My ideal community manager

NoiseratingNoiserating Member Posts: 188
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

Comments

  • capibaracapibara Member Posts: 7,143
    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 and my "Art Objects" in the Next Games Collection.
    ShadowWalkerPaste
  • TransmuteJunTransmuteJun Member Posts: 2,226
    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
  • MuirnaMuirna Member Posts: 183
    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.
  • MuirnaMuirna Member Posts: 183
    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.
  • ghost_pepperghost_pepper Member Posts: 1,185
    If players from the 2 countries can't play, will they also not be allowed to post here?
  • LexiaLexia Community Manager Posts: 1,126
    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
This discussion has been closed.