Taking On
the Vanguard Community

An Interview with
Michelle Butler

Interview by Shayalyn

On May 15, 2007 Sony Online Entertainment href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1414">acquired
the assets of Sigil Games Online, and with it Vanguard: Saga
of Heroes. The Vanguard community underwent, and is indeed still
undergoing, an evolution of sorts. The end of the Sigil era saw the end
of Sigil's Affiliate Program--which served to distribute the Vanguard
community across various approved fansites, including Ten Ton
Hammer--and the rise of SOE's official Vanguard forums. And those new
forums needed a community manager.



On May 23, 2007, SOE href="http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/posts/list.m?topic_id=10081">announced
that Michelle "Elionia" Butler would step up as Vanguard's new
community manager. We chatted with Michelle about her new position and
the direction of the Vanguard community.





[Ten Ton Hammer]:
Let's start off with a little introduction. Your work in the MMO
industry goes back to 1999 and EverQuest. You've also been with Sigil
Games Online working on Vanguard since 2004. Tell us a little more
about the job experience you bring to your new Community Manager gig.
What positions did you hold and what sort of work did you do?  

 

[Michelle
Butler]: While with Sigil Games I was a designer on
Vanguard for about a year.  I moved on to create the Customer
Support Department and hire that team. I wrote the policies and
training manuals for the department. I also helped to create the beta
plan and registration process and assisted everyone with that process
as needed.





[TTH]: Is
the transition from Customer Support Manager to Vanguard Community
Manager a natural one for you, or will it take some time to learn the
ropes, so to speak?



[MB]:
The company change was an easy transition. Learning all the new tools
and differences in policy will take some time.



[TTH]:
Speaking of customer support, can you tell us what's planned for
Vanguard's volunteer guide program, the Crimson Fellowship? Does SOE
plan to continue the program you helped get off the ground?



[MB]:
The oversight of the Fellowship has been turned over to the Guide
Community Manager. She has been working with the Team Chairs to help
them with the transition.



[TTH]: As
most know, the Vanguard community lacked an official forum until SOE
recently acquired the game. Until that time, the community was
scattered over some popular Vanguard community sites, including Ten Ton
Hammer. What is the goal of the new forums? Are they an attempt to
bring a fragmented community together, or are they more of a sounding
board for game issues?



[MB]:
We hope the forums will be a medium for the developers to communicate
with the players and I hope to bring the community together thru strong
communication. I plan to be a facilitator for communication between the
players and developers.



href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album04&id=Qalia_horses&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> style="border: 0px solid ; float: left;" alt="Qalia group"
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/vanguard/gallery/albums/album04/Qalia_horses.thumb.jpg"
hspace="4" vspace="2">[ style="font-weight: bold;">TTH]: We've noticed
that right now Vanguard fans seem to be in a holding pattern, waiting
for SOE to start showing some forward movement with the game. How will
SOE communicate their intentions for and progress with Vanguard to the
community? (For instance, will we continue to see an updated "In the
Works" page?) What is your role in that?



[MB]:
The future will bring regular updates and more news, fun and
entertainment. We are still in some planning processes of which forums
to have and what features to post. In Fact I had a meeting this week to
look at the layout and decide what to add to the forums to make them a
better resource for the community.



[TTH]:
Perhaps you can clear this up once and for all. We've heard there will
be no class specific forums on the new official Vanguard forums. Can
you tell us more about the philosophy behind the decision to leave
class forums to the fansites?

 

[MB]:
At this time we have no plans to add class specific forums to the
official Vanguard forums.  As Vanguard had no official forums,
strong class based communities sprung up and we have no desire to take
away their traffic and discussion. [Michelle indicated that this answer
came from Alan "Brenlo" Crosby, Director of Global Community Relations
for SOE. --Ed.]



[TTH]: And
what about server forums; will we see those coming to the official
forums any time soon?



[MB]:
Yes, after the new servers names have been decided, we will open server
forums.



[TTH]: While
Vanguard seems to have a good many supporters, the game also has its
share of people who are frustrated with the game's direction, or lack
thereof, and unsettled by the SOE acquisition. How will you handle the
negativity on the forums?



[MB]:
We have been compiling constructive negativity and concentrating on
tracking those serious issues that have the community most
concerned.  Negativity just for the sake of being negative has
been overlooked in the short term as we know many players are
upset.  However, as we lay out the plan for the game, we will
start to tighten up the forum moderation. The Dev team and I have been
in almost daily communication with regards to the concerns expressed on
the forums.



[TTH]: Just
to make things clear for everyone, is posting on the official forums
only for players with an active Vanguard subscription, or are the
forums open to anyone with an SOE station account, regardless of their
subscription status? Can behavior on the official forums result in
suspension of a player's Vanguard account?



[MB]:
I believe anyone with an active Vanguard account may post on the VG
boards.  Those without an active subscription are limited to
the Technical Support forums.  Behavior on the forums can
result in the suspension of a player account for the most serious of
violations.



[TTH]:
Thanks for taking the time to talk with us, Michelle! Is there anything
else you'd like to say to the Vanguard community?

 

[MB]:
Thank you all for your support and patience while we get ourselves
settled in and while I become familiar with the new fancy tools I have.