Question: What made you fall in love with Entropia?

[Legends]

This Poll is based on the results and responses that have been given in 2 earlier Surveys/Polls I did which you can see here and here. I have reviewed, read and re-read the responses and have been working on a more accurate, more complete Poll to find out what specific aspects of Entropia have been more front of mind for players.

With this Poll, I am attempting to establish which specific aspects of Entropia have been the most important for us players. So when you vote in this Poll, please consider those things that really made a difference for you and that made your experience so much more enjoyable, to the point that it actually caused you to fall in love with the game at the time and continue playing.

So for example, as you review the Poll choices, if when you see the statement:"7. The community", you think to yourself "Oh yeah, the community seemed pretty cool..." But in actual fact, it didn't really play any role in you staying and continuing to play Entropia in the long run and it was actually because "17. So many Professional paths to choose from", which you really enjoyed exploring and playing around with, then maybe you shouldn't pick #7 as it probably wasn't a factor. This will help make the results at the end a lot more accurate in terms of what matters most. But please do check all of the options and select all of the ones you feel were definitely a factor to you sticking around and continuing to play Entropia long-term.

So, What made you fall in love with Entropia? (check all that apply)

1. The Sights & Sounds (look and feel of the game)
2. The alien Creatures and Vegetation
3. The thrill of Exploring/Discovering a New World
4. The Open-World concept - free to go anywhere in the world
5. The Open-ended gameplay - free to do what I want in the world
6. TP runs were so fun and challenging
7. The community
8. Met great people in game
9. So much going on (radio shows, fashion shows, events, etc.)
10. Big fat HoFs on small mobs
11. I was hooked after my very first swirly!
12. It felt like there was Opportunity everywhere
13. The Globals/HoFs & the fact it's Real Money makes it more immersive/interesting
14. I loved the Free-to-Play concept
15. I loved the idea of being able to make money here
16. The possibility of being a Businessman/Entrepreneur here
17. So many Professional paths to choose from
18. It was really fun, I was really enjoying playing
19. The perfect blend of virtual gaming with a real life economic system
20. Other (please share)


After casting your vote in this Poll, please reply in the thread stating THE number 1 thing that you feel was the biggest contributor to getting you hooked on Entropia.

Thank you


--
Notes:
1. There is no limit to the number of answers you can select
2. Your votes are private
3. You can change your votes later if you realize you made a mistake
4. This Poll will never close, it is a persistent customer survey of sorts

 

[jak]

1. The Sights & Sounds (look and feel of the game)

20 years ago the game was totally different!! The game sounds were amazing and enthralling and kept me in the game!!! The sights and adventure of discovering a new world kept me going!!!

 

[Atrax]

I hit 5 boxes here.

#1 and #2 there's a bit of overlap, went for both.

#5. I was glad to see that separated from "go anywhere". There never was a lot you could do but there used to be some messing around.

#8. As I've said many times, the people that I met when I came were awesome. They taught me a lot and we were always doing something fun. The system was a bit more 'naive' then of course, and getting involved early with a group who knew what they were doing took a lot of the stress off of the early game. Without them I might not have lasted more than a couple of weeks.

#20. I love the complexity of the game. The skill/profession system is awesome, and other than some dedicated crafting sims I've never found anything with such a complex crafting system. It doesn't really mesh up with my feelings about the RCE, but nonetheless to me it was/is very attractive.

 

[TontonX]

What made me fall into Addiction with Entropia

#13, #18

MA knows perfectly how to dangle the little carrot

 

[Wistrel]

Good poll!

 

[Legends]

I had picked 10 of these at first and later managed to boil it down to 7. But if you read through some of my other polls/surveys on this topic, you might have seen my post where I tell the story of how I started, and where I explained that what caused me to choose EU and not another game was primarily due to the idea that it was possible to make money.

So in my case, THE main factor really was "#15 I loved the idea of being able to make money here"

 

[Alainax]

Although I do keep voting in these threads - you do have me wondering why or what sort of market research are you doing

 

[Mike Kaffeslukarn Morazi]

Anyone else think they should do a new soundtrack, more similar to the old one?
Bring back the feel, all the sounds.. etc

 

[DrGirlfriend]

The amazing and helpful community that isn’t at all bitter and resentful

lol seriously though, you guys rock, love all of you

 

[Legends]

Although I do keep voting in these threads - you do have me wondering why or what sort of market research are you doing

Thanks for your support Alainax

And what was THE number 1 thing that you feel was the biggest contributor to getting you hooked on Entropia?

 

[Pred]

I fell in love with Project entropia! The game felt so vast exploring with no vehicles or tp chips. The music was so immersive aswell, the game lost that feeling very quickly, also everything was unlimited, none of the L stuff good times back then

 

[Alainax]

Thanks for your support Alainax

And what was THE number 1 thing that you feel was the biggest contributor to getting you hooked on Entropia?

If I say JBK that will be too cheesy, so ill say - the people

 

[SoberPhil]

Obviously it's the RCE element that makes this game unique, or almost unique. But there's one (I think) very important thing you forgot to mention. When a new player finds a good mentor and manages to avoid the rookie chat experience it could mean the difference between staying and quitting, as it was in my case. So that is why I picked 13 and 20.

 

[jetsina]

#19. It wasn't and isn't a perfect blend, but the blend of VR gaming and RCE/environment grabbed my attention.
#1 sights and sounds were appealing enough for EU to be more than a socio-economic future-tech VR demonstrator.

Most of the options are valid in part, if a little undermined by qualifier adjectives such as opportunities "everywhere".

People from around the world getting to know each other better + social media as a force for good and not just negative would be #20s, but not actually score highly enough to get a tick either.

 

[Legends]

Obviously it's the RCE element that makes this game unique, or almost unique. But there's one (I think) very important thing you forgot to mention. When a new player finds a good mentor and manages to avoid the rookie chat experience it could mean the difference between staying and quitting, as it was in my case. So that is why I picked 13 and 20.

Sober, I think it's in there, I think in this case "8. Met great people in game" is applicable, if it hadn't been for meeting this mentor who obviously was a good person who wanted to see you succeed, you might not have fallen in love with Entropia. I think you should pick 8 as well

 

[King Kian]

I made my account back in 2011, even then the game had a completely different feel to it.
For me, what got me hooked initially was the sounds, visuals and just the concept of being able to explore these planets and do whatever the hell you want.
I can't tell you how many days i spent goofing around doing squat and still enjoying myself back in the day.
This game is one of the few (for me) that really offers a special feel, it's just mesmerising to me, the whole concept, everything.

Oh how i long for the PE days, in which i sadly hadn't found the game yet. It's one of my main regrets, not having played from the beginning.

More recently though, the game has lost that "Special Sensation" for me. It became more bland and monotone. The element of "Surprise" and the "Unknown" kind of vaguely drifted off. And it just doesn't have that anymore for me.

Instead of that though, i've found more comfort in the community meeting great people people in here, some of whom have become great friends.

TL;DR - I came for the environment, i stayed for the community.

 

[Menace]

Being that the selections are anonymous I wonder how many would choose “Im a gambling addict”?

 

[Legends]

Being that the selections are anonymous I wonder how many would choose “Im a gambling addict”?

#10 and #11 are there in part to fish for that gambler element, if present. It could've been especially when we consider that the gambling element was much more prominent in the earlier days of Entropia, and still exists today as evidenced by the Explosive Projectiles and Shrapnel crafting Globals/HoFs in game every day.

Seeing as everyone can check all that apply, it doesn't seem to be an important aspect, at least not front of mind for those voting in the poll so far.

 

[Legends]

#19. It wasn't and isn't a perfect blend, but the blend of VR gaming and RCE/environment grabbed my attention.
#1 sights and sounds were appealing enough for EU to be more than a socio-economic future-tech VR demonstrator.

Most of the options are valid in part, if a little undermined by qualifier adjectives such as opportunities "everywhere".

People from around the world getting to know each other better + social media as a force for good and not just negative would be #20s, but not actually score highly enough to get a tick either.

You've mentionned this, and I hear you.

The MMORPG really was coming into it's golden age right around that 2003 mark. Everquest had proven to much of the world that this was something that could take off. In 2003, within 6 months of each other, PE, EVE Online and Second-Life all came out. I think all 3 of them had their own unique take on the MMORPG concept, PE being Sci-fi and RCE, EVE Online being spaceships in space and Second-Life being a total sandbox with no specific gameplay or goal other than those self-imposed by the participants themselves. WoW came out shortly after and that one was fantasy based, more like Everquest.

So in this particular survey/poll, I'm really trying to find out what it was about PE specifically that caused people to pick this one and not another one of these other ones.

So I get the VR gaming aspect, the social aspect (playing with others from around the world), but these things are not unique to EU, they are common to all the MMORPG universes/games out there, they in fact all have that in common.

 

[jetsina]

Directional Logic Disorder (DLD).
This is a test name and acronym to see if I can find this post via search engine in the future. In response to this now being identified as a comparison poll instead of just a straight one,

So in this particular survey/poll, I'm really trying to find out what it was about PE specifically that caused people to pick this one and not another one of these other ones.

I looked into other games, but didn't even go out on a date with them. Falling in love is also a whole lot different from 'picking this one' = 'selecting to go on a date with'. The reason for the latter was largely the RCE connection that was also part of the package.

Why I stayed is not directly the same as why I gave it a try. Others have also hinted at this difference. Some aspects can also not be genuinely prolonged for ever, such as whether or not this is a new environment with everyone starting from the same location. If the adjective new is important for many prospective players, for example, then how much can be 'made new' within this now mature environment?

 

[Legends]

Please vote if you haven't

 

[Legends]

All I want for Xmas is more votes in this poll

 

[Wistrel]

Anyone else think they should do a new soundtrack, more similar to the old one?
Bring back the feel, all the sounds.. etc

Hire @NoBion

 

[True Juan]

Music/Sounds
Vegetation/Sky
RCE/Sci-Fi
Creatures/Dinosaurs

 

[Legends]

Last month as I was reading some of the comments in the other Poll: "Why are you here?", I began wondering if Project Entropia just happened to be the first MMO that some people came into contact with and if it were not in fact just the MMO concept itself that people fell in love with, as opposed to Entropia specifically.

So in this Poll, I definitely wanted to be able to analyze the results afterwards in a way that might provide some insights into that question. So if you look at the poll choices carefully, you should be able to see that some items are describing things that could be found in any MMO really, and some items could only be found in Entropia (some items were only found in Entropia before but can be found in other MMOs now, so no, this poll is not perfect in this respect, but still insightful).

So first, let's have a look at items that could only be found in Entropia and see how they fared in the Poll:

22 votes - 15. I loved the idea of being able to make money here
21 votes - 19. The perfect blend of virtual gaming with a real life economic system
18 votes - 13. The Globals/HoFs & the fact it's Real Money makes it more immersive/interesting
16 votes - 2. The alien Creatures and Vegetation
14 votes - 14. I loved the Free-to-Play concept
12 votes - 12. It felt like there was Opportunity everywhere
11 votes - 16. The possibility of being a Businessman/Entrepreneur here
7 votes - 6. TP runs were so fun and challenging
6 votes - 10. Big fat HoFs on small mobs
4 votes - 9. So much going on (radio shows, fashion shows, events, etc.)
2 votes - 11. I was hooked after my very first swirly!

Total votes: 133

I want to point out that "virtual gaming with a real life economic system" polls pretty much the same as "make money" playing the game. It is my own belief that MindArk could have much better result if their advertising/marketing used this message (gaming with real life economy) as opposed to "make money while playing a game", and the early(er) marketing seems to reinforce this point. I believe it would be more accurate and retention rates probably would be better amongst people who joined "a virtual gaming experience with a rea life economic system" as opposed to people who joined to "make money playing video games". Just my 2 cents. But please take note that it does poll pretty well.

Also note that "Businessman/Entrepreneur" does not poll very well in this poll (about 25%), and yet MA seems to be determined to use this type of terminology in positioning the game going forward with UE5 release. This should be reviewed and more polling could be done around some of the items higher up in the list to finess the message and positioning of Entropia going forward.
--

Okay now let's have a look at those items that could be found in any MMO:

24 votes - 5. The Open-ended gameplay - free to do what I want in the world
20 votes - 3. The thrill of Exploring/Discovering a New World
20 votes - 4. The Open-World concept - free to go anywhere in the world
20 votes - 1. The Sights & Sounds (look and feel of the game)
20 votes - 8. Met great people in game
16 votes - 7. The community
16 votes - 18. It was really fun, I was really enjoying playing
9 votes - 17. So many Professional paths to choose from

Total votes: 145

So yes, my suspicion was not totally unfounded, there are more total votes for things which are common to almost every MMO out there, and so a big part of the reason why people fell in love with Entropia is the MMO concept itself. That is now undeniable looking at these results.

There are more insights that could be gleened from this poll, I just wish there were more votes though.

 

[jetsina]

Personally...

That is now undeniable looking at these results.

is something I see as perfectly deniable. First off, you mix together being here and being in love, which can be quite a different kettle of fish.

More importantly, however, you put The Sights & Sounds (look and feel of the game) in the any MMO category for crying out loud, for example. There can be a HUGE difference in what different developers develop in terms of those sights and sound look and feel thingie.
Other ticks in the general group may also have been given due to EU itself, even if there may be some luck and not necessarily design behind the growth of a community another player likes (and finds), for example.

You mention an imperfection in your poll in your intro, but it doesn't even seem to me to be one. The weightings you and I have are obviously very different from oneanother. Just because you fall in love with A guy or girl does not mean they are or aren't the only ones available with certain qualities, or that it is imperfect if someone else can take up EU qualities later. You keep mixing up the individual with the broad brush. I think you are trying to isolate whether it is general or specific EU stuff that are firm reasons for people being here/in love here and not somewhere else, but I don't think you have achieved this, nor the counter argument. Sorry, I do appreciate the effort you have been putting in.

 

[slick27]

I put 20 reason for this is back when I first started it was cutting edge. I always remember getting a lift to astroid I think at the time. What stuck out was the TV screen they had playing some dance music or something on. This sounds really stupid but like back years ago no game was this modern. I could put look and feel no 1 but I don't think that gives It justice. The only modern game that gave me that feel since then was cyberpunk.

I will say people were also alot friendly back then helping people doing tp runs and such. Literally back then you spoke to loads people you came across something which doesn't really happen now.

 

[MarcusLucius]

#1 #9 #15

only open question: why dont MA bring up such polls?

 

[Legends]

Personally...

is something I see as perfectly deniable. First off, you mix together being here and being in love, which can be quite a different kettle of fish.

Actually, right from the outset, I never made any assumptions to the effect that the reson people ARE here is because they are or fell in love with the game, this is why I did the other poll before, so I could find out "Why are you here?"

However the results overwhelmingly showed that the reason people are here is because:

43% = 1. I fell in love with an early version of Entropia or PE​

So, almost half of people are here logging in to Entropia because they fell in love with this game long ago. Let's recall, the instructions in the previous poll were as follows (as taken from the OP in the "Why are you here?" poll thread:

"Please look over all the answer choices, and pick the main reason why you play Entropia today. If the reason you joined Entropia is different than the reason why you play Entropia today, please select the one answer that reflects the reason why you play Entropia today, not the reason why you joined initially."

So I'm not mixing anything, as you say, I'm just following up on previous poll findings. Now that we know that a significant number of participants are here mainly because they fell in love with the game long ago, I think it's important to find out what exactly was it that people fell in love with in the first place. That is the reason for this particular poll here.

I understand that you object to how I'm using the terms "fall in love", but I don't think that arguing semantics with you about what that means will actually be constructive in any way. I'm not surveying for what emotions people felt, I'm looking for material reasons why people chose to play this game. Perhaps I should have used different terminology but this is the terminology I started with in the other poll so I need to stick with it now.

More importantly, however, you put The Sights & Sounds (look and feel of the game) in the any MMO category for crying out loud, for example. There can be a HUGE difference in what different developers develop in terms of those sights and sound look and feel thingie.

MMORPGs really came of age back in the early 2000s. Everquest in 1998, Runescape in 2001, then PE, EVE Online and Second Life in 2003 (although Second Life isn't technically an MMORPG, it looks a lot like one and in many ways, Entropia looks more like Second Life then other MMORPGs), then came WoW in 2004 and that was that; MMOs went mainstream.

Of course the Sights and Sounds of a game are very important, but this is subjective and always evolving as expansions come out and the game is updated. But as a whole, MMORPGs from the start are aimed at giving a person a virtual existence in a virtual world that has been created from scratch. It can be said that all MMORPGs do this, they offer people another reality to escape to and participate in, an opportunity to find a community to be a part of and find a role for themselves in this new virtual reality. As such, the Sights and Sounds are a big part of that immersive experience that a game developer is striving to achieve, but this is the point, they are all trying to achieve it.

Every game has visuals and sounds. Every game has a style and a theme. Every game developer has artists, designers, etc... To say that Sights and Sounds are unique to Entropia is a fallacy. They are only unique for that person, until another game is discovered which is better. And that better game maybe didn't exist back in 2003, but it probably does now and if not, it will soon. EVE Online had absolutely no competition back in 2003, now there's at least half a dozen such games that all have their own unique take on the genre, with their own sights and sounds of course, but to argue about which one has better sights and sounds is like arguing about which Hollywood movie is the best; some people like Action, some like Horror, some like Romance, it's very subjective and depends on someones preference. So as long as the Sights and Sounds are appropriate for the theme of the game and somewhat refined and artistic, I think that's about as much as can be expected or asked and other aspects will be more relevant as is shown in this poll already.

What look and feel someone is looking for will be very subjective also. Some might be looking for a complex and immersive combat system, which is something that just never existed in Entropia. Some might be looking for really sophisticated strategic gameplay, which also doesn't exist in Entropia... It's a very subjective thing. Entropia's look and feel is very clunky at best. Everything, from combat to flying in space is glitchy, buggy, laggy, frustrating, you name it, it isn't smooth, the immersion is constantly being interrupted with faulty game mechanics, graphics that don't sink up with sound effects, tools that won't equip, space navigation that's very disorienting, falling through floors of buildings, not to mention all the UIs that have so many bugs that I just want to quit the game sometimes, just because of those useless UIs like Message Center or the PED Exchange that hasn't been loading lately (sometimes takes 3 tries to finally load).

A lot of people may have forgotten this but sometime around 2018, there were 2 summers in a row where the game got so laggy that hunters couldn't even switch from gun to FAP while hunting, it just wouldn't equip. Or they couldn't switch from tagger to finisher. It was horrible. There was a lot of speculation here in this forum about what was going on, someone said that a shark had destroyed the fibre- optic cables on the Atlantic seabed. This went on for months, many just logged out and didn't play, it had effectively become unplayable. This is the look and feel that people want? Maybe we should give them some more of that then?

No, I think you're just reading too much into this Jetsina. The "1. Sights & Sounds (look and feel of the game)" just refers to the sci-fi theme. I could have said "1. The Sci-fi theme" and results would have been similar probably. Is a Sci-fi theme unique to Entropia? It might have been pretty unique on January 30th 2003 when the game launched, but it isn't unique now. There are dozens of Sci-fi themed MMOs now. It's a very common theme for MMOs actually, probably the 2nd most common theme after Fantasy (sometimes mixed in with Medieval times simulation).

Other ticks in the general group may also have been given due to EU itself, even if there may be some luck and not necessarily design behind the growth of a community another player likes (and finds), for example.

Yes, I did a little back and forth on #7 and #8 actually. At first I had "8. Met great people in game" in the list of things that could only be found in Entropia but realized this isn't true. If you stick around long enough in any popular MMO you will meet some friendly people, some like-minded people. Some games more than others possibly, there's a certain camaraderie that develops in Entropia that isn't always seen in other games and I think it comes from the principal that players unite against "the house", since the house is perceived as unbeatable. From the popular theory that in order to have a group of people come together there needs to be a common enemy. Anyway, some philosophy for another time perhaps.

But Community is something which is common to all MMORPGs, they all have communities, it's in the name: "Massively MULTIPLAYER Online Role-Playing Game". And in my experience, if you play long enough, and intereact with people, you'll make friends, doesn't matter which game it is. So community is not unique to Entropia. Though Entropia does seem to have a community that comes together a little more readily then what I have seen in other MMOs so far. I hope MA introduce more content like RDI Secret Lab and Robot Incursions in space as it strenghtens this aspect even more and I think it will ultimately make the game better. But the community experience in Entropia is something that has been neglected for a long time actually.

You mention an imperfection in your poll in your intro, but it doesn't even seem to me to be one. The weightings you and I have are obviously very different from oneanother. Just because you fall in love with A guy or girl does not mean they are or aren't the only ones available with certain qualities, or that it is imperfect if someone else can take up EU qualities later. You keep mixing up the individual with the broad brush. I think you are trying to isolate whether it is general or specific EU stuff that are firm reasons for people being here/in love here and not somewhere else, but I don't think you have achieved this, nor the counter argument. Sorry, I do appreciate the effort you have been putting in.

Well, again, I think that arguing about the semantics of what it actually means to fall in love isn't going to be constructive. The choices in the first poll, "Why are you here?" were basically: 1. Concept, 2. RCE, 3. Community, 4. To Make Money, 5. Key-Mapping, 6. To have Fun, 7. Noteriety, 8. Other.

43% said "Concept", 47% said "RCE", the rest wasn't significant. I designed the poll above to follow-up on that and find out a little more about these 2. It's not any more complicated than that and I wish you wouldn't read too much into it beyond that.

Granted, I should have used different terminology from the beginning, it would have made all this a little better, but I also had no idea that #1 was going to poll so high, I really didn't expect it to poll much higher than about 20%. After I had already used those terms (fell in love) in the first poll, I didn't really have a choice to continue with them in the follow-up poll.

Also, yes, above I gave a summary on one of the insights I think these poll results are giving us so far, about whether people fell in love with Entropia or just fell in love with the MMO concept itself. This is just one insight I was looking to obtain from this and not really the most important one. Some of the other questions I wanted this poll to help answer:

1. What are the most important aspects in Entropia that MA must keep or even improve upon for UE5
2. What is it about RCE that people want more of or like
3. #6, 9, 10 and 17 could have been brought back in some way if there had been a strong read on any of them
4. Is MA really onto something with their whole "Exploration" plans (seems like it so far)

...and some other albeit less important questins I won't bother to go into.

However I'm still waiting for more votes to come in as the numbers could still change in a meaningful way yet.

 

[DRAGUNOV44]

At the time the other online game available was Ultima online when they remooved the Ultima 3d client a friend showed me Entropia and graphics wilse it was something else . Why Entropia and not another MMO ? -Simple ENtropia was and its still something Unique there is no alternative. I always hoped of other similar game and maybe least 1 without the real cash aspect. If the ppl in MA would create a similar game not tied to the cash economy i would defenetly play it. And while i like Entropia i would wellcome other companies to create a similar game it would be better for Entropia - because it will make MA think of how they can keep their customers which would improove the economy !