Nat Kilpatrick is Player Support Agent for Team Adopt Me! The #1 world record-breaking Roblox game enjoyed by a community of over 61 million players across the world. Adopt Me! won 5 Roblox awards this year, including Best Game Update of the Year. We asked Nat, some key questions about getting into the games sector.

Explain your role like I'm 5 years old

I assist players with their in-game issues, from purchasing problems, issues logging in, disappearing items, bugs, just about any problem people have in Adopt Me!

Take us through your average day at work

I start the day by logging on to Slack and checking through any important messages regarding any possible bugs, upcoming features, or other things that may impact my work. As our team is located in both the US and UK we always have people working on the game and discussing topics in the channels.

Then I log on to Zendesk, the client that allows us to read and answer tickets. Any time someone submits a ticket through our website's support form it gets sent there. I first answer any responses from the previous day which are usually bigger issues that require multiple replies and information.

Our support team communicate via Slack and Discord, so there will always be someone around to talk to and discuss tickets and ask each other for help. We sit together in a voice channel and help each other with our work if needed, which I really like as it boosts productivity and morale.

What was your educational and career journey into your current role?

I volunteered as a tournament support agent for an esports tournament website, starting there helped me to get an understanding of talking to players and picking up trends of common problems.

I have been into gaming since childhood, and having my own experience with online games I felt a connection with myself and the players of Adopt Me, understanding the problems that people may encounter in these games, even though we are a generation apart.

I haven't had any formal education regarding communications or customer support, I learned most of what I know through on the job training or learning from other customer support channels in my personal life.

What do you love most about your role?

My favourite part of the job is helping people and making someone's day, for example restoring someone's missing purchase that they were really excited to get. We receive a lot of thankful messages and sometimes even fan-art that players send in, and it always makes me smile.

What's the hardest thing about your role?

Unfortunately, sometimes you just can't help someone with their problem. Maybe it's someone who has been hacked or scammed and we are unable to restore their content, or it's an issue with the platform that we do not have the capability or power to fix. Dealing with unsatisfied customers is always difficult, especially since they're all people who love the game.

What key skills should people work on to do your role one day?

Written communication skills are of course vital, as 90% of the job is talking to people and listening to their problems. Empathy is also a key skill to work on since a lot of customers are initially frustrated, but going through their issues step by step and reassuring them usually helps them calm down.

Technical knowledge is also a must-have, learning about what you work on and having your own knowledge from playing the game or using the platform can help solve tickets quickly.

What advice would you give to your younger self looking to get started in the industry? 

Start early! Take on volunteering positions if they're available and work hard on your communication skills.

Learn from others in the same role; you may encounter support agents without even noticing, for example: by calling your mobile phone provider or emailing about an online order placed. See how they communicate with you and try to incorporate their language and tone in your own work.

Do you have any links to good articles or videos that you think might give some tips or advice to someone starting in your role?

Monzo’s tone of voice guide

7 Tips to Knock Your Online Customer Support Out of the Park