The Truth

Eighteen months ago I made the following promotional video for Project Entropia, along with McCormick. If you haven't ever had a chance to watch it, it's worth the three minutes.

Is it a sign?

Hello Fellow Entropians and newcomers alike.

Well I started my usual Sunday routine I get up, let the dogs out, boot up the computer, removed the crusties from my eyes, and as I sat and mulled over just what the rest of the weekend had in store for me, I decided to check the new posts on Entropia Forum. Much to my surprise I see a post under the UberLoots section named "Modified EWE-40 Mercury". At first I thought it was a hoaxer because it was named Mercury instead of Mercenary but when I opened the post there was the "screenie" and in bold blue a Mod Merc (Modified EWE-40 Mercenary) was indeed in that global loot message.

A BIG congratulations and Thank you to the DarkStar Society for sharing proof of their find with the rest of us. I hope this encourages everyone to do the same, including myself.

Hopefully Mindark took stock in the fact that there was an uptick in hunting the mob(creature) that dropped this awesome weapon and maybe, just maybe, renewed the faith of the likes of not only me but every other Entropian who thought we would never see something like this again.

Is this a sign from the powers that be (Mindark) that we will see items much like this Mod Merc in future loots or is this just happen chance?

So I reach out to you fellow Entropians and newcomers alike.

1. Is this a sign of things to come?
2. If you are a newcomer will this affect how you participate in Entropia Universe?
3. Has this renewed your spirit in hopes that such and item might pop up in your loot?
4. Is this the advantage and reason to hunt big mobs now or am I reading to much into this and this is nothing more than a one time deal and we won't see an item like this again for another year?

Mindark, you have my attention and I think many others too. I guess only time will tell just how long you can keep us glued to to our screens and on the edge of our seats.

Taking Action

The problem....

I've been talking to people, and most of them seem unhappy with their gameplay experience in EU. The game has taken an evil path, that forces us to double or triple our cash deposits into the game to keep playing.

Most of them struggle with the current problem of bad loots, and reselling. Both combined are a deadly factor that kills any enjoyment the players used to take in the game. The current drop rates on items such as ML35, MK5, DOA Strikehammer, etc... is too low, and there was a skill nerf recently, that makes it 10x harder to skill up making it hard to play without constant depositing.

Balance in the future

Mindark talks about adjustments now, so that the future can be more balanced. Well, im sure they have their reasons to do so, but maybe the nerf was a bit too dramatic? It used to be ok to skill, but nowadays its really tough. While everyone likes a challenge, maybe most of the players lack the cashflow to keep up the progress. It would be ok if items still dropped, since you could sell the loot to keep skilling, but items seem to have stopped dropping. Combine this with agressive reselling, and you got yourself a very difficult challenge to overcome.

While talking about market tactics, lets take the example of Feodora Hat. There's no point in trying to strangle that market, because its an item that crafters are constantly making. Therefore the price is uncontrolable, and if any reseller tries to do some manipulation, he will end up with hundreds of Feodora's in his hands, and wont be able to make a profit this century.

Another problem is the droprate of blueprints.

There are a bundle of high level Blueprints that never dropped. There's a full book of Weapons BP's, with about 50 different weapons... And only 5 are usable.

Because the high end Bp's for those weapons are nowhere to be seen... or in this case, they never dropped. For several years now that crafters have been expecting the high end crafting blueprints... And here's how things are at the moment:

- If a level 9-10 BP drops, then the crafter that loots it has the monopoly on such item. As only 1 drops. Like the Evil BLP amp. Only 1 BP looted so far, in 5 years.

- The BP drops, but there's no resources available to craft the item.

- And if there are resources, the Chance of Success in crafting such item is too risky, as we are talking about 50-100 dollars per click, and usually you will need materials for 10 attempts, in order to make 1 - 5 items, with no guarantee's it will happen. Sometimes you fail all attempts.

Again, there is a reason BP's don't drop. In armor and guns case, it should be obvious that Mindark fears to put out something unbalanced, so they are still studying what would be appropriate for a lvl 9-10 armor. Crafted items should never be better then looted gear, and that makes sense. Loot should be a treasure, craft should be a means to get the treasure.

(L) vs Unlimited

Limited can have some good stats. Take Modified Korss (L). Its a great weapon no doubt. But for it to be profitable, you will have to loot it yourself. And there's no guarantees it will be. Because if you don't, you will have to buy it, and they usually sell for a % that takes away a big chunk of the profit you'd get by using one.

Because (L) has something unlimited doesn't. When the decay eats your weapon, you can never use it again. So, dmg/pec will only matter in (L) guns if you buy them for their TT price, or close. Anything above it and you are automatically rising the dmg/pec, considering decay+ammo burn+percentage.

Im a non (L) guy. I really like the fact that i can repair my equipment an infinite number of times. It feels like im not dependant on the market. Maybe that's why MA wants the future to be (L). So that everyone is part of the market, making it a well oiled machine.

The HighEnd Unlimited Gear

Improved Mk2, Mod Merc. The two most prized guns in the game. There's a myth that if you get one, you will profit beyond your imagination. That's false. Not even with those guns profit is guaranteed. What's guaranteed though, is that their are far more economic to hunt with because they decay alot less then most guns, have a higher speed and a better dmg/pec considering the ammoburn. This creates an illusion:

Profiting with those guns requires: several hours a day hunting, good loot management, good skills, and luck above all.

Last known Mod Merc or Improved Mk2 dropped years ago. And to make a small estimate, if 20.000 players log into the game and hunt 100 creatures in a day... thats 2 million loots per day. Now, Mindark says they got +500K players registered. 20K players per day isnt really a big number. So in 1 year... you have ~730 million loots (in this scenario). This past year, no mod merc, mod fap, improved mk2, improved fap has dropped... that we know of.

Adjusted fap has been found twice, Supremacy armor has dropped considerably, 2 parts of eon are known, and a few of shadow armor as well. But those only allow you to hunt bigger mobs like daspletors and aliens... that don't drop anything good, and are constantly overthrown from the Hof list by 5K exa's, 8K argo's, etc...

There's always the chance that mod faps and the likes have dropped, but such items draw attention and the community is tight. Usually if someone owns a mod merc or a mod fap, people know who that item belonged too, even who looted it back in the days. So... If such an item was looted this past year, theres 95% of chances it would of been known by the community.

Perhaps its the only future in EU. I can understand that. It would be stimulating to everyone though, if things still dropped. Players without goals are as good as beer without gas.

Hunt for your Life

I'll say it again. A Mod Merc + Mod Fap will only make a difference if you got high skills and hunt ALL DAY LONG.

Most players have a life. Few of them are willing to participate in EU +8hours a day. So why does Mindark fear these items dropping so much?? And i started this blog entry complaining about ML35's and Mk5's... Guns that compared to such good items like the Mod Merc's are total crap. Slow reload and high decay. What if everyone had a mod merc..or Imk2?

Well, then the lootpool would not generate so much income, as everyone would be hunting more economically, which would automatically adjust the loot. Meaning that those items would become less efficient and profiting in the broader scenario. So why don't they drop?

Note

I really don't see Mindark suffering any bit if they include 5 of each good items like Adj V1, Mk5, etc per month, in loot. They have alot more players, alot more depositers, loot is now attributed in different ways, you can't trap creatures anymore, there are bigger markets and other professions other then hunting / mining / crafting..

They would only stimulate player's desire to loot one themselves, keep a hand on the inflation, and show that good stuff can still be acquired if you are lucky.

As many have said, including the previous blogpost, there isn't that feeling of "massive" in the tip of your fingers anymore, everytime you click to loot a mob. A 40K ATH can be a great feeling, but having an improved mk2 instead would be absolutely mental, for most players.

While i'd scream with a 40K ATH, i'd totally crap my pants with an improved MkII.

J.

Everything that was once lootable still is, right?

Today while I was browsing new item stats at PE Wiki, I noticed that we have such a wide variety of items in Entropia Universe some of which have not shown up in a loot in years. (yes, YEARS!) So I started thinking about it even though its a running joke in the Entropia Universe community it has been stated on more than one occasion that ALL items still drop in loot. Here are is an older quote and an answer from a more recent Q and A session from Marco, a well known and respected Mindark Official.

Marco quote from a long time ago:

The economy concerning rare items will always be limited, as the items are just that-rare. Contrary to some beliefs though - every item can be found, even a Mod FAP or an Mod Merc or an Imp Mk2.

Sep 01, 11:11 2004 - Stratics HoC

Here is a answer from one of the last Marco Q and A sessions on Entropia Forum 09-06-2006:

*The Question: Item drops, previously it has been said that all items will always drop, from the mob they dropped from before, just the frequency changes. Fair enough - but clothes stopped dropping, as did toys and certain high-level stuff. Is it still possible to loot all post-gold items? Not just mod/imp/adj stuff, but other stuff that we don’t see anymore?

Marco's Answer: Most items, that aren't "special" (like from campaigns or events), can be found, however, some are very rare.

So one would gather from the quote and answer to the question given above that every once in a while things would still drop in loot even those things which seemingly have stopped dropping like clothing and/or pre gold items and/or very good repairable items .

Now I understand Entropia Universe, formally known as Project Entropia, is an ever evolving and growing system. Some old items may not fit in line with the current direction Entropia Universe is heading. What gets me and anyone who spends any time in Entropia Universe is that most participants still desire and hope to loot such items that are, shall we say, very rare to the point of being non existent in loot. One of the things I hate the most is when a new players asks me if they can loot a Meckel and Loch ML-35 (good mid range weapon) and I all I can tell them is at one time it was possible but these days it seems near impossible. What does that tell them about Entropia Universe? That near impossibility to loot something which would actually make many a player participate even more in Entropia Universe is turning them away or making them participate less.

Above and beyond all things that Mindark has implemented, my biggest complaint is the restricting of great items in loot whether it be to inflate their price or push the new limited item system is just wrong in my opinion. Also stating that they "can be found" is misleading when Mindark controls what items drop and when. Its not like we have hidden hunting items in Entropia Universe. Maybe Mindark lost all the good items and that's what they mean. Another thought with the banking licenses for sale if there are very few items worth going to a bank to get a loan for, just how successful are those banks going to be?

It used to be that sharing your Hall of Fame loots and Global loots on the many EU forums was exciting. When I saw my first Modified Meckel and Loch in an uploaded screen shot of a loot window all I could think about was I want a loot window like that. While I never did loot such an item it was always in the back of my head each time I looted a creature that might possibly drop such and item. Every loot window was an edge of your seat experience. When I would loot decent items I would share just like others had with me. With the lack of great items loots these days sharing those achievements has turned into mostly "look at my stack of 100K animal oil" which I am happy for the person and send my "Congratulations" accordingly but I am sad also because loots with high value used to contain some of the best and most coveted items in Project Entropia/Entropia Universe. I myself have stated I won't post another screen shot of a Hall of Fame unless its a milestone or has a great item in it. Needless to say I have not had any hunting screen shots to upload recently.

Great hunting loot window screen shots from days gone by:





Recent hunting loot screen shots:






Notice a difference? I sure do.

OK this goes out to Mindark prove to us that what you say is true and all those items still drop. Drop a Storm coat here and there, let a Modified Mercenary pistol go every now and then, and drop the holy grail of First Aid Packs, THE MODIFIED FAP. People will still buy the limited stuff and dropping items like this on a more regular basis will bring back the excitement and hopes and dreams a lot of us still have, while we still have them.

Personally I have always thought you will get more bees with honey than vinegar. While I don't mind supplying crafting with animal oils and robot parts I think regulating non limited item loots to the point of non-existence is only going to cost you loyal fans of Entropia Universe. In my book you say what your going to do and then you do what you said. It builds confidence, loyalty, and trust between the participants and the developer.

So Mindark put your money where your mouth is and lets see just how lootable everything still is.