[Talonos]

What did you do?
I left for two years. When I came back, I told my players I was running GURPS. They really liked the games I ran in That Other System, so they were willing to try it. Some wanted me to go back to That Other System. I said that no, I had this one particular world percolating in my head for about two years now, and I couldn't represent it in That Other System. If you have that much prep time behind a setting, people are a lot more willing to go with your inertia then if you just say "Hey, I want to try something new!:

What setting and genre did you use to tempt them across?
Fantasy, but I specifically set out to tell them it would be a different "feel" to it.

In Some Other Systems, power increases incredibly quickly, and the difference between a level 1 and a level 5 is significant enough to put them on entirely different playing fields, to say nothing of a level 20! Wealth also increases exponentially with level. All of this makes it difficult to make a coherent world. The rules support balanced combats, not realistic worlds. I told them that instead of feeling like they were the stars of a videogame, they would be more like the stars in an epic fantasy novel trillogy, such as Robert Jordan or Brandon Sanderson. Those characters grow in power, but they do so in a far more realistic manner than the classic "Oh, wow! I suddenly know how to cast meteor swarm!"

What worked, what didn't work, what would have worked better?

Really helping the players understand the world I had built. The more they saw what was going on in the world, the more they realized that it just wouldn't have worked in That Other System. Oppressed commoners don't rise up and take control of their government if the king keep as 18th level fighter on hand, for example, because the 18th level fighter could kill thousands of people while unarmed. Prices make more sense. The world becomes a more real place to them.

How did it go?

Very well. I have two groups, both seem to love it.

Are they all keen now?

Yeah.

Are they using GURPS for their own games, or promoting it otherwise?

Yep.

Clamouring for GURPS, complaining about other games?

Nope. Just quietly switching systems in their own games.

How long did it take to win the players over?

A session.

I'd say to try to make something new. Trying to duplicate That Other System with GURPS won't win anybody over. It does what it does well. Do something else, something cooler, and they'll understand.