Tech Administrators

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TECH ADMINISTRATORS


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Staff Member: Belazor et Britannia
A.K.A.: Belz
Location: Scotland
Staff Position: Technical Administrator
Joined Site: June 16th, 2006
Joined Staff: June 16th, 2006
Contact: Twitter | Homepage
Staff History: Belazor joined staff pretty much the same day he joined the forum, after being asked by the original owner (Darkblade) to assist with programming duties around the place. After a few years as Technical Admin, he left to pursue other ventures.

Bio: Born 1986, Belazor can be found online most of the time, either working, watching some of his legally purchased video content, or playing games.

Fun Facts: Some say he is one silver wig and one replica katana away from being a living Sephiroth clone. And that he never deletes anything sent to him, ever. All we know is, he's called The Belz.

Interests/Hobbies: Programming, gaming, music, movies, TV shows, driving

Approachability: If the problem is adequately described, and not just "it doesn't work", he will listen and assist to the best of his abilities. He's also always open for a regular chat, non-work related.

Favorite FF: Final Fantasy VII
-What made you decide to become a staff member here, and why do you stay?
I got asked to help out with technical things when the forum was first created, and that's what I'm doing to this day.

-Do you find it easy to work with your fellow team members? You may give specific names and examples.
I do. I've built up a very good rapport with Mammy Mitsuki and Evil McKirabibbles. They are both fantastic staff members that I feel make the forum what it is today with their enthusiasm and continued involvement. That's not to say the rest of the staff are a bunch of ne'er-do-good'ers, but I don't interact with them as much as I do those two, so I don't notice everything they do around the forum.

-What are some challenges you face (or have faced) as a staff member?
When my opinions clash with the decisions made by the other staffers. In the past, there was an aura of superiority the other staff members felt towards me, because I was "just a Tech Admin, not a real admin". This led to them apparently feeling like they could dismiss everything I said and make me no part in the way the forum was ran.
Anyone that's ever worked in an area with a supervisor knows the difference between "shut the fuck up and do what I tell you to, you filthy peasant" and "hey, could you sort this out for me please?"
Anyway, back to current day: If the staff takes some course of action I strongly disagree with, clashing of two hot heads can happen. It's all good, though.

-What are some key improvements you've noticed about our current staff team and administration?
The fact that there aren't cliques. For those of you that weren't around a few years ago, the staff used to be, in essence, high school. You had one group of people here, another there, and they hateed/gossiped about each other constantly. It was a toxic environment that I'm quite shocked didn't cause a total meltdown of the entire forum. I wasn't around for the actual transition to the current administration, so I can't comment on who's to thank for saving the forum, but I was pretty surprised nonetheless. Far too many forums simply crumble when the staff can't work together, yet FFF endured.
There is nothing of the sort in the current staff. They might not all be super close friends with each other, but the fact that the staff can not only work together but have close friends in the member base and not have it compromise their integrity really goes to show the stark contrast to the previous team.

-In your opinion, what are the most important positive qualities of this forum?
The fact that, as I briefly touched on above, it seems impossible to kill the site. Bad staff breakups, the general decline of Final Fantasy's importance on the RPG market as a whole, etc... All of these things would kill all but the most tenacious fansites. It's only through the combined efforts of the staff and the long-time members that the site has stayed alive and shows no signs of sounding its death-knell.

-Describe a typical (or memorable) day in the job. What do you find most enjoyable about your job?
Should I highlight all the times Mits broke the forum and didn't even have the courtesy to say "hello" before complaining to me about it?
Nah but in all seriousness though, most days I just hang out in the Shoutbox.

-In the time that you have been a member here how much have things changed?
Since I really only see the bigger picture, not involving myself too deeply in the day-to-day workings nor do I post a lot, I can only refer to the Key Improvements question.

-Outside FFF, what do you like to do during your free time?
Watch gaming videos on YouTube, play some games of my own, listen to music, watch movies or TV shows, or driving about.

-What's the best thing that's happened to you so far while staying here at FFF?
I've met a few of my closest friends through FFF. Some I fell out of touch with over the years, and some are still with me to this day.

-FFF uses most of its features / products from your company DragonByte Tech, for free. Can you tell us a bit more about this and why you do this for the site?
When we started DragonByte Technologies, one of the most frequent pieces of feedback we received was "how does this mod run on an actual site?" so when Lord Golbez was in the market for a new host and an upgrade to vBulletin 4.x, we thought this would be a perfect opportunity to help each other out. We assisted with the upgrade, let the forum use the full version of our mods free of charge, and handle server administration, in return he pays to have the site hosted on our server.
This means we get to collect data on how our modifications perform in real-world scenarios, and the forum receives awesome benefits that would have cost hundreds of dollars otherwise.

-How do you usually deal with the demands / requests from both members and staff? Any challenges?
Some of the time, the requests either can't be done, or simply take up too much time for it to be possible for me to complete them. Most of the time, if it's just a simple fix or change, I'll do it there and then.
 
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