What does a “Community Team Representative” do?

[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.

[BrokentoothMarch]

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.

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.

[Nethereal]

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.

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.

[Midareyukki]

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.

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.

[Kelev]

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

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.

[IdowhatIwant]

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?

Apparently not a whole lot on the NA forums.

[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.

[Midareyukki]

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.

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

[Jeeqbit]

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

[Midareyukki]

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

If the initial part is true,

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.

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.

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.

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.