Generic

Submitted by Talos_911 and Yoshi

• Try to avoid slang and abbreviations in your descriptions as some people may not understand what you are talking about!
• If you use any acronyms (eg. LOTR), don't assume that everyone will know what you mean. The first time you use the acronym, state it's definition in full, eg: LOTR (Lord of the Rings) is blah blah...
• Never write the pre-mission story in the description! You may hint at the story and its elements but concentrate o­n telling the player why they should download your map.
• Tell people what makes your map unique: are there new ways of using a particular trigger? Is there a cool piece of eye-candy? Is it an epic siege or maybe a new concept such as battlefield simulation?
• Be careful not to sound like you are bragging - give a general outline of some of the special features and hint at the others... Leave the player to discover the rest while playing and they will tell everyone else about the features in your map... This is Viral Marketing - the art of getting other people to promote your map to the masses!
• Open a thread in the Scenario Design forum about your map - provide a link to the forum in your description page to show the player that you care about your work and are willing to provide "after-sales support" such as solving problems players might be having while playing.
• By allowing the players to get in touch with you, they are more likely to quietly tell you about any problems with the map - if they can't get in touch with you, they will tell everyone about the problem and ruin your chances of success
• If your map is part of a series, provide links for the other maps (or the site where they can be found o­nce you complete them) in the description.
• Provide an epilogue with your maps to tell the player what happens later according to his/her choices (eg: multiple endings, etc.) to give them a sense of fulfilment and achievement. [Thank you Lord Yoshi]
• Try different modes/perspectives of storytelling such as telling the story from the viewpoint of the General or Chief Aid briefing you, the Lord, o­n the the situation just before a battle. This approach can be useful since it allows you to end the pre-mission story with an open-end from where the player can take over and decide the course the story will take thereafter.
• Providing extra material like pictures of historical castles, logos or coats of arms will all help to build a sense of realism and desire for your map.
• Get some friends to proof-read your map to check for spelling mistakes or other errors - and above all, get them to check that it makes them want to download the map!

Submitted by Talos_911 and Yoshi