Announcement Meet your new Community Manager.

Hey everybody!

Wow, what a journey it has been just to get here. I am really happy to be sitting in this desk and finally getting the opportunity to reach out and get to know you! The process might have taken a while, but that only gave me more time to think about the role that I want you, our loyal community, to have in Drakensang Online’s future!

But first, here’s a little info on me. I’ve been directly involved in the video game industry for 6 years, and employed directly in video game companies for 5 of those years. I have worked on everything from Triple-A titles to browser games.

More importantly, I started my career journey as a humble Customer Service Representative at a well-known California based video game company, taking care of all of the games in their portfolio. In short, I have a service driven mindset as a core foundation of my experience. I then went on to become a Community Manager for two other great companies, and that is where I learned the power of community feedback to assist in the future development of a game. Shortly said, I have a lot of experience and I want to put that experience to good use for a goal that we can all get behind – Making Drakansang the best game it can be!

This isn’t going to be a simple task. I have been reading through conversations on this forum, and I know that there are a lot of pressing issues that you would like to have resolved right away. There are also some really neat feature ideas that I have seen floating around, and those also deserve acknowledgement. The hard truth is that we can only work on so many things at a time, and a lot features and improvements are dependent on other of features, bug fixes, etc.., being addressed first.

However, it is my personal and professional mission to make sure that you are as well informed as possible. You should always have a general understanding of where we are, and what our stance is on certain issues.

Another aspect of my job is to make sure that every game team is aware of your feedback, wishes, and ideas. For me, Community Management is not just about updating Facebook or making the occasional forum post; it’s about being a two-way communication bridge between the Drakensang Game Team and the Drakensang Player Community. I have some ideas that I’ll be implementing to that end, and it will be rolling out throughout the year. Some of it will be clear to you, and some of it will be behind the scenes. Nevertheless, you can expect a wind of change to be blowing around here.

At the present time, I am still in the process of setting up daily tasks and optimizing the Drakensang Community Management department. In fact, I have not even presented my plans in full detail to the whole company yet. Please allow me some time to get things setup. I’ll make announcements as community facing things roll out so you won’t miss a thing.

On that note, I’ll open the floor to you. You are welcome to ask me any game related question you wish, as I believe in open and honest communication. However, I do ask that you allow me time to give you proper answers to your questions. Although I know the game, I have only been playing it for a few months; I simply do not have the same level of knowledge that you guys do, especially about past events. Also, the sheer amount of work and crucial meetings that I am currently involved with is going to limit the amount of time that I can spend per day answering your questions in this conversation. Please be patient, I will get back to you.

All the best,
Clayton

 

Welcome to the team and may you be the CM that we desperatly need! Good luck with your task.

 

So it's like this, I can't help it drawing a comparison with your name and John Clayton a.k.a Tarzan
And here we see Tarzan slaying black panther so I'm asking this: would you be so kind and give it to the community in bonus code
Many tried obtaining it but without luck.
So here's your chance to step up

Oh yeah, welcome

 

Welcome. and as the first request, please ask the dev to nerf, remove, revisit the upcoming offhand gems. just do the math)

Hope to see you soon in ask CM thread

 

Welcome Clayton! I wish you a good start and lots of strength and stamina! In time, you will understand why...

 

Welcome.... good luck, you'll have a rough time here with this community

Just as sebastian said, please make sure the team takes a look at those gems... simply overpowered gems

 

welcome clayton,and good luck

 

Welcome aboard...hope you enjoy your stay

 

Hello CM Clayton, and welcome to our .... peaceful little asylum...

 

Hi Clayton,
Smack the testers and QA upside the head for me No need to tell them why (you can read my recent posts if you're curious.)

After you do that I'll send along the warm fuzzies, group hug welcoming stuff.

Luck be with ye,
Mikey,
Tegan

 

Welcome to our community!
I think that the fundamental factor that is missing in this game is in fact, communication between community and drakensang team.
In various forums there are lots proposed on how to improve, create, make it best events and functionality of the game but are not taken into cosider.
An important point is the events: The events should be really tested and we can do it ourselves through the test-server, so we can see far ahead as new events or functionality will be implemented in the game.
Then. The problem with these events is that most of the time our ideas in order to improve the events are not heard, then we are left with a boring event devoid of fun.
I hope that with your help bring our ideas to the team!

 

Hello and welcome!

It is clear from what we have experienced in the past and from your current description of your tasks that this is not a one-person job. I am interested in what to expect as far as the Community Management team goes. In the past, there have been two CM's interacting with us via Twitch, the boards, and Facebook. Even with two, the community has felt that the communication hasn't been enough. Do you or DSO have plans to expand the CM team so that the community gets more information more often?

 

Good Luck, Clayton! If you manage to accomplish anything close to what you described in your opening post, I might try my hand at this game again (I haven't played regularly since September 2014).

 

Been playing Drakensang as long as you've been working in the industry. 5yrs+. Saw a lot of CMs come and go and make the same promises as you are making now. As many of the ones above have already said, communication between devs and player has been wanting, not just here, but in all language forums. Don't overpromise and underdeliver like the rest of them, and you will earn respect. And don't be afraid to ask if you need help. But be prepared to listen. All the best for your journey with Drakensang. Welcome aboard.

 

Thank you very much for the warm welcome.

I got a kick out of the Tarzan reference, lol. It is good to know that this is a desirable mount. I will think of ways to bring it back in a future contest or event.

I saw a forum discussion about OP crit gems from an event. Game balance is an important issue in general, so I will see what we can do about those gems and all the other balancing feedback that has been provided. I hear a lot of conflicting information from various players, so I need to spend some time getting myself educated on all sides. I will, however, inform the team that people are talking about balance issues and I will highlight the aspects that have been pointed out in the forums. There will be a time for me to go deeper into it, but it is good to get the information flowing early.

The lighting makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. No risk, no reward, right?

Got gripes against QA? I have not read your posts yet, but I can assure you that the QA team is a hard working and dedicated group. Nevertheless, i'll make sure to shoot a nerf dart their way with your name on it

The events definitely go through testing, I'm actually sitting in the QA room and get to observe it all
I will brainstorm a communication flow for test server feedback. The challenge in this will be separating spam or other noise from truly useful feedback. I've got a few initial ideas, but I'm open to suggestions

As I am only one person, I will have to plan my tasks strategically. This means that Twitch sessions will be less frequent, but the content will be more newsworthy. For example, patch notes won't be read on Twitch anymore, but cool new features will.

Regarding Facebook, I am quite involved there. Take a look at the comment replies to get an idea of how things will look from here on out.

Getting more information out is a top priority. I have several plans for that which will be implemented throughout the year.

Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the possibility of a second CM at this time.

Thank you, your message sparks a lot of motivation in me, and I hope you follow what I do closely; I am well aware that actions speak louder than words.

5 years, I really respect that. I talk a big game, I know, and I trust that you all will hold me accountable on my promises to provide a meaningful communication flow.

You bring up a very good point about listening to all languages. Fortunately, we have moderators in every language. One initial way to get more targeted feedback would be to change the reporting process, and I am already working on something to that end.


Thank you,
Clayton

 

Wow, the man hasn't even jumped in the assignment and we are already bombarding him with requests.
Anyway... welcome to the forums in your new role. Good luck with collecting valuable feedback, answering questions and ultimately having fun around here. I hope we will enjoy friendly, valuable discussions around here while at the same time receive transparent insights that we desire.
Cheers!

 

Welcome @CMClayton !

 

@CMClayton

welcome have fun listening to all our complaints i got many but dont need to say it mines are same as everyone else ill let them say it, hopefully you are better than our last and actually act not just listen but welcome to hell

your friendly neighbourhood, Spiderman.

 

Welcome CMClayton

 

Welcome CMClayton. Be prepared, out of all the games i have played this one has the most potential. The problem is so many people have so many conflicting points of view, for example I don't mind twinks. But they should have i limit on how high they can upgrade above there lvl. Like if your lvl 15, upgrades maybe to lvl 30 at max. I have created a twink but i don't pvp much. I don't want to take over in the battles. I don't see nothing wrong with lvl 50 though. I get destroyed all the time, but by people who spend more or play more. I have played since open beta was available. If you have any questions. I should be able to answer at least my opinion.