Accidental Communities (Day 82)

I spoke to a publisher friend who bought the rights of the game from my 3rd start-up, and I'm surprised that the game is still live on one server! In the heydays, this game was published in 6 different languages on 20+ platforms globally. At the peak, there were over 4 million players.

Because of the guild features in the game, communities were formed on each platform, and each community was vastly different. For example, on Mixi, a Japanese platform, each guild member would check-in daily and give advance notice for days not showing.

On Facebook, we had one of the most organized community with members coming from a World of Warcraft guild. The guild has 5 or 6 cabinet members who organize and manage the resources and assign tasks for guild members. There were major rivalries going on, and to apply for the management positions within the guild, the applicant is required to share the Facebook account password, go through video chat interviews, and some "background checks" to make sure that the applicant was not an "undercover" from the rival guilds.

During our community management meetings, we were constantly at awe learning what had been going on within these communities. The guild leaders from different platforms communicated with each other to learn about notable players or guilds on other platforms and learn their strategies.

Our community manager requested permissions to interview with some of the "legendary" guilds and players, many of whom later were nominated into our game's own "Hall of Fame". The interviews revealed many real-life personalities and some of them are actually in leadership positions in real life.

Have you encountered any special communities? Please do share your stories in the comments.