CM's > GC > Devs > GC > CM's

Some things I can answer for you, somethings would take far more time and explanation that I'd probably care to give.

Ghostcrawler is a designer so doesn't have to take things to designers necessarily, but takes things to his team to discuss. He also reads these forums along with the other developers. So the process isn't quite as linear as you think. Sometimes we take things to them, sometimes they see something and bring us some information to share out to you.

1.) How much time is spent on these forums? Lots. As much as we can, but we have other duties too that can sometimes take us away from them.

2.) Is there a mandatory time spent? No. We don't mandate the time spent. It's just not necessary since it's a part of our jobs. We spend what time we can so that we're on top of the current topics and discussions.

3.) What constitutes something as noteworthy? That depends on too many variables to simply define it for you.

4.) In what format do you submit forum "buzz", suggestions, etc

This varies. It could be an email, a phone call, in person, a meeting, instant messages, etc. We communicate with each other on a constant basis.

5.) Do you report general overriding tones or do you site specific examples

Yes and yes.

6.) How often do you report/send in findings to GC

See # 4

7.) How often does communication between CM and GC happen?

See #4- btw.. Communication goes to more than one single developer. We are in constant contact with the developers, producers, customer service, etc. We work with a variety of teams.

8.) How often does GC and Devs communicate.

All the time.

9.) How can we make your job, GC job, and Devs job easier (possibly suggestion format etc)

Post as constructively and clearly as you can. Abide by the Code of Conduct and Forum Guidelines. Have patience with the process. When you're concerned about something, don't be afraid to tell us. Understand that sometimes, we won't have an immediate answer or one that you'll love. Let us know when we're off the mark and on the mark both. It helps us greatly to understand what your personal experiences are.

10.) What examples are best to use to give GC and the Devs an accurate depiction of what has/has been happening?

Information about your class, your playstyle, the types of issues you're running into such as whether you're using a certain spec or certain spells and abilities when you're running into issues. The more specific you can be, the better really. Numbers are good on one level, but sometimes the numbers don't say whether you're having "fun" or not.

11.) Is this list too long?

Does it end? ;)

12.) Any idea on how/why dev workload is distributed?

Yes, but it's not for me to share detailed internal processes. I know it's a non-answer, but somethings we like to keep to ourselves.

13.) Does each (group of) CM(s) have a speciality?

Define specialty? We all pitch in on a variety of things and while one of us may have more experience on one thing or another, we try to learn from each other as much as possible so that we're all on the same (relative) footing.

14.) Do you often confer with each other? If so is there a set time to do so to catch certain posts?

All the time. We sit with each other every day. We talk all the time. We have meetings, share insights etc.

15.) Do you submit reports individually or as a group?

All of the above?

16.) Is the absence of evidence the evidence of absence?

If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

17.) Do you know how the eu/other fourms?

eh? We work with our international teams all the time as well. We are a global company and they're great people that I'm privileged enough to work with.

18.) Is there a method you guys use to observe/read other forums here? If so, what kind?

We read as much as we can on a variety of forums and sites, I also tend to listen to different podcasts even when I have the time. (Usually while driving during my commute back and forth from work.)

19.) What type of notes do you take if any? The type that can be used to share information with others? Are there different types of notes I don't know about? :)

20.) When you aren't allowed to talk about things, is that restricted to what the devs are doing (like "They are looking into it, and that is all I can say") or is it more like a complete gag order?

This is an odd one to address. We have methods to the madness and all things have their time and place. We try to work toward finding that right time and place based on a variety of variables. It's what we do as Community Managers. There is more to what we do than simply following "orders" and we actively work cooperatively with a variety of teams to discern what the right time and place should be. We work as an entire entity and respect each other as professionals.

Badly worded here. The question was "Do you know how the eu/other forums operate (as in do they operate basically the same way)?"

We do and they are ran similarly. Though, we try to make sure that what is being done aligns with the type of community we are communicating with.

do the dev's ever read funny trolls threads and have a laugh? or is it taboo and you don't want to encourage trolls?

We are human and laugh at funny things all the time, that doesn't mean that we're encouraging it though.

02/04/2011 4:01 PMPosted by Powerangers

If you can't answer simple questions without giving vague answers or answering questions with questions, please don't waste our time and reply. It really isn't hard to give a direct answer to any of the above questions. Out of all the things that are asked, we atleast deserve simple answers to simple questions : /

I did. The problem is less about my answers and more about the fact that despite Community Management being a growing field, many people still misunderstand what we do or can't fully understand unless they're in our shoes. It would take me far longer than a simple forum post to go into the intricacies of what we do and even then, unless you're on our side of the fence it's very difficult to truly gauge it in proper context. That's not to say that I don't think you are smart enough to get it, it's just that there really are no "simple" answers that I could give you that wouldn't lend themselves to even more questions. There's a lot of intuition, people skills, writing ability, game knowledge, design and processes knowledge, and more that goes into what we do. Like I said, it's a much larger conversation and I'm sure there are resources beyond these forums that go into the job a bit more than I could here that could at least give you a perspective to go by.

02/04/2011 3:30 PMPosted by Keiradish

I have a question relating to this answer...
Does this mean that the CM's and such read fan forums such as MMO-C for feedback and such things, or was the a miswording and by 'variety of forums and sites' you meant the various forums on your website?

Yes. These forums, outside forums, Twitters, blog posts, podcasts, news and media sites. Pretty much whatever we can slip time in for to stay aware of the trends and conversations.

02/04/2011 5:13 PMPosted by Warloff

Wait....how do you listen to podcasts while driving?

Download onto a device, plug into an adapter that plays it on the car stereo, listen. I do this with audio books as well.

02/04/2011 5:15 PMPosted by Areynn

In closing to a random post on my part, when I eventually leave this game...I can safely say that you were one of the contributors that made WoW better for me as a whole.

Thank you. I'm very humbled by this.