bean19
04-05-2006, 07:22 PM
This feature story delves into what it means to be a community manager via an interview with Perpetual Entertainment's community manager, Daniel McLaren. Perpetual Entertainment is currently developing "Star Trek Online" and "Gods & Heroes".
With the growth of the internet, video games designed to take advantage of online connectivity have grown greatly in popularity. Games like Everquest pioneered the massively multiplayer online gamespace, and more recently Blizzard's phenomenal title World of Warcraft has popularized it. According to a recent press release from Blizzard (http://www.blizzard.com), World of Warcraft has reached 5 million subscribers world-wide.
The great success of these online games has led to huge communities of people who share their gaming experiences together, and a new job for people who are responsible for managing these communities.
"A community manager is responsible for a wide variety of roles." said Daniel McLaren, community manager for Perpetual Entertainment. "We primarily facilitate the communication between the fans of the project and the core development team. We are tasked with building excitement for the game we're working on, and more than anything, we're there to evaluate what is and is not working with the game and then work with both the community and the developers to identify what can be done to ensure the game is never stifled or self-destructs. We often run promotions and contests, in-game events, manage live events, and handle media and press needs. It's a huge job, and even when you walk out the door at the end of the day, it never truly ends!"
As with many other new jobs that have been created as a result of the jump to the digital age and the new markets it created, the pathway to gaining such a multifaceted position as community manager is non-traditional.
"I started out as a free-lance writer for video game magazines. I eventually got picked up to write for the online game site, GameHelper. From there I worked as an Associate Producer for the WB show about video games, GamerNation," said McLaren. "My experience plus my education helped a lot, but it's really about knowing someone on the inside!"
Perpetual Entertainment is currently developing two massively multiplayer online games, Star Trek Online (http://www.startrek.perpetual.com/) and Gods & Heroes (http://www.godsandheroes.com/). McLaren works as community manager for both of the upcoming titles, and one of his duties is writing a weekly blog for the Gods & Heroes community.
"There are a lot of things that excite me about Gods & Heroes, but right now it's the prospect of bringing the myths I read about as a kid and loved, to life," said McLaren. "It's the old Greek and Roman mythology that inspired me to become a writer, and here it is again inspiring me to be a game designer! It's exciting to be a part of something that has had such influence in my life."
In addition to having a heavy workload, McLaren says that community managers must struggle with not releasing information at the incorrect time and the agony of having to hold back that information.
"There's a lot of learning that goes on in a job like this, and sometimes the hardest thing is recognizing that sometimes your best laid plans may not be accepted by the community or your peers," said McLaren.
Another difficult aspect of being a community manager is realizing that you will get complaints from the community and learning not to take them personally.
"I do get disappointed when I can't help everyone all the time," said McLaren, "I have to remember that it's not personal when people attack [Perpetual] or our product because it isn't what it should be in their mind. I have to remind myself that I can't make everyone happy all the time, so I focus on doing the best I can with what I have and lead those who want to be lead as opposed to trying to convince those who don't want to be convinced."
The job is not all listenting to complaints or dealing with problems though. After all, community managers work in the game industry and are an integral part of developing games. McLaren, like many people working in the game industry, has a strong love of video games.
"I play a lot of [role-palying games] and a nice helping of [massively multiplayer online games]. I like games that give me free range to be or do what I want," said McLaren. "I like the rewards of taking a small nobody character and turning him into a leader."
McLaren also feels that being a community manager can be incredibly rewarding.
"When you see something you've worked on so hard come to life," said McLaren. "There's nothing like working day and night on an idea to watch it take off. It's very relieving to have people accept your work."
With the growth of the internet, video games designed to take advantage of online connectivity have grown greatly in popularity. Games like Everquest pioneered the massively multiplayer online gamespace, and more recently Blizzard's phenomenal title World of Warcraft has popularized it. According to a recent press release from Blizzard (http://www.blizzard.com), World of Warcraft has reached 5 million subscribers world-wide.
The great success of these online games has led to huge communities of people who share their gaming experiences together, and a new job for people who are responsible for managing these communities.
"A community manager is responsible for a wide variety of roles." said Daniel McLaren, community manager for Perpetual Entertainment. "We primarily facilitate the communication between the fans of the project and the core development team. We are tasked with building excitement for the game we're working on, and more than anything, we're there to evaluate what is and is not working with the game and then work with both the community and the developers to identify what can be done to ensure the game is never stifled or self-destructs. We often run promotions and contests, in-game events, manage live events, and handle media and press needs. It's a huge job, and even when you walk out the door at the end of the day, it never truly ends!"
As with many other new jobs that have been created as a result of the jump to the digital age and the new markets it created, the pathway to gaining such a multifaceted position as community manager is non-traditional.
"I started out as a free-lance writer for video game magazines. I eventually got picked up to write for the online game site, GameHelper. From there I worked as an Associate Producer for the WB show about video games, GamerNation," said McLaren. "My experience plus my education helped a lot, but it's really about knowing someone on the inside!"
Perpetual Entertainment is currently developing two massively multiplayer online games, Star Trek Online (http://www.startrek.perpetual.com/) and Gods & Heroes (http://www.godsandheroes.com/). McLaren works as community manager for both of the upcoming titles, and one of his duties is writing a weekly blog for the Gods & Heroes community.
"There are a lot of things that excite me about Gods & Heroes, but right now it's the prospect of bringing the myths I read about as a kid and loved, to life," said McLaren. "It's the old Greek and Roman mythology that inspired me to become a writer, and here it is again inspiring me to be a game designer! It's exciting to be a part of something that has had such influence in my life."
In addition to having a heavy workload, McLaren says that community managers must struggle with not releasing information at the incorrect time and the agony of having to hold back that information.
"There's a lot of learning that goes on in a job like this, and sometimes the hardest thing is recognizing that sometimes your best laid plans may not be accepted by the community or your peers," said McLaren.
Another difficult aspect of being a community manager is realizing that you will get complaints from the community and learning not to take them personally.
"I do get disappointed when I can't help everyone all the time," said McLaren, "I have to remember that it's not personal when people attack [Perpetual] or our product because it isn't what it should be in their mind. I have to remind myself that I can't make everyone happy all the time, so I focus on doing the best I can with what I have and lead those who want to be lead as opposed to trying to convince those who don't want to be convinced."
The job is not all listenting to complaints or dealing with problems though. After all, community managers work in the game industry and are an integral part of developing games. McLaren, like many people working in the game industry, has a strong love of video games.
"I play a lot of [role-palying games] and a nice helping of [massively multiplayer online games]. I like games that give me free range to be or do what I want," said McLaren. "I like the rewards of taking a small nobody character and turning him into a leader."
McLaren also feels that being a community manager can be incredibly rewarding.
"When you see something you've worked on so hard come to life," said McLaren. "There's nothing like working day and night on an idea to watch it take off. It's very relieving to have people accept your work."