Status of all planets?

DoA

Old Alpha
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Daughter of Anarchy
Hyellow everyone! :)

I'm curious what's the current status of all planets:
- are they being actively developed (as in regular new content)?
- are there any regular events being organized?
- do they have an active population or not?
- is the community friendly towards new players or not?
- pros and cons for each one

Thing is that I have a few friends that just quit EVE and are thinking about joining EU and they're considering what planet to pick and, being away for one year, I simply can't answer these questions accurately myself.

I am well aware that everyone is subjective and has a favorite planet, but I still hope that I'll get some reliable answers which I can pass to them. Thank you in advance! :)
 
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imo its best to not "pick" any planet, just start calypso/ark cuz poblation and move when something interesting its on other planet... :) test/explore its good, probably best tricks will not be easily shared so... better learn your own ways.

- are they being actively developed (as in regular new content)? calypso/ark/rock for sure, rest idk
- are there any regular events being organized? calypso/ark for sure, rest idk
- do they have an active population or not? calypso>ark>rock/cyrene>rest imo
- is the community friendly towards new players or not? I would say yes on all planets.
 
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imo its best to not "pick" any planet

Problem is that the planet under which you signup keeps gettings a big share of your decay (more than the planet you're actually living on), so it does make sense to support an active planet which you'll actually stay on, instead of a random one you'll just leave with the first occasion.
 
Problem is that the planet under which you signup keeps gettings a big share of your decay (more than the planet you're actually living on), so it does make sense to support an active planet which you'll actually stay on, instead of a random one you'll just leave with the first occasion.

True that, my choice would be on Calypso/Arkadia, probably Arkadia because its better oriented for low level players (imo, cuz fruits and average low level MU) and still have all that you asked before, events, good activity/development, friendly ppl...etc :p
 
Hyellow everyone! :)

I'm curious what's the current status of all planets:
- are they being actively developed (as in regular new content)?
- are there any regular events being organized?
- do they have an active population or not?
- is the community friendly towards new players or not?
- pros and cons for each one

Well for RT, answers as follows:
- are they being actively developed (as in regular new content)? Yes but as always, Nd's new content often has growing pains.

- are there any regular events being organized? Not so much anymore now that Doc has stopped running them (or i have not seen them lately - could be wrong)

- do they have an active population or not? Yes, but is smaller so takes getting used to the main community's schedules to know when to find folks.

- is the community friendly towards new players or not? I believe so, but again it is small so sometimes feels like that is not the case as not always regulars on.

- pros and cons for each one
* Odd but great community among the regulars
* Can make you feel an outcast at times due to a combination of the deserved, undeserved, and outright stupid hatred many have towards ND and the planet itself
* If a new player that does not deposit, it can be much harder to get your feet underneath you as you cannot always sell loot right away. Takes being able to store it until someone needs it. Auction house on the planet is getting more use these days so is getting easier
* Along with the above, even ND recognized that new players have a better starting experience on Caly. As such, all new RT affiliated characters actually spawn on Caly in order to knock out noob quests, etc. Once they are ready they can take a one way teleport from Port Atlantis to RT for free.
* Community is probably the most laid back of all the planets, so you don't often see silliness/ill-will in chat (and if you do no-one freaks out on you and tells you to use a different channel unless they are a newer RT player or visitor)

For new players I highly recommend Caly or Ark but if they want to be RT affiliated, they still get to start on Caly and a free trip over so isn't bad either.
 
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Well for RT, answers as follows:
- are they being actively developed (as in regular new content)? Yes but as always, Nd's new content often has growing pains.

- are there any regular events being organized? Not so much anymore now that Doc has stopped running them

- do they have an active population or not? Yes, but is smaller so takes getting used to the main community's schedules to know when to find folks.

- is the community friendly towards new players or not? I believe so, but again it is small so sometimes feels like that is not the case as not always regulars on.

- pros and cons for each one
* Odd but great community among the regulars
* Can make you feel an outcast at times due to a combination of the deserved, undeserved, and outright stupid hatred many have towards ND and the planet itself
* If a new player that does not deposit, it can be much harder to get your feet underneath you as you cannot always sell loot right away. Takes being able to store it until someone needs it. Auction house on the planet is getting more use these days so is getting easier
* Along with the above, even ND recognized that new players have a better starting experience on Caly. As such, all new RT affiliated characters actually spawn on Caly in order to knock out noob quests, etc. Once they are ready they can take a one way teleport from Port Atlantis to RT for free.
* Community is probably the most laid back of all the planets, so you don't often see silliness/ill-will in chat (and if you do no-one freaks out on you and tells you to use a different channel unless they are a newer RT player or visitor)

For new players I highly recommend Caly or Ark but if they want to be RT affiliated, they still get to start on Caly and a free trip over so isn't bad either.

Thank you for the detailed answer. Actually for RT (the planet I call home nowadays) and Ark (my home planet) I kinda knew the answers myself, so was more like looking for answers regarding the other ones, but always good to get confirmations / second opinions anyway. :)
 
Caly - biggest population, cheaper materials

RT - downsized the map to keep server costs lower, so getting from point a to b is easier, but lots of mobs stacked on top of one another, i.e. hard to do iron type missions unless you like hunting and pecking around in a swarm of mixed mobs

Toulan - pre-beta phase mostly... annoying as hell because of the no vehicle rule. Map is fairly small. If you don't mind mindlessly killing the same thing over and over they have several repeatable daily missions.

Cyrene - ok planet... still early stages... they did a similar server downsize similar to RT but are making it part of story... as for who's behind the scenes as the devs, well, that part could be a deciding factor on if you like this place or not.

Arkadia - well developed, but a bit overpriced on a lot of things vs calypso as far as markup goes, etc. Several interesting new mission chains. a lot of grinding...

Monria - for new folks, I'd suggest this one... (well, only if you can tolerate large doses of MS9 alt humor, etc) Why, well Monrian Born Program | How it Works​

Next Island ?... does that place even still exist? Forget about it.
 
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RT - i.e. hard to do iron type missions unless you like hunting and pecking around in a swarm of mixed mobs

​[/URL]

Interesting you say that as I can only think of a handful of spots where mobs are mixed (street mobs mostly). Nearly everything is a pure spawn of mixed maturities. http://tinyurl.com/RT-Map-New
 
Rock and Monria have the right size for a single central chat channel and good community spirit (RT chat can be freaking funny at times!)

Bigger planets (Caly & Ark) seem to be too large for a single chat. Which is not a problem really, it's just you won't get into community automagically, you have to find it and work for it.

As for deciding beforehand for other people who would stay on what planet, well, you have to know those people really well. I doubt anyone can do that with any precision. I like the overall darkish style of the Monria caves but eventually I get a little claustrophobic, Rock has all those open plains and sunshine but it's overall style may be a bit too eclectic for some. It's all a question of taste, can you really predict those things for someone else?

Cyrene, Toulan and Next Island all have a small permanent population atm. Less than 10 people concurrently online at each. Mostly newcomers, a few medium skilled, low level hunting, swunting, sweating circles. So they're a possibility but might be a little too empty for a real permanent home planet. Except NI all have some development but it's rather slow. Not that it's terribly fast anywhere in EU... Well, I'd say it's all a question of taste afterall. :smoke:

I mean, look at those...

2012_b7aerialbaseoutskirts.jpg


2012-04-30_14-beach.jpg
 
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I'm caly born, enjoy it mostly.

FWIW, I often spend time crafting mining and hunting on Monria and participate in their chat channel. The ownership seems very focused on creating a positive community experience there. Active management/ownership and their Monria born program with free mothership travel weekly emphasizes their citizen-friendly approach to the whole moon.

haven't spent enough time elsewhere to comment. Agree that a player's personality will often determine their 'favorite' planet.
 
Caly - biggest population, cheaper materials

RT - downsized the map to keep server costs lower, so getting from point a to b is easier, but lots of mobs stacked on top of one another, i.e. hard to do iron type missions unless you like hunting and pecking around in a swarm of mixed mobs

Toulan - pre-beta phase mostly... annoying as hell because of the no vehicle rule. Map is fairly small. If you don't mind mindlessly killing the same thing over and over they have several repeatable daily missions.

Cyrene - ok planet... still early stages... they did a similar server downsize similar to RT but are making it part of story... as for who's behind the scenes as the devs, well, that part could be a deciding factor on if you like this place or not.

Arkadia - well developed, but a bit overpriced on a lot of things vs calypso as far as markup goes, etc. Several interesting new mission chains. a lot of grinding...

Monria - for new folks, I'd suggest this one... (well, only if you can tolerate large doses of MS9 alt humor, etc) Why, well Monrian Born Program | How it Works​

Next Island ?... does that place even still exist? Forget about it.

Monria screwed Doa over so badly I don't think she Will ever return there. Advising others to start there? I don't think so.
 
Monria screwed Doa over so badly I don't think she Will ever return there. Advising others to start there? I don't think so.

While I will sure never set foot there again and I would let my friends know about my experience with them, I can also see the pros of what they're doing and I guess it will be up to them to decide where they choose to live.

The thing is that, as someone wiser (yeah you :p) told me some time back, I can't make decisions for other people, I can only try to make sure they have as much information as possible on their fingerprints and let them decide for themselves. :)
 
Monria screwed Doa over so badly I don't think she Will ever return there. Advising others to start there? I don't think so.
I'm interested to hear, in what way exactly?

Visited Monria on numerous occasions and that friendly, helpful and encouraging little community they got going there is pretty great as far as I can tell. Can't imagine much better places to start out as a beginner than Monria at the moment, to be honest. It's the planet best resembling that lovely community spirit and enthusiasm I experienced back when I started playing EU back in '07.
 
I'm interested to hear, in what way exactly?

Visited Monria on numerous occasions and that friendly, helpful and encouraging little community they got going there is pretty great as far as I can tell. Can't imagine much better places to start out as a beginner than Monria at the moment, to be honest. It's the planet best resembling that lovely community spirit and enthusiasm I experienced back when I started playing EU back in '07.

This: https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/...2479-How-true-to-their-word-Monria-owners-are

But not please do not derail my thread and keep the discussion going about it; you (and everyone else) can check that thread and make their own judgment. Even I don't feel the need to keep beating a dead horse anymore. I felt cheated, I decided to never set foot in that place ever again and that's it. Now I'm sure others had totally different experiences and actually enjoyed their time there and I can respect that.
 
This: https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/...2479-How-true-to-their-word-Monria-owners-are

But not please do not derail my thread and keep the discussion going about it; you (and everyone else) can check that thread and make their own judgment. Even I don't feel the need to keep beating a dead horse anymore. I felt cheated, I decided to never set foot in that place ever again and that's it. Now I'm sure others had totally different experiences and actually enjoyed their time there and I can respect that.
Sure thing, will take a look. Was mostly curious and surprised by Spawn's post since all experiences I've had with the monrian community and the Monria team are great. Going back on topic I will still recommend it as probably the best planet for a beginner nowadays.
 
Well for RT, answers as follows:

- are there any regular events being organized? Not so much anymore now that Doc has stopped running them (or i have not seen them lately - could be wrong)

* Along with the above, even ND recognized that new players have a better starting experience on Caly. As such, all new RT affiliated characters actually spawn on Caly in order to knock out noob quests, etc. Once they are ready they can take a one way teleport from Port Atlantis to RT for free.

Hey. A couple of things, RT has it's own starting area now (it's alright, but meh) so RT players don't start on Caly anymore. Also, I believe Doc Gray is still doing his events. There's one listed now.

A player's starting planet does get a portion of his decay, but most of it goes to the planet where the decay happens. It's good to support your planet, but I think it's more important to have a good beginner experience. I suggest starting on Caly. Here's most of a post I've written before on pluses and minuses.

IMO, Calypso is the best planet for new players. It has a long starting mission chain designed to feed you enough ammo and loot (if you pay attention) to keep you going without having to deposit until you finish the Camp Phoenix missions and you're about level 10ish in some combat skill, probably laser rifle. It introduces new players to things like instances, beacons, iron missions, wave events, and EU's own particular take on PvP. Caly is the largest planet, with the most people and the largest economy. That makes it easier to buy and sell things. Not easy, just easier.

Ark is the second most populated planet, and I think the second largest. It has the second largest economy, which means it isn't impossible for a newbie to sell things there. Ark has a very dedicated player-base, and newb-friendly mobs. For a new player, the one thing that really characterizes Ark is a very linear mission experience. EU is basically a sandbox game with missions...it is pretty open as far as goals. Players tend to make their own. But if a player is someone who always likes knowing what to do next, Ark missions funnel you from new player, to beginner player, to experienced player, to fairly advanced player in their main mission chain. That isn't to say that you have to stay on that path all the time. There is plenty to do on Ark. But if you enjoy achieving goals that are set by the game, maybe Ark is the best planet for you. Note, that main mission chain is gated. You need an Ark passport to do it. Players born on Ark get the passport free. Players born elsewhere have to pay 10K sweat to get it.

Rocktropia is the second planet started. It stumbled pretty badly out of the gate, but has retrenched and come back strong in the last couple of years. The RT starter missions are pretty pedestrian, and for a long time they were broken. But that didn't matter, because the real starter mission chain was Hunt the Thing, widely held to be one of the best and funnest mission chains in the game...possibly the best and funnest. Rock doesn't have that many people, so it can be hard to sell loot there. Having said that, there is a lot there for the new player...haters to sweat, vixens to grind, and zombies to kill. You can also hunt papoo on Secret Island, just make sure you have a banana to get back. NOTE: New RT players no longer start on Caly.

Cyrene is struggling with development. Technically, it is still in open beta. Kris works hard, but it is still pretty buggy in places. But there are players that love it, and some great people who hang out there. There is quite a lot on Cyrene for new players, but it is all very poorly documented. You can find it if you look, and ask around in chat, and the planet is certainly worth a new player (or any player) spending some time on, but it is probably best to actually start somewhere else, where it is easier to learn the game.

Toulan is also new, still in beta. I don't know if you can start there. I know some people have, but that might be closed now, or only open to certain regions. Regardless, there are fewer bugs than Cyrene, but also even less people. It has a really good and fun starter mission chain, and good mission mobs for beginners, but the economy is just too small right now for starting players to do well on Toulan, even if they can start there.

Next Island...is peaceful. Again, I don't know if you actually can start there now. I don't think so. If you can, don't. It's a nice place to visit, but not to start.

Monria, starting on Monria was disabled while things were in flux with the sale. When you could start on Monria, I believe that you began at the Calypso tutorial, but instead of going to Thule to start the Caly mission chains, you went to Monria and did their starter missions. The starter missions on Monria are okay, but other places offer more.
 
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This: https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/...2479-How-true-to-their-word-Monria-owners-are

But not please do not derail my thread and keep the discussion going about it; you (and everyone else) can check that thread and make their own judgment. Even I don't feel the need to keep beating a dead horse anymore. I felt cheated, I decided to never set foot in that place ever again and that's it. Now I'm sure others had totally different experiences and actually enjoyed their time there and I can respect that.

didnt ND do this on basically every event he is doing? so RT and Monria should be on boycot then.
 
Sure thing, will take a look. Was mostly curious and surprised by Spawn's post since all experiences I've had with the monrian community and the Monria team are great. Going back on topic I will still recommend it as probably the best planet for a beginner nowadays.

Yes I agree, they have a good program for new players.

I do have some weird experiences as well though.
I didn't like the " Mindstar 9 - Dark Moon enigma" thing (same player, different avatars, only made public after a player found out about it). And when I sold my Monria shop the buyer didn't have enough ped, so I agreed to only sell the main shop and I kept the display area and put a shopkeeper there. I even offered to give him some points for a sign to have his inside shop advertised from the display area for free. This was frowned upon by the Monria management, which I felt was weird, since they were seperate deeds and were mine. I felt the buyer who did make a conscious choice to only buy the 210 item shop was forced by the management to also buy the display deed, since they wanted it to stay together. I think it's not upto the management to decide what a deed owner does with his estate deeds. In the end I agreed to sell the display deed, since I wanted to sell it in the first place and the money was good.
 
Hyellow everyone! :)

I'm curious what's the current status of all planets:
- are they being actively developed (as in regular new content)?
- are there any regular events being organized?
- do they have an active population or not?
- is the community friendly towards new players or not?
- pros and cons for each one

Thing is that I have a few friends that just quit EVE and are thinking about joining EU and they're considering what planet to pick and, being away for one year, I simply can't answer these questions accurately myself.

I am well aware that everyone is subjective and has a favorite planet, but I still hope that I'll get some reliable answers which I can pass to them. Thank you in advance! :)
I think my view is probably one of the most balanced you'll find.

I had a whole thing written about my first choices of planet to start on, but my info was out of date. Between Calypso's starting experience and AJ's informative post, I recommend starting on Calypso.

Don't start on Cyrene, but do play on it after you've gotten started in the game. See its entry below for why.

I feel strongly that by far the primary pro and con of each planet is its "feel" and ambience. That said, I particularly like Calypso's tutorial and early play, and the perks Monria (Monrian Born Program | How it Works​) and Rocktropia gave their native avatars after sending them through Calypso's tutorial and early play. Next Island also offers some pleasant perks for its citizens.

- are they being actively developed (as in regular new content)?
Yes. All of them. But some of what I consider "content" is provided more by the community than by the planet partners / MA. In general, the more active the planet, the more PP/MA attention it gets in terms of new content.

- are there any regular events being organized?
Yes. On all planets.

- do they have an active population or not?
From most to least active:
- Calypso
- Arkadia
- Rocktropia
- Cyrene
- Next Island
- Monria and Toulan
Calypso is the only planet whose auction is active enough to be worth a new or casual player risking posting on it. On each other planet's auction, there are a handful of resources whose local prices are inflated enough to be awkward. In all other respects, all of the planets are active enough to be quite worth while playing on.

- is the community friendly towards new players or not?
Yes. There are of course the occasional grouches and trolls, like in any MMO, but once you ignore them the rest of the community is solid.

- pros and cons for each one
My response to that is not organized, not thought out, and far from comprehensive. Here it is anyway, take with salt.
- Calypso: Planet is in an excellent degree of completion; all of the systems work here, even the auction; having the most players, it also has the highest number of walking annoyances. Calypso weapons' statistics are really unpredictable even within the same line of weapons, you have to entropedia their dpp and other stats. Calypso mobs and spawns are similarly unpredictable, offering that as a challenge in play; many of the low mobs tend toward high aggro, very low hp (glass cannon mobs), many with low enough hp to make finding a small enough weapon a difficult challenge. The other planets don't have glass cannon mobs by comparison.
Calypso has unique daily missions with a cooldown of only 16 hours instead of the usual 20, making them especially playable. Not only that, but the Daily Terminal which hands them out, selects 3 hunting missions, a crafting mission, and a mining mission all at random each day. If you don't like one, you can just get a different one the next day. Daily tokens can be exchanged at an NPC for some lovely stuff (I'm only familiar with the guns, which I love).
- Arkadia: Planet is in an excellent degree of completion; all of the systems work here except the auction is too slow for most sellers (too many non-sales, the fees add up); Community here is somewhat better integrated, and very helpful. Arkadia's hunting daily is monotonous but easy and exceptionally well balanced. For that matter, the whole planet is exceptionally well balanced (the team appears to have put thought and skill into it). And when you get a weapon or tool from Arkadia, its name tells you just what you are getting, with the exception of the Piron line (variable, some of them top-notch) and the Gravis line (a whole line of turds). Other planets don't do the player that favor to that extent.
Arkadia's hunting daily reward is skills and ammo, varying according to the avatar's military rank, which increases with number of dailys completed.
Arkadia's lower-midlevel play is particularly pleasant. I'm currently hooked because I'm a midlevel hunter and noob crafter - lovely place to shoot low/mid mobs and click textures.
Arkadian-Born avatars begin play in Arkadia's unique starting area and proceed to Arkadia. They also don't have to pay the 10k sweat "Offworlder Fee" to get their Arkadian Passport which unlocks Arkadia's daily, but frankly, 10k sweat is just not that hard (cheap now too).
- Rocktropia: Planet's development is quirky and haphazard, pretty much whatever its owner feels like working on at any given moment. That doesn't make it worse, just whackier, and the locals have fun with that aspect. Rocktropians are a more passionate bunch than most, more open, more tolerant, and often whacky - think of the planet as one big party. If a party isn't your idea of a good time, or if you don't enjoy ND Studios' very urban aesthetics, Rocktropia may drive you nuts. Otherwise, it's great.
Rocktropia is small enough and its playerbase insular enough that your main source of income is direct trading, not the auction. Neverdie has taken the edge off that dynamic by providing the only fully functioning pawn shop I know of in the game.
Rocktropia also has player-owned instances. I mention this to illustrate how deeply ND collaborates with his playerbase. It's a very tight, even family-like bond. This is not to say the other planet staffs don't collaborate with their playerbase - they all work hard at it, and their effort shows - but on Rocktropia, it's a family matter.
Rocktropia has dailies like anywhere else, and I've forgotten them.
Rocktropian-Born avatars begin play on Calypso and get a free one way trip to Rocktropia once, when they feel ready.
- Cyrene: Well balanced but doesn't quite feel complete. Immersive, but doesn't feel like it's part of the same universe when you're on it. Auction is useless except for mission reward materials, but the planet has more daily missions than I've seen anywhere else, and half of them are just daily materials hand-ins, which drives the auction. Planet staff are creative and friendly. If you want a break from the rest of the universe and have a decent pedroll to cycle while you wait to find buyers for your loots, Cyrene is the place to go. Overall returns are quite nice even in TT (although still a slight loss before mu just like anywhere else). Eco of looted guns is slightly better than on most planets (although at this point the eco of all planets' most commonly looted guns is great). But don't start on Cyrene for two reasons: its early play is a rough draft of a game, and doesn't give nearly as much help as on most planets, and more importantly, you need a bankroll to cycle while you wait for buyers for your loots. If you have the bankroll and the patience, Cyrene is great, a superb vacation from the game's norm. Players who prefer Cyrene should start on some other planet and move to Cyrene once they've played through the earliest part of the game (ie, after reaching Sisyphus if they began on Calypso/Rocktropia/Monria).
Cyrene has its own unique starting area which is borderline broken, from which new Cyreans proceed to Cyrene. They'll need to visit Calypso to get proper gear for lowbie play.
- Next Island: Planet is incomplete, but hella fun, and its community is probably the nicest in the game. I don't know squat about its early play but otherwise I can recommend it. Its planet staff work closely with a large group of players who succeed in making Next Island a welcoming and fun place to be. They even provide transportation away from the planet on a regular schedule, negating the feeling of isolation the planet previously had.
I think Next Island has some dailys.
I think Next Island has a unique starting area all its own, from which new Next Islanders continue to Next Island.
- Toulan: Planet is in a very early stage of development, and its balancing varies. That said, it's a very enjoyable place to play, and as of this writing its most commonly looted weapons get the best eco of commonly looted weapons from any planet. And it has at least 8 hunting dailies which reset every couple hours, all of which give skill rewards, and the rewards of 3 of which are very helpful for a lowbie hunter, for killing very easy mobs (I know two of those give Aim). Great place for a lowbie hunter to farm Aim and hides, which are in very strong demand among low level crafters (although the same is true of Arkadia). Planet is however isolated by its distance from everywhere else except Next Island.
I have no idea where Toulan-Born avatars begin play.
- Monria: Not technically a planet, rather a moon, Monria's community is small and extremely tight knit. Their Mentorship program for Monrian-born newbies has all kinds of advantages. Transportation to and from Monria is also a nonissue for Monrian-born avatars willing to accomodate the planet's fleet's schedule. Monria has 5 mobs, plus plenty of bosses; the first 3 mobs are newbie-friendly, but the only oil they drop is muscle. Monria has a crafting daily which gives a really big skill reward (Engineering). But between the ease of travel from Monria to Calypso, and the fact that Monria has indoor-rules mining only (ubers-only mining, pretty much), there's usually nothing on the Monria auction to craft. There are however enough active shops to mostly counter that setback.
Monrian-Born avatars begin play on Calypso and travel to Monria for free when they feel ready.
 
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Problem is that the planet under which you signup keeps gettings a big share of your decay (more than the planet you're actually living on), so it does make sense to support an active planet which you'll actually stay on, instead of a random one you'll just leave with the first occasion.
TYVM for mentioning that... I have completely forgotten how that works. I wish I could split my decay evenly between all planets. Alas, I'm older than any of them.
 
Next Islanders are also laid back, I'd say as much as Rocktropians maybe more. Top notch community there really.
 
Monria

Can someone please clarify how starting as a Monrian Born works now? Thanks in advance... :scratch2:
 
Can someone please clarify how starting as a Monrian Born works now? Thanks in advance... :scratch2:

Similar to how it *used* to work on Rocktropia... you start on Caly and have a free one-way trip to Monria once you're done.
 
Great writeup Lefty, i didn't even know NI had restarted development with new missions
 
Need a Mentor? Just read this and go play.

- Calypso: Planet is in an excellent degree of completion; all of the systems work here, even the auction; having the most players, it also has the highest number of walking annoyances. Calypso weapons' statistics are really unpredictable even within the same line of weapons, you have to entropedia their dpp and other stats. Calypso mobs and spawns are similarly unpredictable, offering that as a challenge in play; many of the low mobs tend toward high aggro, very low hp (glass cannon mobs), many with low enough hp to make finding a small enough weapon a difficult challenge. The other planets don't have glass cannon mobs by comparison.
Calypso has unique daily missions with a cooldown of only 16 hours instead of the usual 20, making them especially playable. Not only that, but the Daily Terminal which hands them out, selects 3 hunting missions, a crafting mission, and a mining mission all at random each day. If you don't like one, you can just get a different one the next day. Daily tokens can be exchanged at an NPC for some lovely stuff (I'm only familiar with the guns, which I love).
- Arkadia: Planet is in an excellent degree of completion; all of the systems work here except the auction is too slow for most sellers (too many non-sales, the fees add up); Community here is somewhat better integrated, and very helpful. Arkadia's hunting daily is monotonous but easy and exceptionally well balanced. For that matter, the whole planet is exceptionally well balanced (the team appears to have put thought and skill into it). And when you get a weapon or tool from Arkadia, its name tells you just what you are getting, with the exception of the Piron line (variable, some of them top-notch) and the Gravis line (a whole line of turds). Other planets don't do the player that favor to that extent.
Arkadia's hunting daily reward is skills and ammo, varying according to the avatar's military rank, which increases with number of dailys completed.
Arkadia's lower-midlevel play is particularly pleasant. I'm currently hooked because I'm a midlevel hunter and noob crafter - lovely place to shoot low/mid mobs and click textures.
Arkadian-Born avatars begin play in Arkadia's unique starting area and proceed to Arkadia. They also don't have to pay the 10k sweat "Offworlder Fee" to get their Arkadian Passport which unlocks Arkadia's daily, but frankly, 10k sweat is just not that hard (cheap now too).
- Rocktropia: Planet's development is quirky and haphazard, pretty much whatever its owner feels like working on at any given moment. That doesn't make it worse, just whackier, and the locals have fun with that aspect. Rocktropians are a more passionate bunch than most, more open, more tolerant, and often whacky - think of the planet as one big party. If a party isn't your idea of a good time, or if you don't enjoy ND Studios' very urban aesthetics, Rocktropia may drive you nuts. Otherwise, it's great.
Rocktropia is small enough and its playerbase insular enough that your main source of income is direct trading, not the auction. Neverdie has taken the edge off that dynamic by providing the only fully functioning pawn shop I know of in the game.
Rocktropia also has player-owned instances. I mention this to illustrate how deeply ND collaborates with his playerbase. It's a very tight, even family-like bond. This is not to say the other planet staffs don't collaborate with their playerbase - they all work hard at it, and their effort shows - but on Rocktropia, it's a family matter.
Rocktropia has dailies like anywhere else, and I've forgotten them.
Rocktropian-Born avatars begin play on Calypso and get a free one way trip to Rocktropia once, when they feel ready.
- Cyrene: Well balanced but doesn't quite feel complete. Immersive, but doesn't feel like it's part of the same universe when you're on it. Auction is useless except for mission reward materials, but the planet has more daily missions than I've seen anywhere else, and half of them are just daily materials hand-ins, which drives the auction. Planet staff are creative and friendly. If you want a break from the rest of the universe and have a decent pedroll to cycle while you wait to find buyers for your loots, Cyrene is the place to go. Overall returns are quite nice even in TT (although still a slight loss before mu just like anywhere else). Eco of looted guns is slightly better than on most planets (although at this point the eco of all planets' most commonly looted guns is great). But don't start on Cyrene for two reasons: its early play is a rough draft of a game, and doesn't give nearly as much help as on most planets, and more importantly, you need a bankroll to cycle while you wait for buyers for your loots. If you have the bankroll and the patience, Cyrene is great, a superb vacation from the game's norm. Players who prefer Cyrene should start on some other planet and move to Cyrene once they've played through the earliest part of the game (ie, after reaching Sisyphus if they began on Calypso/Rocktropia/Monria).
Cyrene has its own unique starting area which is borderline broken, from which new Cyreans proceed to Cyrene. They'll need to visit Calypso to get proper gear for lowbie play.
- Next Island: Planet is incomplete, but hella fun, and its community is probably the nicest in the game. I don't know squat about its early play but otherwise I can recommend it. Its planet staff work closely with a large group of players who succeed in making Next Island a welcoming and fun place to be. They even provide transportation away from the planet on a regular schedule, negating the feeling of isolation the planet previously had.
I think Next Island has some dailys.
I think Next Island has a unique starting area all its own, from which new Next Islanders continue to Next Island.
- Toulan: Planet is in a very early stage of development, and its balancing varies. That said, it's a very enjoyable place to play, and as of this writing its most commonly looted weapons get the best eco of commonly looted weapons from any planet. And it has at least 8 hunting dailies which reset every couple hours, all of which give skill rewards, and the rewards of 3 of which are very helpful for a lowbie hunter, for killing very easy mobs (I know two of those give Aim). Great place for a lowbie hunter to farm Aim and hides, which are in very strong demand among low level crafters (although the same is true of Arkadia). Planet is however isolated by its distance from everywhere else except Next Island.
I have no idea where Toulan-Born avatars begin play.
- Monria: Not technically a planet, rather a moon, Monria's community is small and extremely tight knit. Their Mentorship program for Monrian-born newbies has all kinds of advantages. Transportation to and from Monria is also a nonissue for Monrian-born avatars willing to accomodate the planet's fleet's schedule. Monria has 5 mobs, plus plenty of bosses; the first 3 mobs are newbie-friendly, but the only oil they drop is muscle. Monria has a crafting daily which gives a really big skill reward (Engineering). But between the ease of travel from Monria to Calypso, and the fact that Monria has indoor-rules mining only (ubers-only mining, pretty much), there's usually nothing on the Monria auction to craft. There are however enough active shops to mostly counter that setback.
Monrian-Born avatars begin play on Calypso and travel to Monria for free when they feel ready.
Btw, the shortest cooldowns for repeatable (daily) missions anywhere can be found on Toulan. Haven't exactly measured em but I suspect it's less than 2 hours until you can take the same mission again.
Also, like on Cyrene, for some mobs you can have 2 daily missions (on top of the Iron mission) at the same time.
Perks of the forgotten backwater planets... ;)
 
Calypso - Usual stuff and being actively developed

Next Island - Seems to be some changes and may be being actively developed again

Monria- Under new management and being developed

Cyrene & Toulan - Actively being developed

Rocktropia - Usual stuff

Arkadia - Seem to have settled their real life court case with Deathifier out of court. Which to me implies they must have feared being found guilty as charged and losing tonnes of money. Maybe I should have also taken them to a real life court for all the rubbish methods they use
 
Hey. A couple of things, RT has it's own starting area now (it's alright, but meh) so RT players don't start on Caly anymore. Also, I believe Doc Gray is still doing his events. There's one listed now.


Main RT page stills says new avas are starting on Caly then can TP over. Will check with ND to confirm later.
 
Great writeup Lefty, i didn't even know NI had restarted development with new missions
I don't know that any new development has occurred on a mechanical level. The growth is at least primarily in the community there.
 
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