Jessica Merizan wrote...
Hey guys,
I just wanted to clarify a few things.
1) The twitter account is my personal one. No one is paying me to tweet on it and considering how much people are trying to extrapolate from replies I make that are meant for certain people (Twitter operates in a way that it's assume that while replies are public, people don't see them on their feed unless they follow both individuals -- or unless they camp on someone's profile which is what people are currently doing on mine). There's not a script I'm following and I'm not being "told" anything by PR. PR actually has very little to do with this situation, but I doubt you will believe that.
2) I was speaking to a person who enjoyed the ending (which is very much a personal opinion that I respect just as I respect someone else's opinion that they did not like the endings or even that the endings ruined their ME experience. All opinions are valid.) and I indicated that people who like things do not talk about it enough. People took this to mean that I was indicating that people don't talk about things when they're happy or that word of mouth isn't discussing things. That was not my intention.
2A) Twitter is terrible about having forum like conversations but currently I'm finding that's how people are trying to use it. After sending thousands of tweets this week (no small feat, try it) yes I get fatigued and don't always say exactly what I mean. But it's worse when I know that everyone is camped out on my feed just waiting to pick apart something I've said and prove me to be a liar or the harbinger of hope. Neither of which I am. I am a community manager who is a trained anthropologist and I feel that at times like this having a dialogue is more important than ever. It would certainly be easier if I didn't say anything at all, but I don't think that's the right thing to do.
2B) My intention to that person was to say that more people need to vocalize their opinion, positive or negative. When we insulate ourselves in tight-knit communities, it's harder to see that most people aren't doing that. Not the same most people however, just most people in different situations. An example I used is the 90-9-1 principle or the 1% rule (which is all over the internet and I studied it during my master's coursework in media consumption at University College London, namedrop intentional as people have recently accused me of being unable to read and interpret statistics or data, something I'm very good at and pride myself on).
3) The above rule is quite simple. 90% of consumers will passively engage in the product through consumption (such as playing a video game). They might lurk on forums or read articles. 9% of these people will take it a step further and actively engage in discussions and talk. These are the people that you rely on for WOM sales (word of mouth). They'll "like" a post on Facebook, share it to their wall, reply to a forum thread, RT or reply to something on Twitter. Then you have people who take it one step further and create content based on the original product. These are your fan artists, cosplayers, and even as simple as someone who starts a forum thread or makes a youtube video.
3A) An example I gave of this on Twitter is 3 products that I enjoy: Dominos pizza, the television show The Venture Brothers, and the Mass Effect Franchise. While I spend an embarrassing amount of money on Dominos every month, I don't discuss my purchase online with my friends. I haven't "Liked" their page on Facebook and I'm not a member of their community. I'm still an important consumer and I vote with my wallet. However I'm in that 90% that Dominos is constantly trying to engage with pizza ordering widgets to share on my Facebook wall etc. But I'm not biting. On the other hand, I'm a much more vocal consumer of the Venture Brothers. I'm in the 9% there. I've been a member of several fan sites, tuned into their livestreams and donated money during their charity drives, I tweet quotes from the show and am involved in discussions with other fans I met online. And finally, long before I worked for BioWare, I was in the 1% of this community. Even though I didn't go on the forums much (other than lurk), I created costumes, spread my love of their games at conventions, actively participated in their facebook initiatives etc.
3B) This doesn't just apply to people who like something. This applies to consumption as a whole. The 9% vocal minority isn't a bunch of naysayers. It's literally just the vocal bunch out of the entire group. It includes people who like, dislike, and are neutral. The media has just latched onto "vocal minority" as if it's a bad thing. It's not. It's just the way consumption works. Go look at any Facebook page, specifically their "People Talking About This" (PTAT). We consider 10% a great number. 20% is off the charts. But it rarely goes above that. It's just the way things work.
4) Honestly, if you want people to communicate more, you have to stop ripping apart everything. I'm speaking in generals here, most people don't do this but we remember those people who do the most. I have devs who don't want to write blogs for me because they don't want to lovingly craft a nice post and then watch it get picked apart and analyzed to death. There have been countless times this week that I wanted to stop talking because people were misinterpreting things I said such as my tweet in reply to one specific person that was taken out of context. One tweet that I made when I was tired and it was poorly worded. And seeing people rip it apart in the forums made me want to stop tweeting for good. Make my account private and just use my public one for generic information and boring updates. But I didn't because I know that it's awful when a few people ruin it for everyone.
I respect that even if I personally disagree with the end goal of RetakeME, their means to be heard are noble. Even if they have a demand, they aren't coming across as demanding. They try to be polite and fight stereotypes about fandom. And as their community manager, I'm advocating for their opinions to be heard. But this BioWare PR damage control stuff is ridiculous. How can we expect to have a conversation about this when people are slinging around jargon that frankly none of our PR professionals have ever even heard of. You're making yourselves paranoid and rejecting anything we have to say. It's one thing to be skeptical (as a consumer, it's smart to be an informed buyer) but it's another thing to lead yourself to believe that someone is actively trying to pull the wool over your eyes. We aren't. I'm not. I'm losing sleep over this and regardless of what you may think I'm not getting paid to sit and type this out. And any PR person would tell you this entire post is a mistake to write and publish.
Thanks.
P.S. Since I'm trying to be informative, a disclaimer about "this is my personal Twitter. Opinions are my own." don't actually hold up or keep someone out of hot water, so it's a waste of precious characters to have that in your description.
P.P.S. Yes, as someone previously mentioned we are actively monitoring how many people are finishing the game and comparing it to ME2 as a standard. This is the primary reason that we have held off on discussing the endings, for better or worse. You can expect fuller details later, but when I ask you to be patient it's not because I hate you or am scrambling to find the right words to say. I will tell you that I'm really encouraged by the feedback I'm getting and what I'm hearing from the team and I look forward to when that can be shared. Also, multiplayer numbers are a completely separate metric so you don't need to worry about us conflating the two.
Thanks for the post Jessica. I believe you're genuine, and I don't think the current producer/consumer relationship is anywhere near as tense and tactical as some would make it out to be.
I've seen nothing but nice things posted about you throughout various threads, and even here where anyone affiliate with EA/Bioware PR are viewed suspiciously, the community acknowledges that you're very well meaning.
I can't speak for everyone, but I think that the Retakers want nothing more than a repaired relationship between themselves and Bioware. "Lots of speculation for everyone" can be a double edged sword, especially when it spawns from what many of us feel is a disjointed ending that didn't do Bioware justice. To those on our side of the fence, we're not nitpicking...the issues are simply glaring, and diminish the series as a whole, and nobody wants that.
As for people not ripping every hint, note, or general statement given apart, I know a lot of the good people involved here in this thread and other related topics do their best to be civil, state their case, and keep an open mind. Between trolls, and people who simply can't help themselves, the good folks get lost in the shuffle. Not to mention that when people like that come around, it can quickly turn to quarreling between members.
I know what I'd personally like to see happen is an open, transparent discussion between Bioware and the consumers. I also know the chances of that happening aren't likely at the moment, given the current climate of the forums, and the state of whatever decision Bioware is debating.
I hope that with time, the ones causing trouble get bored, and those who are "holding the line" remain. A less hostile, more positive environment is good for all parties involved.
Thank you for taking the time to post this, surely someone will come along and knock you for it (it's probably already happened by the time I hit "submit") but I truly appreciate it, and hope we can see more of you around these parts soon.
Ce sujet est fermé
Retour en haut
I'm still not buying any DLC, playing TOR, multiplayer, or purchasing any Bioware/EA product til this resolves somehow.
