=PR/Q&A Thread 1: (Applications)=
Hello, community members of PMU!
So, the staff team has decided it’s the best direction to keep PR strolling nicely, since we understand for the past years it hasn’t really been the most apparent thing. Starting now and hopefully continuing into the future, we’ll attempt to have public threads like this one to answer some general questions that we feel should be addressed, as well as providing a more down-to-earth outlook of what’s going on. As applications have recently opened, we’ll focus on that. This topic is open, so you’re free to submit any questions you have(relevant to applications.)
We hope this thread answers some concerns players have, and if you guys think it’s a good idea, we’d love to do stuff like this for other topics such as content, moderation, and etc!
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1. Why were applications closed in the first place?
A: When the staff team started to deteriorate in January 2017, it was almost unanimously suggested to do so until the staff team could be structured again. This didn’t happen until early March, where the new admins were in place, and control was successfully transferred. With the new administration, a push for an application revamp was done by a multitude of staff members to make sure that we could get a new application system out of the way. This delayed the process more than it should have, but we’re ecstatic to finally reopen apps and see how the process goes!
2. Why did applications take so long to reopen?
A: As mentioned, the applications were closed beginning in January 2017. It would be ideal for the staff team to first get a grip on itself(which continues to be steadily progressing along) than to open up new apps and risk new staff in a time period that wouldn’t have been suitable for both the staff team and the newly-promoted staff member. The application system arguably could’ve been opened as early as when the new admins were apparent, but the staff team thought it was better to step back, restructure itself, and formulate a better application process so that we could be completely ready by the time they open.
3. What’s the deal with a new application?
A: The old application system, was unfortunately, not polished well. There were a lot of improvements to be made, especially on the staff’s end, regarding communication, the time period/overall process, lack of a response to denied applications, etc etc. As the staff team was attempting to reform portions of itself lost, we thought it would be better to formulate one of the weaker parts of PMU, the general application system. We believe it’s an extreme improvement over the previous format!
4. How do the applications work?
A: Applications will work as follows:
-There are three phases to an application: Applications Phase, Interview Phase, and Trial Phase.
-An interested applicant will submit a revamped application form for a Chat Mod, Moderator, or Designer to the applications forum, using http://pmuniverse.net/forum/forms.php?do=form&fid=1
-The staff team will look over the app within a given time(usually a week to two weeks), and vote whether or not they feel that they are suitable to move on to the interview phase.
-The staff team will organize an interview with an applicant over an accessible means of communication, such as Skype or Discord.
-The interview will ideally contain 15-20 questions that will be suitably tailored to the applicant in question.
-The staff team will get the results of the interview, and vote on that for a second time. If passing, the applicant will be temporarily promoted to Jr. Mod as a trial phase.
-The applicant will undergo training for the basics and essences of moderation, which is where they will apply their skills over 30 days and maintain the Jr. Mod status.
-Once this concludes, any non Jr. Mod staff will take a vote and decide whether or not the applicant is suitable for the position.
-If you pass that, you’re in!
-All three voting phases will require 50% majority from the staff team.
-Ideally, the whole process prior to the trial phase should be done in a few weeks at most. (Right now, we’ve got a good number of apps, so we’ll see if we can meet that deadline!)
-If at any point you are rejected, you will be notified(as long as you answered Yes to the part of the application which asks if you’d like to be notified).
This is the current system for now, but anything is up for change.
5. What’s up with new ranks?
A: Concurrently, the staff team also decided to restructure the organization of the team. While it seems like it may remain almost entirely the same on an appearance scale, it’s not really as such in regards to a back-end scale(which honestly, we’re still trying to sort out! but big transitions will always leave some aspects in disarray, and we’re sincerely trying to get everything in order.).
-Jr. Moderators will act as a “trial” rank for the most part, this rank will have limited powers compared to all the other ranks of the staff, but will gain the tools they need to fulfill the role the applied for. A training system is currently being attempted to set up in place so that they will gather the fundamentals they need for general moderation and transparency.
-Moderators are the same- they manage the communal part of the game and express the rules of PMU.
-Designers focus on content. They now gain additional editors to manage the portions of the game they need, content-wise.
-Developers work on more back-end and gameplay related stuff- such as the script editor and moves.
-Administrators are the head of the game, and manage all facets of the staff team and the community to make sure everything is as streamlined as possible.
In essence, the new roles are ideally focused to specialize on tasks for each role, making it less of a hierarchy, but more of an organized basis of general work ethic throughout the team.
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This is the staff team’s first attempt at a thread like this, so we apologize if not everything is answered directly. Still, this thread will be open for any questions, comments, or etc you may have. We’ll do our best to address anything directed at us in the posts below.
Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful day.
-PMU Staff Team.