Guide to Invitations - how to get an invite, or how to attract players
First of all, thank you for reading this :) The fact that you are taking an interest and reading a guide on how to receive an invitation or attract players is a good first step.
Here are some suggestions on what to post to ensure you get a suitable kingdom in a timely manner
People looking for an invitation
Since kingdom slots and invites are limited, no kingdom is going to want to invite a player that potentially might not fit in and will leave the kingdom. To ensure you find a kingdom that suits you, and that you are suited to, it is best to give as much information about yourself as possible. Below you'll find some data that most kingdoms will be interested in knowing
Age: - not essential, but some kingdoms like to pick players that are roughly the same same age as their current players. They may also not wish to recruit players in school, as their activity would be limited.
Location: Pretty essential - some kingdoms co-ordinate attacks at a certain time, but they will not want to advertise what this time is. By knowing your location they can have a rough idea if their wave time will be suitable for you
Experience: Self explanatory - tell them how many ages you played, in any known kds, what roles you have played etc
Activity: How much are you going to play, will you attack 2 times a day? Will you wake up to hit, do you want a more relaxed attitude? This is probably the info that affects a kds decision to recruit you the most
Goals: Tell the kingdom what your goals are - do you want to grow big, learn the game, reach top honor charts - joining a kingdom whose goals are the same as yours would be ideal.
Preferred type of kingdom: Again, here you tell them what sort of kingdom you would like to join - for example, a casual kingdom, a warring kingdom, a kingdom that strives for the charts, a Canadian kingdom etc
Contact methods: Will you be able to use IRC/MSN etc as you play - some kingdoms rely on IRC to communicate with their players, some use the ingame forums, some use MSN.
Kingdoms looking for players
Usually players are a limited commodity, and kingdoms need players more than players need kingdoms. Having a well thought out post to recruit can gather you many potential recruits. In your post you should state the following, so that your potential players have an idea of what it would be like to play in your kingdom
About: Give some history about your kingdom, how long have you been around, any notable achievements - you want your players to know what sort of kingdom they are buying into
Goals: what is your goal for this age, explain your kingdom makeup - all attackers, all dwarf etc
Expectations: the key info for a recruiting kingdom here is if a player can match their expectations in activity, knowledge etc. Tell your audience what type of player you would like, aggressive, casual, active 20 hours a day, self-regulating etc
Before you make a post, be you a kingdom or a player i would advise you to check if there is an existing thread from a player/kd that fulfills your criteria - by posting in an existing thread you should receive a far quicker invitation (a clever kd or player will have enabled the thread watcher option and will receive a notice as soon as their thread is replied to - this removes the need to post personal contact data that could be snapped up by a spambot).
There is also a number of irc channels that are frequented by players and kingdoms that are recruiting. The most popular that I know of is below, if you have a resource that you would like to be added please PM me
IRC* channel
#recruiting on the utonet server (irc.utonet.org, port 6667) is a channel that can be used to place people. It has commands that let you check kingdoms or players, and is frequented by people looking for a place to play, or people looking for players.
How to get on IRC*
There are several methods to use IRC, you can view information here. The quickest way that i know of to get on irc is to use a java or cgi irc client and type /join #channelname once you are connected.
* Please be aware that IRC is not an official part of the Utopia game experience, and as such is not moderated or run in any way by us.
Hopefully this guide will help people find the right players and kingdoms for them. If you feel i have missed a salient point please PM me and let me know - i will be locking this thread as i do not wish it to be derailed with invite requests etc.
Thank you for reading
