Bex's Four-Year Community Manager Anniversary

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Did you do any PR/CM work prior to your current job? What was that like?

Spoiler

Yes, around five years before I started at Grinding Gear Games there was a game I played for around a year. It was small and had only around 40,000 users total and around 500 concurrents. I played it so much that I ended up having the highest level character on the server for a long time (there was no level cap). Because I was spending so much time in the game, the main developer invited me to be a GM.

I performed TERRIBLY. There was already a lot of animosity towards me because I was the highest level and was able to ban people. Additionally, I was in a particularly unhappy place in my life at that time and I was an absolute jerk to that community. I would antagonise them to break a rule and then I would ban them for it. It was disgusting behaviour and I'm honestly still really ashamed about it.

It wasn't until a few years later when I looked back on it and was like 'What have I done?' I have apologised profusely to the developer who was involved, but I've lost touch with most of the other people who were part of the server and haven't been able to apologise. If I search the internet with my GM name, I can still find examples of people talking about me in forums about how terrible I was.

I never thought I would have the chance to redeem myself so when I landed a role with GGG this urge for redemption was the fuel to my fire. While I can't take that behaviour back, I can channel this negative experience to use it to create positive experiences in the future. I use it as a constant reminder of what I do and do not want to contribute to the community. After six years, I am glad to say that I remain proud of my contributions to this community and can hold my head high knowing that I have not repeated those mistakes.