banner

[Jos Elkink]

Whoever made that banner on the current (temporary) cantr.net page - I'm very impressed!! I never saw it ... Without doubt the best banner we've had so far ...

This one I mean:

[Arenti]

Echoman put it up. But he said that Joo made it. And yes it's a really good one.

I think it should be used when the game is back.

[joo]

Yes, that is mine. I made it more than a year ago.

[Misato]

I've used that banner in my sig on a forum for a different game I played.

[Arenti]

Joo is there a reason this wasn't used before?

[Doug R.]

Yes. I personally don't like it, and I was in charge of marketing until recently. I felt that people unfamiliar with Cantr wouldn't "get" it, and that the message it sends (violence on the newbie) would discourage people from signing up.

But, that's not my shtick anymore, so if Fredrik wants to use it, he's more than free to do so. I'm clearly in the minority.

[Arenti]

Hmm I see your point yes. Though I don't know if it would be seen like that. Of course I have been playing for a while so I know it's not like that. Unless you spawn in certain towns. (we all know what towns I mean )

I think it will atract people's attention because it moves lol... And it's funny.

[SekoETC]

The general idea of scrolling events is good, it could be recycled with all sorts of texts. For example with a newspawn running in and out of buildings and somebody trying to have a polite conversation with him. It could even show the typing and the page refreshing, kinda like those google search stories. It could go like

Hello, young man, welcome to--

You see a man in his twenties enter a building
You see a man in his twenties pick up a used bone knife

Select and delete/cut off text, follow him into the building and/or start typing something like "Hey, you shouldn't do that, you could get arrested for trespassing!" And when you're done posting that, it scrolls down to show that in that time the person had already left the location, to which the person goes dammit but might erase it instead of posting.

Oh, it could also say "You call that a knife? THIS is a knife" and give the newspawn an actual knife. Then they could go, "wow... thanks". That's if they realized it was made of steel.

[EchoMan]

I actually agree with you Doug. I just love the theme of the ad, even if I think it's too much "inside joke" of it.

Maybe Joo could be convinced to alter the text a little? Seko's suggestion wasn't bad. (And at the same time change the green background a few pixels either way... #004600 )

[Doug R.]

Most RPGs market themselves by putting hot fantasy chicks on the banner. If we wanted to do the same for text, we could just go searching character logs for the copious amounts of sex that occur in any given day and use that. Or, we could get one of our talented artists to render an image of Naedell Blackrock in some skimpy outfit stepping on the body of her latest slain enemy.

Ok, that was a joke.

However, instead of highlighting inside jokes or things we find funny because they're annoying, why not put on there a serious story? For as much complaining as we do about the game being boring and everyone's role-play sucking, I've personally experienced a lot of great moments. Put a shout-out for well RP'd scenes that are compelling, dramatic, sexy, and/or suspenseful. The more of those elements in the scene, the better. You want the viewer to be getting sucked into this story and then think, "holy crap, I've been reading a banner ad for the last 45 seconds!" Then, on the last line, cite that it was actual game events. Then they'll say "Damn, I gotta play this."

Just a thought.

[randognsac]

Good idea Doug. Not the Naedell one, but... wait a minute, that is hot!

Really the second one with actual events is a good idea I think.

[joo]

Maybe Joo could be convinced to alter the text a little? Seko's suggestion wasn't bad. (And at the same time change the green background a few pixels either way... #004600 )

Certainly. I still have the source files I used. If someone comes up with a suitable event log, I'll put it into the same format.

[Peter]

I agree with Doug. The current text is more for insiders.

Maybe we should combine the rolling text with flashes of a video. The text is the way we roleplay whatever is on the video.

Former comment about hot chicks and everyday sex... I'd say certain movies leave a better impression.

No seriously, I liked the banner a lot. But for advertising, I'm not sure.

[Andu]

As long as you don't put that darn helicopter engine in the event log.

[Arenti]

As long as you don't put that darn helicopter engine in the event log.

Agreed. As you shouldn't put something in there that doesn't have any use.