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Bulbagarden Staff AMA Thread

toastghost said:
why did you decide to become mods in the first place?
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I just had a pretty large passion for F&G and TWR at the time. I spent all my time in those sections. The first time I applied, other people were picked over me, for good reason as well to be fair. Then after a bit more sticking around and hosting a few more games specifically in TWR, at the next staff drive I applied again with success.

I only point this out since I know some people get discouraged when they fail a mod application. Fail is a bit of a strong word but it doesn't necessarily mean someone isn't well suited for a role. It may come with time. It's different for everyone.

But yeah, for TWR I just really enjoyed hosting games, and as you probably well know toast, I still do hahaha. I like to think that my hosting and being a name in the section kinda helped a bit. I wanted (and want) the TWR section to do really well, so I'd say that was a big part. I also like most, if not everyone tbh in the sections, and I wanted to kinda provide for them and keep em around.

It also allowed me to get closer to certain staff members that I may not have spoke to before, for whatever reason that may be. And that includes the other sections of the forum outside of where I mod.

Nowadays my passion kinda resides mostly in TWR and tryna keep it going strong where I can. As mentioned above I do really enjoy the section, the players, and the entire time I've been a mod I couldn't really ask for better team mates and superiors, for lack of a better term. :)
 
toastghost said:
why did you decide to become mods in the first place?
Click to expand...
Fun question! In short, it was really inevitability on my part.

I was a moderator and super moderator of another waaay smaller Pokemon Forum in highschool, because like many here Pokemon has always been my passion and I just wanted somewhere to talk about and post my art of, well, Pokemon. I don't remember how I was picked up for staff there, but it was one of those situations where I was just sort of scooped up because all of the existing staff liked me and thought I'd be a good fit, and the rest was history.

At some point I hung up my hat there around 2015 or 2016ish due to a plethora of reasons, still love those guys though. I've always loved Pokemon but it sort of got away from me until PLA released, now I'm crazy about it all over again. A repeat of events led me here (wanting a place to talk about and post my art of, well, Pokemon). I even got somewhat active on bulba's discord (something I didn't plan to do either, I only joined to keep up with Pokemon news and lurk), but my wit got the best of me, and I think some others on staff also had a knack for my sense of humor. I applied during openings on a whim of my routine passion for anything Pokemon with a wink and a nudge, really! If I'm being super honest I probably would've been set in stone as the "I was reached out to" crowd otherwise from what I've been told.

But, yeah. I 'decided' based on a pinch of nostalgia, passion for Pokemon and enjoying the people here. :wynaut: Funny how that happens.
 
^I was the one who gave the wink and nudge to her, and I'm so so glad she decided to apply, you have no idea.♡

In my case, it's sort of a strange one... I asked to be a moderator LOL! So maybe you could say it was just because I thought it'd be fun? :chansey:

For background, I was originally hired on to be a newswriter in winter of 2022, and thusly was on the forums quite a bit! ...Ignore my join date of 2019, I forgot I had an account for many years after I 'signed up', lol. I eventually became the Tumblr admin in July 2022 (Blanc joined me around a year later!) and stopped doing news much, but I kept going on the forums quite regularly!

I don't remember exactly what caused it, but I think the forums were looking for a few new staff members, and I decided to ask if I could help! After some discussion I was eventually brought on in November 2022, originally for Garden Grotto.

Really, the forums have felt like a 'home' to me for a while now (especially with my older sister (above↑) being on with me, and now an Admin(!!)), so it felt natural to want to help out? Nowadays, I've found what I find to be my 'true calling' in helping out with the Writers' Workshop, but for me... it just felt like a natural extension of wholeheartedly feeling comfortable in this community, I'll say. And I'm very glad things have worked out, even though I make mistakes a lot ahaha. I think you'll find a different answer for every mod that answers, really, which shows it takes all types!
 
toastghost said:
why did you decide to become mods in the first place?
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Caps showed up at my house with a gun.

They reached out to me and offered me the position. I don't think I ever would've applied tbh, I wouldn't have the confidence. But the forums are a really important place for me, so if someone else saw potential for me to help the community, then I wouldn't refuse.
 
toastghost said:
why did you decide to become mods in the first place?
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bulbagarden helped provide me with a comfy place on the internet during a time in need, and i had met so many wonderful people who had left such an impression on me.. i really felt the urge to give back, to do something for the site and users in turn. a few people encouraged me to fill out an app when a position opened - i took their advice, was welcomed onto the team (much to my gratitude lmao), and i've never looked back from that moment on :')
 
Heyo fellow staffers,

Thought I'd ask a simple question and see what your favourite memory has been whilst on the forums?
 
Calvinッ said:
Thought I'd ask a simple question and see what your favourite memory has been whilst on the forums?
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Getting my first review on a fic (I think it was from @OrionTheAbsol iirc). A really good part of my beginning of a writing journey (online at least)
 
toastghost said:
why did you decide to become mods in the first place?
Click to expand...
To be totally honest, it was mainly because of Shippers' Paradise. When I first applied to be a mod SP was still located under General Pokémon Discussion, and at that point it had become almost completely inactive and seemed to be basically forgotten about. Before I even had a forum account I used to lurk around years-old threads from Shippers' Paradise — so I really wanted to get in there, tidy up the place and help bring it back to its former glory. Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but it does make me really happy to see it doing so well these days. I hope it gets to stick around for a while longer.

Calvinッ said:
Thought I'd ask a simple question and see what your favourite memory has been whilst on the forums?
Click to expand...
I started posting back in 2021 to follow Pokémon Journeys discussion at the time, and I can say with 100% certainty that the weeks leading up to the episode "Advice to Goh!" were some of the most fun I have ever had on here lol. Just sooo much anticipation and speculation and hype surrounded that whole month, I absolutely loved it and I'll never forget it.

I feel similarly about being on the forums towards the end of the series, though that's more of a bittersweet memory than a fun one. I even got to write the Bulbanews article when Ash won the World Championship trophy! It felt like everyone sort of came together to send off the show we all grew up with. It was nice.

oh, and DuckGarden. Always remember DuckGarden.
 
Okido said:
To be totally honest, it was mainly because of Shippers' Paradise. When I first applied to be a mod SP was still located under General Pokémon Discussion, and at that point it had become almost completely inactive and seemed to be basically forgotten about. Before I even had a forum account I used to lurk around years-old threads from Shippers' Paradise — so I really wanted to get in there, tidy up the place and help bring it back to its former glory. Not to pat myself on the back or anything, but it does make me really happy to see it doing so well these days. I hope it gets to stick around for a while longer.
Click to expand...
I used to mod Shippers' Paradise and was its section head for a while (and indeed, the reason I applied to become a mod in the first place was because I wanted to mod there specifically), and I want to say, genuinely, that I appreciate so much what you've done for it. I was sad to see how dead it got towards the end of my time as staff, and seeing it bounce back the way it has makes me happier than I can really put into words. You've been doing an amazing job :)
 
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