The Clan Lord Sentinel

More people, more fun. All the oldbies talk about the days when CL had a robust population. It was awesome.

10 years ago there wasn't any automated billing. I'm pretty sure I emailed Joe my CC info. We're already a step above that.

10 years ago there were no subclasses. Healers had to be close enough to tell your religion in order to heal. Orga Camp two? Other islands?

We don't need more bells and whistles and 3 year delays because someone has to do something that never existed before.

Perhaps Joe can comment definitively on the topic. If it's never going to happen and he knows it, I'd like to know it too. And none of this wishy washy inifinite possibilities bullshit. If he doesn't have a plan and a budget and a schedule, it's not happenning.

30 years ago we had Atari 2600.

About 30 years ago we had disco.

Neither qualify as a desireable form of entertainment today, beyond nostalgia.

Folks 10 years ago did not expect smooth electronic billing systems, and clan lord's graphics were not THAT far behind the competitors. In fact, back then how many MMORPGs existed?

Sad to say, but you have got to make the first bite taste good before folks will buy the cake, and advertising 10 year old cake does not make the cake any less antiquated.

Should there be advertising? Yup
Should there be automated billing and instant sign-on ability? Yup
Should there be things to bring the old population back to help flesh out any new population? Yup

I honestly think that if they fail to do a number of things pretty much the same time, then each individual thing will fail. However, I don't really believe they have the manpower or drive to make it happen.

It's like thawing out Walt Disney before the cure for cancer is found.
"You woke me up for WHAT?!?!"

By the way, I reactivated all expired accounts again for a month. Spread the word!

I hate marketing. I feel like a whore when I try to get people to buy my stuff. If they don't want it, fine.

That said, I know I'm stupid. We need more players, and I have no problem spending money to let them know about us. I just feel dirty doing it. If anybody's willing to spearhead our marketing, you're hired.

I've been thinking for years that CL should be primarily free, with a tiered service to distinguish freeloaders from paying folks. Maybe freeloaders can't go to the library or /share, or something.

The GMs have been chatting recently about making CL essentially a player-run organization. Characters could buy shares (thoombacks), and then could use those shares to elect the Order of the Glove, who then can make policy decisions (or appoint people to do them). I think it's doable.

I'm essentially the only Delta Tao employee at the moment, and my time tends to be taken up with the minutiae of selling Eric's Ultimate Solitaire and Spaceward Ho!. Also, my year in Hong Kong basically left me in the dark, so I don't even know how Clan Lord works any more -- in many ways making me a poor choice to be Master God of the Universe.

Joedelta wrote: If anybody's willing to spearhead our marketing, you're hired.

Gonna go out on a limb here Joe.
Many of us are on macs...and are in marketing/design, so if you swing a stick you are apt to hit a few dozen. A few even willing able and chomping on the bit to do such.

It's good to see you again, Joe.

Joedelta wrote:By the way, I reactivated all expired accounts again for a month. Spread the word!

Good move!

I've been thinking for years that CL should be primarily free, with a tiered service to distinguish freeloaders from paying folks. Maybe freeloaders can't go to the library or /share, or something.

Yes, I think that's the way to go. I have tried a lot of MMO's, and the free/pay tier system is very common for smaller games — some of them doing quite well as far as player population goes.

The GMs have been chatting recently about making CL essentially a player-run organization. Characters could buy shares (thoombacks), and then could use those shares to elect the Order of the Glove, who then can make policy decisions (or appoint people to do them). I think it's doable.

That would be interesting. Can you give rough numbers in terms of what bills need to be paid to keep CL up and running?

Joedelta wrote:By the way, I reactivated all expired accounts again for a month. Spread the word!

Woohoo! This is the first step. Now you have to make sure that automated account buying/activation and advertising is completed within the month! ;)

The idea is that advertising will bring people in, an easy way to get activated will remove any barrier to trying it out, and the larger number of people on (due to everyone being reactivated) will let them have plenty of people to interact with and to show them the game. The larger number of newbies will also allow for more oldbies to have fun doing rescues, grinding newbie shares, and showing them around... which means the oldbies will stick around for longer than that first month, and everyone is happy. Virtuous circle!

If you do one at a time (first let everyone have a free month... then after that is up start advertising), it won't work nearly as well.

Joedelta wrote:I've been thinking for years that CL should be primarily free, with a tiered service to distinguish freeloaders from paying folks. Maybe freeloaders can't go to the library or /share, or something.

I think a good "demo" system should be first on the list. The two months and 200 ranks idea tossed around several times before seems like a good way to let people try out the game, without letting them be unadvancable agratises.

Joedelta wrote:The GMs have been chatting recently about making CL essentially a player-run organization. Characters could buy shares (thoombacks), and then could use those shares to elect the Order of the Glove, who then can make policy decisions (or appoint people to do them). I think it's doable.

I'm wary of player-run organizations with power. One mystic guild is enough. ;)

Joedelta wrote:By the way, I reactivated all expired accounts again for a month. Spread the word!

I hate marketing. I feel like a whore when I try to get people to buy my stuff. If they don't want it, fine.

Alternative suggestion: Let people create new accounts for free for a month. Trying to entice old players back isn't going to bring in much new blood.

xepel wrote:

Joedelta wrote:By the way, I reactivated all expired accounts again for a month. Spread the word!

Woohoo! This is the first step. Now you have to make sure that automated account buying/activation and advertising is completed within the month!

Don't spread the word too quickly! The account reactivations don't seem to have taken effect yet. (I've already had 2 people tell me though.)

Xepel wrote:

Joedelta wrote:The GMs have been chatting recently about making CL essentially a player-run organization. Characters could buy shares (thoombacks), and then could use those shares to elect the Order of the Glove, who then can make policy decisions (or appoint people to do them). I think it's doable.

I'm wary of player-run organizations with power. One mystic guild is enough.

There was a vote for a revived OotG a while back, and you would probably be pretty happy with all the candidates who were nominated for it. Yor is the only name I can think of offhand, but I'm sure you can find the thread somewhere.

Yeah, serrious let down.

I spent 20 minutes figuring out my password only to my account still expired.

Seld'kar wrote:Yeah, serrious let down.

I spent 20 minutes figuring out my password only to my account still expired.

Ho boy...

Joedelta wrote:I hate marketing. I feel like a whore when I try to get people to buy my stuff. If they don't want it, fine.

You don't have to try to get them to buy "your stuff". However, are you so ashamed of "your stuff" that you would rather hide it under the carpet and not give people a reasonable chance to find that they in fact do want it?

Joedelta wrote:The GMs have been chatting recently about making CL essentially a player-run organization. Characters could buy shares (thoombacks), and then could use those shares to elect the Order of the Glove, who then can make policy decisions (or appoint people to do them). I think it's doable.

Gaming sessions run by committee are chaotic and frequently counter productive. There needs to be someone who can be accountable for the world as a whole. This could be an elected position, but it would be better as a whole if it were an actual job that was applied for and qualifications were verified. Are the GMs discussing this because they feel there is no leadership now?

Joedelta wrote:I'm essentially the only Delta Tao employee at the moment, and my time tends to be taken up with the minutiae of selling Eric's Ultimate Solitaire and Spaceward Ho!. Also, my year in Hong Kong basically left me in the dark, so I don't even know how Clan Lord works any more -- in many ways making me a poor choice to be Master God of the Universe.

Get the Clan Lord house in order, If you are too busy to be overseeing CL then hire somebody to do it. Make it a commission job based on subscribers.

Joedelta wrote:By the way, I reactivated all expired accounts again for a month. Spread the word!

Hey Joe. You may want to recheck this. I see some accounts are still expired.

Joedelta wrote:The GMs have been chatting recently about making CL essentially a player-run organization. Characters could buy shares (thoombacks), and then could use those shares to elect the Order of the Glove, who then can make policy decisions (or appoint people to do them). I think it's doable.

Sounds a little like the mystic guild... I think we all know how well that works... ... ...

Now if only I remembered my password.

Eldon wrote:

Joedelta wrote:By the way, I reactivated all expired accounts again for a month. Spread the word!

Hey Joe. You may want to recheck this. I see some accounts are still expired.

Yeah mines still expired as well... PLEASE! I've been dying to play Leinis since 2006/5/2!