Community Relations Done right

[fernsho]

Think about it: How many times have you thought that nobody listens to you, the gamer. How dare they change my game and not ask me? Think you have it all figured out? Allow me to introduce one Mr. Richard Weil, the Online Community Relations Manager who isn't as different from you and me as you may think.

Check out this interview (http://www.gamergod.com/article.php?article_id=2881&category_id=54) at GamerGod (http://www.gamergod.com/) to see if the boogey man really exists.

[Rirath]

Think about it..how many times have you thought that nobody listens to you, the gamer.

Uhm....... never. I'm not a 13 year old with too much time on my hands. I don't /seriously/ expect devs to listen to any little whimpers and complaints I may have about a product, even if I express these complaints to fellow gamers on a forum.

The one time in my gaming history I felt unlistened to sometimes was back in the days of MUDs. There, as a gamer, you would spend hours and hours playing /with/ the game's devs, who would sometimes go out of their way to make the players lives miserable. (nerfs, rules, resets, etc.) A bad admin can ruin a good game. And ya know, that's one reason I love EA... the admins are hands off, regular joes unless something needs taken care of.

I do understand MMO players tend to feel this way sometimes though, especially when they game they brought and enjoy playing, is no longer the game they bought and enjoyed playing. It's frustrating, but the best thing to do is move on.

[Player 1]

Think about it: How many times have you thought that nobody listens to you, the gamer. How dare they change my game and not ask me?

Hmm. Well that rather depends on whether the gamer approaches the developer/publisher directly doesn't it?

I mean, bitching about, say, Quake 4 on Evil Avatar isn't going to change anything because you're not speaking to the correct audience. Additionally, writing unconstructive or abusive posts and emails to a developer saying little more than "your game sucks!" isn't going to be very productive either.

Furthermore, few gamers know how to criticise CONSTRUCTIVELY. Next time you want to bitch at a game, rather than saying "this bit is rubbish" try saying "this bit is rubbish - it would be improved if...".

And finally, don't assume developers haven't already considered your ideas but found them to be unworkable within the games design/budget/hardware platform/spec.

Of course, your wallet talks loudest and sweetest. Everyone listens to that..

[StANTo]

Uhm....... never. I'm not a 13 year old with too much time on my hands. I don't /seriously/ expect devs to listen to any little whimpers and complaints I may have about a product, even if I express these complaints to fellow gamers on a forum.

I would deem that comment to be considerably short sighted as this topic could cover anything from gameplay recommendations to actual technical support issues with a game. I recall contacting EIDOS over a bug with Deus Ex, I could repeat the problem and cause it to happen again. Part of the game was bug ridden so you couldn't continue.

I'd paid for the game, not pirated it, and EIDOS purely shrugged it off with 'We've never heard of this problem, go away'. Considering I was after support for a game I'd bought; I would say it was far from a '13 year old with too much time on his hands'.

[Rirath]

Taking one half-joking comment and applying it across the board, especially to tech support, is a bit much, eh?
The topic seems to be about community relations and game changes.

I've just heard one too many MMO player ranting about whatever the latest change was, and why the game is no longer worth playing, etc. Every time a patch comes out, the same war starts up again. My message was simply that from my experience, it's not worth the time to rant for devs or hope for changes to go your way. They'll mine for whatever data they need, and skip the noise. It's their call.

[StANTo]

Taking one half-joking comment and applying it across the board, especially to tech support, is a bit much, eh?
In relation to listening to the community I believe a comparison to technical support is just as valid as looking for recommendations in updates in regards to improvements. As a lot of people who make posts as to what should be in 'the next patch' would often reflect on in-game bugs or major changes to the functionality or operating physics and mechanics behind a game. Which, you could also say, is similar for making a request for assistance for a bug in a single player game.

From my personal experience it's heavily dependant on whether the company wants to follow what they consider to be the gaming experience, or if they want to appease the players. Being a dungeon master, for say, Neverwinter Nights on a server; you have to decide whether your storyline would be set regardless and people are going to die. Or, if you want to listen to the players and adjust the difficulty level.

In an MMORPG the company is taking the role as the Games Master, but sadly they cannot, or perhaps choose not to purely take the role of providing a good story/gaming experience and also have to think about the consequences of their changes in comparison to the player base and whether or not they'll leave (with their money). A good example of this could potentially be Star Wars: Galaxies and their managery of overhauls over the course of it's development up and until this point.