| If disaster does strike: Pause. When the adrenaline starts flowing in reaction to a problem, the first reaction is usually to do something, anything, to start making things better. In this situation, unorganized action is a recipe for creating another disaster. Instead, slow down and take the time to get organized and follow the process and plan you've developed. -
Use the plan ” Don't hesitate to put into action those elements of the plan that apply to the situation, even if the situation doesn't seem to warrant a disaster reaction. In a less-than -disaster situation, the extra organization and galvanization provided by the plan can only help; your team will feel more comfortable knowing there is an organized response to the problem, and everyone will know how they are supposed to respond. -
Get organized ” If there is more than one problem to be solved , prioritize them and assign people to start the investigation and fix process on the top priorities. Top priority should be given to those elements that prevent players from accessing the game, such as bugs that crash the client, game servers, database, or network servers. After those are dealt with, bugs that can be used to exploit the game mechanics or duplicate game items should be handled, followed by lag or latency issues. After those issues are dispatched, get together with the team, go over all the remaining outstanding issues revealed by the launch, and prioritize the fix schedule. -
Communicate ” While all this is going on, the community relations team should be meeting briefly but regularly with the producer, getting updates, and constructing messages to post for the players. While problem-solving is ongoing, it is a good idea for community relations to be posting on a regular basis, such as once per hour or half- hour , even if progress is minimal. The players will be much more responsive and patient with the process as long as you make the attempt to keep them informed. Whenever possible, substantive information should be relayed; for example, if the game servers need to come down for a reboot to install a fix, give the players both a warning before the reboot and an all-clear signal when it is safe to go back into the game. If a client crash bug fix is being tested on the internal test server, note that in a message. -
Follow up ” Keep the players informed as to the overall progress. Once or twice a day, community relations should post a message from the producer, noting which problems have been worked on, which have been fixed, and which are still in the fix/test process. If the producer has scheduled game downtime as part of the process, make sure this is part of the message, even if you've posted about it elsewhere. This will give the players the opportunity to plan their game time and gameplay, which is really what they want to know about the process, as well as that the team is working hard to fix problems.  |
