It is all about the LOOT

May be you have read comments from people claiming that Entropia Universe has no gameplay. Everything is about the loot. Everyone plays to make profit, have good loot, get global, score a HOF or receive ATH. If there weren’t the loot and the dream that you can get rich playing no one will play the game. May be even you think the same. And maybe you are right. In the end this is real cash economy game and everything you loot can be sold for real world money.

But something (that was before my eyes for years actually) strike me lately while watching EVE Online videos. Actually while reading the comments bellow the videos. Big portion of the post are actually how many ISK (Inter-Steller Kredits, the in game currency of the Eve-Online universe) per hour everyone is making. The satiation is actually way worst than in Entropia Universe. Soon you will stop caring about the fun and all you care will be how much ISK you are making per hour. You won’t play how you like it, but how you read in the internet someone was making butload of ISK. When you don’t play EVE you will calculate every hour as lost ISKs. And that why a lot of hardcore EVE players seem to overheat and quit. It becomes like real life job in china factory. You are forced to be as productive as possible. Every month you must make more ISK than before. Maybe someday you will be able to buy PLEX (a 30 Day Pilot License Extension, an alternative to paying for your account with cash), but then the price of the PLEX will go up and you must work even harder to make even more ISK. Some are making second and third characters; some are paying for second and third accounts just to make more and more ISK, where is the fun in that? And while this is what can make old player quit this also can make new player don’t start the game at all. You are thinking “OMG this dude is making 1 billion and I can make only pennies, I’m never gonna have a chance.”

But let’s not look only at EVE Online. If you look at Diablo it was always about the loot. Even before the RMAH (Real Money Auction House). Even in Diablo 2 people were replaying the same thing over and over again just for the chance of good loot. Diablo 3 was the same. Grinding 8-10 hours per day just so you can loot little better item. And people are doing it no matter if they are playing online, offline, solo or coop. They grind for hours just for that split second of good feeling getting good loot.

I’m sure it will be the same for Star Citizen. Everyone will try to make as much UEC (United Earth Credits) as he can. There will be tons of guides and videos how to do it. And the person with the most UEC will be proud of himself for achieving that.

So in Entropia the loot is very important, because it is actually real money, but it is actually not as important as in other games. A lot of people actually don't care about the loot. Or the return %. Or how ‘eco’ are they playing. There are 13 000 000 results in Google for “how to make isk in eve” and 47 000 results for “how to make PED in entropia”.

I’m not sure what was the point of this post, but just something to think about next time discussing THE LOOT. And play as you like it for ISK, PED, GOLD, UEC or just for fun. You are the master of your game time.

PS: Sorry for the overuse of “actually”. Sorry for other bad writhing too actually.

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.

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.

Mass Effect 3 Leaked Beta HD Demo

Mass Effect 3 is an upcoming action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Officially announced on December 11, 2010, the game is scheduled for a March 6, 2012 release and will mark the final chapter in the Mass Effect trilogy of video games, completing the story of Commander Shepard.
Gameplay in Mass Effect 3 will be influenced by decisions from Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 and have settings throughout the galaxy, including Earth and Mars. Combat has been changed and refined; in particular, the cover system has been improved, there will be more options for moving around the battlefield, instant melee kills and more conventional grenades will be introduced as well as improved artificial intelligence. A four player multiplayer co-op mode will also be available.
Mass Effect 3 will follow from the events of the Mass Effect 2 DLC expansion Arrival and follows Commander Shepard's mission to save the galaxy from the Reapers by rallying civilizations of the galaxy together, while also having to deal with Cerberus, who have decided to turn against him/her.
Here are the 6 parts of leaked videos from the beta:
WARNING SPOILERS!!!

Make Real Money Playing Diablo 3

Blizzard just announced that you can sell legally your items in Diablo 3 for real life money using PayPal. With other words Diablo 3 will have a new auction house feature that will let player buy and sell items for real money. PayPal will be used as payment-service partner for the Diablo III auction house, allowing players who trade with real-world currency the ability to cash out the spoils of their battle-torn adventures via a PayPal account.

This is great because you can sell items and withdraw your money for minutes instead of months as it now takes in Entropia Universe. And this is probably the worst feature of Entropia Universe - The Withdrawal Process.
Blizzard also revealed that the game will require a constant online connection to be played. Something like StarCraft 2. But this is probably to be expected so they can protect the game from hacking and selling items for millions of dollars.
From all beta movies I saw it seems Diablo 3 will feel as Diablo 2 with change in the skill system. Which may be bad thing, because you cannot customize your character as much as in Diablo 2. (Game is still in beta! Changes will be.) But don't make mistake! Diablo 3 WILL be the best game in its class for 2012 and the following 10 years.

Speaking of release date - Blizzard was aiming for the end of 2011, but now it is moved to early 2012. This is no surprise for anyone that knows something abouth Blizzard. The make games slow until every bid is perfectly polished. And even after that they continue to make it better.
If you can't wait and want to play Diablo 3 sooner, register for beta account on battle.net and hope Blizzard will send you beta key so you can play up to the first boss for free. To be eligible to participate in the Diablo III beta test, you need an active Battle.net account with any Blizzard game title attached to it.

Playing Borderlands and Dead Island

I was AFE (away from Entropia) for two weeks. I was busy playing Borderlands and Dead Island.
Both games has RPG elements. You get experience points and gain levels and skills. Buy and upgrade weapons. Perform quest or missions. Kill monsters and run for your life. Almost like real role-playing game, but with lot less thinking.

Borderlands is a science fiction based first-person shooter with RPG elements released in the end of 2009. You can choose from 4 different characters to play the game. Three males and one female. Everyone with different skills and abilities. You can use all kind of different weapons with different elemental attacks. Also there are vehicles in the game you can use and even don't pay for them.

As you can see from this video the graphics in the game are really stylish and little cartoonish which is cool if you ask me. Also the music and the gameplay are better than 99% of the games that were released last 2 years.

Dead Island is a first person horror action-adventure, role-playing, open world video game released September 2011. Here you can also choose from 4 different characters to play the game. Two males and two females. Everyone with different skills and abilities. You can use all kind of different weapons and you can upgrade them and even modify them with different blueprints so they get different elemental attacks as bonus. Here also you can use vehicles for free to drive around the Island and kill zombies.

This was the emotional trailer that made most players wait for this game impatiently.
But here is video from the actual gameplay so you can see what this game really looks like:

Those two games are one of the best for the last 2-3 years, but they are too easy for gamers that like to play Entropia Universe or other hardcore RPG. Even a blind-man will finish them someday just by clicking the left mouse button and walking around. If you want real challenge you have to go to the good old Project Entropia and to try make your living in the hard hitting reality of Calypso or any other life-sucking planet made by Neverdie or another tasteless punk full with inflated self-importance, egotism, vanity, conceit, simple selfishness and focusing his sexual interest exclusively on himself.