Reaching the Plateaux

Ok so recently I have become a bit bored with EU, I think there are a number of factors that have caused this. I have had times during my 4 years of game play when I have got bored / become despondent before but these have not lasted more than a week before I have started getting withdrawal symptoms and logged back on.

I put my current situation down to slow progress - I am currently level 48.6 laser pistol so one goal was to reach level 50 and unlock combat sense but this has become very slow going as last year I started skilling melee (swords). This went well for the first 6 months but again I have hit a plateaux on the skill gains, this is not helped by my switching from pistol to sword.

I grinded the LT's but was disappointed that this year there was no shared loot (apart form Icarus). After migration ended I headed to ARK for some Oratan madness and the opportunity to join in some large shared loot mobs, I always enjoy this style of game play as I like it when there are a lot of players together. Again I was disappointed, every large mob became unreachable and there was no sound. By the end of the weekend I just about broke even but again was left feeling unfulfilled.

Is this normal , have I just reached the end of my fun in EU, what about other players who have been here for years, how do they keep the game alive for themselves. Six months ago I couldn't wait to get home from work and log on. I would play all evening until I was ready to sleep. Now I log on - unsure what to do - fart around for an hour then go and read a book or watch a movie.

Any suggestions for rekindling my love of this game would be appreciated. I am not whining about loot, I accept that MA is a business making a profit, I don't mind depoing and losing because up until now I always felt I was being entertained and thus getting value for money. Is it just me or do others feel the same way. I am not even sure what I want - just how I feel about the game right now.

Confused

Moondog

New content gets added to this game on a regular basis, which is part of what keeps it alive and very strong today.
It may be time to take a short break since there are many new features planned in the near future. Arkadia is booming and Calypso are stable, Cyrene and Toulan on the other hand have not come out of beta mode. This means that they will be getting major major major amounts of work done to them and many systems will be overhauled.
This alone can easily provide a new rekindled interest in the game That's how it has always worked for me.

One word....targets.

You started on the right track with your lvl 50 unlock. I find that using a gun with SIB active (not maxed) and the biggest amp you can afford gets the green lines going again, plus skill pills are your friend.

My advice would be to set a couple of other targets that are slightly different, so maybe completing a particular mission, hitting a particular total skill level or owning a particular (achievable) item. You can then move between targets to keep things interesting.

It works for me. Maybe it can work for you.

Good luck

Ff

Thanks fforest, I appreciate the response, actually after starting the thread I thought about it and I have decided that while it might be a bit of a long haul I may embark on mission galactica, the last time i got heavily engrossed in a mission was Mount Hephastos Vaccine which I finished a few months back, it was great having a goal and finally achieving it. I like the idea of the chip as a reward and i also enjoy being in space so maybe that is the way to go.

Aside from LT, what is your normal hunting style? What mobs? What weapon?

Also, which of your hit professions is closest to 50?

I hit it a long time ago, not willing to deposit any more doesn't help with skill gains.

When I would get bored I used to go mob gathering for sweaters and help on the odd TP run but sadly both of those options got nerfed by well meaning changes from MA.

Relying on the hunting or mining to provide all the entertainment can get boring really quickly so finding something to distract from the grind helps a lot. For example helping to rescuing newbies or simply exploring without hunting or mining can be interesting as we often forget about the surroundings.

Fforest said:

One word....targets.

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I found recording my progress on a daily basis kept me motivated, especially when you get past level 60.
Wasn't too much of a chore, took about 1 min a day at the end of the session.

It kept me motivated, you can do it on paper or electronically.

I find streaming while playing really revitalized my gameplay and excitement to play. It's fun to chat with new people and share my entropia experience. Maybe you can try it yourself. Cheers!

Mega said:

I found recording my progress on a daily basis kept me motivated, especially when you get past level 60.
Wasn't too much of a chore, took about 1 min a day at the end of the session.

It kept me motivated, you can do it on paper or electronically.

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Some years ago I took Mega's advice and it has helped me a lot.
You won't progress faster but the all important thing is that you SEE it progress.
That is very fulfilling and rewarding. You get to set small goals that are within reach.
Just try it.

Mega said:

I found recording my progress on a daily basis kept me motivated, especially when you get past level 60.
Wasn't too much of a chore, took about 1 min a day at the end of the session.

It kept me motivated, you can do it on paper or electronically.

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So true as of now I'm not sure if I play for Excel or just the fun of it. I've now been recording my data for a good 1543 days and can't seem to miss a day of not keeping the data up to date.

I've actually gone in an entirely different direction.

I'm not much of a grinder, so I moved on to more social and business ventures. I've found my niche in writing a blog about Entropia and I enjoy it a lot. I just got back in the game myself and I'm just now bringing the blog back online, so I understand your struggle.

But, for what it's worth, I look back and wish that I hadn't taken any time off. I was really making some headway on the blog when I had to step away. Now I'm starting all over again. I know that really isn't the case with hunting, but I would still say "stick with it" because it'll feel rewarding to hit your targets.

JohnCapital said:

Aside from LT, what is your normal hunting style? What mobs? What weapon?

Also, which of your hit professions is closest to 50?

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Thank for all the responses and encouragement to keep going.To JohnC my closest profession to level 50 is laser pistol damage (48.6)

Normally I hunt on Caly- do the daily missions I can handle with mid range armour.

Otherwise i hunt feffox, eviscerators, atrox, maffoids. I have just started hunting araneatrox and occasionally hunt Proterons but need to use Perseus for this so I don't do it that often. I have a decent selection of mid range armour and various plate sets, liakon, ghost, viceroy, hunter mentor and perseus. My blp pistol is around 43 which allows me to use BLP guns if I can't locate a laser pistol at my level. Swordsman level 30 which i hunt with whenever i can. I also try to hunt boots but never seem to get very good loot when i do.

On Ark I grind the larger Tiarak (for hides),riptors, houn, small scoria and togo. I have just started hunting small Korwil

I don't visit Cyrene much although when I do it is usually tide claws and panelaon.

I steer clear of NI, Monria and occasionally hunt on CP if the dailies take me their. Normal runs are usually about 200 - 400 ped

Crone finds that these pointers help:
Find a partner in crime. Or find someone with who you can discuss EU, hearing others having fun makes you want to play.
Release the pressure of gaining either ped or skills, the aim is to have a good time.
Drive a buggy, they are awesome.
Start something completely different (cyclops depth, maffoid wave, hunt punnies, daily crafting mission on monria, trading...)

moondog said:

Six months ago I couldn't wait to get home from work and log on. I would play all evening until I was ready to sleep. Now I log on - unsure what to do - fart around for an hour then go and read a book or watch a movie.

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This is exactly how I felt during the first few months, or even first year or two of playing the game. Sadly, things change, the business moves on and progresses and the game will never be the same as when someone first starts, regardless of them being here since the start, or starting 5 years ago, or starting 5 weeks ago. Someone starting today won't know any different but in another 5 years time things will be different again (yet maintaining the same frustrations we experience today).

Might be worth going back to basics? Doing some sweating, grabbing some TT gear and going through some punies, some mining with TT stuff etc. This is what I've found keeps me occupied and engaged but without costing much.

You raise a good point about skills and achievements in general. Gaining skills is not a priority for me anymore, simply because it feels like it costs too much money and takes far too long. Last skill I unlocked was Combat Sense and I expect next is Wounding (not sure - I'm not even bothered). The sense of achievement and gain is just not the same now as it was those first few years, not only because of my own avatar progress and the slowdowns involved but because of the mechanics of the game now.

I agree about skills not being a priority, I stopped watching them a long time ago because although right now you might be at reasonable level you only need a couple of changes and you're back to square one.

Think of the days before L sib equipment, players worked hard for months and possibly years to get to a decent level only to find new players could get to a similar level in weeks after the L sib was introduced.

Although setting goals are nice regarding skills eventually you'll have to make the decision to either pay up and pay to reach them or face the prospect of having the rug pulled out from under you just as you think you're getting somewhere. Finding something else that isn't related to skill gain or getting loot will probably reward you better in the end and keep you in game for a lot longer.

Update,

Ok I think I am back on track and thanks for all the advice and support. I have sheathed my sword for now as I had been skilling long blades for a year and this had slowed down my laser pistol. Concentrating on that now and happy to say I am at level 49.6 so that level 50 is within site. I will grind that one out, I also did the whole stage of Ambulimax mission which gave me a nice hand gun skill increase, appalling loot but ho hum never mind. This has brought some enjoyment back into the game for me which is what i wanted.

I scrapped the idea of Mission Galactica, I don't mind that it would take a while, I am just not happy tying up that much ped and it seems that if you really want the chip, it's cheaper to buy one on AH.

So after hitting level 50 I plan to get the sword out again and go for the Eviscerators, I do like this mob and the sword works well in Ghost and 6B's. I looked through my mission log and there are a number of missions that I am over 50% of completing - Atrox 10k and Argo 10k. These are only small milestones I could complete in a month or two so again a target that is not to difficult to attain.

I really miss hunting on Ark and would like to go back but I don't like the fact that the sound doesn't work properly. A soc mate says he just plays music instead but I like to hear the gun noises.


Moondog