1) Fix the website. Base it off the quickstart page for fairyland. Put things in the right category.
2) Make a server for newbies to get addicted to the game on, and point them rather forcefully at it. Classic was that world once, but it fell to the bottom of the list, all the newbies started on UN instead, and most left. (See also: Hubworld, but that's a different tree)
2.5) (I don't feel like renumbering all these) - Free Newbies. Unrestricting Guest Accounts, allowing Password Saving, scripting Guest Save Points - something so they can play the server all the way through without being reset, but not so convenient that they never want to upgrade.
3) Advertise.
There's a push on the Main Forums to build an ad banner before Graal's even ready to put its name out there, but you really shouldn't advertise before the welcome mat's been set out...and as has been mentioned, the flashsite ain't very welcoming.
That'll earn you partial credit. Got newbies pouring in through a single Newbie World. For full points:
4) Distribute the website. As it stands, from graalonline.com you can get news from the Wiki for all servers, and go to the official website for Kingdoms, Zone I guess, Classic kinda despite that the Classic team can't edit their own site, and that's it. If there's a PW Hub it's old.
I say to hell with that. Make the Graal Website distinct from the Kingdoms Website. If you go to GraalOnline, you get pointed towards How To Be A Newbie (the quickstart), with the top banner dynamically displaying the list of All servers - Kingdoms Official to Atlantis Official Websites.
5) Skin the clients. Atlantis Official Website will be Atlantis.Graal.Net. From that site you can sign up for an account with GraalOnline - and you can download the Atlantis client, which is just like the regular default Newbie client with two differences:
- Instead of having a Kingdoms startscreen, with a fire-breathing dievil, it's an Atlantis startscreen, and
- Instead of ranking all the servers by Gold First, then By playercount, Atlantis is always at the top. Because you're an Atlantis player, and you don't need to hunt for it at 3 in the morning GMT.
6) Start paying the PWs - and charging them. If a server's on the Playable List (as opposed to the Under Construction list), they ought to be paying their subscription dues - Unixmad has to, so should they - BUT, B-U-T, Unixmad should also be giving them a cut of the upgrades they're bringing in. Like, each server has to pay Graal $100 a year, and each upgrade they bring in gives the server $5 - so once a server's brought in 20 upgrades (less than two a month - any decent server should be able to manage that), the rest is profit for the PW Owner to spend as he (or she) sees fit.
7) And how should they spend that money? Advertising. Every PW Owner has an idea of what kind of players they want, and where to find them. The Megaman server can advertise on Bobandgeorge.com, etc.
End - every server's marketing their own game on Graal's behalf. Unixmad gets more income from all these newbies coming in on the Good servers, and in server fees from the Bad servers that won't admit they belong UC. Owners are happy that they're finally selling their own game, and hypothetically raking in the dough. Newbies are happy they can play a game without paying for it until they're absolutely certain they need it. Players are happy they've got more newbies to (variously) guide or PK.
- Yes it's wordy, I defy you to abbreviate it though. Complex concepts aren't easy to communicate monosylabically.