RockTropia might go into hibernation just like NI it seems. Can anyone confirm?

How is this new VU generating new players ? What does he expect ? Any ad campains planed ?

Mindark doesn't care. All that matters is Calypso.

Those other planets were just suckers for MA to suck their money from.

I'm more worried about the new Moon planet.

FOMA 1.5 - Now with more shit in your way while you mine.

Fiona Simmons said:

How is this new VU generating new players ? What does he expect ? Any ad campains planed ?

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I have no idea. He seems to have made a statement that if the VU doesnt generate more players (read: income and money for his pocket) there will be no more money to keep developing the planet... By saying this I suppose he "hopes" that the word will spread and current EU players will go there and do what they can to help him. I doubt it tho, but I do not blame Jon... I think there are other factors behind this...

LangeTobias said:

I have no idea. He seems to have made a statement that if the VU doesnt generate more players (read: income and money for his pocket) there will be no more money to keep developing the planet... By saying this I suppose he "hopes" that the word will spread and current EU players will go there and do what they can to help him. I doubt it tho, but I do not blame Jon... I think there are other factors behind this...

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Care to share the "other factors"?

And if RT does fail, ND only has himself to blame...

Jon has his own active facebook. If he had something to say he would probably have said it there instead of spreading the "word".

Must be a pretty special VU then if it going to save RT. Looking forward to it

Svarog said:

Jon has his own active facebook. If he had something to say he would probably have said it there instead of spreading the "word".

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I'll go ask him about it as I have him on my FB, good idea!

(Redirecting him to this thread)

Maybe I'm wrong, but in the past not much happened in regards of RT development.

The biggest problem I see for RT is the mass of different lootable things.
For me it shows in the clothes BP's.
First there is each one BP for M and one for F.
And than each of the two has different ingredients too!

I have some RT clothes BP's and not one uses the same ingredients as the others. It is realy hard to get the ingredients because most is going to tt.

So and on his forum ND said:

We cant change ingredients in time for the Apocalypse... We should just remove shared Junk like mindarks old Faps and Guns
etc... Brutal Axes et, etc,,, Zk's??

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http://www.neverdie.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18162

As much as RT hurts my eyes, the concept with his missions is good. But as long as all the different loot things does not get less, I dont see how things will get better for the planet.

And after ND's apocalypse anouncement, where people thought the planet might vanish, I dont believe anything that he says anymore. Could be only a PR thingy to get more people to his planet.

Grrrrr said:

Care to share the "other factors"?

And if RT does fail, ND only has himself to blame...

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Bugs, disconnects, crashes are a few of them. If you start stacking them up on top of each other like some people have been experiencing increasingly the last 6 months, some people are not affected at all, some people are struck by all bugs for some reason. Why I do not know, but game is pretty unstable. If it is unstable, people will just not bother logging in after a while... I think...



http://www.entropiaplanets.com/threads/introducing-joakim-antonsson-game-designer.10809/

Q. What do you personally think is the most worthwhile project to address in EU development in the near future?

A. As for Calypso development we will continue to revamp servers on Eudoria, re-creating and improving the feel that we all know was lost many years ago.
As for Mindark development it’s all about the players, I think that creating something around our amazing community should be highly prioritized. Fixing all the social tools and aspect of the game is crucial and should have been done several years ago in my opinion, BUT the most important thing right now is to fix the client stability for players

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a bit off topic, today i was mining in Hell, went to Dome 5, normally there are horney devil mobs.

They still were here, red dots on radar but invisibles.

The end is near ( at least for horney )

Was expecting an ath bug lol

A pity if Rocktropia failed , there was potential, no doubt about it.

LangeTobias said:

We keep getting more and more planets, but also more and more planets seem to just fade away slowly....

Why is that? How could this be avoided?

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They just fade away simply because they do not market their planet externally. It can be avoided by planet partners by just doing what they said they would do i.e. market their planet to external players. When they made a proposal for their planet a key part of that proposal was how they intend to advertise externally.

It's not good enough to make MA believe they will do marketing but then fail to deliver on that. Bluntly put that's the reality of it.

This next VU I suspect RT will finally take-off because it's likely to address the marketing issue. All the evidence seems to point towards that.

I also suspect ND was not exaggerating about the apocalypse announcement but it's difficult for him since he cannot say it directly as that would reveal too much. So reading between what's happening and piecing together the bits of the jigsaw I think I know what his plan is. If it indeed is what I think it is then it will mean major changes to RT and likely to be some real marketing efforts. Since marketing is what's required I see RT finally taking off and becoming a real contender.

That's just theories though, guess we just have to wait for this next VU and see what's actually in it.

Grrrrr said:

Care to share the "other factors"?

And if RT does fail, ND only has himself to blame...

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i totally agree,

actually RT is not that barren, i spend some time there this year -

but mission chains not working, not triggered

crashing in cities(thats been happening earlier why not cut underground raceway away?)

wave event not working? that should be easily fixable

wrong named/no named thieves(how freaking difficult is that to fix over years????)

still thinking about the NWOP chain - probably the best in EU - but no storage wtf?

noob firendly stufff...

th forum mess.. why PP dont do a site like thanatos for cyrene is a myth...

ark failing on this one as well with current data missions - mob location - mob damage

these infos MUST be there for new players(what, where, can i?)

make tps visible when flying from a loong distance


creating an event double taxed = whole zomhatten an LA.. what a bad idea


i could think of more(but too tired like yoda says)


sy if ND cant live in a moet jaccuzzi[SUP]R[/SUP] from RT but it would not take really much

work to make it more playable and attractive.


and with the thing business deal he is still to be honored and i like the thing newcomer mission the most in EU

I have told ND before that he needs to promote bands that the player base actually listen to. Sorry but Motorhead didn't hit the mark for me, I suggested he bring in bands like Metallica, Iron Maiden, Cannibal Corpse, Sepultura, Soulfly, Hatebreed, Slayer, etc etc. Shit get Metallica on board and you have multi-millions of potential players.

I think he needs to bring some fresh talent to the planet, fix the weird clothing BP options and keep other BPs dropping like furniture...where did that go? Everyone loves music, set areas of RT to different styles, pop, dance, metal, classical etc
He lost the THING which was a big draw card. I look forward to seeing what this update brings, but he needs to advertise as well. And by the way, everyone I know these days is closing their facebook accounts or barely uses it, so that is not advertising.

I can imagine that its tough to run an own planet. Its not only develpment and a good story line, u also need a pretty good idea how to attract more players. RT is too messy for me and im bothered with those stupid mob names

Fiona Simmons said:

How is this new VU generating new players ? What does he expect ? Any ad campains planed ?

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nah neverdie still thinks it will run without any add campains.
btw rt wont die though, it development will just go down a notch and be set on very little.

Other planets are dying because of space PvP. Takes too long for people to go do small hunt at other planet and come back to Calypso. Plus losing loot you try to bring back means hunters have to sell their loot to TT or leave in storage. While I understand this is supposed to make other planets economy thrive it is pointless until a planet has a base population that isn't just there for a short stay.

MA should make it so new planets can be traveled to through the TP system with a fee for the first year. Nothing that could be looted from a player can be transported through either direction. This would help get more people visiting and help the planet get a base population going if they do things right.

Main problem with all planets (except arkadia, although they could still do better) is they create loads of planet specific ores and materials then have no blueprints that use them.

The main consumer of loot from miners and hunters are the crafters, if you don't give them what they need then the planet is dead from the word go.

Talania said:

Other planets are dying because of space PvP.

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Space PvP is not a problem. Ark is not dying. I live on Ark.
And RT - let die... I do not need anything from there except Alternative for WW. I was disappointed in this planet for a long time ago, losing money on buggy missions and received NO compensation.

Maybe The Apocalypse is just an event ....Anyway VU is on 10th...!!!

The problem with some of the PPs is that they don't understand that their #1 focus MUST be creating a working economy. There is only so much revenue you make by creating dancing half-naked, anatomically-impossible NPCs and vampires. If your BPs use insane amounts of materials or MU per click or are impossible to find enough materials for, there simply won't be crafting and therefore consuming of resources. These reasons are why NI did not succeed, and why RT has always only had a small player base (besides the other "weird" aspects of RT). (Ofc more marketing also helps!). Cyrene, I think they have economy as a goal, but we'll see how the development goes. With Arkadia studios, I'd say that designing the economy has been their 1 priority, getting reasonable-cost per click and reasonable MU per click BPs out and some really thoughtful placement of mining resources as well, and we have really just started to see how it all works together this year.

So, it doesn't add eye candy or flashy stuff but if you fail to create a working economy, the planet will fail.... because that's the thing that makes this game run, the interplay of crafters, miners, hunters that feed off of each other and create decay.

Unfortunately, from what I've heard, MA gives zero help and advice to new PPs about designing economy, getting proper drop rates, ingredient requirements, etc.

il said:

i totally agree,

actually RT is not that barren, i spend some time there this year -

but mission chains not working, not triggered

crashing in cities(thats been happening earlier why not cut underground raceway away?)

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Crashes happen on Calypso also, so I wouldn't blame ND for those.

Neil Stockton said:

The problem with some of the PPs is that they don't understand that their #1 focus MUST be creating a working economy.

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How planet pratner can create economy if Calypso flood marked wich cheap staf after each event they create?
Who will craft and buy arkadians guns if calypso brake MU on every single gun? there is no planaet that can enter this world and compare with calypso, every one will be gone, Cyrene would do good if it had seperete econemy and players could only use their materials and tools, but usually ppl come with staff from calypso which again brake demand

Andreso said:

How planet pratner can create economy if Calypso flood marked wich cheap staf after each event they create?
Who will craft and buy arkadians guns if calypso brake MU on every single gun? there is no planaet that can enter this world and compare with calypso, every one will be gone, Cyrene would do good if it had seperete econemy and players could only use their materials and tools, but usually ppl come with staff from calypso which again brake demand

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That is a problem, Mindark needs to enforce rules about item stats so each new PP doesn't flood the market with "new improved" items.

Andreso said:

Who will craft and buy arkadians guns if calypso brake MU on every single gun? there is no planaet that can enter this world and compare with calypso, every one will be gone, Cyrene would do good if it had seperete econemy and players could only use their materials and tools, but usually ppl come with staff from calypso which again brake demand

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There are quite a few arkadia style weapons on Calypso auction, even though they doens't have the uber stats they had Before the big weapon repalance.

And cyrene (hub) currently provides Calypso with a new range of clothes.

Next Island's swords are like SIB version of old Calypso "Valor" swords (anyone remembers those?)

From Rocktropia (and Ancient Greece), armor parts of Pixie and goblin that doesn't appear to drop on calypso anymore lol.

Neil Stockton said:

That is a problem, Mindark needs to enforce rules about item stats so each new PP doesn't flood the market with "new improved" items.

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There has been: When it got known how eco arkadia weapons were, they had to rebalance, so they had to increase the professional level requirement on their weapons.

Andreso said:

How planet pratner can create economy if Calypso flood marked wich cheap staf after each event they create?

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Your missing the point completely.

Item drops from events do not impact the economy as much as flooding the market with unlimited bp's and hence items. For example Arkadia furniture bp's are unlimited & drop rate is high and materials to craft them are readily available. The effect of this is to flood the market with cheap Arkadian furniture. They have also done this with other items e.g. clothing.

While events are limited and do not usually have a lasting effect, the method adopted by Arkadia is purely selfish and short sighted because it has a damaging effect on the economy for a long time if not forever.

Neil Stockton said:

That is a problem, Mindark needs to enforce rules about item stats so each new PP doesn't flood the market with "new improved" items.

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Arkadia would block a such move that restricts it from flooding the market with items.

I have an idea!

Make another trucker cap! It will surely cause interest in RT to soar! Problem solved!


Okay, so now, and a more serious, less goofy/sarcastic/howeveryouwanttointerpretit note:

Being the first planet partner to enter the universe, I imagine that ND and RT have had many struggles. They were, essentially, the guinea-pig for the PP concept. I think it started out well, had a great concept, and had potential to draw people in.... I mean, Motorhead was involved (not that I listen to Motorhead).. the concept was to create this whole music venue type of planet. I mean, it's ROCKtropia. And then, nothing... nothing to do with Rock... nothing to do with music.. okay, okay, the RT specific ore names, but that's it.

RT then became a mish-mosh of stuff, like The Thing and Hell. Instead of being ROCKtropia, the planet itself became the icon for illicit activities... things that happen in the "bad" parts of cities. You know, those places you don't want to go alone, ever.

The reality is, imo, the originality for RT stopped about the same time the planet opened. Music became a miniscule part of the planet. Creativity stopped about about the 5th iteration of dragon and with the introduction of cheetahs, panthers and the like. While I am not certain what the population of RT actually is, I AM certain that 36 trucker caps with different logos is probably not the answer to keep the population growing. (there might be more... I just counted what is currently on entropedia).

While I do not wish failure upon any planet partner, I do think that both NI and RT need a serious makeover. Would it suck for some players if a makeover were to happen... absolutely. But, in the long run, an entire makeover to the items that create that planet's economy is necessary.

Well I never liked RT , to messy, badly designed, to laggy, was the first planet to open after calypso, it did got some players based there!
If they all left blame the development of the planet !
Like NI or you are killing pigs and monkeys with average 50hp or next option is kill skeletons with above 10k hp as a hunter I see Ark and Caly better balanced..
I ´ve been a huge fan of NI but ,since they changed the agression on the cyclops in A.G. no point going there
However I did manage to complete cyclops mission , getting the last 100 stereops cyclops low maturity with 3 fapers
I think RT will become the same as NI is today , however my hope is that 1milion players depositers will join EU until the end of 2013 and the expansion of Entropia Universe and players will be better balanced , because we have to much planets for the amount of people playing this game

Coz1969 said:

RT then became a mish-mosh of stuff, like The Thing and Hell. Instead of being ROCKtropia, the planet itself became the icon for illicit activities... things that happen in the "bad" parts of cities. You know, those places you don't want to go alone, ever.

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Maybe it can be a lesson?

Also, you don't have to be the "bad guy" - you can also get a police badge and look for "bad guys" (well it's like normal hunting missions). And area like Zoomhattan, New Harlem (cities) is the closest we have to old Hadesheim (calypso). Most places on Calypso nowdays are outposts with fences and an outpost builing, and most of the old cities seems like builings have been just flung out.

The reality is, imo, the originality for RT stopped about the same time the planet opened. Music became a miniscule part of the planet. Creativity stopped about about the 5th iteration of dragon and with the introduction of cheetahs, panthers and the like.[/QUOTE]

Well, on other planets there are tons of animals that looks like dinosaurs.

Also places like Arctic is cool (the "White Island" on calypso once had an Arctic feeling, but nowdays a big part of the feeling is gone). (The "upper half" of Arctic could probably be scrapped though, it's the Southern part that's interesting, Just move an outpost and some spawns there.)

Hell is also interesting, though the idea with domes yeah probably came from asteroid. It would be fun though if the SE part with the big hall and firewall Ridge could be saved.

As for dragons, well for me it's dull since it's pretty much Pop Dragon I can hunt without any problems.

Zezadas Gugu said:

I think RT will become the same as NI is today

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There is a big difference: For RT, Neverdie is very Active with communicating with the players (himself). For nextisland, it was the development team that did the Communication, and when they were sacked all official Communication just stopped (owner of NI just Writing on his friends-only facebook page).
Even if development of RT is stopped, there is a chance there still will be Communication with the owner (though he won't be able to do much Changes).

Not providing further development, is not quite the same as shutting down the planet. It could make good business sense to freeze development, and cash cow the planet for what already exists. Reducing costs might be his only option, to generate enough income to service his general costs just running the planet.

I like Rocktropia, but I've not been back for a long time. Why? Well Pop dragons were the only possible dragons to take down (for me anyhow), and they dropped pixie. As much as I love British dry humour, I was never a fan of that choice of loot for an expensive mob to hunt.

Secondly I kind of lost interest when RT starting dumping caly spawns on their planet as a way of milking the same iron missions as Caly. The planets worked fine while many were chasing iron missions, but those missions in general began to lose their appeal (universe wide) when MA decided that you would have to pay dearly if you wanted to finish many iron challenges.

I guess in hindsight one of the first big screw ups, was RT dropping a ton of rare scanners onto the market, destroying many players VERY BIG investments, and ultimately destroying scan skilling itself. This seemed to be the start of the trend that "anything goes" as a planet partner, as long as you can get hunters on your manor (planet).

Looking back it was a great few years for all the planets after they went live, but what are we truly left with. A massive oversupply of everything unlimited, and a huge distruction of players investments. A destruction of attributes and there usefulness (if it ever existed in the first place), because everyone wanted a slice of the pie.

Caly didn't help matters running continuous events, with home advantage. It wasn't really a "win-win" situation. Even if planets pulled people in they often moved to Caly being the busiest planet. Then MA attempted but failed miserably with their idea to move popular ore hunted mob loots to other planets (not that I ever found out which mobs they went too). So drone and argo hunting died on Caly, for not much that I can see of benefit to other planets.

Was lootable space a good idea? Did the planet partners want this? It certainly is a massive factor for open no risk hunting. NI being the furthest away should've sent the message to MA something wasn't working.

I can't blame any planets management for lack of new players and retention. Ultimately MA controls the loot system universe wide, if players don't think the returns are there, that falls squarely on MA (in fact returns continues to be MA's retention issue even today).

Although I think there should've have been much more management discussion with content release on a universe wide basis. Truly understanding the impacts of content to the wider universe, may have saved many players from calling it a day.

The truth is the universe is too big to support the current player base. Overall costs to keep it running against income cant be wonderful.

I wished MA went a step further and allowed planets to truly work independently, manage their own loot system, even own currency. I often lobbied for this many times in forum, but it was not to be. You can't truly have separate planets if they are not in control of their own economy. It would've been interesting seeing planets battle it out for our money if one offered cheaper play than another.

The real issue lies with short term greed, rather than long term health of the universe, and sadly that caused a great deal of damage to our beloved game.

I could go on and on, but it makes little difference. Those that matter do not want to listen to what can save them.

Rick