This is a reprise of the speech I gave last year at the Community Managers Conference in the GC at Leipzig, re-written and re-presented with case studies and practical examples. In general the talk will highlight critical information gaps that community professionals can help to fill as well as feedback systems that can be put in place to ensure that players feel more connected to the process and that the final product is in-line with the expectations of the users. Additionally a secondary tangent will explore how a background in community can be leveraged when working in other areas of development using myself and others as examples.

Takeaway: Community input should be a fundamental plank of games development and that expertise in player psychology is vital to the process. Intended Audience: Professional community managers as well as decision makers in the development pipeline.

I was a professional community manager for seven years on Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer: Age of Recknoning. I was responsible for all operational management including community management and customer service on the English DAoC servers in Europe and was the lead English CM for WAR in Europe throughout beta. For the last two years I have been working as a games designer for an independent studio in Germany where my community background is being leveraged in designing social systems and other community critical areas. Prior to all of that I was a games developer and staff writer for Games Workshop in the UK. I have maintained a strong interest through professional groups and informal relationships with community management.