Hosting custom games on WarCraft III in 2012?

[sheep_critter]

Hello,

recently I have returned on WC3 after years spent playing other games. It's still as fun as ever (although I have become more critical of crappy spelling and trigger work in maps), however I am faced with one large problem: Lack of players.

I play WC3 with a pal, so we can enjoy 1on1 maps just fine. However there are many maps we'd like to play (such as Fantasy Life, Life of a Peasant etc.) that require a Full House for the best possible effect. However, the custom map lobby is swarmed with hosting bots, and any time I try to host a public game, I can consider myself VERY lucky to get even a single player.

Long story short: How can I attract pubs to my games? Is there some bot software I should start using myself in order to compete? Is there an efficient way to refresh and bump my lobby to the top? Anything I should write in the game title to make it look more appealing? What do I dooooo?

(Realm is Northrend/Europe)

 

[Arcisal]

This.

Keep in mind that the Hive's populace is a diverse collection of many races and nationalities, hence a varying time difference between users. Check it out and maybe post there.

 

[Aeroblyctos]

Also go to Garena, there are a lot of wc3 players.

There are whole servers just for custom games.

 

[Kala]

Use MakeMeHost or BGN to host a game. They host the game at all servers instead of one.