George, I started playing in 2006; and we have seen a community grow and a playerbase grow. Much advertising and people actually asked their friends and family to play.
But many are not into a real cash economy. Many don't want to spend money in hope to gain money. Many players just want to play a game, with no financial restriction on the level of play.
a person can have a minimum wage IRL and be an uber war monger pink fluffy elf in many of blizzard & co 's games.
Or have a massive storyline that actually progresses and makes sense.
that same person can build a space fleet in another game; where social skills and such are important. Or go shoot each other in MMO FPS games. Or test his reaction, strategy and skills in a couple of mayor league games.
Or just play tabletop D&D.
All of these are more popular than EU, and all of these have a lower cost to play at a top level. The league games even make you money if you uber them and win an E-sport event.
What does it cost to play EU in highest tier. How many would do the boring grinds here? How many people like to play a game where the only way to resolve the playing style restriction is pay more money?
this isn't only EU, it will be true for all RCE games. These games are a niche, and should actually serve that public. It is true EU is unique; but I got a feeling some managers at MA try too much to be generic and lose the uniqueness that PE/EU has.
Why advertise missions and lure in new players not meant to play an RCE. to have them deposit 10 bucks; get mad and make negative reviews/advertising/ calling EU a scam and such.
Start by advertising EU as a virtual world instead of a game. Sure you can play like hunt mine and craft; but it comes at a cost. It is a sandbox where people create. Look at how creative our playerbase is/was. How many of us are entrepreneurs in spirit.
We are the Niche that make the game.
Bring EU mainstream (or try) and it will sink faster than the titanic did.
It's like the principle of demon souls/dark souls. The producer pondered to make the next instalment easier in a way, but they won't. They know that they will lose their core public that loves the hardness/1337ness it takes to finish this game. if it was easier, they might have less audience, even if they had a bigger potential playerbase. It was the fact that is was so hard that made that brand so popular, first as a cult classic, later as the game that 'hardest game of it's generation'.
If demon souls was easier, it would never have become available in the US, europe; and Dark souls wouldn't have been released outside the PS3 platform and it wouldn't be highlighted by steam a couple of times. It was something unique and they didn't give in to the market; so the market respected them and it gave in to the DS series.
They stayed true to themself; and thus become to most famous game in the niche of "difficult games".
If EU would stay true to the mindset that PE once had; but with the nicer graphics. If instead of making a crapload of missions and unwalkable terrain, they would remain the sandbox type of game. They would be more popular for what they are.
Because now, I have the feeling like MA thinks they need to change the game to the generic stuff to fit in; and in doing so losing its own identity; and that is wrong.
Never be ashamed for what PE was. The concept was bold and daring. It had a unique style; a unique gameplay; a unique playbase and community. And I am proud about what PE was.
It's not about the graphics or what teens and "real" gamers think about this game that counts. those people are narrowminded dimwits without money to spend. They crave the latest and newest and leave eventually. That is not the audience worthy of even downloading PE; let alone pollute what was our nice community with their childish and short sighted ideas.
If you look at entropia as a virtual world instead of just another game. You see that it is a world that grows on you; where you develop your skills, friends and contacts, knowledge and get something no mere other game can give.
That is why entropia should and can't go mainstream. It is a place for the anti-gamer; the player that doesn't play many other games; doesn't expect just another game with game settings. But an inhabitant of a world; a world known as entropia.