Overwatch Dev Tracker

Sure:

• Specifically for Damage, there was an overwhelming number of Heroes for one person to handle, which lead to not every Damage Hero initially receiving the attention they deserved. to address this, we’ve divided the category among 2 creators for the next card
• There’s a perception among some players that personal biases play too heavily into the proposed changes. This is something that all of the creators we’ve been working with for the second card are very self-aware about, and they’re paying close attention with their notes
• Some players don’t understand why we’re working with creators and not the broader community. Our goals for thi...

Friend, I am a Community Manager, not a designer.

This is a small way that the community team can drive towards a creative solution for keeping the game fresh (through the ExCard), all while not having an adverse affect on T4’s other development priorities. The halo effect of content creators feeling excited, higher engagement with the feature in game, and increased CCV category wide on Twitch during the tournament, are all welcome additional benefits.

Grateful for the kindness and yes, we are iterating with a goal of improvement and optimization each go-round. Ultimately, we’d love for these collaborations with content creators to be both fun and sustainable, so we’re keeping an open mind as to how we can level up both the ExC and it’s related Creator Cup

Critique is great, however I personally believe the last ExCard was pretty successful, by multiple measurements.

• It had a very high adoption rate (meaning lots of players checked it out)
• It had a very high hours played (in comparison to other cards)
• Content Creators were generally positive about it
• Broadly, players were excited about it

I know that it’s easy to be cynical and only focus on the negatives, however you have to take in the good with the bad. Otherwise you’re just cutting off your nose to spite your face.

I don’t want to steal any of the spotlight from the creators here, so that’s all you’ll be getting from me today

They definitely didn’t forget them, especially Symmetra

You do realize Aaron Keller has never posted on the forums right? Now that I think about it I don’t think we’ve had a single Orange Post since Jeff Kaplan left.

Yep, and replies like that are more or less an attempt to make sure everyone stays on the same page. I also wrote out a facts list in a separate topic about today’s news. I did that more or less as setting the realistic expectations I think we should have for Blizzard (both in the short term and long term). This news is jarring today, and I feel passionately involved, but that is because I have invested so many hours of playtime into Blizzard’s games and I have strong friends for many of their team members. So it is my hope that anything I express on these forums is done so under the expectation that you the community can learn a greater understanding of how Overwatch continues to grow as a game.

Let’s also be clear, there are time...

Let me make sure I am very clear about this, if an opportunity is available for me to join Blizzard and I know I can make a difference, I will try to pursue it. I have applied for many positions in the past and I know I have the support of many of Blizzard’s current and past team members. However, it still comes down to making sure the best people fill their needed roles, and I want my experience to be fairly compared to others with relatable skills. I have no regrets not being presented with an opportunity to join Blizzard, instead, I often gain more insight and experience.

Right now, you may notice there is a Community Manager role position ...

Be all like…

I’ll still be around and reading forums/reddit/Twitch chat/Discord/etc… daily. It’s important as part of the team that I stay connected with your experience, all with the goal of being an effective advocate internally.

You’ll not be rid of me that easily

I said this in a previous thread, however it bears repeating here: the majority of my focus for the last month and change has been on strategic planning and alignment (since before the holiday break). This is normal for management around the start of the calendar year.

WyomingMyst and Jodie both did a great job of describing many of the responsibilities of the community discipline. This is on top of several hours of meetings/day.

I don’t tend to lean on titles in public (I don’t think they matter to players in the vast majority of situations, which is why all of our titles on the forums are “Community Manager”). As the team lead, over time I’ll naturally be focusing less on the day to day tactics, and more on team/community goals and strategy. As the team grows, I’d expect to see less of me day to day, but much more of folks like Jodie (and our eventual teammates).

I’m certain that it may disappoint some of you that I do not, in fact, sit on the forums...

It’s exciting news, and I’m looking forward to learning more.

I do understand that folks may have questions about today’s news. I am certain that we’ll be sharing more information with you all as soon as we’re able.

Fair! But this one is from ME.

Y’all! Andy never left us!!

It probably feels like that since I have been trying to spend more time with y’all on the forums, but I promise he’s here!!

To speak to the other subject in this post, it can be difficult to quantify what Community Management is because our goals are qualitative. Our pro strats are driven by sentiment, awareness, engagement and building a healthy ecosystem around a game we love!

Blizzard is special to me because of how involved the community team is in the development process. Team 4 puts a lot of value on my team because of how much they value the Overwatch community-- which is all of you.

I am going to le...

that’s what YOU think

...

I am someone who has been taking the time to expand my career skills in hopes of finding an opportunity to work in community management, I can absolutely assure you that is not the case. I have a mentor who is the community lead for another video game that I am following with great interest and she has been instrumental in helping me learn everything about what she does and how it impacts the development of a game.

Video game community management is not just being a voice on official channels for a given game. You need skills in copywriting, graphic design, social media platforms, Agile/SCRUM/Jira, Google SEO Analytics, content creator outreach, and so much more. Not to mention you need to have a strong interest in the game you are a CM for AND be willing to put yourself in the line of fire of flames and trolling that occurs on channels like these forums.

So please, I ask you to carefully consider that you take the time to understand that what community managers do is ...

Andy is the community lead for the Overwatch community team. Which does mean he has a lot of responsibilities which go beyond participating on the forums. Don’t worry he is around, but I think it’s very important to understand that a community manager has a lot of tasks that we don’t get to see from our view.

Maybe mechanical skill??? But even then idk because each support hero is pretty unique.

I think people underestimate the situational awareness, game sense, and teamwork skills you need to be a good support.