Old Style MMO to New Players

[BigToastie]

Hi Guys,

I have been working on an old style MMORPG server for some time, its basically being based off of the Legend of Mir 2 source.
It's still in development, and as I get closer to the first testing phase I am wondering about ways to make it appeal and market it to a new Playerbase.
It currently has a very loyal player base, but the user count isn't HUGE, and I want to change it.

Some of the features of the server:
Free2Play
2D Open World MMORPG
Questing (Daily, Repeatable, Regular and Story)
Crafting Equipment and Upgrades
Level up and gain new spells (which also can be leveled)
Many types of equipment and equipment rarities (you get a good buzz from finding a legendary)
Random Events (random areas become available at random times in random places, random monster packs spawn etc.)
Open PvP system
>You can fight anywhere outside of SafeZones
>If you instigate a fight and kill the person, you get PK points
>Get too many and you become "Red" - if you are killed you drop most of the stuff out of your inventory + higher chance of dropping stuff you have equipped)
Trust Merchant and Renting System
>Trust Merchant you can sell stuff through to other players at a fixed price
>Renting System, you can rent your items out to other players for x amount of time for a price, item is returned at the end of the time.
Every Cave/Temple/Dungeon etc. has a Boss with unique AI
Mounts/Pets

There are many other features.
The issue is, like most MMORPGs it is a grindy game.

I was wondering A) what your ideas would be to sell it to new players
When the first testing phase opens, if anyone here would be interested in trying it out and giving me feedback?

Thanks!

 

[Ebontope]

It sounds interesting. I don't know how I'd be able to sell it to new players without actually getting to experience it myself, though. But I'd happily give the game a try some time.

 

[Poryg]

Well, I guess the most popular way to sell it to new players is through very graphical ads. I don't see any other reason as to why would they be so popular.
Apart from that, the only thing that can sell it is time, good advertising and good references.

However, you have forgotten to mention one aspect.
Free to play MMORPG needs huge servers to keep running. Many MMORPG therefore apply pay to win mechanics, effectively separating the playerbase into heavy cashers, cashers and non-cashers with non-casher base being the greatest and so great that the servers cannot live with them, but effectively hampered by heavy cashers. How are you going to deal with this?

 

[BigToastie]

Thanks for the time to reply!
I will get some screenshots up on this thread to give an idea of the style of game etc. as soon as I can... would help my questions as well to be honest! haha

I already have a hardware scope for the required server and network specs, and prices which I would comfortably afford if there were 0 donations.
============================================================================================
So there are 2 types of currency
Gold (dropped everywhere in game from mobs, quests etc.)
GameGold (small quantities obtainable ingame, difficult challenges and from boss drops)

You can sell any item in game, via the TrustMerchant for only Gold (i was originally going to put in game gold, however this gives it more of a pay to win aspect)

The GameShop contains no items that will permanently boost stats, it will include stuff like;
FishingBundles (a premium fishing set which you are more likely to catch with + bait)
Temporary Potions (That boost drop rates by a %, exp increases, stats boosts - lasting a set amount of time (hour(s))
Buff Torches (takes the slot of your normal torch and burns out after a specific time)
There will be other things like this as well
HOWEVER all of the above are obtainable from the gameshop with both GG and Gold.
-They are also all in at least one monsters drop files, so everything is obtainable without spending a penny of GG or Gold (but that's what gold's there for!)

There are 'Cosmetic Items" which literally have no stat benefit
Transform Potions
Ceremonial Robes
"Fancy" Mounts (no stats on these but look fancy! (regular mounts have small stats bonus but can only be purchased by Gold)
Monster Bombs (these are still in the think tank) - they summon fake bosses with 1 hp on someone - just for a laugh!
These items can only be purchased through GG (as they provide no benefit to the player).


All GameShop items are "Non-Tradeable" and are bound to your account, this is so the gameshop items do not affect the games currency market.
============================================================================================

I was also toying with the idea of a global event donation system, that people could contribute towards a weekend long exp boost for the server (1.2x instead of 1x exp) for example so that everyone gets something out of it, the big spenders dont mind as it benefits them as they will be on all weekend, but it also gives the casual players a nice reason to stay on for longer for the weekend.

--->I have benched this idea at the moment