We did a test once. We included a message to call us with a certain word. No one called. The caller(s) would have gotten a lifetime free subscription to Aces High had they called.
That is how certain, we are, very few people actually read the MOTD.
The more it is used, the less players will pay attention to it. We use it sparingly, for that reason.
I think there are things that could be done to make events more visible, but it will have to wait until we are done with this whopper of an update we are currently working on.