Retention rate

[Dollymaus]

just give people 95 % returns, a bit of markup and nice items here and there and a lot of exciting/fun stuff to do and this game will run.....we lost most of those basic stuff

 

[valentin]

just give people 95 % returns, a bit of markup and nice items here and there and a lot of exciting/fun stuff to do and this game will run.....we lost most of those basic stuff

That is the biggest problem in here because as i see back in 2006 when i started to play there were no major worries about money because ppl new they will have a good gameplay for the money they deposit it was also no problem to pay aloot of money for gears who they need to have and in low lvl:s play you had a ability to loot your items...ok, you did not get rich but you had fun in the game and did not think much of the economy because the money gave you the quality time in the game.

MA should also return to normally loot as we had before as before and do not get a lot of great stuff at theires events when they have events should they get 20-30k in ammo so they can play for free a few months not as to day because as it is today we getting the feeling that your only chanse to be able to loot better items is in the MA-events and not in the normal game play.

Like Dollymaus says -we lost most of those basic stuff, i can only agree with him/her.

 

[timmmers]

I just returned after 3 years away from EU. CryEngine was a few weeks old last time I played.

I'm shocked how crap it's become. It's not the loot although that hasn't had a chance to bother me yet, it's not the graphics or mobs...there's no people ffs.

Remember this? Nea's Place, full of sweaters and healers all chatting, fighting and trying to sell stuff...dozens of them? All the other places where you knew there would be dozens of people? Billy's etc. It used to be hard to get a quiet spot. I've been round all the TPs I used to like that are still there...I met 4 people all night. I didn't dare go to twin or PA for fear of them being deserted.

No stupid pointless hills everywhere and foilage that adds nothing? Not having to spend more time sorting crappy piddly bits of loot to see what is worth something and what's useful than you did getting them hunting?

There's absolutely no atmosphere on Calypso compared to last time I was there. No creepy city Heidenheim or quiet places like Atlas Island. No bumping into people as you hunt or mine...in hours tonight I saw one green dot on radar from miles away...and the sodding chat is so different and hard to use now if it spoke I'd never know or be able to say hi myself. People used to like the atmosphere, to meet people and make new friends. Maybe everyone buggered off to one of the planets ?

In the old days there used to be bot attacks on Jason and other outposts...and everyone gathered for a great time. Can't see that being anything like now.

I didn't enjoy it one bit returning but all that time and money gaining skills and gear seemed a waste...for a new guy they'd not have that holding them ingame, they'd just move on. It's too compicated and expensive and too time consuming to not have a lot of fun. It used to be a lot of fun. What a bloody shame they messed with it too much and took a lot of that away.

Loot was great. Even globaled in the first hour back..not that it told me except the swirlies and later i found the thing in messages. No fun though. No atmosphere.

 

[Rvalldrgg]

I just returned after 3 years away from EU. CryEngine was a few weeks old last time I played.

I'm shocked how crap it's become. It's not the loot although that hasn't had a chance to bother me yet, it's not the graphics or mobs...there's no people ffs.

One reason for that (being no people anywhere) is there's other planets besides Calypso now. Arkadia I've seen has a bunch of poepoelp and Rocktropia when I was last there had an amount of people.

 

[timmmers]

One reason for that (being no people anywhere) is there's other planets besides Calypso now. Arkadia I've seen has a bunch of poepoelp and Rocktropia when I was last there had an amount of people.

The outposts and TPs used to be individual and have their own style, they have none now. Pretty much the same. From what I've seen of Rocktropia that seems to have some style like Calypso used to..hope so because I can't see much point in roaming around on this planet being bored. I'm hoping they didn't grow the number of planets and mess the ratio of player to them up. MMO Multiplayer is key. If those players are so spread out they can't interact or even meet that's lost.

I've been catching up watching YT vids by Pigbenis among others...and when I think of it there's hardly any people in those either ..on all the planets. :/

It's not just noobs going either, I wasn't expecting so many ubers to either not be around or selling out completely. That's no small decision with the time and money some of those guys have ingame is it? There's at lest two in the selling thread on here rght now. That was sad to see.

 

[Mikass]

Something that hasn't been mentioned is the Free2play model which made Entropia really stand out back in the day among a bunch of online MMOs that were monthly subscription based. This is one of the reasons why I've started playing Entropia in the first place. The idea of having to pay a monthly fee regardless of the amount of time spent was a turn off. At the time there weren't any significant free2play MMOs out there. Today, however, we have hundreds of free2play alternatives that offer almost the full experience even without spending a dime.

Considering the above, Entropia has to survive and overcome in a very different and difficult environment. The RCE although somewhat appealing to some people is a drag for most players that come here and expect a quality free2play experience (free access to most features).

I think it could be interesting for MA to test out a sandbox alternative to the RCE but without the RCE as a type of demo environment so that players can experience the whole thing and based on that decide to move on to the RCE side. Imagine someone getting an ATH in the demo environment or killing and looting someone in PVP and thinking "Had it only been on the RCE servers..."

Cost to play is also interesting factor. The Entropia came out, cost to play was very very low, meaning it was very easy for players to break even round after round. Downside was lack of big globals and hofs (biggest hofs were less than 100 ped). Ability to play4free was more achievable then in the early days than it is now, not to mention the lack of free2play alternatives at the time, which made this proposition even more appealing. After increasing cost to play for few years MA decided to take a step back and lower cost to play but even this move had unintended consequences. Some people are now complaining hunting and mining isn't that exciting anymore without big crazy hofs. Perhaps allow players to set loot variation by either some in-game setting or offering different game environments (highly dynamic loot and very low cost to play areas) would be better a approach. It could give both types of players more reasons to stick around. Those who care more about breaking even after just few rounds will appreciate a less "dynamic loot" while thrill seekers will also get their desired adrenaline kick.

 

[timmmers]

Something that hasn't been mentioned is the Free2play model which made Entropia really stand out back in the day among a bunch of online MMOs that were monthly subscription based. This is one of the reasons why I've started playing Entropia in the first place. The idea of having to pay a monthly fee regardless of the amount of time spent was a turn off. At the time there weren't any significant free2play MMOs out there. Today, however, we have hundreds of free2play alternatives that offer almost the full experience even without spending a dime.

Considering the above, Entropia has to survive and overcome in a very different and difficult environment. The RCE although somewhat appealing to some people is a drag for most players that come here and expect a quality free2play experience (free access to most features).

I think it could be interesting for MA to test out a sandbox alternative to the RCE but without the RCE as a type of demo environment so that players can experience the whole thing and based on that decide to move on to the RCE side. Imagine someone getting an ATH in the demo environment or killing and looting someone in PVP and thinking "Had it only been on the RCE servers..."

Cost to play is also interesting factor. The Entropia came out, cost to play was very very low, meaning it was very easy for players to break even round after round. Downside was lack of big globals and hofs (biggest hofs were less than 100 ped). Ability to play4free was more achievable then in the early days than it is now, not to mention the lack of free2play alternatives at the time, which made this proposition even more appealing. After increasing cost to play for few years MA decided to take a step back and lower cost to play but even this move had unintended consequences. Some people are now complaining hunting and mining isn't that exciting anymore without big crazy hofs. Perhaps allow players to set loot variation by either some in-game setting or offering different game environments (highly dynamic loot and very low cost to play areas) would be better a approach. It could give both types of players more reasons to stick around. Those who care more about breaking even after just few rounds will appreciate a less "dynamic loot" while thrill seekers will also get their desired adrenaline kick.

When I was catching up on changes via Youtube vids I saw The Thing mission, that's something like the free to play model isn't it? If you start on that planet? Seems like Neverdie agrees with you if that's the case. A good idea it seems to me to get people interested.

It's a hard sell though, I played for years and after a break I'm relearning large parts of it now. Very very complicated game, and not everyone's idea of fun to need a spreadsheet with a game is it?

 

[Shee]

I just returned after 3 years away from EU. CryEngine was a few weeks old last time I played.

I'm shocked how crap it's become. It's not the loot although that hasn't had a chance to bother me yet, it's not the graphics or mobs...there's no people ffs.

Remember this? Nea's Place, full of sweaters and healers all chatting, fighting and trying to sell stuff...dozens of them? All the other places where you knew there would be dozens of people? Billy's etc. It used to be hard to get a quiet spot. I've been round all the TPs I used to like that are still there...I met 4 people all night. I didn't dare go to twin or PA for fear of them being deserted.

No stupid pointless hills everywhere and foilage that adds nothing? Not having to spend more time sorting crappy piddly bits of loot to see what is worth something and what's useful than you did getting them hunting?

There's absolutely no atmosphere on Calypso compared to last time I was there. No creepy city Heidenheim or quiet places like Atlas Island. No bumping into people as you hunt or mine...in hours tonight I saw one green dot on radar from miles away...and the sodding chat is so different and hard to use now if it spoke I'd never know or be able to say hi myself. People used to like the atmosphere, to meet people and make new friends. Maybe everyone buggered off to one of the planets ?

In the old days there used to be bot attacks on Jason and other outposts...and everyone gathered for a great time. Can't see that being anything like now.

I didn't enjoy it one bit returning but all that time and money gaining skills and gear seemed a waste...for a new guy they'd not have that holding them ingame, they'd just move on. It's too compicated and expensive and too time consuming to not have a lot of fun. It used to be a lot of fun. What a bloody shame they messed with it too much and took a lot of that away.

Loot was great. Even globaled in the first hour back..not that it told me except the swirlies and later i found the thing in messages. No fun though. No atmosphere.

Everything that you couldn`t find or experience after your break is still here imo. Its just that EU is changing all the time and so is Calypso. People are still there, they simply moved to different places as new TPs, mobs, missions etc. were added. And if you need help with the chat system or UI at all just add me to fl in game and I`ll explain it to you in 5 minutes. Its all simply a bit different but everything still alive and evolving.

 

[Fifth]

Something that hasn't been mentioned is the Free2play model which made Entropia really stand out back in the day among a bunch of online MMOs that were monthly subscription based. This is one of the reasons why I've started playing Entropia in the first place. The idea of having to pay a monthly fee regardless of the amount of time spent was a turn off. At the time there weren't any significant free2play MMOs out there. Today, however, we have hundreds of free2play alternatives that offer almost the full experience even without spending a dime.

Considering the above, Entropia has to survive and overcome in a very different and difficult environment. The RCE although somewhat appealing to some people is a drag for most players that come here and expect a quality free2play experience (free access to most features).

I think it could be interesting for MA to test out a sandbox alternative to the RCE but without the RCE as a type of demo environment so that players can experience the whole thing and based on that decide to move on to the RCE side. Imagine someone getting an ATH in the demo environment or killing and looting someone in PVP and thinking "Had it only been on the RCE servers..."

Exactly my thoughts on the PE/EU development trends, and the idea with demo environment is cool.

Cost to play is also interesting factor. The Entropia came out, cost to play was very very low, meaning it was very easy for players to break even round after round. Downside was lack of big globals and hofs (biggest hofs were less than 100 ped). Ability to play4free was more achievable then in the early days than it is now, not to mention the lack of free2play alternatives at the time, which made this proposition even more appealing. After increasing cost to play for few years MA decided to take a step back and lower cost to play but even this move had unintended consequences. Some people are now complaining hunting and mining isn't that exciting anymore without big crazy hofs. Perhaps allow players to set loot variation by either some in-game setting or offering different game environments (highly dynamic loot and very low cost to play areas) would be better a approach. It could give both types of players more reasons to stick around. Those who care more about breaking even after just few rounds will appreciate a less "dynamic loot" while thrill seekers will also get their desired adrenaline kick.

Actually there already are areas and mobs that allow u to play for free (or a trifling cost), forever. I can tier my whip (which is not very eco weapon!) on kerbs and break even. You need some skills to do that but not awfully unreasonably lot.
Actually there's a whole continous gradation of low-cost, to medium and up to full high-stakes game. It's all there always has been, but yea, for the average mainstream player this simply doesn't work. Needs too much discipline and self control not to hunt mobs on your skill level. For that reason, you're actually right.

 

[Norbert]

I'm hoping they didn't grow the number of planets and mess the ratio of player to them up. MMO Multiplayer is key. If those players are so spread out they can't interact or even meet that's lost.
.

The idea was that Planet partners would bring in their own playerbase, however this has not happened generally. Arkadia has made big efforts to advertise and bring in people, RT has done some stuff, and monria/calypso however the others it seems haven't afaik. Cyrene and Toulan haven't had their "official" release as yet, and next island has been abandoned by the devs and may as well be removed or at least managed by MA.

I agree that the current playerbase is to spread over planets and the now massive calypso, but what to do about it i have no idea tbh. As for Nea's the sweat gathering places have moved to LA42 and Boreas, Nea's sometimes is used but more often not.

 

[Sierra]

Currently I can't even play. I get 60% return no matter what I hunt. It costs $10-20 an hour.

I wish the game was like it used to be. Much more consistent returns, not many globals or hofs but if you got one you pretty much profited, otherwise lost a little or maybe even broke even (was easier to break even on markup because loot wasn't pure items, there were less items so items were worth more).

Also you could skill on anything. You would get the same amount of skill hunting with an Outbacko as an DOA Loudmouth. Now if you want to try to be conservative and hunt something small, you get no skill for it. Still get the 60% losses so your deposit lasts a little longer, but it will take 10 years to get commando.

I came back about 6 weeks ago, deposited quite a bit for starting, then hoped to sort of play for maybe 800 ped deposit a month. I'd be lucky to keep 800 ped playing all day. Years ago playing with an imp m2870 (it eats through a lot of ped) I could play for a month playing all day for about $50 max. Now it's like £50 a day to play all day lol.

Even if you had to tone it down and hunt with a really low dps gun and small things, you would still get all the skills.

If you really just wanted skills and to chill and chat, you could shoot through a few 100 ped of ammo in a ring while someone faps, and all get full skill. Nice social atmosphere.

Oh I dunno today this is just a crazy unregulated casino with no warnings because of some loopholes or bribery that got a little too greedy and isn't afraid to show it.

*Braces herself for fanboys in white armour coming to defend MA's honour*

 

[GoNi]

Actually there already are areas and mobs that allow u to play for free (or a trifling cost), forever. I can tier my whip (which is not very eco weapon!) on kerbs and break even. You need some skills to do that but not awfully unreasonably lot.
Actually there's a whole continous gradation of low-cost, to medium and up to full high-stakes game. It's all there always has been, but yea, for the average mainstream player this simply doesn't work. Needs too much discipline and self control not to hunt mobs on your skill level. For that reason, you're actually right.

Oh and witch of this low cost mobs drop usable items, that give new players some trust that it is possible to loot everything they need for their levels.
A newbie coming from gateway, buy an opallo and hunts puny ????
No he wants to step up, maybe Exa/Snable youngs (well that was starter mobs when I started), those dropped Pixi, S30 guns. (today animal oils)
Then I went to cornundacauda (dropped goblin regularly, and sometimes kobold)
Then step up to molisk to get some shogun, or go vs bigger Bery (dropped shogun too)
All these mobs today drop (animal oils or enhancer components)

What is missing is the items in loot, that keep players playing!!!!!

Its not about profit (the mentioned armors have been TT food back that days, so nothing differnt to animal oils)

The difference is that new players could find things that they could use.

Going through the levels it became harder and harder to find useable items, to an point where you have to say its nearly impossible to loot something you could use?

But even while hunting for your rar items you dropped some comon items. You could sell it to lower level players (who just wanted to complete their sets), or just dump it to TT (nowdays these comon drops don´t exist anymore).

Once you reach a reacent level, you think different than newcomers.
But on that way the new players should stay motivated. They should be able get their things together by activity.

Killing 1000 Exa youngs with 0 items in loot, isn´t motivating. So this players quit. Easy as that.

 

[timmmers]

Oh and witch of this low cost mobs drop usable items, that give new players some trust that it is possible to loot everything they need for their levels.
A newbie coming from gateway, buy an opallo and hunts puny ????
No he wants to step up, maybe Exa/Snable youngs (well that was starter mobs when I started), those dropped Pixi, S30 guns. (today animal oils)
Then I went to cornundacauda (dropped goblin regularly, and sometimes kobold)
Then step up to molisk to get some shogun, or go vs bigger Bery (dropped shogun too)
All these mobs today drop (animal oils or enhancer components)

What is missing is the items in loot, that keep players playing!!!!!

Its not about profit (the mentioned armors have been TT food back that days, so nothing differnt to animal oils)

The difference is that new players could find things that they could use.

Going through the levels it became harder and harder to find useable items, to an point where you have to say its nearly impossible to loot something you could use?

But even while hunting for your rar items you dropped some comon items. You could sell it to lower level players (who just wanted to complete their sets), or just dump it to TT (nowdays these comon drops don´t exist anymore).

Once you reach a reacent level, you think different than newcomers.
But on that way the new players should stay motivated. They should be able get their things together by activity.

Killing 1000 Exa youngs with 0 items in loot, isn´t motivating. So this players quit. Easy as that.

Well without looking it up I think there is a time limit for dormant accounts isn't it a couple of years? My account should have been ped now and all my items back in the loot pool. It wasn't but I had no complaints if it had been as it was my fault. How many other dormant accounts have a storage full of good items that people could be dropping? Those 1000 exa youngs would have dropped my vigi helmet for someone just like it did for me, and you're right it definitely kept me interested when I was a noob...I had to get the rest.

Everything is still there? 2 things about that. 1) How would you know since you weren't there before? 2) No it isn't..the actual TPs look slightly different but each had it's own character before and whole outposts and areas have changed and become hilly messes. IT used to be that TP runs were a great challenge...something for mentors and groups to enjoy ...but in a vehicle probably a lot less so. Gameplay has suffered.

 

[valentin]

" Well without looking it up"!!!

I am No 23 in all hunting in Entropia life for the last year i am No 14 in hunting have now 9910 registered Hofs and Globals and still my best item loot is my "" famous""Jaguar Footguards M (ul)...

So now if some can beat me in worse item loot by these numbers i have certainly here gets 2000 peds from me in two months so that you get your time to look through your loot.


Sir Valentin

 

[Spawn]

Oh and witch of this low cost mobs drop usable items, that give new players some trust that it is possible to loot everything they need for their levels.
A newbie coming from gateway, buy an opallo and hunts puny ????
No he wants to step up, maybe Exa/Snable youngs (well that was starter mobs when I started), those dropped Pixi, S30 guns. (today animal oils)
Then I went to cornundacauda (dropped goblin regularly, and sometimes kobold)
Then step up to molisk to get some shogun, or go vs bigger Bery (dropped shogun too)
All these mobs today drop (animal oils or enhancer components)

What is missing is the items in loot, that keep players playing!!!!!

Its not about profit (the mentioned armors have been TT food back that days, so nothing differnt to animal oils)

The difference is that new players could find things that they could use.

Going through the levels it became harder and harder to find useable items, to an point where you have to say its nearly impossible to loot something you could use?

But even while hunting for your rar items you dropped some comon items. You could sell it to lower level players (who just wanted to complete their sets), or just dump it to TT (nowdays these comon drops don´t exist anymore).

Once you reach a reacent level, you think different than newcomers.
But on that way the new players should stay motivated. They should be able get their things together by activity.

Killing 1000 Exa youngs with 0 items in loot, isn´t motivating. So this players quit. Easy as that.

The silly thing is, all the ul armor parts now drop from mobs at next island..

 

[JonnyRotten]

I was just about finished typing up a very long post about the things MA needs to do to fix the perceived problems with their game to allow it to grow and flourish again like it did back in 2004-2006. Then I realized the true problem isn't in the game, the design, the loot, the economy. The real thorn in MindArk's side, is MindArk. They need someone to do some critical thinking, stop adding all of these lazy, cash-grabbing "features", and actually resume DEVELOPMENT for what was once a great game. Project Entropia was the peak, ever since this Entropia Universe nonsense the game lost it's true vision and has begun a slow death spiral toward oblivion. It's not too late to fix it, it's just a matter of this question:

"Do they want to?"

 

[Sissi]

The silly thing is, all the ul armor parts now drop from mobs at next island..

care to elaborate? like pixie/goblin?

 

[WhiningSkeptic]

Items!

It doesn't even have to be rare stuff. Anything goes!

Then perhaps low level mobs should drop stuff that higher level players need but are to lazy to get. Anything with a markup so that new players can at least break even.

 

[FanEagle]

I'm not a newbie of RCE games, because I'm a 7 yrs old SecondLife player, and I learned that if you work hard to your objectives, you will get rewards.

EU is "new" to me, because it's something I played only in other games, like the good old Unreal Tournament, Quake... I mean, the shooting part.
For me, since I didn't deposited yet, crafting is taboo(Idk if in english it's the same word, excuse me, I'm italian), because everything I find I sell it, just to have something to shoot at snablesnots, that actually gave me 3 globals in 2 weeks since I'm born.


You know, I see many kind of people.
So let's make a syntesis of what I understood of this game.

1) I know a guy that is a 3 months old sweater, and he got like 1570 ped, and they told me sweating is good for skills, but if he goes hunting, he will loose 50% of peds just to recover some skill in hunting.

2)I personally like hunting, and I spent for example 10 ped to repair my SI HK 110 3 times while hunting snables, so I felt like bad, but then i thought, it's just 10 ped and I had fun hunthing them, even if the loots were almost inesixtent..

3)Mining, another activity I'm experimenting, it's such fun, and I rarerly profit over 90% of spent, but it's ok for now.

My mentor said that it's all skills now, and I believe him, and he said I'm profiting very much in my mentoring since im already at 10%+.
I hope that my 800 ped worth deposit will last me at least 1 month
But I expect it to be coming in 1 month I hope.
By the way, I would prefer more active advertising for this game, it deserves it.
I maybe be able to halp with that

 

[Magyar_Republic]

care to elaborate? like pixie/goblin?

It was a bug in a VU. About 3 years ago Next Island started dropping massive amounts of armor.

Then it stopped.

I'm not sure when the last time was that somebody looted armor, but I have not seen a drop since then.

 

[Sissi]

The silly thing is, all the ul armor parts now drop from mobs at next island..

It was a bug in a VU. About 3 years ago Next Island started dropping massive amounts of armor.

Then it stopped.

I'm not sure when the last time was that somebody looted armor, but I have not seen a drop since then.

would be surprised if Spawn made such a mistake, as to referring to "now". but might be genuine mistake.

 

[Magyar_Republic]

would be surprised if Spawn made such a mistake, as to referring to "now". but might be genuine mistake.

I take into consideration that everyone exaggerates on this board. Especially if there's an opportunity to bash MA somewhere in there.

 

[Spawn]

I take into consideration that everyone exaggerates on this board. Especially if there's an opportunity to bash MA somewhere in there.

Well its not massive amounts but I usually find some pixie. It has been 6 months though. Perhaps it was changed.

 

[KingNobody]

You don't know man.. you weren't there.

This attitude irritates me, and it's one that I find all too common among older players "You don't know, noob, and you never will, because we old players are so much better"

What's better about you? That you had the opportunity to enrich yourself exploiting bugs that have since been closed? That you've put more money in this game (which I doubt)? WHAT MAKES YOU BETTER!?

I'll tell you what. Nothing. Nothing makes you better and a good number of things make you worse. And here's a list...

1) Attitude toward new players: The attitude of the oldest players toward the newest players is almost invariably condescending and demeaning. New players are considered an irritation and very infrequently engaged with on terms that anyone would classify as encouraging or even civil. I've even heard players saying (and you know who you are) "Talk to me when you get 150k skills. If you don't have the skills, you're not worth talking to". With that kind of attitude on display, why would anyone choose to continue to play this game?

2) Attitude toward changes in the game: No one in this game complains like an old player saying "boohoohoo I want my free skilling and endless Shadow drops back waaaaaa this game sucks now bring back PE". This game is NOT PE. PE is dead and gone. THIS game is called Entropia Universe and it's a lot more difficult than that old dinosaur game you guys played back in the misty reaches of the antediluvian past. Please get over it.

3) Attitude toward the economy: Many older players still seem to think that they are "owed" something by MA, or by the system, and that by virtue of being here longer, deserve special consideration in loot and item drop priority,and are angered whenever anyone they don't consider "worthy" hits a big loot. You all got your handouts back in the day (Or need I remind you of your higher starting stats and the preponderance of rare item drops in the early days? I mean YOU were there, and I wasn't. Shouldn't you remember that?)

In conclusion, this game has changed, the economy has changed, the playerbase has changed and you know what? The game is doing better than ever. It's not the game that needs to adapt, it's the players. This post won't win me any friends among older players, but from what I've seen, I don't want any.

 

[BenCoyote]

A gamer is not only smart, but wise..

This attitude irritates me, and it's one that I find all too common among older players "You don't know, noob, and you never will, because we old players are so much better"

What's better about you? That you had the opportunity to enrich yourself exploiting bugs that have since been closed? That you've put more money in this game (which I doubt)? WHAT MAKES YOU BETTER!?

I'll tell you what. Nothing. Nothing makes you better and a good number of things make you worse. And here's a list...

1) Attitude toward new players: The attitude of the oldest players toward the newest players is almost invariably condescending and demeaning. New players are considered an irritation and very infrequently engaged with on terms that anyone would classify as encouraging or even civil. I've even heard players saying (and you know who you are) "Talk to me when you get 150k skills. If you don't have the skills, you're not worth talking to". With that kind of attitude on display, why would anyone choose to continue to play this game?

2) Attitude toward changes in the game: No one in this game complains like an old player saying "boohoohoo I want my free skilling and endless Shadow drops back waaaaaa this game sucks now bring back PE". This game is NOT PE. PE is dead and gone. THIS game is called Entropia Universe and it's a lot more difficult than that old dinosaur game you guys played back in the misty reaches of the antediluvian past. Please get over it.

3) Attitude toward the economy: Many older players still seem to think that they are "owed" something by MA, or by the system, and that by virtue of being here longer, deserve special consideration in loot and item drop priority,and are angered whenever anyone they don't consider "worthy" hits a big loot. You all got your handouts back in the day (Or need I remind you of your higher starting stats and the preponderance of rare item drops in the early days? I mean YOU were there, and I wasn't. Shouldn't you remember that?)

In conclusion, this game has changed, the economy has changed, the playerbase has changed and you know what? The game is doing better than ever. It's not the game that needs to adapt, it's the players. This post won't win me any friends among older players, but from what I've seen, I don't want any.

Frankly I'm with KingNobody on this one and I would add a little more so called Gasoline to the open flame here.. cause when I get done, hopefully this little bit of wisdom will rub off on you.. maybe it'll turn you from a blind person to one that sees clearly and maybe you can then get a better understanding of why your disciple retention is so low..

To the Ubers I say this.. Hang your head in shame.. cause to be hoenst, you tend to forget the one thing, that makes you an uber today. and that was that you were at one time a noob or new comber.. (I personally hate using the wood noob, it sounds so.. Childish..Also, act like adults, after all if you are a 20 something player and you act like a spoiled rich kid deserving something , then maybe you should need a time out.. or a quit bit of discipline (My old man wawas a US Marine corp Drill instructor and he used to whip me into shape both literally and figuratively.. my mother? Well She was a teacher, kind, caring and understanding..and together this is wht they go.. a wise person who is now more enriched as ever on how a simple game tht involves the sharing of information with other people.. and in this game, Information is in fact the only fre thing that doesn't cost folks anything.. you don't have to depo to get information if you know how to do it correctly..

Second remember this.. did you have any help at all to become an uber when you started this game? Was there a mentoring system of any shape or form when you started.. W4ell.. Did you? This is why Mindark created the mentoring system.. to allow the more expeiences players to help the new players understand the game better.. And instead you use the new player as a crutch of sorts, to get what you want.. and that was before Mindark gave players the one thing they lacked with the old system, and that was choice.. the right to chose to play the game or not, today some of you still think that way, and it shows.. Hefck when I cam into this game in 2008, I was literally farmed by an uber today, and to be honest, I did do the one thing I could do, complain.. Today's new players hae the choice to learn with taht mentor they have, or not.. It's not about retention rate, but rather about how difficult the more experience players make the game for the newer players.. If you say you're a mentor, a teacher, a person who is well educated, and you have students who leave because your teaching methods are akin more to slavery, greed, and just downright stupidity, my advice to you is this.. DOn't mentor at all.. You're a disgrace to being called a teacher.. and you give good mentors a black eye.. Do us all a favor and retire from mentoring.. cause if you can teach a player to have fun and to learn then you're not worth being called a mentor..(and tis goes out to the guy who farmed me back in 2008, oh wait, taht's right, he quit.. what a loser..)

To those ubers wo do want to not end up like the first bunch, I say this, sure some of the players can't depo, some won't depo, but to be so tight with your wallet you have claws as hands? Let's be honest, you're not helping too much either.. Some of you say, "It's only a game, yet you literally give a player a pittance and you don't explain to them how ecomonics work.. you sound more like an Employer in today's world, you give your employees minimum wage or even sub minimum wage and you expect them to stay around? Good luck on keeping them, cause a lotof these people would rather quit then work at McDonalds for just a pittance. IN fact how many of your so called Ubers work for a living? How many of you actually can balance a check book or work inside a budget? And how many of you, can actually say your disciples are happy? Wel if you can answer those questions and can figure it out maybe then you should be a teacher.. if you can't.. don''t...

Third and most importantly, communicate with your people.. and it doesn't matter how you do it, be it Teamspeak written offline messages or even skype.. and yes I do communicate with my players in all the ways possible.. Teaching is sort of like a marriage.. if you communicate well and you can talk things over with your disciples then maybe there still is hope with you being a mentor, if you just walk away and leave the disciple wonder what he or she is supposed to do? THen maybe you should join the ranks of the non teaching community..

Finally to the mentors I say this.. and this is an important thing.. Do your research, gather infor, and share that information and experience with your students /Disciples.. I will relate a slightly off topic story here about an Teacher who was a master in the English language and yet when she was hired, the school district put her in as a
science teacher. Do you think an English teacher would know sicence? Of course ot, Her specialty was english.. and you know what she did? She did an honest thing.. She admitted to her students that she didn't know anything about the subject and yet some of her students should have been the teacher..

This story is important cause if you never research the game and never look up data on Entropedia, and don't know how to do math, then maybe you should go off and play some other game which doesn't make your life so hard...

Finally, and this is the most imporatnt thing, This game has changed.. and if I hear anyone say there's bad loot, here, then they're not playing smarter, they just feeing MA's pocket to play harder and to be the uber in a false sense of the meaning.. Forget about being also Calypso-Centric (As the univers revolves around Calypso. There's 6 planets now, and 6 times the opporitunity to play a smart game on each world.. Bad Loot? What bad loot? is my motto.. Frankly I don't worry abou thow much an item is uness i'm buying or selling it, if I'm hunting, i hunt with in my means.. (Those of you who are ubers who think you know better, and think you know.. don't know how good it is.. Really you don't..

Also .. swallow your pride and your thoughts about being rich.. YOu're suffering what is called "ND/JSM/BEL Syndrome". To be hoenst MA owes you guys noththing and in fact you think you're privilleged? If you're so privillged, run for President of the united states, or Priminister of your contry.. or declay your self a king, dictator or despot.. or better yet, go drive a car, or take a rocket to the moon. Frankly it's a privillege and an honor working with newer players and talking with them.. It's also a priviliige to meet new faces and meet new people.. and learn about how they see you..


Now as for the disciples.. I have this to say, and remember you'rejust starting out..

First off, don't be impatient.. Good things come to those who wait.. sure you might not play for a while, but then one day you might come in and find that one special buyer who treats you with respect pays you a fair wage, and treats you like a person.. Also don't act desperate, wait it out, and never rush blindly into a situation you can't handle.. That's the irony here,. If you think you can take a mob, take it if you can't then don't.. after all you have a chance to broaden your horizons when you get more and more skilled.. and thus you'll be able to broaden your expectations and challenge them..

Next, I state this to all you disciples out there, and please do listen.. or at least read this.. Real life takes time to develop your skills and knowledge of the game, after all the old saying "Life imitates art which imitates life is very real.. Unless you got the skills to be a CEO of a company, then remember youalways start at the bottom and you work your way up.. RL people do that.. they don't start at mid level management if they don't have the skills.,.. but as you become more experienced, you can and do beocme more and more comfortable with yourselves...and thus you can be more confident about how to play the game..

Next I say tis.. never ever quit.. and here's why.. you're gonna lose a lot in experience if you quit and your teacher is good, and please work with communicating with your mentor, ask questions and even though they sound supid, they are not.. My own mother who was a RL teacher taught me this.. To always ask questions no matter how stupid they sound.. Cause it's the questions you never ask, that really can hurt your game play.. and I mean if the teaacher doesn't know.. talk to him and maybe he can have a friend of his explain it better.. After all this is a community, and not just a single player game..

Finally, and this is about community in general, Don't be so darn anti-social.. and this goes bor both sides... This game is all about making friends, finding traders who will be willing to trade with you, above all who will be come some of your best friends to have around.. if you're danti-social, no one will want to be around you, except maybe other anti-social people, who will eventually stab you in the back... so mingle with the people talk to them, learn to understand where they are coming from and even get an insight into what they want out of this game..

I'm going to relate to you a story and this one is in game.. and it involves my 9th Graduate, and the fact that he noted this game.. He's been in the game almost 2 years.. and the longer I've talked with him, the beter we've come to know each other, we're always the talkative types and we both talk things out, even though he's graduated.. And we discuss what is going on with the game.. Heck I discuss the game with any of my friends and they give me feedback as well.. which someitmes gives me insight into how the game works a little bit beetter...

So in closing I say this.. Ubers think that they have the right to get a rare loot drop? No it's not you who deserve it, but rather someone who is just having fun.. and it doesn't matter how much you've put into the game.. you think MA plays favorites/ They don't.. Neither to real life folks.. and this comes from a player who's dealt with a lot of people in real life.. cause to be hoenst before i was forced to retire, I was a customer service represenattive, and we were trained to treat others with respoect.. if you cant treat others with respect, then please stay out of the Customer service rep biz.. cause you'll be complaining by the time you quit..

As fo me? Think I'll go into game right now and go talk to folks, Check in on them, and in fact wsay hi to a few of my friends.. joke around, kid around, laugh and just have fun.. Cause like all you ubers say..

"It's just a game.."

Benjamin Ben Coyote
(PIlot Callsign "Coyote") a.k.a.
The Blind Sniper..

 

[Sn0wst0rm]

Sorry but the game also has to adapt not just the players. This game is market as a free to play real cash economy mmo. They need to improve the dev department, fix broken stuff and optimise the game further or head towards cry engine 3. Not only that ma need work on reducing some of the costs to play whilst going for better marketing to the target player base to boost the number of people playing the game. Retention issues are IMO related to costs of activities and the slow pace of progress.

 

[timmmers]

Well since this thread is about retention I know one thing that won't be keeping anyone on Calypso, the people they meet and the fun of being in a place like sweat camp...or selling sweat at PA like noobs used to quite easily.

No-one there, PA yesterday was empty, ditto Swamp camp. Not a soul. So no interaction, no-one to sell sweat to, no reason to go there to buy sweat.

God knows what noobs think when they arrive there, a deserted place that's very difficult to navigate and find stuff, especially as a new guy leaning the controls. Most of the things they will need hidden in buildings just when they need to be obvious.

If it had been like this for me I'd never have stayed. Sweat camp used to have dozens of people of all levels, new guys and others who were there to recruit for socs or just to help...nothing now. The complex structures are nice to look at but I somehow lost the PA TP and it took me ages to find again in that mess of buildings...someone not used to the GUI would stuggle a lot, and have no other new guys to ask like there used to be.

It's a long way from user friendly and looks like a failed game with no-one in it now. Flying has killed off the way people in game met each other a great deal I think. In a week I've met 4 people ..no seen 4 people...out in the world doing something, it was way more than that a day before.

Maybe the lack of promotion reduces new player numbers, but their first experiences of player interaction must be disappointing now compared to previously. They are pretty much playing on their own.

Sad to see those good locations empty yesterday. Even Twin was deserted.

 

[BenCoyote]

Acutions speak louder than just words.

Well since this thread is about retention I know one thing that won't be keeping anyone on Calypso, the people they meet and the fun of being in a place like sweat camp...or selling sweat at PA like noobs used to quite easily.

No-one there, PA yesterday was empty, ditto Swamp camp. Not a soul. So no interaction, no-one to sell sweat to, no reason to go there to buy sweat.

God knows what noobs think when they arrive there, a deserted place that's very difficult to navigate and find stuff, especially as a new guy leaning the controls. Most of the things they will need hidden in buildings just when they need to be obvious.

If it had been like this for me I'd never have stayed. Sweat camp used to have dozens of people of all levels, new guys and others who were there to recruit for socs or just to help...nothing now. The complex structures are nice to look at but I somehow lost the PA TP and it took me ages to find again in that mess of buildings...someone not used to the GUI would stuggle a lot, and have no other new guys to ask like there used to be.

It's a long way from user friendly and looks like a failed game with no-one in it now. Flying has killed off the way people in game met each other a great deal I think. In a week I've met 4 people ..no seen 4 people...out in the world doing something, it was way more than that a day before.

Maybe the lack of promotion reduces new player numbers, but their first experiences of player interaction must be disappointing now compared to previously. They are pretty much playing on their own.

Sad to see those good locations empty yesterday. Even Twin was deserted.

And to quote one Jamie Hyneman from the TV show Mythbusters: "Well there's your problem!"

The point is this, you've hit the nail again square on the head and again you can't blame MindArk on this one either.. though Port Atlantis could be improved, the reality is that the question is, why is it that no one visits Port Atlantis anymore, and the issue is this, it again points to the players..

Take a look over at Camp Icarus, you got players all over there and n on e bothers to come ove to Port Atlantis to look around or even bother holding a part theyere, Why? Because of the lag that is being caused elswhere on the planet.. (Nost notably around Twin is a major lag pool)

The issue I see is that People need to spread out more, and iin fact this is the problem with Human nature, they won't.. they tend to flock around certain areas like the "Sheeple" they are.

And this goes lso with the planets as well.. A lot of the "Caly Centric (or the world revolves around Calypso Types0 never see the lucrative opporitunities they are missing on other worlds (and this includes so called "Dead worlds Like Next Island and Rocktropia). To many they are living in the past state in pre vu 10 times and they need to realize.. there's a whole universe out there to explore..

Sure it's also about the people denying the fact that they oculd go out there and do stuff, but they would rather sit around and blame MA for their problems and whine and act like spoiled brats.. Me? I travel around to differnt world, doing errands and looking for Opporitunity, I take riskes and I'm not afraid to move around the board, Looking for the new things that many poeple don't bother to do..

So yeah while they're living in pre 2009 times, I'm living 5 years in teh future, in 2014, and it's these pre-2009 thinkers stuck down on Calypso who are really just hding their heads in the sand and not bothing to even try and look at opporitunity..

I mean i was there when Rocktropia opened in 2010, I was there will Next Island opened too in late 2010, I was there when Arkadia Opened in 2011, I was there when Space the final frontier opened up just a month later , I was there when Cyrene opened up, and even Toulan..

The point is, I've been to everywhere in the known Universe, and frankly I go down to Caly and i see the same stuff going on day in and day out, The same names popping up at twin, the same people trying to move their goods, the same people complaining about the bad loot, and the same people talking down to the roodies in the rooke channel (and yes to you griefers in the Rookie channel, Hang your head in shame as well, you're not getting people to get interested in teh game, youre turning them off, and thus you wonder why you're loot is bad? Well there's your problem!)

People should actually get involved and encourage players to say, but instead I see the same stuff over and over again.. No one really cares to even file a bug report until somehting that is negative, and impacts their lives say anything about the bug.. Me? I try to speak my mind, but without people to back up the support, there's no reason to do it..

(Remember back in 2010, when MA put in the kNock knowck notification sound? It was there for a purpose, and in fact it was to invite people to join into teams, to make trades, and even to get on starships.. But you take away that one thing, that one item people need and in the end Mind ark was losing money.. and it took one guy to get people to get involved and to bring it back.. Now I'm getting knock knocks every day.. Just because i spoke up..

So in the end, what are the old times are going to do? The smack Talkers/ The greedy and the needy going to do? are they going to sit around and whine, complain and jsut quit? Or are they going to become proactive.. Cause if you aren't part of the solution, then you're part of the problem here, and I say this.. Get out of the way, I'm going on and I'm gonna keep going.. I'm a tenacious player whose parents came from teh Midwst and were a subborn lot. but we alwys loved a challenge an I still do.. I challenge my wits,and I try to be social.. What are the players doing to change this? Just sit and complain and do nothing? Apparently they are..

Or to quote a famous President (Harry S. Truman), If you can't stand the heat , Get out of the kitchen..
Cause some of us are baking cookies right now, and I plan to sell these cookies to those who need them..

Benjamin Ben Coyote (Pilot Call sign Coyote)
a.k.a. "The Blind Sniper"

 

[SpikeBlack]

Part of the problem is that EU has gotten easier. TP runs were often a group effort having to defend and escort people to make it safely there often taking weeks or months before collecting them, getting to know other players along the way.

Now all you to do is get in a vehicle and solo them all in an afternoon.

Same goes for sweating, a spawn right on top of a revival does encourage players to interact other to demand healing.

EU has become more of a solo affair now rarely do we need to enter a team unless it's for an event or for one of the dungeons (can't think of a better term). Enter a team to try and loot a specific item for a soc member? or are they too busy doing the grind-a-thon missions.

And yes the loot returns or lack of variety in them can affect a players morale and lead them to an early exit or extended periods of inactivity.

Or they're afk skilling, someone asks a question on soc chat and no response because even though the person is logged in there's no one there to answer.

 

[valentin]

And to quote one Jamie Hyneman from the TV show Mythbusters: "Well there's your problem!"

The point is this, you've hit the nail again square on the head and again you can't blame MindArk on this one either.. though Port Atlantis could be improved, the reality is that the question is, why is it that no one visits Port Atlantis anymore, and the issue is this, it again points to the players..

Take a look over at Camp Icarus, you got players all over there and n on e bothers to come ove to Port Atlantis to look around or even bother holding a part theyere, Why? Because of the lag that is being caused elswhere on the planet.. (Nost notably around Twin is a major lag pool)

The issue I see is that People need to spread out more, and iin fact this is the problem with Human nature, they won't.. they tend to flock around certain areas like the "Sheeple" they are.

And this goes lso with the planets as well.. A lot of the "Caly Centric (or the world revolves around Calypso Types0 never see the lucrative opporitunities they are missing on other worlds (and this includes so called "Dead worlds Like Next Island and Rocktropia). To many they are living in the past state in pre vu 10 times and they need to realize.. there's a whole universe out there to explore..

Sure it's also about the people denying the fact that they oculd go out there and do stuff, but they would rather sit around and blame MA for their problems and whine and act like spoiled brats.. Me? I travel around to differnt world, doing errands and looking for Opporitunity, I take riskes and I'm not afraid to move around the board, Looking for the new things that many poeple don't bother to do..

So yeah while they're living in pre 2009 times, I'm living 5 years in teh future, in 2014, and it's these pre-2009 thinkers stuck down on Calypso who are really just hding their heads in the sand and not bothing to even try and look at opporitunity..

I mean i was there when Rocktropia opened in 2010, I was there will Next Island opened too in late 2010, I was there when Arkadia Opened in 2011, I was there when Space the final frontier opened up just a month later , I was there when Cyrene opened up, and even Toulan..

The point is, I've been to everywhere in the known Universe, and frankly I go down to Caly and i see the same stuff going on day in and day out, The same names popping up at twin, the same people trying to move their goods, the same people complaining about the bad loot, and the same people talking down to the roodies in the rooke channel (and yes to you griefers in the Rookie channel, Hang your head in shame as well, you're not getting people to get interested in teh game, youre turning them off, and thus you wonder why you're loot is bad? Well there's your problem!)

People should actually get involved and encourage players to say, but instead I see the same stuff over and over again.. No one really cares to even file a bug report until somehting that is negative, and impacts their lives say anything about the bug.. Me? I try to speak my mind, but without people to back up the support, there's no reason to do it..

(Remember back in 2010, when MA put in the kNock knowck notification sound? It was there for a purpose, and in fact it was to invite people to join into teams, to make trades, and even to get on starships.. But you take away that one thing, that one item people need and in the end Mind ark was losing money.. and it took one guy to get people to get involved and to bring it back.. Now I'm getting knock knocks every day.. Just because i spoke up..

So in the end, what are the old times are going to do? The smack Talkers/ The greedy and the needy going to do? are they going to sit around and whine, complain and jsut quit? Or are they going to become proactive.. Cause if you aren't part of the solution, then you're part of the problem here, and I say this.. Get out of the way, I'm going on and I'm gonna keep going.. I'm a tenacious player whose parents came from teh Midwst and were a subborn lot. but we alwys loved a challenge an I still do.. I challenge my wits,and I try to be social.. What are the players doing to change this? Just sit and complain and do nothing? Apparently they are..

Or to quote a famous President (Harry S. Truman), If you can't stand the heat , Get out of the kitchen..
Cause some of us are baking cookies right now, and I plan to sell these cookies to those who need them..

Benjamin Ben Coyote (Pilot Call sign Coyote)
a.k.a. "The Blind Sniper"

Want to know why many players missing from the old Project Entropia --> Its something called environment just look at all the cities that have been replaced with outposts not to mention the towns and villages that are completely missing all the mysterious places that were different landmarks all abandoned places that one could see and all signs could be found, our avatars could talk and lie down and the mysterious music in the background that enhances the mood....


Today there is nothing left of this.


All this meant that you always knew you could see something new around the corner that you can not do anymore today.


( So let's bake cookies but give us the kitchen is fitted for it ).