Moderator Application: Habbo Hotel

[TheJacob]

Enclosed in this post is my application for a moderator position in the Habbo Hotel server development section.

TheJacob (about me)

My name is Jacob Pollack (TheJacob on RaGEZONE) and I am 20 years old. I currently live in the Kitchener/Waterloo area of Ontario, Canada -- my timezone is -5 GMT -- and attend the University of Waterloo as a full time student pursuing a degree in honours Computer Science.

Outside of school my hobbies are: personal fitness, watching various historical documentaries, strategical board games or alike on-line games, reading, and having a great time with my peers.

Cover Letter

Spoiler

The following is a cover letter introducing myself and outlining why I am applying for a moderation position in the Habbo Hotel server development section.

My name is Jacob Pollack (TheJacob on RaGEZONE) and I am applying for the moderation position in the Habbo Hotel server development section. I am confident that I am a strong applicant because of my past experiences in the Habbo Hotel server development community and from what I have learned from those experiences; moreover, being able to effectively apply what I have learned on a day-to-day basis.

The journey I've taken over the past couple years facilitates my objective perspective that I use to make decisions both as a software developer and as a student. I have seen both sides of the coin and will be able to effective apply this experience to moderating the Habbo Hotel server development section. I am not only applying for the moderator position in the Habbo Hotel server development section because I enjoy the environment and the varied communities surrounding Habbo Hotel, but because I am confident that I can be the necessary objective tool to properly and thoroughly moderate the Habbo Hotel server development section. There have been many shoes to moderate this section in the past and more shoes to come in the future, however, it needs a shoe right now and I am confident that I am able to fill this role.

I have a vision for the Habbo Hotel server development section and I am confident that through the hard work I will put into this opportunity I will be able to execute it.

The first step of this vision can be found on this thread -- the unofficial open source community project.

Skill Set

The following is an applicable skill set; more information on a specific skill is available upon request.

• punctual, objective decision making, and dynamic,
• demonstrates strong leadership skills (more importantly, knows when not to be a leader),
• strong attention to detail,
• knowledgeable (more importantly, maintaining knowledge -- doing the required research to be effective),
• community experience (both successfully contributing on these forums and maintaining a successful Hotel),
• professional software developer, and
• a strong knowledge of the tools vBulletin offers (frontend and backend experience).

Experience

The following is a list of relevant past experiences -- no further back than the date that I signed up to RaGEZONE (June 16th, 2010) -- in reverse chronological order; more information on a specific experience is available upon request.

• led a guild in World of Warcraft during two raids (Siege of Orgrimmar and Highmaul; full cleared Mythic in both raids),
• contract work at Toocoo Media,
• full time job as an Instructional Support Assistant at the University of Waterloo for two semesters (teaching tutorials, marking, working on assignments, managing Piazza, ...),
• enrolled at the University of Waterloo for honours Computer Science,
• contributed to the Habbo section as a developer and ran one game server (namely, Demon Hotel/RaGEZONE Hotel), and
• contributed to the FlyFF section as a developer and ran two game servers (namely, FlyForFuria and TitanFlyFF).

Recognized Faults

The following is a list of recognized faults that I am constantly and effectively addressing:

• can get easily distracted,
• in the past had trouble with commitments,
• had a less than honourable entrance to the Habbo Hotel server development community (exploiting webdav on XAMPP).

Warnings, Infractions, and Bans

I have one warning from RastaLulz in 2010 on this thread -- I do not recall the specifics. Moreover, I have one infraction from CrashOveride in 2010 -- I do not recall the specifics.

I have been permanently banned on more than one occasion on this account and aliases (TJP, Cobo, TheLongP, Salmon, ZooLag, and a few others related to projects I was working on). The initial ban and all subsequent bans were for an event that occurred while I was running RaGEZONE Hotel; to my knowledge these permanent bans were not for breaking individual forum rules. There is a lot of propaganda surrounding the details; if anyone require specific details then do not hesitate to contact me so I can provide any necessary clarifications.

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If there is any missing information or a standardized format then reply below and I'll make the necessary changes to my application.

 

[FatalLulz]

As much as your application is nice and all.. I don't see you contributing to the Habbo section.

In my 2 years being here I've seen you make one development thread that died very quickly. You then released what you created which was really the barebones of an emulator (if that if I recall correctly). You don't post report from what I see, you don't help people in the help section, you don't seem to release anything, or make any tutorials. Whether you did this years ago or not still doesn't change much. You might have been active and all years ago but that was then, this is now.

My honest opinion, get a bit more active, get into helping people more, report posts and then try again. There's always room for improvement amigo. I'll leave my vouch as neither yes or no but more an opinion. Good luck none the less :

 

[TheJacob]

I appreciate your opinion FatalLulz and after carefully reviewing your statements I feel it is best to clarify on a few of the points made -- transparency is important here.

... I don't see you contributing to the Habbo section ...

I have not made a sizeable contribution to the Habbo Hotel server development community since I released Foot CMS and emulator. Since then I have only worked one project -- project Salmon -- however, it was more of an educational project for me rather than a contribution to the community. Though I do not know you, it sounds like my contributions (of varied size) were before you became active in the Habbo Hotel server development section.

With all of that being said I do want to clarify that there are two types of contributions to the community: (1) those from a developers standpoint (i.e. releasing the next big CMS or emulator) and (2) those from a moderation standpoint (i.e. following and enforcing the forum rules and micromanaging the amount of new content being posted daily). This application is not on the promise of more contributions from a developers standpoint -- I am not going to work on the next CMS or emulator -- rather, the promise of contributions from a moderation standpoint.

... you don't post report from what I see ...

This is definitely the first step identifying the various problems in the section and you're absolutely correct -- I have not reported a post in the Habbo Hotel server development section to-date. With that being said, for the content that I do browse I am able to distinguish between the positive and negative posts, however, no effort has been made on my end to facilitate the moderation of the section to-date.

... you don't seem to release anything or make any tutorials ...

This ties into the first set of clarifications I made. I do acknowledge that I have not made a sizeable release or tutorial within the past 2 years, however, applying to this position will not influence that. If given this opportunity the contributions I will be making are from a moderation standpoint not from a developer standpoint.

... whether you did this years ago or not still doesn't change much. You might have been active and all years ago but that was then, this is now ...

To highlight a segment of my application -- I stated that I have a vast amount of past experiences which influence the decisions I make in the present. Replying to a lot of the content that is posted in the Habbo Hotel server development section is something I used to do a little over 2 years ago. I have chosen not to post, but lurk closely because of a conversation I had with MentaL around 2 years ago. It is extremely difficult to contribute your ideas and feedback to individuals who are not looking for it and to me the Habbo Hotel server development section has become less of an open learning environment and more of a show off environment -- one of the inspirations behind my application. I do not post lightly and replying to every thread or post that's made is not something I will do.

To me, as of late the Habbo Hotel server development section has become less of an open learning environment and more of a show off environment. Feedback is not often appreciated, development threads go through pages of off topic debates, and projects are named, renamed, and re-renamed. One of the inspirations behind my application is to not only help restore the Habbo Hotel server development section to the former learning environment it was to me when I first joined but to promote and excel past that milestone then see where the next rabbit takes us.

 

[Bergthor]

Since when did you have to contribute to the Habbo section to get Mod? I mean just glance your eyes at the characters who currently have Mod in that section at times I have to ask myself who the hell they are.

 

[Madison]

Since when did you have to contribute to the Habbo section to get Mod? I mean just glance your eyes at the characters who currently have Mod in that section at times I have to ask myself who the hell they are.

We prefer people are experienced in the sections they are requesting to mod. It shows a quality of caring about what they do and interest in it and Ragezone. Contributions would not have to be developments but any posts really that show they are active in the section and somewhat knowledgeable. It also gives us an insight into the person they are. We can view some of your posts for example, but if you link us something then that must have more meaning to you. Finally, there is a difference between developing and moderating in any section, and moderators do not have to be developers.

I would like to think that one day long ago I had a positive impact on Habbo, and I had no idea what it was prior to my time as a moderator there.

 

[James]

My opinion, after what happened a few years ago with RaGEZONE hotel, I would say no...

 

[TheJacob]

My opinion, after what happened a few years ago with RaGEZONE hotel, I would say no...

There are experiences in the past that I have been a part of which did not have a graceful end; those experiences are what's used to strengthen the decisions I make today. The events that transpired surrounding RaGEZONE Hotel were an error on my end. I have done everything I can to make these events transparent and apologize to the necessary people. I cannot change what has happened, but you can be sure that I can help shape what is to happen next. In my application I am not asking you to overlook those events, rather understand that it is precisely those events which strengthen the decisions I make today.

I have the experience, professionalism, commitment, and vision to help bring this section to the next milestone. I sincerely encourage you to re-evaluate your position.

 

[TheJacob]

Bumping this thread -- I am still looking to pursue this opportunity, everything I have previously stated still holds true towards my goals for the section and commitment level. In particular, this thread (unofficial open source community project) is the first of many rabbits -- that I refer to in my original application.

 

[The General]

You ran away with the money from Rage hotel. Got perma banned.

Begged MentaL to unban you so you could start a development for a C++ Habbo emulator. Eventually project dies and nothing is released.

Doesn't sound dedicated enough to me. You've literally 0% community contribution for the past 4 years.

It's a no from me.

And you only bumped this thread cos nobrain got a moderator position and you're close friends with him.

 

[TheJacob]

You ran away with the money from Rage hotel. Got perma banned ...

I am not sure where you're getting your information from since only two people were involved in the management of RaGEZONE Hotel: Muhammed ( XenoGFX) and myself. On multiple occasions I have provided thorough details surrounding the events that occurred during RaGEZONE Hotel's runtime and closure, however, the thread was deleted a few years ago and members such as yourself conveniently propagate factually incorrect details.

To clarify all propaganda; when Demon Hotel migrated to RaGEZONE Hotel I signed a 3 month contract with the dedicated server provider -- the cost per month was roughly $650.00 CAD. RaGEZONE Hotel ran for a couple weeks before my partner -- XenoGFX -- abruptly left and took a copy of the CMS, emulator, and database and founded Fatal Hotel. Before he left, I did not have a recent copy of the source code and the only copy of the database was mysteriously corrupted. Consequently, with only web development experience under my belt I became faced with a choice to scramble together the outdated emulator build I had with a fresh database and attempt to maintain its development with my limited C# language experience or close the hotel. I chose the latter; that being said, there were still 2 months of agreed upon server fees to be paid, so I used the ~$400.00 CAD that RaGEZONE Hotel generated and ~$900.00 CAD out of my own pocket to pay the rest of our contract.

The deal I made with MentaL is that if he were to promote RaGEZONE Hotel on his forum then I'd give him 50% of the profits. Seeing as there was an outstanding debt of ~$1,300.00 CAD and ~$400.00 CAD in the server's bank account I chose to use the revenue -- not profits -- generated from the server and the necessary amount of money from my pocket to cover the outstanding balance. I stick by the decision I made as it is was the logical choice.

I do not know why I was banned following the closure of RaGEZONE Hotel; I was not provided with a reason so I cannot relay that reason to you. I don't even know where to begin if I were to speculate.

** the exact figures escape me as it's been more than 5 years since this took place, however, the approximated figures are fairly accurate **

Begged MentaL to unban you so you could start a development for a C++ Habbo emulator. Eventually project dies and nothing is released.

I don't recall you being involved in the thread I posted under "account support" when I made an agreement with MentaL to unban me. To give transparency to the exact conversion:

The driving reason behind me proposing to MentaL to unban me was so I could legitimize the projects I was working on -- rather than working under multiple aliases -- and leave a legacy behind. I agreed on my end to not troll -- and to not propagate details about another member like you are doing -- and see each of my projects through. To prove that those were not words, I was one of the first members to purchase the $100.00 VIP subscription. Following that, he unbanned me.

... you only bumped this thread cos nobrain got a moderator position and you're close friends with him.

No, I bumped this thread into the pool of active applications because of the following post Shoelace made. That being said, yes I am friends with ησвяαιη, however that has no relevance to my application -- if you noticed I applied in late January and since there has been no activity on this thread in roughly a month so I bumped it.

Doesn't sound dedicated enough to me. I've literally 0% community contribution for the past 4 years. It's a no from me.

In terms of dedication, I can assure you that I am more dedicated and invested in improving the Habbo Hotel development community than yourself and many others who use it rather than contribute to it. For the vouch, that's your opinion and if you do not vouch for me then that's your choice; however, do not use my application thread as a place to present propaganda towards my history, character, and intentions when you're so misinformed.

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With all of that being said, I am well aware that this application is a long shot -- not because of the propaganda presented above -- however, the intentions are true behind it and everything I have done since I've been unbanned has been to subjectively improve the community.

 

[The General]

Any server hosting / reseller that makes you pay after each month is shenanigans. Also you can host a 1k online on a simple 8GB for under $50/month. I don't see where you get all those big numbers. $1300 is pure lie and scam.

Also MentaL himself told at the time you ran away with the money. If you had told him that you can no longer run it and had to quit it I'm sure he wouldn't have had you banned.

The driving reason behind me proposing to @MentaL to unban me was so I could legitimize the projects I was working on

What project, nothing has been released. Socket servers don't count. Your project was dead for a long time. Started on the 24th and already dead within 2 weeks: http://forum.ragezone.com/f331/project-salmon-habbo-hotel-r63b-976939/index2.html

Also you stated here that you made lots of progress (http://forum.ragezone.com/f331/project-salmon-habbo-hotel-r63b-976939-post7941791/#post7941791) tho in your eventual release it was nothing more than a socket server: http://forum.ragezone.com/f353/project-salmon-development-release-1043964/

It took you roughly a year to create a socket server and to release that claiming it was a valid Habbo Hotel emulator project.

No, you don't have any contributions and that community project shouldn't be used as an arguement as it is a community project meaning it isn't yours.

I use your application to view my opinion on your contribution and why you wether should (not) be a moderator for everyone elses input.

 

[MentaL]

You're a piece of poop and I'm way too kind letting you back here.