The Clan Lord Sentinel

So, there we are... we finally have the final Subclass added to fighters. Healers have new abilities, and even mystics have stuff! New circles.. Metz.. the Castle is almost done.. Easier to pay via credit card.. A lot of things have happened in the world of Clanlord.

I think this might be a really good time to show off to the oldbies just what has changed. People have to have done the WoW thing by now, and ive seen a few oldbies popping back in lately already with bloodmages. If Delta Tao did another free month I think we might re-hook a few more people.

The last time this happened we got several quality players back into the lands. More players translates to more hunts and more fun. And if this happens give people some heads up BEFORE it happens. Give time to spread the word through our social networks. I have DM and Ranger lists to post to and what not..

*Disclaimer, the following was posted by Hoggle, a dwarf whos account expires in a matter of days and who would directly reap the benefits of the following suggestion. This is not by design, but merely a happy coincidence.*

Heh. You speak as if Joe doesn't already hand out free months like banks hand out lollipops.

I gotta get me to the bank, or stop paying for CL.

Advertisements first. Then free month.

It's been about two years since Joe held that ad-making contest and got some good banners to use. It's about time for them to be put to good use. *Then* he should give out a free month, in order to bring back oldbies to show the newbies that yes, the world *is* inhabited! Heh. This would hopefully make people stay, because people really need other people to hang out with, or they will get bored and leave. With luck there would be enough newbies so that they could be friends with each other, but even if not, they could hang on to the heels of older players who just want more nub-experience.

If you think all this stuff is really that cool, you should pay $10 for it! It's not much, especially if things are as cool as you say. ;)

But yeah. No free month until we have advertisements. Hopefully that is soon, though. (Sooner than "soon!")

Just to add to what Xepel is saying... a free month for returning players should coincide with the rollout of the new demo and a publicity campaign (of which advertising is only a small part). In many ways, people who have left are of secondary concern to me. Maybe they will come back, maybe they won't. But CL needs new players. If there are a lot of exiles online when new people try the demo, the new people will be more likely to stay, and a temporary population bump could become a permanent increase.

I'd say things should be in this order:

- Finish new clanlord.com (97% done)
- Advertise. Media blitz. (Well, as much as the players and Joe are willing to do.)
- Then free month.
...

- Profit!

Eldon wrote:I'd say things should be in this order:

- Finish new clanlord.com (97% done)
- Advertise. Media blitz. (Well, as much as the players and Joe are willing to do.)
- Then free month.
...

- Profit!

I'd think you'd want the free month (or two) slightly before the advertisements, that way you'd artificially increase the population for the Media blitz.

Phroon wrote:

Eldon wrote:I'd say things should be in this order:

- Finish new clanlord.com (97% done)
- Advertise. Media blitz. (Well, as much as the players and Joe are willing to do.)
- Then free month.
...

- Profit!

I'd think you'd want the free month (or two) slightly before the advertisements, that way you'd artificially increase the population for the Media blitz.

Might as well have the new demo system in place before the advertising… The current demo mode sucks big time so if advertising brings new players, they won't stay long imho… Now, I don't know how far away is that new demo (or even if it is still considered)…

I'd roll out the free month with the Ad blitz, and increase the population a bit more with a two pronged approach. Now if a new demo system were in place before the media blitz, that'd rock, but if it pushes back the media blitz by more than 6 months then I'd say just roll out the new site and media blitz with the free month(s) for everyone.

"Try Clan Lord free for 2 months. If you don't like it we'll give you your money back ."

Gremlins wrote: Might as well have the new demo system in place before the advertising… The current demo mode sucks big time so if advertising brings new players, they won't stay long imho… Now, I don't know how far away is that new demo (or even if it is still considered)…

The new demo should be an easy fix.

Offer the current system for those who don't want to put a credit card in (there might be a few out there still).

For those who are willing to put in a credit card, let me them create an account (tied to said card) with 1 month of free play and one free character slot.

Correct me if I'm wrong but this seems like something that should take less than a week to implement.

And...I'd like to come back and see what all the fuss is about. I noticed something about healing auras and BBers being done...seems interesting.

Turalyon[DaTz] wrote: Correct me if I'm wrong but this seems like something that should take less than a week to implement.

I'm curious. What situation is in your head when you estimate that? Is 1 week just a good unit past which the rate of change is too slow? Is it a 40 hour job in your mind? Is that what it would take in your organization?

It's always seemed to me that DT uses a rubber chicken metric for projects and figuring out how long something would take has to factor in smoke signal communication with Joe and the interactions of the biorhythm charts of the GMs.

- Maeght

Maeght wrote:It's always seemed to me that DT uses a rubber chicken metric for projects and figuring out how long something would take has to factor in smoke signal communication with Joe and the interactions of the biorhythm charts of the GMs.

The charts are from 1999.

Maeght wrote:

Turalyon[DaTz] wrote: Correct me if I'm wrong but this seems like something that should take less than a week to implement.

I'm curious. What situation is in your head when you estimate that? Is 1 week just a good unit past which the rate of change is too slow? Is it a 40 hour job in your mind? Is that what it would take in your organization?

It's always seemed to me that DT uses a rubber chicken metric for projects and figuring out how long something would take has to factor in smoke signal communication with Joe and the interactions of the biorhythm charts of the GMs.

- Maeght

This seems like criticism to me and I'm not sure why?

Anyway...the situation I had in my head is this. Joe and sufficient number of GMs (1 or none, not sure on the hierarchy in DT or if there is one at all) agree that the method I mentioned above is an acceptable way to do the demo period. From that point on, I would think it would take a week to implement.

Why? All the pieces are in place to do it. No systems need to be created nor destroyed...just a small change on what happens when you create an account.

Am I a bit out of touch with how DT works? Probably...but that doesn't change the fact that it shouldn't be that hard of a change to implement.

Turalyon[DaTz] wrote:Why? All the pieces are in place to do it. No systems need to be created nor destroyed...just a small change on what happens when you create an account.

Would you mind sharing what you do for a living, that I may display staggering ignorance by trivializing the complexity of problems about which I know nothing?

Wow...I honestly have no idea what happened here. A small suggestion turns into discussions involving rubber chickens, Dilbert comics (thanks by the way), and personal insults. I guess I forget what it is a like to post suggestions at the Sentinel.

I'm a full time student, have fun with that one Skirwan.

Do I know shit about programming? Other than the intro Computer Science class I took ~5-6 years ago (basic Java, C++, and FORTRAN I think?) no...I don't. Did I maybe underestimate DT's resources or organization? Sure...that's possible. Is it also possible I oversimplified a billing issue? Yeah...that's possible too.

But now that I went through the purchase new account system I notice this:


Wow...maybe I wasn't too far off. The system for doing something similar to my suggestion appears to be in place already. Anyway, I'm done with this...

Yes, I'd like a free month to see the new stuff.