to become a roleplay moderator so I can stop that, so I can help the people who need it, and so I can make CS better, one censored word at a time.
I also know how frustrating it can be to see people breaking the rules, doing something wrong, then trying to help fix it, and you just get a slap in your face for your troubles. I want to help makes the roleplay forums a better and more welcoming place to be. I want kids to be able to go and read and enjoy and participate in roleplays without fear of one day reading of some horrific scene, some kids don't scare easily and it might not bother them, and others could have nightmares for months. I want to help make the roleplay forums a safe place for kids, and help moderate those forums so they are a more friendly place for everyone.
Can you think of any particular skills you can bring to the position?:
Actually I can say I've had experience with peer mediation. I have run the Lights On Lights Off Halloween-themed gifting game for two years. [link] I can't link to the first board as it was deleted when it got too old. The game runs only for the month of October and is based off Lights On Lights Off that is played on Wajas, Felisfire, and a few other sites. It had to be changed quite a bit for CS because of the heavy reliance on forums here and the massive amounts of players who joined. I nearly ended up re-writing the game to make it work smoothly on CS. The first year almost 1000 people joined, and last year we got 1300 playing by the time it ended. Both years I was the creator of the thread and ran most of it myself. The second year we had a xat that I had to moderate that got quite a few nasty fights on. I did have thread-mods helping me both years, but almost all complaints, questions, and comments were directed or forwarded to me. I was put into situations where I had to sort out arguments, enforce rules that were being broken by 80% of the players, and crack down on users for trolling around. Granted it was only a month, but I've learned a great deal from those experiences, and I've been able to calm down fights, be unbiased in arguments, and enforce rules no matter the excuse. Yes I am a nice and forgiving person, but I'm also quite strict when it comes to rules.
Also, as mentioned before, I run Adopt a Newbie, and have been running it for almost a year now. I have spent a good amount of time making sure it runs smoothly and newbies are given adopter who can help them the most. I've dealt with all kinds of questions there as well as arguments and complaints. I have been told that I'm very patient, and I'd like to believe that is true. It is always good to be patient, even with people who are being rude to you. Being rude back will only make the situation worse. I always look for ways to calm the situation or end it without making a giant fuss.
I will pull out my last card now. I've only told this to a few people because I do not feel it is something that should be flaunted or cast about carelessly, and whatever we may want to think, I know it does change people's opinions of me, whether for better or for worse. I only mention this because I have been taught and learned several skills which have been very helpful to me with Adopt A Newbie and Light On Lights Off because of this so I feel it does contribute skills that would make me a better roleplay moderator. In mid 2011 I signed up for my first job. I was always too busy in school to get a job and taking care of my three little sisters to get a summer job, and I was never truly sure what I wanted to do in my life, but I decided to do something worthwhile. I joined the US Coast Guard. I'm often asked, I'm not sure why, maybe some question your supposed to ask everyone new you meet, 'Why did you join the Coast Guard?' My answer? Although I don't think it does the true answer justice, I can find no better way to word it, I want to help people. I think people must look at me funny when I say that, perhaps they thought I did it because someone in my family did, or because it provides good education, or maybe for the money, or maybe for a more regimented lifestyle, or maybe for a thousand other reasons. I can't say I passed boot camp with flying colors, but when I was there, and my instructors asked me that question and I gave them my answer, they looked at me, and although they would never say it out loud, I think they could see I was telling them the truth, and that was part of the reason they let me through boot camp. Of all the US military branches I'm told the Coast Guard has the most selective boot camp. There is never a time when the entire company makes it through boot camp, a lot of people get sent home, and you can't be dumb and get in. I can't say I'd want to do boot camp again, but it was a very rewarding experience, and I'll never regret joining. Sometimes I can be frustrating to people at work, but I've been told several time now that they were glad I joined, that although I'm not doing everything perfect, in fact maybe less perfect than I should, they don't want me to leave.
I will say this though, because I am in the USCG, and because I am stationed on a cutter(boat/ship/whatever you want to call it), we sometimes go out into the middle of the ocean and I can't get onto the computer for a couple days. Since its a small cutter we don't go out for too long, but they are usually overnight trips where there is no internet signal. I can sometimes get on mid-trip if we are close enough to land, but then only on my phone. I can and will give notice when I am on my trips, but I'm not allowed to disclose when they will happen, how long they will be, or how far out we are going. Secret military stuff, you know? I understand if I cannot be considered because of this. But if you need a bit more exact information on it I will be happy to comply as long as it doesn't interfere with what I'm not allowed to say.
-end excessively long form-
Thank you for considering me, and I hope you pick the best people to become roleplay moderators, no I don't hope you will, I know you will. This is a great honor and quite an exciting experience for me as this is the first time I've tried out. I managed to miss all of the others.
Edit: Went back and fixed some grammar mistakes and elaborated on a couple points a bit.