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Fire Sword Studios is an independent two-man game studio located in Vienna, Austria. There are approximately 15K members on the server sharing content, suggestions, bug reports, chatting with one another, and making new friends.
Fire Sword Studios uses Discord as their primary community hub, mainly using social media to post to a larger audience with the goal of bringing their fans to Discord.
“Because we work in the games industry, many of our fans already use Discord. In almost all cases, there is no need to teach new members how to use Discord, making it very simple for them to begin interacting and becoming a part of the community.”
Discord being the home for their most engaged fans allows them to easily seek feedback and get to know their fans even better.
“Our development process is heavily focused on the community, and we strive to be as transparent as possible with them.”
Having an audience doesn’t always guarantee that people will engage with your content – and even if they do, it can be difficult to gauge how they feel about it. Discord provides the place for two-way communication that can help creators determine what type of content they should continue or experiment with.
“It not only strengthens the creator-fan relationship, but it also allows fans to get to know one another and create a welcoming environment for newcomers.”
FSS feels that community is a critical part of content creation. Your content is consumed all the time, but viewers may not be invested in you as the creator.
“Without a community, the content you produce is just that: content.”
Connecting on Discord provides opportunities for you to create better, more impactful content, and allows your fans to connect with you on a more meaningful level. “This gives them a sense of belonging to the community and, hopefully, gives them a sense of pride.”
When it comes to advice for fellow creators, FSS has a ton of wise words to share:
“Allow your fans to express themselves and their feelings about your content in a safe space, and then listen to them! Be open and honest with your fans about your ideas, and see how they react.
1. Accept feedback without taking it personally: When people love something, they often become overly emotional and may speak harshly. Don't take it personally and try to understand where they're coming from. Tell them it is fine to express their opinions and engage in a conversation with them to better understand their point of view.
2. Game Nights can help to strengthen the bonds between community members: I believe that you don't truly know someone until you've played a game with them. Games can indicate how a person reacts under stress or in specific situations. While playing something together, you're also more likely to have casual, non-forced conversations.
3. Involve your community: You can always find ways to involve your community in the creation process, no matter what your content is about. Is your server about your podcast? Allow your audience to vote on the topic of your next episode! A community member stood out or assisted you in resolving a problem? Include a mention of them in your next blog post.”
A big thank you to FSS for sharing all of this amazing inspiration with us! If you want to join FSS and support the community, you can join here!
