Community Challenge of the Week – Explaining the Internet
June 15th, 2013

I find it an interesting contradiction that the people who have the most access to computers these days are often those who understand them the least.

When I touched my first Apple ][e I was obsessed with how it worked. How does the code do what it does when it’s just line after line of green text on a black background? I painstakingly copied text out of magazines to make my very own version of Downhill Skier and whatever else I could get my hands on. I had cassette tapes (yes, you read that right, cassettes) filled with various games and programs and I knew how each and every one of them worked because I watched it form beneath my fingertips.

And then, wow, the internet‽ Where do I even begin‽ It was wonderful, when it was working. We left our 14.4 modems to churn overnight on game patches, waited patiently while everything saved to our tiny tiny hard drives. We played games that quite frankly looked like minecraft and they were amazing! Doom, Wolfenstein, Quake and so on. And then the MMO space opened up, and suddenly I was playing with people all over the world!  I was a part of a community with shared interests and turmoils.

So what happened between now and then? Why is there a complete lack of understanding of how computers and the internet work for those who grew up with them? Is it just so taken for granted that the desire to learn how and why is gone? Why do I daily have to explain to people that connecting to a game server isn’t like plugging in a cable between their computer and our servers. That seems to escape so many people, of all ages.

When did we start taking this all for granted? Where did we exchange the quest for knowledge for the quest to be first/famous/heard? How did we lose the wonder part of this wonderful world we live in?

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Tags: , , , , | Posted in Community, Gaming |
When a “Thank You” is not Welcome
June 2nd, 2013

This is going to sound ungrateful, but dear coworkers, don’t thank me for doing my job.

If I send an email that I cc’d you on for paper trail reasons, don’t reply with a ‘Thanks!’ – you’re clogging up my inbox. I don’t need verification that you received the email, you sit three feet from me, I heard it arrive. Whether you read it or not I frankly don’t care. If it requires your action, I’ll follow up when needed.

A lot of my daily tasks include the mundane minutia of just doing my job. Stop thanking me for those and please stop thanking my coworkers too, you’re setting a bad example that they expect praise for doing what is expected of them. It makes true praise meaningless, and admonishments are obscured by all the fluff.

If  I save you from a burning building or rescue your puppy, by all means, thank me, but I don’t need your constant acknowledgement. I know I’m doing my job and doing it well. And guess what, I’m not doing my job for you, I’m doing it for my community.  They thank me and that’s enough. Your appreciation in these matters is watered down and hollow. Your Thank You is not welcome.

Edit: I have something to add to this – I recently received a huge thank you from about a dozen of my fansite owners. Their thank you was welcome because it was genuine, and came from a place of true community not of corporate duty. Know the difference and your thanks will be welcome.

 

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Posted in Community, Rant |
Stop obsessing over your competitors
April 21st, 2013

I recently Tweeted the following:

Stop obsessing over your competitors. Make the best game you can, have fun doing it, and let THEM worry about you.

and I wanted to take a moment to reinforce that <140 character rant.

Why is everyone trying so hard to copy everyone else? We spend meetings pouring over how other websites display their information, setup their account structures, implement their systems and I have to say, just because that’s the way someone else is doing it, doesn’t make that the right way for you to do it.

Sure if you want to let the big companies spend bazillions of dollars on market research, focus groups, heat maps, design panels and all that, go ahead and let them throw their money away. Some of the best customer oriented interfaces come from unexpected places like little indie sites that simply cater to clean design.

Know your audience, really truly understand them by being IN that audience. You’re not going to learn anything from hiding backstage and throwing set pieces and actors out into the spotlight in the hopes that something magical happens. Your audience will be confused, frustrated and predictably disappointed. Be in that audience and look to the stage – what needs to happen up there for everyone in that audience to leave the show talking about how wonderful it was and that’s how it should be done. (or better yet, never leave the show – but that breaks the metaphor)

And guess what? What you do and what your competition does do not and should not match. I disagree with the idea that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. It just shows you’re not unique, you’re not paying attention to what makes you and your audience special, you’re simply echoing the actions of another, and we all know that an echo always pales in comparison to the original voice.

Be that original voice.

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Tags: , , , , | Posted in Community, Gaming |
Community Challenge of the Week
April 3rd, 2013

It’s not me, it’s you.

When do you cut ties with some of your lesser performing fansites? When their traffic lessens? When their content wanes?

Sure these people update their sites regularly as required, but their content has trickled to a mere echo of your own community and game news. It is very clear when passion in a fansite owner dies, and it’s okay, things happen, circle of life and all that, but it’s really hard to let go. I’ve been through so much with my fansite owners and we’re a tight knit group of players, but as a game ages, dynamics and interests shift. New sites come along but they never seem to measure up to the sites you have now. Regurgitated content and cursory communications make it tough for me to be excited about your site – and I’m going to have to let some of you go.

I’m sorry, but I’m not going to George Costanza you, in these cases, it’s you, not me. I’ve given you every opportunity to participate in this community and you’re slumped in a seat that others are clamoring for.

 

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Posted in Community, Gaming |
Community Challenge of the Week
August 9th, 2012

So you put out a release, and in the release notes is something that is a bug fix. Something that was never supposed to work the way it did, but because it took so long to fix, it’s somehow ingrained in your game. It’s suddenly an inalienable right that players be allowed to continue to reap the benefits of what is essentially an exploit just because you didn’t rip it out fast enough. Now they’re used to it, they rely on it to some extent and no matter what your rationale, you’re wrong.

Well guess what, you’re stuck. The handful of players who looked at it from a non-selfish point of view, and said, “yeah yanno what, removing it makes sense” are drowned out by the “how dare you take away our unfair advantage”.  And so you have a choice. Go with the unpopular vote for the greater good, and tick off the vocal minority, or acquiesce so that you send the message that next time there’s something they don’t like, if they yell enough you’ll change it. Rock | Dev | HardPlace

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Tags: , , , | Posted in Community |
Community Challenge of the Week
February 17th, 2012

Last week’s challenge was to find ways to better communicate answers to questions, particularly answers that are of the negative persuasion. (I already told you why I won’t give you a free max level account…)

I’ve taken a look at many of my EditPad files of standard copy paste responses and modified them to be more succinct, clear and final. I’ve also added a new one that I think will save a great deal of grief. I’ve seen this paragraph before somewhere else (this isn’t my writing) and think it perfectly conveys that the communication issue isn’t always in the response.

I’m open to hearing what you have to say and having a discussion about it, but I have a policy of not responding to people who take a malicious approach to conversation. If you’d like to try again with a kinder approach, I would be happy to have a conversation with you.

I’ve used this message recently in communications that have been purposely and pointedly malicious even to the point of violence, and with surprising success. Often the initial communication is a flurry of angered words fuelled by the emotion at the time. Once the dust has settled and my ‘want to try that again?’ response has been digested, the return replies have so far been apologetic, understanding, reasonable and well formulated. Once people realize that talking smack isn’t going to get them anywhere, but a rational conversation will often provide results, the subsequent interactions are much more calm and productive.

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Tags: , , , | Posted in Community |
Community Challenge of the Week
February 10th, 2012

Nothing quite tries my patience as much as having to repeat myself. Whether it’s someone who’s not happy with the first answer I gave them, or they didn’t actually read the answer they were given, I find myself repeating and rephrasing answers so much so that I almost used all caps today! That’s what really gave me pause to consider  - what is it about my communications that people aren’t understanding?

One of my favorite quotes is “I can explain it to you, but  I cannot understand it for you.”

So my challenge of the week is to ask myself a few questions that will hopefully lesson the amount that I have to repeat myself:

  1. What is the real question they are asking? (it’s often not as clear as it appears at first glance)
  2. How can I communicate the answer succinctly and clearly?
  3. How can I answer the question in such a way that indicates ‘end of discussion’ ?
  4. How can I explain it to them in a way that they understand it, since I cannot understand it for them?

So I’ll close with yet another of my favorite quotes, this one from good ole Albert Einstein himself: “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”

But then, that’s a whole other Challenge of the Week…

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How soon is too soon?
February 9th, 2012

Whether you’re launching a movie, a game, or just an update, how soon is too soon to start talking about it?

If you announce too early, by the time you release people are asking themselves “wait, didn’t that come out already?” or “jeez that’s old”, or worse “yeah I’m not playing that game anymore”. There are so many ooh shiny things out there that unless you catch us now and make us yell “Shut up and take my money!” we’ve forgotten you before you even got to beta.

Funcom’s Secret World is one example of a game that was talked about way too early. At first it was interesting, they got us with the mysterious viral route, like putting up a black website with a few words on it, then a little lore and faction choosing, then showing a little teaser…but please people you can only string us along for so long before we lose interest. It’s like watching a turtle cross a beach, you just want to pick it up and carry it the rest of the way to get it over with.

Same even goes for updates too: “Hey we’ve got this really great feature being added to the game in September!” Wait…what? Why are you telling us in February? Is it arrogance? Are you assuming that we’re going to be so absolutely enamored with your sneak peek trailer that we’ll salivate for breadcrumbs for whatever time it takes you to figure out what the heck you’re doing?

It’s like that doctor’s appointment they make you book a year in advance – seriously I”m never going to remember that when it comes around. I’m sarcastically flattered you think my life will not have changed at all in that time, so just call me ok, chances are I’ll just cancel it…

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Tags: , , , , , , , , | Posted in Gaming |
Let Slip the Trolls of War!
February 7th, 2012

Trolls are everywhere, I’ve got them, you’ve got them and we’re not getting rid of them any time soon. Sometimes it’s fun to throw them some breadcrumbs and watch them duke it out on the forums, but for the most part they are as destructive as their moniker suggests.

So what can we do? Well first thing we can do is to not assume they’re full of it. Read between the lines for what they are saying, not how they are saying it. Do they have a valid point? Are they the only ones who are willing to call you out on your mistakes?

I’ve found the following paragraph does wonders to engage them off their soapbox.

I’m open to hearing what you have to say and having a discussion about it, but I have a policy of not responding to people who take a malicious approach to conversation. If you’d like to try again with a kinder approach, I would be happy to have a conversation with you. (–wish I could give credit but I don’t know where I saw it)

Repeatedly that has made what would normally be a flaming troll take a second look and realize that I am actually listening, I do want to hear what they have to say but not if it’s going to be aggressive or malicious. Talk to me, really talk to me, and you might just be surprised at how receptive I can be.

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Community Challenge of the Week
February 3rd, 2012

So this week was full of challenges both for myself and for my community.

We had two unexpected and two planned downtimes this week. That’s much more than usual, so the challenge for me was simply disseminating information as fast and as broadly as possible.  The challenge for our players was to be patient while we rushed around like crazy trying to fix it.

Social media is obviously the go-to resource when not only my game, but my website, are offline, but that has its own inherent problems too since the bulk of my players are underage for using those mediums.

So what do I do? Well I do have the option of our emergency game launcher page that contains the twitter feed – oh no wait, when the web site is down, I can’t switch to that, so that’s out. I can post – oh no wait, forums are down too, can’t do that. Huzzah! Fansites! Well my fansites beat me to the punch on posting the outage so that’s taken care of – and while I’ve done all I can, there’s still a flood of unhappy players who are confused that they’re unable to log in. Thankfully the outages where short (20 – 30 mins each) so in many cases they went unnoticed.

So in short, my challenge this week was not being able to communicate with the players when both the game and web were offline. I may revisit the error message that appears when the web is down and see if the Twitter feed can appear there, at least it can be read by all and updated remotely.

Anyone have any other ideas?

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Tags: , , , , , , , | Posted in Community |
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