As it stands, we've had many different types of promotional ideas for Spiral Knights for various different outlets of the game. I'm going to quickly go over all of them so we're on the same page before listing a few new, potentially "far out there" yet creative ideas for more.
PROMOTIONS
- --- purchase ---
* Lockbox promotion
For every ~$10 spent on energy purchases, players received a free lockbox. (Only happened with mirrored lockboxes upon release)
* Prize Box Energy Bundle
For every ~$10 spent on energy purchases, players received a free promotional prize box.
* Stand-Alone Prize Box
Prize boxes are sold in three tiers, 1 for $5, 5 for $20, 14 for $50.
* Energy Packs
Sold in the supply depot. Includes Starter Pack, Battle Pack.
* Cross-Promotion
Promotional content between two different games.
* Seasonal Sales
Operation: Crimson Hammer and the Guardians Armor Pack going on sale during the holidays.
--- in-game non-gameplay ---
* Featured Auctions
Rare or unique items are hosted for players to bid on - sometimes bulk items are listed to get a good deal!
* Flash Sales
Rare or old items are listed on the Auction House or Supply Depot for bids/purchase.
* Birdsong Trading Co. Giveaways
Every 30 to 60 minutes, a random number of players currently logged on will get a mail with some free neat stuff inside.
--- gameplay ---
* Reduced Elevator Cost weekends
Back when elevators costed energy to operate, halved energy requirements to go down a floor.
* Rotational and Seasonal Events
Kataclysmic Confrontation, March of the Tortodrones, and Shroud of the Apocrea bring players in when announced, as do the Dark Harvest and Winterfest celebrations.
* Slime Casino
Brings players into the Clockworks in a way similar to rotational events, but the slime lockboxes obtained during the event and the casino coins being found outside the event makes this one stand out as a reason to show up.
* Hardcore Mode
Brings players into Lockdown for a disabled Auto-Target experience. Hazardous mode brings a new interesting element into PvP.
... Whew, that's a pretty long list. Regardless, we can see how there's about 3 promotional categories. As such, expanding categories or introducing new and interesting forms of promotions may be pretty great!
NEW PROMOTIONAL IDEAS
-
* Energy Sales
Sell energy directly for crowns at a set price. This number can be above or below the current market value. There can be a daily and/or hourly limit on purchases in total or per person, or it can be unlimited but the price slowly increases with every purchase, resetting at midnight.
Promotion can last one weekend (3 day weekend) or one week (full 7 days).
Why this is good: This generates new energy into the economy without touching the energy market. As such, this drives energy market prices down as people try to sell off the energy they just bought.
* Energy Trade Upgrade
All energy trades grant the energy buyer additional energy. Value can be determined later (I'm thinking 5-15% more).
Why this is good: This gets the energy marking moving instantaneously. Often times you get buy and sell walls, and this method is a temporary way to generate more energy by just interacting with the market. Even if you're doing it for profit, energy is being generated into the economy and thus energy prices effectively are lowered.
* Rarity Boost Weekend
Double rarities dropped from boxes. All difficulties would have the same rarity droprate as the elite one has as a base.
Promotion lasts one weekend at a time (3 day weekend).
Why this is good: This brings in current players who are stuck in a grind. Boosting rarity drops means they can finally stock up on what they need to progress!
* Crazy Crafting Weekend
All orb requirements for crafting are reduced by 1. Unique variants are x2 as common. Orbs of alchemy are sold in bulk on the auction house.
Why this is good: This gets people crafting a bunch of gear, and also helps the newer folk craft their current gear up without needing as many resources! The influx of UV'd items into the economy would also help circulate and sink some crowns.
* Big Surprise Box Energy Bundle
For every ~$10 spent on energy purchases, players would obtain a "Big Surprise Box". Big Surprise Boxes would contain any previous year's Surprise Box.
Why this is good: This makes purchasing energy fun again! On top of that, you don't have any idea what you're gonna get. It's an even bigger surprise than the Surprise Box!
* Invasion Weekend
For the weekend, players can invade full public parties silently and are tasked with taking down the other members of the party. Up to 2 players can invade parties at a time. If the party fends off invader(s), all players are revived for free and granted 5 "invasion tokens". If invaders defeat the party, they are granted 10 "invasion tokens". Upon victory, invader(s) are given an option to revive the party or take it over. Reviving the party is free but it kicks you back to Haven. Taking over the party takes all invaders into their own public party, leaving the other party downed. If a player leaves, invaders are converted to standard party members. Players can invade other parties until they successfully take them down, after which they must wait 30 minutes before they can invade another party.
"Invasion tokens" are exchangeable for new recipes and trinkets.
Why this is good: This is a limited time clockworks PvP mode similar to dark souls! Since it's limited to full public parties, players have means to avoid an accident. It's also an interesting way to introduce new gear. It might need some balance tweaks, but at the very least it would bring players into the clockworks and into full parties to give it a try!
* Dangerous Depths
For the weekend, or a limited time, all danger missions are available every day, all danger rooms in the clockworks are free to open, and shadow lairs are opened for free (well sort of. The elevator to go down costs 400 energy to descend)! The dangerous prize box would also be purchasable for ~2000 energy from the supply depot.
Why this is good: There's a lot of clockworks content that exists but is merely optional. Having a limited time where players can access it all for heavy discounts or for free would be a great way to give hardcore players access to difficult content.
Woo! I think that's enough suggestions for now. I'd love to hear any additional ideas for promotional ideas, should they be gameplay driven or purchase driven. What sort of promotion would make you play the game more/throw more money at the game?