Ah, but as vague trends have shown, the more one doesn't want (i.e. openly express) the desire to become staff, the more likely said individual will attain such a status! In all honesty, positions of power on ZD have always seemed to have an allure...quite the enigma.... Anywho, onto my thoughts!
My mood hasn't been the best as of late due to various reasons, but I suppose things haven't been too bad. I have a few games that I'm occupied with, so I guess that's a relief at this time!
Being staff is a lot harder/more stressful than it sounds. Lots of people want to be staff, but I think most of the time it's an ego thing. Occasionally it's wanting to better the site (which is why people actually get promoted), but everyone (yeah, everyone) has had a period where they thought "man, it'd be cool to be staff and be important on the site and stuff". I had those moments, as did others. I still have moments of regret after resigning, but they are almost entirely based in that "it was sort of cool" mindset, one which I don't think should ever be your basis for being staff. When I first became staff, and the entire time I was staff, I was more focused on helping the site, which is really what you need.
The reason why there is a trend of banned members getting promoted is actually explainable if you think about why people are often banned. Many times, it's a result of frustration from not being able to do anything. A lot of Loz and Seth's various infractions were due to speaking against staff members--my ban was for sending PMs to members that I felt were not being dealt with, and this aggravated me, Kitsu's ban was due to an exploit that he actually helped fix. But it really isn't all puppies and rainbows (or as SMS says, 'candies and roses'). It's very stressful, and the more you want to change things, the more opposition you will get. Even if you are in the right, and are supported by the majority, you will receive opposition. If you are in the right but only supported by a minority, it's even more opposition. Sometimes, when you do things wrong, you actually don't get as much opposition as when you do things right, which can cloud your view of right/wrong.
I applaud the staff members who have been here for so long and have not resigned. But, I think that also has lead to a lot of apathy. The stress of having people attack you makes you feel like doing nothing, which is I think a large part of why Locke had his periods of inactivity (which of course lead to his resignation over time), and why Djinn has also had his inactive times (which has picked up as of late).
Anyway, don't wish to be staff any more than you 'wish' to help at the soup kitchen. It's a serious amount of work, and it's entirely volunteer work. You should only do it to help, and
nothing more. If helping is not your primary motivation, you should not be staff.
My two cents, at least.