Law School to LiveOps: How Fiene Helps InnoGames Thrive in Community and Content
Podcasts
•
July 8, 2025
Law School to LiveOps: How Fiene Helps InnoGames Thrive in Community and Content
Podcasts
•
July 8, 2025


What happens when a rule-loving law student trades the courtroom for community management? You get Fiene Ziegler, Senior Community Management Specialist at InnoGames, orchestrating global player engagement while low-key mastering Premiere Pro and voiceovers. In this Player Driven episode, we dive deep into what it really takes to lead community and social media efforts for a major game like Forge of Empires. Spoiler: it's part strategy, part firefighting, part TikTok obsession, and all heart.
🎧 Listen if you’ve ever asked:
What’s the best way to structure a LiveOps content calendar?
How do you manage 40+ freelancers across 26 markets without losing your mind?
Can community management and social media really be the same job?
Why is TikTok suddenly a goldmine for gaming discovery?
How do you stay sane when you're the unofficial QA, translator, and player therapist?
Let’s get into it.
💬 From MMORPG Forums to Forge of Empires
Fiene’s journey into gaming started with a university switch-up and a healthy dose of 12-hour gaming sessions. Too broke for World of Warcraft, she dove into the free-to-play MMO world, and unknowingly, her future career.
She began volunteering on forums, planning weekend events, and testing builds with Korean-only documentation (yes, really). By the time she landed at InnoGames, she wasn’t just passionate… she was battle-tested.
🧠 Best Practice Breakdown: Community + Content Creation
Here’s what we learned from Fiene that every LiveOps team should be paying attention to:
1. Don't Burn Out Loving the Game
Fiene plays Forge of Empires competitively, but she draws a clear line between professional passion and emotional burnout. If you’re managing a community, love the player experience, not the pixels.
2. Your Freelancers Need a Playbook
With 40+ external CMs across 26 language versions, Fiene’s secret weapon is Jira epics, Confluence documentation, and weekly syncs. If you’re managing global community teams, treat it like product ops.
3. Community Management = Social Media
According to Fiene, they shouldn’t be separate anymore, and her team is proof. Tailored campaigns, beta announcements, and content infused with real player feedback are getting better engagement and stronger retention.
4. Let the Metrics Lead
The KPIs that matter most at InnoGames? Reach and engagement. Whether it's TikTok virality or Instagram carousel tips, if it doesn’t drive interaction, it’s just noise. Bonus: they’re building Power BI dashboards to visualize goal progress in real time.
5. Start With the Calendar
The best content creators don’t wing it. Fiene builds campaigns around feature releases and seasonal events (like the Halloween drop she teased). First comes the strategy, then the videos, memes, and player guides.
🔥 Clickbait, Delivered: “TikTok Made Me Play Baldur’s Gate 3”
One of the best moments in this episode? Fiene confessing that she couldn’t play Baldur’s Gate 3 on launch because she forgot her gaming laptop on a work trip. So, naturally, she fell into BG3 TikTok bubble, and emerged with a new appreciation for the platform’s power.
She’s right: TikTok isn’t just for dances and drama anymore. It’s where curiosity about gaming starts, especially among non-core gamers and younger women.
🎮 Quick Stats That Matter
Forge of Empires is live in 26 languages
InnoGames manages 40+ external community freelancers
Social media KPIs tracked across Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and Discord
Automated reporting in Power BI is the next big unlock
🛠 Tools of the Trade
Communication: Slack + Mattermost (for freelancers)
Project Management: Jira + Confluence
Content Creation: Canva, Premiere Pro, Audition
Reporting: Agora Pulse + Power BI
🌍 Final Thoughts from Fiene
“Community management should be everywhere the community is. That means social media too.”
Fiene’s story isn’t just about career shifts or mastering tools. It’s about evolving with the industry, being curious, and knowing when to detach So you can keep showing up strong for your players.
👋 Want more?
Follow Player Driven for weekly interviews with the people shaping the future of games; from AAA veterans to indie innovators. Whether you're in CS, marketing, LiveOps, or dev, this is your backchannel to how the games industry really runs.
🎧 Listen if you’ve ever asked:
What’s the best way to structure a LiveOps content calendar?
How do you manage 40+ freelancers across 26 markets without losing your mind?
Can community management and social media really be the same job?
Why is TikTok suddenly a goldmine for gaming discovery?
How do you stay sane when you're the unofficial QA, translator, and player therapist?
Let’s get into it.
💬 From MMORPG Forums to Forge of Empires
Fiene’s journey into gaming started with a university switch-up and a healthy dose of 12-hour gaming sessions. Too broke for World of Warcraft, she dove into the free-to-play MMO world, and unknowingly, her future career.
She began volunteering on forums, planning weekend events, and testing builds with Korean-only documentation (yes, really). By the time she landed at InnoGames, she wasn’t just passionate… she was battle-tested.
🧠 Best Practice Breakdown: Community + Content Creation
Here’s what we learned from Fiene that every LiveOps team should be paying attention to:
1. Don't Burn Out Loving the Game
Fiene plays Forge of Empires competitively, but she draws a clear line between professional passion and emotional burnout. If you’re managing a community, love the player experience, not the pixels.
2. Your Freelancers Need a Playbook
With 40+ external CMs across 26 language versions, Fiene’s secret weapon is Jira epics, Confluence documentation, and weekly syncs. If you’re managing global community teams, treat it like product ops.
3. Community Management = Social Media
According to Fiene, they shouldn’t be separate anymore, and her team is proof. Tailored campaigns, beta announcements, and content infused with real player feedback are getting better engagement and stronger retention.
4. Let the Metrics Lead
The KPIs that matter most at InnoGames? Reach and engagement. Whether it's TikTok virality or Instagram carousel tips, if it doesn’t drive interaction, it’s just noise. Bonus: they’re building Power BI dashboards to visualize goal progress in real time.
5. Start With the Calendar
The best content creators don’t wing it. Fiene builds campaigns around feature releases and seasonal events (like the Halloween drop she teased). First comes the strategy, then the videos, memes, and player guides.
🔥 Clickbait, Delivered: “TikTok Made Me Play Baldur’s Gate 3”
One of the best moments in this episode? Fiene confessing that she couldn’t play Baldur’s Gate 3 on launch because she forgot her gaming laptop on a work trip. So, naturally, she fell into BG3 TikTok bubble, and emerged with a new appreciation for the platform’s power.
She’s right: TikTok isn’t just for dances and drama anymore. It’s where curiosity about gaming starts, especially among non-core gamers and younger women.
🎮 Quick Stats That Matter
Forge of Empires is live in 26 languages
InnoGames manages 40+ external community freelancers
Social media KPIs tracked across Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and Discord
Automated reporting in Power BI is the next big unlock
🛠 Tools of the Trade
Communication: Slack + Mattermost (for freelancers)
Project Management: Jira + Confluence
Content Creation: Canva, Premiere Pro, Audition
Reporting: Agora Pulse + Power BI
🌍 Final Thoughts from Fiene
“Community management should be everywhere the community is. That means social media too.”
Fiene’s story isn’t just about career shifts or mastering tools. It’s about evolving with the industry, being curious, and knowing when to detach So you can keep showing up strong for your players.
👋 Want more?
Follow Player Driven for weekly interviews with the people shaping the future of games; from AAA veterans to indie innovators. Whether you're in CS, marketing, LiveOps, or dev, this is your backchannel to how the games industry really runs.
🎧 Listen if you’ve ever asked:
What’s the best way to structure a LiveOps content calendar?
How do you manage 40+ freelancers across 26 markets without losing your mind?
Can community management and social media really be the same job?
Why is TikTok suddenly a goldmine for gaming discovery?
How do you stay sane when you're the unofficial QA, translator, and player therapist?
Let’s get into it.
💬 From MMORPG Forums to Forge of Empires
Fiene’s journey into gaming started with a university switch-up and a healthy dose of 12-hour gaming sessions. Too broke for World of Warcraft, she dove into the free-to-play MMO world, and unknowingly, her future career.
She began volunteering on forums, planning weekend events, and testing builds with Korean-only documentation (yes, really). By the time she landed at InnoGames, she wasn’t just passionate… she was battle-tested.
🧠 Best Practice Breakdown: Community + Content Creation
Here’s what we learned from Fiene that every LiveOps team should be paying attention to:
1. Don't Burn Out Loving the Game
Fiene plays Forge of Empires competitively, but she draws a clear line between professional passion and emotional burnout. If you’re managing a community, love the player experience, not the pixels.
2. Your Freelancers Need a Playbook
With 40+ external CMs across 26 language versions, Fiene’s secret weapon is Jira epics, Confluence documentation, and weekly syncs. If you’re managing global community teams, treat it like product ops.
3. Community Management = Social Media
According to Fiene, they shouldn’t be separate anymore, and her team is proof. Tailored campaigns, beta announcements, and content infused with real player feedback are getting better engagement and stronger retention.
4. Let the Metrics Lead
The KPIs that matter most at InnoGames? Reach and engagement. Whether it's TikTok virality or Instagram carousel tips, if it doesn’t drive interaction, it’s just noise. Bonus: they’re building Power BI dashboards to visualize goal progress in real time.
5. Start With the Calendar
The best content creators don’t wing it. Fiene builds campaigns around feature releases and seasonal events (like the Halloween drop she teased). First comes the strategy, then the videos, memes, and player guides.
🔥 Clickbait, Delivered: “TikTok Made Me Play Baldur’s Gate 3”
One of the best moments in this episode? Fiene confessing that she couldn’t play Baldur’s Gate 3 on launch because she forgot her gaming laptop on a work trip. So, naturally, she fell into BG3 TikTok bubble, and emerged with a new appreciation for the platform’s power.
She’s right: TikTok isn’t just for dances and drama anymore. It’s where curiosity about gaming starts, especially among non-core gamers and younger women.
🎮 Quick Stats That Matter
Forge of Empires is live in 26 languages
InnoGames manages 40+ external community freelancers
Social media KPIs tracked across Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and Discord
Automated reporting in Power BI is the next big unlock
🛠 Tools of the Trade
Communication: Slack + Mattermost (for freelancers)
Project Management: Jira + Confluence
Content Creation: Canva, Premiere Pro, Audition
Reporting: Agora Pulse + Power BI
🌍 Final Thoughts from Fiene
“Community management should be everywhere the community is. That means social media too.”
Fiene’s story isn’t just about career shifts or mastering tools. It’s about evolving with the industry, being curious, and knowing when to detach So you can keep showing up strong for your players.
👋 Want more?
Follow Player Driven for weekly interviews with the people shaping the future of games; from AAA veterans to indie innovators. Whether you're in CS, marketing, LiveOps, or dev, this is your backchannel to how the games industry really runs.
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