Did the sale of EF destroy the community?

[Kitty]

The short answer Cent...is yes.

 

[Meg]

Yes.

Having a tenuous link with the game to begin with...this extra alienisation didn't make it easier to keep abreast with current news in PE.

 

[AlphaGeek]

I think the grumblings in the community have more to do with having more than one cartrige to plug into the Atari 2600 now. The Entropia platform is now a platform, and there is now more than one game to be played on it. Sure, you get to move your avatar between those games for a price, but they are different games.

I suspect we'll see more of the typical "your game is shite, my game is da best" arguments that make up much of the conversations on generic mmo forums since each of the operating games have their own fans, rabid fans, devotees, and high priests.

So, not the sale of EF, but... choice.

 

[CycoKick]

EP is not a real forum, it is a ego platform for a handful of people, no content except useless rss feeds and copies of event announcements you have on PCF, too... and that after ~ 1.5 year of existance.


And imo, people updating the EP wiki (or any other wiki) are wasting valueable resources, it would make more sense to keep all info on entropedia, where actually someone is working on improvements - plus EP will never have tables like entropedia has, so why bother?



And on topic: Yes, sure feels like it, but i think that some bullshit decisions by MA and it's planet partners did cause more harm, like "XYZ killed a Pirate Skeleton" in a Sci-Fi MMORPG, or sweat claims, or PvP resources outside PvP on other planets... devaluating skills by skills bonus events... making PvP pointless now that we have tanks & helicopters.... and there is a lot more...

U used to be pro EP, but it seems u radically switched views? Or am I mistaken here.

 

[filibert]

of course it did, and why was it possible to happen is for very simple reasons: these guys (MA, fpc, ND and all the monkeys associated) never had for any second any respect or consideration for such a "community" concept. What is the center of their cares is...well...money? Look at what they talk and compare with what is done:

"we want a strong community" --> that's why they splitted planets pretending there was new players..the only problem is 99% of activity there is conducted by Calypso players you f* p* o* s*.

"we want ppl have fun and good time together" --> that's why each time i encounter another ppl it is the worst pain of all, recieving all his mobs in the face no matter what he does nor I do. That's why there is'nt even a way to travel between planets without loosing hundreds of peds (yay you would'nt go nude on another planet you have to preview some stuff as you're not sure to find it there).

"our community is going stronger and stronger" --> yay that's why at 01 am the game is totally dead (in december..), no reseller anymore most of time..but if we had to collect all ppl from new planets and bring them back on calyps-Ameth-asteroid-CP then we would be maybe a decent number don't you think?

"with time planets will consist in different communities" and " all will come with time, be patient" --> that's why when many many ppl wait for old features to be back ig (for soon like 2 years?lol?) but nobody waits to have separated forums as it's too early and no community exept the calypso exists atm, they separate us with taking care to force us to do so (EF was shut down that's the nly thing that made us come here).

All comes with time but in that case it had to be done when it was not the time while nrf bugs can persist for monthes...of course. Oh but i forgot! nrf's and fpc have nothing to do as it is MA ressort, you know the company originally responding for the 99% of what we care, but we allways speak to graphists, passionated people that want to redesign many many things woot so cool!

Let's not talk about what role played in this our superstar ND, as it appears obvious enough by following what he did little by little. If I had to personify the problem of the moment with communities, that would without any microgram of doubt be ND...let him become billionary and then read his memories to learn what kind of mass manipulation we where in.

best regards

Filibert

p.s to answer to the "nobody forces you to stay": We assuming that if someone takes the time and effort to write his opinion, he beside all the problems encountered wants to see it better and try to stay in the game

 

[ranpha]

Iframes work well..

http://jeffthomann.t35.com/euforum/index.html

Not exactly what I had in mind. More like One big Spy page like on PCF/Arkadia. Ni and RT dont have this feature (why i dunno) You could say maybe with an rss feed or something but thats kinda slowish on PCF for what I have seen.

 

[mastermesh]

I like the idea behind EP, but the load time there is significantly higher then here... same for NI's forum, RT Forum, other then ef. 711 should give instruction to all the forum owners on how to keep the forums from being too slow.

While he's at it, maybe he can make that rss feed thing... getting all forum feeds in to one location at ef.

 

[Frox]

My wish would be to connect all forums into one BIG forum

 

[narfi]

https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/...?199961-A-festering-infection-in-our-Universe

OP: your name shows up first on the list of deleted posts in one of the examples there.

sums up my thoughts on why the community has deteriorated.

There are too few helpful selfless people on this forum now and way to many a-holes living in the past or in a pissed off dream world that will never happen.

There is reality in this virtual world and we need to understand that. There are things we can affect and change, and things we cant. It will never be what any one of us as individuals picture as the "perfect world." We need to understand that and move our energy away from from repeatedly bashing our heads into the brick wall and more towards working with what we can change or affect.


IT IS GOOD TO DREAM
BE REALISTIC
1. There are new planets and will continue to be more.
2. We cant control the cost to get there, or what can or can not be transported back and forth, or what resources they have.
3. I will not win the lotto tomorrow.
4. Someone else will win the lotto tomorrow.
5. No one deserves to win the lotto.
6. The person who does win the lotto will most likely end up having a miserable life.
7. I can explore and hang out with my friends in a virtual universe.
8. I am not a developer of that universe so can not create or change anything in it.
9. I am able to talk to some of the developers through the forums or even ingame and have an effect on how they view the player base, which will in turn effect how they do things in the future.
10. If I talk to them like a 9yr old they will not listen to me.
11. I have an amazing wife and child, why do I care what anyone here thinks?
12. etc.. etc... etc...

The point is, look at things realistically and with logic. People on this forum have stopped doing that, and so I frequent it much less than I used to.

I play for fun, and I browse and post on the forums for my own enjoyment. I don't have the time or energy to worry about a bunch of hypocritical, self absorbed, pre-adolescents trapped in 30yr old bodies. (because I am afraid to end up like them)

narfi

 

[wizzszz]

There are others reading this gettin curious. So...still no concrete answer to "what Happened". What would cause wizzszz to stomp out in a tantrum with all his files under his arm and totally exausted from all that work and little sleep? Btw, I dont work for the other side, in fact I dont go there anymore. Bad pay? Bad treatment? No recognition? Cmon wizzszz, satisfy our curiosity pls. I thought Lykke and Peter were nice peops. Then again I dont know them that well.

This is not the right thread, and probably not the right forum to tell such an ugly story - Hanne will delete it in a wink, but, if ER ever opens up again i might post all the stuff there (including screenies)

{removed}

 

[narfi]

https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?203119-Leaving-PCF

another example of the actual problem. (I've had the same issue multiple times with poster #28 (and to my knowledge nothing was ever done about it) but I haven't completely quit this forum yet)

Jennson was a great asset to this community and its sad to see him go. His posts were always worth reading.

 

[CuilwenOnnedhie]

This is not the right thread, and probably not the right forum to tell such an ugly story - Hanne will delete it in a wink, but, if ER ever opens up again i might post all the stuff there (including screenies)

{removed}

You could if u want send me a pm, I shall read it and delete it immedietlly after I read it Just a thought tho. Dunno ER and dunno if it will ever come back as you said, unless you know better. But whatever it is I am sorry to hear things went ugly sweety. I always liked your posts wether you flame or not. And what I know you with your experience and expertise could be a great asset to any community forum.

 

[Apple]

EU is no longer one game, each planet is a game.

It is NOT different games.. not in ANY way..

My point exactly

Did that really just happen? Stave, you said "It is no longer one game", then Centech disagreed with you and you said "my point exactly". No, it wasn't your point. Your point was the opposite of what Centech said. I thought that was funny.

I agree with Centech. They are not "different games" if you can travel between them without exiting the client or logging out. Calling the separate planets "different games" seems to me to be the same idea as calling Entropia a "virtual universe" rather than a "game". They are just buzzwords meant to sell the idea to people.

 

[aia]

A totally different aspect of it:
This forum is harder to use.
Theoretically it's the same, but it has some graphic bugs, at least for IE8 users, more padding (meaning less content in more screen area), and a search funtcion that doesn't work as smooth as the one on EF. When it comes to design and and brower compatibility, the old EF works better.

The fact that it's lacking a community rep at MA level is clear now when it comes to the NI sweating. The support staff who'll take the most of the questions is probably working for FPC, the support staff of NI probably haven't thought about sweating and sweat economy, and MA level, which is reponsible for drops and should be the ones coordinating resources between planets, so planet a and planet b doesn't name some piece of material the same way (ie Opal).

As for planets/game(s):
As it's implemented right now I do not feel I like it.
If planets are said to be different games, you should be allowed to create one new avatar on each planet site. The same way as it's free to switch between solitary and reversi in Window, it should be free to switch between planets, and only if you wish to move an avatar between planets and retaining items/skills during the move, a fee is reasonable.

If the planets are said to be same game, there should be no artificial boundary that keeps players from travelling between planets (ie TP fee) - the argument "It should be hard/expensive to travel between planets because you should move to a planet, not travel between them daily" isn't right for me.
In my perspective, I joined when it was Project Entropia, you could travel to amethera for free though you had to go to a different "map", and the actual transport cost had other explainations (CP: Only decently equipped hunters had reasons to go there except for exploring, CND: Travel by spaceship and auction fees+transport cost were implemented to create a market for apartments).
As for the size of the TP fee, consider that the 25 ped fee for CND was set after hangar prices had made an all-time-high, partly because of eula abuse (ie secondary pilot avatars who were made to claim the estate when it was possible, combined with the fact that few hangars has been sold in the open market lately. (Last hangars sold by MA, as far as I know, was then hangar sold with CND and now the single hangar sold with Medusa Head). Before the cartel price (25 ped) started to be the going price, you could get a ticket to CND for 15 ped and rent an entire ship to CP for 25-30 ped (return TP from CP: 10 ped, return by ship: 5 ped).

 

[SpikeBlack]

I'm still trying to work out why MA didn't purchase and take over a forum that by it's name alone was perfect for everything Entropia, and use this to create the ultimate community.

because MA want nothing to do with the players unless it involves our credit cards. In their eyes the planet partners are the only entities they deal with and the pp's deal with the customers.

As for planets/game(s):
As it's implemented right now I do not feel I like it.
If planets are said to be different games, you should be allowed to create one new avatar on each planet site. The same way as it's free to switch between solitary and reversi in Window, it should be free to switch between planets, and only if you wish to move an avatar between planets and retaining items/skills during the move, a fee is reasonable.

Whatever happens on one planet at the moment has to balance on all the others. Sure a few things will look different but essentially its just updated graphics. Until a completely unique system that doesn't appear on any other planet is created then it's just another CP or an asteroid formly known as CND.

This comes from the David Simmonds interview from the Dec 2010 Entropia Times (p52)

I went on to ask David if a Planet Partner could request a particular system be in place before they launched their planet? David was quick to respond with, “A new planet partner (PP) can suggest new systems, if we feel this would be beneficial to EU as a whole then it could be implemented, it would be up to the PP to decide if they want to launch before or after the systems have been introduced.”

.......

If you build a planet, are you required to use ALL the systems MA offers, or can a planet partner disable certain systems, e.g. Mindforce? “No, PP’s have the tools to use all the systems, but if the system does not fit with the planet then it can be excluded if MA agrees.”

from those two statements I don't expect to see any unique systems on a planet, only ones missing / disabled.

As the original topic, no I don't think selling EF destroyed the community, MA are doing far to good a job of it to make selling EF matter. Some players have left, gone on a long holiday from EU or just plain can't be bothered anymore. All that are left are the die hards who try to get a point across but not necessarily in the best way.

It's in MA's interest to keep the players fragmented. One perfect example of why they want us fragmented was during the last LG. As a whole we can force changes, fragmented we can do jack shit.

 

[CuilwenOnnedhie]

because MA want nothing to do with the players unless it involves our credit cards. In their eyes the planet partners are the only entities they deal with and the pp's deal with the customers.



It's in MA's interest to keep the players fragmented. One perfect example of why they want us fragmented was during the last LG. As a whole we can force changes, fragmented we can do jack shit.

Brilliant point that goes dingaling in the head. I fully agree with your statement and makes absolute sense. We the people need to pull together again, regardless of how long it may take. One day again we may be a force to be reconned with. Perhaps then they might just find another means to fragment us like shrapnel blowing into all directions or a turd hitting fan blades.

+rep

 

[Sidney]

This is something I've been thinking a lot about the last few days.. Entropia Universe.. is a Universe.. it is growing, and it includes at least 3 different 'games' at the moment. PC, RT and now NI. But they aren't really separate.. travel between them is trivial.. Just yesterday I was on all 3 planets.

Now, lots is going on in the new planets, and a lot of players have a lot of questions. For 90%+ of the players in the Universe, Calypso is home.. and EF was always home. With other planets being excluded from PCF, we are fracturing the community as never before. There is no flow of information, and if you want to find info on RT or NI you need to go to their forums (which hardly anyone uses).. it sucks.. I'm not going to keep up on 3 forums.. let alone 8 or whatever there will be soon when more planets join, and I'm sure others aren't going to either.

So what do you all think? I see the community as fractured and getting worse.. and it saddens me. I think it's really important that there be a central place where the whole universe gets together if we are going to have a real community... I know there are other forums, and some that cover all the planets.. but lets be serious.. EF (and this forum you are reading now IS EF.. I don't care what the url says) IS the EU community.. It has been for 5 years.. but now that 711 sold it for a quick profit it is being destroyed as a central community, along with the community itself.

to give my thinking a word"

i think by selling the forum to FPC the comunity is kinda falling apart.
normally i went to look on the forum every weekend when i came home from work.
now that we are here at fpc's forum , i almost never look or reed something.
entropia universe should have one forum and only keep it on one forum.

and about the person 711 pfff i have no good words for him.
he prolly cashed in really well.
also fun for the ones that contributed money to him to support the ef forum.

it's kind of a trust issue what he broke down.
and with that the community.


atleast that's what i noticed and is how i think about it.



though as its not from 711 anylonger i will come back here everey weekend from now on again.
as i stay in fpc plannet.
fpc is more trust full then 711 anyway i did not finance 711 as i had a feeling years ago he would be selling it and cach the forum out.

 

[Lykke]

though as its not from 711 anylonger i will come back here everey weekend from now on again.
as i stay in fpc plannet.
fpc is more trust full then 711 anyway i did not finance 711 as i had a feeling years ago he would be selling it and cach the forum out.

711 is doing all the technical work here as far as I know?

 

[MindStar9]

711 is doing all the technical work here as far as I know?

Yes ... after 711 sold the EF database (and collective community) to FPC, he was then contracted to host, administrate, and do maintenance/technical work for FPC. So yes, FPC (and now SEE I guess) is a client.

 

[Lykke]

Yes ... after 711 sold the EF database (and collective community) to FPC, he was then contracted to host, administrate, and do maintenance/technical work for FPC. So yes, FPC (and now SEE I guess) is a client.

so, what you're saying is, he sold the database, but still have accesss to all the content in it?

 

[aridash]

so, what you're saying is, he sold the database, but still have accesss to all the content in it?

yes.

planets split the "community", the only way the sale of EF can be considered to have destroyed community is if you think the forum is the community. and its still here, so nothing has changed on that front, the Calypso community is still here while new communities can begin to grow around new planets. new and varied forums is healthy, having one source and one server for all resources is dangerous.

 

[MindStar9]

so, what you're saying is, he sold the database, but still have accesss to all the content in it?

As server host for this forum, as well as having the position of Administrator and Technician to manage and maintain everything, yes ... 711 still has access to all the data ... same as he did at EF.

 

[MindStar9]

planets split the "community", the only way the sale of EF can be considered to have destroyed community is if you think the forum is the community. and its still here, so nothing has changed on that front, the Calypso community is still here while new communities can begin to grow around new planets. new and varied forums is healthy, having one source and one server for all resources is dangerous.

Repetitive interaction is classical conditioning ... it's called associative learning ... pairing a stimulus (forum environment) with an unconditioned response at first (posting), but then ... it becomes second nature, with a level of expectation, and ... after almost 6 years next month, this community clearly considers this environment the most comfortable because it's not only familiar, it's a database that they worked very hard to build collectively ... you can liken it to a family if you will.

It's not rocket science that people are reluctant to leave or go elsewhere, and I don't think it's any coincidence that EF hasn't thrived either after reopening. This is where people find themselves in threads and posts, and stories and articles ... where their photo gallery is, their long-term contributions, and where they connect with others ... this is where we all learned about the universe as we've known it, up until now, as it is changing.

Regardless of whether the database belongs to one planet partner now, the community is very much connected here as a collective group, and as many have said, they want everything in one place, and don't want to sign up at other forums to get information, but ... there are two new planets online already, with many more planets to come. The unfortunate thing is, unless people go to individual planet forums, or to EP as an all universe forum for news and information, there's potential to miss out on some key things.

Those who have basically lived at this forum for years are protective of it, but personally, I think the sale of the EF database (regardless of what percentage was related to Calypso) has fragmented this community. They're here because it's what they know and what they're familiar with, but I think forget that it's not the same as before. There's plenty at this forum that is not Calypso-related, or could be applied across the universe (generally) to all planets (guides, technical help, and other things), but I think that the protectiveness about this forum I mentioned is such that this becomes irrelevant.

It's not difficult to understand, really ... and as our universe continues to grow with more planets, and perhaps more forums, it's going to become even more time-consuming to visit them all in order to keep up with information. If the current community here were to only play on Calypso, or any of the SEE planets that come online in the future, then they will have everything here (I'm assuming), but ... I'm willing to bet that this won't be the case, and that many in this forum community will be visiting other planets to explore ... it's only natural, and then if there's a planet that they like and want to frequent or spend time on, then they'll have to seek out the information they need.

So one way or the other ... this forum will not provide all of the information this current collective community will require in order to efficiently traverse our universe, which means that eventually, people will make choices to seek that information elsewhere, whether it's to many forums or not.

I would very much like to see the community working together than not, which is what some are trying to accomplish, but seem to hit road blocks now and then.

I hope 2011 will find us more united.


*sorry for the double post*

 

[Gionni Gunsy]

I would very much like to see the community working together than not, which is what some are trying to accomplish, but seem to hit road blocks now and then.

I hope 2011 will find us more united.

Very true, to many forums already, lets unite please.....

 

[McCormick]

This is something I've been thinking a lot about the last few days.. Entropia Universe.. is a Universe.. it is growing, and it includes at least 3 different 'games' at the moment. PC, RT and now NI. But they aren't really separate.. travel between them is trivial.. Just yesterday I was on all 3 planets.

Now, lots is going on in the new planets, and a lot of players have a lot of questions. For 90%+ of the players in the Universe, Calypso is home.. and EF was always home. With other planets being excluded from PCF, we are fracturing the community as never before. There is no flow of information, and if you want to find info on RT or NI you need to go to their forums (which hardly anyone uses).. it sucks.. I'm not going to keep up on 3 forums.. let alone 8 or whatever there will be soon when more planets join, and I'm sure others aren't going to either.

So what do you all think? I see the community as fractured and getting worse.. and it saddens me

Its not the EF sale alone. Its the new "Neverdie Islands & Planets". And yea, if there will be 8 forums+, there is no way Im going to read everything about each planet. (Story, mobs, loot, events...as for now..its not even worth to travel there in my opinion...omfg the design ;O)

As you said. I might see fractures...get a glimpse of it all....but wasnt the idea to have a concurrent universe ?
Traveling inside of it...planet after planet...killing some umbranoids, save Calypso from the robots, loot a special item to visit Planet Michael Jackson on your flight to the Persian planet...but you just keep traveling, leaving the chinese shopping planets beyond your imagination, having no idea of wtf is going on, just to reach your final destination...Planet IKEA !

 

[Thorn]

Yes it has fractured the community that used to thrive on EF. And as for numerous forums to surf I did`nt even give myself time to read this whole thread so I sure won`t be cruising several forums everyday. In fact I have`nt even looked the EF domain since this forum became active. And I pretty much abandoned this forum then as well. I resented being "sold out" to MA in a way. Despite in the past feeling that they should have had their own official forums. The way they went about it I don`t like at all. And all my information that was on EF now is in MA`s hands. I don`t like that. I did`nt intend for that. They were`nt capable of doing the work in the past so they just buy it from a player. I can`t even get an answer as to how to remove photos from the gallery here and I asked well over a month ago. So I gave up for the most part. I peek in here but I call EP my new forum home.

 

[McCormick]

Its not the EF sale alone. Its the new "Neverdie Islands & Planets". And yea, if there will be 8 forums+, there is no way Im going to read everything about each planet. (Story, mobs, loot, events...as for now..its not even worth to travel there in my opinion...omfg the design ;O)

As you said. I might see fractures...get a glimpse of it all....but wasnt the idea to have a concurrent universe ?
Traveling inside of it...planet after planet...killing some umbranoids, save Calypso from the robots, loot a special item to visit Planet Michael Jackson on your flight to the Persian planet...but you just keep traveling, leaving the chinese shopping planets beyond your imagination, having no idea of wtf is going on, just to reach your final destination...Planet IKEA !

Thank you thank you and be sure that the other 8+ forums will be even more deserted then this place already is, with the exception of Planet Michael Jackson, which will inhabitat 1 mio concurrent users, all of em posting on the SEE forum, none of them having the slightest idea of what Entropia is, or ever was.

 

[GeorgeSkywalker]

Thank you thank you and be sure that the other 8+ forums will be even more deserted then this place already is,

These other 8+ forums will most likely be forums for Planet Partners who make a new planet. Now what do you expect them to do? use this forum which is only for Calypso? I think not !

Quite rightly at the start a planet partners forum will be quite empty but as soon as they do their own marketing and bring in players to their planet. I'd expect their forums to become active because their forums are not for us but for players on their planets.

with the exception of Planet Michael Jackson, which will inhabitat 1 mio concurrent users, all of em posting on the SEE forum, none of them having the slightest idea of what Entropia is, or ever was.

Planet Michael players playing on Planet Michael and posting on SEE forum hmmm Why don't I find that so surprising?

Not everything revolves around us (and McCormick)

 

[McCormick]

These other 8+ forums will most likely be forums for Planet Partners who make a new planet. Now what do you expect them to do? use this forum which is only for Calypso? I think not !

Quite rightly at the start a planet partners forum will be quite empty but as soon as they do their own marketing and bring in players to their planet.

With all those free korean/japanese/chinese/etc. MMORPGS out there, I dont think that stuff like Rocktropia or Next Island will survive for a long time or have a filled forum.

Sure, a movie-monster planet or a titanic-planet will have its fans, but I have my doubts that these planets will have the right story and the addicting quests to make the "Monster-Titanic-Planet-Fans" stay and become active users of such planets. It might be a fun thing to try...a monster update each 4 weeks...lol....come on, this universe construction kit has lost most of its charme that got announced back in 2000.

This "universe" feels more like bloatware to me these days.



[/QUOTE]

 

[Nadie]

These other 8+ forums will most likely be forums for Planet Partners who make a new planet. Now what do you expect them to do? use this forum which is only for Calypso? I think not !

Well yes they could've if EF had been left as it was and not sold to a Planet Partner