Valerie Massey, CCP Community Management Summit GDC EU – Cologne 2011 vmassey@ccpgames.com
But first… - Over a decade of online community involvement, including being a player volunteer for Ultima Online and writer for game sites. - Original community manager for EVE Online, Tabula Rasa and Auto Assault. - Background gives me a better understanding of the strong feelings that connect players to virtual worlds.
* Disclaimer * Raptor references in this presentation are not meant to be offensive. In fact, quite the contrary. Raptors were fierce creatures to be respected, not provoked. And who wouldn’t want to be compared to a badass velociraptor?
The Gatekeeper gets eaten first If you are in Community Relations or Customer Support YOU ARE THE GATE KEEPER
Don’t take the bad stuff to heart - It's not personal. It's not about you. It's simply because you are the first thing in striking distance. - It is easier said than done, but over time it will be easier not to get rattled by angry/upset players.
- Don't lose your humanity along the way. there is nothing worse than a jaded, hard community rep. - Build your "karma bank". You'll need to cash in eventually.
Players * * And children are like velociraptors
* “Velociraptors are pack hunters. They use coordinated attack patterns. It doesn’t bother to bite the jugular like a lion. The point is, you are alive when they start to eat you.” * “They never attack the same place twice. They were testing the fences for weaknesses systematically. They remember.”
“Oh my God. He’s calling for help!”
Don’t let yourself get sidetracked by the attack methods – threadnaughts, spam attacks, protests, etc. – Find the real issue and address it. - Remember that the *real* attack comes from the one you *didn't* see as you were concentrating on the ones you *did* see. - This is similar to how hacker groups will use harmless DOS attacks to smokescreen the actual hacking attempts.
The Importance of Poo “I’ll have to see the dinosaur’s droppings.” - This may look like poop to you, but it's my bread and butter. I have built a career around digging through piles of steaming poop to help players and developers find middle ground. - Sometimes you have to dig through a big pile of poop to find the core problem, and you won't have these nifty gloves.
There’s a lot of love in that hate - Best hate mail we got: "If Iceland had trees, I would tell you to go hang yourself." - Trolling and hate mail can be helpful if you approach it correctly. - Would be easier for people to simply walk away without comment. The fact that they took the time to write something says a lot. While the message may say, "DIAF," but what they are really saying is, "I want to play but this thing is stopping me. Please fix it."
Accept this fact: You cannot please everyone - You cannot please everyone. (Gold bar analogy) For some, the game is to grief and troll others (including you). - Don't waste time and energy trying to placate the haters. It's better spent keeping things on- track for the others in your community.
“Ooh, ahh! That’s how it always starts. But then later, there’s running and then… screaming.” Remain Calm No matter how well things are going, how tight the design is, how good your QA is, it is not a question of "if" but "when" all hell will break loose.
Be the eye of the hurricane. People on your team and in the community will look to you for how to react. Stay calm, stay strong and have your "what if" plans at the ready. Get zen about it. You can cry later.
“Tim, you’re going to have to jump.” Get Off the Fence When the alarm sounds, you must react quickly. As we learned from Timmy, staying too long on the fence is a bad idea.
Time is a Luxury You Can Rarely Afford - Prepare before the stuff hits the fan when you can think and plan calmly. Hone your self-confidence, study best and worst cases of crisis management. Learning from others' successes and mistakes is imperative. - Have a generic "first response" ready to go and pull the trigger ASAP.
Basic First Response Plan 1 Acknowledge the problem in non-specific terms, assuring that an investigation is underway and promising more information as available. 2 Don’t let more than an hour pass before your next update, even if all you can say is that the matter is still being investigated and you will continue with the updates. 3 Shampoo, rinse and repeat as needed. Players will be less aggravated by the lack of news than by no communication at all. 4 When you can, post a “We found the problem and we’re addressing it” update even if you don’t have all the kinks worked out yet. 5 Do not feel pressured to issue a full explanation until you are comfortable with the information you have to offer.
Planning Ahead * Pre-deployment extended downtime news items * Downtime news and messaging * Restoration of service/successful deployment announcement - There are messages you know you will have to publish, and many of these can and should be repurposed. There's no need to constantly reinvent the wheel when it comes to standard messaging. - Create generic messaging templates so that you can quickly plug in the necessary dates and facts. - Be sure to share those templates your team and with other groups (such as Customer Support, Web, QA) in case they need to publish the messages on your behalf for whatever reason.
Planning Ahead The “if $4!+ happens” back-up plan: * Extended downtime message * Aware of/investigating an issue * Small issue identified and handled * Big problem identified/ being handled/fixed
Should Could “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
Bad stuff happens Expectthe unexpected - Introducing new elements into an environment always has the potential to bring unexpected results. - In Jurassic Park, things quickly went south when new people came on the scene: the safety bar on the ride could be overpowered, there was no easy way to restore power, auto-locking mechanisms were needed for jeep doors, jeep batteries were being drained by the headlights.
Always try to think things through to their logical conclusions - For example, when ramping up towards launch or expansion deployments, don't overreach with too many forum categories, servers, etc. Allow for natural growth, follow patterns and trends set by the players (architect example of putting in paths last). - Explore every possible angle/scenario and plan for each, but be cognizant of the fact there will probably be things you didn't foresee and deal with them calmly and rationally as they emerge.
Share the Magic Words “I can’t get Jurassic Park back online without Dennis Nedry.”
Flippy Guy 1: We should tweet about Dork’s fall. Flippy Guy 2: We can’t. Dork’s the only one with @flippyguys access. Don’t be a Dork. Make sure someone else knows the passwords, plans and procedures. - Hoarding information isn't job security, it's stupidity. - Store passwords and plans in a secure location but make sure someone knows where they are and can access them in an emergency.
“No force on Earth or Heaven could get me on that island.”
Ohai
Avoid Absolutes
Remember these guys ? - They test the fences systematically. They remember. - Semantics matter. - What you don't say can be as or more important than what you do say.
Words are not tasty and may cause raptor attacks - Avoid phrases like "cannot", "will not", "will never". Instead, leave yourself some wiggle room by saying, "We have no current plans to," or "there are no immediate plans," etc. - Cunning players will certainly notice this and call you out for it but better to be called out a little now than to say something that completely bites you in the backside later.
All or None “I’m afraid there isn’t enough to go around.” - What you do for one, you must do for all. - If you feed one compy, you get more compys. When you run out of sammy, they will eat your face.
Don’t set precedents you can’t or won’t want to sustain. - Remember: Pack hunters. Experts in pattern attacks. - They will notice patterns, like if "Hey, [your name], YOU SUCK!" posts get responses while others don't. Respond only to the sort of threads you want to see more of. - Resist the urge to go on the defensive. Don't perpetuate arguments.
Consider : * How many players are truly affected? * Will this benefit the greater good? * Can this cause a significant loss of customers? * Would a change set a dangerous precedent? - Beware the vocal minority. They can make issues seem largers than they really are. - Be sure everyone's best interests are being considered. - Compromise when possible. - Acceding simply to avoid confrontations can carry a dear underlying cost.
What ’ s Yours is Theirs “Our satellite infrareds show that the animals are fiercely territorial.”
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