Writing for Gaming Sites

In addition to my blogs I started writing articles for The Metaverse Tribune which is part of the Metaverse Broadcasting Company, dedicated to using Virtual Worlds to construct and engage a global audience. My first article there is about why I started playing Entropia Universe and my first experiences within that massively multilayer online game. It is so successful that it is featured on the front page on The Metaverse Tribune

and it is linked on the main page of www.entropiauniverse.com

When  you click on the picture with the text "From The Metaverse Tribune - Why People Join - A Players Experience" you are redirected to my first article on The Metaverse Tribune.

The same picture linked to the article can be found on http://www.planetcalypso.com/ too.

2012 - Too Many Games to Play

I didn't believe that I will ever say this, but at the moment I am feeling like there are too many games to play and not enough time. Everything started with Mass Effect 3 when it was released on 6 of March 2012. I decided to play again Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 to import my character in Mass Effect 3. I also installed some additional DLCs making my game time even longer. In the moment I am in the middle of Mass Effect 2 and to finish Mass Effect 3 I will need 2-3 more weeks if I don't quit my job and play all day. Although reading about the bad ending of Mass Effect 3 I am not sure I will play to the end. And the grand reason for everything that happened in all 3 Mass Effect games is this: "Yo dawg i heard you don't wanna be killed by synthetics, so i made some synthetics to kill you every 50k years, so you won't be killed by synthetics "
SPOILER:

But of course not everything about ME 3 is bad. There are some good moments too:

Robot with cameltoe - priceless.

The other game that is coming "soon" (soon by Blizzard) is Diablo 3. It is supposed to be released on 15 of May 2012. No gamer that played Diablo 2 will miss to play Diablo 3. The expectations are high and I hope it won't be disappointment like Mass Effect 3. Diablo 2 was game that people played for 10 years, but the competition in game world now is way bigger then when Diablo 2 was released. And I am not sure D3 will have the same success, but even if it doesn't it will be great game to play when you don't want to think too much and just click and kill.
Here are all 2-16 tiers for armors for all classes:

And on top of all that Planet Cyrene is coming on 1 of May 2012. And I am planning to go there and play really hard. The developers promised that there will be no missions just for the sake of having missions and that all the missions will lead to an area with something special going on. When you arrive on Planet Cyrene you'll be given an introduction on how and why you came to be on the planet and then will be thrown into the action pretty quickly, but in a guided way.

When you finish the starter area and are ready to move on to the real challenging parts of the planet there will be multiple paths you can choose, each with a unique experience. The choices you make will have an impact, most importantly the allegiance to different factions within the game. Who you choose to fight and whom you choose to befriend will define your avatar in distinct ways, it will dictate what storyline you receive and who you receive it from. This is little strange because Entropia Universe supposed to be designed so everyone can do everything, skill in every profession and can take any mission. It will be interesting to see how Planet Cyrene implements that. Besides missions there will be World events. World events will be special events that only happen during a certain time or in a certain area.

Change of plans for Project Entropia Universe

Here are some interesting stuff that MindArk employees said in 2001-2002 for the game and how silly they look now. But I guess we can't blame them - the games can change a lot for 10 years, the players change and the technologies changes.

Anders|MA: All players will start with a basic appartment. However it may be in the players interest to buy either a bigger appartment or even a house.

Per|MA: H2SO4: Yes, bank institutions can store your items for you and will keep them in mint condition. You can later extract your item from any other bank institution. Your dwelling can house items as well, but you do not need a dwelling just to keep items.

Anders|MA: We will use an insurance system. You insure your equipment so you will keep it if/when you die. However, if you murder a player all your insurances will be lost.

Per|MA: Cidium: Yes, NPCs will be available for hire for a lot of various purposes. Guards is a good example, where a better guard will cost more. NPC guards will unerringly guard whatever area they are ordered to guard. Simple, no? :-)

Xander: *Noir* How will societies be able to create and incorporate their official logos into the game? Will there be a way to import some form of graphic file into the PE game that everyone would see? Then would this be a screened process to prevent constant changing of logos and possible obscene content? Per|MA: Noir: Society logos must be sent in and reviewed, mainly to see to it that they are standardized and will work as a society decal.

5. How does Mindark plan on involving the characters in the story? Will they use "GM" characters that will seek out players and send them on quests? Or some other model? Yes to both questions. MindArk plans to employ one hundred and twenty people to begin with during spring that will solely be inside the game as GM characters to help other players with problems that might come up, or just to offer help.

How many characters will I be able to have? You will be able to have 5 - 8 different characters. 

Locke|Stratics: *Noir* Would it be possible to allow players to program 'bots' or 'robots' using a simple gui (for logic flow), or other interface as in the Playstation game "Carnage Heart"? JAP|MA: yes you will be able to program robots, the way they will be programmable is for attacks, beast of burdon actions and general service for their master.

Locke|Stratics: *Buzzi* Will players be deemed to fight the robots on Calypso "forever" or are you considering further dynamic development (in the far future) by expanding the gameplay to other planets? Fredrik|MA: The battle against the robots will carry on as the main hostile element but we will add new twists and turns to it to develope the concept even further to keep the main story line fresh and alive. And yes, it is meant to expand further than one planet, eventually.

Locke|Stratics: *Cidium* In some of the other online games, players can create their own 'guardian' creatures to protect them and aid in battles. Since PE is set in the future, will players be able to research/develope their own robot 'guardians'? JAP|MA: Yes they will. Actually they will be able to create their "own slaves". This is something that the good slave creators will have very thrilling moments, when having the slaves "coming up to life"

Planet Calypso Content Release 2012.2 2012-03-13

Here is the Content Release 2012.2 for Planet Calypso on 13 of March 2012. A lot of bug fixed, just what players wanted. Beacon missions are greatly improved. And for me the most interesting part of this content release is the Iron Challenges for all Puny creatures. This means a lot of cheap game time for new players.


SETTLEMENT UPDATE

The vast majority of the outposts on Eudoria have been redesigned using modern assets.
Forests have been thinned out around the Fort Troy, East Scylla Mountains region.

BEACON MISSIONS

Beacon interiors have been enlarged and redesigned to improve playability.
Beacon robots have been renamed and rebalanced, they are now slightly tougher but not as many.
The number of storage container loot boxes in each Beacon has been increased to 21.
Storage container loot boxes are now randomly placed within the Beacon.
Real-time team member statistics display- damage, healing, kills, deaths, etc.
Timers have been adjusted in balance with the recent level design changes
Loot from unopened storage container loot boxes is now added to the storage container boxes in subsequent Beacon missions.
Each Beacon level now has its own unique end boss that guards a storage container loot box which holds a large part of the total loot for each Beacon mission.
Minimum number of players required to enter Beacon missions has been lowered from 4 to 2. Note that the recommended team size is a minimum of four players to complete Beacon missions effectively.
The number of checkpoints have been reduced in all Beacon missions.

NEW ITEMS

Weapons
Armors
Blueprints
Iron Challenges for all Puny creatures - speak to Ingrid at the Port Atlantis swamp camp.
New Traeskeron mission - speak to Henry Johnson at Camp Poseidon.
New Rextelum mission - speak to Private Brian at Triton's Landing.
MISC

The Longu and Molisk creatures have received graphical updates.

FIXED ISSUES

The Daily Hunter mission has been fixed.
Exploring the area mission has been fixed.
The Volcanic Island mission has been fixed.
Kill the Aetherex on mountains mission has been fixed.
Finding water mission has been fixed.
Clear the area mission has been fixed.
Hunt Some mission has been fixed.
Kill'em all! mission has been fixed.
Fixed a bug with the shared loot feature on Hussk.
Flying land area objects near the Emerald Lakes mall have been landed.
Fixed a problem with the terrain under some houses at Lake Penzance.
Fixed the name of the quest object in the Feffoid Cave.

KNOWN ISSUES

Breakable glass in the Beacon Missions can cause performance issues when it destructs.
It is not possible to purchase the more expensive items from the market traders.
Global/HoF messages and effects are currently disabled in beacons.

Is it possible to profit in Entropia? Yes it's possible!

When I read an article about Entropia back in 2006, I thought “why do people invest 100k USD” in a computer game. So I started reading and investigating. At the end I started playing Entropia to see if it is possible to make money.

After all these years I would like to share at least my answer. Yes it is possible to make money. I did profit more than 100k PED within the last 3 to 4 years (without any ATH ever). And in general it’s possible to profit in all 3 main professions. Nevertheless I did the most profit when crafting, because that’s my main profession. Just to give an idea. I crafted items of more than 2 Mio PED of TT in this time.

And in general it seems – at least for me – you are able to make a margin (profit) of about 5% in average.

So everyone just thinking of start playing Entropia: Keep in mind that at the beginning it’s very difficult to profit. First problem is, that you don’t have a clue what you are doing (main problem  ... and I could add things here as well ). And secondly you are not skilled enough to do things that profit (minor problem).

Hope someone finds this helpful ... and always have a lot of fun when playing!

PS: Anyone asking about why you should scan mobs/robots/... In fact I believe a lot of people just do it to get cheap skills. But in fact my observation is that with higher “scanner skills” you are able to loot “higher valued” (uber) items. I don’t mean that you loot more. But you are able to loot different things (with the better "knowledge" of the mob/robot)

I just bought a lot of land deeds these days. They are a good investment (as long as you trust ... anyway there is always risk with high return investments).

There is no sense in explaining how it did that. As you might no have the chance to do the same things. And of course if everyone is doing it the same way, it will not work. It was just an information.

But for those of you, who only believe what they see. This screenshot might help

I agree you have to think about what you are doing. And I DON'T promote to do anything. Just take it as it is ... an information for those interessed in.

Do the math. 2 Mio PED over 4 years means only 1370 PED every day. That's e.g. about 2 Kesmek Bik (L). It's not a big deal to craft 2 Mio PED in this time (the big deal is to sell all the stuff ). And if you decide to craft the right things you will profit. Even 5% is not much. We all know, if you are lucky you can have much more, but there are also days you are loosing money.

Never registered for entropia tracker. But as globals gives you about 5% of your revenues, those 154k peds just support the 2 Mio PEDs, right?

But as said before. I'm sure there are people out there who have the same question that I had back in 2006. That's why I wrote this here. Honestly I would have been glad at this time, when someone could have given me the answer. But on the otherhand so far I had a lot of fun (and some bad days )

Here is the full topic: Is it possible to profit in Entropia? Yes it's possible!

Virtual Paid Job on Mothership in Space

Do you wonder how to get paid to play video games? In Entropia Universe you can work on one of the expensive Motherships and get salary for your virtual work every month. Payment is in Project Entropia Dollars, but you can always withdraw them into real US dollars if you have more than $100 USD in the game. Here is description of the Mothership and the available jobs you can apply for.

The ToS Normandie is an Aniara class mothership which currently is the largest class of starships within the Entropia Universe. 'Mandie' as she is called by the crew and its most dedicated Captain Alaina Bonnie Scotia has been upgraded to the strongest ship within its class. The ship currently has a total structural integrity of 81108. It is operated with the first level of engine upgrades allowing for a subwarp traveling speed of 46.8 km/h and the simultaneous usage of 3 of the 7 active mothership plasma cannons. The Normandie is the first and currently only mothership utilizing warp drive IV. Since its first day of operation (1st July 2011) the Normandie has been traveling space every single night. This is possible due to a great and motivated crew that loves space and 'Mandie'. The Normandie has its own radio station streaming through space 24/7 on www.normandieradio.co.uk

Captain (1-2% of monthly operating profit) You are the boss, giving the commands making sure everyone is ready and doing his job. Your task is to make your crew work as one. You will have all the rights to join in on any task on the ship. You have to make sure the flight schedules are kept so that the Normandie will reach her waypoints in time. You have to sync with Scout and preparation officer to make sure space<->planetside transports are covered when the Normandie reaches her target.
Pilot (0.5-1% of monthly operating profit) Your job is to keep the schedules and reach the waypoints accoring to the flight plan. In case of an attack you have to turn the Normandie in the right angles so your gunners can hit the incomming targets and to turn away damaged sections from the attackers as much as possible. You are in consistent dialoge with your

CO-Pilot, Gunners and fighters. CO-Pilot (0.8-1.6% of monthly operating profit) You are the eye the one person who has the lives of the whole ship in his/her hands. Your job is to watch space and detect any incomming targets as soon as possible. You will be calling the fighters out and give captain, pilot and topgun all the information they need to protect the ship. You will be calling the targets for the mothership gunners and work closely together with Topgun.

Lead Repaircrew Officer (0.5-1% of monthly operating profit) Your job is to keep your section alive. You need to be 100% ready and quick at all times. Your job will be to increase and manage your team on each flight. Your team will consist out of customers, so be nice helpful and try to make them aware on how important it is for them to be ready. Try to increase your skills as much as possible to soon be able to use the best repairtools avaiable, be ready to chip in if needed. As long as you are not lvl25 vehicle engineer you will be payed in vehicle engineer skill chips. You have to sync with the other Repaircrew officers to even out the teams were needed and you need to make sure your team knows its way around in case they need to run for another section to help.

Mothership gunner (0.5-1% of monthly operating profit) You have the largest firepower at your hands, listen to 'the eye' (CO-Pilot) when targets get called and be quick diminishing them. Your weapons cost 1 Ped per shot, you need to be able to sustain the ammunition needed and to have very few missed shots. You are paying the bill for ammo, but you also get the chance to loot your targets.

Topgun (Squadron Commander) (0.7-1.4% of monthly operating profit) Jobrequirement is a fully functional quadwing. Your job will be to protect the Normandie and command her fighter squadron in close contact with 'the eye' (CO-Pilot). When the Normandie is going to leave the bluezone of a planet or spacestation you will be out patrouling the area around her. When the Normandie is aproaching the bluezone of a planet or spacestation you will be out securing space in front of her. When the Normandie is in Deep Space you will be in the hangar ready to take of within seconds, as soon as the eye is calling. You will be calling the targets for your fighter squadron considering the the info provided by 'the eye' (CO-Pilot).

Fighter (0.5-1% of monthly operating profit) Jobrequirement is a fully functional sleipnir mk2 and upwards. Your job will be to protect the Normandie and follow the commands of the Topgun. When the Normandie is going to leave the bluezone of a planet or spacestation you will be out patrouling the area around her. When the Normandie is aproaching the bluezone of a planet or spacestation you will be out securing space in front of her. When the Normandie is in Deep Space you will be in the hangar ready to take of within seconds, as soon as the eye is calling. You will aim and fire on the targets called by the Topgun.

Scout and preparation officer (0.5-1% of monthly operating profit) Jobrequirement is a fully functional quadwing. Your job will be to scout the space lane in front of the Normandie and notify the Captain and the eye about your findings. You have to avoid combat whereever possible. Your job is to reach the target destination very much in advance of the Normandie and get in contact with our external service providers for shuttle service preparation as well as with our customers on the respective planet to announce the arrival of the Normandie and help them getting prepared for their travel.

Steward/Stewardess (no monthly payment,optional , for VIP customers only) Your job will be to make the travel enjoyable to the Normandies VIP customers. Either guiding them through the ship and showing them all the sections or dancing for them in the Lounge. Your income will be tips only. Depending on the number of VIP customers this may change.

Repaircrew/fighter assistent: The Normandie is offering unpayed repaircrew/fighter jobs where you can get trained up and practise the skills you need. Your respective officer will feedback your captain about your progress and the captain will update myself. This is a good way to progress towards the payed jobs or if you want to take a job on another Mothership we will inform its owner about your skills. Assistent fighters still retain the right to loot shot targets.

Each of the listed jobs has a minimum basic payment and a bonus payment included. The first listed percentage above is the minimum payment, the second is the maximum including bonus payment. The bonus payment will depend on customer satisfaction. Every customer will be able to give feedback on the transport service provided directly to myself. There will be an average satisfaction rating soon.-

You can read more on Titans of Space website.

The successful business and gaming model of Entropia Universe

Usually when you ask someone that plays Entropia Universe "What is so unique about this game?" the answer will be "It has Real Cash Economy! Everything costs real money! You can get rich in the game and withdraw your money in your real life banking account!". While this is true, it is also true that there is more than just the money.
Humans are social animals and since the beginning of games players wanted to play with their friends or even with people they don't know in multiplayer mode. Player vs player or in some cooperation mode. Even some of the first games are for two players - Tic-Tac-Toe (1952); Tennis for two (1958); Pong (1972). Or some of the best games - StarCraft; Diablo; Counter Strike; Quake - they all have multiplayer and people like it.
The next level of social, multiplayer games are the MMOG's (Massively Multiplayer Online Games). Now there is new MMO every day - Dragon Nest; Vindictus; TERA: The Exiled Realm of Arborea; C9 (Continent of the Ninth Seal); Guild Wars 2; Star Wars: The Old Republic; Lineage 2; APB: Reloaded; Dragona; Prius Online; Seven Souls Online; Cross Fire; Grand Chase; Eden Eternal; Hunter Blade Online; Game of Thrones; Tribal Hero; Grimlands; Roto X; Anime Trumps; Maestia: Rise of Keledus; Living After War; Divina; Traveller AR; Dragon Born Online. This is just part of the new MMO games coming now. They are made, developed and managed like any normal game - there is one company that makes everything in the game, including every place and mission. The problems here are two. First there is small amount of people responsible for the fun of sometimes even millions of players. And it is hard to make the game interesting for so many people. And second problem is that after few months of playing you get bored of doing same quests again and again, you have the best armor and weapons and you tried every skill. Finally there is nothing more to do in the game and you quit playing it.
This is now how Entropia Universe works. The people from MindArk are the top level. Then there is Crytec.

They make the graphic engine (CryEngine 2 - probably the best graphic engine for 3D MMO) of the game and save MindArk from all that work and also the possibility to make crappy engine like Even Online. Then just under MindArk are the planet partners - Creative Kingdom; Pyxel Arts; Arkadia Studios; Next Island; Neverdie; Beladcom.

MindArk provides the Entropia Platform and Planet Partners can use the ready tools to make planets with all the places, creatures, missions, armors, weapons and everything else on their planet. And they have to pay to work for MindArk. And then on the lower level are the players. Every player for all over the world have the opportunity to be part of the game, work for MindArk and make the game more fun to the other players. For that they pay $10 000 USD - $100 000 USD for a land area or $500 USD - $5 000 USD for a shop in the game. Players organize events for other players. Players help other players by mentoring them. In the end there are thousands of people working for free (even they pay for that) for MindArk turning Entropia Universe from regular game into virtual universe. Combining that with the freedom of choice in Entropia Universe (you can do whatever you want, you are not limited to following some quest or anything) makes the game so unique and people can play it for years not just for few months.

When I say that players work for free for MindArk it is not 100% true. They work with no real contract or salary. They work for their fun. But also they can make some money from that. There is no other game where you can buy part of the game and receive part of the income that game makes.
For all these reason I think that the future belongs to games like Entropia Universe. Something more than just a game. A game where you have endless freedom of choice and opportunity to be part of the game and change the game itself.

Sneak peek of new space mobs

Yesterday Bjorn from MindArk shared some screenshot of four new space creatures that will be added to the game soon. Space will become the most dangerous and exciting and eventually rewarding for some smart players place, not only in Entropia Universe, but in every MMO. Now when other companies are developing their planets in Entropia Universe, MindArk employees are free to expand and improve the space between the planets. Space is what a lot of MMO and sci-fi fans want. This is why EVE Online is so popular. And to attract those players Entropia Universe need big and interesting space. Adding mobs to space is going to make it more entertaining, but it is not like what we know about the real universe - no creatures live in space. But maybe there are places in the real universe where creatures fly in the space.

Soon there will be also competition for the players to name the mobs and to create a backstory and descriptions.

PED Flow Center Issue and no more CLDs

If you don't know what Calypso Land Deed is, it is like share from Planet Calypso. You buy it for 1000 PEDs (thats 100$) and every week on Monday you get 5-6 PEDs revenue. In addition you get the right to vote in the future and also build a house if you have 9 CLDs or more.
After the last version update 12.5.0 from 21 of February 2012 there was new bug that didn't allow MindArk to place new Calypso Land Deeds for sale on the auction. At first players didn't know that and started asking question if all CLDs are sold. So Kim from MindArk posted short message to explain the situation: "Additional Calypso Land Deeds will be auctioned as soon as we solve a bug that's preventing us from doing just that".
Yesterday, Monday 27 of February 2012 was the day when everyone who has Calypso Land Deeds was expecting to receive their revenue from the deeds. I also expected my PEDs so I can go out and hunt some mobs, but that didn't happened. There was another bug stopping the payment of the revenue. There was fast message from MindArk about the situation: "There is an issue currently affecting the PED Flow Center and Calypso Land Deed revenues. We hope to have this issue resolved with the release scheduled for tomorrow, along with the issue preventing the listing of Calypso Land Deeds on global auction. We appreciate your patience during the update and apologize for any inconvenience."
Let's hope they will fix these bugs fast so people can continue their everyday activities and be able to buy more Calypso Land Deeds.
UPDATE:
-The issue preventing MindArk to list estate deeds on the global auction has been corrected, and Calypso Land Deeds will be available again.
-The issue causing data in the PED Flow Center to not display when the interface is first loaded has been corrected.
-Friend List is fixed now.
-And you can receive the revenue from your CLDS now. The revenue was good, but I don't know if the payment was for 7 days or 8.
You can see the full list of bug fixes in the Entropia Universe 12.5.1 Release Notes.

A Guide to being a successful Mentor in Entropia Universe

I am Mentor in Entropia Universe and here is nice guide how to be good mentor in Entropia Universe:

How to get/find disciples.

The best place to find disciples is the New Arrivals area in Port Atlantis. Twin peaks is also a good location, or any lower level teleport location. Nea’s is OK, but it is the last place I would look. Then simply open a private chat with the avatar, say hi, and asked why they don’t have a mentor. Give a little back ground info on yourself, explain what they will receive for graduating and see if they are interested.

I look for people that have a set of pixie armor, or at least a weapon. It is very rare that I will mentor a non-depositor. I have several reasons for this decision.

I’m a paying player for this game. It’s my money that allows sweaters to exist. Sweaters can take up to a year to graduate. Sweaters only graduate at a rate of 10 to 1. There are exceptions to this, if a sweater is willing to sweat enough PED to become a trader as a profession, then I would mentor them. Also, if you are just starting off as a mentor, and you have a lot of free slots available, mentoring a sweater would be good practice for you. My mentor list is full. This is a personal decision for you as a mentor to make. I’m not telling you who to mentor here, I’m simply giving you tips that will make you a successful mentor.

Who you choose to mentor is 100% your decision alone to make. If you want to be a tour guide for everyone that enters the game, be my guest. I’m spending my leisure time mentoring people, and I will choose to mentor the people that have the highest chance of success. I think that you will be more likely to continue as a mentor if you are successful at it. Many people try to mentor, have a bad experience, and give up the profession.
As a mentor you will have to deal with alt accounts, liars and cheats in addition to the legitimate players. Here are the tactics that I use to protect myself from being scammed.

State up front, that you offer the best info in game, but you do not give out PED. Most players don’t want a handout, they get a sense of accomplishment from doing it on their own. Too many times I have read posts about hit and run disciples that take the starting equipment you give them, and log off.

Here are some good starting questions to ask a new disciple.
Where are you from in real life? (What time zone do you play in?)
How long have you been playing?
Have you looked at the forum?
Have you looked at the auction?
What equipment do you currently have?
What is your highest professional level?
Do you have any questions for me?

How a disciple answers your questions gives you the ability to judge if they are truly a new player, or just another scammer. This is incredibly important. You must use common sense here. Make sure their answers match their experience. If they claim they are brand new, but understand how the tier system works, or another advanced system, that should be a red flag for you. Be wary of players that do not have any questions for you. Another useful tactic here is to think of the questions that you had as a starting player, and see if they match up.
I also think that you should not add a new disciple to your society until you are, as sure as you can be, that they are a legitimate new player. Many societies that just add anyone who applies have scammers in them.

Things for a new player to do.

Visit all of the NPC’s in Port Atlantis. They are the Manual for the game currently, and should provide the disciple with a good starting base of knowledge. This will also save you answering a lot of questions.

Give out information about “the thing” quest on RockTropia. This is a cheap way to get a helicopter, Jeep and some new clothes. This is very beneficial as you really need transportation in this game. While buying transportation from the auction is also an option I think doing “the thing” quest is more fun. It exposes the new player to space travel and a new planet. It is just a cheap, fun thing to do.

Adventure quests – “a grave errand” (300 first aid) and “for discrete applicants only” (450 evade) are very important for a new player to do ASAP.

New Island Mission token quests, just buy visiting Triton Naval Station you earn 1 token and can begin the missions there and at Odysseus Landing.

Provide a list of low level mobs to hunt, and locations to find them at. The training beacon on Jennifer Island is also fun and cheap.

Important beginning info to relate to a disciple.
Good starting equipment.
Types of damage inflicted by mobs, argro range.
How amps and armor plates work.
Fruit, stones and sweating.
Team hunting rules, how to look at them, and which ones are acceptable.
PVP rules, toxic shots and PVP rules in space.
Tier systems and enhancers.
What loot to tt and what loot to keep.
NPCs for iron mission quests.
Information and resource sites, this forum and entropedia.info are 2 examples.
And most importantly do not trust anyone in this game. Trades are PVP, anyone that really wants to borrow something will give something of equal value as a deposit.

Mentor responsibilities.

Be online to answer questions as promptly as possible. If you don’t play much you really won’t be much help to a disciple.
Rescue from outposts if needed.
Make sure your disciples are not afraid to ask you questions. Tell them that it doesn’t bother you and that it’s your job to answer their questions.

Things to avoid doing.

Taking a disciple that does not speak your language. A French player may understand some English, but it’s really better for them to have a French speaking mentor. You could always try to direct them to a French player if you know one.
Taking a disciple that plays outside your time zone, you probably won’t be online to help them much.
Sending them to the forum first thing, new players want to play, not read the forum. Suggest that they do it in their free time once they have played the game a little.


Now all this being said, this is a lot of info!!!! Don’t try and shove all this down a new player’s throat at once. Answer their initial questions, give them something to do, and let them lead the questioning a little. Mentoring is different for everyone, but I hope some of these tips encourage people to mentor. Mentoring a new person takes some time at first, but once they get rolling your really there just to answer specific questions. You can do this while crating, trading or just hanging out looking for new disciples. Once you have several disciples a heli tp run is always a good thing.

People ask me a lot if mentoring is really worth it. You will not always get an expensive gift, but you will make friends. Most disciples are very grateful for your help and show it. I think this game is not very team oriented, many people just play by themselves, I enjoy playing with a good group.

Johnny Lucky Seven

Most expensive items sold in Entropia Universe

1.F.O.M.A. - Fortuna asteriod (former Club Neverdie) - 3.350.000 Ped - John Foma Kalun bought it from Jon NEVERDIE Jacobs - October 2010

2.Crystal Palace - 3.300.000 Ped - Buzz Erik Lightyear

3.Club Neverdie - 1.000.000 Ped - Jon NEVERDIE Jacobs

4.Bank License #1 - 999.000 Ped - Yuri iNTellect Efremov (+ 1.000.000 Ped required in EU.)
5.Bank License #2 - 950.001 Ped - Jolana Kitty Brice (+ 1.000.000 Ped required in EU.)
6.Bank Licese #3 - 900.002 Ped - Jon NEVERDIE Jacobs (+ 1.000.000 Ped required in EU.)
7.Bank License #5 - 600.000 Ped - Baroness Anshe Chung (+ 1.000.000 Ped required in EU.)
8.Bank License #4 - 590.608 Ped - Janus JD D'Arcwire (+ 1.000.000 Ped required in EU.)
9.Emerald Lakes Mall - 746.007 Ped - Onkel RobRoy Bob

10.Port Atlantis Mall - 700.000 Ped - Eps bought it

11.Unique Green Atrox Egg - 696.969 Ped - Zachurm Deathifier Emegen bought it from Jon NEVERDIE Jacobs

12.Land Area #41 - 550.066 Ped - Bought by Qetesh Qetesh Qetesh
13.Modified Fast Aid Pack - 520.000 Ped - Bridge SilverFox Investor sold it to anonymous buyer
14.Port Atlantis Mall - ~410.000 Ped - Changed owner from Skippie to Ace Wiseshadow - 360.000 Ped + Adjusted Fap(~50.000 Ped)
15.Twin Peaks Mall - 400.000 Ped - Neomaven (estimated price)
16.OreAmp OA-105 (UL) - 380.000 Ped - James BlueFire Sunderland sold it to joe jeff xXSqUaLLXx
17.Land Area #39 - 353.215 Ped - 31-Mar-2007
18.Land Area #44 - 330,000 Ped - - Virtual FOND Manager
19.Land Area #27 - 330.000 Ped - Game Development Lecturer bought it from Trinity Trin Jam trough Auction (27.12.2007 21:20:18)
20.Improved Fast Aid Pack - 325.000 Ped - Foudil El salsero bought it in September 2008
21.Land Area #40 - 323.016 Ped - 31-Mar-2007
22.F.O.M.A. - Fortuna - Dome 2 - 320.000 Ped - Mary Mary Jane sold it to joe jeff xXSqUaLLXx - September 2011
23.Modified EW-40 Mercenary - tt+315.000 Ped
24.Medusa's Head - 300.009 Ped - Bought by Quetesh
25.Unique Dub & McCormick Terminator - 300.000 Ped - Bought by Neomaven

26.Land Area #28 - 300.000 Ped
27.Modified A-3 Justifier Mk.II - ~295.000 Ped - Prodiq sold it to SammySosa

28.Amethera Outback Land #21 - Formicacida LA - 285.000 Ped - May-2010 - Gandalf GandalfSzary Szary sold it to Fatacuida Lorfat Lorfat and Addz, Current owner is Fatacuida Lorfat Lorfat
29.Land Area #30 - 275.000 Ped - 12-Jul-2006
30.Treasure Island - 265.000 ped - Bought by Zachurm Deathifier Emegen
31.Land Area #36 - 250.001 Ped - 25-Jul-2006
32.Ancient Improved MK2 - 250.000 Ped - Neomaven bought it from Hyperion
33.Modified DAR FireForge 9300 - 250.000 Ped - March 2008 - Burnsey sold it to H&R Circle
34.Improved MKII - 245.000 Ped
35.Amethera Outback Land #01 - 240.000 Ped - Jan-2011 - Naomi NP Polder sold it to Juan BALBERITH Martinez & Pedro Rufwon Martinez
36.Carramone Armor Set (F) (Full Set) - 230.700 Ped - (25k shins, helmet+thighs 80k, feet 60k, arms 19.95k gloves 13.5k, harness 30k(looted in team), 2.25k tt of the set)
37.Emik X5 UL - 230.000 Ped - Sold by MH Grave Digger to anonymous
38.Hangar - 230.000 Ped - Seller - Tech Steele Raines, buyer - Michael Ketch Arcanum
39.Land Area #37 - 210.000 Ped - 25-Jul-2006
40.Land Area #38 - 201.000 Ped - 25-Jul-2006
41.Improved MK3 - 200.000 Ped
42.Supremacy Armor Set (M)(Full Set) - 195.000 Ped - DRDoom sold it to Ben Cobra Boner
43.Isis HL-18 UL - 190.000 Ped - (tt=22,122) - Ark Cybe Nor sold it to DRDoom for an Hanger + ML45(valued at ~190k ped at that time) in begining of December 2008.
44.Amethera Outback Land #59 - 180.000 Ped - 2011 - Beautiful SerraAngel Angel sold it to Inno
45.Amethera Outback Land #57 - 170.000 Ped - 26-Dec-2010 - Qetesh Qetesh Qetesh sold it to Beautiful SerraAngel Angel
46.Assassin R150 (UL) - 160.000 Ped
47.Land Area #29 - 150.002 Ped - 25-Jul-2006
48.Land Area #33 - 150.000 Ped - 12-Jul-2006
49.PSG45 Sniper - 150.000 Ped
50.DOA Foeripper - 150.000 Ped - Sale was concluded at the end of August 2008 and only contained peds
51.Amethera Outback Land #11 - 150.000 Ped - Jul-2011 - Daniel Danimal Diep sold it to unknown
52.Land Area #31 - 149.012 Ped - 25-Jul-2006
53.Isis CB26 (UL) - 146.800 Ped (tt+140.000 ped) - lex mr chips pringle sold it to anonymous
54.Land Area #43 - 140.001 Ped - Qetesh Qetesh Qetesh bought it
55.Land Area #26 - 135.711 Ped - 12-Jul-2006
56.Land Area #35 - 135.000 Ped - 12-Jul-2006
57.Rextellum DNA Sample (x2) - 135.000 Ped - 08-February-2012 - Merry Mayhem 2011 prize won by cK - sold to BIG industries
58.Shadow Armor Set (M)(Full Set) - 128.000 Ped
59.Letomie Fossil Eyelense - 127.271 Ped - Bought by Zachurm Deathifier Emegen
60.Land Area #32 - 125.002 Ped - 25-Jul-2006
61.Chronicle Armor Set (M) (Full Set) - tt+120.000 Ped - Bridge SilverFox Investor bought it from Mr Mathias Atlas
62.OreAmp OA-103 - 120.000 Ped - Discovered by Idalecio - Sold to Eugenio Anhite white
63.OreAmp OA-104 - 120.000 Ped - Discovered by Faustov Miriotes and sold in 2007
64.Eon Armor Set (M) (no foot guards) - 119.000 Ped - Kimmi Kimmi EFnet bought it in February 2008
65.Chomper DNA Samples - 112.000 Ped - Bought by Neo The Famous Trader Sharp on 11-July-2009 from LG2009 Alliance
66.Land Area #34 - 111.111 Ped - 12-Jul-2006
67.Omegaton M2870 Improved - ~105.000 Ped - Part of a trade between Darth Skippie Boobie and Kanob Bob Plenkresk
68.Unique Queen Atrox Egg - 100.000 ped
69.Proteron Ribs - 100.000 ped - Mirandax sold it to Skippie & Star
70.Shadow Armor Set (F)(Full Set) - 100.000 Ped
71.DOA Rockjacker - 100.000 Ped - Sold by cybe to an unknown buyer
72.Sentinel Armor Set (F)(No Feet - They were not implemented then)- 92.000 Ped - Sold by Laree to jenny chipie orca
73.Mothership Victory (UL) - 90.001 Ped - Bought by Miss Hof Bad from auction on 22.06.2011
74.Mothership Revenge (UL) - 90.001 Ped - Bought by Jon NEVERDIE Jacobs from auction on 22.06.2011
75.Mothership Yamato (UL) - ~90.000 Ped - Bought by Eugenio Anhithe Wilde from Max Extreme Hunter via ingame auction on 22.06.2011
76.Starkhov AS-117 Modified - 90.000 Ped -Sold by sierre
77.Hogglo Tooth - 90.000 Ped - SirAttack sold it to Zachurm Deathifier Emegen
78.Protector of Empire Armor Set (M) - 90.000 Ped - Daniel Danimal Diep sold it to unknown in Dec-2011
79.Mothership Fortune (UL) - 85.000 Ped - Bought by Zachurm Deathifier Emegen from auction on 22.06.2011
80.Matter Amp MA-105 (UL) - 85.000 Ped
81.Angel Armor Set (M)(Full Set) - 85.000 Ped - Part of another sale between Scott DoctorH Joel and Darth Skippie Boobie
82.5B Armor plate blueprint - 80.000 Ped (Sold by Optima for ped + DOA Foeripper)
83.Modified Isis LR32 - 80.000 Ped
84.Vain Armor Set (M)(Eon Gloves and no Foot Guards) - 75.500 Ped
85.Mothership Alabama (UL) - 75.057 Ped - Bought by Augis Auktuma Tumas on behalf of "Soldiers of Fortune" society, from auction on 29.06.2011
86.Mothership Enterprise (UL) - 72.453 Ped - Bought by Zek z3kdark3r Darker from auction on 27.06.2011
87.Montgomery Anabolic Adapted (L) blueprint - 70.002 Ped
88.Mothership Ticonderoga (UL) - ~69.000 Ped - Bought by Oracle Kev FountofWisdom on behalf of Black Angels consortium from auction on 24.06.2011
89.Genesis Niflheim - 69.000 Ped - Joker Poker Uber Smoker bought it from Ruska Kissa Cat
90.DOA Rockjacker Mentor Edition - 68.000 Ped - FoxyLady sold it
91.Mothership Kronan (UL) - ~67.500 Ped - Bought by Sbinortz Sbi Latz' tek from auction on 25.06.2011
92.Justifier MkV Mentor Edition - ~65.000 Ped
93.Mothership Krusenstern (UL) - 63.003 Ped - Bought by Modified Akoz Power from auction on 26.06.2011
94.Armax Cow Tail - 60.000 Ped
95.Adjusted Fast Aid Pack - ~60.000 Ped - Part of another sale between Scott DoctorH Joel and Darth Skippie Boobie
96.Tiger Armor Set (M) (Full Set) - tt+58.000 Ped -Gusteen Gurre Stenhammer sold it to Anonymous for BO
97.Isis HL8 - tt+52.300 Ped - Item was sold in auction trough a bid war
98.Mothership Thule (UL) - 50.003 Ped - Bought by Atami Tami Atemi from auction on 23.06.2011
99.Tiger Armor Set (F)(Full Set) - 50.000 Ped - Angelica Coffee Lastrome sold it to AtamiKiangola in 22 September 2008
100.Formicacida Scale - 50.000 Ped - Great Optima Dane sold it to Bridge SilverFox Investor in late 2007

Planet Calypso content release 2012.1

NEW FEATURES AND CHANGES
The new AI functions for robots with both close and ranged attacks have been activated for
Drokas,
Harbingers,
Legionaires,
Troopers
and Warriors.
The graphics of the

Armax Bull,

Armax Cow,

Atrax,

Boorum Male

and Boorum Female

creatures have been improved.

Also new mob has been added - Combibo Brood Mother 

The Calypso space stations; Crystal Palace, F.O.M.A and Calypso Space Station have been moved closer together.

RESETTLEMENT UPDATE
Some redundant shop containers have been removed and others have been visually overhauled. This is an ongoing process and is only partially completed in this release.
The Armax herd south of Minopolis has been growing at an alarming rate.
A crowd of Boorums has been spotted bathing in the river south of Timbesha.
The missing trade center has been reconstructed at Genesis Amethera Headquarters.
The area surrounding Chateau Liberte has been improved; the new shopping booths added nearby will be auctioned soon.

Skiron

KNOWN ISSUES
It is not possible to purchase the more expensive items from the market traders.

Reflections about Entropia Universe in 2012

Many years ago I was kind'a into games. I have played AoE 1 & 2 for years, mainly solo, and often on my local network with friends. I game could last over 30 hours straight! I've also wrestled through many of the the need for speed versions, those were a major upgrade after the old games that some of you may remember, Grand Prix II & III, and the old Test Drive.
Counterstrike was about the same time era as AoE2. Hell I even still remember the cheat-codes. After the initial Total War series, something changed. The internet become more important for games, and I heard something about Entropia.

I read up about Entropia and man, was this something big! It took quite some time to download and install it, but of course that wasn't a problem for a specialist like me. Finally I could launch the game. Creating my avatar was already something huge. I had never done such a thing, and it looked like a big responsability, because I realized it would remain the way I created it. I think I devoted half a day on that. When I logged in the next day to discover a new world, it wasn't as easy as I had expected. It took me about 2 full days before knowing that, and how keys had to be mapped, takling to other people, etc. I followed the noob stream, and noticed what they were doing: obtaining bottles from a creature. It was not a good idea to take on a berycled, those were terrifying, you would die, and have to wait for like 20 minutes before having full health again, so that you could continue. I discovered faps a few days later, and learned to drown birds as a means of escaping. Ah well, having sweated a few days, sold them at reasonable prices, someone told me about the trade terminal. Man, those things had guns in them! Unfortunately they were over my pedcard, so I decided to deposit 20 euro. (I only discovered auction after about 3 months in-game lol, I thought the 'auctioneer' was an avatar that they were all talking to.)

That is how it started.
In those days when you had a starter rifle with amp, some ammo, you could hunt with it till out of ammo, tt your ammo, and hunt again. You could repeat this cycle over and over and over again. After a week or more, your peddies were downcycled so much, that a new deposit was required.
Then I found out about markup. I started selling things to people who wanted them, for more then they were worth! It felt a bit like cheating on people, but it seemed common practice. By doing this, a 100 € deposit lasted months, and one could even make reasonable profit. The only reason to deposit more, was, if you wanted a more powerful weapon, or better gear, or skills.
When an old friend took me to hunt my first feffoids, for the first time I saw GOLDEN coins in my loot. The feffs gave sometimes 3ped, sometimes up to 6 ped each. That was awesome! I could start saving money to buy better armor! Even after repairs there was some peds left.

From those days, my avatar grew bit by bit, mobs eating my ammo, and me eating a chip from time to time. (And MA eating my visa).
I've been at the top in tailoring, which required some investment, but then the system was changed (clothes minimal condition, and later textures) and all of my investments became pretty much worthless.
I've been at the top in the championsleague, but then the system was changed (vu10) and these were no longer possible.
I've participated at the top levels in events such as landgrab, (system got changed)
I was, according to my teams, a pretty good beacons' leader, but then the system got changed.
I became a top10 hunter, but then the system got changed. My skills became worthless, compared to what they were at.

Bottom line 1: investments rendered almost worthless time after time after time
Bottom line 2: future prospects of income diminished time after time after time

I loved the EU-concept, stranded on a distant planet, taking a week to discover one or two new teleports. Being 'uber' to get within 2 minutes at a newly created place (new switzerland) with my TP chip lvl5, just after the servers went up again...
But then the sytem got changed, vehicles were introduced.

Oh and about L-stuff? I hate it. I grew up in EU with using an EP21, upgrading to an EP22 later on. not maxed? still breaking-even and profit! My generation hunted with weapons, with having 1/10 stats! And guess what, imo it was more fun then it is today. Today we have a rediculous amount of weapons, armors, blueprints etc. Why? Solely for the purpose of introducing new stuff and keeping people busy. It is absolutely rediculous. Why do we need 7 different fap lines, with each 12 or more different faps? What is the use of that? I was perfectly happy with the fap5-10-15-18-28-50-90-110-adj-imp-mod.
It seems today's Entropia economy is getting as rediculous as our real-live economy: producing producing producing, selling selling selling, to make more money, to buy more stuff, to make more money, to buy more stuff, to make more money, to buy more stuff...
IRL you can see this in companies that sell absolute rubbish.
In EU you can see that in the L-market.

There is a difference between 1) managing a virtual world for the well-being of the virtual world, and 2) keep putting old wine in new bottles to keep people busy/entertained, and their peds stuck in storage.

Now it has come so far that, whatever you do, hunting, mining, crafting,...
Everything that is profitable, gets the cream taken off with a spoon. Unless you know something that MA doesn't know YET, or unless you are the best of the best of the best in what you do, profit is almost impossible. (except the happy few ath'ers, or the ones with the most expensive gear who can take the big event prizes) I also start to think that most people who claim to profit, with a few exceptions, are liars that lie to boost their ego's.

EU used to be, that with a certain amount of money, you could play for ages if you didn't throw the money away. Today it is as such, that it is extremely hard, even for people with better game knowledge and gear, to break-even.
In the old days, depositing was for upgrades, gear or skill, and very little for playing. Today, it seems impossible to play without depositing, while this was relatively easy several years ago.

After having played EU for several years, playing old-school games seems clueless, waste of time, and stupid, since you can use this time to develop your avatar instead. That is one of the things that has drawn me back time after time to EU.
Now I discovered the sole thing that can draw me away from EU: developing myself and my family. After all, when you turn of the computer, the skills and gear of that avatar are utterly useless. Real life skills stay!
I started caring less about how much 'virtual stamina' my 'avatar' has, and more about training again for my next black belt

Maybe I have been fooled, maybe I was foolish enough to think, as many of us have, that I could make a living here, but to me it seems those cards have already been distributed at the beginning of this world.

In the meantime, the holocaust goes on on this planet. What has EU changed for me? Quite a few things, but not many of them are positive. Actually there is one: I now understand better how many people react socially, and about their greed and ego's. Consider EU a virtual test-field for this

Anything else I want to add while I'm at it? Not much, except that I've been typing for about 30 minutes now, while I could have been in my bed catching up on so much needed sleep.
goodnight

Naomi NP Polder