What does a “Community Team Representative” do?

We saw one in one of the Hrothgar threads, which I presume is what gave the thread its crown, and then haven’t heard from them in a week, and about 50 pages of comments.

Do these people just report back on threads? Can you ask them questions? Do they keep reading threads after they’ve replied? Are they paid positions or volunteer?

In theory they're meant to interact with the community although on the English forums it's very, very rare to see them ever post. If you look at the JP forums however you'll see them post somewhat regularly.

It's disheartening to say the least and it wouldn't at all surprise me if they were simply there to pacify us.

iirc they keep tabs on the most active of threads across their language's forums and aggregate summaries to send upward. Generally you cannot go back and forth with them (or really anyone) in convos/questions because the forums here don't notify you if you've been quoted nor do they offer DMs of any sort.

On the English forum I think I have an answer.

Basically nothing, which is why this dumpster fire of a section of the forum is a cesspool of trolling (actual trolling, mind you).

They occasionally say something to the effect of "we're listening, really".

Run events like Duty Commenced and fan fests. Probably involved in twitter, the lodestone announcements and live letters as well.

This blog explains what they do https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/blog/003178.html

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Originally Posted by Denji

In theory they're meant to interact with the community although on the English forums it's very, very rare to see them ever post. If you look at the JP forums however you'll see them post somewhat regularly.

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If you look on the JPN forum, a lot of the threads with moderator replies were made in 2013-2017... After the year 2017 suddenly the moderators don't seem to respond to the forums as much which I think is weird. Other than that, the Japanese forums do go years without any communication with the developers. I think there was one in 2021 but that's only because of the whole 'sage icon tryrpophobia' situation.

You would think because of the uproar caused by the Hrothgar hairstyles they would be very quick to answer everyone's questions, and defuse the situation as soon as possible.. They don't seem to have any urgency. I just want to know how thorough they are at checking feedback, or if they just glance at one page and carry on with whatever it is they do.

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Originally Posted by SherlottaEryut

If you look on the JPN forum, a lot of the threads with moderator replies were made in 2013-2017... After the year 2017 suddenly the moderators don't seem to respond to the forums as much which I think is weird. Other than that, the Japanese forums do go years without any communication with the developers. I think there was one in 2021 but that's only because of the whole 'sage icon tryrpophobia' situation.

You would think because of the uproar caused by the Hrothgar hairstyles they would be very quick to answer everyone's questions, and defuse the situation as soon as possible.. They don't seem to have any urgency. I just want to know how thorough they are at checking feedback, or if they just glance at one page and carry on with whatever it is they do.

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The threads themselves, yes. But mods/community reps have posted in them far more recently however.

There's a slight cultural difference between these forums and there where people will actually look to see if a thread is already created and then post there. In English-speaking countries this can be considered "necroing" a thread but over there it's just a way to keep things tidy and organized. Just slight variations in netiquette, I suppose.

They lock threads that point out when SE said one thing and did another. I have seen them merge threads once or maybe twice. So they can do it they just don't. I have also seen them move threads, but the thread they move seem super random as if they only move if someone reported it and the other three beside it were ok.

Just seems weird we’re supposed to be giving feedback to the forums, but we hear nothing in reply.

I mean, the thread I see that’s the most recent instance other than the Hrothgar thread of a mod responding is the “Suggest an Emote” thread, which had a mod response in 2016.

It'd be nice if they could delete that trash fire of a certain troll thread that hasn't been helpful in any way since its creation to giving any feedback to improving FFXIV, besides pissing off people and starting shouting matches. You know the one, that one troll thread that got necro'd recently. xD

They used to reply often to posts but then it just stopped. Now it's just the occasional update or reposted info regarding LL.

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Originally Posted by Denji

It's disheartening to say the least and it wouldn't at all surprise me if they were simply there to pacify us.

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Then let them simply pacify us. I’ve seen almost no evidence they’re reading anything.

I think they sip coffee all day, flipping though twitter, insta and tiktok.

I think they forgot this place exists years ago.

I mean, this is sort of a trick question.

If you're asking what a Community Team Representative "could/should" do, there's a pretty extensive list. At the very least they should be interacting with the player base on a regular basis, providing guidance to conversations where needed, and gathering player feedback in a complete and comprehensive way so that the developers can understand what the players are thinking and feeling about the game. They should be ensuring that the developers understand not only what the players are taking issue with but why and, when necessary, they should be communicating developer feedback back to the players so that there's an actual conversation of sorts taking place.

If you're asking what our "Community Team Representaives" do? Eh..... I really have no idea. They do tweet promotional stuff occasionally and do the regular Duty Commenced live stream things but beyond that they basically don't seem to do much of anything. It probably looks good on a resume though? *shrug*

Not much at all, in my experience.

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Originally Posted by StriderShinryu

I mean, this is sort of a trick question… *shrug*

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I mean, it’s really not.

Is this a paid position? Is there a job description of any kind? Are they more active in other languages?

How, exactly do they represent?

For most game forums, they collect their paycheck and then they unwind. That is to say, their entire "work" period is collecting said paycheck. Then they do anything but the job they signed up for.

Maybe I'm wrong in assuming they get paid for it, but if they do, they get paid mostly for nothing.

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Originally Posted by Kelev

I mean, the thread I see that’s the most recent instance other than the Hrothgar thread of a mod responding is the “Suggest an Emote” thread, which had a mod response in 2016.

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Nah there was an earlier ones than that and that was the one where they introduced themselves as the new community rep in 2019 (then vanished in 2020) . But most posts are just generic information thats sent to all regions i.e letter of the producer or upcoming events. But even in the other languages there seems to be more active i.e saying "thanks for feedback" or "we will look into this issue on the bug forums".

Community reps's job really does seem to be "show up at a thread, regurgitate the same answer, yeet".

It's not even that the answer given was "unsatisfactory", it feels like they're brushing us aside. They're not even aware that we know how their game works and why the stuff they're saying is bull. Or if they are, they don't care.

Which is why people are demanding transparency from the company or Business Division 3 itself.

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Originally Posted by Midareyukki

Community reps's job really does seem to be "show up at a thread, regurgitate the same answer, yeet".

It's not even that the answer given was "unsatisfactory", it feels like they're brushing us aside. They're not even aware that we know how their game works and why the stuff they're saying is bull. Or if they are, they don't care.

Which is why people are demanding transparency from the company or Business Division 3 itself.

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An example of this extracted either from the healer complaint thread or, the more active as of late, Hrothgar complaint thread. I bear no ill will to the representatives personally as, for all we know, they're working with just about as much information as we do, but it can't be ignored that we turn to them for guidance or as a liason to the devs. So when their response (again, objective examples in those two threads) is a nigh-copy paste of what was already stated by the devs, sometimes with a complete disconnect with the issue at hand (Which, incidentally, seems to be the biggest complaint between those two. Huh. Hrothgars and Healers. Never would've guessed that overlap), only further aggravates that disconnected representation they've been painted in.

Which aggravates the community. Which makes them antagonize the devs. And now everyone's angry.

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Originally Posted by Misplaced_Marbles

For most game forums, they collect their paycheck and then they unwind. That is to say, their entire "work" period is collecting said paycheck. Then they do anything but the job they signed up for.

Maybe I'm wrong in assuming they get paid for it, but if they do, they get paid mostly for nothing.

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Yeah I'm fairly certain they do back-end tech support considering the lack of things they actually do for what their job title entails.

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Originally Posted by BrokentoothMarch

An example of this extracted either from the healer complaint thread or, the more active as of late, Hrothgar complaint thread. I bear no ill will to the representatives personally as, for all we know, they're working with just about as much information as we do, but it can't be ignored that we turn to them for guidance or as a liason to the devs. So when their response (again, objective examples in those two threads) is a nigh-copy paste of what was already stated by the devs, sometimes with a complete disconnect with the issue at hand (Which, incidentally, seems to be the biggest complaint between those two. Huh. Hrothgars and Healers. Never would've guessed that overlap), only further aggravates that disconnected representation they've been painted in.

Which aggravates the community. Which makes them antagonize the devs. And now everyone's angry.

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God, that reminds me of the Final Fantasy Brave Exvius community representatives. There was this one girl, I forgot her name (Elvira? Elytra??), but she loved the game and you could tell she LOVED it. She did her best to promote it, even when the companies behind the game kept making it scummier and scummier. The only other community reps that ever got as good or potentially even better than her were the Dissidia Opera Omnia guys.

Not every fan cared for her though, and the typical "shoot the messenger" thing ensued. Eventually, she was pulled out as community rep, replaced by a guy no one knew who just REEKED of corporate shilling. At one point I even wondered if he was just an ad bot for the dev team to parrot their usual crap about the game.

Community Reps are just people behind a screen, often having literally to parrot out what the company tells them to. They're the PR guys. But the Hrothgar one, for example, just shows how Square is using their CRs. They're just there to regurgitate whatever info Square wants them to say, then make like a Ninja and Hide. I don't blame the CR himself. I blame Square for using them like this, and especially for being so dismissive of topics.

We understood your replies the first time, Yoshida. We just didn't accept them as frank and honest. And you know they weren't.

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Originally Posted by Midareyukki

Community reps's job really does seem to be "show up at a thread, regurgitate the same answer, yeet"

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In the cursory look I took they showed up twice in a couple threads that had 800+ replies.

But I certainly don’t expect to hear from one.

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Originally Posted by Kelev

We saw one in one of the Hrothgar threads, which I presume is what gave the thread its crown, and then haven’t heard from them in a week, and about 50 pages of comments.

Do these people just report back on threads? Can you ask them questions? Do they keep reading threads after they’ve replied? Are they paid positions or volunteer?

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Apparently not a whole lot on the NA forums.

In Dissidia Opera Omnia, the community has monthly streams (similar to a Live Letter, kinda) where they showcase the upcoming features for the Global version of the game. Joshua has made a great job at making things feel like a community, and the Global team has been passing feedback pretty frequently to the devs. Things like renaming skills to better suit their original versions, poll which characters are popular for their Global-first releases, and so on.

I feel like FFXIV would benefit from a more visible interaction with the community. Even if it's just to diffuse problematic threads, or dispel certain doubts about potential miscommunications. I know there's something called Duty Commenced, but in all my years playing the game, I'm still not sure what it even is about. I think I tuned in once or twice and I saw them playing the game.

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Originally Posted by Raskbuck

In Dissidia Opera Omnia, the community has monthly streams (similar to a Live Letter, kinda) where they showcase the upcoming features for the Global version of the game. Joshua has made a great job at making things feel like a community, and the Global team has been passing feedback pretty frequently to the devs. Things like renaming skills to better suit their original versions, poll which characters are popular for their Global-first releases, and so on.

I feel like FFXIV would benefit from a more visible interaction with the community. Even if it's just to diffuse problematic threads, or dispel certain doubts about potential miscommunications. I know there's something called Duty Commenced, but in all my years playing the game, I'm still not sure what it even is about. I think I tuned in once or twice and I saw them playing the game.

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Honestly, problems with the dev team and the content aside, I'd really like seeing this. It would really make Square look a bit more in tune with its fans, and even make the community feel a lot more fun. Live Letters are bland as hell and there's virtually zero engagement. Duty Commenced is one thing, very private and very obscure. Something a bit flashier and a bit more engaging wouldn't hurt. It could even promote the game and bring in new players. Come on Square, we know you want that :P

One of the dev blogs answered this question https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/blog/003178.html

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Originally Posted by Jeeqbit

One of the dev blogs answered this question https://na.finalfantasyxiv.com/blog/003178.html

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If the initial part is true,

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Kato: The Community team is part of the FFXIV Operations team; in other words, we provide support for players so they can enjoy the game. Frequently reading through the official forums, social media, blogs, and various other sources of player feedback is a major premise of our work. We then relay our findings to the developers or Producer and Director Yoshida, and also consider factors which tie into player concerns or enjoyment.

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then while we appreciate the effort made into sifting through the Viera and Hrothgar feedback and current outrage, I sure as hell hope that information is being relayed to the devs.

That we know the answer he gave us at the live letter and understand it. But don't accept it. For a myriad of reasons that are listed in their respective threads. And that we're still hoping for an answer, an honest, direct and transparent answer.

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Additionally, our job also entails creating and managing community events, streams, and live events, not to mention drafting and scheduling Lodestone announcements, and writing patch notes.

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Well. Duty Commenced sure seems like a start for such events, but something with a bit more flair and engagement wouldn't hurt. I really do think it would boost the game's popularity even further. Again, Opera Omnia's community is known for interacting with its players. Not by the devs, but by the community reps themselves.

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Originally Posted by Kelev

Just seems weird we’re supposed to be giving feedback to the forums, but we hear nothing in reply.

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Ill pretend its partially because some of the "Feedback" these Forums leave, are more just Harsh Criticism and Name Calling.
Can be difficult to find any meaningful Feedback, when you have to sift through a bunch of angry avatars just putting you down. And then watching anybody try to moderately defend you or ask for civility get torn apart and called shills and white knights.

Might be an extreme take, and I dont speak for them, so Im likely wrong.

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Originally Posted by Kelev

I mean, it’s really not.

Is this a paid position? Is there a job description of any kind? Are they more active in other languages?

How, exactly do they represent?

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Oh, I understand that your question wasn't intended as being a trick, but it's that the answer in our particular case isn't really clear. Yes, it is a paid position, and there is a job description (though it varies a little from company to company). At it's most basic level, it's usually essentially a liaison between the player base/community and the developers. The thing is, the FF14 community team doesn't really seem to be doing that. So the answer could be to the question "What does a community team in general do" or it could be "What does the FF14 community team do?" And further, it could be broken down to be "What does the FF14 community team say it does?" and "What does the FF14 community team actually do in a way that's visible and tangible to the player base?"

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Originally Posted by Midareyukki

Well. Duty Commenced sure seems like a start for such events, but something with a bit more flair and engagement wouldn't hurt. I really do think it would boost the game's popularity even further. Again, Opera Omnia's community is known for interacting with its players. Not by the devs, but by the community reps themselves.

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Duty Commenced has a lot of players crowd around them and join their party in party finder. Even though it's announced in the game, I remember it only attracting a few thousands viewers on twitch. I just don't think anyone really cares about it like they do live letters and I don't think there is anything they can do to make people care about it that much because they are only interested in Yoshi-P. Whatever they try to do, I think that it will just remain at that level of popularity.

Sorry but I don't blame them. All they will get in return are insults and negativity because people think paying 12 bucks a month makes it okay to treat others like trash. TBH it doesn't even matter if your points are valid. If its coated in hated and vitriol don't wonder why noone wants to have anything to do with the forums or post in them above the bare minimum to keep their job. And I for one support them. If we can't change ourselves to be nice we shouldn't expect them to change and start communicating more either.

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Originally Posted by Ath192

And I for one support them.

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It's always weird to me when a paying customer aligns with a company that constantly ignores them in return, but more power to you.

The problem you are pointing out is a product of the lack of involvement. If this message board was moderated like it should, maybe the representatives wouldn't hesitate to engage with the community.

They don't actually have the power to do anything. Like, at best they can send a message to the team in Japan saying what we're mad about. But I don't think the Japan team ever replies back outside of the translated posts from Yoshi-P we sometimes get.

It's entirely possible they're even more frustrated than you are about it. Imagine getting a job as a community rep for a game you love and then barely being able to interact with the community at all.

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Originally Posted by Raskbuck

It's always weird to me when a paying customer aligns with a company that constantly ignores them in return, but more power to you.

The problem you are pointing out is a product of the lack of involvement. If this message board was moderated like it should, maybe the representatives wouldn't hesitate to engage with the community.

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They didn't ignore me. My biggest desire ever was a graphics upgrade and its coming. It was a huge ask as well considering they left their previous MMO to whither with PS2 graphics. Pretty unprecedented. Surely I couldn't have been the only one asking but everytime I tried to bring this up in the forums there were a bunch of people saying it was fine lol.

But back to your point about the problem. No. It's not. It's a societal problem NA tends to have where they cant be nice or empathetic to others. Being ignored still doesn't entitle you to call someone else insults. And people will always deflect and find something else to blame just as you have right now, therefore perpetuating the cycle for eternity. Mind you I don't think you and I owning up to it and being nice will amount to much. But the problem is worth recognizing anyways. Even Yoshi P went out and asked players to be nicer.

When the director of the program is telling you directly that it's an issue and people still find a way to shift the blame then you know there's no point in talking to them anymore.