I like a lot of what JeVondair is suggesting and it is what we also found worked well with our social media accounts. Our business went from luke-warm to we couldn't hire enough people to handle the workload in about a year. We found that posting 2-3 times a week on consistent days so the content was expected and looked forward to.
Targeting the LARPers and MUD players are the top targets that come to my mind.
Also, adding some, dare I say it... "bling" to the interface. Personally I prefer the minimalist nature of Battlemaster to allow my imagination to handle the visuals for me and the fact that all we have is a map to go by. But, with that said, humans are visual creatures and nothing says more than a picture to getting a concept across.
A call for entries might work out with all the talented folks that play the game to create visuals. Maybe a group of talent is assembled of players with artistic talent and they divvy up the work between them so there is a plan and consistency. Perhaps instead of monsters and undead, we get more descriptive, specific and visual. Some monsters are more powerful than others as are the undead. Visual imagery and distinctive descriptions of the different types of monstrosities and shamblers add appeal and terror even... people so love terror in their entertainment.
So, piggybacking off of JeVondair's ideas, have a featured monster (or undead) a week with a description, what continent they are mostly found on, etc. Featured images, player-made images... I think what I am saying is if you want to attract more players add more visuals and variety to the threats involved.
I think any of the invasions could be touted like WoW, Eve-Online or any of the other MMORPGs do when they have a special event. New wars breaking out or major turns that take place in on-going wars would also garner interest.
Not sure if there is any cash in the kitty, but advertising on Facebook and paying to promote tweets would be a huge leg up with spreading word to a targeted audience.
First steps would be:
- Call for creative/visual volunteers
- Form a social committee
- Social committee meets every other week to discuss direction and divy up work
- Designate a gatekeeper to handle the postings and ensure that they have a deputy gatekeeper for when they are unavailable
- Offer in-game bonuses for participating (gamify the participation without unbalancing the game itself)
- Setup a request/suggestion thread to collect ideas for imagery they would like to see in game and ensure there is a voting structure around the requests just like open source software development
Just some ideas.
