I've been thinking about a way to get more people back in the skies, fighting and having fun in AH again. This idea would be implemented in Beta, since that is what we are focusing on now. Please consider this idea as a way to generate a lot of new players and put them into a quick fighting scenario. Hear me out.
1. Get the death bowl map. The custom arena map. Put this on the same page as the main arenas. Name it Death Bowl!
2. Make a 50 player limit cap or make the bowl bigger or something.
3. Make the free to play for 2 months. The first month allows you to fly in both the Death Bowl and the MA.
The second month only allows you to play in the Death Bowl. I bet you some people would subscribe early just to get back into the MA.
4. Giving the people who potentially want to pay for this game 2 Months to learn, have fun, get right into the action, and meet people in a small battlefield, will encourage them to actually sign up. If the people don't want to sign up, that's fine! What it creates though is people to fight with who are in the arena. This creates action and excitement, I bet you would see an increase in subscriptions because of it.
5. This creates quick action without having to create match making arenas, ruin the integrity of the game, allow people with a short time to play have fun, allow new players to understand the mechanics of the game. Give them enough time to understand it. Brings more people into the game, and creates action for everyone at a default.
When I played Chivalry for the first time in FFA. I was put into this little arena (like gladiator) and people would be running around all over the place chopping arms and heads off. Dying was part of it. It was SOOO MUCH FUN! Sure, staying alive is freaking impossible, but running around in that small arena created so much action, fun, and excitement in a short amount of time, there is no wonder why so many people were signing up to play.
I think AH needs an arena like this. It needs a quick play arena were people get shoved into the action immediately. It needs an arena for people who don't have longer than 30 minutes to play. It needs an arena that can build up new players and get them excited in the game quickly and sporadically. Sure the trial time is a little longer, but I don't think you would regret it in the long run.
We were fighting in the Death Bowl the other night and I had this idea because we were having so much fun in a short amount of time. I feel like it will bring hundreds or thousands of new players who want to jump into the action and have instant excitement.