What does it take to become a Player Relations?

Hey Guys,

Before we begin. I want to discuss something that is relevant to this topic and can cause some controversy around the topic. And it's a fact from my point of view.
I've witnessed many PRA's hiring those who are well known, and are like really close friends. This is a problem as nowadays, there are barely any PR's online, like seriously, there are players who aren't a PRA's friend and are active and doing whatever it takes to become a PR. But some of those players don't know what it takes to becoming a PR, and I am not saying this as they don't have a good understanding and perspective of it, I am saying this as they think it's that easy to become a PR.
In this thread, I will be going over some quality possessions on becoming a PR from my past experience of being a staff on a few servers.


Maturity
This is crucial when being hired, the server doesn't want a staff member who can't understand consequences - in fact, they need people who are committed and are able to cooperate with the community like a professional. If handling a situation with no maturity and take it as a problem the players could solve themselves, like being jailed for no reason. They're looking for people that can handle these types of situations and don't muck up like a rimmage (a made-up word I use to call someone a doo-doo). They need people who are able to cooperate concisely.


Experience
Another topic to be discussed is experience, I am talking about two types of experiences in this context.
1. Experience in what it takes of becoming a PR
and
2. Game experience

Let's talk about being a staff member. You need to be able to have a familiar aspect with the Graal clientside of things, and you're familiar with the Remote Control , knowing what the function of it is. You will also need to learn the HUD of a staff member as it can be confusing -- PRA's will teach you, don't stress too much.

Now, moving onto game experience. You will need to be familiar with the game, an engaged aspect of things. If a player is requesting the location for a specific location, you will need to quickly have an answer in mind -- you can't be hesitant, you will usually need to ignore harassing players and do something about it. But other than that, you'll be required to know much about the game and how it functions, where shops/ places are, and describing jobs as a whole.


Conviviality
This is another vital quality you must have is conviviality - or the ability to cooperate easily with other players, contributing the community with ease. You are required to be able to have this quality, friendliness and affability is crucial, and it will be needed if you're scaring players easily - especially those who are under-aged and will need aid if they need it. You will need to realise this game is based of Mafia and modern era, therefore, you will have to still realise you will need to be nice to all players and staff members.


Those were three quality possessions I've been wanting to bring out to the community for a while now. I hope this helps those applicants who have applied for PR. And I wish them goodluck :D

The theme of Mafia and modern era has really nothing to do with how a PR should act, just saying

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Originally Posted by Seany

The theme of Mafia and modern era has really nothing to do with how a PR should act, just saying

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I'll just have to agree with this one lol

To me, a huge part of being a PR is knowing how to communicate effectively. You have to help players who may be a lot younger or may not speak English very well. You have to be patient in getting your point across to people who may not understand what you’re saying. And of course, you have to be mature and professional enough to not become visibly frustrated with players, even if they harass you about things. There are times where a PR might not know the answer to a question. It’s up to the PR to explain that they don’t know and to find out the answer or redirect the player to someone who can help them.

Personally, experience isn’t one of the most critical factors. Sure, some PRs might know the tiniest detail about the game, but what good is that if they can’t communitcate it? Questions like where to upgrade a gun or where to buy an item can be easily found by a PR by running around the different shops or asking another PR. It is not hard to come back to the game after a few years and quickly become familiar with where things are and what’s new. Experience with the game is important, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t see it as anywhere near as important as communication skills and maturity.

That being said, I do not think standing around start all day answering questions is an effective way to get hired. Would you rather trust someone who stands around all day or someone who actually plays the game and knows how it works to answer questions?

In regards to friends of staff members being hired as PRs - this may not be fair at all, but this is how it works in real life too. Would you rather hire someone you hardly know based off an application and a resume, or someone that was recommended by an employee who already understands the job and is familiar with how their friend interacts with other people and in similar situations?

In the real world like you said, most people looking to get a job will get a chance because they just have an application and resume, but having a recommendation is a BONUS and will raise your chances to become hired.

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Originally Posted by failure

To me, a huge part of being a PR is knowing how to communicate effectively. You have to help players who may be a lot younger or may not speak English very well. You have to be patient in getting your point across to people who may not understand what you’re saying. And of course, you have to be mature and professional enough to not become visibly frustrated with players, even if they harass you about things. There are times where a PR might not know the answer to a question. It’s up to the PR to explain that they don’t know and to find out the answer or redirect the player to someone who can help them.

Personally, experience isn’t one of the most critical factors. Sure, some PRs might know the tiniest detail about the game, but what good is that if they can’t communitcate it? Questions like where to upgrade a gun or where to buy an item can be easily found by a PR by running around the different shops or asking another PR. It is not hard to come back to the game after a few years and quickly become familiar with where things are and what’s new. Experience with the game is important, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t see it as anywhere near as important as communication skills and maturity.

That being said, I do not think standing around start all day answering questions is an effective way to get hired. Would you rather trust someone who stands around all day or someone who actually plays the game and knows how it works to answer questions?

In regards to friends of staff members being hired as PRs - this may not be fair at all, but this is how it works in real life too. Would you rather hire someone you hardly know based off an application and a resume, or someone that was recommended by an employee who already understands the job and is familiar with how their friend interacts with other people and in similar situations?

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Like I had mentioned, there are a lot of PRs that go into inactivity. Besides that, I did say there are players who are active that are willing to whatever it takes to become a PR.

I’m 18 and have played Era for 4+ yet my account has a bunch of warnings, especially hacking, glitching and forum disruption.

I can communicate easily with players, I’m mature and have plenty of experience, yet ,y application WASN’T approved.

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Originally Posted by failure

To me, a huge part of being a PR is knowing how to communicate effectively. You have to help players who may be a lot younger or may not speak English very well. You have to be patient in getting your point across to people who may not understand what you’re saying. And of course, you have to be mature and professional enough to not become visibly frustrated with players, even if they harass you about things. There are times where a PR might not know the answer to a question. It’s up to the PR to explain that they don’t know and to find out the answer or redirect the player to someone who can help them.

Personally, experience isn’t one of the most critical factors. Sure, some PRs might know the tiniest detail about the game, but what good is that if they can’t communitcate it? Questions like where to upgrade a gun or where to buy an item can be easily found by a PR by running around the different shops or asking another PR. It is not hard to come back to the game after a few years and quickly become familiar with where things are and what’s new. Experience with the game is important, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t see it as anywhere near as important as communication skills and maturity.

That being said, I do not think standing around start all day answering questions is an effective way to get hired. Would you rather trust someone who stands around all day or someone who actually plays the game and knows how it works to answer questions?

In regards to friends of staff members being hired as PRs - this may not be fair at all, but this is how it works in real life too. Would you rather hire someone you hardly know based off an application and a resume, or someone that was recommended by an employee who already understands the job and is familiar with how their friend interacts with other people and in similar situations?

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Does this mean that autistic individuals such as myself can’t be a PR?

It's not my intent to literally start a bias and saying those people can't become a PR.

I said it was just some quality possessions.

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Originally Posted by Chopsticks

I’m 18 and have played Era for 4+ yet my account has a bunch of warnings, especially hacking, glitching and forum disruption.

I can communicate easily with players, I’m mature and have plenty of experience, yet ,y application WASN’T approved.

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Does this mean that autistic individuals such as myself can’t be a PR?

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Anyone can become a PR, autistic or otherwise.

All I meant to say is that I personally place a lot of value into communication skills. I am not a PRA, but communication is what I personally think one of the most important aspects of PR work is.

I can’t speak as to why you weren’t hired. I don’t deny that you appear mature and effective at communication. While I personally place a lot of value into communication, I do not think that it is the only quality that makes an effective PR. Warnings show a history of poor behavior, maturity shows that someone would be able to withstand the kind of harassment some staff members get, etc. All together, there are probably countless qualities that would make the perfect PR, no single quality can determine if someone will be a good PR.

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Originally Posted by DanielCathcart

Like I had mentioned, there are a lot of PRs that go into inactivity. Besides that, I did say there are players who are active that are willing to whatever it takes to become a PR.

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It’s true that a lot of people become inactive and that there are more players willing to do whatever it takes to become a PR. Inactivity just sort of comes with life, everyone has a life outside of Era and I doubt anyone could do this work forever. Sometimes things in life come up, and a PR isn’t able to be on for awhile. I know a lot of people want to become a PR, and I know that it’s really difficult, but you have to find something to make yourself stand out above others. Write a good application, make it unique and not a generic sounding one that everyone else can write. Tell the truth, don’t make outrageous lies just to get hired (such as saying that you can be on for 12 hours a day everyday, it would be insane if you could actually do that).

You don’t necessarily need to be friends with them. If you communicate with a few here and there and they don’t find you sounding like you’re kissing their asses to get hired. They’ll probably recommend u

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Originally Posted by failure

Anyone can become a PR, autistic or otherwise.

All I meant to say is that I personally place a lot of value into communication skills. I am not a PRA, but communication is what I personally think one of the most important aspects of PR work is.

I can’t speak as to why you weren’t hired. I don’t deny that you appear mature and effective at communication. While I personally place a lot of value into communication, I do not think that it is the only quality that makes an effective PR. Warnings show a history of poor behavior, maturity shows that someone would be able to withstand the kind of harassment some staff members get, etc. All together, there are probably countless qualities that would make the perfect PR, no single quality can determine if someone will be a good PR.

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I understand. So, it’s likely just based off the fact that I was EXTREMELY immature and got into trouble a lot a few years back that I wasn’t hired?

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Originally Posted by Chopsticks

I understand. So, it’s likely just based off the fact that I was EXTREMELY immature and got into trouble a lot a few years back that I wasn’t hired?

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Yes, you could hardly be trusted or some memorize what you’ve done so they don’t want u in the team. You sometimes blame ur mistakes on having autism but I don’t think they’ll let u pass with that excuse if u were ever hired and broke a rule or so

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Originally Posted by failure

Tell the truth, don’t make outrageous lies just to get hired (such as saying that you can be on for 12 hours a day everyday, it would be insane if you could actually do that).

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I used to PK/play at least 10 hour a day lol

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Originally Posted by Chopsticks

I understand. So, it’s likely just based off the fact that I was EXTREMELY immature and got into trouble a lot a few years back that I wasn’t hired?

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Well, I can’t say if that was the main reason since I am not a PRA, didn’t read your application, and don’t know the exact severity of your warning history. But I wouldn’t let a bad warning history discourage anyone from applying. People change. Don’t hold me to this, but some staff members might be willing to hire people with some warns if it was a long enough time ago. Just make sure you read the requirements for the application (if it says no more than 3 warnings period, and you have 4, don’t apply. If it says no more than 2 warns in the past two years and you have three from four years ago and one from around a year ago, go ahead and apply). Just be weary that any warn history can be a bit of an obstacle, but it doesn’t totally prevent you from being hired.

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Originally Posted by imaginary

Yes, you could hardly be trusted or some memorize what you’ve done so they don’t want u in the team. You sometimes blame ur mistakes on having autism but I don’t think they’ll let u pass with that excuse if u were ever hired and broke a rule or so

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Yes I know I broke rules many years back, but I unfortunately cannot change that.

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Originally Posted by failure

Well, I can’t say if that was the main reason since I am not a PRA, didn’t read your application, and don’t know the exact severity of your warning history. But I wouldn’t let a bad warning history discourage anyone from applying. People change. Don’t hold me to this, but some staff members might be willing to hire people with some warns if it was a long enough time ago. Just make sure you read the requirements for the application (if it says no more than 3 warnings period, and you have 4, don’t apply. If it says no more than 2 warns in the past two years and you have three from four years ago and one from around a year ago, go ahead and apply). Just be weary that any warn history can be a bit of an obstacle, but it doesn’t totally prevent you from being hired.

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Thank you for that reassurance. I sincerely hope that a staff member will let me on the team one day.

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Originally Posted by imaginary

I used to PK/play at least 10 hour a day lol

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Everyday? Including during the school year and stuff?

This actually brings up another point for me: being able to multitask and juggle responsibilities is important too. PRs should be able to juggle different situations with different players at the same time. I think it’s important to find a balance between working as a PR and handling real life responsibilities too. I would much rather prefer someone who can juggle different things at a time to someone who devotes all of their time to graal. What happens if something more important comes upon life? They might not be able to find a balance and their PR work could suffer greatly as they get distracted with other issues. (I’m not saying you’d be a bad PR if you spend that much time on graal, I just think it’s important to know how to balance things, please dont get offended or hate me)

Simply being active and having no experience or an idea about the game being bad at what you are doing requirements of prs now days updated


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I forgot which house was it but I think it's either Junz's public House or Ben's public House in it there's a room that shows the requirements of PRs, also in Ben's house there's a really cool "Gun testing area" where you can view a limited amount of guns being used.

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Originally Posted by failure

Everyday? Including during the school year and stuff?

This actually brings up another point for me: being able to multitask and juggle responsibilities is important too. PRs should be able to juggle different situations with different players at the same time. I think it’s important to find a balance between working as a PR and handling real life responsibilities too. I would much rather prefer someone who can juggle different things at a time to someone who devotes all of their time to graal. What happens if something more important comes upon life? They might not be able to find a balance and their PR work could suffer greatly as they get distracted with other issues. (I’m not saying you’d be a bad PR if you spend that much time on graal, I just think it’s important to know how to balance things, please dont get offended or hate me)

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Yes but in school days I played less cuz I was too busy sleeping all day zzz
I think balancing graal and real life isn’t that hard. It’s clearly fine for prs not to log every single day.
2 hours a day sounds ok but if you’re too busy w school or uni you can resign until you’re done

Read Zany thread I believe her name is


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Originally Posted by failure

But I wouldn?t let a bad warning history discourage anyone from applying. People change. Don?t hold me to this, but some staff members might be willing to hire people with some warns if it was a long enough time ago.

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There is hope for margadosh.

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Originally Posted by Bulletzone

There is hope for margadosh.

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My warning for using gas launcher ruined all my chances man :(

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Originally Posted by imaginary

My warning for using gas launcher ruined all my chances man :(

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That's F up man warned for using a gun you EARNT

Along with a lot of the great and extremely accurate points failure made, I think one more extremely important value would be extreme patience and thick skin. PR is admittedly the hardest staff job which is contrary to what many players think; after all, they just sit at start, answer pms, and do reports. The thing is, the job is extremely intense.

High expectations and many generalizations are put on PRs, practically setting them up for failure. You?re not seen as human, just an answer machine who does as they?re told. If one PR or staff does something wrong or is abusive, so are you. So all it takes is a player not getting what they want before you?re considered no more than dirt. You can?t take it to heart (I?m very sensitive and anxious so I struggled with that for a bit, but it?s more so the idea that people think it?s okay to treat another like that that bothers me) or else you show weakness and it?s used against you. While hosting events, PRs sometimes get absolutely tormented. My second time hosting, I messed up, and got cursed out and threatened to no ends. But through things like that, threats to do this and that, angry players that don?t think they should?ve been gagged or warned, and bandwagons, you have to stay calm and collected. You can?t react or else things get worse. And trust me, in many situations, that takes all the self restraint you have. There are times when you have to handle heavy harassment while dealing with reports, lots of pms, uploads, questions, among other various things that come with those duties. And you can?t let your human-ness show through or it is used against you.

That goes with maturity. Not retaliating, not talking back, not indulging, not arguing, not punishing out of spite- you need to have self control and extreme maturity, a good sense of right from wrong, and appropriate reaction from inappropriate reaction.

Patience also goes with acceptance. Bias isn’t an option; you have to respect every player who talks to you. They may treat you like garbage but you still must respond with respect. You can’t get angry at a player who doesn’t respond right away, or doesn’t understand what you’re saying or explaining, or spams you. You can’t be impatient with someone who may be more sensitive, new, or from a country apart from your own. You can’t generalize players racially, culturally, or by experience.

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Originally Posted by Zany

Along with a lot of the great and extremely accurate points failure made, I think one more extremely important value would be extreme patience and thick skin. PR is admittedly the hardest staff job which is contrary to what many players think; after all, they just sit at start, answer pms, and do reports. The thing is, the job is extremely intense.

High expectations and many generalizations are put on PRs, practically setting them up for failure. You?re not seen as human, just an answer machine who does as they?re told. If one PR or staff does something wrong or is abusive, so are you. So all it takes is a player not getting what they want before you?re considered no more than dirt. You can?t take it to heart (I?m very sensitive and anxious so I struggled with that for a bit, but it?s more so the idea that people think it?s okay to treat another like that that bothers me) or else you show weakness and it?s used against you. While hosting events, PRs sometimes get absolutely tormented. My second time hosting, I messed up, and got cursed out and threatened to no ends. But through things like that, threats to do this and that, angry players that don?t think they should?ve been gagged or warned, and bandwagons, you have to stay calm and collected. You can?t react or else things get worse. And trust me, in many situations, that takes all the self restraint you have. There are times when you have to handle heavy harassment while dealing with reports, lots of pms, uploads, questions, among other various things that come with those duties. And you can?t let your human-ness show through or it is used against you.

That goes with maturity. Not retaliating, not talking back, not indulging, not arguing, not punishing out of spite- you need to have self control and extreme maturity, a good sense of right from wrong, and appropriate reaction from inappropriate reaction.

Patience also goes with acceptance. Bias isn’t an option; you have to respect every player who talks to you. They may treat you like garbage but you still must respond with respect. You can’t get angry at a player who doesn’t respond right away, or doesn’t understand what you’re saying or explaining, or spams you. You can’t be impatient with someone who may be more sensitive, new, or from a country apart from your own. You can’t generalize players racially, culturally, or by experience.

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PR Isn't the hardest staff role lol you just sit there on start or on astro on stealth and wait for players to swear to gag, ignore 80% of the events/harassment pms and ignore the question pms aswell, being inactive is part of that role

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Originally Posted by Prancer

PR Isn't the hardest staff role lol you just sit there on start or on astro on stealth and wait for players to swear to gag, ignore 80% of the events/harassment pms and ignore the question pms aswell, being inactive is part of that role

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If a PRs job isnt hard then they arent doing it properly.
Era's standard of PRs is way too low, however it seems to find a way of getting rid of every good PR its had.
once the standard of PRs has increased im sure the communities opinion will differ

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Originally Posted by Casey

If a PRs job isnt hard then they arent doing it properly.
Era's standard of PRs is way too low, however it seems to find a way of getting rid of every good PR its had.
once the standard of PRs has increased im sure the communities opinion will differ

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Lol it isn’t hard

Lol i am mad at myself for starting this thread

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Originally Posted by DanielCathcart

Lol i am mad at myself for starting this thread

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It’s ok

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Originally Posted by Casey

If a PRs job isnt hard then they arent doing it properly.
Era's standard of PRs is way too low, however it seems to find a way of getting rid of every good PR its had.
once the standard of PRs has increased im sure the communities opinion will differ

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Just like cancer


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Originally Posted by Beo

Just like cancer


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No u

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Originally Posted by imaginary

No u

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No its graal era


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Originally Posted by Prancer

PR Isn't the hardest staff role lol you just sit there on start or on astro on stealth and wait for players to swear to gag, ignore 80% of the events/harassment pms and ignore the question pms aswell, being inactive is part of that role

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I'd probably say in the long run, being a PR is the hardest staff role.

Let us be honest: You're doing reports; checking uploads; responding to PM's, receiving abuse and possibly hosting events "everyday".
Doing the same tasks everyday with the same zeal would be close to impossible (yet lux somehow does it, nub), so in the long run that's why I say being a PR is hard.
With development, you're constantly making something new so in the long run it wouldn't be as dull in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by Bulletzone

I'd probably say in the long run, being a PR is the hardest staff role.

Let us be honest: You're doing reports; checking uploads; responding to PM's, receiving abuse and possibly hosting events "everyday".
Doing the same tasks everyday with the same zeal would be close to impossible (yet lux somehow does it, nub), so in the long run that's why I say being a PR is hard.
With development, you're constantly making something new so in the long run it wouldn't be as dull in my opinion.

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Nah **** that it’s easy af if you’re too sensitive you’ll find it hard but y’all should expect stupid msgs or seeing people say mean stuff cuz you’re a pr u kno? You’re supposed to catch their asses

Gani’ing is a pain in the ***

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Originally Posted by imaginary

Nah **** that it’s easy af if you’re too sensitive you’ll find it hard but y’all should expect stupid msgs or seeing people say mean stuff cuz you’re a pr u kno? You’re supposed to catch their asses

Gani’ing is a pain in the ***

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Lat is the easiest

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Originally Posted by kaz210

Lat is the easiest

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It's not a matter of which is easiest, it's a matter of how well you do your job.

its easy to do the minimal amount of work a PR has to do to keep their job, however if thats what you are striving for then you shouldnt be a member of the staff team. to do your work properly and effectively, which includes maintaining PR duties (reports and uploads), engaging with players and assisting players individually, whilst also maintaining good relations with the playerbase and being a role model for new and existing players takes effort and hard work. its easy to call the job of a PR easy when you have minimal PRs that are doing their job properly.

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Originally Posted by imaginary

Nah **** that it?s easy af if you?re too sensitive you?ll find it hard but y?all should expect stupid msgs or seeing people say mean stuff cuz you?re a pr u kno? You?re supposed to catch their asses

Gani?ing is a pain in the ***

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^ Most staff resign due the harassment and how 'stressing' the role is but I don't see that at all, just suck the harassment up and ACTUALLY ignore the pms, your job is to keep the area clean and family friendly not ingage in feelings with PMS

as for development roles, it's not that simple, sure you're doing something new everyday but that doesn't mean it's easy, sometimes you some tasks that can tear that "fun" feeling when you're working and when something goes wrong and your level or ganis delete themselves how are you gonna recover a nice decorated level or a 30+ frame gani, unlike PRs our stuff doesn't stay if it's lost

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Originally Posted by imaginary

Nah **** that it’s easy af, if you’re too sensitive you’ll find it hard but, y’all should expect stupid msgs or seeing people say mean stuff cuz you’re a pr u kno? You’re supposed to catch their asses

Gani’ing is a pain in the ***

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Apparently Gani'ing is a lot easier online than offline but yeah I agree, it took me 6 hours to make a full gun gani in different directions.

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Originally Posted by kaz210

Lat is the easiest

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To learn? Yeah
To master? No

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Originally Posted by Gabipants

It's not a matter of which is easiest, it's a matter of how well you do your job.

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Agreed.
Provided you actually do your job...