My ideal community manager

Noiserating
Noiserating Member Posts: 194 ✭✭✭✭
edited March 2022 in Off Topic Discussion

To put it simply, community managers are the player-facing component of a game studio. 

They are the mouthpiece of the community, acting as both a conduit for feedback between the players and the developers of a game, as well as deciding on the messaging of updates, patches, and general brand communications. It’s a community manager’s mission to grow a community, make it the best place it can possibly be, and ensure their voice is heard by the wider development team.

Something that is present in nearly all community management jobs is, you guessed it, managing the company’s community. But what does that actually mean? Well, your players want to feel connected to the game they’re playing, as well as the team behind it. They want the option to meet other players, discuss the game, suggest updates, air grievances, feel part of something — they want a community.

It’ll be the role of the community manager to make it an enjoyable place to be, from moderating it to be free of nasty characters to community-focused initiatives like game nights, fun events like costume competitions, or anything else that brings players closer to the in-game world.

Madeleine Gray, Senior Community Manager at Brace Yourself Games, counts the following as her primary responsibilities:

  • Player support and moderation

  • Content creation and engagement

  • Influencer outreach/relations and press

  • Platform management, sales, and marketing

  • Website management and patch notes

  • Feedback, reporting, and analytics

  • Events! (whenever those start up again)

Monitoring community feedback is a key part of the job. If an update that the devs push receives predominantly negative feedback from the community, this is important to highlight to them. It might be that the update becomes more-liked over time, but failure to listen to the community can kill a game.


And for you, what will be a good community manager?

capibara
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Comments

  • capibara
    capibara Member Posts: 6,199 ✭✭✭✭✭
    i like furry ones 🙂
    "Always be yourself unless you can be a capybara. Then always be a capybara".
    --> Do you need a guild? ...send me a Private Message. LINE ID: capyrodent
    My Recruiting den. Capy into Music History and my "Art Objects" in the Next Games Collection, now DECA Collection.
    ShadowWalkerPaste
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  • vshield50
    vshield50 Member Posts: 2,243
    Making a public statement about game news is on the back burner. They rather close threads.

    The rest I think they do support in spades ;)
    Governator
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  • vshield50
    vshield50 Member Posts: 2,243
    This was before @Lexia 's time but they addressed the cheating in the game a long time ago. Weak statement but we had to accept it.

    No statement about what is put in the news comments. They rather deflect and close threads which is why I say nothing about a country here.

    Shame on them for not making a community statement here when NG made it a direct point more than once....

    @Lexia I hope you do the right thing and make a statement even if it is not something we can comment on...
    Noiserating
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  • pirate1125
    pirate1125 Member Posts: 261 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited March 2022
    Can we get one that doesn't close a thread?

    We've never had a community manager that will close every thread on a topic in the news.  
    Governatorvshield50
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  • TransmuteJun
    TransmuteJun Member Posts: 2,186 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I don't know Lexia personally, but I think she is just in a bad position. She is not personally responsible for the decision. It's entirely possible that people at Netflix made the decision and are forcing it on NG. For all we know, maybe she doesn't agree with the decision either.
    However, it IS her job to moderate the forums, and her overlords (whomever they may be) have probably told her that there can't be any discussion of 'sensitive' topics. She is probably required to close any discussions on the topic, whether or not she wants to.
    I agree that the threads SHOULDN'T be closed... this is an issue that relates directly to the game and to the players. It's not an outside political topic. it is NG who brought politics into a game that should have had none. However, none of this is Lexia's fault. She is merely acting as a representative of the people who made these poor/inconsistent decisions.
    it is my hope that while she is closing these threads, that she is also reading what has been posted and is reporting it back to NG, so that they understand how their player base feels. 


    vshield50HellJesus_ShadowWalkerghost_pepper
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  • vshield50
    vshield50 Member Posts: 2,243
    Well said @TransmuteJun and I do not disagree. That said I do not think they are forcing her not to make a public statement.

    I know it is a VERY difficult statement to make because either way there will be deflectors no doubt; however she is paid (I hope) for her role and the onus for the community falls on her.

    Closing @Governator's post really sent it home for me that something needs to be said. It's causing a lot of issues and I hate that good players are being affected because that is not right either. That said country xxx should not be getting tax money from this game (in my opinion) so I support the decision.

    I think this is one of those times where them staying silent is a game changer (no pun intended). It needs to be addressed because the game (those in charge) decided to put what they did in News. If they had not I would not have an issue with how this is being handled.
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  • vshield50
    vshield50 Member Posts: 2,243
    edited March 2022
    Also I think threads should only be closed if they start "actually" offending people posting. @Bassreactor made a comment (well more of a question) towards me and I was not offended. Instead I opened a new thread with him as the title and we had a great back and forth on it. All the posts were respectful but it got shut down.

    We can all grow from this and talk amicably if given the opportunity. And yes it is important that we talk because some may leave the game based on what is happening here and not just those from affected areas being forced out.

    @Lexia I am appealing to your best intentions here and ask that you reconsider how this is being handled because this issue will not be out of the news anytime soon. I LOVE your videos and have to say I crush on you a little bit (You are cuter than @Fluxxx in my opinion but please do not tell him).

    You're my boy @Fluxxx so please do not be offended my friend ;)
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  • Muirna
    Muirna Member Posts: 142
    I agree with you -- I can only read English so can only speak to the posts in English, but I have seen people being civil when disagreeing. I think it is healthy to talk about it. I am not offended by posts that say they support NG's decision or policy. I disagree, but it does not offend me and was not written offensively.

    I feel like we could all be brainstorming together to figure out ways to allow our players/friends of many years to play while ensuring that Ukraine is suppported and no money goes to Russia. We could be discussing how Epic or Nintendo or others are handling it differently and whether we could explore doing it that way.
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  • Muirna
    Muirna Member Posts: 142
    Some already have quit who do not live in or have any ties to Russia. Reasons cited included supporting their friend/guild leader who is now banned. As well as players who are upset that politics have entered the game by way of this policy. I have also seen a number of posts of players considering quitting but currently undecided.

    If Netflix is making these decisions versus the staff of NG, I think it would maybe help people to hear that. I don't know if it would make them feel less personally betrayed or hurt maybe? At least it would be transparent and honest.
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  • ghost_pepper
    ghost_pepper Member Posts: 1,188 ✭✭✭✭✭
    If players from the 2 countries can't play, will they also not be allowed to post here?
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  • Lexia
    Lexia Member Posts: 1,179 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Please read more here: https://forums.nextgames.com/walkingdead/discussion/49759/about-recent-decisions-and-actions-14-3-2022

    If you want to discuss the main topic in this thread, you can find it here: https://forums.nextgames.com/walkingdead/discussion/49270/my-ideal-community-manager 

    I will close this thread since this matter is closed, and we also don't want duplicates on the Forum
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