Fasti - Community Manager Interview

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Who are you and what are you responsible for on Trove?Top ^

I am a leaf on the wind. In addition to the leaf thing my name is Steve Haines, but I go by Fasti on the forums. I’m the Community Manager on a video game I like to call Trove.

How did you get started in Trion and the games industry?Top ^

I studied film in college and pursued that for a big chunk of my life. During the writer’s strike back in 2008 I got the hint and moved from San Francisco to Texas and took a job doing Customer Support for a different game studio. Friends I made there moved over to Trion Worlds and when I decided to move on as well they welcomed me into the fold.

What is a typical workday like for you?Top ^

I’m not much of a sleeper so I tend to start my days very early. I wake up and check the Trove Twitter account and scan the forums for issues. If there are issues of note I start contacting people to follow up. It’s uncommon for there to be legitimate fires to put out so I’ll head into the office early.

A lot of my time is spent reading forums, the Trove subreddit, Steam, and social media pages. In addition to those direct interactions, I also write just about all of our official Trove blogs and social media posts.

There’s a ton of other stuff but it’s not super exciting. I work with our other teams to be as prepared as possible for big releases so there are a ton of people involved with pretty much everything we have going on.

drawing Fast (i) - by Swiftnightshadow

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it is a portrait made on pc, made from a photo I found on the net, but the painting is 100% done by me. The photo was royalty free, I made sure of that

What stands out as different on Trove from other games you've worked on?Top ^

The sharp edges. Too soon? Voxel humor, folks! I got the opportunity to be the CM on Trove while it was wrapping up beta testing. It was the perfect time for me to try my hand at the role since I’d never done it before. The community welcomed me with open arms and that’s the big thing – the community.

I play Defiance and RIFT fairly regularly and enjoy them quite a bit, but there’s something about playing Trove that’s different from other gaming experiences I’ve had. I love talking to players in game and out. It’s great to see how passionate people are about the game because I feel the same way.

What are the most challenging and most rewarding aspects of your position?Top ^

The biggest challenge is not being able to just constantly post spoilers of future stuff. I get to see very cool things really early on and it’s tough not to shout it from the rooftops. We want to make sure we have features locked in before posting because anything we say as employees are viewed as a promise.

The most rewarding aspects are things like the Fasti art contest you ran last year. Having incredibly talented artists creating versions of my avatar for me was huge. Also, I get a lot of forum messages and tweets from the community to offer support and encouragement on challenging days. That means more to me than anything else. Plus, medical benefits.

Wait Fasti❤ by AzusaAlice

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Wait Fasti ..!

Where did the name Fasti come from? and why a bulldog?Top ^

Fasti comes from the Roman poet, Ovid ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fasti_(poem) ). It’s basically a work explaining the origins of Roman holidays & customs. When one joins the team as a GM you get to pick a list of possible names. Fasti was last on my list but was the one that was approved. Looking back I can’t imagine it being anything else.

The bulldog is an intrinsic part of who I am as a person. My father was a Marine in the 1950’s and the bulldog is a Marine mascot. My parents got one when I was very young and I just loved the heck out of him (Rowdy). Plus, they are ugly but lovable which I can appreciate a great deal.

Outside of work what do you get up to?Top ^

I used to spend huge chunks of my day reading. Books have always played a huge role in my life. Lately, I spend a ton of time listening to music. I go out with friends periodically but mostly I just like relaxing at home and listening to some Warpaint or the Julie Ruin.

Is there anything you want to say to the Trove community?Top ^

I’m proud to work on the Trove team and to share your feedback with them. We can’t make decisions that will make 100% of people happy so we just work hard at doing what we think is right. When you’re worried about a change we want to hear it. Your voices have a very real impact on how we handle changes to the game over time. Thanks for being awesome and for playing Trove!