[2021] Once more ow forums are ignored in favor of reddit

There’s a general rule of thumb that’s known by most community professionals:

• Less than 10% of all players will ever even look at your forums or owned channels

• Of that 10%, less than 10% will ever be an active participant in the conversation on these owned channels

It’s important to understand that this in no way diminishes the usefulness of community discussion hubs (like forums). Forums serve as a microcosm of the larger OW community, representing viewpoints from many different segments of players; casual, what we call “Core Players”, competitive players, representation from marginalized groups such as BIPOC or LGBTQIA+, the list goes on.

Like I said previously in other threads, the current state and sentiment of the boards is our responsibility, and improving the general tone and tenor of dialog here is one of my top current priorities.

To be clear: as a community professional, I have a responsibility to both the development team and the players to ensure that any conversation we’re facilitating is productive and as free from hostility as possible. While I understand the sentiment that we should “rise above” vitriol and toxic comments, I will not knowingly put developers in a situation where they could be exposed to high amounts of toxicity that ultimately ends up muddying the original message and conversation, just as I would not knowingly impose such a conversation upon any of you.

I think most of you know this about me, but I love the Overwatch community. This game has held a special place for me since before launch. It’s a game I play regularly with my kids, and like many of you, it’s where I spend time with friends and loved ones. I believe that the OW community is an amazing, supportive, and passionate group of players. Players who want to feel better informed about the development of the game they love so much.

As a Community Manager, I’ve spent my career managing the rigors of player sentiment and conversation. I understand the toll that this works takes on the mental health and well being of those who spend any amount of time interfacing directly with community.

I often times find that the things that shouldn’t have to be said need to be said more frequently, if only to effectively manage expectations.

This is actually the least useful kind of feedback for almost any development process. Jumping straight to the solution without having a thorough understanding of the root cause of friction minimizes the role of designers and can often lead to “fixes” that don’t take in the full width and breadth of a given area of frustration.

We do love to see player inspired designs and ideas. We tend to contextualize them in the same way we do fanart or cosplay.

Focused feedback threads are something I can take into consideration. Normal caveats, no promises.

I tend to try to observe and be a participant in community conversation rather than leading it. I am self aware enough to understand that my presence in a thread is a way of guiding or leading community conversation, however I’d rather create space for players to help identify the best moments to jump in.

By doing exactly what I’m doing in this thread

A few thoughts on this

• with rare exception, I don’t believe that any community is wholesale more or less toxic than any other community. People are people, and people have complicated personal experiences. Everyone has bad days.
• Even communities as amazing as the Overwatch community go through difficult times. It’s 100% understandable that extended gaps in communication and engagement would manifest itself in ways that, on the surface, make it look like it’s a “toxic” space.
• As the team for whom the forums is a valuable community resource, it’s on us to help foster the kind of environment that’s a value add for both players and developers alike.

Different CMs will approach it in different ways. Personally, I appreciate the fact that we’re able to have a straightforward conversation about forum sentiment, and that I’m able to provide additional context to my presence in the community.

I’m normally loathe to call attention to praise, however I think it’s important for you all to know that I see this and have been paying attention. I am confident that together we’re on a path to making the forums a better experience.

Sharing your own personal experience with the topic is always the most useful feedback we can receive. Tell us what’s causing friction, how it’s affecting your play experience, how it makes you feel.

We can pull numbers until we’re red in the face. Anecdotal feedback about player experience provides said numbers with context that’s impossible to quantify.