Blog - Community Management: A 2009 Retrospective

This Developer Blog is copied verbatim from the RuneScape website. It is copyrighted by Jagex.
It is written by Mod Kelvin and is dated 18 January 2010.

A 2009 Retrospective

Happy New Year to you all from the Community Management Team!

In this blog, I wanted to have a quick look back at 2009, and look forward to what’s coming this year... I had a think about the best way to do this and I’ve asked a few team members of the Community Management team to let you all know their thoughts on 2009, and to explain what they are most looking forward to in 2010. I hope you like it, and here’s mine to kick us off:

Mod Kelvin

2009 highlight:

Well, where do I start, there’s been a lot to look back on - and I really don’t want to miss anything out - so, on a personal level, it will have to be the Community Management live Q&A session. Answering your questions live on the forums was great fun, and I was blown away by the positive reaction from you all. I don’t often get a chance to speak directly to all kinds of players, and it was a pleasure. :)

What I’m looking forward to in 2010:

So, first of all, remember, you’ll get no spoilers here, I’m afraid. :) Having said that, we’re working closer than ever with the RuneScape Content team on Community Management support for game updates for later this year. We broke new ground with the Cryptic Clue Fest, and we’re seeing what more we can do to add a real community feel to updates.

Mod Timbo

2009 highlight:

The clear highlight for me in 2009 was getting the first Jagex Clan Cup to go ahead and the months of planning that it took to get it done. There were a lot of hours put in, sleepless nights and worrying, but it turned out alright in the end. To see the clan community come together for that event, talking to each other and talking to Jagex (with a touch of banter!) was great, as there is nothing like bringing the community together to see who pwns the others.

What I’m looking forward to in 2010:

I’m looking forward to doing more of the same really! Seeing what the clan community wants, responding to their needs and having a good time alongside it. Introducing some more major events like the Jagex Cup, and working closer with clans than ever before.

Mod Mark H

2009 highlight:

For me, the highlight of last year was definitely the Cryptic Clue Fest we ran over the Thanksgiving holidays. Getting to work with Mod Howes and the RuneScape Content team on creating this fun mix of ‘CM Event meets in-game content’ was not only fun, but really made me proud that so many players enjoyed my puzzles and our collaborative efforts. I got to spend the entire four days of the event answering questions on the forums, helping people with the puzzles in-game and getting loads of really awesome feedback about the whole thing. I really hope I get to work on another one!

What I’m looking forward to in 2010:

I think 2010 is going to be a big year for Jagex. Personally, I am looking forward to focusing on the role-playing element of RuneScape and promoting events, providing support, and generally raising awareness of something that I really enjoy myself.

Mod Paul M

2009 highlight:

A large proportion of my year was focused on increasing support to the various communities that make up RuneScape, and so there were loads of projects we worked on that I’d say are highlights, but if I had to pick just one, then being able to put faces to names by flying players over for the summer party would have to rank pretty highly. :)

What I’m looking forward to in 2010:

We’ve loads of competitions planned for this year, some of which promise to be particularly exciting, so I’m currently bouncing off the walls looking forward to those. Oh, yes, the new skill too - I’m looking forward to that, for sure. :)

Mod Crow

2009 highlight:

I think that my personal highlight for 2009 was getting the first CM video up and running for Halloween. It was a bit hectic trying to get everything together in the short amount of time we had, but from reading the responses from everyone who viewed it, the video definitely seems like it was worthwhile! Of course, it was made all the more enjoyable by watching Mod French slowly slide off the bonnet of my car!

What I’m looking forward to in 2010:

Well, I think there are a couple of things I'm looking forward to for 2010. We have the new machinima competition via YouTube and I’m really hoping to boost awareness of Creative Gameplay in RuneScape. With a bit of luck (and a lot of work!) we might see some really big Creative Gameplay events in the coming months!

Mod Seven

2009 highlight:

I think my 2009 highlight would have to be something that’s very simple, but incredibly useful: the ability to rest! It definitely helps me to get around quicker, and also gives you a bonus, sitting-down emote! It’s the little things in life...

What I’m looking forward to in 2010:

This HAS to be the new skill...right? I mean, how could anyone not pick this?

Mod Ajd (Communications Team)

2009 highlight:

Launching the Twitter, YouTube and Facebook pages was the big RuneScape thing for me last year, and it’s been great to see it grow from nothing to over 90,000 followers. A big thanks to everyone who showed their appreciation for us moving beyond RuneScape.com - it made all the effort worth it. As for specific bits of what we did on them: the competitions and Q&A sessions were fun, but a personal favourite bit has been watching people try to work out what our Twitter hints were, especially the torturous ways in which people twisted our clues to always suggest a Sailing skill. ;).

What I’m looking forward to in 2010:

This year will mostly be trying to expand on what we are doing with our social networking sites, with projects from seeing what places to start up new accounts to experimenting with what we can do with the existing ones. More content, more interaction between those sites and the community/game, and more widgets are what I’m working on at the moment. I’ve also enjoyed making the odd couple of posts on the RS forums, so I’ll be trying to show my face there a bit more.

Mod SteveW

2009 highlight:

Well, 2009 was certainly a very exciting year for Community Management as we moved from being the more isolated ‘rule enforcers’ into real supporters of the community.

If I have to pick a highlight of the year, though, I’d like to focus on something else: the forums, and a few of the things we did to make them better and more supportive last year.

So, free players with 12.5 million XP can now post on our forums (and we are hoping to reduce this requirement soon), members can now create forum avatars, all qualifying posters can now use forum profiles and search features, and we have introduced the Jagex Lite forum to finally give you somewhere to have a chat with Jagex and other players!

What I’m looking forward to in 2010:

This year, I’m looking forward to making our competitions even better and building on our social network sites. It’s a very exciting time for us, with Jagex fully supporting almost every idea we put forward to do things ‘a bit differently’ and better. I’m also sure I will get to meet some more competition-winning players, and I’m hopeful that 2010 will also be the year that our official forums gain more functionality.

Mod Kathy

2009 highlight:

Hrmm, my top highlight for 2009? That would have to be the Jagex Cup!- Courageous clans clashing: conflict, carnage, and competition! Contest conquered, clans celebrated, the cup claimed. Cool Christmas. Okay, that last one had nothing to do with the Jagex Cup, but I do like Christmas...

What I’m looking forward to in 2010:

More carnage, mayhem and glorious battles! Need I go on? ^_^

Mod Lorenzo

2009 highlight:

Over the previous year, there was nothing I enjoyed more than being involved with the events community. Everyone I have encountered involved with events in any form were lovely, friendly and fun-loving people. It was this type of behaviour that urged me to develop a little thread, which started out as a bit of a story/fan thread for myself, then grew into a diverse and enjoyable events community now known as The Lorenzo Towers. Everyone is always welcome at The Towers; we have lots of regular posters, from P-Mods and F-Mods to maxed-out players, and fresh-from-the-tutorial noobs.

If you wanna get involved in a friendly community from time to time, for advice, chat, fun and events, the Lorenzo Towers is the place for you.

What I’m looking forward to in 2010:

As an avid RS player myself, I can’t talk about 2010 without mentioning the new skill. Yes, you all know the drill by now: no spoilers! I can’t wait!

So, there you go. Hopefully, that’ll give you an idea of what the Community Management team see as this coming year’s most exciting areas/possibilities.

We’d love to hear what you’re most looking forward to this year in RuneScape, so we’ve created this forum thread for you to post your thoughts on.