IPY2: Promotion and Advertisement

[Trystan]

With launch nearing closer I'm curious as to what people think we can do to really spread the word about IPY 2 in order to get as many people as possible aware of this shard and wanting to play here. I would say most people that know about IPY 2 right now have either found out through word of mouth or by searching for IPY in Google but there's likely a lot of people who would play a UO classic shard like IPY 2 if they were just aware of it.

I think it would be a good idea for either Az or somebody in the community to create a solid write-up explaining IPY 2, what it entails, a bit of background on UO and IPY, and then screenshots showing what's in store for people. This sort of "master post" can then be pulled from and used by people to spread the word via forums. A post like this will be far more attractive and likely catch peoples interests over something like "Hey check this out www.inporylem.com". I personally have a number of forums I plan to post on about IPY2, ranging from bodybuilding to gaming forums. As well I have been hitting up various guilds I have played against on past UO shards via IRC in order to bring IPY2 to their attention.

I think we really need to help do our part to spread the word about IPY2 in order to get the population here. The staff are going to be very busy making sure the shard is set to launch so it's up to the players to help do our part. I know there was a post on reddit and it resulted in huge traffic influx for a short while, maybe it's a good idea to post about it on any popular forum, even if they have nothing to do with gaming.

So, what I ask is. What will be the best way to spread the good word about IPY 2 ? What methods can we go about doing this? Does anyone have a background in this type of promotion which can shed some insight here?

[Az]

This is fantastic. If you believe in this shard and want to see it succeed, follow this thread, post about your advertisements, emulate the successes within, discuss them, do whatever you can.

It's really a big deal now to get the word out as much as possible.

[Woodlife]

It's interesting because the shards been created like a house, and now It's really not a matter of a large player base set to start, but HOW large a players base. In a sense, it's the players that will decide on which one of their friends they "wake up" and get moving on it.

Which house spot do you dream of grabbing?
Which Guild do you dream of?
Do you want to reserve your name?
Do you want to start when everyones a noob?
Do you want that feel of a gold rush?

That's all questions I'd be asking my old UO friends, and follow players. It's fortunate that my closest in game friend was the one that infact informed me, and all the other players are much more difficult to get a hold of. But I'd like to say "YES" to all of those questions that I asked them.

[Brewskiebob]

i know alot of mmorpg players thats never heard of uo....im going to get them to play and then they will know what a real mmorpg is

[Virindi]

We need an entire forum section dedicated to people who want to help advert/spread the shard around.

Sticky Posts would be default newsletters, .jpgs, videos, etc. that people can copy and paste to wherever they want.

Forum Posts would be "I just posted a newsletter at this site: www.WEBSITE.com. Please go there and comment/bump/etc."

This is the typical format that internet activists follow to spread propaganda on news stories and stuff.

[kshepherd]

I suggest making a more verbose launch announcement on twitter as well, so your followers can retweet. The "IPY in 2011" tweet was good, but it doesn't quite say: "Hey, there's a new free UO shard launching on Jan 21st!". I don't know how many of my followers are old UO players, but if any are, I don't want to assume they know what "IPY" is, and given the launch date is so close (much closer than I expected!), I think it'd be a good idea to include that, too.

[Tomed]

A new website would go a long way. Between the terrible flash intro, ugly graphics, and the default forum theme (seriously, custom cursors!?) most people would be turned off before they even figured out what this shard was all about.

[Basia]

A new website would go a long way. Between the terrible flash intro, ugly graphics, and the default forum theme (seriously, custom cursors!?) most people would be turned off before they even figured out what this shard was all about.

Your glass is half empty, you should refill it.

The flash intro is pro.

[abm]

Someone needs to make an epic youtube ad and we then make it go viral. Any takers?

[Az]

I'll agree with that.

[skimmo]

A new website would go a long way. Between the terrible flash intro, ugly graphics, and the default forum theme (seriously, custom cursors!?) most people would be turned off before they even figured out what this shard was all about.

Is this guy smoking crack?

[Az]

I've added the new forum.

I'll be creating a clear, concise "master post" (can't something be ripped from the blog?? :D) to help you guys out and finishing the FAQ ASAP.

[abm]

Is this guy smoking crack?

Clearly.

[Aluster]

Is this guy smoking crack?

Although i agree the sites not as bad as this person says it is... there is till some room for improvement as there is with anything. For starters what the hell is that picture on the top left of everyone's screen it looks like some kind of 2 year old finger painting covered in blood and vomit and then someone stamped IPY onto it. I think we can improve our forum header to match the awesomeness of our flash intro page, i see alot of blank space up there. I guess I am a glass half empty kinda guy but at the same time i try to figure out how to fill it up to full.

[Trystan]

I've added the new forum.

I'll be creating a clear, concise "master post" (can't something be ripped from the blog?? :D) to help you guys out and finishing the FAQ ASAP.

Nice stuff, once you finish the post I'll start hitting up a ton of forums.

[Kyoto Kush]

Although i agree the sites not as bad as this person says it is... there is till some room for improvement as there is with anything. For starters what the hell is that picture on the top left of everyone's screen it looks like some kind of 2 year old finger painting covered in blood and vomit and then someone stamped IPY onto it. I think we can improve our forum header to match the awesomeness of our flash intro page, i see alot of blank space up there. I guess I am a glass half empty kinda guy but at the same time i try to figure out how to fill it up to full.

Quoted for a bit of truth, and I lol'd. :]

[Woodlife]

A new website would go a long way. Between the terrible flash intro, ugly graphics, and the default forum theme (seriously, custom cursors!?) most people would be turned off before they even figured out what this shard was all about.

You could possibly have a point if we were all looking forward to playing a website and not a game. The content inside is where the focus is, not the flash. If people were turned off for that reason, then they need not apply you see because this shard has no Neons, and flashy dings, or skins in it. It's just good ole crappy graphic UO with a top notch structure.