The Fascinating Web Of Entropia Universe, The World’s Only ‘Cash-Based’ MMO - Kotaku Australia

There were definitely some hard truths spoken in the video. Props to the journalist for giving a good amount of effort to learn EU. Also, I thought the video was well produced and explained in an interesting, yet simple way. Unfortunately, he missed a lot of the nuance, game play opportunities, and sandbox elements that make EU as special as it is.

Did he even discuss PVP? What about Mayhems or other events where players take home serious prizes? Taxi and Mothership services? Markup? Did he not interview one single player that could explain the concept of MU% ?‍♀️?‍♀️ He left out Societies, community and Land Area events, fashion shows, shared mobs, missions, story and game lore, picking oil, trading, shops and the auction house... and so much more! There's a lot of ways to enjoy yourself in EU that I feel his video didn't even scratch the surface of.

To just dumb the game down to: All players are addicted helpless gamblers being exploited by MindArk, doesn't do the game justice. I felt like that was his conclusion even before his interview with David Simmonds. It just isn't an accurate conclusion in my experience. Are there some players that treat EU like a casino and just simply "gamble"? Sure there are. But, that's a lazy generalization of Entropia. Just because some players are playing EU a certain way, does not mean everyone is playing that way. It leaves out so many other ways to play this game. I wish he would have spent some time delving into those different aspects.

Most the people on my friends list log in for a variety of reasons that were left out of the video, and not just to mindlessly click EP IV or mine FOMA with Level 13's.

I am glad overall that someone is peering into our quirky game and spending the time to make such a high quality video. His video, with its "luke warm" approval, will still bring in curious new people to see what the heck is going on here. For me, many games have lost my attention over the years, Entropia is pretty special. Props to him for giving more effort than most would have, to learn our game, I just wish he would have went more than surface deep of what a few participants told him were their experiences and observations.

I read some of the posts on PCF from some people that don't seem to play the game much and I'm sometimes left scratching my head... I'm hoping they weren't amongst the people he interviewed. In my experience, there's far more toxicity on the game forums than inside the actual game. Some of the loudest people complaining the most frequently on here don't actually represent how the community feels as a whole (my opinion of course).

Side note: I recognize the maker from several board game reviews I've watched of his. I think his channel is the "Sit down and shut up" one or something like that. His Terra Mystica review is hilarious! Darn... feeling a little bummed because he missed a lot of opportunities to explain so much more about the game. He gave the impression that he had an agenda to carry out, and wanted to paint the game with broad strokes.
 
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you are a lot nicer than I could ever hope to be MsP... I watched the video, and felt that as a journalist he failed to do his one job. He tried to learn the mechanics of the game apparently. It appears that someone must have tried to mentor him on them. But, in my eyes he utterly failed to really learn anything about Entropia. Sure you could call all mid level players gamblers, but 99% of them aren't gambling. they are simply paying the fee that it costs to work for skills with the equipment they can afford. Yes, when we are losing, we all hope to get lucky. But, at least for me, I play to get better so that one day I don't need to get lucky and can cycle endlessly and hunt for the things our community is in need of or wanting.

also, I really found it odd that he wanted to make it a point that anywhere in the world, when money is involved if it looks like gambling it is gambling. You really can make anything gambling imo. You don't even need money, just something to barter with. I mean with this broad of a stroke, why not call life insurance, or the stock market gambling.
 
David lookin a bit sweaty?
 
Alaina and myself had a long interview with him, he clearly had a negativ baseopinion already formed about the game and was mainly looking for the negative, he could have included tons of audiomaterials regarding mu, services, community that he chose to disregard to include clips from other players that were exclusively negativ. He already mentioned during our interview that he had already spoken with players who had 'left' entropia and lost lots of money.
The interview part with the Mindark official looks like a bait, i still cant believe they didnt agree on written questions in advance, the official must have expected the direction this would be going yet looked less prepared then the interviewer.
Nevertheless this video does give some nice information and will make people interested to check entropia out - i have no doubt.
 
The interviewer clearly had his own narrative.
What wasted potential for a great interview with MA.
 
Alaina and myself had a long interview with him, he clearly had a negativ baseopinion already formed about the game and was mainly looking for the negative, he could have included tons of audiomaterials regarding mu, services, community that he chose to disregard to include clips from other players that were exclusively negativ. He already mentioned during our interview that he had already spoken with players who had 'left' entropia and lost lots of money.
The interview part with the Mindark official looks like a bait, i still cant believe they didnt agree on written questions in advance, the official must have expected the direction this would be going yet looked less prepared then the interviewer.
Nevertheless this video does give some nice information and will make people interested to check entropia out - i have no doubt.

Well, that settles it... I sensed this may have been the case, but always try and give people the benefit of the doubt when I don't know. Good to know, thanks for sharing. Seems he'd rather be a 'sensational' journalist, rather than present both sides of a subject and let the audience make their decision about the topic. I do agree with you, even with the negative tone, its going to make many people at least curious about EU. It will be our job to tell the other side of the story they didn't get!
 
the interview portion with MA was so pushy and cringy. how hard is it to produce decent, unbiased journalism - especially when players are jumping out of their chairs to help?
 
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What bothers me the most is that this guy was given the rarest opportunity to have an open discussion about the game and the future of Entropia Universe with David. But instead he squandered it by making his own accusations and tried to interrogate David.
The interview was full cringe.. terrible journalism.
I hope this asshat does not discourage MA from doing future interviews with people who actually know what they are talking about and care about the game.
 
the interview portion with MA was so pushy and cringy. how hard is it to produce decent, unbiased journalism - especially when players are jumping out of their chairs to help?
Take a look at the comments on youtube, see how many praising messages are, for his journalist skills... those comments and his conclusions are kinda fishy.. but I guess the BS lies are a better strategy then the truth and reality when you're fishing for views and clicks. That's the journalism praised...
 
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Take a look at the comments on youtube, see how many praising messages are, for his journalist skills... those comments and his conclusions are kinda fishy.. but I guess the BS lies are a better strategy then the truth and reality when you're fishing for views and clicks. That's the journalism praised...

yikes. you were right, and also reminded me that yt comment section is a cesspool.
 
Take a look at the comments on youtube, see how many praising messages are, for his journalist skills... those comments and his conclusions are kinda fishy.. but I guess the BS lies are a better strategy then the truth and reality when you're fishing for views and clicks. That's the journalism praised...
Apparently Larry posted a comment that wasnt very complimentary and got banned.

I had watched a few of his previous videos and he tended to give a better tone towards those games, so I think its a shame that this seems very negative but I am of course not totally surprised. It's designed to get clicks. There was a tonne of great info given about the game from several players across the board, but I guess the positive comments were too boring ;)
 
For MA, any publicity is good publicity, I'm just not not liking it because it could probably attract a range of gamblers while the game would need people that play smart, contribute and stick around the game for years, not a few clicks, because yeah, even if the game is not a casino, there are endless possibilities, no matter what MA would do, that some could gamble if they wish to.
 
Yeah, he's shadow banning comments that go against the narrative. That's why the only comments under his video are ones that are blowing smoke up his arse.

Would be nice to get some player-made videos out there that show the true depth of this game. To be honest a video that isn't based on "make millions logging in to a video game" or "Entropia is a scam" would be a great. Lol.

I know there is some talk of getting some videos out there. Maybe there could be a pcf thread for this so those that want to get involved can pool together?
 
Yeah, he's shadow banning comments that go against the narrative. That's why the only comments under his video are ones that are blowing smoke up his arse.

Would be nice to get some player-made videos out there that show the true depth of this game. To be honest a video that isn't based on "make millions logging in to a video game" or "Entropia is a scam" would be a great. Lol.

I know there is some talk of getting some videos out there. Maybe there could be a pcf thread for this so those that want to get involved can pool together?
Lol so there's more to it, not just extra clicks and views.. think the guy gambled on ep? :)))
 
Yeah, he's shadow banning comments that go against the narrative. That's why the only comments under his video are ones that are blowing smoke up his arse.

Would be nice to get some player-made videos out there that show the true depth of this game. To be honest a video that isn't based on "make millions logging in to a video game" or "Entropia is a scam" would be a great. Lol.

I know there is some talk of getting some videos out there. Maybe there could be a pcf thread for this so those that want to get involved can pool together?

Love the idea!

Thats sad that he's basically guilty of some of the same things that his own video attempts to criticize and "expose" MindArk being guilty of. Which are honesty, misdirection, and their responsibility as game creators to be forthright in the product they produce.

What I mean by that, is that he takes the moral high ground by making this flashy video that supposedly "exposes" a game and its CEO, for exploiting all these "poor addicted gamblers".

When in reality his very own video lacks the kind of transparency and honesty he seems to be attacking EU and its creators for. His video is incredibly one sided and purposefully misleading. After hearing that he left out all the positive research he had, and interviews with people that explained core concepts of the game and its mechanics, just because they didn't fit his narrative, makes him guilty of some of the same things he's trying to expose in MindArk!

Someone should shine a light on his journalism tactics!

As a player of EU who knows there's far more to the game than just "mindless gambling" addiction, as he tried to portray it, he lost credibility with me.

At best his type of journalism is lazy and shoddy, at worst its flat out dishonest and shady.

At the end of the day he wanted clicks, he wanted followers, sponsors and revenu. I'm sure he made the choice that his video would sell better to his audience if he took the position of "exposing the seedy underbelly" of EU. He had a narrative he wanted to push, and only used the feedback of disgruntled/past players to produce a "click bait" piece that conformed to his own idea of what the game was and what sell the best.
 
Terrible Journalist, he might have learned the job from this lady

As far as I know with my basic level of understanding to be a journalist means to offer both sides of a story to the public and don't take sides.This dude had a clear agenda and tried to promote it as he knew best.Did a poor job collecting information.Now it even makes more sense why he was searching for someone who no longer play the game.Its more likely that someone that stop playing will deliver more negative impact about the game and can present the game in a negative way than someone who is constantly playing the game.
Now it makes even more sense why Mindark doesn't want to talk to the people or even do interviews.
 
ironically, i think he could have done much better for himself if his video had included all aspects as the 'hate on gamblers cause theyre just stupid idiots' angle has been so overworked :sick:
 
Interesting review / interview.

Thanks for taking part Mr Simmonds! :thumbup:

A warm up for the AMA perhaps? ;)
 
I remember when he was asking for former players and sent him a message with my resume.
From your comments here, perhaps I am too positive? :)

Edit: watched the video... Simmons handled himself pretty well I thought for pointedness of the interview
 
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people so knowledgeable ingame are the most competent to judge a journalist :LOL: ,
if it was an article of MY, the article would have been perfect :sneaky:
 
Terrible Journalist, he might have learned the job from this lady

As far as I know with my basic level of understanding to be a journalist means to offer both sides of a story to the public and don't take sides.This dude had a clear agenda and tried to promote it as he knew best.Did a poor job collecting information.Now it even makes more sense why he was searching for someone who no longer play the game.Its more likely that someone that stop playing will deliver more negative impact about the game and can present the game in a negative way than someone who is constantly playing the game.
Now it makes even more sense why Mindark doesn't want to talk to the people or even do interviews.

I have to say I just thoroughly enjoyed this confrontation , she challenged his every word. He as well returned her every question , assumption and attack with confidence and expertise. You could easily see his exhilaration.

Thank you for posting this video

As for the original interview in this thread , completely amateurish and one sided. To qualify yourself as giving a gaming review and not actually review the game , shows to me he would never succeed at Entropia at any level.
 
There were definitely some hard truths spoken in the video. Props to the journalist for giving a good amount of effort to learn EU. Also, I thought the video was well produced and explained in an interesting, yet simple way. Unfortunately, he missed a lot of the nuance, game play opportunities, and sandbox elements that make EU as special as it is.

Did he even discuss PVP? What about Mayhems or other events where players take home serious prizes? Taxi and Mothership services? Markup? Did he not interview one single player that could explain the concept of MU% ?‍♀️?‍♀️ He left out Societies, community and Land Area events, fashion shows, shared mobs, missions, story and game lore, picking oil, trading, shops and the auction house... and so much more! There's a lot of ways to enjoy yourself in EU that I feel his video didn't even scratch the surface of.

To just dumb the game down to: All players are addicted helpless gamblers being exploited by MindArk, doesn't do the game justice. I felt like that was his conclusion even before his interview with David Simmonds. It just isn't an accurate conclusion in my experience. Are there some players that treat EU like a casino and just simply "gamble"? Sure there are. But, that's a lazy generalization of Entropia. Just because some players are playing EU a certain way, does not mean everyone is playing that way. It leaves out so many other ways to play this game. I wish he would have spent some time delving into those different aspects.

Most the people on my friends list log in for a variety of reasons that were left out of the video, and not just to mindlessly click EP IV or mine FOMA with Level 13's.

I am glad overall that someone is peering into our quirky game and spending the time to make such a high quality video. His video, with its "luke warm" approval, will still bring in curious new people to see what the heck is going on here. For me, many games have lost my attention over the years, Entropia is pretty special. Props to him for giving more effort than most would have, to learn our game, I just wish he would have went more than surface deep of what a few participants told him were their experiences and observations.

I read some of the posts on PCF from some people that don't seem to play the game much and I'm sometimes left scratching my head... I'm hoping they weren't amongst the people he interviewed. In my experience, there's far more toxicity on the game forums than inside the actual game. Some of the loudest people complaining the most frequently on here don't actually represent how the community feels as a whole (my opinion of course).

Side note: I recognize the maker from several board game reviews I've watched of his. I think his channel is the "Sit down and shut up" one or something like that. His Terra Mystica review is hilarious! Darn... feeling a little bummed because he missed a lot of opportunities to explain so much more about the game. He gave the impression that he had an agenda to carry out, and wanted to paint the game with broad strokes.

You should put this comment in the comments of the youtube video
 


This just shows the credibility of that news company. Only a matter of time before Australian branch gets rekt ?
 
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AFAIK th UK have some of the laxest gambling rules in the world...kind of ironic to call out a swedish company as taking profits from gambling.
Real gambling would be if a one day noob killed an Daspletor Stalker wihtout any depositsand would get several K payout.
One needs the skills and the outfit and the knowledge, invest a shitload of money and know what _NOT_ to do to profit.
Poeaple buy cars they can not afford on a loan, pay for insurance they can not afford to just show the car around and pay for the gas which they can prolly also not afford. Is that gambling because they want some kind of social acceptance from people they can also not afford to be their "friends" ?
If one does not care , everything can be considered gambling.
Those that think they can get "the big one" are surely gamblers, because they did not understand the simplest thing.
You get back a 90% portion of what you invested at TT and have to sell that with profit in order to not lose anything.
Simple as that.
Or simpler...dont hun/craft/mine, buy stuff cheap and sell with profit.
Or even more simple, buy shares and rake in the profits.

I have to admit that I may have lost 5K PEDs on my birthday crafting EPs.
Nothing I do daily and in the long run, will come back in some other action.
And got a shitload of skills in short time :D
So...gambling...depends on your view, for me it never was and I prefer to spend my money in something lasting than any other MMO where you have 2-5 accounts, pay monthly subscritption for them and after 3-5 years the server closes down and all is gone.
 
What a dumb and negative interview. First of all there has been 18 years old limit for a very very long time on EU. Second its not just skills u need in this game. To actually not lose in the game u need the deep knowledge into the game and all available information about ur proffesion. The game works exactly as said u just need to understand the mechanics of it. The problem is it takes 5 years atleast to learn all the information and art of how to go profit unless u have help from someone from rl. There is also certain stupidity of some individuals like for example now that u should chase MU to go profit but they chase codex missions for skills that are worthless now. U need to constantly adjust to changes in game and understand how game works. I have been able to profit all these years i play EU so yes it is possible.
 
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