Staff Employment: June 2015

[The REAL Joey]

We are opening up a staff recruitment drive for the next few weeks given we are on the look out for more help in running the forum. As usual, you must have been a member of this site for at least 3 weeks in order to be considered. Please note, if you have been a Moderator in the past, please specify in the application and you may get re-instated without the need of undergoing the test. However, this is subject to how long ago it was and how long you were active as a Moderator.

At times, moderating can be quite tedious so your commitment will be vital. If you really want to become a staff member, we would really like to stress activity. If you know you can't make at least one post a day or come on daily, make sure you double-check your priorities before applying, since we need active mods to help with the workload. Of course, this does sound like a commitment but there are suitable rewards for investing time in the forum.

The recruitment process occurs in three phases.

Phase 1
A simple application which does not have to be long or fancy. Simply post beneath and address each of the bullet points. Please do more than a few scant sentences though.

• Why do you want to be a Moderator at ZapdosZulu?
  
  
• Are you an active member of this site and do you have some understanding of the rules and procedures of the site to be able to moderate threads?
  
  
• Have you had any past experience as a staff member on another roleplaying site or have you taken up a role of responsibility in the past?
  
  
• Do you have any additional skills that could be useful in developing the site?
  
  

[ul][li][b]Why do you want to be a Moderator at ZapdosZulu?[/b]

[/li][li][b]Are you an active member of this site and do you have some understanding of the rules and procedures of the site to be able to moderate threads?[/b]

[/li][li][b]Have you had any past experience as a staff member on another roleplaying site or have you taken up a role of responsibility in the past?[/b]

[/li][li][b]Do you have any additional skills that could be useful in developing the site?[/b]

[/li][/ul]

Phase 2
Involves a simple training/probation period to make sure you are familiar with all the roleplaying rules and most importantly understand how our Battle System works. A staff member will arrange a Test if they accept your application. This test will be a learning phase, so don't worry if you make a mistake. You will be guided through the entire process so just do your best. There may even be a general pop quiz at the end.

Phase 3
Finally, once you have completed your test, there will be a short probation period where you will be given the title of Trainee Moderator and a coloured name. You will be allowed to moderate real threads and will be watched closely by our staff team. If you meet the activity requirements and make a good impression, you will then receive your full Moderator status.

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Although this is a vigorous recruitment process to ensure that in the future our Moderators are active and possess the vital skills, this should not discourage you in any way from applying. There will be some great opportunities to design some elements of the site and be rewarded for contributions to the site.

[Sacred Fire]

• Why do you want to be a Moderator at ZapdosZulu? I love the atmosphere here on ZapdosZulu where it is very friendly atmosphere. I woud like to help lend a hand in my own experiences ad also help those who are asking for it. I’ve been on ZapdosZulu for some time now and have been always interested in being a moderator. I know I’ve been a moderator in the past but I feel like I didn’t do enough as one in the past. But maybe this time around and not having to worry about school, I’d have a better understanding of things without much needed stress in life. I want to help out others, get to know them more, and mod threads for people to help them on their journey. If there is something that I don’t know yet it’s always exciting to learn new things and I feel like a mod position can help me further that goal of learning things and becoming a better person. I would say that being a mod is fun but there is a work side to it that I am aware of, there is always that part of being a staff member but it’ll be another great experience that I’ll have and I’ll be very proud to say that I’m a ZapdosZulu mod.
  
  
• Are you an active member of this site and do you have some understanding of the rules and procedures of the site to be able to moderate threads?Yes I do understand the rules. I’ve been here on and off for the most part where I had to take a leave. But with school ending within a week I will be able to check this place more and more, sometimes I even look at this place while I’m on my tablet and don’t have my laptop with me all the time. Starting next Saturday I’ll be able to be on this place a lot and frequently checking to see how this place is going. I will be able to moderate threads, if I have any questions I will not be afraid to ask any of the staff since I know there will likely be questions that arise if I get confused on something. I am also familiar with the rules of battling since I’ve been playing pokemon for several years now, and have managed to beat some easily by knowing the type match ups. And the other important rules, such as paralyzing, poisoning, and freezing pokemon.
  
  
• Have you had any past experience as a staff member on another roleplaying site or have you taken up a role of responsibility in the past? I have had several staff experiences in the past, I tried running a Harry Potter Roleplay site and as well as a Marvel Comics that is still in operation where I’m one of the head staff. Unfortunately the Harry Potter site went defunct but the Marvel Comics is still around and I’ve been planning to get more active there once I get out of school again since I know it’s a heavy responsibility. Since I’ve been running the Marvel site, I’ve started this but I’ve had some in the past that might be able to help me out on past experiences that I’ve had with the forums. We almost had someone ruin a form once and the three staff members, including myself managed to stop the person before it got worse. There have been very minor problems with me running into a site.
  
  
• Do you have any additional skills that could be useful in developing the site? I understand coding to a decent level but complicated things might take me a bit to understand. I will however do the best I can and try to find information on coding if my needs aren’t there right away. Sometimes patience is just needed for it. I’m also an artist where I draw on a laptop only using a program called Paint Tool Sai, and with a single track pad that I’ve had practice with for several years now. I have been drawing for about 6 years almost I haven’t really been keeping count of it, but it is something I really do enjoy in my spare time. I try to draw every day in order to make sure that skill is still there. On one other note, I do have a little bit of experience with pokemon spriting but I think I need to catch up on that from long ago.
  
  

[The REAL Joey]

In all honesty, i'm pretty sure I speak on behalf of a number of other staff on this one but i'd be more than happy to promote you back up to mod. I was fond of the posts you did when you were staffing so it'd be nice to have you back. Now the next part is up to you. I'm content to put you back up to mod and skip the probation period as a trainee as I feel you know enough but if you feel like you want a fresher course, you're welcome to the test topic. It's entirely up to you. Let me know and i'll get you reinstated back up.

[Sacred Fire]

What? This was a total surprise when I got the news about this but I am ever so appreciated about it. I wasn't thinking I'd be a mod again today or even tomorrow for that part but thank you so much for doing it. Anyways it will likely take me a couple of days to get back on the track of things (And finals start Tuesday) xnx so please forgive me for the stresses that are brought about things. I don't think I need a moding retest. But in all honesty, thank you for bringing me back to the group. I haven't stopped loving pokemon, and as well as have been keeping up with roleplaying so maybe you've noticed some changes/improvements?

[latani]

• Why do you want to be a Moderator at ZapdosZulu?
  As a former mod, and someone often with idle time in late evening hours, I think I can help ease the workload off of the other mods. Even if I just reply to posts and check out incoming characters, I'd be glad to be of any kind of assistance here. It would be great to help along the members too, and make their time here fun with all kinds of fun scenarios. It would also give me a chance to write more, despite the fact I do love both my characters. Funneling my writing muse into modding would be something I'd gladly welcome back.
  
  
• Are you an active member of this site and do you have some understanding of the rules and procedures of the site to be able to moderate threads?
  I am fairly active (albeit in the evenings due to circumstances beyond my control). But I do make a habit of logging on consistently, unless I have things arranged prior to coming online. I do understand the rules here, and despite having prior experience, I will ask the other staff if I am uncertain about anything. Whilst I haven't modded in a good while, I do remember the basics and don't believe I'll need to relearn anything. I've spent a fair bit of time with the games, so the basic knowledge is still there as well.
  
  
• Have you had any past experience as a staff member on another roleplaying site or have you taken up a role of responsibility in the past?
  I don't think you need me to say TOO much here, given my past. ZZ is one of the few sites I've truly felt comfortable taking up a staff position, and I am extremely familiar with how the modding is done here. Like I said before, I've retained the basics and shouldn't need much, if any, instruction on getting back to work. Hopefully my past work as a mod, not just as an admin, reflects well here. Some of the coding changes with the new Proboards may take some getting used to, though I think I've gotten the hang of it at this point. ZZ is a site I really care for, and I would be extremely happy to contribute more to it and help it grow.
  
  
• Do you have any additional skills that could be useful in developing the site?
  You're all likely acquainted with my graphics, whether or not it is sprite related or otherwise. While drawing is not my forte, I think my digital pieces (signatures, banners etc) are decent enough. My spriting is very, very rusty, but I can gladly attempt working on it if such things are required. Again, I am still adapting to the new coding with the change to Proboards, but I can ask the other staff if I am having problems with certain parts. Not that there's any issue with the basic posting template I used for modding in the past, of course ~
  

[Professor Oak]

I think it goes without saying that you are more than welcome back as staff latani! Looking forward to working with you again!

[Billy Mays]

• Why do you want to be a Moderator at ZapdosZulu?
  Because I like this site and I want to help it out. I know a lot of the staff are busy doing behind the scenes work so they don't have as much time to mod member threads (and of course some are simply busy with life), so I want to do my own part modding. I have a lot of free time and creativity that I think could be put to good use modding. ...And of course getting rewards for modding is always nice.
  
  
• Are you an active member of this site and do you have some understanding of the rules and procedures of the site to be able to moderate threads?
  Well I haven't been here for very long but I've basically been here every day for the three weeks I have been here so I'd say I'm active. I've been watching a lot of modding going on and the staff talking about it and I'm fairly confident that at this point I got the concepts down.
  
  
• Have you had any past experience as a staff member on another roleplaying site or have you taken up a role of responsibility in the past?
  I don't have too much experience with being a mod, to be honest ._. There was one time where I was a staff member on a site for a short period of time because the site was understaffed, but it went offline less than a month after...other than that, I haven't really done this before.
  
  
• Do you have any additional skills that could be useful in developing the site?
  Uh...I know a ridiculous amount of stuff about Pokemon? If you need trivia about Pokemon in varying degrees of usefulness, I'm your man. I can also write...I know that's not the most unique of skills on a roleplaying site, but I can write longer, more detailed things when I put my mind to it. Oh, and I'm good with ideas, if my site suggestions didn't make that obvious. Hopefully some of my ideas could actually be put to good use, haha.
  
  

[Silverfire]

• Why do you want to be a Moderator at ZapdosZulu?
  The short reason?: I adore this site.
  
  The long. Erosion is that I have never found a site with such friendly staff who ,despite being understaffed, are very quick and detailed in their responses. I would adore to become a part of that. Another reason is that I am going to start my own role playing site sometime soon, and I would like to know the in and outs of modding. The main reason however, is that this site is amazing, and I want to give back so much.
  
  
• Are you an active member of this site and do you have some understanding of the rules and procedures of the site to be able to moderate threads?
  Yes. While the lst two weeks I was offline due to finals, I have a great understanding of what the rules are. I have a good understanding on hoe to calculate damage, so there is that. I also plan to be much more active due to summer break, but there will be a week at the beginning of August that I'll be without Internet. I also tend to be up at the odd hours of night, so there's that. I also know exactly how the casino fountain works, as Joey explained it to me.
  
  
• Have you had any past experience as a staff member on another roleplaying site or have you taken up a role of responsibility in the past?
  Staff member? No. But I sure as heck have played responsible rolls. I have started quite a few of my own rps, and manage them quite well. A lot of my friends talk to me when they are having trouble with their rps. I also have done my own pokemon rp, but I used a system completely different than this one. The site I did these things in has gone offline, unfortunately. I have been appointed a mod, but that lasted a day before the site went offline. I am a great learner however, so there's that.
  
  
• Do you have any additional skills that could be useful in developing the site?
  
  I can spout ideas like its no tomorrow. While I may not be the best artist around, I have so many ideas for competitions and events! For example, I've been toying around with a creepypasta pokemon event for October. There would be maybe four different creepypasta/horror game based pokemon. I've been liking the idea of a Foxy the pirate Fennekin, Chica Combusken, Bonnie Bunnlenby, and Freddy the Teddiursa. The event would go like this: there will be an abandoned pizzeria that everyone can enter. The first week has only Bonnie, the second week Chica, third week Foxy, and fourth week Freddy. On Halloween you can find all of them, and possibly Golden Freddy as well. The event would be different, as in there are no heals between battles in the game. If you white out, you'd faint and wake up outside of the pizzeria and can't enter for the rest of the week. You can leave any Tim you want, but there is a 24 hour cool down.
  
  That's only one aspect I believe I can bring. I have an extensive knowledge of the games, and anime. I tend to be incredibly loyal to sites like this, and love making characters, so I believe I could help people with their characters.
  

You do not have to pick me, but I truly hope you give me some consideration!

[Tiki]

Billy Mays:

After reviewing your application, you may now proceed to Phase Two of our Staff Recruitment. Please proceed here for your test. Feel free to leave in OOC notes any questions you may have.

Silverfire:

After reviewing your application, you may now proceed to Phase Two of our Staff Recruitment. Please proceed here for your test. Feel free to leave in OOC notes any questions you may have.

Thanks!
ZZ Staff.


Edit by Joey: Apologies for confusion there. We were discussing in staff board about optimal amount of staff but it's agreed to give everyone a shot.

[ShotoNemar]

• Why do you want to be a Moderator at ZapdosZulu?
  Even though I haven't been a member for very long. I love the ideas that this site has had to offer. It's extremely fun, and I haven't experienced a pokemon rp quite like this. I admire everyone who works on this site, and want to be apart of the community in a deeper way then just a member.
  
  I have no way in reality to get a job due to my families lifestyle, and am not allowed to earn any real money in or outside of the internet, so I spend a lot of my time writing and drawing fanworks. This in turn makes others happy as well as keeps me busy. Roleplaying is one of those activities. I want to make people have a good time on this site, and keep them invested so the site can live a long time. As the moderators have already done for me.
  
  I've been to a lot of forums, rp websites, and other places that involve pokemon. and this is the second out hundreds I've been invested in. The first I want to be a major role in.
  

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• Are you an active member of this site and do you have some understanding of the rules and procedures of the site to be able to moderate threads?
  I'm practically on everyday. I come on in the mornings a little after I have breakfast and start my day, and check out my Participated, and bookmarked posts on the Proboards dashboard page. If there is something there for me to catch up on, I will work on it. I spend about 2 hours on each of my rp posts, more if I'm doing something else at the same time. I also will often, afterwards, skim around the site and familiarize myself with the way the game is played and how the mods work. Reading profiles and checking out the Pokemon Center or event information. I will do this before my bookmarks if nothing is going on.
  
  Thus I get to my point on how much I'm familiar with the site rules, procedures and how the game works, If I find a hole or something I ask a question to make sure It is all covered. I've even played with some of the online programs the moderators use to predict my outcome in a battle or two. I know how it works.
  
  I tend to Use Bulbapedia as my source for stats and pokemon moves etc if I don't know or I'm used to a different generation, but for sprites I use Pokestadium. Although I'm starting to think I need a better sprite source. the old way it was set up was easier to use.
  
  I will probably spend a lot of time on this site as it quite intrigues me so. The way everything works is just so well done. Unless I get sick and end up in the hospital, have important appointments, or other important events then I'll probably be online.
  

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• Have you had any past experience as a staff member on another roleplaying site or have you taken up a role of responsibility in the past?
  Yes. Not as much on forums however. I've been a moderator/admin of many roleplaying sites, although a lot of them the moderation status was self given or freely given out if you made the thread/room/rp group. None the less I was always respected for my skill and my ability to handle most situations. I'm not very good with people in reality, but I have a knack of working anything out online. Most of the rp's I start end up stopping not because of my moderation skill, but a single Troll who has a higher status then me so I can't do much about the situation.
  
  Some of the sites that I've worked on would be Nexxushost, Deviantart, Chatango, and some obscure sites that I'm no longer apart of. I've even moderated non roleplaying places, and done some mod work on places LIKE Fanfiction. (of coarse FF doesn't have a mod system in place, so I often help people there to keep things straight and organized if they allow me to.
  
  A warning though, I'm not a permanent Moderator as I will eventually find some place else that I'll want to help moderate and I can only moderate so many sites at a time, even if it's a minor moderation position, but I do promise to be around for a while and I will warn if I decide or have to leave.
  

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• Do you have any additional skills that could be useful in developing the site?
  I do have Minor CSS/HTML skills that I'm working on getting better at using. It all started with Pokefarms BBCode and evolved into wanted to do my own site coding. I'm still not the best at it, but I can do templates, and such. Although I'm sure you already have somebody who can CSS/HTML code like a boss.
  
  I'm an amazing artist in both Digital and Traditional Values, I can draw a lot of different things. Mostly animals, anime, and fantasy. I might not be the best artist out there, but I'm always working to improve more, and I'd be more then willing to lend a hand to the site. I'd enjoy working on animations, and other artwork that would be unique to the place if you would like me to.
  
  I can sprite quite well, and a lot of people have enjoyed my spriting in the past. I can make 100% custom sprites for the site when needed or wanted. I'm even working on spriting and artwork for my own character Yuki.
  
  I'm great at math. I know that the mods need some sort of ability in math, and that's one of the things that draws me to this place. I love doing math, calculations, planning ahead. Even though my school is bad, I've been able to rise above that for my love of knowledge.
  
  The one last thing that I would like to point out is that I've had plenty of years in roleplaying experience, and know a way to hit out a story very well. Most people underestimate my ability and treat me as such, but then we've been roleplaying for hours and they mention that they lost track of time. I was taught on the toughest roleplaying site. At least if your a newbie there you are in a world of hard learning.

[The REAL Joey]

Sorry about the delay in getting back to you with your application Shoto. We're pleased to offer you a test topic in order for us to gauge your ability as a potential staff member and we thank you for being up front about the commitment level there. A lot of time people tend to gloss over they'll be there forever so we appreciate the honesty.

Please make your way over here to begin the test.

This also concludes are recruitment drive for the time being. If you were on the fence about joining to be a mod, keep your eyes peeled as you never know when we'll reopen our applications.