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GDC Online 2011: CCP talks community management
As we all know, every MMO has its share of crises. They can range from an unpopular game nerf to bugged content to full-out server meltdown. Ironically, CCP Community Manager Valerie Massey submitted her plans for a GDC Online talk the day before, as she put it, "all hell broke loose at CCP." From that point on, the devs "were out of the frying pan and into the fire" over and over. In all, Monoclegate and the Incarna problems were two months of one PR disaster after another. When it comes to crisis management, she stressed that it's not an exact science, that it's hard to pick apart post-analyses, and that one CM's experience is very different from another. She chose to use Tylenol as a key example of correct response to crisis. Back in 1982, a killer inserted cyanide into Tylenol bottles, thus murdering several people. Tylenol wasn't at fault, but the company reacted correctly by pulling all bottles from the shelves, recalling the product, adding tamper-resistant packaging, and discounting prices after the fact. The company's quick action restored the trust of the consumers. Who did it wrong? BP. That company shirked responsibility, waited two days before making a statement, lied about the extent of the damage, and failed to execute a clear clean-up plan fast enough. In a crisis, whether it's in game or in real life, the key is to prepare in advance.
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EVE approaches fives years of virtual adventure
"I hope they take the servers down so I can go get a shower." It is good to see EVE has not changed since it first blinked into existence. So many memories, so many destroyed ships, so many hours spent hauling ore from can to station. As EVE approaches the five year mark on the 6th of May, public relations and communications director Valerie Massey docked her ship and logged off. Why did she log off exactly? To chat about EVE of course! What else is there to do when not playing EVE?At five years, EVE is getting a bit on the old side in terms of MMOs. That didn't stop CCP of course. They gave EVE one hell of a Botox injection, hired an ex-commando for a trainer, and put the game into damn fine shape. Trinity was a huge testament to the ability of CCP and EVE to change and grow in very good ways. As Valerie says, the company itself started off with a handful of team members watching their dream become reality on a projector screen. They now employ over three hundred people and can claim a playerbase of over 200,000. From all of us at Massively, happy birthday! We hope the pod popping and ice mining continues for years to come.
