Six Questions with Aimee Rekoske

In my efforts to bring interesting insight to Epic Slant I’ve sent out open ended questions to the industry members I’m familiar with. The response has been pretty good so far and I am pleased to bring you another set of answers. This week we’re going to look at MMOs from the point of view of a community relations manager (one of my favorite types of people)! Aimee Rekoske from SOE was kind enough to send responses in. She offers her perspective on player organizations and MMO communities in general!

Who are you?

Aimee “Ashlanne” Rekoske, Community Relations Project Manager

Why do you do what you do?

I love working in Community Relations. Making people happy is a joy. Going to events and meeting SOE Gamers, talking to them about their gaming experiences, telling them mine, and seeing the smiles on their faces is so great! I also get to work with the best people around. The Community Relations team at SOE Rocks! You won’t find a more fun group of people to be around.

In doing what you do, what brings you the greatest joy?

Being around SOE Gamers at Fan Faire, Dragon*Con, Block Party, doing a Ustream event and chatting with those that play our games!

What role do player guilds play in MMOs?

Guilds bring people together, they create smaller communities. Guilds keep people coming back day in and day out. If you ask folks why they keep playing, many of them say it’s because of the friends they play with.

How important is the player community to any given MMO?

Community is extremely important to any MMO; it’s what keeps folks logging in every day, the friends they make. At a Fan Faire, if you ask folks what meant the most to them, nine times out of ten it’s meeting the people they play with. People make friends for life in MMOs, people meet their spouses in MMOs.

In an American football game between Gnomes and Ratonga, who would be victorious and why?

Neither, Halflings would take them both out, after a good meal of course! Don’t underestimate the Halfling!

Aimee has what I consider one of the more fun jobs in the industry and one of the things I would want to do if I ever changed careers. Interacting with the player base is always an exciting adventure. You’re going to take a lot of flack but you’re also going to have a lot of wonderful experiences. A good community relations manager (like Aimee) makes all the world of difference. She talked me into playing EverQuest II again just because of one positive experience! Going out and doing that everyday yields similar results, I’m sure. These are the individuals that keep players subscribed, bring retired ones to the fold and attract new ones. She points out that SOE has a great team and she is absolutely right.

It is also very clear that Aimee has a great grasp on what guilds mean to players. I’ve heard numerous folks over the years state exactly what she said. If it weren’t for their guild, they would have long since quit. This is an often over-looked notion by developers. It always amazes me when a game does not have rich tools available to guilds. EQ2 is not one of those games, however, and has kept a pretty steady fan base over the years. At Dragon*Con Brenlo mentioned it was actually on the upswing. Aimee’s thoughts on community are an extension of this. A great server and game community really can keep players playing long past when they would normally quit. One of the tasks of a community relations manager is to help foster that solid community. SOE works hard at this and it shows.

I can’t fully agree with Aimee’s thoughts on football, however. I’m not sure you could motivate halflings to actually play a sport. As I understand it halfling sports usually involve the consumption or chasing of pie. At any rate, she didn’t say gnome so I have to give her big points there. I want to extend my deepest gratitude to Aimee for participating and wish her continued success, fun, and adventure as a CRPM!

If you’re an industry member and would like to participate please send me an email!