Room Owner Interview: Cranham
| « Previous Article | Home | Next Article » |
Introduction
Welcome to the first edition of the Room Owner Interviews, where we will be meeting Cranham, one of the three room Owners of Wi-Fi, the largest and most popular non-official room on PS! The Wi-Fi room is dedicated for in-game cartridge trading. Keep in mind that not every room Owner is able to achieve the feat of being interviewed for The Player, so what makes Cranham so special? Well, for one, he also owns the private Breeding room—a subdivision of the Wi-Fi room dedicated for discussion regarding in-game breeding. He also manages the Scammers List, a compilation of users that have been confirmed to scam other users during in-game trades by trading hacked Pokémon, lying about IVs, and so on. Additionally, he is one of the staff members most involved in room policy, meaning that he helps keep everything in check, from rules to the prevention of hacked Pokémon in circulation. Furthermore, he receives nothing but positive feedback from his room staff, as seen below.
So what do users really think of Cranham?
"I just think he's a very loyal person in general," stated room/global Driver, Skitty. "Thanks to him, I don't have to live in fear of hacked Pokémon being traded to me without my noticing," said retired room Moderator, Hairy Toenail. "When he first got room Voice, I had no idea that he would ever become a room Owner, but I'm glad that he did," said long-time room Driver, joethemaster.
I woke up to the ring of my cell phone at 11:41 AM, an incredibly indecent hour of the day. I got up and picked up the phone, unbeknownst as to who would call at such an ungodly hour. From the other side of the line, a deep, masculine voice tinted with a hint of homosexuality said to me, "xzern, your next assignment is in England, 6969 Great Britain Drive." I knew within a split second that the man on the other side of the line was none other than Antemortem, one of the staff members for The Player. This was important. Not wanting to waste time, I hung up the phone, quickly put on my jeans and my Smogon T-shirt, grabbed a meager four cups of coffee, and hurried out the door.
After countless hours of being held up at the airport, I rolled up to a clean, pristine apartment building. When I walked into Cranham's apartment, I was in complete shock. The room was littered with British flags, crumpets, and paintings of old British kings, every single last one of them depicted sporting a less-than-desirable hairstyle. After a few minutes, I noticed a man who seemed very engaged in his 3DS sitting behind a desk. I would later find out that he had been struggling to breed a 6IV shiny Dratini.
Hey, you must be Cranham! Thanks for meeting me today.
Hello! Not a problem.
I took a seat in a firm leather office chair in front of his desk. I noticed a strange species of cactus lying in a pot next to the chair, but I paid it no attention. There were more important matters to attend to.
Tell us a little bit about yourself. When did you first hear of PS? How did you come along joining?
I first met PS! when browsing for online Pokémon simulators and I remembered Shoddy Battle from back in the day and heard about it on Smogon forums, so I tried competitive battling back in April 2013 on the simulator. I really got more involved in PS! after XY when I heard about the Wi-Fi room for trading Pokémon.
Speaking of the Wi-Fi room, what drew you to it? What made you want to stay long enough to become a room Owner?
To be fair, I never really expected to get Wi-Fi room Owner, I was just really interested in the room from the beginning because I used to trade a lot. Then, I really just sort of got much more involved and interested in the room. What made me stay was the environment of the room and how I got involved in it. As soon as I got staff, I just wanted to make it the best environment for trading as I possibly could.
What would you say are some of the responsibilities of being an RO? Is there anything you wish you could change?
Some of the main responsibilities of being an RO mostly include room policy and how the room is run, making sure that's kept in check. Other responsibilities I have personally with Wi-Fi is managing new proposed ideas among the staff and fixing any issues that may occur in the room. Also, I feel that an RO should be someone who cares about their room, the person who's mostly involved with the room and what literally keeps the room together. If there's one thing I wish I could change, that's really difficult for me; I'm honestly rather content with how things are currently, but I feel there's always room for improvement for anything.
I glanced back at a shelf in the corner of the room that featured every British film since 1997 redone in Blu-Ray. I wondered if all British people were like this. Probably.
What kind of advice would you give to those who would want to learn how to be a good user and move up in Wi-Fi?
The best advice, I feel, for any user that wants to get involved with Wi-Fi is to always be themselves to show positive contribution in the chat. Honestly, it took me a while to learn how to be a good user on PS!, but if you show the dedication and show you are a positive person, you would soon move up in Wi-Fi.
What would you say dictates "positive contribution" in Wi-Fi?
Casually helping out users who have common questions about the room or anything they may ask; that's probably the easiest way of being noticed by staff members. Also being a level-headed member of the chat, showing maturity at all times are all positive traits that we look out for.
What other rooms are you involved with on PS!, if any?
Aside from Wi-Fi, I also own the Breeding room, which is a private room (type "/join breeding" in PS! to join the room), being a subsection of Wi-Fi which closely discusses the in-game mechanics of breeding and to help users with their breeding projects. Aside from that, I'm a staff member of the Battle Spot room and the Free Time room, I'm also a room Voice in the Tournaments room, where I help out by approving tournaments.
What can you tell me about the staff members of Wi-Fi? From what I've heard, they are very hard-working and dedicated.
Yeah, I believe that is true, haha. Even when I first joined Wi-Fi and I was a regular user myself, I can say those staff members were honestly so good as room staff; they seemed to help you with anything you asked. Most of the older staff seem to be really dedicated to the room, as they've stuck to it for such a long time. Recently, we've obtained a lot of newer staff. I honestly feel there is a lot of hope for them.
Are there any other room Owners or room/global staff that you look up to or admire?
Honestly, I do have a few of them. I really look up to some people. One of them is Darnell. Before he resigned, he was both global Mod and room Owner; he was probably one of my favorite staff members ever and was definitely such a great person. Some others are Spydreigon and Angeela, who I've known for so long as room staff and have gotten to know them really well. Most importantly, I'd like to give a special mention to Anto, as she is an amazing friend and was probably one of the best moderators Wi-Fi ever had, but personally I feel that all of the staff are great.
My phone rang; the caller ID read "bae."
Interesting. Well, unfortunately, we're out of time; tomorrow is my date with Redew's girlfriend. Thanks for letting me interview you!
Not a problem at all, and thanks for interviewing me!
I hurried out the door and back to the airport. Hopefully the plane wouldn't be delayed because of the ongoing heron mating season.
| « Previous Article | Home | Next Article » |