Another panel of interest that I attended at the 2006 Penny Arcade Expo was "Forums, Blogs and Fanbois: The Role of Community and PR in the Game Industry". Here are my notes from the event. Although the discussion focuses on gaming fans and game development, it's easy to see how their insights could apply to any industry and its customers. Except perhaps the bits about the death threats and the squirrels.



Fig. 1 - Jenny Bendel (ArenaNet), Chris Charla (Foundation 9), Frank O'Conner (aka "Frankie", Bungie/Microsoft), and Victor Wachter (D&D Online community manager for Turbine)
- Photo by gamerscore blog, used under a Creative Commons license.

The hardcore gamers are relatively few in number, but they are the influencers.

Gamers are more media savvy, less likely to be swayed by PR firms.

The community is increasingly aware of its influence on the industry.

They are happy to work with game developers to help make better games.

However, there are dangers in giving a small but vocal minority too much influence on product development. If you focus on pleasing the hardcore fans, you can end up making a product that alienates the mainstream.

Example: Serenity, a movie of a cancelled cult TV series made as a result of a grassroots fan campaign. It pleased the fans, but did badly at the box office. Also: Snakes on a Plane. Making fans happy doesn't equal financial success. On the other hand, Serenity is doing well on DVD, and SoaP is certainly doing better than it would have without the Internet buzz.

Victor's example of just how hardcore the hardcore fans can be: When a screenshot of the Lord of the Rings game contained a red squirrel, angry Tolkien fans wrote into complain that the red squirrel is not found in the woods around Tolkien's home, and therefore would not exist in Middle Earth.

Frankie points out that red squirrels were only recently displaced from those woods by their rivals the gray squirrels, and thus red squirrels in Middle Earth are indeed legitimate.



Fig. 2 - Sciurus vulgaris, the controversial red squirrel

Getting feedback from your most passionate players is critical.

If you're open with them about why you're doing things - even things they disagree with - they'll respect you. Communication is the key. Fans want to know that they're being listened to, even if they're wrong.

When you're a community manager, death threats are common. Frankie recently replied to one e-mail saying, "You do realize that you threatened my life, right?" The guy wrote back, "I didn't think anyone would actually read it."

Jenny Bendel says that ArenaNet is holding a Guild Wars live gaming event at the Expo, where attendees go to various stations around the center and complete small "quests". The goal is to get people who don't play Guild Wars, or online multiplayer games at all, interested in the game. It's been a success - she's received a lot of positive response.



Fig. 3 - Frank O'Conner has fans!

The advantage of blogs and message forums is that they provide an immediate gut-level response to current events. Bloggers and forum posters are valuable because they don't necessarily think things through before writing, the way journalists do. Instant emotional feedback.

Blogs and forums give a face to the game developers. They enable you to take customers' issues and questions to the people who are best able to answer them. Those experts can either respond directly, or you can pass the answer along.

Part of being a community manager is to act as a filter, shielding the developers from the worst of the vitriol so they don't get upset. Developers are delicate creatures.

ArenaNet has a dedicated community manager who reads the forums and talk with fans in-game.

Frankie says that the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) being cancelled was a huge weight off his shoulders. It was supposed to be a conference where you went to do serious business; but it was hot, noisy, crowded, and the last environment you'd ever want to do business in. It evolved into a consumer show that consumers were (supposedly) not allowed into, which frustrated everyone. The Penny Arcade Expo and the San Diego Comic-Con were a better marketing spend: you'd get to talk with ordinary people, not jaded buyers who were too rushed to see what you had to show them.

E3 became as important to companies as their next product launch. It was very stressful.

Advertising is how you reach the casual gamer. The movie industry has really mastered this.

70% of casual gamers are women.

"Advergames" are a gateway for non-gamers to get into games. Example: the Death Jr. Hamster Challenge Web game.

Re: the "I Love Bees"alternate reality game created to promote Halo 2 - Frankie says that Bungie agreed to do it just because they thought it would be a cool thing to do. The ARG community didn't care about Halo, and the mainstream people who heard about the game didn't care about the content, just the buzz that it generated.



Tags: PR, community, blogs, forums, games, gaming, ArenaNet, Guild Wars, Foundation 9, Bungie, Microsoft, Halo 2, Turbine, D&D Online, I Love Bees, E3, Serenity, Snakes on a Plane, Lord of the Rings, E3, red squirrel