1. There is no such thing as a "pending" ban or Steam admin. Anyone threatening your account is a scammer trying to scare you. Read more.

Do you ever get tired of being an admin?

Discussion in 'Discussion Archive' started by a tasty serving of, Jul 29, 2012.

  1. a tasty serving of

    a tasty serving of New User

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    Being a regular on this forum and a few others, there seems to be no shortage of issues that you admins have to put up with. From the endless stream of scammers, to having to moderate flame wars to server issues. I mean daily it just seems like you have to put up with whiners, liars and haters. I guess what I'm asking is "is it worth tit"? Seems like a thankless job mostly (one I'm not sure even pays). Thoughts? Comments? Permaban for questioning you without enough deference?
  2. Chaos

    Chaos Retired Staff

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    It's a pain some days, but worth it! Keeping people safe is the important part and I'm glad I play a role in that.
    Melkor likes this.
  3. VenGanZa

    VenGanZa User

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    I know some of them here have to do more research and cross-referencing than any normal soul would care to do in a hundred lifetimes, and of course a ton of other sundry chores.

    Speaking as Gamers UN and TF2-TRADER admin (I am admin on a few hundred sites), I can tell you it gets a little tedious when just about everyone on your friend list messages when you log on, and then constantly for hours on end, not to mention the mechanics of forum work and associated book-keeping.

    Having said that, most admins quickly realize there is no power-trip pay off, there is no yellow brick road: at the end of the day it is all about the satisfaction you get when you are genuinely able to help someone and know full well that they are appreciative of your efforts. Remember also, being an admin means you quite often end up making a bit extended network of friends and given TF2 is a community, having such a role increases ones enjoyment of the game a great deal.

    Sometimes I get so busy and pressured that I think I would be better to toss it is and just sit back as a "normal" player, but then I remember all the times some guy randomly reminds me how I helped them or encouraged them to do something, or those special times when I used my role to get scammed items back for some new kid on trade, and I know why I keep doing what I do.
  4. Backseatsman

    Backseatsman New User

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    I've always thought the same! :D

    I am admin on JAG and I think that tough work at the best of times but being an admin on SR must be crazy haha.
  5. VenGanZa

    VenGanZa User

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    That is why I admire Helen, I make no secret of the fact I consider her one of the most hardworking and patient people I have met, and my God she is a brilliant PR rep for SR.

    I consider all the crap SR does as tedious in the extreme, and something I would never do, all that bloody research and careful vetting of facts. I prefer my admin work as direct and in your face as I can get it. I love to trade and also play Dustbowl and such, the last thing I want to do is get caught up in paperwork hehe. I am glad people like Helen and the rest at SR put up with it, because I can promise you could burn my testicles off with a flamethrower and yet I would refuse to get lost in the abyss of SR investigation crap.

    I help out as I can, we all do. All of us who care have the same ideals and the same ultimate goals, we just approach them in slightly different ways and in different manners. Some like poor Helen spend a ton of time "deskbound" (the poor thing hardly gets to play Engi) and some of us have to put up with servers full of "squeekers and silliness". End of the day, we all get "something" out of doing what we do.

    As I said before, some days I get periods when I wish I had never heard of "admin" and want to chuck it all in, but those days are few. Mostly I revel in the fact I can be there to help people, and know that I often can make a difference :)
  6. SilentReaper(SR)

    SilentReaper(SR) Retired Staff

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    I'm out of the "public" life of it, just admins contact me for stuff still. I'm normally out of reports and appeals, done my share in the past. Altho on occasion I do have a look on that, or research some. I'm more into communicating and reading around, commenting, getting info out there etc.
    [WP] VenGanZa likes this.
  7. HelenAngel

    HelenAngel Retired Staff

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    These are volunteer positions so no, we don't get paid. Well, at least not in money. But I try to pay my scam reports team in lots of virtual hugs and thanks! :)

    I have been volunteering to moderate online communities since the mid-90s. I added it all up once and I have over 11 years experience doing community management for online communities. I am a people person. My specialty is customer service IRL as well and I have worked professionally both in retail and corporate environments doing customer service and management. I LOVE helping people. I really, truly do.

    I won't lie, some days it really wears on me. It's hard on me to see people who are so upset and I'm limited by how I can help them. :( But then a friend will check SR and it will stop him from being scammed or I'll run into someone in a UGC match who I helped or something- and it's those little things that make it all worthwhile. :) I might not be able to change the world, but if I can prevent a scam, clear up a misunderstanding, or brighten at least one person's day- that definitely helps. :)

    P.S.- I've been so entrenched in the scam reports section that Venganza had to point me to this thread because I wouldn't have seen it otherwise. :D
    [WP] VenGanZa likes this.
  8. Backseatsman

    Backseatsman New User

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    Thats what I mean...

    Every time I check the scammer report section it says that last post was 3 minutes ago and to be able have a solid 24/7 structure to keep the reports going must be madness!
  9. SilentReaper(SR)

    SilentReaper(SR) Retired Staff

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    Admins do when time permits them. We're very glad to have a number of very dedicated ppl in our team who can do this for the community.
    [WP] VenGanZa likes this.
  10. Eoj Nawoh

    Eoj Nawoh Retired Staff Partner Community

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    I love protecting the community, but I will admit that at times you want to pull your hair out.
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  11. Melkor

    Melkor New User

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    No...
    I like to help others and share my experiences :)
    Also I very much appreciate work of HelenAngel and I am sometime sad that she don't have enough of time for some fun.
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  12. Backseatsman

    Backseatsman New User

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    Yeh it can be hard work but in the end it all pulls off, and it is also alot of fun to see other people happy for things you have done! :)
    HelenAngel likes this.
  13. SilentReaper(SR)

    SilentReaper(SR) Retired Staff

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    Well, working with the other admins is fun, but the reports/appeals? no fun in that. Now, I don't go much in appeals/reports... I'll get all the fun :)
  14. Eoj Nawoh

    Eoj Nawoh Retired Staff Partner Community

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    For anyone involved in reports or appeals, the fun is knowing you are creating a safe environment. Oh and occasionally the extremely angry and illiterate scammer is fun.
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  15. demanrisu

    demanrisu New User

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    I'm not an SR admin, but as an admin of Reddit Steam Game Swap (steamgameswap.reddit.com) and 12 high-trafficked TF2 servers, I thought I'd weigh in.

    Sometimes being a moderator or an admin - well, it sucks. It sucks big time. You have people expecting quite a lot from you and your fellow admins, and it can get quite stressful, especially when it comes to things like mediating arguments or trying to help someone get their scammed items back. As Eoj Nawoh said above, the occasional angry/illiterate scammer lightens the mood, but /r/SGS modmail can sometimes be a very depressing place.

    In spite of this, though, I wouldn't give it up unless I had a really damn good reason to. I love helping people - absolutely love it. The occasional "thank you" that us mods get, to be honest, makes it all worthwhile. I'm not saying that moderating/administrating is fun, because it usually isn't, but the warm glow I feel inside my chest when banning a scammer compares to nothing else.

    Yeah, I suppose banning people is fun. Only if they deserve it, though. Scammers and very rude people and such.

    I'm sorry, what were we talking about again?
    HelenAngel likes this.
  16. Eoj Nawoh

    Eoj Nawoh Retired Staff Partner Community

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    Fixed :p

    In all seriousness, demanrisu said it best, the warm feeling you get knowing you marked/banned a scammer. To me, being able to help people, to get a thank you or help out a newer player makes it all worth while. Plus it helps you with the real world, knowing there's plenty of morons and dishonest people, but also many who do the right thing.
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  17. HelenAngel

    HelenAngel Retired Staff

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    I actually don't like marking people as scammers. :( I understand the weight that tag holds and so I am very careful before applying it. I would much rather it turn out that it was just a misunderstanding and get it resolved. Unfortunately, that is usually not the case. :(
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  18. DataStorm

    DataStorm Retired Staff

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    And I regularly tell her to take her breaks, she works it here way too hard.
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  19. demanrisu

    demanrisu New User

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    Yeah, obviously, banning someone from a forum is a lot different from marking them with a SteamRep tag. You do great work, HelenAngel, and the Steam trading community thanks you for your tireless devotion to keeping us safe :)
  20. VenGanZa

    VenGanZa User

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    I am happy to verify this. Several times I have put evidence before Helen which could quite easily have resulted in a caution tag, however she is more likely to go out of her way and contact the person concerned and issue a stern warning rather than taint an account with a tag. Those few people who accuse SR of handy out tags like confetti could not be more wrong if they tried.

    Marking anyone is by no means trivial, since it has severe and usually permanent real world implications, hence the need for clear rules, appeal processes and peer review and the ability to recuse.

    While I am sure there are many competent people at SR, Helen stands out head and shoulders above the pack, and were it not for her prodigious efforts and self sacrifice SR would be very much poorer for her absence.