What are the ways you interact with your community?

For the Rise of Immortals community team at Petroglyph, there are four primary methods we use to communicate with our community - 1) Website/Forums, 2) Game Interface, 3) Chat/Social Networks, 4) E-mail

The website/forums is number one in importance simply because it provides both short-term and long-term communication. You can post a news announcement valid for that specific period of time that anyone can reference repeatedly through a common link, or something that can be archived for review months later.

The game interface is next in importance because we can post news directly on the launcher, in-game ad sections, and send updated messages to those that are playing a game at that time. The downsize is all of these areas, particularly one-off messages in chat are time sensitive and mainly only apply to that moment. This is why I place it second in importance, as you can always regurgitate news via the website/forums.

Then there's all those social networks, excellent ways to spread the word about an announcement after it has been established in the game and main website/forums. Just as important are tools like Skype which we use constantly for those one-off messages and more personable discussion between community leaders. Skype is excellent for active group chat.

And last is e-mail, used sparingly every week or two for key announcements consolidated through newsletters. The best way to reach older community members that may have drifted off to another game. Use this to give them a friendly reminder at how awesome your game still is, especially after that last game update announced in the previous methods.

From previous discussion on LinkedIn.