Hi everybody,
They tell me a bit of introduction is in order.
I'm Shannon “Pharamond” Drake, and I'm stepping into the role of Community Manager here at Funcom. I'm a former writer/editor/manager type from The Escapist magazine and the WarCry Network, so I've written articles, run fansites, and juggled 10,000 things at once. I've also worked as a GameMaster and in in-game Events and dealt with general community stuff for a number of MMOs, even helping herd The Saga of Ryzom through its launch. I did a tally last year and counted over 50 MMOs played in various forms, so I know a bit about the genre. As for Funcom itself, we made our initial acquaintance with a game called The Longest Journey, which remains one of my favorite games of all-time, and I've followed them ever since.
Rest assured, there's no tearful goodbyes here. Silirrion is going to focus more on being a Game Director for AO, so just imagine what sort of things he will come up with with more free time, and he'll continue following the boards and communities. The rest of the community staff will continue in their current roles, there's just one more of us here overseeing things.
For my part, I'd like to continue the fine job Silirrion and my predecessors have started, while coming out with even more information on the games for those of you out there in our communities. We'll be working to engage all of you—AO, Secret World, Conan, TLJ/Dreamfall—with a lot of fun things in the next few months (and, of course, long-term). The community team is all very excited to be working together, and on Funcom's various projects, especially with such a great fan base. Personally speaking, I look forward to working with all of you in the future.