How MA could fix their problems (and make a ton of moola without trying too hard.
Well if Mindark wants players to stay and in fact they want to keep their so called "Gravy Train": Going, maybe what they need to do is a few simple things, and in fact Here are some "Out of the box" ide4as...
Explosives (not Projectiles) -
L:et's be honest, Explosive Projectiles are great when you craft them, as they now give you skills, but let's be honest, Putting explosive projectiles into the crafting mx really wasn't a well thought out idea.. I mean granted the explosives generate Cheap metal residue, but it's the explosives themselves that are the issue here..
With too many explosives and not enough Grenade launchers (either Looted or crafted) the end result is that Explosives will never get abovcee 105% and for good reason.. There's a glut on the market so most people take those Explosives and toss them in "The Blue Bin" (The Trade Terminal as we all Call it), then they take their returns buy nanocubes over and over again, just a simple waste of energy just to craft for a big Hof (What I call a Big Banana... So what to do with them? Improvise, and change the end result..
The Problem with Explosives is that the only thing they are good for is in fact, just Grenade Launchers nothing else.. (just like Sweat was back when I started in 2008, and that was Mind Essence. SBut now we have Explosivve as being the main culprit here, and in fact just like the 90 or so sweat sinks we have in the game now which has helped stabilize sweat prices a bit (albe it low), the same thing needs to be done with Explosives, and the answer is... Missiles..(not just missiles for Motherships mind you , but missiles for quads and some of the so called "New Vehicles" that are going to come out (if and when they get space upgraded again)
IN fact Mind ark hasn't thought a lot about this angle, and a lot of their income not only comes from the auction huose, but from the crafting terminal as well. So why not make craftable ship missiles to use in space combat.. different types and varieties I might add... and put basic Engines into the mix..(Basic Engines were long before 2009, and in fact why not put them into the missile mix, would give all those worthless blueprints new life..
and speaking of missiles, why not use the same idea that Nano cubes are being uses for making explosives but in fact, in this case you use the Decoy's that are in the TT, (Wanna know why? You gotta use those to help craft the anti-missile Countermeasures..(Decoy drones, etc..) of course when you fire a missile you get projectile related skills, as well as if you are trying to defend against a missile coming at you and you drop a decoy, well, then you get decoy dispenser skills..(Decoy Dispenser skills should be revamped for these decoys to thwart missles afte4r all how many people go out and buy decoys from the TT and Drop them in front of mobs? Very very few if any.. So give your decoys a purpoise MA and give the explosive crafters a new lease on life.. might be able to draw in a few more people as well as give explosives a real purpose.. other than grenade launhchers..
If it's broke, Fix it.. (or the solution for L guns or you can have your cake and eat it too!)
Limited Guns are okay as they are disposable but jsut tossing a good gun in the TT and get pec back is a bit of too much material waste.. but then it'll take more materials to repair a gun then just tossing a UL gun in the TT and paying the tooll..
So why not make all guns Limited but here's where the half twist comes in..
You take a limited gun and you take it not to the Trade terminal but rather to the repair terminal, and when you put it in, the repair terminal tells you that it's brokwe, and you n eed parts to fix it..
Wait, Parts?
Yes, Parts... after all Look at any real life gun, it has a stock, it has a chamber, it has a bearrel as well as a trigger and trigger guard.. and what happens when you take a real life gun to a gun smith? He gets the parts (or crafts them himself and puts the gun back together..
This right here would allow players to craft parts that are needed to keep a gun alive and in aspect the gunsmiths would be able to sell the parts (either to other players or though the auction house.. once you get all the new parts for the gun, you slap it inthe repair terminal and then click repair and the gun is good as new.. (though there is a catch.. Low quality materials to craft the parts mean that it wears out soon (as it will show the gun has a less then full TT, only quality parts will give you back the full TT value.. and if you ahve the Gun smithing skillls..
This makes crafters want to befcome gunsmiths, and rather than just crafting Limtied Guns, they aloso craft the parts for said guns so that when a Player wants to have it repaired, they can.. and they can keep going...
so yes here's a win win situcation, playr who is crafting parts to put gun toghether uses mateirals that are on auction, they then craft parts and then sell on auction the parts necessary to do the repairs, players then can have the gun smith do the work (and pay them ) or do it themselves..
So yeah a lot fewer Guns going to the TT, and a lot more materials being used as Miners try to keep materials flowing in for the gunsmithes to make the parts to keep them repaired..
(This also could go for limited Armors as well...)
And speaking of Armors...
(Time to drop those blueprints on the Older looted armors..)
That's right you heard me, make all the armors from Pixie to Supremacy crafable.. remove them from the loot, and thus you make armor smiths out of some folsk.. who will buy said mateirals to make armors for the players..
but what about the Limited Armors? See the Gun example above.. and get the nexessary parts to craft to repair the armor.. more materials = More money in your pocket MA..
Make all the clothes Customizable.. as well as items that can be customized.. be it vehicles or clothes.. heck even make the armors customizable as well (doe the word Jarhead ring a bell here MA?
I mean textures would be used for players to m ake their own armos look great and will get more hunters out into the field for the texture crafters..
and speaking of vheicles.. make some of hte quads (that are limited0 customizable too. (Sure the sleipnir is okay but what about a customizable quad? After all if they did that, I bet a lot of Space PVP'ers / Pirates would love to want their ships nearly invisible to the naked eye, and the only thing that will make them detectiable is in fact the pain or texture job..
And let's talk space weapons..
Particle Beam Technology? Whee are those darn partcle beams as well as the missiles? sure mines are good, but let's be honest, we have a skill that is not bein used atm.. make a particl beam weapoin, and make it so we can craft it and attack it to our space vehicles..
See what I am getting at MA?
If you really want to make money, you hae to be a little less tight and a little more flexible.. these are ideas that could be implemented quite easily and players I know would lvoe them... More materials used to keeps guns and armor in repair higher repairable limited armors and guns, and a ton of materials being bought and sold off the auction..
Kaching kaching Kaching...(Money Money Money)
Now at tha point thoe are good ideas, but then the players would need to stop being greedy and focus more on sales rather than desperation buysing..I continue to recycle my ped as I craft out components people need, and in fact a lot of these components go into other tiems..(Fuel cells and ball bearins for Finders and faps.. as well as ores and enmatters into weapons and weapon parts to make weapons..
but now that we got all these blueprints all this veriety and abo e all , all these materials sitting idel on the market.. maybe it's high time MA learns a lesson.. Get people to use the auction , (and oh yeah fix the auction so that the prices can be set now to jsut 10 pec intervals
(you can take that nice good looking gun for 17.50 ped... not 17 or 18.. but 17.50.. or at least make yourauction fees more affordable for players who put up titems ..
But hey if MA doesn't want to listen to ideas, then keep getting less and less, don't make your money, don't care and abov e all lose in this game..
After all Entropia Univers is a form of Entropy.. and right now that's the way it's headed.. you want new life in this game/ Change a few things and you could make a mint.. Or not.. It's really, your choice.
(Sgt) Benjamin Ben Coyote, IFN Marines
a.k.a. "The Blind Sniper" (and) "His Dog Spot"
(Head of Arkadian Arknights.