WHAT AN ADMIN EXPECTS, as written by tallsie

expect (v) - To consider obligatory; require

i have been staffing and creating sites since i started rping. my first site was a very old v2 proboards site with tribes instead of clans. i remember vividly one of the characters got run over by a car and died in a thread of mine. i read it to my parents and they did not understand my fascination with these forums. i was about eight years old.

my first warriors book was #2, and i didn't understand anything so i waited to buy #1. having always wanted a cat, i was instantly drawn into the depth and courage these characters possessed, their family structure, and firepaw's relentless struggle to prove himself. i don't remember when i finished the first series, but it must have been about a year later. i continued to read then through middle school and high school. a friend of mine in my carpool also read them, but when i tried to talk to her about the forums i found, she acted disinterested.

the first warriors rp i ever staffed on was called clans of the forest. it has since died, but you can still see my posts as windy and flitty with my character windstar of shadowclan. thinking i was too powerful for my britches, i was kicked out of leadership. i left the site but returned a few months later. as a child, i would have to tiptoe down the stairs at 5 in the morning just to rp, as i did not have a computer back then. cotf was one of my most beloved sites.

my next rp, which i also staffed on, was in the shadows, or itS. it was the first site where i had severe issues with the admin and members. i joined when it opened and was made moderator. i played a depressed cat named grayfur who lost his mate, cloudystar, to a rogue named axel (also played by me). clo, the rper of cloudy, and i were very, very close, the way smally and i are now. she was my first best friend on a warriors site. however, when a girl named frozen joined, things changed. threatened by my friendship with the staff, i was made a scapegoat, banned and unbanned, and finally thrown off the site altogether. i was ravenged by hate for years after that, and i still have not forgiven what i went through.

after its, i moved myself over to hidden clans, a huge and successful warriors site at the time. i was made mountainclan leader with grayfur, who had since become quite evil after being exiled from riverclan. i became extraordinarily mean over my issues at its and acquired a violent and negative reputation that stayed with me for a long time.

after HC, i traveled the warriors globe looking for sites to join, when i stumbled upon warriors saga, another very successful site. i met smallclaw who is now my best friend. going by the name of russia, i went undiscovered until a girl named foxxeh, someone i had clashed with on a previous site, found out who i was and spread blackmail about me. having been friends with foxxeh first, smally was hesitant to believe my side of the story, but found it unsettling when drama began over me and her. the site became divided, but regrouped after foxxeh was banned from the cbox after a fight with smalls.

i would move onto sites such as miss your embrace, a human genre rpg i co-owned with my friend feather, the creator of the famous warriors rpg, chaos. my ideals about rpg management would clash with the community and i was pushed off the site, stalked (literally) for three years until i discontinued human rping altogether.

by the time i arrived back to warriors, ws was in shambles and the community had taken a nosedive, which is where we are today. my experiences running sites, administrating, and working with people have not been positive. i've been challenged, insulted, and mocked for my conservative views on warriors rping and rping in general. i have been kicked off of sites for my radical attempts at turning a dying situation around, banned for my overly creative and dramatic characters, and hated for my contempt for people who take this hobby with a grain of salt. however, gossamer is my redemption, a place where i can bring what i love back to the surface, to reshape the community that needs a loving hand.i hope to do this, and i hope that, you, my loving members of gossamer, will help me in my endeavor.  

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my staffing ideals have often conflicted with the community's. for me, warriors was always about the community, the people, and my devotion to them. you did what you had to do to get online, post, and talk to people. as it became more and more about posting, i felt myself defeated, drifting away and unwilling to work. i think that's what happens to a lot of people. however, i miss the competitive, the meaningful, and the strengthening aspect rping has given me and many others. to write a 1k post, to describe something i such detail you can touch it, is an experience to be had.

based on my love for warriors and the people who make rping possible, i have made a small list of things most admins of my time expect from their current members, and the lessons they wish to teach this younger generation of rpers.

an admin expects . . .

members who want to be here, who have a passion for writing, and want to use the site as a means of creative freedom, expression, and character development

an admin expects  . . .

for you to get online whenever you can, however you can, as often as you can, to see your friends, meet new people, and read what updates the site has made. for you to be enriched in the strength and achievement of the forum, and to see it blossom through your contributions

an admin expects  . . . 

for your love for warriors and writing to be as strong as theirs, for your plots to intertwine, mingle, and bond the both of you as partners and as friends. for you to strive to be better than those who are excellent at their craft, to always aim for more.

an admin expects  . . .

your love, adoration, and relentless loyalty to the site, its people, and the plots you have created. activity comes with passion, and you should want to be here because it is your home, because it is where you belong.