My response, another perspective.
Hello former Entropia Asia member Franklon. Let me give a contrary perspective on your post.
Full disclosure: My current Society leader is one of the investors on the planet, but I didn't know that at the time I went there. (I pretty much play like a freelancer, and have been too busy with grad school to do much in EU the last couple years, so I've been out of the news loop with the soc.)
I visited Monria yesterday via Titans of Space (
http://www.titans-of-space.de/) travelling service (kudos to Bonnie & Black on the excellent service!!!) and found the place to be a huge disappointment. I was hoping for an adventure in a Horror/Scary version of Entropia but I can say the best experience was during travelling. I honestly found the mothership and Titans of Space service to be much more interesting compared Monria! Let me list down what I found lacking...
Agreed, Titans of Space are a real class act. Great service, and quite friendly and helpful.
1. There are 3 crater (kinda like FOMA domes) and 1 cave. The landscape of the three craters looks like dog vomit... All brown with some chunks of half digested dog food. The cave was at least semi-interesting.
2. There is only 4 type of mobs (YES FOUR!!!)
To me, the craters look just like a desert wasteland. I honestly don't have that big of a problem with it. It is supposed to be a barren moon after all. But people probably have different aesthetic demands for the game. So, I would never say you are wrong to have this opinion, which they may take as constructive criticism. But really, I have no problem with the look. There are other places in EU where there is a desert look.... at least these have sage-brush, which makes spotting targets a pain/exciting challenge (depending on your perspective).
Only 4 mobs. True, for now. Remember, this is Monria just out of the gate. The 4 mobs represent a really nice range though. There are mobs for beginners, and ones that I find challenging. There are currently no mobs to attract the uber hunters...but then, that might be a good thing. Perhaps by focusing on just 4 mobs at the start, they are putting more energy into doing it right and then growing, rather than slapping a lot of content together with too little time to give it proper attention. The mob animations and design (if you are into aesthetics) are really quite nice compared to others imho.
3. After cycling over 2k peds in mining, I have yet to discover any Monria specific ores/enmatter. I am using F105.
4. Using Lvl 5-7 amps, my largest find was around 70peds! Damn! If you are going to reduce hit chance, at least increase the size of the claim!
5. There are no Monria specific TT items. A huge letdown compared to Arkadia, Cyrene, etc.
Mining really stank for me, but then I'm not good at the new system/FOMA style. I can tell you that a socmate of mine has done quite well mining there. I think my case, was just lack of skill, and being on the down cycle... sometimes loots are just bad for a while, no matter where you go in EU. One excursion to Monria is not enough to make a determination that they are particularly bad. Loots are the same system no matter what planet you go to.
No TT items. I think there is one, but nothing to jump up and down about. But this is just the early stages. And maybe it is much wiser to develop a planet in smaller stages like this. Look at all the investment into Rocktropia. I just came back from there, and was impressed. It was a lot better than I expected. But look even Rocktropia with all that amazing effort put into development (yes, there are flaws) is having problems keeping enough players visiting there. Perhaps they bit off more than they could chew in some aspects of design especially regarding the crafting/economy system. The point is that maybe starting out slow and steady is not a bad thing. Give them time. I do know that some things are not fully developed yet, and they are waiting on MA to produce those things, (such as materials from skins).
6. Missions are dull and boring. After killing 100 shoggoth monsters, I got rewarded with a 3 pec chip of dexterity! Would have preferred at least a Monria specific cheapass L beginner weapon.
7. Hunting loot is a let-down too! After cycling about 1k ped hunting, still no global or Monria gear.
Where are missions not boring in EU? I guess it depends on the player, but I don't even find myself reading the text of the missions. We all know that people don't play EU for the RPG element. But I found that Monria has more of that than some missions on Caly.
As to the rewards, this might be a matter of personal taste. I personally don't want another cheap weapon that I can't easily sell. I'd rather have the skill bump. And because there is such a nice spread of mob size, you can grind those missions for skills if you want to. I believe they are repeatable (not sure about this, just word of mouth). I just started the last stage for the Shubs, the biggest mobs, and after killing 500, I got a nice Athletics boost (2.44 ped). Hey I love anything that makes my evade go up faster. The 3 pec skill implant you got was for doing stage one of the nooby monsters...
Now, you may be right that there is a missed opportunity there to appeal to brand new players, to give them slightly better starter gear. But since your post is directed at established players, it has to be pointed out that this is a mission you can do half awake, with the cheapest of weapons. There are missions just like this on Caly and elsewhere.
I'm sorry hunting was a letdown for you. That just how it goes in EU at times. Believe me I know.. I've taken years off the game from being upset at bad loots before. I don't think you can apply this to Monria. Personally, I've done incredibly well hunting on Monria. I had one day with a 3337 ped hof, and about 8 other globals that same day that included various items, including a ESI worth almost 1k. Basically I had over 5k winnings on that day, and that wasn't even hunting the bigger mobs. I had another small Hof for around 670 I think, and a bunch of globals. But maybe this would have happened if I was hunting anywhere. Maybe my bad mining (66 drops in 4 areas before I had a find, and only 1 global so far) and your bad mining and hunting would have happened at this time no matter where we were.
The thing to look at is how is the experience as we keep pulling that handle, waiting for the jackpot. Well, I like it on Monria. The mobs have nice concentrations, so I spend less time running, and more time shooting. But they are not so concentrated that I am being spawn spammed. (though watch out for those K'Tans, they like to spawn near you and have high agro). I do like the cave area. There are even some 'secret' areas that are fun to stumble onto the first time.
8. Inter-Player trade is non-existent. Auction items are extremely limited! Also all Monria shops are either filled with crap at high markup or abandoned. Only shop I found interested belonged to Tiny.
It's not non-existent. It's just not that good yet. It gets better as more people play on Monria. But this is still a new place, so give it time to develop. I've not been to Ark in a long while, but I hear they have done a fine job over there....but it took time. I recall being on Ark when it first started, and it also felt very lonely. If you have a socmate you can trust, and they are flying back to Cally, they can do some trade for you. I've done that when I didn't feel like flying back to Caly myself. I know there is at least one ore trader who is often at the main crater TP.
The shops: Again, it's just getting off the ground. I found a couple things I liked in the shops. They don't seem too different from other shops I've been to, but then again, I'm not an experienced 'shopper'.
9. No TP ability back to Calypso (Thanks to Acro for the info). So basically you are stuck here!
No TP to Cally: This is the case on every planet I've been to. This is not just a Monria reality. I don't know if all planet partners chose this, or if MA enforces it. But it's not unique to Monria. But the schedule for Titans of Space is so consistent and affordable that you are not really stuck. Perhaps you were just playing at times when they didn't have a run going.
To summarize, DO NOT GO TO MONRIA unless you have a thing for brown and boring.
So, buddy, I think it's too premature to come to the conclusions you have made. I came to Monria a few weeks ago, and aside from an auction run to Caly, and a trip to see what Rocktopia is like, I've been very happy to stay there and do the missions. I could be just biased because I had a nice hof, and because my socmate is an investor. But when I say that, I'm truly trying to be objective in my opinion.
Some of your comments can and should be taken as constructive criticism, and if the managers are smart, they will consider your opinion. I just think it's a bit too much criticism, too soon.
Besides, there is a reason I've found to stay on Monria. It's not a secret, and it's not any insider information I have. Just something that I found there that I think is very advantageous and I've only told close friends about it. I don't even think its unique to Monria...but I'm liking it very, very much.
