Ways to bring new players and more money into EU

[Meapa]

Hello,

This is just list of ways that MA could (but won't) do to help EU be better and bring more players into the game. Meaning more money for MA.

The first thing is that the only thing that new non-depositor members can do is sweat. No one finds it fun to spend hours on end for a few ped especially when you are a new player. You are there for fun. Not sweating.

One way we can fix this is by adding a special gun which new players can use.

this gun will have no ammo and no decay but to equalize this, The player will not gain any skills(which come from the gun itself) or loot which the dead mob will drop. This means players will have a thing to do when they do not want to sweat. It means that MA will not have to pay anything and it will make players more likely to deposit as they will find it funner. The good thing about this is that it will not effect the loot pool meaning no effect on other players.

Another thing is that is that people aren't here to play hours on end. Entropia really requires many hours of work and people thse days don't have that. There needs to be quicker activities which people can use to have fun for the limited time they may have. While I don't how to fix this, I'm sure someone can.

Another thing is the Real-World Auction tab in the auction house which I'm yet to see have ANYTHING in it. I'm not even sure if it ever did? While not being used at the moment, it could become a real money maker as it could require the business who wants to sell the items, a sponsorship of somekind and then the auction fee itself. This would allow players to purchase items in-game with their in-game money using the same conversion, This is good for both 3rd party business and MA as it will give MA alot more money to keep EU rolling.

While MA seems strong at the moment, there should be a fall-proof plan if MA was to go bankrupt and owe us millions if not billions in in-game currency (mind you they will never pay). EU has being running for 10+ years and the amount of players are dieing down which will mean the amount of money rolling through the slot machine under the EU earth would be running less ped through. Meaning less in loot pools, us and MA. Eventually EU would run dry.

Now to end this off I just want to say that what I say could be completely wrong as I only just rejoinned EU this month.

~Meapa

 

[Trifle]

And where did you get the fact from playerbase is getting smaller?

 

[Futurama]

Another thing is the Real-World Auction tab in the auction house which I'm yet to see have ANYTHING in it. I'm not even sure if it ever did? While not being used at the moment, it could become a real money maker as it could require the business who wants to sell the items, a sponsorship of somekind and then the auction fee itself. This would allow players to purchase items in-game with their in-game money using the same conversion, This is good for both 3rd party business and MA as it will give MA alot more money to keep EU rolling.

It was for the magazine the entropian. Other items, such as looted video cards etc. might have been listed there too, don't remember though.

 

[whiteknut]

Another thing is that is that people aren't here to play hours on end. Entropia really requires many hours of work and people thse days don't have that. There needs to be quicker activities which people can use to have fun for the limited time they may have. While I don't how to fix this, I'm sure someone can.


~Meapa

Crafting is quick and fun.


But about the whole issue, i think MA shouldnt bet on non depositors for logical reasons . If you want to play for free be ready to have some hard time. Want to have fast fun? Deposit or play angry birds instead!

 

[Farmer Smurf]

The first thing is that the only thing that new non-depositor members can do is sweat. No one finds it fun to spend hours on end for a few ped especially when you are a new player. You are there for fun. Not sweating.

Another thing is that is that people aren't here to play hours on end. Entropia really requires many hours of work and people thse days don't have that. There needs to be quicker activities which people can use to have fun for the limited time they may have. While I don't how to fix this, I'm sure someone can.

While MA seems strong at the moment, there should be a fall-proof plan if MA was to go bankrupt and owe us millions if not billions in in-game currency (mind you they will never pay).

First of all there are MANY sweaters who love to sweat, many would sweat even if sweat was worthless (many of us consider it to be worthless compared to the time, yet we still enjoy it)..There was a top 50 list of sweaters around, cant think it would be full if we didn't enjoy it.

Second, while fast time activities could be fun..I wouldn't say people aren't here to play hours on end...
see my first point, some people WANT a mindless time consuming activity to do all day long..some craft some mine some sweat, but many spend much more time than they would like to admit (not because the game requires it, but because its a game

And finally, they do have a plan..I believe its plan B, "stack up all the loot in a castle in Germany and prepare to defend against a mob of angry gamers".

Sorry to rip into your post..I am just a sweater who enjoys gaming all day long

 

[Pyhä Antero]

Deposit or play angry birds instead!

I kinda disagree. If Entropia had free content, low-budget content, low level content, something different than the grind we have now, game would have more players and depositors. So, renew the freemium model to modern standard and you will gain bigger playerbase. And I agree with OP that they should get rid off sweating. You don't have to watch many First Look at Entropia Universe vids at youtube to see the problem Entropia has. Entropia only attracts 1 or 2 types of player. If we had different types of players, it could be easier to profit and game would be more funny.

 

[Strash]

I kinda disagree. If Entropia had free content, low-budget content, low level content, something different than the grind we have now, game would have more players and depositors.

puny mobs??
Rookie finder mining?

and well crafting is crafting
you have to be smart

 

[Pyhä Antero]

puny mobs??
Rookie finder mining?

and well crafting is crafting
you have to be smart

Puny mobs or GTA V Online? That's the question...

 

[Farmer Smurf]

Entropia only attracts 1 or 2 types of player. If we had different types of players, it could be easier to profit and game would be more funny.

I agree it tends to draw a certain type of player, but I think the type f player it draws..find EU good, because those other types of players typically are not here.

Like bringing a bunch of "sterotypical wow players" might drive away a large portion of Type1, while type 2 struggles to accept the pvp aspects of the space portion..."

A large portion of players seem to enjoy EU because it seems more "elite" and less like all those other games, with all those other games stereotypes.

I could be very wrong, and its no doubt EU needs more players. but I think the data crunchers really need to consider disposable income demographics more than "average gamer desires". or risk reducing annually depositing ubers with 1 year play then quit maybe deposit, maybe not players. could be if enough of them depo'ed a little, it would be better for MA to move away from the "elitist gamer" market..but I think it bears consideration.

 

[whiteknut]

I kinda disagree. If Entropia had free content, low-budget content, low level content, something different than the grind we have now, game would have more players and depositors. So, renew the freemium model to modern standard and you will gain bigger playerbase. And I agree with OP that they should get rid off sweating. You don't have to watch many First Look at Entropia Universe vids at youtube to see the problem Entropia has. Entropia only attracts 1 or 2 types of player. If we had different types of players, it could be easier to profit and game would be more funny.

Why you left part out where i asked about "Want fast fun?"
I am not against free content, but if it gets too fun, why would you deposit? I mean if it is real cash economy game, why introduce fake economy system to it(free guns free ammo no loot)? Wouldnt it be easier to just play another game if you dont like RCE.
Free content should be jumpboard for future depositors (give them taste but not the whole dish (as it is right now, they can kill puny mobs but if they want to get some serious HOFs ATHs they need to work hard or deposit))

There are enough games that are fun and free, entropia cant compete with them as Entropia is giving away money unlike the other games.
Free gameplay shouldnt compete with paid gameplay, otherwise people stop depositing and start playing for free.

Maybe i am stupid, but this is how i see it.

 

[Xandra]

Hi,

I kinda disagree. If Entropia had free content, low-budget content, low level content, something different than the grind we have now, game would have more players and depositors. So, renew the freemium model to modern standard and you will gain bigger playerbase.

I partially agree. But never forget that EU is very different to most of the other games - not all that works there would work here!
For instance the "free no-loot gun" mentioned in the OP: Newbies would run around shooting down any small monster for fun, and the ppl that hunt them for missions or hides would be mighty pissed ...

I agree that something should be done for the new players, to keep them in game long enough so that they'll finally think of depositing. I don't think many ppl "come, see, and deposit" - judging from my own experience it may take quite some time until they're "ripe" ...

What's lacking most IMHO are some easy and exciting opportunities to earn a little PED, a way to get them newbies accustomed to the EU economy, and, most important, to the social aspects.
And this is a hot topic, because any PED earned by a nOOb has to be payed by someone - so we cannot just set up a whole new player earning system, it has to be balanced very carefully!

For instance, a few suggestions basing on things that we once had but don't have anymore:

• Sweat has no real value anymore, and the changes in sweating has made it quite boring. Not much use for it anymore, and all but challenging to collect it. A sweating skill cap, some more uses for sweat, maybe even a reintroducing of sweating "semi-trapped" mobs could help. Make it harder, make it more rewarding, make it a social activity like it was once!
  .
• Once nOObs could be used as runners to keep mobs busy chasing them while a hunter was killing the mob. Dunno how it worked, came too late - and doubt it would work w/o a taunting system. But MA could revive the decoy system that's in place actually: The decoys could be crafted from sweat only, and the use of the Omegaton Distractor DD-20 could be capped, too - so that only nOObs could use it. A new way to earn some few PED for new players, and a way to get them in touch with the seasoned players!
  .
• Last but not least: Vehicles killed a lot of fun in the new player experience, all the fun, challenge and excitement in exploring and collecting TP's has been wasted. New players might not be able to be passengers/ drivers at all (besides from a test ride in the tutorial maybe?). Only after the first deposit or after a certain skill gain this should be allowed. This would keep the newbies together at the staring points, and would be a new goal to reach for them.

Goal would be to keep the newcomers busy for a while, show them the commercial and social aspects of EU, and getting them in touch with more seasoned players (that would buy the sweat, hire them as decoy dispensers, would organize TP runs, and might act as role models). Without a big impact to the economy, but with a longer time span for the first impressions, and, as I hope, for a better depositing rate then.

And I agree with OP that they should get rid off sweating. You don't have to watch many First Look at Entropia Universe vids at youtube to see the problem Entropia has.

As mentioned above, sweating once was ways more exciting than today. Don't find my old posts anymore, search function is crap here. But believe me, it was really fun back in the 06's!

I fully understand why so many new players are leaving quickly these days - the game isn't able anymore to catch them. The game has other plans but to handle any stinkin' freshmen, it's about to suck the holy hell out from the established players meanwhile. Who needs fresh players when we can milk them existent ones at our will?

Have fun!

 

[Pyhä Antero]

Why you left part out where i asked about "Want fast fun?"
I am not against free content, but if it gets too fun, why would you deposit? I mean if it is real cash economy game, why introduce fake economy system to it(free guns free ammo no loot)? Wouldnt it be easier to just play another game if you dont like RCE.
Free content should be jumpboard for future depositors (give them taste but not the whole dish (as it is right now, they can kill puny mobs but if they want to get some serious HOFs ATHs they need to work hard or deposit))

There are enough games that are fun and free, entropia cant compete with them as Entropia is giving away money unlike the other games.
Free gameplay shouldnt compete with paid gameplay, otherwise people stop depositing and start playing for free.

Maybe i am stupid, but this is how i see it.

I didn't say that they should make hell lot of money without any PED input, did I? I didn't support the idea of free gun, go kill mobs. I supported the idea of getting rid off sweating. It could be replaced by something similar that Cyrene's PvP, only that tokens wouldn't have TT value. Or it could be replaced with car race, fishing, other minigames etc. I think sweating was meant to be a joke. But I don't see anyone laughing. And, sweating ain't the only problem, there should be better quality content for starters and low-budget players. And if Mindark can't compete with other games, it can sign out of business today, because gaming industry is competitive. There's hundreds of companies wanting to grow, and have passion which Mindark doesn't seem to have. They haven't been very innovative in 10 years. They should start to think about various other sources of income e.g. paid expansions, freemium model+3rd party advertising, selling clothes and other as important things at TT... and then combine it with RCE and free-to-play / free-to-download. But they doesn't seem to be very interested to grow.

 

[whiteknut]

I didn't say that they should make hell lot of money without any PED input, did I? I didn't support the idea of free gun, go kill mobs. I supported the idea of getting rid off sweating. It could be replaced by something similar that Cyrene's PvP, only that tokens wouldn't have TT value. Or it could be replaced with car race, fishing, other minigames etc. I think sweating was meant to be a joke. But I don't see anyone laughing. And, sweating ain't the only problem, there should be better quality content for starters and low-budget players. And if Mindark can't compete with other games, it can sign out of business today, because gaming industry is competitive. There's hundreds of companies wanting to grow, and have passion which Mindark doesn't seem to have. They haven't been very innovative in 10 years. They should start to think about various other sources of income e.g. paid expansions, freemium model+3rd party advertising, selling clothes and other as important things at TT... and then combine it with RCE and free-to-play / free-to-download. But they doesn't seem to be very interested to grow.

Neither did i say that you said . There is much more here than at the time i started.(and still ppl joined back then, not because it was the most interesting game, but because of the RCE aspect of this game). By making for example car races way to earn peds i think more people would stop depoing lets say 10usd a week and replace it with driving. Making money to play something for free should not be fun.

ABout mindark not being innovative and not growing and not being competitive i think you are talking about some other game - as surely company that survived world economy crisis cant be the one. Playerbase of this game is growing atm (amount of auctions is higher right now than it was 2 years ago in christmas time (which is the most active time of the year in this game as you know).

 

[Pyhä Antero]

Neither did i say that you said . There is much more here than at the time i started.(and still ppl joined back then, not because it was the most interesting game, but because of the RCE aspect of this game). By making for example car races way to earn peds i think more people would stop depoing lets say 10usd a week and replace it with driving. Making money to play something for free should not be fun.

ABout mindark not being innovative and not growing and not being competitive i think you are talking about some other game - as surely company that survived world economy crisis cant be the one. Playerbase of this game is growing atm (amount of auctions is higher right now than it was 2 years ago in christmas time (which is the most active time of the year in this game as you know).

You don't seem to have much faith that people would keep depositing. Some how I think that when a fella joins real cash game, he thinks that he will make money out of it. Some how I don't follow your imagination how some people wouldn't wanna be better in a game that they enjoy playing. Also, people could be "forced" to improve by gamemechanics and that how deposit and contribute to the economy.

And, what comes to innovative development... are you sure we are playing same game? And, what comes to growing community... I don't see it. If you count newcomers to these numbers maybe. But depositing players... let's say that I haven't noticed the increase.


And, I doubt that X-mas time is the most active...

 

[whiteknut]

And, what comes to innovative development... are you sure we are playing same game? And, what comes to growing community... I don't see it. If you count newcomers to these numbers maybe. But depositing players... let's say that I haven't noticed the increase.


And, I doubt that X-mas time is the most active...

:O You have some other data than auction page amount that everyone can check by themselves(i am sure many other traders can confirm that christmas time is always nice)? A list of depositors?
About innovation do i really need to compare game 7 years ago to todays? (Mobile app, planets, CLDs, banks, space system) Or what do you mean by it? That we should have pinball machines in the corners ?

 

[Pyhä Antero]

:O You have some other data than auction page amount that everyone can check by themselves(i am sure many other traders can confirm that christmas time is always nice)? A list of depositors?
About innovation do i really need to compare game 7 years ago to todays? (Mobile app, planets, CLDs, banks, space system) Or what do you mean by it? That we should have pinball machines in the corners ?

Banks not very functional (not the original idea of banks, they became pawnbrokers). Mobile apps, planets, space are industry standard. And to be honest very little detail have been put in them. Do I need to list what other games have and what Entropia doesn't? And the Christmas time is active because it's always VU, but other VU's raise the numbers too. And if you take a look into Entropia Life. Less globals nowadays in hunting. Mining can't be compared.

To be honest, you don't seem to play much other games, if you think Mindark is very innovative and has passion to develop the game.

And, financial reports tell much about playerbase growth.

 

[valentin]

All players should have their own uberloot or ATH once a year who is equal to 15% of everything they they have depposit in a year like a small stimulus package once per/year.

 

[whiteknut]

Do I need to list what other games have and what Entropia doesn't?.

Sure, as i myself dont know any other game like Entropia (RCE with loot system).

What game do you mean and what it has that Entropia doesnt ? (no point of listing different type of games like WOW or SL or Eve Online as they are not in the same category)

 

[Pyhä Antero]

What game do you mean and what it has that Entropia doesnt ? (no point of listing different type of games like WOW or SL or Eve Online as they are not in the same category)

Okay, sir I think this conversation isn't going anywhere, so I don't bother reply anymore, but my point was that Entropia attracts gamer type which is minority and the product as it's now won't attract masses even if it was marketed. It just is very little fun which you get for 50$ in Entropia. And idea of RCE won't take far without masses... that's just my point of view.

 

[Farmer Smurf]

its brought it 10 years, and growing.

When MA appeared to be in finacial issue, and turned to the customers (players) for a bail out. We dumped 6million usd into the game in less than a year.

 

[Arch]

They just have to create an environment where you are not ashamed to tell your rl friends how much it costs you to play the game. Then we can invite all of our friends to join EU.

 

[Spawn]

Puny mobs or GTA V Online? That's the question...

If you download it for free then this comparison holds ground... GTA V will not be for free.
if it costs 49.95 then thats 495 peds to play with in entropia. A smart player could start his fortune in entropia with that.. in gta.. it's just money spent and money gone, unless gta V online will have some sort of RCE. ( no not amazon avatar sales, but ingame rce)

 

[starcollector]

Some of friends become addicted to the game after hunting vixen shy(puny version) because of MU on vixen android gear....

 

[Luckycharm]

Hey Meapa,

First thing that came to my mind is the no-skill, no-loot gun would be abused in this game to shoot mobs that are being hunted by hunters. As in additional dps services. The newbie won't get loot of it but the hunter will and markup items perhaps.

Even though that could be a fun idea I'm convinced a large number of ppl would use this in a way it's not intended.

Sweating is fun when it's worth something though and when the group is talkative in a pleasant way.

 

[Meapa]

Hey Meapa,

First thing that came to my mind is the no-skill, no-loot gun would be abused in this game to shoot mobs that are being hunted by hunters. As in additional dps services. The newbie won't get loot of it but the hunter will and markup items perhaps.

Even though that could be a fun idea I'm convinced a large number of ppl would use this in a way it's not intended.

Sweating is fun when it's worth something though and when the group is talkative in a pleasant way.

There are heaps of ways that we could stop them exploiting the guns. Me and my soc had heaps of these so I'll just say one or some.

Firstly, we could make it limited to certain mobs like punys found around PA.

We could make it only do 1 damage per shot, and maybe do no damage if someone is already shooting it.

 

[Strash]

There are heaps of ways that we could stop them exploiting the guns. Me and my soc had heaps of these so I'll just say one or some.

Firstly, we could make it limited to certain mobs like punys found around PA.

We could make it only do 1 damage per shot, and maybe do no damage if someone is already shooting it.

just put 10$ in and your good to go on puny mobs with puny weapons.....

this is a bad idea..

 

[Charlie Gloom]

Sure there are nub items and puny mobs, but you can only do that for so long and see the rare list with only higher spenders getting the spoils before you quit.

only way i see this game going mainstream is if the cost to hunt/mine/craft at all levels is at about 1/10th of what it is now. Yes that means the profits some see will go away, and many will chip out and leave. It is the only change I see that would make this game more friendly for a $10-$20 a month typical player.

I don't see this ever happening, I wish it would, sure it would kill my own investments in the short term, In the long term more players and more demand for unl and L items would be a good thing. the Entrepreneurs in game will always find a way. With a cheaper game it would open the game to 1,000s more that could reach middle to upper class mobs and higher end crafting and have a feeling of success. Not quitters that realize the $1,000s of US $ it will cost to make it anywhere in this game.

 

[Meapa]

just put 10$ in and your good to go on puny mobs with puny weapons.....

this is a bad idea..

Then what about after that $10 is gone? I doubt they would want to put another $10 just to do it again

 

[Evil Aeon]

IDEA:
Alternative fire to "sweat tool". Fire with sweat , 5 bottles per shot (1 dmg) ,10 bottle pumping shot (2 dmg). No loot, no skills (SG maybe), only fun to the noobs. It will be fun for sweat team to kill big low regen mobs with sweat

 

[robinsilni]

Sure there are nub items and puny mobs, but you can only do that for so long and see the rare list with only higher spenders getting the spoils before you quit.

only way i see this game going mainstream is if the cost to hunt/mine/craft at all levels is at about 1/10th of what it is now. Yes that means the profits some see will go away, and many will chip out and leave. It is the only change I see that would make this game more friendly for a $10-$20 a month typical player.

I don't see this ever happening, I wish it would, sure it would kill my own investments in the short term, In the long term more players and more demand for unl and L items would be a good thing. the Entrepreneurs in game will always find a way. With a cheaper game it would open the game to 1,000s more that could reach middle to upper class mobs and higher end crafting and have a feeling of success. Not quitters that realize the $1,000s of US $ it will cost to make it anywhere in this game.

Great idea.