Community Team Changes - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Community Team Changes

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
wotc_mike
Dec 17, 2008 18:41:24 Good afternoon all,

As you know, Wizards of the Coast has undergone some changes lately to focus on our core brands and digital initiatives. As part of this change, we have had a series of discussions on how to integrate community support with our game support activity for a more comprehensive customer service experience. I wanted to post and let you all know the results of this discussion and how Wizards will be supporting this initiative.

I will be transitioning off of day-to-day community management duties so that I can focus on my primary work responsibilities as the Tournament and Promotions Manager for Magic Online. In my place, I would like to introduce our two new community liaisons Bernie Stokes and Eric Sorensen. Both of these fine gentlemen have been working here at Wizards in Game Support as well as other duties for many years and quite frankly know our products better than I do.

They will be taking over all community programs (like the VCL program) and forums communications with the public for all of our programs and brands. While each of them knows all of properties well, they are specialized as follows:

Bernie Stokes – Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons & Dragons Insider, and D&D Miniatures. In addition Bernie manages the D&Di Beta program.

Eric Sorensen – Magic the Gathering and Magic Online.

While they are focused on these brands, Bernie and Eric will be working together along with their manager Trevor Kidd in regards to Avalon Hill, Star Wars RPG, Star Wars Miniatures, MapleStory and Heroscape. As a team, they will also continue fully supporting all of the CM programs and prize support we have run in the past at the same level while working towards expanding them in the future. And since this is the same team that manages the ORCs, this will also enable even better communication and workflow to take place between them and the VCLs.

I will be available to work with them if needed but I am confident in their abilities and resources to be able to pass along community concerns and answer their questions completely.

I will still appear on the message boards from time to time in the Magic Online area as part of my new job focus but please direct your questions and requests to them as of now so that they can quickly get you what you need.

I want to thank you all for your energy and enthusiasm and your involvement in the gaming community as a whole. It is your excitement that makes it a pleasure to work in this industry.

Happy holidays all!

Michael Gills
Wizards of the Coast
Magic Online Tournament and Promotions Manager
Email: [email]Michael.Gills@wizards.com[/email]
AIM: WOTC Mike
#2
wotc_bernie
Dec 17, 2008 19:11:41 Hi Everyone,

I just heard an announcement was posted about the new community team. I thought I better get a move on and post an intro so you know a little bit about me.

First off, I’m Bernie Stokes, (I’m not a woman if you’re wondering). I’m a former US Marine who served in Persian Gulf War, Desert Storm and Somalia. I’m an artist and from time to time do freelance graphic design, along with a background in computer development/sales. I also worked for Microsoft as a QA game tester, but had the opportunity to move into a position of running beta programs and managing a community of users. Seven plus years later I’m still doing the same thing here at Wizards of the Coast, and I’ve been here for over a year now.

I know Solice and Mike have provided the community with some great memories and experiences. They’ve both worked with you and established a great link to the community and I want to take what they’ve started and provide a new experience in helping the community grow even further.

I hope that in the near future I get the chance to meet and know you all, and I look forward to working with you to grow the community.

So don’t hesitate send me a message and say hello!
#3
wotc_bernie
Dec 17, 2008 20:02:47
Friendly welcome to the Nine Hells

I hope you'll stay longer than Solice and Mike, we'd appreciate a steady communit liaison I'd guess.

I hope you can achieve some improvements over here and take care of a few of the residing problems or at least help bind the community together.

Have a nice time with your job and welcome yet again!

Thank you for the welcome! With our team in place we will defiantly provide a steady community facing =). But first and foremost we need to ramp up on things and enjoy the holidays. Once that is over, and we’re up to speed we will start interacting even more with you and the community on what things we can improve on.

Happy Holidays!

Bernie
#4
lord_karsus
Dec 17, 2008 21:32:07 -So, you guys are the new "guys". Good to know.
#5
WotC_Eric
Dec 17, 2008 21:45:34 I wanted to let everyone know more about me and what I want to see us do with and for the community.

I’ve been here at Wizards of the Coast for 3 years, all of it in Game Support. I started out working Customer Service answering phones and e-mails for Magic Online and then moved into more of a business support role helping out the Magic Online team by acting as the conduit between Game Support and the MTGO business. Anyone who was in the MTGO community back then probably saw me posting the downtime notes and other announcements. From there I oversaw one of our internal support teams and then took over the Adepts and WizOs as we started their transition into the customer service team as the ORCs. Most of my posts to the community during this time were in defense of the ORCs (we’re not perfect, but we’re trying).

In all of those positions I kept my eyes on the community and cared about what you had to say and made sure I did my part in letting you know what I could about what Game Support was doing for you. Now that will be my full time role here.

One of the things we’ve been working on over the last six months has been gathering your feedback and making sure it gets to the right desk. With the help of the ORCs and VCLs we’ve already been taking the voice of the customer and delivering it to various brand managers and executives around the company. Our goal is to not only continue this, but continue to grow it so the company knows exactly what its customers think.

We have worked closely with Jennifer and Mike and know how much they have done to improve the community. We plan to continue this trend while also trying out some of the ideas that we have for building communities. Stay tuned for more information on those initiatives in the coming months.
#6
Shemeska_the_Marauder
Dec 19, 2008 8:42:59 May your tenure here be better than GamerZer0's (especially given all of his old posts and stickied threads that were getting scrubbed and swept under the rug as of late).
#7
Zherog
Dec 19, 2008 9:22:01
May your tenure here be better than GamerZer0's (especially given all of his old posts and stickied threads that were getting scrubbed and swept under the rug as of late).

I was going to take a shot at G0, but changed my mind. Instead, I'll just echo Shemmy's sentiment, while also adding that I hope you can learn from his mistakes.

Listen to your forum leaders. Paying attention to folks with with Scribe, Gamemaster or VCL titles is a good start for this, but there are forum leaders who don't hold any of those titles. (wrecan, Lord Karsius, etc) You'll do well to quickly identify the folks in each community who keep things running. they're opinions on stuff isn't always right, but if they tell you something's wrong it's probably worth your time to look into it.

I'm still saddened to see Jennifer leave. Quite frankly, she was the best damn thing to happen to this forums since the community stuff was removed from the WizO team and Melanie. You both have a lot to live up to and a lot of work to do gaining the community's trust. I wish you luck.
#8
wrecan
Dec 19, 2008 9:25:07
Ithere are forum leaders who don't hold any of those titles. (wrecan, Lord Karsius, etc)

What? Forum guide is chopped liver?

Zherog's advice is good. Welcome to the gauntlet!
#9
Zherog
Dec 19, 2008 9:28:35 Heh. I forgot about the forum guide thingy. But even had I remembered, I didn't know you were one.
#10
goblin_pride
Dec 21, 2008 3:47:08 So does that mean I can appeal the decision to ban the discussion of anything political or religious to the new regime?

I would be very interested in finding out whether or not the off-topic forums in the D&D areas are for discussing whatever the community wishes .

Welcome to the nuthouse, Bernie, you stay stay faithful. Semper Paratus.
#11
Webster
Dec 21, 2008 10:40:31 The off topic boards are NOT free for all anything goes boards.
#12
goblin_pride
Dec 21, 2008 11:17:20
The off topic boards are NOT free for all anything goes boards.

They're also not a free forum for discussions about topics that the community wishes to have. As a matter of fact, they're not a free forum at all. When moderation involves an outright ban on any topic, it's called censorship.
#13
wrecan
Dec 21, 2008 11:31:14
They're also not a free forum for discussions about topics that the community wishes to have.

That's a broad brush. More accurate to say it is not free to engage in every discussion that some members might like to have. But that's always the result having banned topics.

As a matter of fact, they're not a free forum at all.

What gave you the idea that this was a "free forum" (by which I assume you mean an unmoderated forum)? If you want a free forum, head to 4chan. I've heard everything is fair game there.

When moderation involves an outright ban on any topic, it's called censorship.

Yes, it is censorship. Site owners are entitled to limit discussions of topics they don't want on their site. Since they are not the government, they're entitled to do it. Every forum of which I am aware -- except the aforementioned 4chan -- engages in some censorship. Censorship should be considered a dirty word when it's not the government.

There are plenty of forums you can go to to discuss politics and religions. This is simply not one of them. Sorry.
#14
lord_karsus
Dec 21, 2008 11:57:21 -Not that this is the place to be discussing the topic, but such things were never permitted in the past. G0's "reign" eliminated the various bans, and look at all the good that did: I've never seen so much blatant flaming/baiting/trolling/harassment/etc. on these boards. I, for one, am very happy that the old status quo was restored.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 wotc_mike Dec 17, 2008 18:41:24	Good afternoon all, As you know, Wizards of the Coast has undergone some changes lately to focus on our core brands and digital initiatives. As part of this change, we have had a series of discussions on how to integrate community support with our game support activity for a more comprehensive customer service experience. I wanted to post and let you all know the results of this discussion and how Wizards will be supporting this initiative. I will be transitioning off of day-to-day community management duties so that I can focus on my primary work responsibilities as the Tournament and Promotions Manager for Magic Online. In my place, I would like to introduce our two new community liaisons Bernie Stokes and Eric Sorensen. Both of these fine gentlemen have been working here at Wizards in Game Support as well as other duties for many years and quite frankly know our products better than I do. They will be taking over all community programs (like the VCL program) and forums communications with the public for all of our programs and brands. While each of them knows all of properties well, they are specialized as follows: Bernie Stokes – Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons & Dragons Insider, and D&D Miniatures. In addition Bernie manages the D&Di Beta program. Eric Sorensen – Magic the Gathering and Magic Online. While they are focused on these brands, Bernie and Eric will be working together along with their manager Trevor Kidd in regards to Avalon Hill, Star Wars RPG, Star Wars Miniatures, MapleStory and Heroscape. As a team, they will also continue fully supporting all of the CM programs and prize support we have run in the past at the same level while working towards expanding them in the future. And since this is the same team that manages the ORCs, this will also enable even better communication and workflow to take place between them and the VCLs. I will be available to work with them if needed but I am confident in their abilities and resources to be able to pass along community concerns and answer their questions completely. I will still appear on the message boards from time to time in the Magic Online area as part of my new job focus but please direct your questions and requests to them as of now so that they can quickly get you what you need. I want to thank you all for your energy and enthusiasm and your involvement in the gaming community as a whole. It is your excitement that makes it a pleasure to work in this industry. Happy holidays all! Michael Gills Wizards of the Coast Magic Online Tournament and Promotions Manager Email: [email]Michael.Gills@wizards.com[/email] AIM: WOTC Mike
#2 wotc_bernie Dec 17, 2008 19:11:41	Hi Everyone, I just heard an announcement was posted about the new community team. I thought I better get a move on and post an intro so you know a little bit about me. First off, I’m Bernie Stokes, (I’m not a woman if you’re wondering). I’m a former US Marine who served in Persian Gulf War, Desert Storm and Somalia. I’m an artist and from time to time do freelance graphic design, along with a background in computer development/sales. I also worked for Microsoft as a QA game tester, but had the opportunity to move into a position of running beta programs and managing a community of users. Seven plus years later I’m still doing the same thing here at Wizards of the Coast, and I’ve been here for over a year now. I know Solice and Mike have provided the community with some great memories and experiences. They’ve both worked with you and established a great link to the community and I want to take what they’ve started and provide a new experience in helping the community grow even further. I hope that in the near future I get the chance to meet and know you all, and I look forward to working with you to grow the community. So don’t hesitate send me a message and say hello!
#3 wotc_bernie Dec 17, 2008 20:02:47	Friendly welcome to the Nine Hells I hope you'll stay longer than Solice and Mike, we'd appreciate a steady communit liaison I'd guess. I hope you can achieve some improvements over here and take care of a few of the residing problems or at least help bind the community together. Have a nice time with your job and welcome yet again! Thank you for the welcome! With our team in place we will defiantly provide a steady community facing =). But first and foremost we need to ramp up on things and enjoy the holidays. Once that is over, and we’re up to speed we will start interacting even more with you and the community on what things we can improve on. Happy Holidays! Bernie
#4 lord_karsus Dec 17, 2008 21:32:07	-So, you guys are the new "guys". Good to know.
#5 WotC_Eric Dec 17, 2008 21:45:34	I wanted to let everyone know more about me and what I want to see us do with and for the community. I’ve been here at Wizards of the Coast for 3 years, all of it in Game Support. I started out working Customer Service answering phones and e-mails for Magic Online and then moved into more of a business support role helping out the Magic Online team by acting as the conduit between Game Support and the MTGO business. Anyone who was in the MTGO community back then probably saw me posting the downtime notes and other announcements. From there I oversaw one of our internal support teams and then took over the Adepts and WizOs as we started their transition into the customer service team as the ORCs. Most of my posts to the community during this time were in defense of the ORCs (we’re not perfect, but we’re trying). In all of those positions I kept my eyes on the community and cared about what you had to say and made sure I did my part in letting you know what I could about what Game Support was doing for you. Now that will be my full time role here. One of the things we’ve been working on over the last six months has been gathering your feedback and making sure it gets to the right desk. With the help of the ORCs and VCLs we’ve already been taking the voice of the customer and delivering it to various brand managers and executives around the company. Our goal is to not only continue this, but continue to grow it so the company knows exactly what its customers think. We have worked closely with Jennifer and Mike and know how much they have done to improve the community. We plan to continue this trend while also trying out some of the ideas that we have for building communities. Stay tuned for more information on those initiatives in the coming months.
#6 Shemeska_the_Marauder Dec 19, 2008 8:42:59	May your tenure here be better than GamerZer0's (especially given all of his old posts and stickied threads that were getting scrubbed and swept under the rug as of late).
#7 Zherog Dec 19, 2008 9:22:01	May your tenure here be better than GamerZer0's (especially given all of his old posts and stickied threads that were getting scrubbed and swept under the rug as of late). I was going to take a shot at G0, but changed my mind. Instead, I'll just echo Shemmy's sentiment, while also adding that I hope you can learn from his mistakes. Listen to your forum leaders. Paying attention to folks with with Scribe, Gamemaster or VCL titles is a good start for this, but there are forum leaders who don't hold any of those titles. (wrecan, Lord Karsius, etc) You'll do well to quickly identify the folks in each community who keep things running. they're opinions on stuff isn't always right, but if they tell you something's wrong it's probably worth your time to look into it. I'm still saddened to see Jennifer leave. Quite frankly, she was the best damn thing to happen to this forums since the community stuff was removed from the WizO team and Melanie. You both have a lot to live up to and a lot of work to do gaining the community's trust. I wish you luck.
#8 wrecan Dec 19, 2008 9:25:07	Ithere are forum leaders who don't hold any of those titles. (wrecan, Lord Karsius, etc) What? Forum guide is chopped liver? Zherog's advice is good. Welcome to the gauntlet!
#9 Zherog Dec 19, 2008 9:28:35	Heh. I forgot about the forum guide thingy. But even had I remembered, I didn't know you were one.
#10 goblin_pride Dec 21, 2008 3:47:08	So does that mean I can appeal the decision to ban the discussion of anything political or religious to the new regime? I would be very interested in finding out whether or not the off-topic forums in the D&D areas are for discussing whatever the community wishes . Welcome to the nuthouse, Bernie, you stay stay faithful. Semper Paratus.
#11 Webster Dec 21, 2008 10:40:31	The off topic boards are NOT free for all anything goes boards.
#12 goblin_pride Dec 21, 2008 11:17:20	The off topic boards are NOT free for all anything goes boards. They're also not a free forum for discussions about topics that the community wishes to have. As a matter of fact, they're not a free forum at all. When moderation involves an outright ban on any topic, it's called censorship.
#13 wrecan Dec 21, 2008 11:31:14	They're also not a free forum for discussions about topics that the community wishes to have. That's a broad brush. More accurate to say it is not free to engage in every discussion that some members might like to have. But that's always the result having banned topics. As a matter of fact, they're not a free forum at all. What gave you the idea that this was a "free forum" (by which I assume you mean an unmoderated forum)? If you want a free forum, head to 4chan. I've heard everything is fair game there. When moderation involves an outright ban on any topic, it's called censorship. Yes, it is censorship. Site owners are entitled to limit discussions of topics they don't want on their site. Since they are not the government, they're entitled to do it. Every forum of which I am aware -- except the aforementioned 4chan -- engages in some censorship. Censorship should be considered a dirty word when it's not the government. There are plenty of forums you can go to to discuss politics and religions. This is simply not one of them. Sorry.
#14 lord_karsus Dec 21, 2008 11:57:21	-Not that this is the place to be discussing the topic, but such things were never permitted in the past. G0's "reign" eliminated the various bans, and look at all the good that did: I've never seen so much blatant flaming/baiting/trolling/harassment/etc. on these boards. I, for one, am very happy that the old status quo was restored.