The tier system, and 2010 goals.

Arokh

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Arokh Arokh Cindar
So, the enhancer system. Reading through the forums, it seems many seem to think that this is (once again) the point where the game is inevitably heading downwards like Al-Qaeda Airlines. The sky is falling... again. No surprises there. Just like the armour and clothing tax, people will complain for the next two weeks, then the tier system will become all normal and accepted.

However, in my opinion it appears MindArk are scribbling their design documents on the backs of beer mats during late night sessions at the local pub. They have a good idea, but fail to figure out how to implement it properly. It's like giving someone a cake as a present, but instead of using sugar, you use salt. Sure, the cake looks nice, but in the end it'll just leave a nasty taste in everyones mouth.

Point is MindArk have some good ideas with plenty of potential and look nice when viewed in their concept stages. The tier system is excellent, and I fully support the idea. It's great we can finaly tailor our weapons to our own personal needs, new professions to skill, and goals to aim for. Although for the more cynical among us, it could be viewed that the idea of skilling weapons up is a cunning scheme to increase the time and money people spend ingame. But in many ways I suppose that doesn't matter, since either way, we're all here in Entropia to kill time between the cradle and the grave.

The problem is that it's just such a half-baked idea (I honestly didn't mean that as a pun referring to the cake example!). I find it hard to believe that no one in the office considered the problems with the idea of needing a duplicate item to upgrade, or raised questions about the inconsistant tier numbers on identical items. There have been many good suggestions of the forums (you can search for them yourself!), that personally I wouldn't hesitate to implement if I worked at MA/FPC. Marco, wake up, read the forums, take onboard the suggestions from the players who are doing usability testing, and alter things accordingly (within reason).

Don't get me wrong, this ain't a complaint about the concept. It's just inherently flawed in it's implementation. Like producing hydrogen for eco-cars, but running the factory on coal. Or making a zeppelin out of lead.

***

Anyway, it's near to the end of the year, and thus time to actually set goals for 2010. Both in-game and real life.

In-game:
  1. 70 agility. Yep, my attributes suck thanks to obscene amounts of chipping. Meant to to this like mid way through this year, but got lazy and spend more time chatting rather than playing.
  2. 60 strength. See above.
  3. 50 intelligence. Again, see above.
  4. Teir 10 a Justifier Mk2. Just to see what my old grinding gun is capable of. Maybe it'll end up being more than a handy laser pen.
  5. Join a society. Terra Verde disbanded Aug 2008, and since then been freelancing. Ashamed to admit it, but PE is kinda boring and lonely without people to harass with frequent irrelevant conversation. >_>
  6. Skill explosive weaponry technology so I can actually use some of the half decent rocket launchers. Like the Skildek Gak 1500.
  7. Max the Dragons Breath. It's shameful that I haven't maxxed this yet, for a dragon should be able to fully weild this sword!

Real life:
  1. Learn how to use CryEngine 2. This evil engine has defeated me since it came out. But the line is drawn here! I SHALL learn how to do more than simply open the editor!
  2. Get a (semi) successful and amusing computer game video series up and running... but that depends on getting real life friends to help co-host it. >_>
  3. Create a game mod based on either the Source or Unreal 3 engine. Ever since I came up with the idea for "Call of Duty: Narnia" (A heavily armed marine task force invades the magical wardrobe realm Narnia to assassinate the warlords Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy), I've considered turning it into an amusing game. Bet you never thought you'd see a game where Aslan faces off a M82 Barrett .50 cal! :p
  4. Learn the Russian folklore song Kalinka (Калинка). For those who don't know I've challenged myself to learn another language, and currently in the process of learning Russian. Heard this song when attending the national dance show in Moscow, and thought it was kinda catchy. What better way to learn? :) For the curious, it's this:
    Калинка, калинка, калинка моя!
    В саду ягода малинка, малинка моя!
    Ах, под сосною, под зеленою,
    Спать положите вы меня!
    Ай-люли, люли, ай-люли,
    Спать положите вы меня.
    Калинка, калинка, калинка моя!
    В саду ягода малинка, малинка моя!
    Ах, сосенушка ты зеленая,
    Не шуми же надо мной!
    Ай-люли, люли, ай-люли,
    Не шуми же надо мной!
    Калинка, калинка, калинка моя!
    В саду ягода малинка, малинка моя!
    Ах, красавица, душа-девица,
    Полюби же ты меня!
    Ай-люли, люли, ай-люли,
    Полюби же ты меня!
    Калинка, калинка, калинка моя!
    В саду ягода малинка, малинка моя!

    Already know the chorus and been singing it... much to the dismay of everyone around. :p
 
Lately I've not being playing EU much coz I'd lost interest.

But clever MindArk have sucked me back in with the tier thingy.

If they make it so I don't need another RockJacker to enhance mine then I'll probably be back to playing as much as ever.

So they need to sort this bit out, otherwise I think tiers add a bit of fun to game-play. :)

Good luck with your Russian Arokh but please don't make the Narnia version of Call of Duty (save some magic for the kids lol)! :laugh:

Kev :cool:

PS - I thought I wouldn't know 'Kalinka' but now I realise it's the one that everybody's heard: ;)

[YOUTUBE]C_A7Hu0uKNw[/YOUTUBE]

LOL at the over-the-top quiffs on those guys btw.

Had to research this a bit more and found English translation/interpretation of the lyrics:

Little Kalina, Kalina, Kalina of mine!

In the garden grows a berry, a raspberry, a raspberry of mine!

Ah, under the pine, under the green,

Lay me down to sleep.

Oh Lyuli, Lyuli, Oh Lyuli, Lyuli,

Lay me down to sleep.

Ah, little pine tree thou art evergreen,

Don't make noise above me.

Oh Lyuli, Lyuli, Oh Lyuli, Lyuli,

Don't make noise above me.

Oh beautiful woman, maiden of my soul,

Fall in love with me.

Oh Lyuli, Lyuli, Oh Lyuli, Lyuli,

Fall in love with me.


As you can see that while the sentences don't form a comprehensible narrative, this song is deeply poetic and the correct interpretation is what you feel inside you.

Reference: http://listen2russian.com/video/kalinka/index.html
 
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