20 replies to this topic

[Taco Chopper]

Hi everyone, just a few updates and announcements heading into the second half of the year. Hope all is well!

Fall 2025 Expo touchbase
2025 has been a big year so far for contests and events on PureZC! While Screenshot of the Week continues to roll on, the return of Quest Club, Screen Rebirth and the 64 Quest Contest have proven to have had great turnout and engagement - I believe the 64 Quest Contest had the highest number of participants in an "official" PureZC quest contest in at least ten years! There will also be an upcoming contest announcement in the coming days as well - I wonder what the theme will be?
All that said, PureZC staff are curious how the broader community would feel about a Fall Expo occurring again this year; a rough timeframe would ideally see it happening late September to mid October. That said, we are also conscious of how many site-wide events will be taking place between now and the end of the year. We'd love to see what you think; either in a response in this thread, or alternatively by voting in the poll above.

Staffing movements and hiring
To shift to a more downbeat note, we would like to acknowledge staffing movements over the last few months. Jenny and Rambly have both stepped down in their roles as moderators, and the staff thank them for their contributions to PureZC in their time on the team. Additionally, Matthew has also retired; his commitment to the community over the last two years as both a moderator, and then as an Administrator, deserves to be recognised.
 
That said, we are again looking for at least two members to join our moderating team! As for what a moderator's role would be, here's what I wrote six months ago _{^{(deja vu, spooky)}}:
You'll be responsible for overseeing member interactions across the forums and Discord server. This includes reviewing reports, handling member disputes, corresponding with members, and issuing actions for rule violations. You'll also be responsible for the database as well, which includes processing and approving submissions, as well as moderating any interactions in the reviews, ratings and comment sections of the database. The ideal applicant should be able to demonstrate the following as well:

• Technical skills: being able to use the forum and Discord platforms, and having an understanding of PureZC's policies and guidelines,
• Communication skills: being able to effectively moderate through clear and concise messages and being responsive to members' queries or complaints.
• Personal skills: patience, dedication, empathy, objectivity, fairness, as well as initiative. These are qualities of a moderator who is able to handle high-pressure situations, handle conflict with diplomacy, foster a positive dynamic in the community, and also be able to offer ideas on how best to improve and develop the PureZC community at large.

If you are interested, you can send a private message to me on the forums or Discord - whatever is easiest for you! You can say whatever you want in your application, and please don't be afraid to share any strengths or positive qualities you may have! Here is an optional list of questions that you can answer to help out with your application:

Optional Application Questions

• What motivated you to apply for the moderator position?
• What strengths would you personally bring to the staff team?
• What strategies would you use to promote a positive and supportive community atmosphere?
• What positive impacts would you aspire to bring to the community as a staff member?

With all that said, applications for staff positions will be open until Thursday, July 31st at 11:59 pm EDT. The administration team of Russ, David and myself will review all incoming applications, and will make our decisions after a few days. Best of luck to everyone who is keen, and we can't wait to see your applications!
 
Social Media
If you read the Monthly Updates, you may have noticed that PureZC is now on Bluesky! We're currently assessing what social media outlets are worth posting on in 2025; we currently have access to the Facebook page once more (thank you The Satellite!), but we're curious as to what you think would be worthwhile to post and upkeep a presence on. YouTube shorts? Tik Tok? MySpace? Bebo? 
 
If there's any particular sort of content you would like to see shared on these platforms too, please reach out. _{^{I do not like social media and the more satirical I can make it the better}}
 
With all that said, thank you for taking the time to read through this announcement. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.

[Rambly]

I'm almost certainly going to take part in the Expo this year - the timing is such that I might even have two things to show off: One fully finished project (!) and a progress update on another project. (No demo, unfortunately, unless I end up way ahead of schedule and the expo is in October, but I wouldn't hold my breath.)

[Moon]

Mid-October sounds like an ideal expo timing if it does end up happening this year.

I definitely won't have anything of my own to show, but depending on how things go an AS project might show up there.

 

Also using YouTube to cover event entries is the main use I could see for it imo. Whether that's contests, expos or quest club.

[Cobgoblin]

As a first in my... oh god, 19 years floating around here, I think I'll actually have something for this expo! Mid-October sounds great. I'd give my current project a... I dunno 50% chance that it's done enough by then.

Edited by Cobgoblin, 15 July 2025 - 06:34 PM.

[Haylee]

Those who'd participate in an expo, I'm excited to see what you might have to produce! I doubt I'd have anything to show for an expo this year, as my big release was last year, and I'd need to be ultra proactive if I have anything to show for this year.

 

Oh actually! What Jenny said, some kind of compilation on youtube could be nice. If you need someone willing to record footage (And even edit, as that's something I've been learning), I'd be down.

[Taco Chopper]

Bumping this to let everyone know that moderator applications close in a few days! I'll be posting in here again when the deadline passes.

[ShadowTiger]

Bumping this to let everyone know that moderator applications close in a few days! I'll be posting in here again when the deadline passes.

I'm excited to hear about the new picks when they get announced!

 

Pouring one out for Matthew.  He is a good bean, and will be missed.  

[Jared]

I'd love to see more posting on facebook, I see the last post was in 2018. Perhaps add some more mods that can add daily posts and polls, etc?

[Hergiswi]

do we actually have new staff

[Russ]

Hey, we wanted to give an update on the staff hiring process.

 

While the window for mod hiring was open, the staff team ended up having an internal discussion about the role of moderators in the community. This has led to some discussion, still ongoing, about retooling the moderator rule, and we're currently hashing out what exactly that looks like. As we don't want to bring in new moderators only to change up the rules on them a week or so later, we're holding off on finalizing any hiring decisions until we've finished this project up.

[Deedee]

do we actually have new staff

I'd like to introduce our two new moderators, PureGPT and Grokendorf. Powered by the amazing tool that is generative AI, these two moderators will help moderation be smooth, swift and fair. Please feel free to ask them questions such as: "How many Z's are in PureZC", and "When is the next ZQuest version coming out"!

[Hergiswi]

I'd like to introduce our two new moderators, PureGPT and Grokendorf. Powered by the amazing tool that is generative AI, these two moderators will help moderation be smooth, swift and fair. Please feel free to ask them questions such as: "How many Z's are in PureZC", and "When is the next ZQuest version coming out"!

puregpt told me this

i think it's fair to say this new moderation is working quite well

[The Satellite]

"i asked puregpt" "i asked grokendorf" yeah well I asked testor dudzer and he said "i de stumpid testor dudzer!"

[Hergiswi]

so not to be annoying but is this mod discussion still ongoing? what kind of retooling of this role are we talking about? are the people who applied going to have to reapply after the role has been adjusted?

[David]

Hey, no worries at all about asking! The conversation around the moderator role (and the staff team in general) is still ongoing. The staff team (both admins and moderators) will be meeting soon, either in a call or a structured chat, to review and clarify the expectations of the roles, refine how we approach decision-making, and discuss how we want to function collectively as a team.

 

The admins felt this was an important step because over the past year we’ve seen some turnover and several instances of burnout within staff. Before we bring new moderators on board, we want to make sure the role is clearly defined, sustainable, and supportive of both individual moderators and the team as a whole, as Russ has mentioned. Once we’ve finalized some decisions, we’ll be putting out an announcement with more details.

 

Everyone who has applied has already been contacted individually and will continue to receive updates from the staff team as we move forward. And no, no one will be asked to reapply for the position.

 

I hope that clears some things up but let us know if you’d like us to elaborate on anything further.