Ok, a bit of a cross-post from the population thread. Why? Because I love the game and would like to see it grow. I also like generating ideas. Not all of my ideas may pan out in the end, but I don't mind this- if they help spark another persons' ideas and thinking in turn. In essence, Lusternia's lifeblood is its players, old and new. I would like this thread to constructively focus on 'new player getting' ideas, however. All of the following are my own questions, and I haven't been prompted by IRE or anything to do marketing research :P I'm just curious. And yes, I see us straddling both sides of the Lenton scenario below.

Think back to when you first started playing, what aspect drew you here?

-For me, it was pets and crafting and rp. (In that order, yes) Did a mud have really cool pets, and could I make stuff? Is the rp engaging?

Think back to other muds and games (non-IRE), what did/do you like about them and think could be given a new spin with that special Estarra & Co. touch here?

-While I haven't played DragonRealms, since their subscription structure and pay per quest-run per person seems more than a little much to me, I do think it's neat that they premiere each new major event with new art relating to the event. This art then is available to the playerbase in desktop/icon theme forms. And maybe Lusternia could take this even further if it could afford the merchandising. (i.e. A shirt/poster with the battle for Icewynd on it)

Where/what other venue aside from FB do you think would be a good place to reach out to get new players? (I don't count digg because it's a bit erm.. archaic to me in terms of outreach to younger people, sorry <.<)

- See my musing on Gaia below.

Any other ideas you might have? Please share them!

Sojiro:


I firmly believe that many people who have posted are looking at the wrong end (old player retention) compared to the actual issue (new player getting).

I do think we need to find a good hook to get new blood flowing somehow...just hopefully not so desparately bad/base as Evony campaigns. FB still holds potential for outreach if its polished and done well. Heck, I was even musing over 'What if Lusternia and Gaia forums did one of those co-sponsorship campaigns (from the Advertise with Us link) like the Big Boys (Coke, Mimzy etc) do?' That's a whole untapped rp community right there that's used to 'text gaming' - a new generation of teens, tweens and college folk.. of course maturity comes into play and we'd also have to hope it doesn't lower our quality of play, but build our community.

Online services, especially games, need to build up communities with shared interests whose members feel comfortable using the service. Once the product is running and its core community has been identified, all the online resources should be bent to building, sustaining and protecting this community.

Without such a community the product will have to rely on advertising bringing in 'passing trade' and one-off purchases, which while they may sustain the service for a while are inherently unstable. This instability will soon result in customers deserting the product for the 'next big thing', making consistent sustained usage very difficult. -Alan Lenton

.

I was drawn to Lusternia because I'm a chronic RPer; I RP my character even in single player game, and have been playing DnD, and later, other games, for about a decade. In addition, when Enyalida explained the tactical nature of the combat to me, I was consumed with thinking up strategies for the various archetypes and guilds. I created a short term character in every org (only four at the time), and finally decided to play in Serenwilde, and later, Magnagora, both of which I felt had the potential for very cool RP, particularly Serenwilde. Unfortunately, my Seren character eventually went dormant when I learned that Tae'dae simply cannot be effective in combat, at least as Serenguard. I hope to revive him soon contingent on special report buffs.
I strongly considered playing in Celeste, and later, in Hallifax as well. I was never particularly interested in the RP of Glomdoring, and while I found the concept of Gaudiguch interesting, I also found it was quickly filled with WAAAACKY!TM people that I felt were really ruining the RP for me.

I used to play Runescape, and the best things I can say about it are that the quests feel unique and interesting (also something I love about Lusternia), minmaxing was rather difficult (due to limited options), there were plenty of things for a non-combat character to do (important, since I get very bored, very fast grinding), and it had an extremely simple and easy to understand equipment, with no real need to keep re-forging/enchanting for better items (something I really, really, hate about Lusternia; I prefer equipment to be primarily about character appearance/roleplay).

I played MapleStory at a friend's urging for about a day. I though that the storyline was very interesting, but unfortuately, completely unimportant to the game. A particular feature that I liked, however, was the ability to "wear" whatever you wanted on your sprite, while having the stats of your "actual" equipped items. I hate grinding, however, and that is all MapleStory is about, so I stopped playing.

I've played a bit of WoW, and found that a major draw was the clear link between effort and reward; the fanfare and clear power-up at level up, the achievement congrats, ect. I feel that is something that Lusternia should certianly work on; especially the level ups; making them feel more important by granting more lessons or similar.

I've played a bit of a couple other MUDs, and something that I love about many of them is how different the mechanics feel for different classes; each feels totally unique to play (the Deadlands series of tabletops RPGs do this as well).

I play a texted-based strategy/business based RPG called Imperium Nova, in which you play a Dune-style Noble House that attempts to grow large and prestigious throughout the galaxy. A major feature I like there is that the GM actively encourages occasional regime change by causing internal problems in the ruling houses on occassion, allowing smaller houses the opprotunity to shift the balance of power. He doesn't do this often; just enough to prevent a single house or coalition of houses from ruling for years at a time; something vital for the health of the game.

Think back to when you first started playing, what aspect drew you here?

For me, it was actually my brother who introduced me to Lusternia. I've stayed, though, mainly for the RP in the beginning and then discovered crafting, designing, and combat later.


Think back to other muds and games (non-IRE), what did/do you like about them and think could be given a new spin with that special Estarra & Co. touch here?

I've only played the IRE games plus Cardea and a few other games similar here and there... so I don't have a whole lot of experience with other MUDs. I would like to see some new merchandise though. Credits are great to spend my shinies on, but I'd like to see some other stuff. I know there is a high cost associated with it, though.

Where/what other venue aside from FB do you think would be a good place to reach out to get new players? (I don't count digg because it's a bit erm.. archaic to me in terms of outreach to younger people, sorry <.<)

I actually try to attract new players via Twitter, deviantART and Tumblr. The issue is that 90% of people don't want to play MUDs or aren't interested enough because it doesn't have pictures. :|

Think back to when you first started playing, what aspect drew you here?

Customization, roleplay, customization.

Think back to other muds and games (non-IRE), what did/do you like about them and think could be given a new spin with that special Estarra & Co. touch here?

Hmm...I'm going to skip this, for now. Possibly edit an answer back in at a later date.

Where/what other venue aside from FB do you think would be a good place to reach out to get new players?

Honestly, I have to say that the best venue for attracting new players is personal recruitment. There are a lot of us out there that are fans of tabletop gaming, and introducing that circle of friends to Lusternia, or MUDs in general, isn't a bad route to take. The problem with MUDs in regards to bringing new players is that not many people (of my generation, and those coming after) are just not into things that don't have ridiculous explosions or lolkewlgrafics. Reach out to communities that are already used to a more similar sort of gaming, like foolofsound said, and the investment is going to compare better to the result than if we tried relying on things like Facebook. Both have their perks, but the latter is a bit less effective, I'd say.

While the admin should play a part in this aspect, I think a large amount of the responsibility should be left to the players as well. We might not run the world, but we certainly inhabit it, so we should take charge in trying to flesh it out with more able people.

I joined for the flowering fields, souring cheese, and wasted hour (or two).