Kept in the Dark

Skills, equipment, weapons, armor, the stats, the meanings, the vagueness, why are we kept in the dark on such things? Should Mindark open the information vaults or would that make Entropia Universe less fun?

Ok we have all read the forums with an endless amount of theories and spent many chat sessions regarding the finer points of whether one weapon is better than another. On one side of the coin you have Mindark who knows everything and on the other you have the players who are doled out tidbits of information and stats every now and then just to keep us theorizing some more.

One of the main things that attracted me to Entropia Universe was the fact nothing was "spoon fed" to me and it was up to shrewd players to figure things out for themselves. Well its been a while since I started and much of the information we have has either never changed or if it has it just opens up new theories and confusion. While the real me has hypothesized what certain things mean in game and I have my theories on what they do, my avatar is still left in the dark. To this day skills and stats on items have very little additional meanings and pretty much have the same meaning they did when I first stepped off the ship from an avatar standpoint. With any game of progression you learn things along the way in real life and those observations are usually met with some affirmation in game that benefits your avatar and the real you, its a dual learning experience.

What we have in Entropia Universe is new types of skills that unlock at certain milestones which really don't shed any light on the profession you have choosen, it just adds another mystery to the countless other mysteries we already had. Some stats on equipment and weapons lead credence to skills in showing which ones are needed to use the items efficiently but beyond that their vague descriptions only lead to more questions.

Information is a commodity and a way of gauging progress in Entropia Universe. Just like skills, helpful information should be valued yet we have no real way of gaining additional hard facts or knowing for sure if our hypotheses are correct. Information and the skill system should go hand in hand for example: As your avatar becomes more skilled you should be privy to more factual information. That knowledge is thus only useful to someone with the skill to decipher it properly so you either play or pay to gain the valuable information. There are many ways Mindark could improve upon the skill system to incorporate information milestones which could either solidify our theories or make us rethink how things work. I am all for a mystery now and then but eventually that mystery should be solved leading to some type of resolution. Those mysteries that are never solved tend to lead to conspiracy theories or mass disinterest.

So I pose this question to those within Entropia Universe and those who might have insight from other MMOs: Would this extra information add depth to our avatars and give validity to theories or even more speculation as to what skills really mean or should this be left "as is" a mystery we never quite figure out?

Life Imitates Entropia?

Lambert International Airport, St. Louis, Missouri (Insert: Trade Center building Treasure Island City, Amethera)

The Main Entropia Universe Profession

While most of us think of Hunting/Mining/Crafting as the main Entropia Universe professions one takes precedence over them all. Its called Trading and to become successful in Entropia Universe one must learn its "ins and outs".

Most of us already immersed in the Entropia Universe think of trading as a side note to everything else but if there was no trade there would be no RCE(Real Cash Economy)whether it be via shops, the in game auction, selling and buying posts on forums, or peer to peer trades in game. Everyone is looking to buy their goods (resources, equipment, services) at the lowest prices while those selling are looking to get the best prices on what they have to offer. The economy in Entropia Universe is a small microcosm of the way trade works in real life.

There are many different types of traders in Entropia Universe and I will try my best to explain just exactly what they mean and why some trading is frowned upon while other types are not even given a second thought.

First on the list is the flat out Trading profession. Its a skill less profession (as far as gaining skills from Mindark) but it does require real life skill, tenacity, and a good eye to spot the best deals in the market place. A good percentage of the traders (what I like to call Value added Traders) perform services in Entropia Universe. It can stem from someone consolidating resources to refining certain resources for a better than average return either in their shops, on the auction, or other peer to peer trading. A good deal of the Crafters out there benefit from players who consolidate resources. Most traders work within the confines of the going market price and make their PED(Project Entropia Dollar) from either holding onto resources so when the market price rises they make PED or snapping up small amounts of resources which are hard to sell otherwise at below market prices. Most beginning Traders will start out in this type of trading because it requires a minimal investment and over time its possible to save enough PED to move onto higher priced commodities.

The next on the list I like to call the Player Trader which comprises the bulk of the Entropia Universe participants. The main profession of the Player Trader is not strictly trading. They either Hunt, Mine, Craft, or perform so other type of service. They basically sell whatever they acquire from participating in their chosen profession. I call myself a Player Trader because I tend to sell most resources and items I loot via the auction and I usually keep the markups at or below the market prices. Market Prices can be determined via web sites like http://e-pec.info/forum/index.php, http://www.pe-trade.net/ , http://www.peauction.com/index.php, or with the latest Version Update 8.11 we can now see pricing history directly in the Entropia Universe(examples shown above). The Player Trader is what leads me to saying "Trading is the main Entropian Profession" since everyone whether they are conscious of it or not participates in buying and selling goods and/or services pretty much everyday they play EU.

Next, I will only touch upon this since its such a heated subject across the Entropia Universe, are Resellers. Its such a "gray area" between all the different types of trading. Reselling, by many, is considered the worst even though the majority of the population does resell at some point in time and in some fashion. This will be gone into more detail in another Blogtropia post so I don't want to go into great detail but my definition of a "Reseller" is someone who takes advantage of rare items and resources in game and in turn raises the price a great deal more in hopes that someone out there is willing to pay that price. If an item bounces from reseller to reseller to reseller it can dramatically increase prices especially if that item continues to remain in demand and rare. While we all love to hate the professional resellers in Entropia Universe, many including myself ride on their coat tails when it comes time to upgrade or when we happen to loot a great item or resource. There is a very large "grey area" when it comes to Player Traders and Resellers. While I would hate to generalize I think the animosity towards Resellers is the belief that they offer nothing and take out everything but like I said that is for another post for another time.

To sum it all up to participate in Entropia Universe means you will be trading or selling your resources, items, and/or services. That means the number one profession in Entropia Universe is Trading - its a huge part of what everyone does almost every day. The question is what type of Trader do you want to become?

The Final Entropia Exploit

I think Mindark does a good overall job of dealing with exploits that pop up in the system. In years past their response was sluggish, but that improved drastically. Such exploits' existence is inevitable in a game where the envelope is constantly being pushed. There's real money involved, and its a free download, so you can bet EU will host a good number of would be cheaters with nothing to lose. The only variable is how Mindark deals with them.

Last year we saw countless well known players locked, short term and long, for attempts to cheat the system. From the "101 Auction Bug" to hardcore use of hunting bots, Mindark made it clear that they would show no tolerance for those trying to cheat the system.

Mindark should be applauded for their crackdown. But this trend of behavior compels me to ask - why doesn't Mindark eliminate the final exploit that their software specifically enables?

I'm talking about Follow Bots.

Follow Bots are a simple exploit. A player logs into EU on a second PC with a secondary avatar (which is illegal). They equip an expensive FAP (med kit), turn on an autoclicker, and then command their secondary avatar to follow their primary avatar. Whenever the primary avatar gets hurt, the Follow Bot automatically heals them. One player is now driving a team of two.

At this point, the primary avatar can walk around and hunt without Armor, and without ever having to stop to FAP themselves. This technique allows those who use it the ability to leverage their $25k FAPs to exploit the system. How? By not paying armor decay. By not having to FAP themselves, reducing a mobs regen. By not having to employ the services of a medic.

Consider these screen shots. Here you can see one of the games most highly regarded players employing a medic. I am not implying that he is using a Follow Bot in these screen shots, but if someone were to do so, this is what it would look like.

Here you can see the scan of our player, blasting away without the need to wear armor (which decays at a high rate) or stop to heal himself (during which time he can't be firing, and during which time the mob's health regenerates). He is hunting the biggest mob in the game, the Daspletor, naked. You read that correctly, the games biggest mob does not require armor using this method.


And here you can see a scan of a low skilled avatar. Low, that is, in everything but his medical skills, which seem to be quite robust for such an inexperienced avatar. This avatar has also been entrusted with a $25k FAP, the most sought after item in the game. I'm sure that in this case it was just a friend who was doing the FAPing all day, but it does a good job of illustrating how the exploit could be used.

Follow Bots have existed in EU for quite some time. Their ability to track and follow the primary avatar's movements are quite sophisticated. The irony being, of course, that Mindark built this sophistication into Entropia. The Follow command is rarely used for any required activities, and it's removal would not be missed by many.

Hunting big game in EU isn't usually profitable. But when such an extreme advantage can be leveraged, you have to wonder when the proverbial dung is going to hit the fan. An ATH to a Botter is only a matter of time.

I can hear the objections already! Of course you can lend your FAP to your brother and make him follow you around for a 16 hour hunting session. (I'm amazed at how many EU players have patient, inexhaustable brothers) But if you find that without the Follow command he is no longer willing to mindlessly FAP you for 16 hours a day, put on some damn armor or hire a medic. Either of those options drive the economy and deny Follow Botters the benefits of this final Entropia exploit.