📖 Episode Summary:

In this episode of Player Driven, Greg chats with two standout voices in gaming operations—Heidi Christine, CMO and Head of Community at Pixels, and Conor McGinley, Customer Support Lead at Twin Harbor Interactive. Together, they unpack what it really takes to grow and sustain vibrant communities while also delivering high-quality support at scale. From automation and self-service to the role of Discord and the realities of Web3 toxicity, this conversation delivers actionable insights for studios of any size.

Whether you’re trying to balance support load with growth, make Discord less chaotic, or simply empower your community to help itself, this is the episode you’ve been waiting for.

🔑 Key Topics Covered:

• Why support and community must be separated—until they’re not
• How Pixels scaled from chaos to structure using Discord, Intercom, and "Farmhands"
• Conor’s take on automation, AI, and when bots actually make sense
• Handling burnout in small teams and building flexible support flows
• How Web3 changes the intensity of player behavior and expectations
• Empowering internal teams and community leaders to move fast without asking for permission
• Why retention starts with understanding why players spend their time with you

💬 Notable Quotes:“When you’re growing, Discord becomes chaos fast. It’s not built to handle 100 tickets a day.” – Heidi Christine
“Automation works best when you still own the voice. My bots sound like me.” – Conor McGinley
“Why are players spending their precious hours with us? That’s the question we need to ask every day.” – Heidi Christine👥 About the Guests:

Heidi Christine is the CMO and Head of Community at Pixels, a Web3 studio known for its vibrant MMO-style farming sim. She’s built a thriving, global player base with decentralized strategies, high player trust, and real-world crypto integration.

Conor McGinley leads customer support at Twin Harbor Interactive, creators of longform strategy games like Supremacy 1914 and Call of War. He’s known for his analytical approach to ticket flows, bot frameworks, and scalable support systems.

📌 Resources & Mentions:

• Pixels Game
• Twin Harbor Interactive
• Community Clubhouse
• Imagine Island - Magic Potion Games
• HelpShift

🎯 Who Should Listen:

• Support and CX leads looking to improve efficiency
• Community managers overwhelmed by Discord
• Indie and Web3 studios scaling fast with limited headcount
• Devs interested in retention, LiveOps, and community-led growth
• Anyone balancing automation with authentic player connection

📣 Call to Action:

Enjoyed the episode? Be sure to follow Player Driven for more practical takes from the people who power the games you love. Share this with a community lead, support agent, or founder who could use a smarter way to scale.TBD