“Have really strong boundaries for yourself” ft Community Manager Faye V

<p>Today's guest is Faye V, Community Lead Advisor at Chaos Manufacturing, returning for part two of our conversation.</p><p></p><p>If you haven't heard part one, we recommend starting there. It covers Faye's unusual path into games through a psychology degree and years as a professional circus performer, and how both shape her approach to community management today.</p><p></p><p>In this second half, Faye makes the case for open development, arguing that showing players how a game is built creates the kind of trust that lets a team survive inevitable troubles like unpopular patches or a delayed launch. She introduces her "chasm of empathy" metaphor for the gap between developers and players, and why hiring a community lead early, not six months before launch, is what builds the rickety bridge across it.</p><p></p><p>We also get into the business case for investing in a community team, Faye's tips for first-time community managers, and how she believes community management skills are best learned through mentorship.</p><p></p><p>Games mentioned in this episode:</p><p>- World of Warcraft: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/" target="_blank"><b>https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/</b></a></p><p>- Final Fantasy XIV: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/39210/FINAL_FANTASY_XIV_Online/" target="_blank"><b>https://store.steampowered.com/app/39210/FINAL_FANTASY_XIV_Online/</b></a></p><p>- Lord of the Rings Online: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/212500/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_Online/" target="_blank"><b>https://store.steampowered.com/app/212500/The_Lord_of_the_Rings_Online/</b></a></p><p>- EverQuest: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/205710/EverQuest/" target="_blank"><b>https://store.steampowered.com/app/205710/EverQuest/</b></a></p><p>- Asheron's Call: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asheron%27s_Call" target="_blank"><b>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asheron%27s_Call</b></a></p><p>- Ghost (Fantastic Pixel Castle, unreleased): <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://fantasticpixelcastle.com/" target="_blank"><b>https://fantasticpixelcastle.com/</b></a></p><p></p><p>Find Faye on:</p><p>- LinkedIn: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://linkedin.com/in/fayevis/" target="_blank"><b>linkedin.com/in/fayevis/</b></a></p><p>- Bluesky: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://bsky.app/profile/acobi.bsky.social" target="_blank"><b>https://bsky.app/profile/acobi.bsky.social</b></a></p><p>- Twitter: <a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://x.com/ac0bi" target="_blank"><b>https://x.com/ac0bi</b></a></p><p></p><p>The Community Lounge is brought to you by Feature Upvote – Painlessly collect feedback from your players. More insights, less noise.</p><p></p><p>Subscribe to the Community Lounge newsletter and get notified of new episodes and articles:</p><p><a rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="https://featureupvote.com/thecommunitylounge/" target="_blank"><b>https://featureupvote.com/thecommunitylounge/</b></a></p>