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IAMA Nerd.nu Head Admin, AMA


JohnAdams1735
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Alright, time to go deep.

 

Whats the biggest life lesson you've learned and want to share with others?

 

Oh boy. Ummm.... well, the one that comes up the most it seems is that high school sucks, but it's not the end of the world or the whole world (though it may seem like it when you're in high school.) If you can stick through it you get to see how much better things can get afterwards. Related to that, I suppose, is that life is hard, but true friends make it easier. And all it takes is for one person to care to really make a difference in someone's life.

 

That seems a little happy-go-lucky, maybe, but having been in high school, seen the other side, and having gone from having no real friends to having a few to having quite a few (:3) it's what I've observed. And while I tend to be on the "feel depressed must seek out friends" side, I've also been on the "this person is having a rough day/week/year/life, I want to try to help if I can" side. So... yea.

 

Also what is the Biggest mistake you ever made on the servers ?

 

Hmmm... heh. Mistake? Uh, well, as far as mod/admin comments and things go, I suppose it's when I //cut and then //paste a build instead of //copy and then //paste and lost half of it when the server crashed midway through the //paste. Luckily  level heads and hands came in to help me recover the build (and the owner was very chill about it). I think that was also when I finally learned the /lb redo command :)

 

That being said, I think I've messed up social relationships badly with a few people on the servers. :/

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1.  Why do the nerd.nu servers not advertise?  More players is better, especially for S and P.

 

2.  Why don't you take donations all the time, rather than relying on once-or twice-yearly events, and then use the extra money to buy better hardware?  The issues that pop up when the sum-population across all 3 servers get above 150 or so are sort of self-limiting factors for their popularity.

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A few people have been pointing out that there's a historically high proportion of women in the admin roles now.  Have you been actively trying to get more women into the adminsphere these days or did it just kinda work out that way?

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How hard is it being a Head Admin? Is it a fun experience?

 

How hard? It can be very hard sometimes, but yes, also very rewarding. I've had to do things I never had to do before, and deal with situations I've never dealt with before. But I've been learning a lot about myself and people in general and I hope to apply some of these skills to my real life work.

 

For example, I've had to learn how to understand tech stuff to some extent. I've learned words like parse, what a wrapper is, some basic java coding, and what the heck a "tick" is besides a blood-sucking insect.

 

I've also had to deal with interpersonal issues with staff - much like a Human Resource manager in a company. I've had to learn how to determine server policy, which can often seem like being a leader of a small country.

 

I've learned how to deal with griefers, ddosers (or at least the fallout of their actions) (had never really herd the term before playing MC here), hackers, trolls (I learned what a troll was from MC here too!), and how to act like a Public Relations person when dealing with delayed events and dozens of people waiting to get things going.

 

On the other hand, I've been able to help make MCPublic a (I think, anyway) better place. I've worked to continue to help make it a safe and comfortable place for people to just play Minecraft. I've been able to work with and get to know a very talented, intelligent, and just plain awesome group of people here. So that's fun, yes.

 

As with anything, there's always give and take :)

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1.  Why do the nerd.nu servers not advertise?  More players is better, especially for S and P.

 

2.  Why don't you take donations all the time, rather than relying on once-or twice-yearly events, and then use the extra money to buy better hardware?  The issues that pop up when the sum-population across all 3 servers get above 150 or so are sort of self-limiting factors for their popularity.

 

1. We've been looking into how to advertise without selling our souls or prostituting out (so to speak). Or spend money (if at all possible). We also want to make sure we're advertising  on reputable sites. Not to mention shaping the advertising - how do we want to present/"sell" the servers as a whole and individually? What sort of players do we want to attract (more isn't always better :smile:) and how do we reach those demographics? How will we make any sort of graphics/pictures of the servers and who will make them? And those are just the questions I could come up with off the top of my head in about 5 minutes. All that takes time and a lot of legwork. But it is being worked on.

 

2. We do, actually (although I don't know if the donation page we used last year still links properly to the paypal account) but we don't really advertise the donation page except for during a donation drive. As for getting better hardware, adding our monthly cost isn't something to be taken lightly. It would cut into any donation efforts in perpetuity. But you're right, there are physical limits on the servers as they compete for a finite amount of resources and perhaps affects their popularity (although P at rev's beginning is still insanely populated). And then it's a balance between asking for money and being annoying about it. We don't want to ask for money too often lest people stop being able to donate.

 

Both are ongoing conversations among staff, trust me.

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A few people have been pointing out that there's a historically high proportion of women in the admin roles now.  Have you been actively trying to get more women into the adminsphere these days or did it just kinda work out that way?

 

I'd be lying if I didn't say I was very much aware of being the first female Head Admin. But it never really seemed to matter with the other Heads or anyone, staff or otherwise. As for thrawn, she's been a server admin for a long time, and it was just a matter of who we felt was best for the job at that time. And we're still on the "hunt" for #5! Tharine is, of course, also a good Admin :)

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(I learned what a troll was from MC here too!), and how to act like a Public Relations person when dealing with delayed events and dozens of people waiting to get things going.

Not a question i just have to say it.

 

I still remember the second CTF Event and how late it started, and also that you had almost no sleep during the preparations of the map, and still you were buzzing all over the map fixing things here fixing things there. While at the mean time you were in mumble handing out information to everyone, apologizing at least a hundred times to the Players and still you managed to stay on top of the things, even more you managed to become irreplacable because whenever you were gone to get some icecream, your helpers didnt know what to do next.

 

It was awesome !

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Has playing minecraft made any good/great changes to you?

 

Do you have a rl job? If yes what?

 

Yes, it has changed me a lot. I've mentioned in several places/answers now how it's changed my skill sets and gave me a place to make friends. Overall I am a more stressed out but happier person. :3

 

I don't really have a rl job per se - I'm working towards my Ph.D. in US History right now. During the semesters I do work for a professor/class grading papers and tests and get paid for that. But for now I'm focusing on getting my dissertation written so I can graduate and teach University!

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Not a question i just have to say it.

 

I still remember the second CTF Event and how late it started, and also that you had almost no sleep during the preparations of the map, and still you were buzzing all over the map fixing things here fixing things there. While at the mean time you were in mumble handing out information to everyone, apologizing at least a hundred times to the Players and still you managed to stay on top of the things, even more you managed to become irreplacable because whenever you were gone to get some icecream, your helpers didnt know what to do next.

 

It was awesome !

 

Thank you njord, that means a lot to me. I was very over tired and stressed out, but hearing how much people enjoyed it made it all worth my time and effort!

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