Question: Few questions from old player which wants to return to the game

Hello.

So I have played PE/EU few years ago (when HoF had 25 places instead of 100), when there was only one space station and Calypso (with one continent, ehh that good times when top mining player had 3k of skill prospecting and he was a mining god, nobody else was able to be close to him). Basically that were the times when I was at school, so I didn't deposit anything and I could say that I earned some bucks on this game, because when I was leaving I had ~40k peds. That were the good times for me, and I would say that the game wasn't so foucsed on earning tons of dollars on the players. I left because there were few updates, returns were at 50% level, maybe 60%, limited items were introduced, HoFs gone crazy (300k, 100k peds - sick), and basically game has changed. Market also has gone crazy because markups were at very low level. I started to frustrate because how long can you loose on anything you do.

Then few years after, I grew up a bit, I wanted to check how the things are going to I deposited some peds (not much, like 100$) and again, there was a lot of new stuff, new plantes, I think MA has announced that there will be vehicles in MA, and I wanted to come back and... I lost 1k peds on mining in 2weeks? Maybe 3.

So questions:
1. Are the returns on hunting / mining/crafting still so weak? I mean, even you were mining, back in the days you got 70% what you put into bombs, but markup was causing that you got more or less the same ammount of cash which you spend on the bombs. When I came back the last time, every mineral price was around 110% which was really bad (and oil was for 103%? or something like that, the rest had MU 110%, 115%, very rarely 120%). When I was playing for the first time, there were minerals for 105%, 110%, 120%, 140%.
2. Is the crafting still most expesive profession?
3. Are there many active players?
4. Is the number of mobs still so big? I mean, when I played for the first time, you could easly hunt without having any gun, you could easly avoid mobs, later on MA has changed something and it was nearly impossible to go somewhere without killing even a one mob. Also during the hunting - if you hitted one mob, the three which were next to him were running to you, because there was so many of them!
5. Is it still possible to have fun without depositing? is it even possible (and not ultra hard) to play without depositing? When I played for the first time, when you were depositing cash, you could progress very quickly, if you weren't then it was much slower, but still acceptable.

1. Same
2. Basic Filters never was expensive
3. Same - spread out over more planets though (seasonally adjusted)
4. There are more mobs than when you played, its very hard to avoid mobs now they are faster than you'll remember
5. Still possible, but 'fun' is a subjective and not a scientific term.

1. Are the returns on hunting / mining/crafting still so weak? I mean, even you were mining, back in the days you got 70% what you put into bombs, but markup was causing that you got more or less the same ammount of cash which you spend on the bombs. When I came back the last time, every mineral price was around 110% which was really bad (and oil was for 103%? or something like that, the rest had MU 110%, 115%, very rarely 120%). When I was playing for the first time, there were minerals for 105%, 110%, 120%, 140%.

Long term returns are 90-95% TT return for the average player. Markups are the problem. Very low in hunting, a little better in mining but nowhere near the old days. A lot of the common stuff can float as low as 102-104%. Don't know about crafting.

2. Is the crafting still most expesive profession?

The most expensive profession is gambling.

3. Are there many active players?

Who knows. Rookie Chat never seems to shut up so you won't feel lonely.

4. Is the number of mobs still so big? I mean, when I played for the first time, you could easly hunt without having any gun, you could easly avoid mobs, later on MA has changed something and it was nearly impossible to go somewhere without killing even a one mob. Also during the hunting - if you hitted one mob, the three which were next to him were running to you, because there was so many of them!

Plenty of areas have few/no mobs. Some have a lot. Flying vehicles are cheap and make it very easy to avoid all mobs.

5. Is it still possible to have fun without depositing? is it even possible (and not ultra hard) to play without depositing? When I played for the first time, when you were depositing cash, you could progress very quickly, if you weren't then it was much slower, but still acceptable.

Deposit once, play smart, and you'll never deposit again. But playing smart requires effort and research. This can be "ultra-hard" for some people.

You seem to be recalling the days of Project Entropia. One thing many players seem to forget about those days is that there was tons of market speculation and a race to discover items, BP's, and to skill to lvl 100. This created a high demand for items, etc. There was a high risk with depositing into PE. Depositing today, while still risky from an overall aspect, is not so much as it was in 2003-2008.

The economy worldwide was different. I seem to look at when EU's market started going south was about the same time when a global recession was happening.

Finally, where is this money coming from if no one deposited? It's not from MA's pockets. This is a free-to-play* game and MA has to make money to, you know, run a company. I've heard stories like yours before: "I made 40k ped without depo'ing and withdrew around 2008-2011." So if X numbers of players did that then *shock, surprise* returns dropped as well. If you want the pure challenge of non-depo'ing have at it! My suggestion would be mow your neighbor's yard or put an extra hour in at work, etc. The amount you'll make in that time for a small depo will be a far more efficient use of your time then sweating/swunting for hours.

Depending on your PC and regions electrical rates you will spend MORE money on electrical costs then you will earn from sweating.

It is possible to make a profit in EU but it requires dedication/commitment, lots of research, and planning out your strategy like ZPF mentioned.