In Times of Trouble

By Sanya Weathers

I started my first (paid, insider) job in the MMO industry a few months before September 11, 2001. My game was in beta at the time, and that month we were all pulling eighteen hour days trying to stay on track for our October launch. There was no time to stop and think. We just had to keep going. Thus it was that in a horrible way I learned a few things about what to do and what not to do when something terrible happens.

First, just express your sorrow. Don’t overthink this part. Just do it because you’re a decent person. But do keep it very short and general. “Our thoughts are with those who are in pain right now.” I’ll get into some specifics as to why you phrase it that way in a second. Put this statement on your website/FB/Twitter.

If your customers want to talk about it on the forum, let them, because this is their community. If your users choose your product/site as a way to lean on each other for support, it’s a compliment. You’ve done something right. At the same time, you don’t want your forum to be taken over, because you also offer an escape from the troubles of reality. Herd everything into one thread to keep the topic from mutating.

Your next step is to throw the name of the perpetrator, if known, into your name filter. I have seen so many Osama Bin Ladens, and every last one of them owned by a player who insisted he was “just roleplaying” a psycho. Wanna bet how many Jared Lee Loughners are plaguing the MMO world this week? Probably not as many, but still.

Now that you’ve done the immediate things, you’ve got a little time to think. First of all, is the terrible thing affecting a large part of your audience? If you aren’t providing a truly global product or service, you might be done after making that one post/allowing one thread/name filter action. The world is a big place. A tragedy in one place barely causes a ripple in another. You need to prioritize, and understand that many people may not know anything about your particular tragedy – or want to be bombarded with stuff about something that doesn’t affect them.

Is the terrible thing likely to affect your product or service? If not, again, you might be done. In my case back in 2001, the company was located less than 20 miles from the Pentagon. Assuring customers that we were unaffected (at least, we weren’t more affected than everyone else) was not unreasonable.

If you’ve determined that the tragedy is affecting your community in a big way, make a larger statement. But as with your short statement, you need to tread lightly. Not everyone prays, for example, and of those that do, not all prayers are directed at the same deity. Or deities. Your post needs to be as inclusive as possible. It’s not about being politically correct (though I personally think that phrase has gotten a bad rap), it’s about treating all of your customers equally, with equal respect.

You also need to be aware of your own emotional reaction. Are you angry? Frightened? Sickened? Making totally inappropriate jokes because you’re overwhelmed, immature, or both? Wait, that might have just been me. Whatever your feelings are, you need to be careful. Other people are reacting in different ways, and the odds of their being incredibly offended/hurt by your way are very high.

So you can’t be emotional or exclusive. What you can do is give people a way to be constructive. Is there a non-offensive charity you can link to? If your company is big/funded enough, are you willing to match donations, i.e., if your customers collectively donate a thousand bucks, you’ll throw in a thousand? Is there a virtual memorial you can publicize? If there are a lot of rumors, where can people go to get facts?

By virtue of having a community, you are a community leader. Use your power for good.