Riot, where are your community managers?

Kitsuki05·12/9/2014, 2:57:43 AM·6 votes·1,385 views

Now don't get the wrong impression, this isn't a raging complain. Riot has taken incredible steps towards the fostering of a good community, but where are the people who actually decide things pertaining to this subject matter get done? What are the sorts of the things they are doing?

I know for a fact that Riot hires people specifically for working on community relations (a quick search on their jobs page was simple evidence) but, how much emphasis is actually being put into one of the most essential roles to the success for a game like League of Legends, and even Riot's own business motto? There are only two Rioter's names I can think who I can say to myself, "Oh, that's the Rioter who's all about fostering community." There was Nikasaur, who has now moved on to other things, and Lyte, who's main focus seems to be the analytical side to community. There are a number of other names that I have seen briefly giving interview to other Rioters about patch changes or game content who I think might vaguely be related to the community management team, but I don't feel as if they've really impacted the way I experience the game. When I wonder where all the Rioters working on community management are, I don't solely refer to the people who minimize "toxicity". I wonder where are the people who are out there making content for me as a player to watch, read, or possibly even play through within the game client itself that makes me excited about the experience of League of Legends.

Lately all of the focus of Riot getting players pumped about league of legends seems to be coming from teasers of champions, story , and special events such as the harrowing. I do not believe this is enough. Not everything we experience about league of legends needs to be canonical in nature , and while the emphasis and interesting story events is appreciated, I miss the days where I'd see Riot regularly sharing fan-made content as with as much attitude as they would use to enthuse about their own content. Where are the cool communities that are built around enjoying league of legends for players to join and interact with? Riot used to sponsor, not just popular streamers, but streams with awesome community interaction where people play together with random members of the same community and have their own games streamed and commentated on.

I think Riot has lost a certain human touch with their community relations in the recent years, a game is more than mechanics, artwork, and tale, especially in this day and age. A game is also made by the people who play the game. If we don't have the tools to make new and interesting ways to get involved in League of Legends, we miss out on the value of experiencing the game.

9 Comments

Daen12/9/2014, 6:37:13 AM3 votes

Not to hijack, but this thread might have some interest for you. Both Pwyff and Sargonas touch on how Riot views the idea of Community Managers, so it might help with information.

As for the general idea, I completely agree. A big part of Riot's goal with this idea is to empower all Rioters to involve themselves in the community; this is admirable, but realistically everyone is super busy. I'm not sure if there are many Rioters whose sole job it is to interact with and help foster the community; even those on the Boards team wear a lot of other hats and have a ton of other duties.

Serpents Embrace12/9/2014, 3:04:16 AM1 votes

And where's the communication accountability? =\ It seems like Rioter's communication regarding feedback varies widely. Some on the design team, skin team, pricing team etc seem to be really responsive and competent when a question regarding them or their work pops up on the boards.

And others just seem to blow off feedback and continue on with whatever they were doing like a cow swatting a fly with its tail. It's really disheartening when you're trying to convey the problems with a champion's kit or rework, or a skin's color palette or anything you're really passionate about and the Riot employee whose job it is to work on that particular part of the game is disinterested and dismissive.

I've seen claims that Riot has internal training for PR for all their employees but honestly I don't see any results from it.

Civil Dawn12/11/2014, 3:55:41 PM1 votes

I agree. My goal is to become a community manager one day, as I've seen all the awesome things they get to do... But in Riot it seems like they don't even exist... They're Community managers, shouldn't they be constantly talking to the community, creating community events, etc.???

Civil Dawn12/12/2014, 1:04:31 PM1 votes

Yes, exactly! :)