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RexDameon said:
marketing is not the problem word of mouth is the best advertising and it's free. If the would just make the game enjoyable and cheeper for the average player so they had more players making smaller payments instead of a few who seems to be leaving also paying big money to gamble.
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subscribing
 
Lots of content for sure has gone and disappeared, and lots that wasn't promised was added.

I do feel they could capitalize much better on the game, I really have no idea what holds them back. If I were running it, I would do a huge massive ad campaign, just after a massive huge customer service makeover, do those two things, and it would explode IMO.



The castle was bought awhile ago, and at the time, was a good deal...providing the economy didn't tank, which it did.

It would seem with the renovation costs they spent, that they did what most people who either buy for their own use or try to "flip" a property do, grossly overspend where the expenses will never be recouped. (like upgraded cabinet handles, bamboo vs laminate and such) Fluff can be good, but people wont pay for your fluff at top dollar. 400k fluff for a property that big, can very easily be spent when it wasn't intended. It is downright scary how high the costs can go on a "simple" renovation if you let them.

If I remember right they did this buy around the time they were applying for EU (euro) bank licenses. So the intent I thought back then was to have this property act as the bank segment of EU (the game). They needed, I believe, a dedicated property to qualify as a bank.

This is where cash cards came into play, which a few people did acquire and use, just like a debit card. Since the bank licenses fell apart and the economy pretty much ruined the window they had, the cash cards went bye bye, doubt we will see them unless they try to become a bank again.
 
forgo said:
...the cash cards went bye bye, doubt we will see them unless they try to become a bank again.
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The cashcard made its appereance in 2006.

In 2009 MindArk has been granted a real world banking licence by Swedish regulators, enabling it to set up a virtual central bank.

The Banking License

The idea of "MindBank AB" also came in 2009(?)...

How did the story continue again ? I cant find links :/
 
I think the management at Entropia have finally realised that the "more fun - more money" concept doesn't work for it's player base.

When Entropia becomes an addiction (for many of us, or most of us), you login to feed that addiction, not necessarily because it's fun. Charging more and more for that just creates frustration, so maybe it's better to hang onto your addicts for cheaper login time, rather than activity.

Anyway I think there's too much focus on the past, for those that want to be here it's human nature to ignore what happened and hope tomorrow is more successful.

Bed time for me

Rick
 
RickEngland said:
I think the management at Entropia have finally realised that the "more fun - more money" concept doesn't work for it's player base.

When Entropia becomes an addiction (for many of us, or most of us), you login to feed that addiction, not necessarily because it's fun. Charging more and more for that just creates frustration, so maybe it's better to hang onto your addicts for cheaper login time, rather than activity.

Anyway I think there's too much focus on the past, for those that want to be here it's human nature to ignore what happened and hope tomorrow is more successful.

Bed time for me

Rick
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Rick, for now it may be the past. True. But Im here since early 2004 and most of it was the present to me then.

And if something unpleasent happens today, watching back only shows the truth.
 
You still don't spend 1.4Mil Euro on renovating a castle for the purposes of a banking license. Nonsense.
 
Rave said:
You still don't spend 1.4Mil Euro on renovating a castle for the purposes of a banking license. Nonsense.
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We are talking about MA here... ;)

Thats why I still think it was supposed to be an office.
 
RexDameon said:
marketing is not the problem word of mouth is the best advertising and it's free. If the would just make the game enjoyable and cheeper for the average player so they had more players making smaller payments instead of a few who seems to be leaving also paying big money to gamble.
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Yes. This. Yes. This. Yes. This. Yes. This. Yes. This. Yes. This. Yes. This. Yes. This.

Seriously. Trying to squeeze every penny out of a few people makes no sense at all.

But, as this has been mentioned SO MANY times before, it's become obvious that MA just doesn't get it, or refuses to try it for some reason.
 
I think we can all agree that after over 10 years of blunders and empty promises it is safe to say that they are just {removed}. The old excuses (or rather self-imposed delusions of the fanboys) that "shit happens" or that MA is working behind the scenes on something awesome that will blow our minds away and silence all the complaints just don't stick anymore.

{removed}

That is all.
 
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More fun for more money!!

I think we instead need a revolution ;)
 
And the NUMBER ONE thing they screwed up was? DRUM ROLL . .. . . . They IGNORED the wish,s of a SOLID player base and watched as they WALKED OUT THE DOOR ! And didnt lift a finger {removed} to do a thing about it! If it wasnt for Entropia being such an awesome concept these guys would be digging ditchs somewhere in Yarkuksk.
 
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Huskie said:
I think we can all agree that after over 10 years of blunders and empty promises it is safe to say that they are just {removed}. The old excuses (or rather self-imposed delusions of the fanboys) that "shit happens" or that MA is working behind the scenes on something awesome that will blow our minds away and silence all the complaints just don't stick anymore.

{removed}

That is all.
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Imagine those 1M $ in the loot pool = 10 000 000 peds for the player base. The amount of people in the game would double if loots were good and all these happy people would call their friends into the game... more and more deposits and growth of the game overall...

And since I found out that a relative of mine will probably have a few Ms and knows people that have a lot more Ms(somewher over a hundred) I started a research about this whole subject. But for me to succeed I need to gather a lot of quality info and make a good presentation of it for them to at least think about it. Which is NOT EASY at all... :)

I've got 4 NEW systems that would make the game so much better written down that would be easily implemented even into EU, hundreds of just simple modifications which would make the players happy but have kempt them for myself, just in case I am sucessful :) The biggest problem I'm having is with the algorithm for loot and how to actually make it work so that both sides (Company/Players) are happy but I'm working on it.

But it would be a dream come true so I'll be writting everything down until I succeed or I die :laugh:

Oh how I loved the PE concept :) EU is nothing compared to what it should have been by now. Greed is greed...

TJ:bandit:
 
This game clearly has a lot of players who love the game, and some of those players would likely be financially pretty well off.

Has no one considered offering MA a friendly buyout option? There does seem to be a pretty solid pool of programming as well as marketing talent among the loyal player base, so building a new staff wouldn't be an insurmountable task. And with such a dedicated player base, new and more responsive owners could count on lots of active support for viral advertising by that base.

I think we all agree that there are a large variety of proven marketing strategies that have been suggested to MA over the years which MA apparently never chose to explore.
 
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I have to agree that MA fails on marketing field but Planet Partners is a different story here. I believe their job will sooner or later impact EU. That said none of us have data of current and true base players. ET shows though that there have nothing changed over last years, or if so rather player base become lower.

But I think that the bottom line here is not the advertising strategy but the "keeping a current player strategy". In general they doesn't care about you and even if they do you can not feel it. Also I think that average fee from John Doe is to big. I'd prefer to have 100 000 happy customers than 10 000 not so much happy. Lets assume that the tt return is 99% over a long period of time which would attract much more players but I believe that would such strategy would bring MA even more cash due to the mass effect.

What is in the past is the past you can not change it but I cross my fingers for Planet Partners. Some of them have heads on their shoulders.
 
Huskie said:
I think we can all agree that after over 10 years of blunders and empty promises it is safe to say that they are just greedy incompetent bastards.
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Perhaps if we look at who has been involved with Entropia for the past 10 years we can find the source of the problem.

Sometimes, the person running the show is the person ruining the show.
 
thoreau said:
Perhaps if we look at who has been involved with Entropia for the past 10 years we can find the source of the problem.

Sometimes, the person running the show is the person ruining the show.
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Too...many...sources ;D
 
{removed}
Tons of info in your thread(s). Great work compiling them.
 
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Absolutely great post with Advert history!
 
Regarding castle, was my mistake about the 600k Euro (I think they tried to sell it as is, in unfinished state) but at present it is listed at 990k Euro!

Looking at the pictures and data it can hardly be called a castle, rather a mansion as it only has 500m2 habitable space.

Renovating this beauty must have been a pain in the arse, the building had been abandoned for quite some time (probably several decades) and as with such objects there is no way that you can keep to a budget.

Anyways, it was definitely a huge investment mistake and unless an eccentric millionaire comes along it will remain unsold.

I could go on and on rambling, but there seems to be little point.

Link to to real estate agency international site:

http://www.engelvoelkers.com/search...den;lcncr:cossebaude&language=en&frmlc=sweden
 
wow...
You wouldn't get much change from $1m on a 4 b/room, 2 bathroom, study, double garage sized house, in my country. Maybe I should look at buying a castle instead!
 
Dismiss the "oldskoool" creative employees in exchange for expensive uber-managers, that wont stay for long.

I read about that everyday on the net...HEY, it must be some kind of marketing/advertising then. -_-
 
Very interesting McCormick.
I'm wondering what the goal of PE or EU should be, what does the loyal fan base want to happen?

I have been away for 2 years. I came back, ran around a bit (did I get slower or did the monsters get faster?). I poked around my old haunts, the place looks great, but i still miss the way it looked....missed the way I looked...I got a ship for like 15 ped, rezed it on top of the PA mall added a thruster and zoomed up into space...went to arkadia (there now...coming back soon and wow it was cheap to do it)
A few things have not changed...sweat threads calling for uniting for fair prices. A post talking about all the new people leaving cause it costs too much money....I see that same loyal fan-base of many who love the place and I see allot of people talking about how stupid or inept MA is...
MA isnt stupid because they are still here. Many MMOs are dust. Now that free to play is taking off with huge success its just going to get tougher for MA to shine. You can go to sl and the ability to create amazing content for pennies is unparalleled. If your talented you will make good money. Many virtual worlds out there thrive on their social aspects alone.
Games like AOC and WAR exploded on the market...huge clans of 300-900 players held strong for 2 years +...then it dwindles...then it went free to play with exclusive content for the ones who pay...DC universe is the same... Marvel Heroes around the corner. Secret world is out now. Oh, am i still not allowed to say the names of other product? :ahh:
it says allot for Mindark that the planets are still floating in cyberspace. The fact is, in many other worlds you can go out and do so much for so little and have a fantastic time that the gamers of today just wont stick around and put up with a game that frustrates them.
I think Mindarks best bet is to find a happy place between where they are now and the free to play models that are out there. Capitalize on the strength, and one of those strengths is the sheer size of the world...not instanced. You certainly are not going to jump into a spaceship and fly for 2 hours uninterrupted in SL, and in the sword and sorcery games you won't have an opportunity to make a little money or the ability to be self sufficient.

MA can really seize the day here. They are still a clean environment, not wracked with porn...you can make money...the word is HUGE...there are goals....but its still just too big of a time and money investment for most people..and the social and media aspects are still lacking....find that point where they can offer a free 2 play and pay for privilege model and I really believe it will soar.
They didn't get it all wrong, it is a good place to be...hell I came back for a look.....
 
Their target market is very small.


They have a lot of players here, who are not there intended target market.

Although they still try and go for their target market.


All they need to do is change it then they can actually become a very successful game.
 
rwin said:
Very interesting McCormick.
I'm wondering what the goal of PE or EU should be, what does the loyal fan base want to happen?

I have been away for 2 years. I came back, ran around a bit (did I get slower or did the monsters get faster?). I poked around my old haunts, the place looks great, but i still miss the way it looked....missed the way I looked...I got a ship for like 15 ped, rezed it on top of the PA mall added a thruster and zoomed up into space...went to arkadia (there now...coming back soon and wow it was cheap to do it)
A few things have not changed...sweat threads calling for uniting for fair prices. A post talking about all the new people leaving cause it costs too much money....I see that same loyal fan-base of many who love the place and I see allot of people talking about how stupid or inept MA is...
MA isnt stupid because they are still here. Many MMOs are dust. Now that free to play is taking off with huge success its just going to get tougher for MA to shine. You can go to sl and the ability to create amazing content for pennies is unparalleled. If your talented you will make good money. Many virtual worlds out there thrive on their social aspects alone.
Games like AOC and WAR exploded on the market...huge clans of 300-900 players held strong for 2 years +...then it dwindles...then it went free to play with exclusive content for the ones who pay...DC universe is the same... Marvel Heroes around the corner. Secret world is out now. Oh, am i still not allowed to say the names of other product? :ahh:
it says allot for Mindark that the planets are still floating in cyberspace. The fact is, in many other worlds you can go out and do so much for so little and have a fantastic time that the gamers of today just wont stick around and put up with a game that frustrates them.
I think Mindarks best bet is to find a happy place between where they are now and the free to play models that are out there. Capitalize on the strength, and one of those strengths is the sheer size of the world...not instanced. You certainly are not going to jump into a spaceship and fly for 2 hours uninterrupted in SL, and in the sword and sorcery games you won't have an opportunity to make a little money or the ability to be self sufficient.

MA can really seize the day here. They are still a clean environment, not wracked with porn...you can make money...the word is HUGE...there are goals....but its still just too big of a time and money investment for most people..and the social and media aspects are still lacking....find that point where they can offer a free 2 play and pay for privilege model and I really believe it will soar.
They didn't get it all wrong, it is a good place to be...hell I came back for a look.....
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Just because they have a few "whales" that keep things afloat doesn't mean that they are NOT greedy or incompetent. Those people would have sticked around even if we were still on gamebryo engine (which btw is another display of incompetence by MA, since gamebryo could achieve the current graphics, and better even, if they had tried).

What MA does with all the money they get from the addicted customers, most of which have gambling issues but can't admit it (not bashing on those people here, if anything they've kept the game we loved going, my point is that it doesn't require a genius to get money from somebody with gambling propensities), is what makes them look incompetent and greedy. How they always stick it up their ass and then hope that they will be shitting money forever afterwards. That is what they always have done, always do and show no signs of change (at least for the better).

Lately their main income is in the form of planet partnerships, which, other than Arkadia, are being rather disappointing for both the partners and the players; and CLD sales, which are basically a liquidization of assets, with the catch that they haven't necessarily liquidized anything (no way to tell if they really aren't just producing those PEDs out of thin air + most people recycle their earnings back into the game).
While these may seem clever, it also makes one thing crystal clear: player deposits are no longer enough for them. Not because of company growth (other than stupid castle purchase, which doesn't really qualify as that). The playerbase has done nothing but shrink since CE2.

Put 2 and 2 together, then think about all that the players have suggested, and how it could have gone if they had better communications with us, and we're back to my first post: {removed}.
 
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Their PR for the game is weak (for some reason they do not know how they will do it).

They have tried to do much outside the game's frames to get some revenue - this has not succeeded.

Personally, I think the fault lies in their line because they have a rigid agenda that they refuse to change no matter how it goes.

They also have a very poor customer support where they let the customer wait for years, and they also lie to their customers.

They say that they listen to their customers and do what most people want it - has proved time and again that it is not true.

I do not think they are greedy but they are working hard to destroy the game's reputation.

:twocents:
 
McCormick said:
Since the early days of "Project Entropia", people on the forum were trying to advice MindArk, on how to do proper marketing/advertising.

Even MindArk themself made some efforts on the forum, asking for help, on how and where they should advertise on the net.

But MA was born to do publicity stunts.
Treasure Island & Club Neverdie. You could read about it across the whole internet.
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+​

Huskie said:
...think about all that the players have suggested, and how it could have gone if they had better communications with us...
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Could have really worked out in the end. But MA did it the other way around.

History repeating again. And slowly my thread vanishes in the mists of time...​
 
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