The Story of My Life

Oleg

Mutated
Joined
Aug 15, 2006
Posts
19,406
Location
Leeds, UK
Avatar Name
Oleg Oleg McMullery
Perhaps it is fitting that an unfulfilled promise was what first brought me to Entropia Universe.

It was an exciting time for EU. The original Project Entropia had just been relaunched under its new name, there was still something of a buzz about the million PED sale of CND the previous year, and Mindark had announced plans to create a card that would allow participants to withdraw cash directly from their PED card at an ordinary ATM. BBC News picked up the cashcard story, and reading their piece was my first introduction to Entropia, Mindark, and PEDs.

The cashcard was never more than a pipe dream, of course, but it wasn’t that that particularly interested me. I’d played MUD-type text games in the 80s, and dabbled with online card and board games in the early days of the mainstream Internet, but now with reliable broadband and the enhanced gaming opportunities that created, I’d been thinking about joining an MMO. I was intrigued by the idea of a real cash economy, and decided Entropia might be the game for me. Oleg Oleg McMullery arrived in a colony ship at Port Atlantis on 16 May, 2006.

Like so many of us, I was determined to make it without depositing. I’d read that gathering sweat was the way to do it, so when I found my first creatures – Combibos and Exarosaurs on the beach south of Port Atlantis – I worked out how to do it and got started. It was slow going, with many deaths, lots of running around pulling mobs into the sea, and far too much time stood around waiting to heal naturally, but eventually I gathered enough that I thought was worth taking to the traders I’d seen buying sweat in Port Atlantis. I spent some time hanging out there, listening to the chat for tips and learning some of the lingo. That was when I started to get invitations to be a disciple or join a society, but I resisted them, preferring to find my own way before committing to anything like that. By the end of that first night, I had a gun from the trade terminal, and had managed, with difficulty, to kill a few Exarosaurs.

I spent the following days sweating on the beach and exploring on my own, finding different creatures to get killed by, including my first Araneatrox, which got me stuck for a while at the infamous outpost northwest of Fort Troy. I realised I wasn’t going to learn much like this, so I found a mentor, AidanEnos, and later met some friends on the beach, Evander Squire Myrkle and Amelia Mille Ambrosine. We became a regular team for a while, which made the sweating much easier. I foolishly decided I could mentor Millie, passing on info from AidanEnos. I was a clueless mentor, of course, but she stuck with me and has remained a good friend ever since. She’s a pretty high level player with some impressive hunting stats nowadays. Evander didn’t last too long in the game, but I’ll always remember him and those early days on the beach.

AidanEnos was a nice guy, but he wasn’t the best mentor. He had me hunting with non-SIB guns, at a time when the smart people were using an Opalo and a big amp, before the 50% over-amping rule was introduced. But he helped me get some teleporters on my map, and introduced me to the busy sweating area near Camp Phoenix, though I still preferred the quieter spots. I’ve never been keen on being anywhere with a lot of green dots. He also persuaded me, eventually, to join the society he was in, Skillin’ Villains, where I met many good friends, and eventually became the leader for a while.

I still wasn’t learning about key things like hunting for markup, or damage per pec, but I settled into a sustainable routine sweat-hunting Snablesnots at Atlas Haven. I’d started making some small deposits, with which I experimented hunting different mobs, and invested in some basic equipment, but my progress was very slow. It took me two years to reach Level 50 and unlock Combat Sense, which (though much more difficult than it is now) shouldn’t have taken more than six months. But I was finally learning to play more sensibly and efficiently, and after largely wasting those first two years, things started to change.

I’d started to camp Drones, a reliable source of markup back then. I still wasn’t enormously efficient, using BLP weapons when laser was a more eco option, and gathering small groups of mobs on me instead of trying to minimise defensive costs, mainly because I wanted to maximise my skilling rate as I worked towards my next big goal, unlocking Commando. But the PEDs were lasting much longer, and I was turning over much more than before. I was depositing more by now, but more of it was going on gear instead of ammo, as was the money from the big HoFs I started to get, including a 5k Atrax in a team event that Skillin’ Villains were competing in (one of the most exciting and fun things I’ve ever done in EU) and an 11k Drone, which helped me buy my first unlimited SIB weapon (other than the ones from the TT), a GeoTrek H41 Mina, with which I eventually got the Commando unlock in 2010. By then I was the number two all-time Drone hunter on EntropiaTracker (which later became EntropiaLife), and stayed there for several years.

In 2008 I’d played a small support role in England’s winning WoF team, graduating to more significant roles in subsequent years, culminating in my captaincy for the 2014 tournament, when we reached the final. The excitement of WoF and other events inspired me to become an event promoter myself. I put on some successful free events, without any payment, including the first EUWBC boxing tournament. These convinced some LA owners to give me paid work, and for many years I was the top event promoter under the banner Entropian Events, later bringing in Thierry Rag of Grimbergen to help me out with hosting duties. In 2010 I persuaded MA to sponsor the EUWBC with some prizes, and the result was my biggest ever event, and one of the biggest player-run events ever held in EU. I’d been telling MA and others that I thought the future was in big spectator events, rather than the “pay-to-play” model we were used to. That was well before e-sports became huge, and was unfortunately another opportunity missed by MA. The EUWBC, which started off as a fun project, had turned into an awful lot of work for very little reward, and I never did anything on that scale again.

2012 was a huge year for me in EU. I’d increased my turnover even further, and was working my way up the EntropiaTracker all-time hunting lists. I think my peak was about 50, and I’d often be in the top 10 for the month. I unlocked Kill Strike that year, and had the best loot period of my EU career. I looted an unlimited ARK rifle in a Madana HoF on Arkadia, the Improved Shogun Shins from a Feffoid Elite (still unique, I believe, and one of only two Imp Shogun parts that ever dropped), and had some high TT value HoFs. Best of all, I looted the fifth and final Exceptional Robot Contraction Unit (the red banana, as it was commonly known) from an Eviscerator in a big robot event. I could exchange that, with some other more common components, for a set of Protector of the Empire armour. The set was worth about 50k PEDs at the time, but I’d been wanting a higher level armour set for a while, to help me step up to tougher mobs, so I kept it.

I’d stopped depositing by now, and was playing for profit. I’d invested some of my profits into CLDs, which helped a lot, but more importantly, as a very active and well-informed player, I was able to capitalise on new opportunities that arose. The introduction of Cyclops Depths was a big one for me. A lot of people were hunting Marcimex, which were certainly a good mob at that time, though the spawns were generally over-crowded. I focused on Mind Reavers instead, aiming to loot Radiant and Pristine Crystal Shards, which were selling for ludicrous amounts as people raced to upgrade their amps. I sold my first Pristine for 4.5k PEDs. I don’t think you can even get 10 PED for them nowadays.

By 2014 I’d reached Level 100, a massive milestone at a time when old-school non-SIB weapons were still the most eco available. I’d stopped running events by now, because I wanted to spend more time on hunting. I was still in Skillin’ Villains, but it was very quiet there, and much of the time I was the only one online. I’d stepped down as leader before then, and knew it was time for me to move on, but I wanted to get to Level 100 before I did, in the hope it might inspire my old friends and socmates. After leaving SV I had a brief spell in Agents of Entropy, where I met some good people, but which ultimately wasn’t for me, and then joined Rangers. I don’t think I knew any of the members very well at the time, but there were several I’d come across and had good chats with over the years, and my old friend Millie, who had been with them in the past, spoke very highly of them. It didn’t take long before I felt at home there. They were a like-minded bunch of smart, respectful, well-informed players, who just wanted to get on with playing EU and trying to make a success of it. Many of the finest people I’ve ever met in the game have been in Rangers, and I’ve been glad to be a member ever since.

I think things really started to change again for me in 2017, when strongboxes were introduced to EU. I’d felt for some time that the advantages long-term committed players had gained through their own hard work (and in some cases, large investments) were being eroded. A new range of limited guns with higher eco and dps had removed the advantages of Level 100, and the availability of low-level “upgraded” weapons like the Adjusted Maddox exacerbated that. Starter packs with skill pills had made low-level skilling mush easier. And now strongboxes meant depositors were getting much more for their money than I ever had when the only option available was PEDs, thanks to skill pills, neurostim buffs, and rare rings if you were lucky. I could have bought boxes myself, of course (and I did make a small deposit, my first for several years, to try them out), but for me the aim of the game had always been to work your way up to a position where you didn’t need to deposit any more, and it felt like that idea had been torn apart.

At the same time, other commitments were taking over from EU. I had accidentally fallen into life as a freelance poet and writer, as well as having a demanding day job, and my time was being increasingly consumed by working on my writing career, and in a new social life that had arrived alongside it. Within a year or two I’d gone from cycling 5k PEDs a day to less than that in a week, while the most active players, tooled up with pills, enhancers and item buffs, were turning over five or even ten times as much as I ever used to. When I got to Level 100 in eight years, it was considered relatively quick. Now it is not unusual for someone to do it in two.

I’ve tried to stay as active as I could, but as well as plummeting down all the ranking lists, keeping up with new developments became more difficult. With limited time to play, I couldn’t put the effort into exploring new areas, new systems, new planets, like I used to. With loot system changes, it felt like having a huge bankroll and cycling large amounts was more necessary than ever.

In short, it felt like EU had become a pay-to-win game. People have suggested that is the case throughout its history, but I honestly don’t think it was before. People used to be able to make a profit at any level, if they put the time and effort in, and while depositing certainly helped, it wasn’t essential.

Earlier this year I decided to deposit $500, the first time I’d put anything in since 2012 (except for the small strongbox experiment) and the biggest single deposit I’ve ever made. I spent it on ammo and skill pills, with the hope it would get me to the Scavenging and Intuition unlocks I was hoping to achieve this year. For a while, I played more actively than I have in years, but despite hunting for markup and trying to play economically, the PEDs dwindled much faster than I expected.

More importantly, however, I found myself utterly, thoroughly bored. I’d hoped having a big stash of ammo to play with might stoke my enthusiasm, but it did not.

I kept going till the summer to see what migration would bring. All it brought was more boredom, compounded with the irritation of having to run around looking for free mobs in an inadequate spawn. I gave it a couple of weeks, then switched off.

I thought I’d made a decision by then, but I wanted to take a couple of months off to reflect. Having done that, my mind is unchanged. That’s it for me. No more EU. Olexit.

It will take me some time to sell out, and being very busy with work, and having to move house this month, I’m not even going to attempt to do it right now. I don’t think I’ll sell skills, not because I think I’ll come back (though you never know) but because I don’t think it’ll be worth the effort. Even without selling skills, I don’t think I’ll be unhappy with the outcome. If I sold my CLDs and CP deeds, and TTed everything else I own, I would still be able to withdraw more than I have deposited. I don’t say that to boast, but to demonstrate what is possible, or at least used to be.

Until I return to say “selling everything @ south wall”, goodbye, and of course, good luck.
 
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Reading your words about Rangers is absolutely heartwarming. You are without a doubt one of the finest and most genuine people I have met ingame and we were all thrilled when you finally joined us. You've been a great team player (even though you never team lol) and friend ever since and a big part of shaping the special Rangers culture and atmosphere. Not to mention a great asset for the whole EU community with everything you have done over the years. Sad news for all of us that you will step away.

Wish you all the best, mate!
 
Was fun to read your history. Though we never hung out ingame, was tons of fun w/ you here on the forum. Sorry to hear you called it quits. I hope whatever you fall into doing, you have tons of fun with it.
 
I feared this day , and yesterday I was stalking your online profile to see you gone 11 days.

No more Olegpedia , and those long sessions of comedic banter.

Has been a blast knowing you Oleg , and I wish you the best.
 
Sad to hear a longtimer leaving - great origin story, that reference to "Hotel California" above was excellent though
"We are programmed to receive.
You can check-out any time you like,
But you can never leave! "
I actually love the game because from early on I considered success in the main professions to be "pay to win" which I did as much I reasonably could.
As putting in efforts is also paying, with your own time, which is perhaps way more expensive than $.
 
Good luck. Let us know of what happens after Entropia.
 
I recognised so much from your story in my own.
Our lives went parallel, I wish both our paths had crossed more often.
Sad to see you leave, old companion.

Another old soul got eaten by the soulless new way of EU.
 
I don’t know why, but I still regularly hear the sounds that the Exarosaurs made outside PA in my memory. I still feel the sense of wonder an amazement of coming out of the ship and going into PA and seeing all the ava’s and hearing the chatter. “O bo bo? Oh dobbie dobbie doh. Oh, no no no no. Nosheibley.” Dieing a million times and ghosting to the next tp.

GL @ boxes.
 
I hope real life gives you everything that you want from it, but I also hope that you come back to us at some point.

:beerchug:

PS: Una is going to miss yelling "YOLEG!" every time you log ingame ;)
 
When reading your story, I see clearly what I have known for a long time: before it was more fun, before the peds lasted longer, before better loots fell, before you got better weapons and, above all, before you grew up and had much more fun than now ... .
 
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Sad to hear that you will leave EU, but you don't have to kill your AVA, could make a comeback later on, who knows :)
But if not, GL to you in the future...
 
Nice story!
Whatever you do, keep the skills.
Having quit twice I know you will regret later if you sell those 😉 and it’s not really worth the effort anyway.

Good luck!
 
Each of us will always remember those first few days and weeks of the game and for many of us those stories are the same. As well as the goals, they were and are similar, playing and progressing without depositing is something most of us chased, some reached and it's, at certain degree, still possible, given you spend enough time and have the patience others don't. When you don't have the time nor the will, it is ofc time to step back, put it on hold, at least, otherwise it will start to consume you, irritate you... people should not wait until that moment, take a break before that starts to happen. Don't know if you realize, but the game (also the loot) is like love and like a fart. Force it and it turns to shit... as it's with most things in life.

I enjoyed a lot the game playing in Rangers and with Yoleg, I still hope beers with Rangers will happen at some point in the future :D
And I also hope to see you back at some point. You probably won't ever feel about the game the way you did 10 years ago, but as others have said, you can check out anytime you like but you can never leave it behind for good. So plan for a big break rather than complete quitting.
It's still a game and IRL has to have highest priority so I wish you best of luck with all your projects!
 
Sad to hear of your experience this year, if you ever decide to return let at least 2 years pass by, it will feel like a new game and be fun again (hopefully). don't forget to log in once in a while though to not lose your avatar :)
 
Thanks everyone for your comments.

Reading your words about Rangers is absolutely heartwarming. You are without a doubt one of the finest and most genuine people I have met ingame and we were all thrilled when you finally joined us. You've been a great team player (even though you never team lol) and friend ever since and a big part of shaping the special Rangers culture and atmosphere. Not to mention a great asset for the whole EU community with everything you have done over the years. Sad news for all of us that you will step away.

Wish you all the best, mate!

I cannot overstate how much enjoyment I've had in Rangers, and how much it has meant to me, especially in those earlier years before my activity dropped off. You and many of the others have been great friends and I hope we'll keep in touch now and then (you know where to find me). You've done a great job maintaining a wonderful soc (despite your own real life distractions). Long live Rangers!

I feared this day , and yesterday I was stalking your online profile to see you gone 11 days.

No more Olegpedia , and those long sessions of comedic banter.

Has been a blast knowing you Oleg , and I wish you the best.

Similar to what I said above to Una, you and many of the other SVs have always been great friends and I'm glad I got to spend all that time with you. I hope we can keep in touch. In the last year or two I've seen quite a few more recent SV entrants popping up in the HoF boards or on my radar, and it feels like there has been a bit of a resurgence for you, which is great to see. There will be a lot of people here who remember SV from those early days, either because they came through the ranks themselves or because they knew people who had. You might not have the same presence as a society as we used to back then, but I think you're getting back there and building things up again, which is great to see. Keep it up :)

PS: Una is going to miss yelling "YOLEG!" every time you log ingame ;)

Yeah he definitely will :D

When reading your story, I see clearly what I have known for a long time: before it was more fun, before the peds lasted longer, before better loots fell, before you got better weapons and, above all, before you grew up and had much more fun than now ... .

As I said in the other thread, it's a personal choice, and I don't think you should read anything wider into it. Lots of old-school players are still here and enjoying the game. It's just not for me any more, mainly because I'm not able to dedicate the time to it that I used to.

Each of us will always remember those first few days and weeks of the game and for many of us those stories are the same. As well as the goals, they were and are similar, playing and progressing without depositing is something most of us chased, some reached and it's, at certain degree, still possible, given you spend enough time and have the patience others don't. When you don't have the time nor the will, it is ofc time to step back, put it on hold, at least, otherwise it will start to consume you, irritate you... people should not wait until that moment, take a break before that starts to happen. Don't know if you realize, but the game (also the loot) is like love and like a fart. Force it and it turns to shit... as it's with most things in life.

I enjoyed a lot the game playing in Rangers and with Yoleg, I still hope beers with Rangers will happen at some point in the future :D
And I also hope to see you back at some point. You probably won't ever feel about the game the way you did 10 years ago, but as others have said, you can check out anytime you like but you can never leave it behind for good. So plan for a big break rather than complete quitting.
It's still a game and IRL has to have highest priority so I wish you best of luck with all your projects!

You speak wise words, as usual. You're one of the many I mentioned above who I was glad to spend time with in Rangers, and it has been wonderful to see your subsequent success. It's all about personal choices, and everyone needs to find their own path. You may remember me expressing some of the same feelings last time we spoke at length a few months ago, so perhaps aren't surprised that this is where I am now. And I'm still very much in for Rangers/ex-Rangers beers. I can recommend north England as an excellent venue for such a meeting :D
 
Nooo my second mentor!
Hope life treats you kindly and pop in now and then to chat atleast =)
 
Nooo my second mentor!
Hope life treats you kindly and pop in now and then to chat atleast =)

Well we might need to talk about you buying my Slug for starters :D
 
Hey Oleg!

It's been a long time but I wish you all the best!

Go and enjoy life! :dance:

Take care
Loren
 
Its always sad to see a post like this pop up from one of the old timers.

I'm sure you'll still stop by every now and then, even just to say hi. In the meantime I hope that you will enjoy whatever else life is throwing at you.

Walk tall,
Addz
 
I have always appreciated the work you did on the Creature Library. I hope you don't go away forever. Good luck!
:beerchug:
 
This is truly the end of an era.

I'm not sure if we ever spoke to each other in all the years that I've been in Entropia. But I've always admired you and read your posts here on the forum with interest.

I do hope we'll see you back one day. Entropia wont be the same without you.
 
You may remember me expressing some of the same feelings last time we spoke at length a few months ago, so perhaps aren't surprised that this is where I am now.
You're right, I am not. I was only hoping you were taking a break in time, before it's too late :D

North England sounds fine :grouphug:

I, as many many others, generations of Entropians, have benefited greatly from your contribution to this community, to this forum, to wiki. I am grateful for that, thank you very much! :bowdown:
 
Thanks for sharing
thanks for the events throughout the years which also gave me my first proper uber hof - a 8.1k molisk back in 2011 or so.

Sad to see you go, but i totally understand the decision.
 
Though it has been gone for a long time for me, I still crave the excitement and wonder I experienced in the early years.
IMO it was individuals such as yourself creating the community, the politics, the new civilization we had on those foreign planets that made it so exciting and so real.
EU will be worse off without you. Our real world will be a better place with you in it.

I wish you good luck and happiness and a joy to fill the void
 
Quite sad to see you go! I'm pretty sure you answered quite a few of my n00b questions on EntropiaForum back in the day, and you are one of the first faces I associate with the good old days of pre-CE2 EU. Hope you return some day, and best of luck to you IRL.
 
Nooooooo.

You gotta take care of real life to enjoy the virtual life is what I say :).

That being said, I hope you will still stop in the game and chat with people from time to time...and keep us all updated with what's going on in your life. I hope this is not good bye, just a see you later :D
 
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