Advice for the $15 per month EU player
Congratulations! You have found the Entropia Universe and if you are reading this then you have already downloaded the game and created your account or you are thinking about doing so in the near future.
Some of what you have heard is true:
Yes the game's economy is all real money
Yes some people have been able to earn a lot of money
Yes you missed the initial ground floor opportunity
Yes you can LOSE money in the Entropia Universe
Yes some have put nothing in and taken out tens of thousands of USD
Yes there still is opportunity.
As a new player in the Entropia Universe you will want to see and do everything to get a taste for it but the problem is that in many ways the Entropia Universe is a lot like the real world... Entertainment, transportation, etc all cost money. Furthermore, this is REAL money as a result it does not grow on trees as they say. The Entropia Universe is not the kind "game" that you play for a few weeks or a few months and then stop, it’s an ongoing thing that is meant to be played for years. Immediate gratification is not often found in the EU unless you deposit big and play big. Remember though, if you play big you can also lose big… just like real life I suppose.
In the Entropia Universe (like real life) it’s better to play smart. Even if you can afford to deposit $500-$1000 per month every month it is probably not sustainable over the course of a couple of years. Yes it’s possible to hunt, mine, and craft profitably, but it is very hard to do it on a consistent basis over the long term, especially if you don’t have the financial wherewithal to get yourself through the inevitable (and long) slumps. Because of that you have to learn how to play smart. When I talk about "playing smart" I am not talking about hunting, mining, or crafting economically, I am talking about developing a revenue stream in game to make your game play self-sufficient or at least semi self-sufficient. Those who have developed ways to economically sustain themselves in game are the ones who will be here several years from now and they will be at the top. With an in-game revenue stream, even if you can no longer afford to deposit money you will still be able to continue your game play and in an emergency you can cash out and help pay for things that come up in real life if you need to.
When I tell people about creating a revenue stream in game, my advice often gets dismissed because they think “Oh I can’t do that” or “that’s for other people” or “I’m not smart enough” or “I don’t have enough money to do that” or whatever other kind of excuse people can think of. Like in real life, success only comes to a small minority of people, even if you give them the specific instructions.
If you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.
-Henry Ford
You don’t have to be smart to be successful in the EU, nor do you have to be rich, nor do you have to be lucky. Some of my biggest competitors are also some of the “least sophisticated” people I have met in my life and if they can do it then you can do it. I will tell you how specifically how to get started and touch on how to expand from there.
First things first
About me:
I have played the Entropia Universe on and off since October of 2005. In my first months in the Entropia Universe I deposited thousands of dollars and blew almost all of it because I approached the game in a way where I was depending on luck.
I have had an in-game revenue stream since early 2006. In early 2006 Mind Ark introduced shops to the game. I was the second person to win a shop in auction and the first person to have their shop open in the Entropia Universe. Because of that, the first shop sale ever in the history of the game came from my shop and it was 100 Mind Essence for 3 PED as a test sale to someone who had walked in. Here is the thread from early 2006 and you can see my reply to it a few posts down. The shop featured in the picture was my shop.
First Shops Sold
Since that point I have had a revenue stream in the EU and I have used it to fund my game play, pay for the incidental expenses in building the largest organization in the EU (the NBK) and also to just have fun in the EU without putting a burden on my real life budget. I have deposited, withdrawn, and deposited again. For me specifically the EU is entertainment but I also like making PED... it’s a challenge and its real.
Getting started
Ok now let’s get into the meat and potatoes and talk specifics.
If you were to go to the store and buy a video game then you would probably spend $50 USD on it and you would play it for 4-8 weeks. So let’s base this off of an initial deposit of $50 USD which will leave you with just under 500 PED after the transaction fees and then $15 per month after that. Maybe just deposit $55 USD so you have a full 500 PED to start. As you read below you will see how depositing more will help you get economically farther faster. Remember to always play smart and don’t jump into things that you don’t understand. Don’t risk money that you can’t afford to lose.
Now that you have deposited go and join a society that helps new players. If you get a mentor that’s fine but I would recommend not getting one. They are usually worthless. Chances are that you will have a n00b who is your mentor and it will be like the blind leading the blind. If they have been playing EU for 1 year they are still a n00b. I don’t care how much they deposited or how big they talk.. They are a n00b. If you accept a mentor only take one that has been in the EU for years... years.
Joining a society is a much better way to get your questions answered about how things work and where to go for what. There are plenty of societies in the EU that help new players, just make sure that it is an established society that has been around for more than a year and has highly skilled and experienced people involved with the leadership of it. A great solution would be to join a multi-society organization such as the Wild3eamons or the NBK. They have societies specifically to help new players learn.
Now it’s time to buy a couple of things so you have to understand something. Each item has a "TT Value". TT is short for Trade Terminal. The Trade Terminal hangs on the wall in every outpost and trade center. You can buy ammo and very basic items in the TT and you can also sell things to the Trade Terminal. Items that aren’t sold in the Trade Terminal still have a TT value to them which you can see in the Item Info of the item but they also have a Mark Up (MU) aka Market Value (MV). For example right now I am selling an Adjusted Laganaus Arms Personal Cannon. It has a TT value of 900 ped but at this moment it has a Market Value (MV) of about TT+6000 PED. If I were to sell it to the TT, I would only get 900 PED. There is somewhat of a free market in the Entropia Universe and the MV of an item is set by the sales history of it via the in-game auctions. When you talk to someone about the MV of the item it’s almost always in the terms of TT+xxx or otherwise percent over TT such as 135%
As you use items they decay which decreases the TT value. You can repair some items in the Repair Terminal which will increase their TT value. Items that are limited have a (L) after the name and cannot be repaired so when they fully decay they break and can’t be used again.
First thing, remember you are dealing with real people in the Entropia Universe so you need to at least look presentable. You start with rags as cloths that can be repaired into an orange jump suit. Wearing it (or the rags) will cause everyone to know that you are brand new, as a result they won’t take you seriously. The reason they won’t take you seriously is because you are n00b and you have no idea what you are talking about.
Go to the auction and buy some basic cloths that have some color or texture to them. Don’t spent more than 50-75 PED on them. Get a shirt, pants, and shoes. Try to match your colors or at least make sure the different colors look good together so you don’t look like an idiot. Get your wife or a female to help you if you need it but don’t let them talk you into buying something expensive. Just spend 50-75 PED (or less). If there isn’t much in auction that day just wait. Do not over pay for your cloths (or anything) ever. Make sure that you buy Basic cloths that have a low TT value when fully repaired. Cloths that are not repaired will look like rags. So get some Basic cloths with a simple color or texture on it and repair them if needed.
Next buy the lowest TT value Lesser Teleport Chip that you can find in the auction (don’t repair it for now). Now buy about 2000 Mind Essence from the auction. Go to the Trade Terminal and buy the Implant and the Implant Inserter. Now ask your society (or mentor) how to make it all work together. When done sell the Implant Inserter back to the TT
Now take 100 PED and put it in storage and don’t touch it. (Just do it)
From the Trade Terminal buy a Sollomate Opalo. Now go on auction and buy a Omegaton A101 Amp (then repair it in the Repair Terminal) and then buy a full set of Pixie. If you want to deposit more, buy a better set of armor like Shogun or Ghost for better protection. Get some ammo, go run around and kill stuff to get it out of your system. Leave crafting alone for now. Try mining if you want to get an understanding of it… you might get lucky.
DO NOT SPEND ALL OF YOUR PED!!!
Websites like
www.entropiaforum.com and
www.entropiawiki.com have a wealth of information that you should look through and understand. On Entropedia find the maps and then make a point to start getting all of the Teleporter (TP) locations. When you die and get stuck at an outpost that you can’t get out of just use your Lesser TP chip to get out… that’s the reason you bought it. Otherwise ask your society to come rescue you.
Now that you have had some fun, gone on a couple hunting trips, blown some ped, etc it’s time to sell your Opalo, your armor, your Amp, all the loot that you got, and get serious. Keep the teleport chip and the things that go with it just in case you need them.
Take the 100 PED out of storage and combine it with the rest of your ped. Hopefully you have at least 200-300 PED left at this point (or more). Now it’s time to develop an in-game revenue stream.
You don’t have enough money for a shop, a land area, a hangar, etc. You don’t have enough money to sink into any of the standard professions to skill up to the point to where you can hopefully be profitable. You just have a couple hundred ped and a basic understanding of a couple things for sale on the auction. So let’s start with that...
In the Entropia Universe you have to learn the word FOCUS and you have to live it. Instead of spreading yourself all over the place just focus on one thing, understand it, build it up, maintain it, and then build up something else. This point is so very important.
Let’s set a small goal for you, it is to build up your ped card to 1,000 PED. Here is how.
Trading in the Entropia Universe can be very profitable earning successful traders thousands of ped per week or per month (or more). It takes money to make money and right now you have almost no money and no credibility. I will explain how to get started in a minute.
Often times some people will label Traders as "resellers" and associate that with bad things. There are some traders in the EU that are bad, they scam people, the underpay, they inflate prices, they try to manipulate markets etc. The good thing is that the traders who don’t follow ethical business practices and don’t trade with integrity often do not last long. The bad part is that they leave a bad name behind them, then people who don’t understand trading tend to associate that with all traders which then leads them to desecrate something they don’t understand.
The fact is that traders are the back bone of the EU economy. They help to maintain healthy market prices and indirectly act as a safety net during slow times that prevents total market crash.
When you trade you have to trade with integrity otherwise you will be out of business. If you try and take a shortcut by cheating someone then you will only be building walls around yourself and you will create road blocks in your path to success in the EU. Trade fair, trade with integrity, and you will build a loyal base of people who are more than happy to sell to you and buy from you so make sure each one of them loves you.
Since you only have a couple of hundred PED you are limited to how much you can earn. This will force to you to start small and really learn the markets. You already have bought some basic armor and some basic cloths which means you have a very basic understanding of these so let’s start trading basic armor and basic cloths.
In the auction often times people will list pixie armor, basic cloths, and other things for a start bid of TT+0 with a buyout price of TT+1, TT+2, or TT+3. Start placing bids on every low TT value item that is TT+0 to TT+0.30. A lot of times you will be out bid or someone will purchase the item for the buyout price and that’s ok. When you win these items don’t look to get top dollar (TT+3) instead sell on the auction for TT+1 to TT+2 depending on the market value. When you list for that price the auction will charge you 0.50 to 0.60 PED in auction fees which means that you will earn .50 to 1.50 PED per item. It’s not a lot but it adds up, especially if you are selling 10-15 items per day.
It’s important that you price things to sell otherwise they won’t sell and you will end up eating the auction fee and have to list it again. It’s better to have a fast turnover of PED then it is to get the extra PED out of something. Since you don’t have a lot of ped, focus on the items with a TT value of under 5 PED. It does not make sense to tie up 20-100 PED in TT value of something to only make a couple ped. Because you only have a 200-300 PED to work with, focus on the small stuff for now.
As you start to do this, you will begin to understand the markets. From here you should start making a point to let Hunters in your society know that you are buying amor parts for TT value if they want to sell them. A lot of hunters will just sell basic armor to the Trade Terminal instead of listing on auction simply because they are too lazy. Instead of them TTing to the Trade Terminal, they could TT it to you. It’s important to buy whatever they try and TT to you, if you don’t want it just turn around and TT it yourself.
When you stand at an auctioneer make sure it’s at a popular place like Twin Peaks or Port Atlantis that way you can ask in the chat if anyone has any basic armor parts (or anything) that they want to TT to you. Often time’s crafters will give you (for free) basic blue prints that sell for +1 to +5 PED simply because they don’t want to piddle around selling basic blue prints for a couple ped each. It’s very important to start developing these relationships with hunters and crafters. They will soon become your trading partners so make sure they LOVE you. Spend the time it takes to chat with them, make friends, and maintain contact with them but don’t be annoying.
To trade in this fashion takes very little time, energy, and PED. Soon you will start to see things in the auction about to expire that are going to sell for way under market value. Eventually as your confidence grows you will be buying things on the auction and in private trade that will earn you 50PED to 200PED each in profit... sometimes a lot more, especially when you get involved with higher value things.
Once you have all of your PED tied up in bids and items for sale (which won’t take long) go and sweat. It’s boring but its free PED and you get a chance to meet other people who just might end up becoming your friends and/or trading partners down the road. When you walk through Twin or Port Atlantis make sure that you pay attention to the trade channel in the chat. Watch what other people are buying and selling, pay attention to how they do it.
Just deal with low value items and watch for moments of opportunity to bid on something that could earn you more. At first you won’t see a thing you can buy that will make you money but soon as time passes you will see things everywhere and you will get frustrated because you don’t have enough PED to take advantage of it. While you are trading basic items, sweating, observing, and learning, take the time to get more TP locations (eventually all of them) and don’t spend a PED on anything. Remember your goal is to build up your ped card to 1,000 PED.
Earning your first 1,000 PED will be hard, time consuming, and boring however once you earn your first 1K PED, the next 1K comes much faster and then you will have 2K PED to trade with. With 2K, the next 1K comes even faster and you will have 3K PED.
As you start to experience some success and have watched items slip by that you could have been very profitable if you had the PED to buy them, you may want to evaluate if you want to deposit a larger sum of money.
By now you have dreamed of getting a shop... set that aside. You don’t need it, not yet. Forget about shops, carts, booths, shopkeepers in apartments, etc. Set those ideas all aside for later when you have the PED to actually do something with them.
So far you have stayed focused on trading basic things and developing relationships with hunters and crafters. With 3,000 PED you can now afford to expand your trading efforts. Set 1,000 PED aside and reserve that for buying and selling basic things on auction. Take your other 2,000 PED and begin Ore trading... have you been paying attention to the trade channel in Twin Peaks? I hope so.
Miners often times will sell their Ores and Enmatter to a trader under market value instead of on the auction because they need the PED right now or because they have too low of an amount to justify paying the auction fees. The biggest problem for a beginning ore trader is knowing what prices to buy the ores at. The good part is that some of your established competitors publish their buying prices online and update it frequently. Here is an example from a top Ore Trader named Lebanner. Another way is to simply ask what their rates are.
http://www.entropiamarket.com/
Take the time to build up an Excel spreadsheet that does all the math for you. If you don’t have Excel, then download something that accomplishes the same. Some people have even made free programs you can install that do it for you. You have to understand that the miner will dump 10-15 different things in your trade window and you have to be able to do the math quickly and you can’t make a mistake or they will think you are trying to scam them. In your Excel sheet, the only thing you should have to do is enter the TT value of each thing so it can calculate and total everything for you instantaneously. Miners don’t want to stand there for 5-10 minutes while you are fiddling around with a calculator. Make sure to update the prices in your sheet every day that you trade.
You don’t have to pay the highest % for Ores & EnMatter, you just have to be competitive. To start with, just copy the rates of your competitors. Generally speaking, you should be paying between 4% to 7% under market value on most things. Spend some time looking at the auctions, compare current MV to what your competitors are paying. Look at the auction order prices. Gather all the info that you can so you have a chance at fully understanding that market. You will notice that the higher % MV is on something, the more % under MV you can buy. This is because of auction fees and the risk associated. Higher value Ores & EnMatter is risky because the market fluctuates a lot every day. Overall, you should be averaging 2%-3% profit on Ores & EnMatter that you buy and sell. Auction fees will dig into your profits, crafters won’t want to pay full market value, Etc. Don’t ever let anyone convince you that you shouldn’t earn a profit by trading ores, some will insist that you do it with no profit margin which is silly. Your time, energy, and the risk associated make your slim profit margin more than justifiable.
Once you have your things in order, go to Twin Peaks and start announcing that you are buying Ores & EnMatter. Never list your buying prices in the chat because the person next to you will just buy at 1% more and then you just started a price war. You now have to be conscious of market stability. Every Ore Trader that comes into the game thinking they will pay more for Ore then everyone else and make up for it in volume ends up putting themselves out of business.
Beginning Ore Traders will be dependent on the traffic flow in Twin Peaks for people selling Ores and in the beginning it will be slow. As you interact with miners start making friends. These are now going to become your newest trading partners. As time passes and you make a lot of friends with a lot of miners, you will find that they want to do business only with you because they like you, they trust you, and they don’t have to second guess your math. They know you are honest, accurate, and trustworthy, thus it’s very convenient for them to trade with you. Make sure that you are telling each miner who you trade with that they can add you to their friends list if they want. Soon you will find that these miners are coming to Twin Peaks because of YOU. They will come there specifically to deal with you and no one else, in fact they will even wait until you log on which means that you could stand in Twin Peaks for 2 hours and buy thousands of PED in Ore & EnMatter instead of just hundreds of PED.
So let’s tie this all together. You are buying stuff from hunters for TT and selling it on auction, or you are selling their stackable items (wool, hides etc) to crafters that you know. You are buying Ores & EnMatter from miners and selling to Crafters and to the auction. Your friends list is starting to become a treasure chest of trading partners and business contacts. Soon your 3K PED will grow into 4K, then 5K, then 7K, then 10K.
Now that you have a little bit more of a respectable amount of PED you can start expanding your trading efforts further. These crafters whom you bust your butt to supply at a couple % under market value can now start supplying you as well. For a crafter, one big challenge is to sell the stuff they craft. Now you can start buying the popular Mining Amps in bulk under market value and selling for Market Value (or just under) to the miners that supply you thus making a couple PED on each Amp. The hunters who supply you can also buy popular guns and attachments from you that you got from the crafters for a few ped less then what you are selling for. It’s mostly all low profit margins but it goes in bulk with a fast turnover of PED. Some miners will want to buy 5,10, or even 20 amps from you at a time. It’s all a continuous turnover of PED that makes you a lot of money.
Make sure that you establish a buy back policy with the crafter so if the Market Value of amps (or whatever) dips too low, you can sell them back to the crafter for what you bought them for making it risk free to you. Soon the crafter(s) that you deal with will start to trust you and might even be willing to front you items to sell which means that you no longer have to tie up your PED distributing their items. These kinds of deals are only reserved for the best of traders who have proven that they are trust worthy and dependable.
Now that you have a few different trading routines that you are maintaining and your crafted items are being fronted you have some available PED again and it’s time to focus on something else to earn you even more PED.
Start watching the auctions and Entropia Forum sales threads for higher value items that you can buy for cheap and sell with a nice profit. These items are few and far between but they are worth it. Pay attention to what is going on in the Trade Channel in Twin Peaks. Watch for people who are willing to sell for cheap. Not everyone is willing to wait 2-4 weeks to sell something so as a trader with a larger PED reserve not only can you afford to wait but you also have a ton of contacts which means you can sell it easier than the average person. Eventually you will start to get bombarded with PMs from people wanting to sell you all kinds of stuff. You will be able to pick and choose what you want to buy. Eventually you might even start to become an authority (in the eyes of some) on what something is worth.
You can also broker items for people. As you find sellers for very expensive items, ask them if they would give you a commission if you manage to get it sold for them. If you can find a buyer that wants to pay what the seller is asking then introduce the buyer to the seller and collect your commission if the item gets sold.
Throughout this process you will have begun to start participating in the standard professions (Hunting, Mining, and Crafting). This is normal and we all want to have fun and relax and the cool part is that with all of these contact you have, you now have a whole team of established people who can give you accurate advice on these professions. Just remember not to over extend yourself and risk only what you can afford to lose. Also remember that the better your avatar looks the better people will respond to you so when you can afford it, buy some nicer cloths.
If you stick to the path of trading and building your PED card you will continuously be trading at higher and higher levels. You will leave sweating behind as well as selling TT items, etc. Soon you will begin to focus just on higher value things and as your ped card grows to 20K, 40K, 50K and higher you can buy things and sell them making thousands of PER transaction. If you stay focused you will have the ped to make your avatar Uber and be able to afford a much higher level of game play. Perhaps one day you will have enough to buy Hangar or even a Land Area. If you get to that point then you wouldn’t have been the first to be able to afford these things through trading.
Of course you could set all of that aside and just spend $15 USD per month and economically hunt, mine, and craft when possible and socialize with friends while in game.
Good luck on your endeavors…
-HardWrath