As it does with marketing, the community management field does share some of the same goals as the customer service field but it is not the same. A customer service specialist is there to individually assist and guide a customer when they are running into difficulties with the specified product. This could be due to a software bug or even a misunderstanding by the end user on how something should function. While the management of communities does sometimes involve assisting customers, it is usually by informing large segments of the community at a time instead of treating each customer individually.
You can say this about most departments within a company in relation to the community team. In fact, Danielle Vanderlip gave a great visual example when discussing this very topic just recently.
The community team should be the hub of a wheel; attached to it are the spokes that lead to all the other departments. Information flows throughout the hub to all the other parts and without it, the wheel does not turn. That is how important it is for all departments to work together as a team; to understand and support each other. In my opinion the CMs role is mainly editorial led but touches marketing quite often. As the CM you are directly at the player base giving you an insight into what players think and what their needs are which can be very useful for the marketing department.
So I think this is a big advantage for a CM working directly for the developer instead of working for the publisher. On the contrary it can also be a disadvantage if you are too closely involved with the project as it tends to blind you from the wider picture. However, it is crucial that the Community Manager have strong ties to the development team of any product.
The nature of the company, be it developer or publisher, is also an important factor in this question. Is it a multi-product company? In that case, there are significant advantages to a unified Community Relations department, though it is always important to have Community Managers in close contact with the development team.
Is there just one product in the company? In that case, it is typically useful to have the Community function as part of development or Marketing, as long as they are an integral part of the overall team. That is the most important aspect of Community Relations in the overall product structure. And, as an aside, the Community team must always maintain close ties to the web team, if they are not one in the same. The advantages and disadvantages are entirely circumstantial.
The roles of publisher and developer across the industry are about as standard as the role of community manager is i. I think that most divisions in community relations are artificial and counterproductive. Taking part in the daily stand-up meetings plus the review and kick-off meetings in which the previous development progress is being presented and discussed and the next tasks are determined, provides quite a substantial pool of information to work with.
Besides that any upcoming matters can be easily discussed in standard meetings. The Community Team should be involved with just about every decision that will affect customers. This includes design decisions, customer support, service changes, and a host of other things. Having them in these meetings is a great way to plan for player responses to changes in the game or service, make changes to decisions before they cause a problem, and work on messaging for issues that may be controversial.
The earlier Community is involved in the decision making process even if as nothing more than an observer, but better as an active participant the more effective they will be in communicating to the players and the press.
If your Community Team understands the reasons behind a decision, what lead to it, the alternative ideas that were suggested but dismissed, and other aspects of the process they will be well equipped to create and execute an effective communication plan.
There is no better way to achieve that than to have them present during the process. It takes a lot more work to put out a fire than it does to prevent it in the first place and likewise, a good communication plan can turn a good decision into a great one.
It is pointless and counterproductive to make a habit of presenting your Community team with fait accomplis. On the other side of the coin, it is important that the Community Manager establish regular and productive reporting processes that give the development team and the rest of the company an accurate picture of what the state of the community is.
This should be done at least once a week, preferably more, and could be in a variety of formats. The Community Team is one of the best sources for knowing how the game is being played as opposed as how it was designed to be played. When the development team creates designs, programs features, or creates in-game assets, they have a goal as to how these will be used. The moment it is in the hands of the player, though, these can be used in various ways that were not imagined or intended by the development staff.
Being in touch with the playerbase on the level it is, the community team is privy to how the game is being played by various groups more so than any other section of the development team and can bring that wealth of knowledge to the rest of the team. At the same time, the community team should be relaying information they have gathered and presenting that to the rest of the team in a variety of methods; from reports to divulging informative or funny occurrences in scrum meetings.
One of the best practices I have found is just making sure the rest of the team is informed well before I release anything new; even if it does not directly pertain to their section. The position of CM is only gradually receiving the acceptance and respect that it should actually receive. Best: Community Managers are being hired earlier and earlier in the development process. Ten years ago, they were hired when the game went live or right before. Soon after that they were hired right before beta started.
Later they were hired about a year or more before beta. And now in some cases they are hired as some of the earliest members of the team. Planning takes time and how you develop your community in the earliest days sets the tone for every following milestone. Community Relations still needs to be involved more in the process however, but this trend is a great sign. This is a mistake.
Asking your Community Team to only be responsible for retention is asking them to only do half their job. They should work closely with Marketing and be equally responsible for acquisition. Some of the Best Things: Community Relations is widely recognized as a necessary function in game development and management.
More and more highly-qualified and dedicated individuals are being hired into Community Relations that might not have been recognized in other areas of the game industry. Some best practices are being developed, as the Community professionals themselves have begun to view their roles as something specific and definable in corporate structures. Some of the Worst Things: Community Relations departments still have significant identity problems within most companies.
Anytime you have to continually and repeatedly explain what you do, there are going to be issues! You know… Community Relations. Community Managers tend to lack significant, dedicated representation in the upper tiers of company management, especially in larger organizations. The lack of executive champions can compound this problem, leaving good ideas and initiatives on the table for lack of implementation.
The field has been around for a long time outside of the game industry but within the last decade. Where once it was a one-way street that mostly did forum administration, community management has evolved into a liaison between the playerbase and development teams that develops strategies for strengthening and building the communities, tracks feedback, manages functions such as tournaments, events, etc , and even creates assets such as interviews, podcasts, and product updates… and sometimes we administer forums.
One of the issues that are still being dealt with to this day, though, is that it is such a new position in game development and it is continually evolving and maturing. A lot of what has been and is still being learned within the field is through trial and error. Also, unlike being a designer or programmer or basically any other section of the development team, community management practices, procedures, and responsibilities differ from company to company.
It is a place where professionals within the community management field have an opportunity to relate their knowledge and experiences to one another. The CMG fosters collaboration through conversations, connections and shared knowledge and, in turn, we create a better-informed society by collaborating with each other. You can call Game Developer using the customer service number above next to Game Developer magazine cover for the number. You will need to enter your account number or mailing address to pull up your account.
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