Dead Pixel of the Week: Community Manager Fired for Cyber-Sex with Gamer

Dead Pixels: Every week Ms. Pixel selects a Dead Pixel (or Loser) of the week. Check in weekly for her thoughts on the losers of gaming and social media.

In a case of what some might call ‘entrapment’, a Funcom employee was caught engaging in cyber sex with a player in Age of Conan (the second largest subscription based MMO).

The Set-up

An Age of Conan (AoC) player requested that a GM (Game Master) help him with a technical in-game issue. Despite having a male avatar the gamer was able to convince the GM that he was actually female. The gamer proceeded to make some comments that ‘were open to interpretation’. The GM threw caution to the wind and took the bait. After the ‘session’ the gamer leaked the logs on the MMORPG.com forums where they’ve garnered 294 thread responses and over 150,296 page views. The debate happening over there was so intense that the discussion thread had to be locked. Destructoid, reported today that the gamer purposely deceived the GM.

The Debate in a NutShell

Who should be held accountable? Should the gamer in question be banned for playing a prank on the GM? Or should the GM (and paid employee of Funcom) be held fully accountable for what happened?

FunCom’s Response

We are aware of this matter, and necessary measures have been taken against them. We have clear guidelines for all employees in Funcom, not least those who work with customer service, and if the guidelines are broken there are consequences. – From Destructoid.com

The GM was fired from Funcom over the incident.

Lessons for Community Managers

The role of Community Manager has been gaining traction as a paid position because they play a key and visible role in the customer experience. In gaming (especially MMOs) they’re often players themselves, straddling the line of an objective company representative and run-of-the-mil gamer.

MMO’s like the Age of Conan provide alternate realities for players in which the interactions between the company reps and the players are critical. One bad experience can lead someone to leave the game or (in this case) damage the reputation of the GM and the company they represent. I think the key takeaway for any community manager is to remain professional at all times. This GM let his guard down and was fired for it.

No word from the fired GM yet. The gamer who pulled the prank has expressed some remorse over the incident. In an interview with Destructoid’s Conrad Zimmerman, he says, “I’m mostly worried about him hunting me down and killing me.”

For Curious Minds

A link to the logs (Ms. Pixel says these are not safe for work)

Tagged as: Age of Conan, Community Management, Dead Pixel of the Week, Funcom, Gaming Community Management