What is YOUR experience with Entropia Universe?

casmoga · January 2011

You are an active Entropia Universe player? Or have you given Entropia Universe a fair chance in the past but stopped playing for one reason or another? Please write about your experience and let the others know what YOU THINK about this game.

The purpose of this thread is to COLLECT EXPERIENCES from Entropia Universe players. NO DISCUSSIONS or ARGUING with players who think they "know better". If you see a POST from someone where you THINK they did not give the game a fair chance, please IGNORE it. If you see a POST where you THINK the other player is a liar or biased, please IGNORE it.

Let the readers decide what they want to believe.

And please ... if you do NOT have actual experience playing Entropia Universe (or "Planet Entropia" - the name it had before), please do NOT post in here!

So ...

* NO DISCUSSIONS!

* NO ARGUING!

* NO FIGHTING!

* NO QUOTING or COMMENTING Posts from others!

* MAKE your own POST and IGNORE THE REST

1 PERSON, 1 POST. Period.

And ... before you start writing about YOUR EXPERIENCE, please VOTE in the POLL below.

Thank you.

Mensch · January 2011

I tried EU for about a month recently. The game had long been on my radar (as a niche alternative to 2nd life, often read about in the gaming press for the astronomical in game item auctions for real money), and after hearing about the upgrade to the Crytek engine, I had to try it.

Initially, when I subscribed to the game, I awaited a confirmation email which would allow me to activate the download and enter the game world. I never received the confirmation. So I contacted customer service - no response. I wash, rinsed and repeated, several times. No response. I checked my spam filters - nothing there. So I gave up and forgot about the game.

About half a year later, I receive a random email apologizing for customer service issues with my account, and asking if I want to try the game. So I re-install, and try the game. This time I received a confirmation email.

I enter the game and log onto Planet Calypso. Initially, the graphics are impressive, but the world appeared empty. Luckily, a friendly volunteer 'guide' approaches me and asks if I want a "tour" of the city. I say "sure!" He helpfully shows me how to use the user interface and introduces me to the in-game features. He then takes me to the swamp camp where he shows me how to sweat. From there, he lends me a gun and takes me on a hunt, and we get a global, and he says that we were very lucky and shares the loot with me.

I use the loot to purchase a gun and ammo, and skip sweating and go straight to hunting. Hunting is fun, but it is basic grinding, without the missions you'd get in other games. I also quickly figure out its gonna cost me money or time - i.e. via real world currency or time spent in sweating mobs. So I attempt to curb my ammo use..

On the weekends, a group of veteran players bring their vehicles to the swamp camp and hold in-game parties, via Calypso Radio. They even hold contests. It's fun, and I liked the sense of community, so I chose to join the party, as it was cheaper than hunting.

Eventuallly, the veterans organized a tour, and we loaded up in vehicles, and they showed us the Planet and other waypoints/cities.

Along the way, I conversed with the other players and guides, and learned that most of them had been playing this game for a very long time; had alot invested in it; and few had played any other MMOs. They also thought that this was the best game in the world.

Eventually I ran out of ammo and realized I'd either have to sweat or pony up cash to keep playing. I performed a cost-benefit analysis, and decided that this game was not for me, as I couldn't picture myself sweating, and hunting would just cost me too much in real life money.

I'm not averse to RMT games - I play Atlantica Online and prolly have invested about 2k in that game in over 2 years; but this game would cost me much more to play; and honestly, it appears that this game has much less to do - which is why the community has to fill in the content gaps with in-game parties and socializing.

Still, it's an interesting concept and an interesting game. I'm not sorry I tried it.

Regards

narfi · January 2011

I started playing Entropia Universe in the spring of 2008.

Before that I had only played Guild Wars for a week or two but hadnt liked it much.

Age when I started playing: 28

I started out in Port Atlantas in VU9 which has changed multiple times since then and no longer resembles where I started. I spent my first 6 months playign for free, sweating and mining and slowly building up my equipment for both hunting and mining.

It was the difficulty and challange that really drew me to the game and kept me playing. If it was easy I would have stoped playing it just like I did with Guild Wars. Luckily this was just the second game I tried out becuase it has really grown on me.

After the 6 months of playing for free I spent about 2 years depositing 20-50 dollars every couple of months to help speed up my game play. It was right about the time I started depositing that my wife started playing as well.

I am very much about crunching the numbers and finding the cheapest and best ways of doing things, she is more interested in the social aspects, though lately she has really gotten into skilling mode and is doing quite well for her self.

I joined a socity within the first week or so of playing and they helped ALOT with learning the game and how to do stuff. The rest of what I learned was from trial and error and from studying the forums.

After playing for about 1 year I started my own society and have had alot of fun with the people in it and developing a great bunch of guys and gals. While none of us are "Uber" there isnt much left in the game that we cant do as a group when working together.

I always read on the forums about how the "Ubers" got to where they were by being the very first into the game when it started some 10years or so ago. There is no way that I could ever catch up to them because they were litteraly years ahead of me and had access to gear that was only avaliable in the early years. Even though I understood this, it was always something that nagged at the back of my head.

Then This last year things started changing, new planets were anounced, and then Rocktropia was launched. I decided this was my chance to be in at the beginning of something like the "Ubers" of old. I still didnt have the kind of ingame currency needed to travel to the new planet and really participate on a high level though.

Then I got lucky! Hunting one day I hit an amazing loot of 16,000ped! One of the items in that loot was an unlimited knife, only the second one to drop since the beginning of the game. I ended up selling it for a little over 40,000ped (four thousand USD) of which I withdrew most to help pay real life bills, but kept some in the game to start trading between planets with. I have spent 6-8 months trading between Rocktropia and Calypso and now starting to do some with Next Island as well. I havent really profited much because the planets are new and nto finished yet, so there arent enough players to really support traders too much. But I am building connections and now have a shopping booth on Rocktropia as well in which I sell items.

The trading has covered the cost of traveling between planets as well as adding a little extra to my monthly deposits for hunting. This has let me hunt some of the biggest animals on rocktropia the Dragons as well as the larger Zombies. I have purchased items with no use this entire time from people waiting for the time in which they will have a use and become more valuable.

This last week while I was away to Calypso on a trading run, someone on Rocktropia looted a new Blueprint. It was a Rudolf Dragon Plate blueprint for making armor plating that would add extra protection to the armor of dragon hunters. I got into contact with him and tried to purchase it, but he wasnt interested in selling. I made up my mind that I would try and loot one for myself, and when I returned to Rocktropia a couple days later, I had invested all of my ped into crafting supplies. I was and still am a very low level crafter, but really wanted that blueprint. So I crafted all night and got not only the blueprint that I was looking for, but also got 3 new blueprint discoveries! The next day on my lunch break I started crafting using these blueprints and got more new discoveries since these dragon plates had never been made before. I even got a 707ped crafting HOF while making the Lemmy Dragon Plates.

I have had times of good loot, and ive had times of bad loot, but they have all averaged out over time for me as long as I keep my head and play smart.

I just recently started a Blog about my adventures at

Playing With Real Money: Colonizing Virtual Worlds

I selected the poll option for Its a challange to try and play without depositing. But I could have just as easily selected a coupel of the other "its a great game" options.

This is my experience and I am having fun

Good Luck and Have Fun

Narfi

Mindeater · January 2011

I started playing Entropia Universe about a year ago. The game has some oldskool appeal. Ultima Online players will enjoy it for its depth. However the game is expensive and the community is prone to polarization. Gameplay is also a bit static, and at the moment unfinished due to missing mechanics like avatar beauty, taming, hangars, and other odds and ends.

Crafting is deep though and varied, and there are over 80 professions you can choose from.

Basically though its a pay to play game with a deep hunger for cash from its playerbase. Players who tell you that you can currently sweat for a bit to enjoy the game are simply trying to sell you the product. Theyre not lying to you about anything, this is possible, but they are embellishing alot.

Sweat currently has next to no value. Players dont want to buy it, but they do feel sorry for newbies and will occasionally buy it out of guilt. Most players have more than enough sweat to get by on their own and its easy enough to get yourself, so theres no need to actually pay a newbie to gather it for you.

Overall this game has its selling points, but if youre looking to play a straight up MMO and not an expensive economics simulator with a space setting, stay away from this product. If the latter is your cup of tea, perhaps EvE or Earthrise may have the same appeal, but at a more reasonable price!!!

Darkaner · January 2011

I've been playing for 6 years. Back when I started the game was something completely different, and I have left the game in periods and come back a few times. I don't play other MMO's at all, I find them a waste of time. The real cash component is what keeps pulling me back I think... Not that I care much about that now a days, I've been cashing out a lot of my money lately, but real money makes the atmosphere in the game different from other MMO's.

I believe that if you approach EU like you would any MMO you will be disappointed and/or chocked. Both in how expensive it is and how different it is in style.

If you approach it with the illusion of making easy money, you are in for a treat... There is money to be made, but as in rl it takes a lot of investments, both in time and money.

There are two things you must accept with EU to stay with it.

1. It changes constantly. What was fun, profitable, functional or good looking one day may be boring, unprofitable, non-functional or ugly the next. You have to accept change!

2. You have to accept the weird attitude of the developers towards you as a player/customer. To mention one example, they announced an event a year ago: The best decorated shop will win an uber armor (worth a lot of $). So people deposited thousands of dollars to get their shops into shape. The day before the event is about to take place, they cancel it. There has not been a word about it since... They do not care if you lose money from their mistakes or design changes.

But what is good about EU?

First, I think it looks really good. If you grab a vehicle and drive/fly around Planet Calypso you will have a good time just exploring the lands.

Also, you can approach it in many different ways. EU is not just grinding, gambling, moneymaking, trading, skilling etc. It can be all those things or none of those things, depending on how you want to play it. Some people say it is a casino. Well it can be if you play it like a slot machine, but you don't have to...

I think new players should deposit $10 right away, have some fun and then decide if you like the game or not. If you think $10 is a lot of money then you should not even download the client.

saintvio · January 2011

stay away.

nutrageti · February 2011

EU has been my main game for over 3 years now...went about 1 and 1/2 years without depositing and in the 1 and 1/2 years that I have been doing so I've put in around 215$ of which I could get maybe 70% back? Didn't really play eco or even smart, just played for fun, helped others, made friends...best way to play the game if you don't want to seriously invest is to just ignore the money part and play like it was a real life night out-spend a bit of money but don't spend too much...begginers have it hard nowadays...they need to be carefull what they do with their money because there are lots of ways for a begginer to spend all it's money and be left with nothing at the end.

I WOULDN'T reccomend begginers to deposit in their first few weeks, only after they've explored the place and learned a bit about the game should they try depositing

gurugeorge · February 2011

I don't have any particular moral objection to the game, but I just found the lore to be a bit s-f-by-numbers for my taste - the sense and feel of the game, the names of things, etc., just didn't grab me.

Also, while maxed out the game looks pretty good, the engine is a bit of a hog and gameplay feels clunky and awkward unless you dial it down to a level where it looks a bit ugly. (For comparison: my system can run AoC maxed out with full graphical bells and whistles at around 50 fps in DX9 mode).

For these reasons, I didn't even finish the starter zone. The game just didn't fire my imagination.

sudo · February 2011

Roulette with virtual guns.

EU_RAZER · February 2011

I am comming close to 6,5 years in this game and in that time I did deposit quit a bit of money in it, but I got hours and hours of gameplay for that. For $100 I can play a month and over 100 hours if I want to and don't waste to much money hunting the big stuff. So yes you can spend a lot of money and some people do, but you can also play for free or almost free (OK these days with sweat price at a all time low it is a bit more challanging). So what you spend is up to you. Spend a lot if you wanna play hard core and have the cash to do it with, spend a little just to play and have some fun, or spend nothing and grind for sweat so you can play with that a couple of hours. What I think is that people that say you need to spend 1000's of dollars to play expect the same level of progression as they got in WoW and want to hunt the big mobs from the start. This is not a game like that, you need to plan for the long run.

During the 6.5 years a lot has changed, from the old graphics to the new CryEngine2, missions, vehicles, new planets, new mobs. There is also thill some stuff mission that was in game before the CryEngine and that really is a shame, but they keep telling us they will be back, so lets hope so.

As mentioned before the community is a very nice one and overall very mature, because of the Real Cash Economy the game has. Because of that there is a lot less, swearing and namecalling and if people do they are probably gone after a few days or get banned for haressemnt. Because of the mature community you can actually have a decent conversation or discussion with people. And because of that I have made some good friend, even though I have never met them IRL, I feel like I know a lot of them pretty well. The community is a BIG reson I stay with the game

A big thing about this game is the forums, which add a lot to the game, like information, contests and even a real life paper magazine.

One thing people complain about is the fact that most developemnts go pretty slow and this is annoying a lot of the time. I do however understand it, because they need to tune the RCE so that nothing big happens to the economy and we see how hard it is to run an economy IRL :-)

I am curently taking a break from the game, but plan to come back to it when either Arkadia or Cyrene (2 new planets) come online. With the info we are getting from them, those 2 planets seem very nice to me and will give a fresh new look to the game.

Sorrow · February 2011

Honestly I thought Entropia was a total con. I started playing when the game first came out, I spent $100 bought some mining gear and mined for a month or two, left the game for 2 years, went back spent another $100 bought some armor and a rifle and started hunting a little for a month or two, left the game for 2 years went back played for 2 weeks and was like boringggggg decided to sell off all my stuff on the auction house and close out my account...

After selling off everything I have accumulated I was surprised to find I had gathered a pretty nice amount of ped ( game money), after converting I had $880 US coming to me. I was like yea right like I will ever see that money.

I closed out my account and supplied my bank account as they requested, surprise surprise less than a week later I had a direct deposit of $880 in my checking account.

Nytewolf2k7 · February 2011

I heard about the game in a local magazine, but it was not till much later that I decided to try it out...

The day was February the 14th 2007, the time was 5:45 WAST, I had just finished downloading the client (took ages to download on my old pc) and began installing it, the installation process was nothing to speak about, just wish there was some nice background artwork or something... No matter...

So I logged in that Evening...

Since there was no extensive manual, of any kind, I had no idea whatsoever of what to do, the guides I kept hearing people mention were fairly helpful, they taught me a few things (which should have been covered by a manual of some kind) as did my soon to be mentor...

Much later...

I met my mentor, Alexandros Kingsize Phenomenon, or Alex as I called him, In the quiet town of Port Atlantis after a rather non-profitable sweat trip... He would give me advice that would help...

After receiving the advice of my Mentor (Alex), I took up hunting and made some money that way, but it was not long before I needed to learn about this thing called "Skill Increase Bonus"...

I found the information I needed from Alex and from that old gem, Entropia Forum, which later became Planet Calypso Forum.

Much, much later...

I had been a member of several societies (In other games, these would be called "Guilds", "Clans", or "Factions"), my first one was Second Life Anonymous, but due to the inactivity of the society and it's members, I eventually defected to the (Now Defunct) society Australianz Rules.

Sometime in July...

Eventually I joined the Society known as 'The Knights of Calypso', I would join following a friend by the name of Tony Rocketfingers, who I have not seen in some time. I am now a Captain of the Knights, something achieved after my old mentorship program and other activities.

Eventually, After much money, blood, sweat, broken guns and tears, I graduated from my Discipleship with flying colours, Alex didn't get anything special out of it, but he gave me a truckload (more like a few, I die alot ) of Fast Aid Packs, which I still have today in my storage on Calypso.

I participated in the WoF 2008 and 2009, representing Australia, which was fun, except for the deaths...

(I have come back and left many times, racking up over 1000 hours of playtime, with my avatar now surpassing my previous blog posting. Has almost unlocked a few more hidden skills)

My profits weren't much to speak of... Yes its possible to make money, not a lot of money I made a whopping 15 cents playing the way countless people have recommended... Anyhoo...

My avatar is worth more than that though, If I was to sell out now I'd at least get 1k or more for my trouble. That said, I'm taking a break from the game due to persistant login issues, and missing item bugs. I would like to return, but if I did, it would be as a non-depositor.

This post was adapted from my original blog post

Barbit · February 2011

The Newbie Depositor Experiance,

I started EU back In 2008 when It was a very different game, as a non depositor and played for around 1 month I thought it was ok, sometimes funny while big groups of newbes are sweating big animals.

I left because the amount of sweating involved to pay for hunting was just not funny at all, I left for 2 years and now im back and put in 150Peds to help my game along, my findings so far are just average, but I have put more cash into different games and understand its gone.

I started by buying a full pixie armor set, nice looking armor and the wear is not that bad, or cost to fix. I also bought a decent sniper rifle worth 35PED with a sale of +1 ped, which was ok so I also bought a scope to fit it with and at first bought 10 ped of ammo.

I hunted around the newbie area with that big gun shooting all that ammo for not much in return, I ended up at west mound through missions so I stacked up on another 10ped of ammo and hunted there which was a much better spot guessing by the drops.

I also tried crafting guns, putting in 10 Ped for materials to produce Jester D1 rifles, 5 of them and not 1 success, I did get some skill and residues and a better QL rating on blueprints so I tried again with another 10 Ped and got 3 success on the rifles out of another 5, worth 1-1.2 ped each.

So,

Without selling anything and seeing what my ammo costs and manufacturing costs were I checked my storage that I had been droping all my loot in and checked everything with the auction.

I had around 18Ped with the loot that I put up right away in the auction and theres around 6-8 Ped with smaller things Im gona collect more of until its actually worth paying the auction fee for them to be sold. Most of that came from Hunting, around 80-90% actually and I guess it covers the ammo cost, especially as I wasted alot of ammo on puny mobs.

I will continue to play and im guessing with skill manufacturing wont be such a cash sink.

M_RufenPower · February 2011

What has my experience been with entropia universe? Wow what a question to ask me, seriously in all honesty. I joined in 2009 in march time. I started out as a non depositor, trying to buy gear I would need for ingame use that related to hunting. By using free ingame activities I raised enough capitol to purchase 3 sets of armour, pixie, goblin & shogun (unrepaired). An omegaton A101 laser amp & I think a Vivo T1 healing tool.

For the next 6 months I carried on as a non depositor gaining necessary skills that would help with my hunting profession, ie evade & hp skilling. I took a 6 month break, when I came back I decided to deposit just £30 nothing big. I hit my first HOF or big global as they are called ingame for almost 600ped. I couldnt believe my luck, as I was helping someone out in the game at the time, killed this creature standing in my way & the loot window appeared :P.

Ever since then I knew this was a game I wanted to learn & master. It is not like any other game I have played or tried irl. The real cash economy is what got my attention. After returning from my 6month break I stayed ingame for a long time 1 year, trying to find ways to earn peds by not depositing after my first deposit and hof had diminished through hunting.

It was going slow to say the least, I would be lucky if I reached my weekly target of $10 per week. It was untill MA introduced vehicles & were giving them out. I was so lucky I bumped into one of the official avatars giving them out near swamp camp. After seeing how much these cars were fetching on auction, I decided it would be wise to sell it now while the hype was up & I did, it sold instantly for those that didnt get a valkyrie mk1, as only 200 or so were given out. I made a cool $42 from that sale.

I used that capital to not hunt untill I had enough trading capitol for myself, after maybe 2months had past I had reached upto $150 on my pedcard. That was an extremely good accomplishment as a non depositor, as I'm actually earning for my time spent in the game hehe. What I didnt say ofc was that I was still depositing up untill that point, but I was using my deposits to buy cheap or rare armour, as I decided to become an armour collector. The entire collection of armour + armour plates cost me $700. I have since then decided to sell some of that collection away as I wasnt using it all for hunting.

After checking their market value, it came up to $800, so that alone gave me a profit of $100 :P. But armours were not the only thing I invested in on this game. In november FPC at the time now called SDS announced that a new land mass would be up for sale, Qetesh & a few other investors decided to pull ranks & invest into it as a group, called the Medusa Alliance. I pitched in another $700. I have since then sold the shares that I owned to another person within the group & I gained a cool $300 profit lol. Not bad for a game I casually play if not hunting otherwise I'm on for hours :P.

I love this game a lot, I still see a lot of potential, ah lot of ppl will complain this game is some kind of a CON, but tbh what or where can you make money from nothing or without first investing into something? Not going to happen folks. My avatar now has a net worth of $2000 & 3/4 of that amount came from me so I'm still in the plus even if my pedcard is looking at me with 3 eyes (0.00) lmao. A joke a soc mate told me just yesterday thought I'd share it .

So, I'm glad I returned to this game & gave it another shot even after being frustrated at the slow progression. It has been a tough & wonderful challenge at the same time, after my 6month break I never stayed away for to long. In future I'm planning to invest larger amounts into the game & see where the adventure takes me, especially now with more planets coming online & getting established with their own playerbase. As well as some of the other more awaited missing systems & new ones that have or will come along also.

Now all I need now to end on a higher high is land a big loot like some of us here in the community .

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