I've designed hundreds of banners for eBay. What I've learned with them is how to improve the CTR.
ATM both banners (official + MrLobster) look like movies... there is no call to action and no hint on the game being free to play (in other words they don't fly).
From experience:
- animation doesn't improve the click rate, it only allows you to put more information and look cool.
you NEED TO:
- add a "sign up" or "Play now" or " Join the fight" or "Click here" button
- mention somewhere that the game is free
- have as in MrLobster banner the
www.planetarion.com link
Now for the transformation rate: where do people go when they click ? the homepage or the sign up page ?
From experience:
- don't promise something you don't deliver, Mr Lobster banner looks much closer to the reality of the game than the official banner and its flying ships. If people feel they've been tricked into clicking, it will be worse than them not clicking the banner at all.
I'm basing my comments on weeks if not months passed analyzing all kind of banners click rates. The difference is huge if you have a click here button (not a link). You'd be surprised if I showed you the most effective eBay banner ever...