Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising has released a new dev Q&A which focuses on the European community. This time around the fans are joined by European Community Manager Steve “Mr. Tibbs” Best. Questions from the forums, Facebook and Twitter regarding the G&H European community are answered. Read the full Q&A after the jump.

Q: What is your favorite aspect of the Gods & Heroes Community?

A: For me, it’s really refreshing to see various members of the development and production team posting in the forum and offering an online presence. I’ve worked in many games communities where the team just wouldn’t get involved and preferred to offer feedback through me. While this may sound like a simple answer, it’s actually a massive feather in the cap for Heatwave Interactive and shows that the company don’t hide behind the community team.

Q: What is your biggest challenge working with the Gods & Heroes Community?

A: Gods and Heroes is massive game that continues to evolve, driven by the community and the beta testers who have been playing it. As I’ve only just come onboard, I’ve got so much catching up to do that before I can start to interact on the forum etc, I’ve got to learn all aspects of the game inside and out. So my biggest challenge is to read, play, read, play, read and play some more so that I can understand the game inside out before I can start to fully work with the community. Luckily there are tons of posts and threads in the forum that have already given me a great insight into the game and just as important, what the community wants and expects from it.

There have been live Dev play times in Beta. Will we have any on EU time zones?

A: That’s a big yes! At the moment I’m trying to work USA time so Donna can hold my hand and take me through everything, but once I’m up to speed, I’ll slip back into the European time zone and start working during daylight hours! Live interaction with community has always been very important to me, so I can’t wait to start arranging the European play times.

Q: How do you plan on supporting the EU community alongside the US community?

A: There’s only one real difference between the two communities as far as I’m concerned and that’s the time difference. In fact, using the phrase ‘two communities’ is totally wrong as they are one and the same and should be treated as such. Having a US and Euro Community Manager means that we can cover the different time zones and run the same events but at different times. I’m hoping to be able to port across anything that’s being done in the USA and then offer those guys and girls everything we’re doing in Europe. I’m a strong believer that a community shouldn’t be split just because they live on different sides of the planet.

Q: Will there be special contests for EU players?

A: There are some cultural differences between the USA and Europe, especially when it comes to holidays and festivals etc, so there may be times when contests may differ depending on your location. Where possible, I would like to ensure that everyone gets the same experience, but as ‘Independence Day’ for instance is just a movie to us, we won’t be celebrating that event in Europe. Working closely with the European community, we’ll come up with some of our own contests that the community in the USA may want to get involved in as well.

That’s it for this week’s Q&A! Check back next Friday for our next Dev Q&A!