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Flame Dancer's Diary

Back at CND

Entropia life seems so much easier at CND - at least for me, personally, lagwise - and now that I have an apartment, I might be up here more or less permanently, unless things change for the better down at Calypso.

When it comes to my emotions about Entropia, I find myself changing opinion more often than a weather wane changes direction - but I think that's a girl's privilege!

On the day I arrived, one of my soc mates (Ulrike) gave me a guided tour 'behind the walls' of CND - if you ask her nicely, she might do the same for you, for a small fee...:)

Space views are way cool, aren't they?



Self portrait:



I've been busy mining - persistence is always of importance, but up here at least it pays off...

Day 1:



Day 2:



Day 3: (sorry about crappy pic, but the trees - or whatever they are - hid the glowballs)



The oil global took me forever and ever to extract. After I had finally finished, I moved slightly to the east, dropped another probe, and got attacked by mobs.

While I was fighting them, another miner ran past very close to me, delibarately rubbing off more mobs on me - grrrr, I hate it when that happens!

I politely asked the miner not to do that and you know what? I was told I had done the same to him! I mean - huh? There were at least one other miner in the same dome - I guess he didn't notice...

The 'getting even' attitude can get a bit tiresome at times - but I do wish those who resort to that kind of behaviour would at least try to get back at the right person!
 
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Shiny happy people?

Pinky's interview with Marco

This is not intended as an attack on Pinky, it's just that I find the title

Entropia Universe:
Growing into its inhabitants' paradise?

...sooooo inappropriate at the moment.

Kaiser and JackFree have both expressed my feelings way better than I could express them myself - please read what they posted in the link at the top of this posting. Thank you.
 
Lag rant

I've been busy trying to settle soc shop stuff on Calypso, deciding what to bring back up with me to my new CND department, finding a flight, and what not.

I cleared up on my laptop the other day, and sorted the programs by size. Guess what? Of the 3 MMORPGs that I have installed and play on a regular basis, Entropia takes up most disk space. And yet, it's the one game that lags the most for me. Does that seem fair, or what?

Entropia: 1,456 MB (two characters, long story)
Other game Y: 200 MB (only one character so far)
Other game Z: 0.98 MB (and that's 5 characters!)

Oh yes, the lag rant (Entropia):

Crashed after less than 10 minutes ingame.

Lagging when trying to deposit ingame, had to try 3 times before it finally worked.

Lagging when dropping items in my apartment, seeing them both on the floor as well as my inventory.

Tried to use the trade terminal, but got stuck in it. Even tried pressing T, got transported to a revival terminal (I assume) but was still stuck in the trade terminal window. Logged out, logged on again, was relieved to see that while I hadn't gotten any items, I still had all my PED - but the buildings on CND refused to load.

Next day: the same thing, CND buildings wouldn't load. Ran around like a headless chicken, ended up on the outside, died, got revived at a different revival terminal - and hey presto, CND loaded!

Mumble, grumble, bitch, bitch...:rolleyes:
 
What a nice birthday!

Not only did I recieve EFD from EntropiaForum (which came as a complete surprise to me, thank you!:woot:) but this also turned out to be the day when MA chose to distribute this year's Christmas gifts!:yay:

...as well as a new VU. Noticing that item drop lagged seriously (and even got me stuck waiting for a drop to happen) I won't hold my breath over it - just wait and see, rather... :coffee:

And would you believe it? One of my online friends (not an Entropian) and one of my aunts (by SMS) acutally beat my mother to congratulating me (my mother owns neither a computer nor a mobile/cell phone).

Sometimes the communication techniques of today really amaze me...
 
Contrasts, Christmas gifts and VU 8.8

Contrasts

Among these über Exos, I suddenly came across a very tiny looking Exo - it turned out to be an Exo young. This made me feel quite sentimental, as Exo youngs were once a threat as well as a challenge to me - and now I merely click my tongue disapprovingly when an Exo Prowler gets enraged just because I happened to drop a bomb on his toes...




Christmas Gifts

Logging on for the first time after downloading the new VU, I was met by this nice little loot window:



That 'julbock' looks quite nice in my CND apartment - but I'd better keep the door locked in case a fellow Swede would happen to drop in and decide to put the 'julbock' on fire (Swedes will know what I mean ;) )




Skill HoF

Judging by the sound, I thought I had finally located a HoF mining find - but wait - those aren't glowballs, are they? They look more like stars - and there's no HoF message in the chat window... (if the picture below looks odd, it's because I have an Exo über on my back trying to flatten me against the ground):




VU 8.8

OK, thoughts so far: I really like the new skill panels, but...

...I dont' like that MA couldn't come up with a new sound for reaching a new skill level but instead chose to use an already existing sound (the HoF trumpets).

...I don't like it that my shooting is soooo unsynchronized. I will watch my pistol fire a shot, I will hear the sound of the shot, I will see the mob take the damage - at different times, with sometimes several seconds inbetween.

The most irritating part is when you've almost killed a mob, you press the trigger - no shot, image wise, no sound of a shot - but suddenly the mob dies, from the wounds caused by your previous shot. How realistic is that?

And the inventory loading gadget - I don't see the point, frankly, since my inventory still lags badly at times. Today, it lagged, yet again, when I tried to drop items in my apartment, and then again when I tried to put an item up for sale in auction - I had to relog in order to put the item up for sale.
 
Taking a break

Yep, this customer has grown so fed up with MA's 'improvements' that she's going to take a break. Not quit, just a break - I'm keeping all my items and skills.

Reasons? Well, those of you that read my journal postings know by now, since I rant about things I don't like ingame here.

Note: below is not a rant about noobs - I was one myself, and still am in som aspects - it's a rant about MA oversimplifying the game.

Entropia For Dummies?

I feel that most of the changes in this VU, and the previous, and possibly the one before that, were all about making it easy for new players.

Having a hard time finding a TP, despite the excellent maps that are out there?
Oh, poor, ickle pickle noob - here, let us put a dot on your radar so that you don't need to think, or - scary thought - actually run around and search for it.

Radar too confusing?
No wonder, with several rings and different shades - but do not trouble yourself, we'll just make it all black, and put in just one single ring around the middle. Better?

Trouble getting to your mining rod?
Awwww - are the mean mobs preventing you from following the signal from your detector? We'll just make the mining rod pop up right away, as soon as you get the signal.

Too many clicks?
Oh dear, is your little finger beginning to tire because you actually have to close two windows after right clicking on a mining deed? I guess clicking on the item info window *and* pressing M to close the map became too much, so let's make them both close when you close the item info window. Never mind those players who actually like to check the deed map window to locate their rod, in those cases where you keep on running and dropping Bombs/probes intending to return later to extract. Oh, so they now need to have the item info window open as well to be able to see the deed map? Who cares, as long as it makes it easier for the ickle pickle noobs.

Shopping malls
Great idea! Let's add something that will really increase the enjoyment of the game - shopping malls. I bet the majority of players will welcome the opportunity to spend even more money. Let's by no means make any attempt to make the game more enjoyable for the more experienced players, or the players who enjoy hunting or mining.

Bah!

All in all, I'm now so fed up with MA's greed, lag, bugs, incomplete buildings, you name it, that I don't enjoy playing any more. I'll take a break for now, but I might be back. Don't know when, though. I'll still keep checking EF - how else will I find out if MA suddenly start making real, enjoyable, actual improvements to the game?

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL!

 
Bug, bug, bugger

Well, at least you know what to expect with a title like that...:rolleyes:

Right, for starters, I still log on from time to time to handle Irken Shop matters, but that's pretty much about it.

And I can't even do that without stubbing my toe on a bug or two - or more...

Today, when adding some items in the shop, I found that I wanted to pick up an item I just dropped, to turn it around so that it'd look better.

Could I pick it up, despite several tries? Nope.

So I set a selling price and hoped for the best.

But then I discovered it was in my inventory - as well as in the shop.

A relog solved that problem - this time it was only in my inventory.

A soc mate showed up and wanted me to add some items. Said and done, I dropped two more items in the shop - and then couldn't get out! The door wouldn't open!

Now, my soc mate had, just minutes before, managed to get both in and out of the shop without any trouble.

I had not changed any of the soc shop settings - I had not used the estate terminal at all!

So I pressed T to get out of there - and ended up on top of another player! It's the first time I've seen a revival terminal stack people.


While I was in the service centre, I decided to have a look in auction - and found an item among last calls that I really, really wanted - not for me, but for the Irken shop; a Plunker shelf.

And what happened in the middle of bidding? I crashed!:(

The client loader showed the old, familiar 96% - but I decided to try and log on anyway - I wanted that item!



Argh! OK, OK, just get me back ingame anywhere - ouch - nooo - not Billy's!:mad:

Well, in the end, I got the item I wanted, despite all difficulties - but I can assure you I didn't have fun ingame this morning!

Enough rantings for this time - but unless MA starts doing some *real* improvements, I'm afraid this won't be the last time you find me complaining...:(

See, this is exactly why I'm taking a break - I only bitch about the game anyway...
 
Support Case Pictures

I'm going to post a few print screens here for a support case I'm making (I do wish MA could think of a way to allow you to 'attach' pics when you make a support case) - together with a lengthy rant (well, you know me ;) ).

Sorry about stretching the page but, judging from a reply to earlier support cases, I get the feeling MA support staff can't be bothered to click on thumbnails (it seemed he/she had not looked at my print screen/s at all, to be honest) so I'll post them in full size.

Last night, we had a small soc hunting event WNW of Orthos. When I logged off, I made sure I was in a safe spot, in this case the outpost N of the PvP area.

This morning, I decided to run to the nearest TP (Orthos) and drop a few bombs and probes on the way (loot last night hadn't been very good). I had no intention of using my tp chip, since I don't want to waste ME
unless I have to. So I started running ESE.

There I was, peacefully mining, just a few mobs around, not much of vegetation, not much lag - for once.

I had just dropped a bomb and was waiting for my orefinder to display the result when CRASH!

I clicked yes on MA's questions about submitting info, waited while PE Ass ticked away its 60 seconds, then got logged on again - only to find several mobs happily chewing away at me. I had not been under attack when I crashed!

It turned out I was now much further SE of the position where I had crashed, inside the PvP area - and mobs were plentiful!:eek:

POSITION AND MOB DENSITY AFTER CRASH

070106supportcase3.jpg


This is not the first time I've come back online again after a crash to find myself completely surrounded by mobs, where no mobs were around at the time of the crash. However, I've never had any proof for it, so I've never bothered to make a support case of it.

But I got curious - maybe that bomb I had dropped immediately before crashing had actually resulted in a find? Bingo! Proof of where I were at the time of the crash! Wohoo! Print screen is taken when I was well on my way back to the claim marker.

POSITION BEFORE CRASH

070106supportcase1.jpg


And this is a print screen from right next to the claim (you can see it showing through the chat window). See the radar? Practically no mobs - now that is what I expected to come back to!

MOB DENSITY BEFORE CRASH

070106supportcase2.jpg


Phew, it's a wonder I made it to the claim marker in one piece (more or less) without dying even once. Does this mean I'm a big girl now?:silly2:
 
Entropia the Game of the Month?

Hah!

Not to me, it isn't. Heck, you don't think I take print screens of every little bug and rant about it here, do you? Oh no, I only rant about the bugs that really REALLY annoy me.

And MA's greed, and latest VU...

Nope, definitely not the Game of the Month for me.

But if you feel it is, feel free to vote. You'll find more info HERE

And no, I still haven't heard anything about my support case, except for the automatic 'we have recieved it' e-mail.
 
Support case (continued)

Odd that you get an automated e-mail when you first register a support case, but nothing when they respond or close the case...

I logged on to 'My Support' today to see if anything had happened, and found the case closed, with the following explanation:

Entropia Support said:
12 Jan 2007
Hi,
Thank you very much for this detailed information. We will certainly investigate this matter further, try to locate the cause and prevent it from happening again. We are constantly working on maintaining a stable system.

On rare occasions, however, issues that affect the performance of the system occur. These issues are due to technical reasons that are both unexpected and unavoidable. In the End User License Agreement (§12), it is stated that MindArk is not liable for the participant’s expenses or losses that may arise from the use of the Entropia Universe.

We again thank you for your patience and participation in the Entropia Universe.

Regards,
Entropia Support
Click to expand...

Losses? Yes, I whined a bit about how much it cost me in ammo loss and fap, armour and weapon decay to log on and find myself amidst a masse of mobs instead of 1-2 mobs at the time I crashed...

But seriously, I wasn't really expecting MA to give me any compensation about that - I might be an optimist at heart (who'd believe that, considering my journal posts lately?) but I'm still a realist!
 
Carefully optimistic

At first, it seemed the latest VU 8.8.2 was just a fixing of bugs - and that it did indeed do what it was intended to do. There were especially two bug fixes that I appreciated:

1. Delayed sound effects with certain weapons have been fixed.
Click to expand...

Oh, wait - no, right, it says 'certain' weapons, not 'all' weapons - my EWE EP-40 still is a bit unsynched...

3. Skill level gains have a new sound effect.
Click to expand...

Well, they did get that right at least - have you any idea of how many print screens I have of skill gains thinking I had a HoF?

But last time I checked the EU site, it also said:

Known Issues 8.8.2
17 Jan 2007

Focus and healing MindForce chips are not working on their owner. We are working on this problem and will have it fixed as soon as possible.
Click to expand...

So MA can't even create a VU as small as the 8.8.2 without creating new or reintroducing old bugs?

What is positive though is that graphics now load a lot faster on my laptop when I arrive in a new place; buildings, items, plants and so on.

The downside is that I crash more often now than before.

Bugs that remain to be fixed:

Inventory window gets stuck in open mode and is impossible to close. However, I've noticed that you can just drag it to one side and go on hunting, mining, crafting or whatever it is that you're doing.

Getting stuck waiting for an item to drop. Since I use my CND apartment as storage, I drop a lot of stuff there, and this bug is fairly frequent.

Personally, loots suck - but I've seen others having pretty decent loots, so I'm hoping it's just temporary. I haven't posted in the HoF forum for ages - for the simple reason that I've had neither globals nor HoFs.
 
Carefully optimistic, continued

In the last week of January, I finally started getting a bit lucky again:







However, we now have a new VU, so I'm not holding my breath.

What bugs me a bit is how MA insist on covering their ass for all possible mishaps whether it be their fault or not - even going as far as not reimbursing you if you lose items you've paid for with RL money, even if it would happen due to a glitch or bug in their game.

Midori made an excellent job comparing the new EULA with the previous one in this posting - something I was sorely tempted to do myself but decided to check if someone had already done it - good thing I did!:D

In the same thread, Stackman did a good job as well interpreting the legal mumbo-jumbo, making it clearer exactly what MA means. You'll find the result here.

And, to finish off, the new EULA in its entirety - if anyone has the patience to read it all through *groans a bit at the mere thought, but realizes she probably ought to do exactly that*
 
Apologies for my prolonged absence

*takes a deep breath*

I’ve decided to spurt it all out in one long self-wallowing rant, partly because I now know that I’m not the only one…

I've been suffering from so called 'Winter Blues' for many, many winters now.

In the past, I found that taking ginseng helped give my brains the power to function on at least a basic level. However, ginseng stopped having any noticeable effect on me about 4-5 years ago.

After that, each and every winter has become ever harder getting through - and this in a country where we only have 6 hours of daylight in the middle of winter - daylight that is often hidden behind an even layer of dark clouds, and snowless winters becoming ever more frequent, which doesn't help (since snow on the ground at least reflects what little light there is).

Last year, on top of it all, I got stomache problems that were very persistent despite various medications. A gastroscopy (bluergh! not doing one of those again if I can avoid it!) showed a minor defect, nothing worth surgery but that probably acts up during times of great stress.

I don't know if it was my tummy trouble on top of my Winter Blues that resulted in things, for once, not showing any sign of improving once winter was over. By then, I had long lost focus of what life should really be like.

I hadn't even realized myself that I had become severely depressed - it was the company doctor that figured it out and gave me a booklet about depression. Not until reading it myself and checking item after item after item on the list of symptoms did I realize it!:cry:

I hadn't even paid much attention to the fact that I had become more and more of a social hermit, both in RL as well as VL.

After that, it’s been one very long and tedious climb upwards.

For a long time, the only online activity I spent my time on was partaking in a forum for depressed people - it was such a relief being able to drop all pretence and talk about how I really felt - and to discover there were others in exactly the same position.

Anyway, I've been on anti-depressants for a couple of months now, trying to take tiny steps back towards online activity, but still suffering drawbacks every now and then.

I came across a problem I've never had before - I'm so used to having all URLs, user IDs and passwords in my head that I never bothered about writing them down. Well, guess what? Whether it's the depression or the medication, I'm having a hard time remembering just about anything. Even my boss complained about my 'lack of input'.

I’m feeling hopeful though – I actually had a brilliant idea at work in the end of August, and then another one in the beginning of September – which I dearly hope means my mental capacities are returning.

And I finally, after some trial-and-error, managed to remember how to log on to entropia forums.

Now to figure out all my other logon details, including Entropia! *bewildered look*
 
<rant warning>

Unfortunately, my return to Entropia wasn't exactly a positive experience - within an hour, the server I was on crashed twice (82%).

I also managed to buy an item in the auction that I, too late, realised I can't use - and there's nothing in the description of the item that mentions it can ONLY BE USED IN SOME VERY SPECIFIC AND LIMITED AREAS OF ENTROPIA!

Bah!

Pah!

*mumble, grumble*

</rant>
 
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