Community Manager

A Community Manager is a Blizzard Entertainment employee that monitors the World of Warcraft forums, acting as a liaison between the players and the developers, along with other community-related responsibilities.

Community Managers should not be confused with the MVP (Most Valuable Poster) program, or with GMs (Game Masters).

Since forum posts by Community Manangers, or CMs, appear in blue text, the CMs are more often referred to by players with the colloquial title 'Blue'.

Official Info
From Blue Appreciation Day! | 2007-09-14 08:51:38 by Nethaera:

We also do many other things from contests, contact with Fan Sites, news posts, internal meetings, reading through the forums and other news sites, F.A.Q. information, helping the moderators with moderation as we see it necessary, and we also each have other internal tasks that we handle. Our jobs aren't strictly on the forums. We also did a lot of work on BlizzCon recently. As we've said before, there are many aspects of our job that you don't see or if you do see it, you don't realize it came from us. While it's nice when someone sees our work and appreciates it, we're more focused on just getting the job done and we work with many teams within the company with funneling information.

From My Role | 7/14/2006 1:36:17 PM PDT by Eyonix (Shaman specific parts in gray ):

One of my functions a community manager is to provide information as it becomes available and is approved for posting. When I receive information, or am able to extract information from an appropriate source, I begin the approval process to make it public.

I don't have control over the content of the information, nor do I have control over any aspect of the approval process. Also, it's not uncommon for me to post information and due to circumstances well out of my control, a decision is made which makes the information I provided erroneous.

Another purpose I serve is to provide player feedback to the development team. This feedback is gathered from numerous locations, which include but are certainly not limited to these forums, in-game chat, fan sites, guild sites, and third-party discussion forums. Also, it's important to note that I focus on providing feedback concerning all areas of this game, not just that which is offered from a specific class, or that which pertains only to a specific avenue of this game.

I can assure you, I've expressed the feedback of this class to the design team. I've also provided everything that I'm able to in terms of content information and direction.

Beyond all of this, as a Community Manager I'm also here to moderate discussions, provide personal insight, offer humor, spotlight community related items, and silently absorb much of what our players are expressing and feeling.

In addition, I work very closely with PR and Web on a variety of tasks and projects. Much of my work goes unnoticed to the player, yet its effects are felt and would be missed if I wasn't around to provide it. My team also operates as a source of information for nearly every department within the company, due to our collective knowledge, which is vast as a result of our eyes and ears being allowed in places which are restricted to many others.

I wrote this post primarily because I've seen threads requesting clarification on what my role within the company was, and in general see a great deal of expectation surrounding the opinion of what I should be doing, and how I'm failing.

I also wrote this post to state that if you're unhappy with the game or your chosen class and wish to blame me for some reason -- that's fine. I'm not in the least bit unfamiliar with this type of misdirected emotion, however, if you cross a line in expressing your dissatisfaction, please don't be surprised when you find you can no longer access our boards.

When new Shaman information presents itself, you'll hear about it. In the meantime, discuss the game and keep matters civil. This is a game, and if you're constantly feeling hostile, I'd strongly recommend a break.

Providing Feedback
To provide feedback on a Blizzard Community Manager, send an email to wowcmfeedback@blizzard.com.

From How do I send feedback on a CM | 2007-12-24 01:42:03 by Drysc:

Current CMs

 * Drysc
 * Nethaera
 * Ordinn
 * Bornakk
 * Zarhym
 * Aratil
 * Lylirra
 * Daxxarri
 * Kaivax

Past CMs

 * Eyonix
 * Katricia
 * Caydiem
 * Fangtooth
 * Tseric
 * Tyren
 * Crygil

Moderators

 * Sinther
 * Timbal
 * Verrith
 * Drokthul

Past Moderators

 * Coreiel

Current CMs

 * Luumht

Current CMs

 * Wryxian - Assistant Community Manager
 * Ancilorn - Online Community Representative
 * Vaneras - Online Community Representative
 * Slorkuz - Online Community Representative

Past CMs

 * Aeus - Community Representative
 * Crezax - Online Community Representative
 * Ommra - Online Community Representative
 * Salthem - Online Community Representative
 * Tharfor - Online Community Representative

Current CMs

 * Thyvene - Assistant Community Manager
 * Nerimash - Online Community Representative
 * Qoennon - Online Community Representative

Past CMs

 * Aguilar - Community Manager
 * Gandraor - Community Representative

Current CMs

 * Gnorog - Associate Community Manager
 * Wrocas - Online Community Representative
 * Cerunya - Online Community Representative
 * Ulvareth - Online Community Representative
 * Tyiliru
 * Tesandrie
 * Thyvene (also French)
 * Takralus

Past CMs

 * Emberfin - Online Community Representative
 * Gungdil - Community Manager
 * Trigmas - Online Community Representative
 * Zolphea - Online Community Representative

Current CMs

 * Draztal - Online Community Representative

Current CMs

 * Кихьяви (Kihjawi)
 * Джимкаара (Jimkaara)
 * Рейслор (Reyslor)

Past CMs

 * Ускагерот (Uskageroth)

Other EU-based Blizzard Posters

 * Thundgot - Community Manager, Europe
 * Nazamur - Community Manager, Europe
 * Daghorn - Associate Community Manager
 * Vaneck - eSport Manager, Europe

Other US-based Blizzard Posters
Although not officially CMs, various other Blizzard employees post on the forums, including:


 * Daelo (Scott Mercer): Lead Encounter Designer.
 * EnoYls (Rob Pardo): Lead Designer.
 * Furor (Alex Afrasiabi): Quest Designer.
 * Ghostcrawler (Greg Street): Lead Systems Designer - Class Roles Forum.
 * Kalgan (Tom Chilton): Lead Game Systems and Balance Designer - PvP Discussion Forum.
 * Kisirani: World Event Designer.
 * Tigole (Jeff Kaplan): World Design - Raids and Dungeons Forum.

It should be noted that Jeff Kaplan has recently begun working on Blizzards' new unnamed MMO.

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