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MMORPG and Virtual World Platform Provider MindArk Completes Online Games Study Contract for European Space Agency (PR Newswi

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MindArk PE AB, developer and publisher of Entropia Universe and Entropia Platform, announced today that a study on the use of online game technology for space-related purposes has been completed.

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News feed provided by Yahoo! News.
 
:)
GOTEBORG, Sweden, March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- MindArk PE AB, developer and publisher of Entropia Universe and Entropia Platform, announced today that a study on the use of online game technology for space-related purposes has been completed. The contract for the study was awarded to MindArk by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2009 and a film presenting the main findings is published on YouTube.

"MMO-based technology has strong ties to acquiring knowledge through discovery, collaborative problem solving and team-based learning. This is supported by the findings of the study and the project with the European Space Agency has been a great push forward for us in this area. MindArk´s interest in implementing educational content inside online games was sparked by our previous discussions with NASA about their online game plans." said Christian Bjorkman, MindArk's Chief Marketing Officer. "The work on the study has helped MindArk in finding new means of mixing educational content with entertainment in Entropia Universe. Working with ESA has made us ready to move on to the next level, ready to work with learning industry partners in building qualitative, engaging and top-class game content for online environments that will be both entertaining and motivating".

The study ("Online Game Technology for Space Education and System Analysis") was performed to assess options for the European Space Agency with regards to using online game technology, specifically in the areas of outreach/promotion, education and collaborative engineering.

To illustrate the feasibility of the study findings MindArk has produced a visual mock-up based on a live game environment in Entropia Universe. This is available as a video on the MindArk channel on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MindArkPEAB

For a presentation of the study, please contact MindArk. To read more details of the study, please visit the ESA Education website http://www.esa.int/education

About MindArk

Sweden-based company MindArk are the creators of the Entropia Platform and Entropia Universe, a 3D virtual universe for entertainment, social interaction and e-commerce. The platform offers access to one of the most advanced Internet interaction venues available today, giving business partners the opportunity to create entirely new planets in Entropia Universe. Some of the themes in production by partners right now are shopping, games, social interaction, music and art.

Entropia Universe is a free download available at the game's official website, http://www.entropiauniverse.com/

For more information on MindArk and the Entropia Platform, please contact us at the numbers below or go to our website at http://www.entropiaplatform.com.
 
So... they didn't get the NASA contract so they started working with ESA? :silly2:



EDIT: The video is cool :D I want the HUD thingy shown about a minute into it :) (and the stuff at about 2:20)
 
Did I hear Marco's voice on the filmclip? :scratch2:
 
kalanen said:
Did I hear Marco's voice on the filmclip? :scratch2:
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I dunno, I am at work so cant have audio on :laugh: (gonna watch the rest of the clip at lunch)
 
Why didn't anyone jump, i wanted to see space-jumping :(
 
Pretty interesting. Video is well worth watching. :)
 
an inetersting project.


The shape of things to come.
 
I have to say that the video looks promising, also for the other planets. It looks like the mission system is going to play a big role, offering the possibility of much variation in game play. I hope that the possibilities will only be limited by the planet (or moon) developers imagination, and not by the development tools MA has to offer.
 
It is an interesting idea to use an MMO to educate kids on science/space based activities.
 
And we got a first look on the vehicles camera's ;)

I do hope ours move faster than that though :rolleyes:
 
Quite interesting ... and certainly a promising adventure, but I'm wondering if this project has been one of the reason things are taking so long for our own planet's growth. :dunno: The video is rather impressive, with many components of it quite recognizable, and while I wish them great success in this venture, I think we deserve some answers as to when we can see re-implementation of missing stuff, and the long-awaited features we've been promised ... please tell us when we can expect what's been missing for far too long.

Thank you! :)
 
[YOUTUBE]ITUSDHLlBNs[/YOUTUBE]
 
MindStar9 said:
but I'm wondering if this project has been one of the reason things are taking so long for our own planet's growth. :dunno:
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I think those might be different dev. teams :scratch2:
 
Only shock to me

said Christian Bjorkman, MindArk's Chief Marketing Officer.
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nice casual meaningless job, wouldnt have thought they had a marketing department.
 
Nighthawk said:
I think those might be different dev. teams :scratch2:
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Ofc fat amount of resources were put into that. If MA split some dev teams to have it work on 2 projects simultaneously doesn`t change the fact that they could have used them all for polishing the platform. But then again a contract with ESA is a pretty fat cow to milk, something they couldn`t miss.
 
Nighthawk said:
I think those might be different dev. teams :scratch2:
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And what makes you think that? ... please bring me definitive information that clarifies this thought of yours. I mean no disrespect my dear, and love your attempts at diffusion when something questioning appears in print toward MA/FPC, but ... it seems that no matter what ... you are generally one of the first to counter any questioning by posting pro-MA/FPC content, or at least try to diffuse anything that might not be favorable toward MA/FPC.

Come with facts and not guesses ... and then I will be totally receptive to that kind of reply to my questioning. ;) These are exciting times for MA/FPC I'm sure, and like I said ... I wish them well, but ... speculating is only personal opinion ... give me something more solid. :D
 
Mikass said:
But then again a contract with ESA is a pretty fat cow to milk, something they couldn`t miss.
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And good publicity :D

MindStar9 said:
And what makes you think that? ... please bring me definitive information that clarifies this thought of yours.
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Well, it was just a theory :dunno: as they have different dev. teams for other tasks...

That said, they could perhaps have put those dev. teams to work with the current planet(s) and universe as well :)
 
Nighthawk said:
And good publicity :D

Well, it was just a theory :dunno: as they have different dev. teams for other tasks...

That said, they could perhaps have put those dev. teams to work with the current planet(s) and universe as well :)
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Fair enough Hon ... I suppose it's occupational hazard for me to respond more explicitly since my profession is science-based and I deal a lot with empirical evidence. Guess we'll see what all this brings to the surface. Going to be interesting to see where it all goes and how we're going to fit in there somehow. Would be nice to know if there were specific development teams for various projects, or if people needed to be borrowed here and there to complete a task. Would sort of make a few things more clear (maybe). :D
 
MindStar9 said:
I think we deserve some answers as to when we can see re-implementation of missing stuff, and the long-awaited features we've been promised
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Maybe Hanne can step in here to give some insight but lacking that I will do a guess myself.
In my opinion FPC was formed because MA acting as service provider as well as content provider would not only pose a conflict of interest situation towards other planet partners, but as well would always balance development decisions more towards MA company interests than player interests.
FPC and the other planet partners will depend on the players so they will put our interests first.
But that is a big they will, meaning in the future.

Consider that splitting up companies takes a lot of time and also that the planet partners have to have up and running systems and have to do player needs analysis before they start putting pressure on MindArk.

Given all that my estimate is that we will only see the first real changes in MA after the next 2 years or so.
BUT look at how FPC starts working now, after employing Hanne the communication improved drastically, also they started with releasing own content with the 5 test quests.
While we wait for the next planets, FPC is setting the lowest benchmark of how a planet partner can operate and communicate, the others have to strive to become better and this competition alone will improve things for us players.

MA on the other hand will try to get as many planet partners as possible to hop on the wagon.
And its the smart thing to do, they have a technology that can support much more content, but developing content is expensive.
The player is not in the focus of MA and we cannot change that, but have to wait for the planet partners to pursue our interests.
 
Nice video Mindark!
Hope it works out for you.
Good luck.
 
what's the news?

I thought that's what makes gaming attractive - endless possibilities
 
thoreau said:
It is an interesting idea to use an MMO to educate kids on science/space based activities.
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Agreed .... :)

As long as they don't go putting in the stupid psychological gambling factors into an educational world designed by MA to pre-condition the impressionable minds of youngsters for future gambling.

No casino swirly or trumpet/cheering like in a real casino with funds buffering for globals/HoFs and crap like that for educational purposes / worlds involving youngsters.

That would suck and be totally unethical and I wouldn't put it past MA for a second to not have overlooked (Not even consider) such things in advance of being told to before hand.

^^ A round about way of saying MA are not that unethical to do such things intentionally.

The possibilities of EU are vast, it is how they are implemented that is important
... and if it is "tainted" by the operation of the "platform" base mechanics in participant financial processing.

I think Tim put it well - Environment conditioning and impact :)

TimUnleashed said:
Hey, I can walk into any casino in the world and I don't HAVE to gamble. Being there makes me WANT to gamble though, especially once I've got myself a few free drinks.
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Very nice ; should it be pvp like IRL ? :D
 
AtamiKiangola said:
Very nice ; should it be pvp like IRL ? :D
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Should be easy... shoot someone once with an opalo and they will have a rift in their spacesuit and die from lack of air after a while ;) lol
 
And insight I will provide! :)

Basically the part of MindArk that have been working on this project are indeed a seperate division of MindArk to those that are working with reimplementation of old systems and Calypso.
First Planet Company did not have anything to do with this either, we're busy as it is, trust me on that one!

So to answer your question, if this somehow slowed down Planet Calypso the answer is; No, it did not.

Hope that clears up any confusion.

(Phew, tried posting this a couple of times but EF crashed on me! Excuse the delay :))
 
MMORPG and Virtual World Platform Provider MindArk Completes Online Games Study Contract for European Space Agency (redOrbit)

GOTEBORG, Sweden, March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- MindArk PE AB, developer and publisher of Entropia Universe and Entropia Platform, announced today that a study on the use of online game technology for space-related purposes has been completed.

More...

News feed provided by Yahoo! News.
 
ahh the delay

thx for info Hanne!

i just wonder if anyone asking about delay was expecting other answer
 
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