Vanilla Forums Blog

Conflict is inevitable in any community. Yet many organizations still fail to plan for how to mediate conflict and tension. It’s important that we do: when you let conflict fester and turn into a full-blown crisis, it can destroy the community you’ve worked so hard to build.

Game developers and publishers commonly assume that bugs are behind most bad reviews. While game-breaking bugs are certainly a deal-breaker for your players, the most common complaints come down to game design issues.

The reason for this is that unlike bugs, which can be quickly patched, game design issues are more difficult to fix. Problems with the actual design of the underlying mechanics of a game, may cause players to wonder whether the game is doomed. This is a common criticism of titles that are released too early.

It’s that time again, another CMX Summit is coming! It’s a yearly gathering of community builders and professionals of all levels that meet to connect and learn from each other. To me, it’s one the can’t miss events of the year and certainly most of you must agree, as the tickets are sold out. We are also sponsors once again for what is surely to be an amazing get together in Portland next week (October 1st until October 3rd).

This will be my third CMX Summit and I'm a seasoned conference veteran. With this in mind, I thought I would share my best tips to ensure you get the most out of CMX Summit. Of course, I work at a vendor, but like you, I manage a community as well -- and that is how I attend the event. So without further ado, here are my best tips to ensure you have an amazing experience:

Sometimes, the internet seems like a sea of snake oil companies trying to scam others into buying their worthless products. This unfortunate reality of the internet has made us more vigilant and less trusting.

This is especially the case in B2B transactions, where prospective clients come looking for a solution to an important business problem.

Your prospects are looking for someone they can trust. While traditional advertising may help raise awareness, it’s no longer a driving force behind purchase decisions. Facing complex challenges and wanting to improve their own businesses, your clients are looking for recommendations from your other customers. They want social proof, and that’s where brand advocacy comes in.

Building hype around your game in advance of its launch is essential to ensure it reaches maximum potential on the big day. For the most part, this begins with your community – which is something you should start building from the moment you announce the development of your title.