Moderation Teams and Technology: Improving Customer Retention

Brian Pontarelli

It’s common knowledge that online communities and online games have loyal fans and critics alike.  Many web sites utilize social media management tools, moderation services, as well as profanity filters to weed out as many inappropriate comments and behaviors as possible.  But when it comes to online games, the stakes get even higher for performance.  Usage stats from various sources report that online game players spend 22 hours a week playing the game, despiteCustomer retention the fact that half of the players have full-time jobs, are married and nearly one-fourth have kids.  Surprisingly, only one-fourth of players are teens.  The majority are college students, early professionals, middle-aged homemakers and retirees.  Sixty percent of players have reported at least 10 hours of continuous play.

You would think this kind of fanatical devotion to online games would mean loyal customers for life and customer satisfaction levels through the roof.  However, companies have to work more diligently than ever before to keep performance as near to 100% uptime as possible in order to avoid massive backlash from their fans.

Double - Edged Sword

Online game producers need to deliver content patches faster. Players have become much more adept at finishing new content and many gaming companies have struggled to keep up.  This may be a double-edged sword - the need for speed of content development may improve user satisfaction in the short term, while at the same time increasing the probability of bugs and poor performance.  Satisfying customer demand for content could contribute to a company’s downfall since poor game performance directly correlates to negative player experiences and ultimately abandonment as a subscriber.

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