Wasn't there some mention of newsletters being emailed every now and again?

Any of you ever receive one?

I get some PCC mail. There's also some talk about activating the email list for in-game events - possibly starting this month.

Only a few people still around will have received them, as we haven't done one in a really long time (and last time, it was a broken mess). We're looking at potentially sending one out this month, but it has a lot of older players on it.. and I was really hoping to have the FF/Faction stuff done before sending anything out. So, at least I can say "Look! Stuff is a different!"

On the other hand, I also want to use it regularly for Events and so on, so it's kind of a tradeoff between the "first-usage" marketing benefits and the "regular-usage" game benefits.

I get PCC emails fairly regularly.

But, yeah, Inc. if you need Newsletter help... lemme know.

When you start doing it you might consider using a system that automatically processes the delivery failures, so you can gradually filter out the dead addresses. I am using phplist, which does it perfectly, but since you are using this LiteSpeed stuff your mileage may vary.
Anyway, I am knowledgeable in that area so you have my help as well if you need it.

Also, should you decide to perform some tests with limited distribution before mass-mailing everyone I am available with accounts on gmail, google apps, yahoo, msn, qmail own servers and so on. It would be usefull to see if it looks ok and if it gets filtered for some reason.

Thanks, we wrote our own list server and it does process delivery failures. We've also been testing it with the PCC-list and every successful newbie signup of the last four or five months (all require email-address-verification), so hopefully it's working fairly well at this point. We don't have DKIM fully implemented yet, but we have most of the other major anti-spam and minimum-false-positive features (a sender policy framework in place, appearance on some whitelists, etc).

Thanks though :).

For the moment, the big decision is whether it's better to start using the list earlier, for general gameplay and event reasons, or delay a little longer until we have more to announce. The first message being of some value, from a marketing standpoint.

I would expect a techie like me to know all that stuff but you are a game developer John, you shouldn't be so knowledgeable.
I am worried. (and i also don't use domain keys yet, but it works)

One thing you should not forget is to consider the unsubscribe feature. I haven't seen it on the emails received so far.
You might force all subscribers to receive the email as part of their subscription, but it might not be a good idea, since they can always push the "spam" button, and that is worse.

So yes, the first email is important. But don't delay it too much. The "number of players" parameter is at a good level right now.

Please? :)

DAMNIT JOHN

YOU KNOW TO MUCH!

I certainly would like to see more experienced players back in the game.

Especially with the large influx we have now.

All the mailing list emails will include a very prominent unique-URL unsubscribe option. PCC emails do not, as we expect PCC people to stay on the list (but they can stop being PCC members if they want, via other means).

Before I started a game company, I was one of about six people who built a major national tier-2 ISP. I architected much of the systems side of things, including email and usenet. I also implemented the original Abuse policy (and had to deal with "Spamford" Wallace, amongst others). So, I'm pretty militant when it comes to double-opt-in and easy-unsubscribe :).

Anyway, thanks guys. Better to be accused of being over-informed than the alternative.

I will be considering the newsletter usage for this coming week.. it would be nice to hit people during the holiday season when they might have a little extra time. But, I did really want to have more to show them.. I'm afraid of old vets taking a look and going "ugh, they still haven't done <x>", and then leaving for good. But, that's always a risk I guess.

Great news. And thanks for the info, FF should be a great turn in the social dynamics of the V world and a great opportunity for twists and exploration in the RP aspects. I am cultivating a new alt for that moment.

on a side note: I took the liberty of inviting you and declare you a friend on LinkedIn. Hope you'll accept my invitation. I just sent it.

regards.

Ugh, they still haven't done landing on planets!

I'm outta here.

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Just kidding.

Ugh, they still haven't done writting GTS yet

I'm outta here.
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Just kidding
Banzaiiiiiii

A big influx of vets is a great reason to come back. Later, when you finish the FF redux, you can mail the list again. Also, the large influx of brand new players should be fun to rumble with by about Christmas, so that's worth mentioning too.