Donald
Stalker
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2006
- Posts
- 1,521
- Society
- Retired
- Avatar Name
- Donald "Don" Cleveland
Part I: We Arrive In Port Atlantis
I am writing today, so that you might read these words, and take warning. The Entropia Universe is a wonderful place, full of beauty and excitement. But there is also a very real danger there, and this is what I want to discuss.
I first discovered Entropia whilst doing a bit of 'surfing' on the Web. Someone had posted a description of Project Entropia, as it was then called, which was just ghastly. They said something to the effect of, "...so if you have $50 you feel like tossing in the bin, check out this nightmare! It's such a waste of time and money!"
That certainly caught my eye. I am always eager to seek out new and different games. In as short a time as possible, I downloaded the game. Then I set about, applying for an account- not just one account, mind you, but two. "Why two?", you might ask. Why, one for myself, and one for the Mrs., of course. After having done a bit of reading, on the official Entropia website, I knew I would want to get my wife involved.
"My dear, it is the perfect game for us! Listen, according to the website, it's NOT a game! It is a virtual universe and the possibilities for making money there are unlimited..." This was in April of 2006, by the Old Earth calendar.
"You need to take life more seriously." was her primary response, although she said many other things as well. I was having trouble getting her to feel and absorb my enthusiasm.
"You wanted me to have a side-line, something in addition to my work at the hospital. This could be it!"
I won't bore you with all the details that went into our discussions about this wonderful new, "virtual Universe", that I was so keen on exploring. To be honest, I would have promised her anything to get her to join me there. And finally my persistant pleading paid off- she agreed!
Her terms were, "We play only for profit. This is business; not a fun thing." These terms I readily accepted, and soon we were there!
Like many others before us, we arrived in Port Atlantis amidst the chaos and tumult that typifies the place.
"I can't move", she said. "How do I go around?"
"Hold on... I will help you!", I replied, in the cheeriest voice I could muster. Apart from not being able to walk, she could not access any of the more important parts of the UI. For example, she did not know how to sweat, or run, or chat or anything. Until now, she was not really what you might call, "Computer Literate".
With the patience of Job, I taught her. Little by little, day by day, hour by hour, I sat by her side and [wrap=right]https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/gallery/files/7/0/0/3/OurHands_541671.JPG[/wrap]showed her how things were done within the EU. It was painfully slow going. Even her mousing skills were rather lacking- and there is an art to using a mouse, make no mistake about it. But progress was all the while being made. She was learning. True, I had to repeat various lessons, time and again, but it was a labour of love. I loved my wife, and I was starting to feel a strong attachment to the EU, as well. So, I was doing what I loved, with the one I loved. It seemed that the best of both worlds had finally come together. It was not to last.
We began our life in the EU the same as most, sweating. Just to the North and Northwest of Port Atlantis are many low level mobs. This is where most new-comers start out, and us among them. Sweating, once you get the hang of it, is very easy to do. So there we were, running among the other orange-clad newbies, and sweating the beasties for all we were worth. After my wife had gotten a handle on how things worked, she was really quite good. Infact she was outpacing me, when it came to sweating. In our first two full days of sweating she cleared over 1000 bottles, while I had only two-thirds that much. She was taking a liking to it, especially since she was doing better than I was!
In the meantime, whenever she was out of the house, whether at work or elsewhere, I would log in and try to teach myself as much as possible, in order both to learn and to be able to assist her, and answer her questions, when we were in-universe together. During these solo-sessions, I did a bit of experimenting...
One day, the Mrs. and I were a good way from PA, toward the NE, and sweating as usual. And as usual, the exarosaurus turned and came straight for us. Ordinarily we would follow a routine of distraction. This means that we would take turns catching the fellow's attention whilst the other continued sweating. We worked this out early on and it works quite well. Ultimately one of us would have to die and revive. We also learned early on, that death had no particular consequences, so it was not a matter of concern, this dying.
On this occasion, I quickly assessed our distance to PA, and the revival terminal, and decided a different approach was called for. I pulled out an Opalo and let him have it! The maturity level was Young, and I managed to stay alive, and bring him to his knees. In other words, I did him in.

"Where did you get that!", she cried.
"It's an Opalo Solomate."
"I know what it is. I asked where you get it?", her voice had risen an octive or so, and increased in volume, as well.
"I bought it. It's just for protection, you see.."
"I do not 'see'. Throw it away!" She really is quite a passionate woman.
"I thought you would like some protection..."
"You know how already I feel about it! Throw it away!"
"...but Sweetheart. It's only a game."
"You said it was not a game. I dont care. If you will kill in a game, you will kill in real life. Throw it away!"
This was our first major dust-up over the EU. I was so sad. I mean, it isn't real; who's being hurt? But I didn't want to press the point.
"Right. I will do it. I'll just sell it when we get back to town."
"No, then someone else use it. Throw it away!"
"Quite right, I see what you mean... Oh, lookie there! A big fat Combibo! Let's get him!"
She said no more on the matter, just then. However, later on when we were ready to log off for the night, she asked me,"Did you throw the gun?"
I said, "Yes".
[End of Part I]
[Please post any comments, questions or discussion of Part I in here:
And Now She's Back!]
I am writing today, so that you might read these words, and take warning. The Entropia Universe is a wonderful place, full of beauty and excitement. But there is also a very real danger there, and this is what I want to discuss.
I first discovered Entropia whilst doing a bit of 'surfing' on the Web. Someone had posted a description of Project Entropia, as it was then called, which was just ghastly. They said something to the effect of, "...so if you have $50 you feel like tossing in the bin, check out this nightmare! It's such a waste of time and money!"
That certainly caught my eye. I am always eager to seek out new and different games. In as short a time as possible, I downloaded the game. Then I set about, applying for an account- not just one account, mind you, but two. "Why two?", you might ask. Why, one for myself, and one for the Mrs., of course. After having done a bit of reading, on the official Entropia website, I knew I would want to get my wife involved.
"My dear, it is the perfect game for us! Listen, according to the website, it's NOT a game! It is a virtual universe and the possibilities for making money there are unlimited..." This was in April of 2006, by the Old Earth calendar.
"You need to take life more seriously." was her primary response, although she said many other things as well. I was having trouble getting her to feel and absorb my enthusiasm.
"You wanted me to have a side-line, something in addition to my work at the hospital. This could be it!"
I won't bore you with all the details that went into our discussions about this wonderful new, "virtual Universe", that I was so keen on exploring. To be honest, I would have promised her anything to get her to join me there. And finally my persistant pleading paid off- she agreed!
Her terms were, "We play only for profit. This is business; not a fun thing." These terms I readily accepted, and soon we were there!
Like many others before us, we arrived in Port Atlantis amidst the chaos and tumult that typifies the place.
"I can't move", she said. "How do I go around?"
"Hold on... I will help you!", I replied, in the cheeriest voice I could muster. Apart from not being able to walk, she could not access any of the more important parts of the UI. For example, she did not know how to sweat, or run, or chat or anything. Until now, she was not really what you might call, "Computer Literate".
With the patience of Job, I taught her. Little by little, day by day, hour by hour, I sat by her side and [wrap=right]https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/gallery/files/7/0/0/3/OurHands_541671.JPG[/wrap]showed her how things were done within the EU. It was painfully slow going. Even her mousing skills were rather lacking- and there is an art to using a mouse, make no mistake about it. But progress was all the while being made. She was learning. True, I had to repeat various lessons, time and again, but it was a labour of love. I loved my wife, and I was starting to feel a strong attachment to the EU, as well. So, I was doing what I loved, with the one I loved. It seemed that the best of both worlds had finally come together. It was not to last.
We began our life in the EU the same as most, sweating. Just to the North and Northwest of Port Atlantis are many low level mobs. This is where most new-comers start out, and us among them. Sweating, once you get the hang of it, is very easy to do. So there we were, running among the other orange-clad newbies, and sweating the beasties for all we were worth. After my wife had gotten a handle on how things worked, she was really quite good. Infact she was outpacing me, when it came to sweating. In our first two full days of sweating she cleared over 1000 bottles, while I had only two-thirds that much. She was taking a liking to it, especially since she was doing better than I was!
In the meantime, whenever she was out of the house, whether at work or elsewhere, I would log in and try to teach myself as much as possible, in order both to learn and to be able to assist her, and answer her questions, when we were in-universe together. During these solo-sessions, I did a bit of experimenting...
One day, the Mrs. and I were a good way from PA, toward the NE, and sweating as usual. And as usual, the exarosaurus turned and came straight for us. Ordinarily we would follow a routine of distraction. This means that we would take turns catching the fellow's attention whilst the other continued sweating. We worked this out early on and it works quite well. Ultimately one of us would have to die and revive. We also learned early on, that death had no particular consequences, so it was not a matter of concern, this dying.
On this occasion, I quickly assessed our distance to PA, and the revival terminal, and decided a different approach was called for. I pulled out an Opalo and let him have it! The maturity level was Young, and I managed to stay alive, and bring him to his knees. In other words, I did him in.

"Where did you get that!", she cried.
"It's an Opalo Solomate."
"I know what it is. I asked where you get it?", her voice had risen an octive or so, and increased in volume, as well.
"I bought it. It's just for protection, you see.."
"I do not 'see'. Throw it away!" She really is quite a passionate woman.
"I thought you would like some protection..."
"You know how already I feel about it! Throw it away!"
"...but Sweetheart. It's only a game."
"You said it was not a game. I dont care. If you will kill in a game, you will kill in real life. Throw it away!"
This was our first major dust-up over the EU. I was so sad. I mean, it isn't real; who's being hurt? But I didn't want to press the point.
"Right. I will do it. I'll just sell it when we get back to town."
"No, then someone else use it. Throw it away!"
"Quite right, I see what you mean... Oh, lookie there! A big fat Combibo! Let's get him!"
She said no more on the matter, just then. However, later on when we were ready to log off for the night, she asked me,"Did you throw the gun?"
I said, "Yes".
[End of Part I]
[Please post any comments, questions or discussion of Part I in here:
And Now She's Back!]
Last edited: