More than a blog post, more than a company
In a time where video game companies are so focused on making a profit or ways to money pinch you, it’s hard to find one that actually cares about its fans and communities. Companies such as Capcom find ways to get more money by locking content on discs or sell costumes at absurd prices. Others such as Activision overcharge its customers with expensive map packs. In light of this it’s refreshing to know that not all companies are like this and actually try to communicate with its fans. ArenaNet is one such company.
Dedication is one of the greatest attribute that ArenaNet possesses, constantly keeping its community updated with what they are doing, what’s happening, and why they do the things they do. It’s all time consuming and for a company that’s always busy making games they shouldn’t invest hours explaining to its customers exactly what they’re up to. For ArenaNet communicating with its fans is all part of the development process. Take Guild Wars 2 for example; ArenaNet takes the time to write up a weekly blog post filled to the brim with content and information about the game. These articles range from lore about the races in the game to art design when creating the game’s world.
The blog posts aren’t random tidbits of information but stories that really entice you. To ArenaNet, the idea of stories are important and with each blog post they try to portray a mini-narrative that captivate the audience with rich information. Take for example their article titled “The Savage Pride of the Jotun” which is a detailed description of the giant race that inhabit the Shiverpeaks. It’s not just how they live or what they look like. The article divulges in how their society interacts with each other, what their religious beliefs are, and why the developers care so much about the Jotuns.
With ArenaNet a blog post is never a simple thing. It’s not a publicity stunt or some sort of random news that they throw out at the last minute. For the company, anything they want to tell its fans has to be of the highest quality. If it’s not then it’s not worth telling. In ways, ArenaNet is a retailer of luxury products. Whereas companies would hand out trailers and a bullet list of what’s new in their product, ArenaNet spends thousands words telling and showing the audience a beautifully crafted game and the reason why it’s so important. The developers want to tell us that they think this information is interesting and important to them and as a result that same emotion is portrayed to us. If the devs care so much and show it then isn’t it a testament to how much they also care about the fans? After all, if they didn’t care then they wouldn’t go the extra mile to prove it.