Sneak preview on upcoming Community initiatives!

One of my responsibilities and one of the best things I enjoy about being a Community Manager is the ability to initialize and implement initiatives for the Community.

These initiatives can range from in-game events to web / forum contests as well as improvements to the website & forum features.

I conducted a contest on the forums in December 2007 and asked the Community for their suggestions on the initiatives they would like to see more of. I was thoroughly bowled over by the enthusiasm and passion the Community showed by the responses and suggestions that they gave.

Though all the suggestions were fantastic, the implementation of an initiative takes up a lot of time, planning and resources hence not all initiatives are feasible.

I am pleased to announce though that we will be implementing some of the suggested initiatives. Here's a sneak peek of some of the goodies that's in store in the next few months :)

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PvP Tournaments
In-game events are currently quite difficult to conduct in HGL due to some restrictions and because the current GM tools are being further developed with extra functions and features.

However, the Community has been so keen on keeling each other and showcasing their PeeVeePee talents that I knew we simply had to give them an opportunity to do just that so I'm pleased to announce that we will be conducting tournaments very, very, soon (:P) so do stay tuned to the website and forums for updates on this.

The reward for this event is pretty awesome too - think unreleased dye kit which will be very difficult to attain again in the future :)

Item Challenge!
I can't release details on this as of now but this initiative is pretty interesting and should have players entertained for hours on end.

Hint : Save your palladiums!

CL Hunt
This is an initiative I'm really excited about! I can't go into the complete details of this as yet but I can provide a brief summary of what this is all about. :)

Basically, this initiative will enable the Community to vote for their Community Leaders. Community Leaders will act as the voice & champions for the Community. Community Leaders will also have the opportunity to collaborate and work closely with Community Managers on future initiatives and events.

Dev Tracker - Forum Feature Implementation
This tracker will enable users to easily view which thread was last responded to by a forum admin / moderator.

Hall of Fame - Website Feature Implementation
A section will be implemented on our website soon to showcase the winners of past and present contests for easy reference in the future :)

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These are some of the initiatives that is currently in the pipeline. Do stay tuned to IAHGames Hellgate: London website for updates!

Disclaimer : Sometimes, due to unforseen circumstances, some of the initiatives may be slightly modified, replaced or removed. Please do not attempt to pewpew me if that happens. Kkthxbai. :D

Palladium ...

I came across this in the forums and I simply had to post it here.

I laughed so much in the office upon reading this that my colleagues thought I had gone insane. ><

On a separate note, I'm pleased to announce that we will be implementing positive steps within the next month or so to prevent people from spamming our HGL forums.

Many thanks to everyone in the Community for their suggestions and input to resolve this issue.

- Angelace
Regional Community Manager, Hellgate: London

The dawn of a new year

With the dawn of a new year - 2008, I felt that it was also apt to change my blog skin to a color that better reflects me - Pink. :P

I know that all the tough, macho demon-slaying HGL fans are now probably gagging in a corner but girly colors can still be kick-ass. See Kung Fu Bunny dye kit












2007 has brought its fair share of challenges. When I first started my job as a Community Manager in March 2007, I never expected the job to entail as many challenges as it did. I wouldn't change a single thing though because all the obstacles & challenges I have faced have been imperative in how much I have grown as a person in 2007.

Many people have the assumption that being a Community Manager is an easy feat and I must admit that I also had the same assumption when I first started this job. Working in the gaming industry is a lot tougher than it looks though. There are days where your self faith is pushed to the very limits and you have to really dig deep into yourself. The biggest lesson I have learnt in 2007 is that one has to always, always maintain the passion in anything that we do. Without this passion, all of our life's goals and accomplishments would have been for naught.

One of my initial responsibilities as Hellgate: London's Community Manager was to oversee the development of our website and forums and I'm incredibly thrilled with how much the website / forum features has been improved over the past few months. These improvements couldn't have been possible without the assistance of the Community though so I thank each and every one of you for your continued enthusiasm in contributing suggestions and ideas.

Though we are unable to implement every idea that is given to us, we do consider the suggestions seriously and endeavor to implement ideas that are feasible.

Some of the excellent suggestions given by the Community have thus been implemented into our website so far.

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Alliance Heroes Rankings Feature

- Many of the Community members wanted a way to amicably compete with one another hence this Ranking Feature was implemented to enable that. The Alliance Heroes Rankings feature on IAHGames website also serve to reward players who actively participate in our website / forums initiatives and contests and rewards Community leaders who play an active role in interacting with the other members. This feature is far from complete though and we are still working on adding improvements and enhancements to it in the near future.


Alliance Heroes Rankings Search Feature
- The Community was experiencing some difficulties in searching for their ranking / their buddies' ranking as there was no search function available in the Alliance Heroes Rankings initially. I am pleased to annouce that we have since implemented this feature in to enable players to search for the information easily and view their rankings on the Alliance Heroes ladder.


IAHGames' Dye Kits Page








Dye kits are in-game items to color one's armor in HGL and IAHGames has 12 super awesome colors!! :)

What fun are these dye kits though if you can't experiment with all the cool colors on your characters? Thanks to the Community's suggestion, we have revamped the Dye Kits Page so that players can now try out all the various dyes on their characters, regardless of faction.
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Just as I have grown in 2007, I have also watched HGL grow as a game.

I've seen it in its initial alpha stages to what it is now and I get a surge of pride everytime I see a poster of HGL outside or a HGL box in a store.

Granted, the game still has some room for improvement but no game starts off as being perfect. The best thing is when Community feedback is heard and taken seriously and improvements are done which is what is being done with Hellgate: London - ie. class balancing changes, new content (Stonehenge patch) and gameplay improvements. To me, this is one of the best parts of my job. To see something that you care so deeply about get better.

It's difficult to explain the relationship a CM has with a game that he / she is in-charge of. There are so many battles that we fight on a daily basis for the good of the game & the Community that the game becomes such a vital part of our lives and our hearts. I do what I do because I love it. For me, there is no bigger motivational factor than passion for whatever I choose to do.

That is why this is still the best job in the world to me :)

- Angelace
Regional Community Manager, Hellgate: London