What do you get when you remove an MMO community manager from that position and give him free license to talk what really goes on behind the scenes without the PR gloss? You end up with someone like Tonka, a former TERA community rep and “Event Specialist” who has uploaded a rant video on how studios devalue customers and community relations. Also, he targets marketing as a “necessary evil.”
“Companies frequently and obviously apply community management as an afterthought to their total business plan,” said Tonka. “When you’re creating a product, you also have to consider the customer. This is really not an unusual thought in business, but I feel like it gets lost in the games industry all the time and especially in MMOs.”
You can watch Tonka’s entire 11-minute rant below.
@nbrianna Hey, Tonka here. Official title "Event Specialist" on the community team.
— Tonka (@BestTonkaNA) March 21, 2016