Reset:
You know right away I have to say Skyblock. There aren’t too many particular reasons, but like many other people have said, like a few gamemodes, it’s due a reset. Skyblock, with how it is setup and how the community and economy has grown and transformed over the last few seasons, it has changed how seasons last and how they work out. Players are more competitive now, and in a competitive environment like this, people strive to be the best and control the economy. It only takes a small group to change virtually everything.
In short, with all these transformations, the gamemode is created to withstand 5-6 months of full activity. After that, people start to lose interest. In fact, people start losing interest before that. With how it currently is, 3-4 months in, the top places are set and rarely will change around, unless they lose interest and give up, but usually that doesn’t change too much.
From hearing many many times from players for the last 3-4 months, it’s become boring and tedious. Some players in between then have quit, some have switched from Aztec to Oasis or vise-versa to try to start over or compete in other areas to re-ignite the spark of playing again. From personal experience I can speak that I did exactly that.
Being a Good Staff Member:
Like Kayla said, I’m going to say it in a general sense due to their being many roles in the staff team rather than just mods. Also, I speak from personal experience in both sectors, being a player and being a staff. Not just on ManaCube but throughout the years I’ve had experiences owning servers, being in management, being staff, and just playing to have fun with friends or compete to be the best. In all, I’ve seen a lot of things which could have been done better or experienced things I could have done better, learning from those experiences and turning them into a good guide to follow. So without writing this any further, what makes a good staff member?
I believe there are many skills that can be used to a staffs advantage, but also some basics which are very important and stand out quite well in doing them. Dedication/activity, patience, honestly & transparency (where applicable, not everything can be shared of course), experiences, open-mindedness, know how to act appropriately, be a friendly face and be caring, and many more.
Being dedicated and being active are two very important things when doing anything truly. You need to be dedicated but you also need to show it by being active. A staff member needs to believe in the server, the team, and the players. Going above and beyond what is required just to show how much they care and actually meaning it in the process, doing it the right way as well, not taking shortcuts trying to get to the top.
Having patience while talking with players, dealing with reports or helpops, or dealing with tickets. Sometimes whether in-game, on discord, or on forums, as a staff member you will have to have patience and wait, not everybody responds at a fast pace, and some people may be new to how the systems work, they may not understand how certain things work so they could be confused how to respond or how to do certain things. In any event, a staff member needs to be able to take the time required to finish helping the player, while caring. Taking the extra step to connect with them afterwards is appreciated by players as well, comforting them in a sort so they know you actually care.
Being honest and transparent with the community. Though, yes, as we all know not everything is open to everybody. But, it is important to be open where we can be. An example of this is the bans page, all players can go and view punishments of players whether they are bans, mute, or kicks. You’ll notice warns and other information isn’t publicly displayed there, but there are reasons for that. Honesty is key, lying to players doesn’t solve anything and in fact, it can make things a lot worse for both the player and the staff member.
Experience. This is touch and go, we all learn from our mistakes so truly we are experiencing change in everything we do. Whether we have past experience, in-game or real-life, or it is our first time, we are taking the steps to use the knowledge we learn and apply it where we can correctly. Knowing when you’ve made a mistake and owning up to it, sincerely apologizing and correcting it is also very important.
Being open minded about others opinions, suggestions, ideas, etc. is also important. As staff, you likely will encounter this daily, as you will most of these, but being able to read, understand, and accept others opinions is needed to grow. Being able to listen through criticism, taking suggestions, and become better from it. When somebody suggests something, go beyond and talk about it with them and others, build that idea up and make it into a solid plausible idea.
Knowing how to act appropriately. This can be in a general sense of how you speak or talk to people but also how you approach a situation, how you deal with things, and how you treat others. Acting appropriately and professionally is an important factor, being friendly is good but not losing site of what your job is. Knowing how to properly approach a situation and not being offensive while doing it, being appropriate and respectful while trying to help others. Doing your best to respond as quick as possible when you are able to.
You can’t expect others to listen to you if you don’t act reasonable and responsible, you can’t get mad if you do something and then somebody else does it and punish them for it. You need to be able to be that good example. Adding on to that all, you also need to treat everybody fairly. Just because you are friends with the player or you are close, doesn’t mean the rules are bent in their favor. I’ve had experiences with this, and though sometimes it can be hard and at times, ruin friendships, the rules are meant to be followed. As a staff you can’t expect everybody to follow the rules if you are letting your friends slide by.
In some places, if you ask somebody what staff do or what they think they should do, they’ll say that they are the people who come on, take care of the problem, and then leave. Being staff is much more than that and some people just refuse to believe it. As a staff, you engage with the players and get to know them. You create a strong connection with them which can help you as a staff member and the server, bringing new people and more suggestions in. The place as a staff is, yes, to protect the server but it’s also about having fun while doing it.
Important to note this isn’t everything, there is a lot more that can be added about being a good staff member, these are the main few I’ve had experiences with. Being a staff member more than just being somebody that players rely on to punish cheaters and “watch over the server”, it’s about being involved with the community.
