Rule 17 n.

Hidden away in the End User License Agreement (EULA) of EU is:

17. n You cannot spread any rumors about MindArk, the Entropia Universe, and MindArk Staff or Partners, that can be considered potentially damaging, using the Entropia Universe, IRC or any other public forums in any media now known or not currently known, including but not limited to a web space.

This made me think of all the other EU sites out there and the type of user that frequents them, and what they represent to the average entropian.

The most popular site by a mile is EntropiaForum, it's the unofficial (official) EU forum site, bought by an relative new comer Jason "Neomaven" Peterson, who introduced a whole set of new rules, effectively kerbing free speech. It's sanitized wholesome stuff where we can post our EU achievements but not our anti-MA rants. The good without the bad, if you will. The ironic thing is, this site was initially set-up as a player outlet to bypass the over-zealous moderation on the original Entropia Pioneers forum site. It is however, a great source of information about EU, and MA make official announcements on it's pages too.

Then there's EntropiaReality, a forum dedicated to the down and dirty side of MA and EU. Conspiracies, rants, full-on flames, it paints a darker picture of EU. I enjoy reading the posts for the most part, but the negativity pervades, and it's just not interesting to read page after page of insults. That said, my favourite article ever to be written upon EU is there, I'll post a link here (WARNING NOT SAFE FOR WORK), but for fear of rule 17n I won't be doing a feature on it.

For a more balanced view of EU and other RCE mmorpgs, RCE Universe is the site to go, informative, but I feel it's usability has suffered somewhat since it's recent revamp.

Finally, A blog by an anonymous Entropian called Iltropia is particularly enjoyable, Iltropia specializes in photoshop edits of the major players and events in EU and MA. My particular favourite and a comedy gem is "Darth Simmonds".

Take a break from the hunt and take take a peek at these sites.

First Wave?

For those logging in today, you'll get a little surprise, MA have chosen to celebrate 5 years since Project Entropia Gold was launched by giving all current players a "first wave colonist beret"! I had to chuckle as in typical non-sentimental style one entropian put his beret straight on the auction. Setting a current market value of 100 PED.

Auction pioneer we salute you!

Buying 1 million ChED. (Chinese Entropia Dollars)

I've been mulling over recently what it is these fabled new planets mean to EU. Let's look at what's been said about them:

From CES Article:
-Chinese Company have signed up to make a new planet.
-Other companies in the final stages of signing up to make their own planets too.
-New ships need to be built to travel to these new planets.
-Each new planet will have it's own economy.
-You probably won't be able to take your items with you between planets.
-New items and complete spaceships will probably be available in the "space pirates" event.
-New planets may not have an operating spaceport.
-There is no ETA on any of this.

From Marco (MA's Customer Relations Manager):
-New planets may NOT be accessible from Calypso.

What I think this really means is that Mindark have licenced their technology to several companies to produce their own stand alone versions of EU. These companies will be then free to create their own bespoke versions of EU, drawing in customers from their own geographic area. There will be no travel available to the Chinese EU, "no spaceports" and the inability to take items are indications of this.

Each new planet will have it's own economy, which means it's own money. This means you won't be able to spend PEDs as such, you'll have to buy currency to spend on these planets, which means more transaction charges.

The "Space Pirates" event, is external to the above, we will get a new planet developed inhouse by MA (eventually). We'll only be able to use the items and ships found in the "Space Pirates" event to access this planet. This will make them valuable and hence the $5 million market value banded about.

In conclusion MA have licensed EU, and what that means to average entropian is... not alot, since you won't be able to go there and won't be able to take your items there either.

(Image: Carl Uggla MA's Chief Marketing Officer at a Shanghai Business Fair)

Aurli hunt - NOS.exe

I've been playing around with some video editing software and made a short movie about EU.

Take a handful of popcorn and enjoy. (literally, it's a very short movie)



Higher quality here:

http://www.stage6.com/user/Altropia/video/2124778/NOS-exe-Strikes-Again!

(not brilliant, but not bad for a first attempt!)

"I feed my monsters"

I know, I know, I've been posting alot about Neverdie and Space Pirates recently, but this seems to be the flavour of the month for Mindark at the moment.

So without further ado, enjoy the following video, and marvel at what it's like to make a living by feeding your stable of virtual monsters.

http://www.tomsgames.com/us/site/flash_videos/neverdie_interview.html

Pieces of eight?

Mindark recently showcased Entropia Universe at the Consumer Electronics Show 2008. One of the interesting developments from this was the announcement of "Space Pirates", a Neverdie promoted event, with approximately $5 million of prizes to be won. This prompted some raised eyebrows from the community, what exactly is Neverdie's relationship with MA? Where does he get this potentially valuable information about a future event from?

Neverdie addressed these issues recently, and from the his answers it appears he has created his own spin on the planned space expansion of EU into new worlds. It seems MA then followed suit, actively promoting "Space Pirates". It is a good thing that ND is trying to create exciting events, but the question remains, should he be advertising a product, for which he doesn't know the details?

If he does know the details though, isn't this some level of insider knowledge? and doesn't this constitute an unfair advantage?

CES ARTICLE
http://mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm?GAMEID=31&LOADFEATURE=1704&SETVIEW=features&bhcp=1

NEVERDIE Response:
http://www.entropiaforum.com/forums/general-discussion/95545-question-14.html#post1148363

How to party like a Gamer-Star

EU superstar Neverdie gets his mack down. :D

Goodbye and thanks for all the PEDs.

When uber players with uber equipment sell out, it's an opportunity for other players to get their hands on some of the rarest and best gear in game, but at what cost?

To be the creme de la creme of EU today, it'll cost you (at least):

Storm Coat: 5,000 PED
Ash Shades: 3,500 PED
Dante Shades: 1,000 PED
Black Nomad Boots: 1,000 PED
Modified FAP: 340,000 PED
Full Shadow Armor: 83,000 PED
Modified Mercenary: 177,000 PED
Foe Ripper: 100,000 PED
ML35 ME: 35,000 PED
Swine Deluxe: 19,000 PED
Medium tp chip: 3,000 PED
106 Amp x 2: 6,000 PED

TOTAL: 773,500 PED

This isn't even including the skills needed to use these items effectively.

That's a total of:

$77,350 USD, not bad for a bunch of pixels. :)

Being a winner, having the edge.

I recently re-read a short post over on blogtropia which has prompted me to rethink my whole approach to EU. Many Entropians complain of constant losses and the constant need to deposit. I mean let's face it, for there to be winners within EU there has to be losers. I must admit that when I first read the blogtropia post, "I didn't get it", not truly. I didn't get what it takes to be a winner, I didn't get that winners make their own luck.

All you have to do is look at the newly successful Entropians, neo-ubers, those that weren't here since gold but have still made EU a profitable venture. My own soc mate Slither is a case in point, he is a successful profit making crafter, he has dedicated himself to crafting, he always has a handle on prices, efficiency, how to craft, when to craft, what sells, what doesn't sell, which BP's to buy, when to go all out and try and loot them, the list goes on...

Let's take Stryker, or Neo Sharp or Neo/711 all have come to EU late, but all have realised early that to be a winner, they needed to have the best gear and skills, so they bought the gear and/or skills then with this and through the profits made through hunting efficiently, invested more into their avatars, became more efficent. These neo-ubers (excuse the pun) are the winners in EU, they have the edge and they are using it!

The problem is with EU, the price to achieve the edge, the "cost" of the edge if you like, gets more expensive everyday. Shadow Armor, Skills, Mod Fap, Mod Merc, individually these are incredibly expensive, but collectively they consitute a fortune, much above most Entropian's means.

So how do we go about being a winner in EU? Unless you are blessed with the huge first-starter advantage that some players have, the only way to be a winner is to invest in something which gives you the edge. For some neo-ubers like Dub, Deathifier, or Neverdie, this has been an investment in something unique. Dub's "Bessie" his modified finder, Deathifier's Treasure Island, Neverdie's Spacestation, all of these players have taken the opportunity to invest in something at the time when their investment was a huge risk, and in each case the reward has far exceeded this initial investment.

So the next big unique thing that Mindark puts up for sale, will surely have a big investor and ultimately given previous form, a big winner.

Living out your darkest desires?

It's not often that I come to the defence of EU, but I will defend it against ignorance. I read an article in the Dailymail, a British daily paper, about the evils of virtual worlds where you can live out your darkest desires, including have virtual sex! I had to laugh when I read it, it showed the author's complete ignorance of what is is to play EU. One of the refreshing things about EU, is that there really isn't a sordid side to it, in that respect it differs greatly from Second Life.

Anyway, apparently the author had spent some time in EU, although I find this hard to believe. He lumped it in with SL and Habbo Hotel. He truly showed no understanding of what it is to be an active participant in EU, to forge friendships, to be a part of a great community and a exciting developing dynamic virtual world.

Article available here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=506162&in_page_id=1770

Merry Mayhem Results are in!

The complete final results for the Merry Mayhem Event are in.

What's most interesting is the techniques employed by some of the winners.. in particular
Stoikow. Seems all the winners, employed the help of other players to bring mobs to them, to hold their loot and bring ammo etc, this meant that they could always be killing. Truly this wasn't a solo event.


What's interesting about Stoikow, is that there was no period when he wasn't killing, he never had to wait for mobs, he maximised the kill time allotted, by co-ordinating with others, he'd only be logged on when there were mobs to kill at his location. As soon as they were all killed, he'd log off, wait for the runners to bring in more mobs to his location, then relog, rinse, repeat.. and you have a recipe for success. Excellent tactics!

Congrats to all winners, and to MA for responding so quickly and producing the complete list for the top 2000 hunters.

Full results here: (pdf)

http://www.entropiauniverse.com/images/pdf/merry_mayhem_event.pdf

Merry Mayhem (Modified Merc) Madness?

Entropians like their acronyms, from imk2's (Improved Mark II) to MM's (Modified Mercenary) to COS (Chance of Success). This post is dedicated to MM the Merry Mayhem Christmas event. It's one of those things which looks good on paper, but when you analyse it a little, it's far from being what it is billed as being.. It should really have had some small print, unless you own a MM or comparable (and the skills to use them) don't enter. All non-ubers hang-up your Korss, take a well earned break from EU over Christmas and spend some time with your family!

Essentially this was an event for perhaps 10-20 players, the creme de la creme of Entropians, the highest skilled, packing the best armor and fap. For these players a 6 hour per day hunt (this was the MA imposed maximum time each player is allowed to login to EU to participate in the event) is a normal activity, and for many it would be less than they play on a daily basis.

So the stage was set and the outcome inevitable, 3 ubers won all 3 prizes. What was also inevitable was the back-lash from community, an event only accessible to the few, will always be lambasted by the many. They have a right to do this, all community members feel like they belong to EU and should therefore be able to participate in all officially run events. It's like MA throwing a house party, inviting everyone, then playing pass the parcel with only the ubers, whilst the rest sit on the outside in the cold and watch.

We can hope MA learn from this... but honestly will they?