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To Bat Masterson

AuthorMessage
Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
Mr. Masterson, you have stepped into some mighty large shoes of the previous Community Manager, and I have to say: you're failing the Community.
First by forgetting to post a link to the test realm and now by failing to announce either the KI Live or the Pillow Fight Event.
I need to remind you that not everyone has access to Twitter but that most can access these Boards, which are for important announcements as well as sharing information.
I am very disappointed in this failure on your part and heartily miss Tom.
And, please for the love of Bartleby replace the old worn-out equipment before the next KI Live!
Administrator
anecorbie on Oct 28, 2018 wrote:
Mr. Masterson, you have stepped into some mighty large shoes of the previous Community Manager, and I have to say: you're failing the Community.
First by forgetting to post a link to the test realm and now by failing to announce either the KI Live or the Pillow Fight Event.
I need to remind you that not everyone has access to Twitter but that most can access these Boards, which are for important announcements as well as sharing information.
I am very disappointed in this failure on your part and heartily miss Tom.
And, please for the love of Bartleby replace the old worn-out equipment before the next KI Live!
Hi anecorbie!

Apologies about the rearrangement of some of the areas we post news, but it's for the best of the community.

We did post the announcements on social media on Facebook and Twitter, as well as the usual times on this page: https://www.pirate101.com/free_game/livestream_event. We don't post them as often anymore here on the forums due to the difficulty in viewing and keeping updated on them.

You don't need access to these pages to be able to view them and check up on the news. It's really the best place to get information on what we're producing and announcing.

Glad to have any other suggestions on how we can improve visibility of these announcements!
Dread Pirate
May 27, 2009
2131
Bat Masterson on Nov 1, 2018 wrote:
Hi anecorbie!

Apologies about the rearrangement of some of the areas we post news, but it's for the best of the community.

We did post the announcements on social media on Facebook and Twitter, as well as the usual times on this page: https://www.pirate101.com/free_game/livestream_event. We don't post them as often anymore here on the forums due to the difficulty in viewing and keeping updated on them.

You don't need access to these pages to be able to view them and check up on the news. It's really the best place to get information on what we're producing and announcing.

Glad to have any other suggestions on how we can improve visibility of these announcements!
I'm sorry, but I have to agree with anecorbie that I consider the Pirate101 Tradewinds Tribune as THE official source for news, and the Message Boards are a critical source for discussion and questions from new pirates. Yet, these message boards are being updated even more infrequently than during one of Tom's vacations. I check them first, and only resort to social media as a final option.

Updating your OWN website should be a primary focus prior to using social media, shouldn't it? Did you even announce such a shift before this morning?

I don't have a Twitter account, and I rarely check Facebook, but I did receive notifications of the events because I have Liked the Pirate101 page. There are players who do NOT like social media, do not belong to any of those groups, and would disagree that it is the best thing for the community.

Or does Kingsisle NOT want to have to maintain these boards any longer?

Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
Bat Masterson on Nov 1, 2018 wrote:
Hi anecorbie!

Apologies about the rearrangement of some of the areas we post news, but it's for the best of the community.

We did post the announcements on social media on Facebook and Twitter, as well as the usual times on this page: https://www.pirate101.com/free_game/livestream_event. We don't post them as often anymore here on the forums due to the difficulty in viewing and keeping updated on them.

You don't need access to these pages to be able to view them and check up on the news. It's really the best place to get information on what we're producing and announcing.

Glad to have any other suggestions on how we can improve visibility of these announcements!
Thank you for your courteous reply. I was more used to getting my information from the boards or the launch page. I think this isn't a very good trend from KI, but I shall certainly check Twitter from now on.
Lieutenant
Jan 27, 2015
151
I am disappointed with this response.
I have no intention of giving Jack Dorsey or Mark Zuckerberg any business.
I would have hoped that KI would communicate to their community on their community board.
Commodore
May 31, 2009
894
Bat Masterson on Nov 1, 2018 wrote:
Hi anecorbie!

Apologies about the rearrangement of some of the areas we post news, but it's for the best of the community.

We did post the announcements on social media on Facebook and Twitter, as well as the usual times on this page: https://www.pirate101.com/free_game/livestream_event. We don't post them as often anymore here on the forums due to the difficulty in viewing and keeping updated on them.

You don't need access to these pages to be able to view them and check up on the news. It's really the best place to get information on what we're producing and announcing.

Glad to have any other suggestions on how we can improve visibility of these announcements!
I'd like to preface this by saying I in no way intend to be rude, or claim I have extensive knowledge about the responsibilities and duties of a CM. I'm only interested in giving a little feedback as a longtime KI player and member of the P101/W101 community both here on the forums and elsewhere on social media.

I heartily disagree with the statement that it is in the best interest of the community for KI to stop posting announcements as often here on the forums.

I do follow P101 on Twitter, but the official forums are my primary source of information about current happenings in the Spiral. The forum is solely about Pirate101, which makes it a reliable and fast way to get information, as long as it's actually posted here. It is far easier to be able to glance through the trending and updated topics on the boards every day or two to find out what is happening than to scroll through every other site and page to see the current announcements.

As for the difficulty of viewing and staying updated on the forums, is that from a moderator standpoint, or a player standpoint? The boards are well organized and easily navigated from my point of view; I recognize the volume of posts needing to be moderated may be high, but again, these boards are intended to be a resource for players. Kids and young teens who play P101 may not be allowed to visit sites like Facebook or Twitter and thus the forums would be their only way to access official announcements. FB and Twitter can block viewing access of pages after a short period of time if one does not have an account. Folks may not be inclined to join those sites due to matters of privacy, accessibility, and other personal reasons; why deny them easy access to official announcements?

Again, I'd like to stress I do not mean to come off as rude or as knowing better, but I feel removing even more direct player-company communication than has already happened with Pirate101 is not the right step to take.
Pirate Overlord
Mar 10, 2009
6204
I as a VERY long time member of the Message Board Marauders am very sad to hear this. This has always been my source of news for this much beloved game. This is THE company boards and it is a poor omen indeed to the future of our game if the company that makes it does not wish to keep communication to its loyal players going on the "official" forums. How on EARTH can this be for the good of the community? I don't understand that at all. Would you please care to elaborate on that Bat? These boards are the heart of the community. Twitter and Facebook should be a secondary source, a plan B if you will. If the community manager is too busy to deal with the day to day runnings of the boards then perhaps we need more Vanessa types to help you out. We are family here and have been dealing with feeling like the red headed step child for too long and seeing what looks like you are now pulling away from the heart of your communication to us, what little there is, is a bit scary. Please see it from our perspective. I suspect there are issues with not enough hours to deal with this game as most of KI's resources go into Wizzy but we matter too and we want our voice hard and our ears filled with news and info about a game we all love.
Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
If this a new company policy from KI, then maybe Bat shouldn't be held responsible. If Ms. Rubin would like to explain why KI is doing this, I would welcome her input. We are KI costumers, after all, and many have shown a long time loyalty to this game.
Captain
Jun 10, 2013
729
I agree the Pirate 101 website needs to be the primary source of information. This game is directed at teenagers (and college students) primarily. Some teenagers have parents that don't allow them to use Facebook or Twitter at least until they are a slightly older. Does Kingsisle believe in isolating the player base they are targeting? I think not. These same parents they don't allow their teenagers to use social media do allow them to use the Pirate 101 message boards because they are moderated and kid friendly.

What I do not like about this thread however is the fact that the original poster (who I will not name in this case) immediately placed the blame on Bat Masterson. This is also unacceptable. Bat Masterson has only been at Kingsisle a few months and typically the new person listens to the others already there. Until we know for sure who is responsible everyone is potentially responsible (including: Blind Mew, Decius / Joel, Falmea / Leah, One-Eyed Jack / Tom, Ratbeard, and yes also Bat Masterson). Please do not single out Bat Masterson and immediately place blame on him for this.
Admiral
Oct 27, 2009
1439
Bat Masterson on Nov 1, 2018 wrote:
Hi anecorbie!

Apologies about the rearrangement of some of the areas we post news, but it's for the best of the community.

We did post the announcements on social media on Facebook and Twitter, as well as the usual times on this page: https://www.pirate101.com/free_game/livestream_event. We don't post them as often anymore here on the forums due to the difficulty in viewing and keeping updated on them.

You don't need access to these pages to be able to view them and check up on the news. It's really the best place to get information on what we're producing and announcing.

Glad to have any other suggestions on how we can improve visibility of these announcements!
I agree with many of the other posters. We come here for the news, and discussion of Pirate, for a variety of reasons. It is also where this Pirate community in many ways grew and developed, and has been maintained during the long slow times of little KI attention. The personal interactions here, are part of what makes this community, and that includes the KI Staffers. If it 's only on Twitter and Facebook, I probably won't bother slogging through them, I won't hear about KI Live, and see about whatever new stuff is eventually added. They have an adware feel, not a community news feel. This has been where you hear it from the horse's mouth. I have no problem with others who like to check on facebook and twitter, and understand you wanting to post there too. If you want the forum readers to hear what you post there, you need a nice sticky post link here on the forums with a clear heading that can get us to it easily, rather than one buried in an old post titled, "To Bat Masterson". Soon enough this post will be lost in the old posts of the shipyards.
Administrator
Thank you all for the constructive feedback, and for your patience while I still work to understand the community's interests and how things have been done in the past. It takes a while to understand these things :).

Just to note, where we post news is generally under my direction, so this change was my decision. That said, it can be reversed, at least partially. The reason we post on social media and elsewhere is it's easier not just to keep track of it and see it for community members, but also encourages new community members to join in, something we all want for Pirate101.

I agree that social media should be secondary to the main website, but only for certain announcements. It kind of depends on what's being posted. Something we definitely want to focus social media activity on is retweeting and sharing your announcements. When we see a Pirate101 livestream kick off, we may retweet that! Social media is there for your use as well, not just for our announcements.

What we'll do moving forward is to post more of the higher level announcements here in the forums. However, they may only be links referring to an article or post elsewhere. Will this help in keeping informed of Pirate101 news and being able to discuss that news?
Dread Pirate
May 27, 2009
2131
Bat Masterson on Nov 2, 2018 wrote:
Thank you all for the constructive feedback, and for your patience while I still work to understand the community's interests and how things have been done in the past. It takes a while to understand these things :).

Just to note, where we post news is generally under my direction, so this change was my decision. That said, it can be reversed, at least partially. The reason we post on social media and elsewhere is it's easier not just to keep track of it and see it for community members, but also encourages new community members to join in, something we all want for Pirate101.

I agree that social media should be secondary to the main website, but only for certain announcements. It kind of depends on what's being posted. Something we definitely want to focus social media activity on is retweeting and sharing your announcements. When we see a Pirate101 livestream kick off, we may retweet that! Social media is there for your use as well, not just for our announcements.

What we'll do moving forward is to post more of the higher level announcements here in the forums. However, they may only be links referring to an article or post elsewhere. Will this help in keeping informed of Pirate101 news and being able to discuss that news?
Thank you, Bat, for clarifying your thoughts for us. We all understand that you are new to us and have new ideas, and that one of your concerns is getting the word out to new potential players about what's happening with the game. That's great.

Perhaps, had you TOLD US that social media was your go-to focus for news and announcements, we would have been more accepting. To just omit posting events here in the forums altogether was a serious misstep, in my opinion.

An issue that you will have seen, if you have been able to take some time to review some of the threads here is that we long-term players who are still around - still playing since BETA -- sometimes feel ignored and taken for granted. Yes, we are the "old guard" and maybe a little stuck in our ways, but we deserve some respect and the courtesy of information.

It's actually been a little disheartening to see the forums here not being updated all weekend long, maybe only once a day during the week. We KNOW Pirate101 is the red-headed stepchild at Kingsisle, but at least we had some interaction with Kingsisle Staff here from time to time. First Blind Mew disappears, then Ratbeard, now Tom and even Decius rarely posts anymore. To take away even MORE interaction here seems to be tolling a very solemn bell to us.

Captain
Jun 10, 2013
729
Bat Masterson on Nov 2, 2018 wrote:
Thank you all for the constructive feedback, and for your patience while I still work to understand the community's interests and how things have been done in the past. It takes a while to understand these things :).

Just to note, where we post news is generally under my direction, so this change was my decision. That said, it can be reversed, at least partially. The reason we post on social media and elsewhere is it's easier not just to keep track of it and see it for community members, but also encourages new community members to join in, something we all want for Pirate101.

I agree that social media should be secondary to the main website, but only for certain announcements. It kind of depends on what's being posted. Something we definitely want to focus social media activity on is retweeting and sharing your announcements. When we see a Pirate101 livestream kick off, we may retweet that! Social media is there for your use as well, not just for our announcements.

What we'll do moving forward is to post more of the higher level announcements here in the forums. However, they may only be links referring to an article or post elsewhere. Will this help in keeping informed of Pirate101 news and being able to discuss that news?
Of course it takes awhile to learn everything when stepping into a new job. You have been faster than a lot of people would have believe me.

Thank you for excepting responsibility for this. However I don't know if it is truly your fault. I do know that typically employs will try to blame a mistake on the new guy just so they can get off the hook. I understand if this was the case you are nice and would likely except responsibility so for all I know that is what happened. I really do not want to believe it was your fault because I think you are a nice person who actually does care about the Pirate 101 and Wizard 101 communities.

Pirate 101's Twitter could definitely be better but that is an issue for Ki Natalie Live to deal with not you.
Pirate 101's Facebook is a good page the way it is in my opinion.

Yes, I think having links on the forums to certain announcements is better than anything. That gives me an idea. What if you created a new category on the forums called "Community Announcements" where we could announce stuff. Sometimes Kingsisle may overlook a few things that we might know about. If this category could be monitored during the day so it could be easily updated I think this would be a great thing for the community. I would like to announce my livestream times there for example.
Commodore
May 31, 2009
894
Bat Masterson on Nov 2, 2018 wrote:
Thank you all for the constructive feedback, and for your patience while I still work to understand the community's interests and how things have been done in the past. It takes a while to understand these things :).

Just to note, where we post news is generally under my direction, so this change was my decision. That said, it can be reversed, at least partially. The reason we post on social media and elsewhere is it's easier not just to keep track of it and see it for community members, but also encourages new community members to join in, something we all want for Pirate101.

I agree that social media should be secondary to the main website, but only for certain announcements. It kind of depends on what's being posted. Something we definitely want to focus social media activity on is retweeting and sharing your announcements. When we see a Pirate101 livestream kick off, we may retweet that! Social media is there for your use as well, not just for our announcements.

What we'll do moving forward is to post more of the higher level announcements here in the forums. However, they may only be links referring to an article or post elsewhere. Will this help in keeping informed of Pirate101 news and being able to discuss that news?
Thank you for the speedy and informative response, Mr. Masterson! We pirates might be pretty set in our ways, but I'm sure as time treks on we can mold into something new and fresh as long as we still have some familiar ground to visit.

Now that it's been explained a bit more, I understand and appreciate the social media push to reach new players. I would still like to see at least semi-frequent official updates here on the forums alongside other announcements, even if they link to another page for an article. However, if the links provided only track to a social media post, I don't think that would solve any of the concerns we have voiced.

Supporting family-friendly streamers is something I can get behind, though - heck, if I had more time and knew how to set things up, I'd host my own! But I agree those announcements should be reserved for social media and not brought to the message boards.
Pirate Overlord
Mar 10, 2009
6204
Thank you Bat for your quick and caring response. It is good to have OUR community manager connected with our hearts. We care, we are tough, we learn and we are stubborn. We are pirates after all. Merging social media stuff and forum stuff is a good idea and I would welcome it. Twitch news is welcome here. I love watching streamers and am a streamer myself so it would feel like an energetic shot in the arm to have new ways to share our game time with each other. I am quite active on Twitter and have been on Facebook for more than a decade so I understand their benefits. They are useful but please don't toss out the old to embrace the new. This works for us and all those upcoming players that don't yet understand Twitter and Facebook or are not yet allowed.

We have been here a long time and we are passionate about our love for KI games, all of them or just one, we care the same. You guys do good work and all we ask is to have your awesome talents tossed our way too. We have been making due with Wizzy leftovers and reskinned stuff for so long that we are a tad touchy about feeling ignored. We care and I see that you do too. Just keep us in the loop and be our champion in staff meetings and we will be your fleet guard that can make you feel like being the community manager got MUCH easier. x Chrissy hugs x
Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
Perhaps this thread should now be closed, as KI has returned to announcements on the Message Boards and launch screen. Thank you, Bat, for your unfailing courtesy to a rather rude post.
Ensign
Jun 24, 2018
2
anecorbie on Dec 4, 2018 wrote:
Perhaps this thread should now be closed, as KI has returned to announcements on the Message Boards and launch screen. Thank you, Bat, for your unfailing courtesy to a rather rude post.
Apologies, still trying to get everyone up to speed for forum news, will keep it going!