Community Management for Dummies

sacredfool

So, we have recently had quite a few threads that brainstormed how much player-input should be present during game development. I think my little 3 step guide could help all CMs and game devs worldwide develop a game that 100% of the players waiting for it will enjoy.

 

STEP 1: The Question

What you do here  - before you even start making the game - is create a little media buzz and and see what target audience you will be aiming for. You ask the soon-to-be community 3 simple questions.

• Should the game be a themepark or a sandbox?
• Should the game provide more singleplayer or more multiplayer experiences?
• Should the game focus on PvE or PvP content?

STEP 2: The Reward

 

You look at the survey results. i think everyone here knows the discussion would be quite heated. This is why you invite everyone who took part in the survey and the forum discussion to your headquarters. You fund their trip to provide an additional incentive - i would advise to try Kickstater when gathering the cash for the tickets.

 

Step 3: The Consensus

 

You ask all the gamers gathered in your Headquartes to reach a consenus. Actually, you do more then that! You lock them all together and refuse to let them out until everyone in the room agrees. If no agreement is reached after 24 hours you give everyone in the locked room knives. They can be slightly blunt if you are feeling sadistic. You insist that all of them must agree on a single perfect game design - ooh and, don't forget to film the ensuing carnage (knife fights can get real messy). When the one single last gamer is left in the room you conclude the consensus has ben finally reached - all thats left is follow that players instuctions when creating the game every single one fan of your fanbase dreams of!

 

 

So now for us to brainstorm - What views do you think would the surviving player represent? PvP - afterall, those guys are quite merciless - but then - most players are carebears - so maybe PvE? And what about the other features? ;P