A Day in the Life of a Forum Moderator

[Devoid 2,601]

You wake up after a very short night of sleep. You check your phone, just to see an overwhelming number of Discord notifications. You open the Discord app, and start to go through each notification, one-by-one. You eventually stumble across a chain of direct messages from the one-and-only, Maf. Within these messages, he is telling you to take care of the heaping pile of Ideas and Suggestions topics that have flooded in overnight. You roll your eyes, knowing you have your work set out for you today. You login into the Forum, check the appropriate panel, and notice that you have an astounding thirteen notifications, most of them being for new Ideas and Suggestions topics. This is what it is like every morning as a Forum Moderator.

 

Average number of notifications overnight

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Hello guys, I’m Mr.Nibbles, and I suffer from Forumvirus (a strain of the Coronavirus first popularized by @ILiveOnTheChatBox123). I have been a Forum Moderator for a little over six months now, and I would like to share with you a bit about what it is like to be a mod of the best online Forum, the Tanki Forum. The position is overall extremely fun, and the crew of people you get to work with makes every day unique and interesting. You may think to yourself, “Ah, I remember this Mr.Nibbles guy... He is the person who declined my idea to give everyone free Tankoins. Why should I listen to this story?” Well, just hear me out. It will definitely be worth the read.

 

First, I would like to talk about the work itself and what exactly we do. I feel the lesser known Forum Administrator’s name, Ninja, sums up this position quite excellently; basically, we just lurk in the shadows, hunting for any inappropriate messages that can be found on the Forum. We also answer players’ questions and even troll a bit sometimes, all from the depths of our underground cave homes.

 

My tank in my underground cave home

 

It is very important to note that each Forum Moderator has been strongly educated on the history of the game, why updates to the game have occurred, and other information needed to solve any confusion that may pop up after a new release or any other major change. 

 

I would say that personally, I spend the majority of my time on the Forum in the News and Announcements section. New updates/information is the most likely subject of very strong player opinions, both negative and positive, and this is the section most prone to include foul language or remarks. I spend countless hours clearing up discrepancies players may have regarding an update. This way they can form an opinion on that update based on completely true information and not based on false interpretations or conspiracy theories. It is often very difficult to moderate this particular section of the Forum, as people with very vivid opinions of the game scour this section, searching for any information that they disagree with to prey on. Ultimately, their shared opinions could stir up some controversy. Of course, Forum Moderators also need to allow players’ opinions to be heard, so we occasionally edit out inappropriate parts of peoples' comments. That way their opinions are shared while not hurting the innocent minds of children that could read these responses. 

 

My other job on the Forum is sifting through Ideas and Suggestions topics and approving topics that include players’ ideas to benefit the game. This duty can be anywhere within the realms of intriguing and comedic, as some ideas are just so bizarre that I can’t help but laugh (just check out this topic, it is a good example). This job can also be very stressful, as I need to both acknowledge their idea and thank them for taking the time to write it up. In some cases, I need to find a way for them to realize that their idea won’t make it to the game, either due to the fact that it will not be beneficial or because “it will hurt the economy of the game” -- a response I have written so many times that I can type it in exactly 4.20 seconds. This is an admirable part of the job, as it often enlightens me on new features that could very well become part of Tanki Online.

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The next part of the position I want to touch on is the people I get to work with. Each person I get the pleasure of working beside is vastly different from the next, and each has their own personality. Let me review each person from my point of view (I promise if any of you guys are reading this that there is nothing negative about any of you, and I like all of you guys!):

 

Maf

The absolute leader of the group. Nothing could be done without him, as he knows specific things about the Forum and the game that no one else could possibly know. His stories about how the game used to be are always hilarious, and they bring back the nostalgic feelings of the times I miss so much. Oh, and he always uses Skype emojis in our Discord server which helps add to his humorous nature.

 

Ninja

This man isn’t online as much as the others, as he has some very important stuff to attend to in his personal life. However, when he does come online, he always works super diligently. He is very hardworking and is a great administrator in this aspect.

 

Thiedes

This guy started at the same time as I did, so he is just as nooby skilled. He is the goofball of the bunch, always providing quality entertainment to the rest of the team. Unfortunately, his time zone is almost the exact opposite of mine (he is sleeping when I am awake for the most part, and I am asleep when he is awake, typically)...

 

AV-Gamers

This person is the other, larger YouTuber in this bunch (I will beat him to 5,000 subscribers though ). He often lurks in the Off-Topic section, where you can find him sharing his opinions regarding stuff outside of Tanki. I don't do much in that section though, so I don’t work with him much…

 

ControlledChaos

ControlledChaos is the person you can rely on to find a reason to decline your Ideas and Suggestions posts. He always gets straight to the point, not wasting any time sugar coating anything. Of course, this leaves him with lots more time to work on other Forum-related matters, which he utilizes, making him extremely active.

 

Hate

Though he may not go on the Forum much (probably because he gets anxiety from seeing the number of private message notifications he receives regarding Chat Moderator applications), he always spreads tons of love in our private Discord server. He makes all of us smile, and we are all thankful to him doing so.

 

Leur

If you ever check his Forum profile while he is online, you will, nine times out of ten, find him viewing a topic in the eSports section of the Forum (mainly because he is also an eSports Official). His work there is very strenuous, and all the rest of us Forum Moderators admire that he puts that much effort into the work that needs to be done in that area of the Forum.

 

Destrod

This man’s sense of humour is impeccable. He always makes the best memes and always gets the other Forum Moderators chuckling. Without his sense of humour the position would be drab and not nearly as entertaining.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Now that you know lots of information about what the position entails and which people work in this field, you may be thinking to yourself: “Gee, I want to become part of this cult team...How do I go about this?” Well, you’re in luck! For the very low price of $19.95 all your extra free-time, Maf might just be willing to allow you to become a member of this squad! Feel free to apply in this section of the Forum. Maf and Ninja are always looking for fresh, new people to add to the team, so your application might just be accepted!

 

Anyways, that’s it for this article! I hope you enjoyed getting to know me, my workload, and a little bit about my colleagues. I hope that by reading this you can understand just how much work each of us Forum Moderators really do, and hopefully that can help your patience with us increase just a tad. I promise, we will get to your Ideas and Suggestions topic eventually, even if it is a month after you posted it and even if it boggles my mind to read!

[Pythor 1,354]

Article Approved!

 

Nibbles returns to the AWS, giving us a sneak peek into the day-to-day responsibilities that are required of our very own Forum Moderators. It is definitely not a job for the faint of heart!

 

Edits - 

Spoiler

- Fixed various run-on sentences. Don't be afraid to use a period in order to break up a long, monotonous sentence. 

- Removed a few commas. Make sure to evaluate whether the sentence contains two independent clauses before inserting a comma. 

- Reworded a couple areas of text. 

 

[iFros 1,891]

Where is me?   Nice article by the way.

Edited June 5, 2020 by iFros

[Lose 881]

Really enjoyed this article!

[Devoid 2,601]

1 hour ago, iFros said:

Where is me?   Nice article by the way.

We need you back

[subrocks 23]

Hope it Feels Good to be a Forum Moderator!

[Person_Random 4,991]

Awesome article! Still not sure whether I should be a forum moderator or a social media helper

[ILiveOnTheChatBox123 936]

Average number of notifications overnight

You only have 12 notifications on an average night? I guess being a forum mod is totally chilled! That won't happen to you anymore once I start mentioning @Mr.Nibbles whenever I need help.

This piece seems great, though I think you could have done better by starting the article off from a player's point of view looking at a forum mod. I just don't think your perspective was as good of a hook. Overall I really enjoyed it.

[Devoid 2,601]

5 minutes ago, ILiveOnTheChatBox123 said:

You only have 12 notifications on an average night? I guess being a forum mod is totally chilled! That won't happen to you anymore once I start mentioning @Mr.Nibbles whenever I need help.

I turned off notifications from people I follow though, so I don't have to deal with those notifications 

6 minutes ago, ILiveOnTheChatBox123 said:

This piece seems great, though I think you could have done better by starting the article off from a player's point of view looking at a forum mod. I just don't think your perspective was as good of a hook. Overall I really enjoyed it.

Thanks for your feedback! I am glad you enjoyed it 

[ILiveOnTheChatBox123 936]

Conspiracy theory: Mr. Nibbles or some admin who read this article started the recent "Admins and Helpers online" bar on the homepage to prove @Mr.Nibbles either right or wrong.

Anyone has a different way to explain the strange timing?

[Destrod 2,634]

On 6/6/2020 at 4:16 AM, pythor20000 said:

It is definitely not a job for the faint of heart!

 

Yes 100%, our candidates are required to take a scuba diving test in shark infested waters to prove their worth.

[Venem 615]

2 hours ago, Destrod said:

Yes 100%, our candidates are required to take a scuba diving test in shark infested waters to prove their worth.

That easy? Hmmm... I thought they are asked to get killed every time they spawned for at least a few thousand battles to check their integrity...

Anyway, @Mr.Nibbles I really enjoyed the article!!!

Edited June 8, 2020 by SHREYA88

[Pythor 1,354]

 

On 6/8/2020 at 7:10 AM, Destrod said:

Yes 100%, our candidates are required to take a scuba diving test in shark infested waters to prove their worth.

 

Really? I always assumed the training consisted of a week long Scooby-Doo binge session in order to prepare the squad for the inevitable antics of that man. 

[Destrod 2,634]

On 6/9/2020 at 10:31 PM, pythor20000 said:

 

 

Really? I always assumed the training consisted of a week long Scooby-Doo binge session in order to prepare the squad for the inevitable antics of that man. 

Spoiler

 

[spiderman1000 737]

This article is really beautiful and explains how hard the forum mods work to make sure we have a good time im the forum. it also points out that mods are, too, humans on the other side of the screen, which many dont realize. though many may have red this lightly, it has a deep meaning within it. (gotta admit  @Mr.Nibbles you are a natural author)

it is filled with jokes and humor while being focused on an important topic. it is because of the mods and their hard work that i even stay on his forum. really good article everyone should read even if the mods declined his idea of free tankoins for everyone. after this article anyone should feel honored when their topic is closed/ idea is declined.

the mods are like the soldiers on the battlefield who protect us from inappropriate content.

 

ok too much deep stuff time for my famous humor.

On 6/5/2020 at 11:25 AM, Mr.Nibbles said:

Average number of notifications overnight

cool i get 100 overnight (mostly cause i follow lots of mods)

On 6/5/2020 at 11:25 AM, Mr.Nibbles said:

That way their opinions are shared while not hurting the innocent minds of children that could read these responses

bro play crazy pixel apocalypse. though most are between 10-15, their lang is too much. as for the kids like me who have never even said 'the word' even once, we get used to it (or at least i did)

 

but the worst part is, my elder sister and brother dont trust the forums even after all the work of the mods!

[mjmj5558 2,346]

On 6/5/2020 at 7:55 AM, Mr.Nibbles said:

Average number of notifications overnight

I just got 55 notifications for 5 hours of inactivity .

Edited June 18, 2020 by mjmj5558

[spiderman1000 737]

On 6/8/2020 at 7:40 PM, Destrod said:

Yes 100%, our candidates are required to take a scuba diving test in shark infested waters to prove their worth.

fast fact: sharks dont eat anything out of their ordinary diet unless things get too desperate (probably some damage by human activity). about those shark attacks, the surfers look like seals from below. of course, they might take a sample out of curiosity but hey! dont humans eat some famous dishes out of curiosity as well?

Also, it would be quite beautiful to swim with sharks dont you think?

and to think people cut off the fins of sharks and throw them back in water for the sake of a soup for rich people. another example of mans greed. this is the reason the great white is endangered.

Spoiler

unless you are swimming in the waters of hungry shark evolution/world. then you should be scared.

 

[Sacrifice 2,278]

On 6/17/2020 at 9:47 PM, spiderman1000 said:

cool i get 100 overnight (mostly cause i follow lots of mods)

I remember pythor telling me in chat that he woke up to 30 notifications, all from me and I was like 

[yasgfgfffgf 282]

well 12  notifications in one night. it also dependt on how long you sleep. what work do you guys do in real life?.

anyway thank you allot for helping us with everything.

[Devoid 2,601]

1 minute ago, yasgfgfffgf said:

what work do you guys do in real life?.

This is currently my only job, as I am too young to get a high-paying career (I don't have a college degree to allow for a good career). Instead of spending my time working for a low wage, I just spend my time within this game.

2 minutes ago, yasgfgfffgf said:

anyway thank you allot for helping us with everything.

Glad my colleagues and I could be of assistance

We love helping you

[yasgfgfffgf 282]

1 minute ago, Mr.Nibbles said:

This is currently my only job, as I am too young to get a high-paying career (I don't have a college degree to allow for a good career). Instead of spending my time working for a low wage, I just spend my time within this game.

Glad my colleagues and I could be of assistance

We love helping you

i feel sory for you. but remember: your time as kid 0-18 is the best time you can have. what time zone/ country are you from?

Spoiler

We love helping you

dont get to close 

[Devoid 2,601]

1 minute ago, yasgfgfffgf said:

what time zone/ country are you from?

Central Standard Time...I live in Central United States

[Designer 6]

You are the best bro Keep Going i love you and your Videos and you Topics

[yasgfgfffgf 282]

24 minutes ago, Mr.Nibbles said:

Central Standard Time...I live in Central United States

oh where there are huge farms?

i live in belgium. so brussels time. UTC summer +2 

wow u realy have yt channel. keep it up ;  )

Edited June 18, 2020 by yasgfgfffgf

[spiderman1000 737]

On 6/19/2020 at 3:19 AM, yasgfgfffgf said:

i live in belgium.

for some Weird (really weird) reason, belgium reminds me of P-90

in any case i think its rude to not follow the flow so.

India

Edited June 20, 2020 by spiderman1000