Would a person who's been on the server since 2013, versed with things all around the server and friends with a good bit of the community be a good applicant for staff?
It depends. Being versed in all things on the server doesn't mean that a person is particularly helpful in general. I think it's more important to be helpful to other community members than being friends with a lot of people. Making reports, gathering evidence, helping new players, being welcoming to people is in my opinion more important than being popular.
