So, I'll try to talk out a few things here, not a pure rant, but close to it sadly.
So, what do I want to talk about specifically?
One part would be the missing communication from MA
Another the really bad and easily foreseeable decisions of MA like Loot 2.0 or 2.1
And another the literal blindness of some of the playerbase.
The absolutely misguided focus on development.
Don't get me wrong, I have deposited quite a bit for the amount of time I've actively played this game, and for a reason, one which isn't in existing anymore in the state the game is right now sadly, therefore no future deposits until this changes.
So, the first thing I want to speak of is the 'new' loot system MA as implemented, one which is definitely bad in a long-term prospect for the game. But why so? That's actually quite easy when understanding the Pareto principle. It's one of the fundamental principles in nature, social structures, hierarchy, economics and basically anywhere else with a few exception. 80% of things are accounted to 20% of other things, or similar uneven distributions.
So as to talk about this in the important part for MA: roughly 20% of the players contribute 80% of the income, the so called 'whales', often people in the core playerbase.
What does this mean? While the 'lower end' of players steadily shift with people coming and going, the upper part usually stays the same over an extended period of time, putting money in over and over again while keeping the game alive, as well as existing as a sort of 'idol' or any other term you want to use to describe them. Something for newer players to aspire towards.
Given Entropia Universe is marketed as a 'real cash economy' game, and plainly spoken the only actual game with game systems doing so at the moment, it's obvious people need to be able to 'win' and make actual money off the system to keep repeating their actions and bring in other players since they act as a role to work towards.
A long long while ago that was done purely by game knowledge, having high skills and being able to offer things to the market which are so rare and sought-after that they were expensive and wanted.
Many tries to 'balance' the game have been undertaken since then, a new engine, breaking several gameplay systems, revamping the loot system several times in different ways, like the introduction of shrapnel and finally the switch from a randomized system which can be understood slightly with efford towards an appaling mash coming close to something which isn't discerning a lot between equipment and skills anymore.
That's unarguably bad. If an RPG is made where the items, mobs and locations you do things are hard to be discerned in any way, then it has fundamentally failed, and the rework to 2.0 made this happen.
Why though? Well, no matter how 'effective' my weapon, armor, fap, enhancers and so on are, it basically only changes the outcome by around 7% as MA has stated, meaning 93% aren't coming from that. So the major part of an RPG, the equipment, is being nearly useless, making a beginner the same as an end-game player basically.
The same goes for skills, we don't even have a clue as to how much it influences our gameplay, and doesn't have anything to do with knowledge about the game mechanics rather then simply forcing money into the companies hands. Also, basing it purely on the amount of money spent to kill a mob gives no incentive of working out the system of how loot is distributed between players, before you had to look up the amount of people hunting at a place, the amount of people getting globals and hofs, or to find a specific mob which gives a specific item fairly often that held some sort of MU
So, to put together what loot changes since shrapnel did:
Equipment got marginalized.
Useful items were removed to get people turning over more PED.
The drop of actually useable items got nearly turned down to 0.
Hunting specific mobs is nearly non-important anymore.
Personal skill plays much less of an important role now, luck and money put into the game does mostly, to a far bigger degree.
So, to the next part, communication.
That's solely on the side of MA, a good game company is able to push out a weekly report, well written, sizeable, in depth on the work they are doing. It has gotten to be a common practice in the gaming industry for a reason, people able to see what is happening behind the scenes makes them able to put trust into a company, a trust MA direly needs with all the mistakes and con-plays they have done seemingly.
There are basically only 2 options there at the moment: Either MA is absolutely and utterly imcompetent, which is bad, but can at least be changed, or MA is actively milking the community, which is disgusting. I give them the doubt that they are simply incompetent, bad enough but acceptable at least.
So, what needs to be done to resolve this? First of all, the bugs in the game need to be solved before new game mechanics are introduced. The loot system needs to be changed immediately, and the voices of loyal long-term players need to be far more weighty then some random non-depositing beginner who has seen the game for a single week. The mass always makes for a nice goal, but this game isn't made for masses, it's catering to a specific playerbase, one which likes to gamble, one which likes virtual-realities and one which likes grinding. All of those have people with a lot of money inside which can literally generate at least ten times the revenue which MA is getting now.
For that the support needs to be up to par, the involvement of MA inside the game needs to be turned up a LOT, and specific channels need to be created to cater to those people, with a better easy of access then having to join pre-created ones which are dead. A global one for socializing, one for housing and vanity stuff and one specifically to help out beginners. It's mind boggling that those simple things haven't been implemented yet, it's like there isn't a single competent game-designer in MA, or the head of MA is simply a tyrant which isn't overly knowledgeable in running a steadily changing business.
And next the playerbase:
That's a hard one, a very hard one. I know with a large playerbase there are definitely several ways of looking at a system. Many have fears of changing it, many want it to change steadily, both aren't being able to be combined.
But, let's look at it from another perspective, one which is more important: Which games held out the longest, and which systems work for the longest time smoothly? It's generally one which can be understood to a degree, or where there can be a hierarchy created, with a few people at the top, coming there by working their way up either through putting effort or ressources into it, both ways are viable.
So what I want to talk about the playerbase is: Don't pamper the company, make their life a living hell if they screw with you. Yes, it's a game, but damn yes, it's one which takes your money, so they have to provide an actual modern way of providing at least the most basic things. Economy without a calculator in-game? What? Funding new parts without even fixing the most basic things? Virtual reality without any way to use it to socialize properly? Come on now guys, that's not something which has to be pointed out, but many seem to be in denial about it in-game as well as in the forums. I don't know the specific reasons, but some of them might simply be the fear of either loosing their only place to play out their personality, or for many it can also be that quite a hefty sum is at stake. But well, both of those would make it even more important to grow some balls, get a spine, and speak up for the darn thing to work properly for many years to come instead of shriveling away steadily. Surely there are a myriad of other reasons as well, but those came to mind the quickest at least for me.
If there is no pressure, there won't be things happening, simple as that, make pressure, more pressure, and a hefty amount extra pressure. Pull out funds worst-case, stop playing, look at the game from the side if you're unhappy with the state of it instead of steadily complaining while you're ignored completely.
As for the wrong directions of development, last but definitely not least.
That one is very easy to explain.
Revamping a money system so it favors beginners more? Are you nuts? It's like stripping the people putting in the most loyality and effort into the game of their status, it's disrespectful. It was build up for years, has worked for years, and would've worked for years if managed properly. It wasn't the loot system, it's the lack of development and broken promises.
Revamp space.
Make sitting animations.
Create social places.
UL drops nearly impossible.
L drops a bit more common so they can be sustained.
Player knowledge in the forefront, not overregulated by hastily thrown together systems.
Pet system expanded.
Housing system fixed.
Broken quests repaired.
Land Areas finally fully implemented.
And all those other long lasting things which were promised but never released. Screw the bullshitting with 'this got in the way', nobody beliefs you, it wasn't a thing before you invented it anyway, so fix the things people care about rather then working on a new side project nobody wants. It brings in thousands of players instead of turning away those few still playing, MA, you got your priorities very wrong, people keep telling you, you won't listen. Well, it's not the players fault the game isn't working, it's yours. Hire people who have knowledge and skills, as well as wanting to put effort into it, and then don't stifle them with concerns over how fixing things could go bad. They are broken, they can hardly get worse anymore as it's beginning to fall apart this time actually. It's a miracle the game has made it this far, it is a great base system, it has soooooo damn much potential. Use it, put effort into it, don't half-ass it anymore, don't trample on the trust of the people and instead actually deliver for a change.
As for all of those things, I would like to hear people write out their problems and suggestions as well, in detail and without trolling. A meaningful talk for a change instead of the common 'ahh but this is that because it's always been, and it won't change'. Well, it needs to, I can speak of the position of someone coming back here, wanting to actually spend several thousand dollars this year to finally get into a proper position with having good equipment and at least keeping even with MU and playing smart, and at coming back I find that not even that's possible anymore as it's literally been removed. In a game which tells me 'come here, make money, we offer the chance to do so! Invest into it' Heck, there is nothing to invest into if there is no progress done from my money invested.
So, what do I want to talk about specifically?
One part would be the missing communication from MA
Another the really bad and easily foreseeable decisions of MA like Loot 2.0 or 2.1
And another the literal blindness of some of the playerbase.
The absolutely misguided focus on development.
Don't get me wrong, I have deposited quite a bit for the amount of time I've actively played this game, and for a reason, one which isn't in existing anymore in the state the game is right now sadly, therefore no future deposits until this changes.
So, the first thing I want to speak of is the 'new' loot system MA as implemented, one which is definitely bad in a long-term prospect for the game. But why so? That's actually quite easy when understanding the Pareto principle. It's one of the fundamental principles in nature, social structures, hierarchy, economics and basically anywhere else with a few exception. 80% of things are accounted to 20% of other things, or similar uneven distributions.
So as to talk about this in the important part for MA: roughly 20% of the players contribute 80% of the income, the so called 'whales', often people in the core playerbase.
What does this mean? While the 'lower end' of players steadily shift with people coming and going, the upper part usually stays the same over an extended period of time, putting money in over and over again while keeping the game alive, as well as existing as a sort of 'idol' or any other term you want to use to describe them. Something for newer players to aspire towards.
Given Entropia Universe is marketed as a 'real cash economy' game, and plainly spoken the only actual game with game systems doing so at the moment, it's obvious people need to be able to 'win' and make actual money off the system to keep repeating their actions and bring in other players since they act as a role to work towards.
A long long while ago that was done purely by game knowledge, having high skills and being able to offer things to the market which are so rare and sought-after that they were expensive and wanted.
Many tries to 'balance' the game have been undertaken since then, a new engine, breaking several gameplay systems, revamping the loot system several times in different ways, like the introduction of shrapnel and finally the switch from a randomized system which can be understood slightly with efford towards an appaling mash coming close to something which isn't discerning a lot between equipment and skills anymore.
That's unarguably bad. If an RPG is made where the items, mobs and locations you do things are hard to be discerned in any way, then it has fundamentally failed, and the rework to 2.0 made this happen.
Why though? Well, no matter how 'effective' my weapon, armor, fap, enhancers and so on are, it basically only changes the outcome by around 7% as MA has stated, meaning 93% aren't coming from that. So the major part of an RPG, the equipment, is being nearly useless, making a beginner the same as an end-game player basically.
The same goes for skills, we don't even have a clue as to how much it influences our gameplay, and doesn't have anything to do with knowledge about the game mechanics rather then simply forcing money into the companies hands. Also, basing it purely on the amount of money spent to kill a mob gives no incentive of working out the system of how loot is distributed between players, before you had to look up the amount of people hunting at a place, the amount of people getting globals and hofs, or to find a specific mob which gives a specific item fairly often that held some sort of MU
So, to put together what loot changes since shrapnel did:
Equipment got marginalized.
Useful items were removed to get people turning over more PED.
The drop of actually useable items got nearly turned down to 0.
Hunting specific mobs is nearly non-important anymore.
Personal skill plays much less of an important role now, luck and money put into the game does mostly, to a far bigger degree.
So, to the next part, communication.
That's solely on the side of MA, a good game company is able to push out a weekly report, well written, sizeable, in depth on the work they are doing. It has gotten to be a common practice in the gaming industry for a reason, people able to see what is happening behind the scenes makes them able to put trust into a company, a trust MA direly needs with all the mistakes and con-plays they have done seemingly.
There are basically only 2 options there at the moment: Either MA is absolutely and utterly imcompetent, which is bad, but can at least be changed, or MA is actively milking the community, which is disgusting. I give them the doubt that they are simply incompetent, bad enough but acceptable at least.
So, what needs to be done to resolve this? First of all, the bugs in the game need to be solved before new game mechanics are introduced. The loot system needs to be changed immediately, and the voices of loyal long-term players need to be far more weighty then some random non-depositing beginner who has seen the game for a single week. The mass always makes for a nice goal, but this game isn't made for masses, it's catering to a specific playerbase, one which likes to gamble, one which likes virtual-realities and one which likes grinding. All of those have people with a lot of money inside which can literally generate at least ten times the revenue which MA is getting now.
For that the support needs to be up to par, the involvement of MA inside the game needs to be turned up a LOT, and specific channels need to be created to cater to those people, with a better easy of access then having to join pre-created ones which are dead. A global one for socializing, one for housing and vanity stuff and one specifically to help out beginners. It's mind boggling that those simple things haven't been implemented yet, it's like there isn't a single competent game-designer in MA, or the head of MA is simply a tyrant which isn't overly knowledgeable in running a steadily changing business.
And next the playerbase:
That's a hard one, a very hard one. I know with a large playerbase there are definitely several ways of looking at a system. Many have fears of changing it, many want it to change steadily, both aren't being able to be combined.
But, let's look at it from another perspective, one which is more important: Which games held out the longest, and which systems work for the longest time smoothly? It's generally one which can be understood to a degree, or where there can be a hierarchy created, with a few people at the top, coming there by working their way up either through putting effort or ressources into it, both ways are viable.
So what I want to talk about the playerbase is: Don't pamper the company, make their life a living hell if they screw with you. Yes, it's a game, but damn yes, it's one which takes your money, so they have to provide an actual modern way of providing at least the most basic things. Economy without a calculator in-game? What? Funding new parts without even fixing the most basic things? Virtual reality without any way to use it to socialize properly? Come on now guys, that's not something which has to be pointed out, but many seem to be in denial about it in-game as well as in the forums. I don't know the specific reasons, but some of them might simply be the fear of either loosing their only place to play out their personality, or for many it can also be that quite a hefty sum is at stake. But well, both of those would make it even more important to grow some balls, get a spine, and speak up for the darn thing to work properly for many years to come instead of shriveling away steadily. Surely there are a myriad of other reasons as well, but those came to mind the quickest at least for me.
If there is no pressure, there won't be things happening, simple as that, make pressure, more pressure, and a hefty amount extra pressure. Pull out funds worst-case, stop playing, look at the game from the side if you're unhappy with the state of it instead of steadily complaining while you're ignored completely.
As for the wrong directions of development, last but definitely not least.
That one is very easy to explain.
Revamping a money system so it favors beginners more? Are you nuts? It's like stripping the people putting in the most loyality and effort into the game of their status, it's disrespectful. It was build up for years, has worked for years, and would've worked for years if managed properly. It wasn't the loot system, it's the lack of development and broken promises.
Revamp space.
Make sitting animations.
Create social places.
UL drops nearly impossible.
L drops a bit more common so they can be sustained.
Player knowledge in the forefront, not overregulated by hastily thrown together systems.
Pet system expanded.
Housing system fixed.
Broken quests repaired.
Land Areas finally fully implemented.
And all those other long lasting things which were promised but never released. Screw the bullshitting with 'this got in the way', nobody beliefs you, it wasn't a thing before you invented it anyway, so fix the things people care about rather then working on a new side project nobody wants. It brings in thousands of players instead of turning away those few still playing, MA, you got your priorities very wrong, people keep telling you, you won't listen. Well, it's not the players fault the game isn't working, it's yours. Hire people who have knowledge and skills, as well as wanting to put effort into it, and then don't stifle them with concerns over how fixing things could go bad. They are broken, they can hardly get worse anymore as it's beginning to fall apart this time actually. It's a miracle the game has made it this far, it is a great base system, it has soooooo damn much potential. Use it, put effort into it, don't half-ass it anymore, don't trample on the trust of the people and instead actually deliver for a change.
As for all of those things, I would like to hear people write out their problems and suggestions as well, in detail and without trolling. A meaningful talk for a change instead of the common 'ahh but this is that because it's always been, and it won't change'. Well, it needs to, I can speak of the position of someone coming back here, wanting to actually spend several thousand dollars this year to finally get into a proper position with having good equipment and at least keeping even with MU and playing smart, and at coming back I find that not even that's possible anymore as it's literally been removed. In a game which tells me 'come here, make money, we offer the chance to do so! Invest into it' Heck, there is nothing to invest into if there is no progress done from my money invested.
I probably have to look for new mob to hunt but testing for profitability is time and ped consuming :/
Check McCormicks page for the full list of half baked and abandoned systems. Its organic growth where parts may get overshadowed by others, they cripple and die. The strange thing is: how does that affect my "core-business" in EU? Not at all! Oh well maybe the EPIV, which could be called one of the most successful implementations for MA, makes me mine less. All in all i am often surprised how things turn out and sometimes they are good for me.