Too cool to loot? :0

Dragon Moon

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Dragon Dark Moon
I'm wondering if I'm too cool to loot now after I unlocked coolness 10 days ago. I'm at a loss about the things that are happening ever since.

And btw, this posting is not meant as complaint or whining. I'm just trying to figure out why things are how they are, or if they even are how I assume they are. I joined EU as part of a job, part of a project that I and two others are working on. Let's just say it's a series of articles for a computer mag that compares games and virtual worlds.

Since I unlocked coolness, every hunt is a loss, even with the few globals I got, and I'm not talking about "normal" losses, like 80% return. Most of the time it's not more than 50-60 % of my costs. I had just one good hunt run with a profit.

And, what's even more odd, I seem to miss more, I seem to get hit harder, with the same armor and guns as before, by the same mob. Where I had 2-3 misses at most with one mob before, I now have 5-6 and that while I have my gun literally up their a$$es.

I joined end of February this year and deposited about US$ 800 by now. My main profession is hunter, but I craft alot too and mine every now and then. I trade and sell on auction. I'm lvl 41 sniper, rifle and pistol are not far behind. Health is 125, agility is 62, lvl 15 evader. I use ghost amor and I own plates. I use Riker 2, P5a and Isis carabines or pistols that are maxed and appropriate for my levels. I go through 1000 PED ammo a night and even more on the weekends. I've gotten 200+ globals so far....well until I unlocked coolness 10 days ago.

Since that day, I have to deposit every day or every other day, to be able to hunt because of the bad loot. Now I hear you saying.."well go to the right places at the right time etc., do something else, like crafting or mining or chatting, then try again". Trust me, I do that, and I found the mob with "loot surges" often enough and did fine for days or even a couple of weeks without depositing. I progressed and looted just fine (for EU standards :D) and only had to deposit every so often.

Lately I seem to be in the middle of the "right" mob and get nothing much, which is frustrating and discouraging enough already, but seeing the guys left and right (same spot and same mob) getting globals all the time really really gets old after over one week, especially when it's the same person in the same spawn getting 2-4 globals in one hour. Sure I've gotten a few globals during those days too...but you guess it, I had losses even with those.

Then I hit a 299 PED HOF the other day and was thinking that the unlucky streak came to an end. I was able to buy a bigger L gun again with low TT value tho, and I had some ammo for a few nice hunt runs. But not so.... it took me 3 runs and I was at point zero again. So I deposited again, only to get nothing in return. I switched to crafting between the hunt runs too. Same story, just losses. I sold most of my storage stuff to be able to at least buy a few rounds of ammo. Well...all gone. I went sweating at Nea's because I had some Nexus left, so I could make ME and sell that and buy ammo. All gone. :D

By now I think I know how EU works and that there are lucky streaks and losses, rinse...repeat, and that one has to deposit to keep playing.... but c'mon guys, what I experience now is almost unreal for such a time period, at least I've never seen this happen to me for longer than 2-3 days.

So my question: Did any of you had the same experience after they reached certain levels or unlocked new skills? I'm just trying to understand what's going on here. By now I almost want to believe it's a "feature", some algorithm in the software that makes one go downhill for quite a while after a certain time of playing, or after certain levels. So one either has to deposit more and does so more often (like every day or every other day), or one is fed up and chips out.

Does MA dangle a carrot in front of our nose for quite some time (especially when one is new and throws in some serious money) and then waits until we reach certain skill levels, or even a level of addiction and then messes with our loot and damage and gun performance, because they are pretty sure that we won't leave again at that point? Will things get better again by the power of the credit card or by the love of lootius? :D And just in case, can anybody point me to a forum thread or website that explains how to chip out and what the value of skills is? My research time will end after 6 months, and I'm not sure at this point if I want to keep playing. I know better ways to blow my money. :laugh:

Sorry, this posting got longer than I intended, and plz don't mind spelling or grammar errors, English isn't my first language.

Any opinions, experiences?
 
I'm not sure what the coolness unlock is, but the loot has been very poor for most people as of late. So I don't think thats it.
 
From my experience on Every unlock (Except kill strike and commando) of mine I have had a lose for 2 weeks or so after it just VERY bad luck..
it usually goes away for me after 2 weeks on a new unlock. Only profitables unlock I had where I've done really well after unlocking were ks and commando.

could be entropia senses all your hunting skills then brings up an average.. and when unlocking ti adds a new skill at 1 so it lowers your average skill?

just a theory..
 
Dang :( thought it was mostly me.

That is why i am where i am... broke and mining. I used to get decent hunts. then it went straight to hell. Don't know what i did, but loot went down and i found myself selling my storage out to pay for hunting trips. :(

So yes, your not the only one. Rinse and repeat... industrial size!
 
Did you chip skills? Maybe that's why?
Unbalanced skills?

t
 
I am on a several month down streak after a good year or so of not needing to deposit. After my highest mining find of 1445ped MA took it all back and then some. But alot of that avatar value has been replaced in the mean time by markup on a few choice items. Maybe I have to sell one to break the stranglehold? The only thing that changed for me when it went sour was a vu. :scratch2:
 
Yep yep, loot sucks as of the last VU.
I think I'm going to stop hunting for a while and try to do some other stuff....
 
Thanks for your feedback so far, guys.

<waves at Daina> hey Gluepot :yay: I'm with you on the "doing some other stuff". I'm just not doing it in EU, the ESC button is my best friend lately. :D I used to craft, but that's not an option either right now, since I prefer to use material that I loot or mine myself. I'm so not going to deposit just for crafting or mining only. I just love to hunt! (...while I couldn't even kill a fly in real life...and I hate real weapons)

I can't say that loot went downhill for me after the last VU. Was quite the opposite at times. Well, it was an up and down, as it seems to be normal in EU.

@ Cytheria: I have no idea what this coolness skill does or the serendipity skill. I tried to find more info about those, but I'm still not getting it, I guess. I just seem to gain coolness left and right with everything I do. I'd say we all are cool enough already without that skill. :laugh: Gimme loot, MA, shove the coolness. :D

@ Ogulak'Da'Dragon: Interesting theory, but wouldn't the average skill go higher too again after gaining coolness skills. I seem to gain coolness all the time, and it's over 600 already. Shouldn't that increase the loot again after a while and not make it even worse?

@ timmmers: I never chipped any skills, I wouldn't even know how to do that, have to read up on it. And I still don't understand why people seem to do it. What's the fun of it? For me it's more fun to accomplish things myself.

Thanks everybody!
 
I have had cycles like that, sometimes around an unlock. It is annoying sometimes seeing all the globals around when you are on such a cycle. When I get to them I slow down my hunting, do a bit more mining, heal in swamp camp, stand around in twin and PA just watching the world, or run a few noobs to tps.


As for what coolness does - it accelerates your Health at the start. You get 1 health point for every 400 coolness so is a very nice unlock in the beginning when the coolness points come at a nice speed.
 
When I get to them I slow down my hunting, do a bit more mining, heal in swamp camp, stand around in twin and PA just watching the world, or run a few noobs to tps.

I do a few things of the above too. But I haven't figured out yet how to mine or repair a FAP without loot and depositing. ;) Standing around observing and listening, and tp runs...now that's stuff I love to do too.

As for what coolness does - it accelerates your Health at the start. You get 1 health point for every 400 coolness so is a very nice unlock in the beginning when the coolness points come at a nice speed.

Thanks alot for the explanation. That's why my Health shot from 123 to 125 in a very short time. :yay:
 
in my opinion, loot cycles get more extreme as your avatar level rises.

so, you're now in a bad loot cycle, and you start noticing that it's worse than your past bad loot cycles, right?. same for me.

all i can say is that good loot cycles do seem to get somewhat better, when they come.

the conclusion is that your ped card must be in better shape to absorb the ups and downs, as you keep moving up in the skills ladder.
 
After unlocking Calypso Ground Assessment my mining loots went to crap. After gaining Serendipity my hunting loots went to crap. Things are warming back up now that it's been a while since the unlocks. I am not looking forward to Mineral Sense or Coolness.:(
 
the conclusion is that your ped card must be in better shape to absorb the ups and downs, as you keep moving up in the skills ladder.

Ya, that for sure seems to be the case. But I somehow can't get myself to depositing more than US$ 10-20 every other day or even every day, like I did for the past 10 days (and my budget for this is limited too). And depositing more in one chunk, like US$ 100 or 1000... well....I'm nucking futs.... but there are better ways to blow that money...(and boy do I do that at times :( ) I'm just getting more value outside of EU for the same amount of money. It's all about priorities, I guess. :D
 
After unlocking Calypso Ground Assessment my mining loots went to crap. After gaining Serendipity my hunting loots went to crap. Things are warming back up now that it's been a while since the unlocks. I am not looking forward to Mineral Sense or Coolness.:(

I've heard everyone say that CGA brings bad luck, but almost right after my CGA I hit my biggest ever, 1.9k :scratch2:

I kinda feel sorry for everyone else who's loot goes crap after CGA..:(

Hope everything works out fine with ya :D
 
Yeah, think you might be right there.

If that's right, I somehow feel "punished" for depositing and hunting/skilling and accomplishing things. Wouldn't the other way around be more fair to the players? (But who said that EU is fair anyway? :D)
 
I just unlocked serendipity today and shortly after hit an argo global for 152 ped, since then every little run has been a loss. Even team hunts with socmates that usually do well posed a loss. Not sure what to think but maybe i'll just relax and not hunt so much for a week or 2. also noticed that after MA does any major updates I ALWAYS seem to have worse luck (with the exception of VU 9.0 launch). As MA always tells us "it's dynamic"
 
Old news. You profit only if you don't play! Its just odd that still not everybody has figured this out yet. The more you invest the more Mind Ark think they can take from you. Luckily more and more people find out.
 
Old news. You profit only if you don't play! Its just odd that still not everybody has figured this out yet. The more you invest the more Mind Ark think they can take from you. Luckily more and more people find out.

:laugh: Ya, tedt, that's what my thoughts about MA boiled down to too after over 4 months of playing. I, and many of you maybe, would be already happy with breaking even or just smaller losses and a few big losses every now and then. But long stretches of losses as an EU feature doesn't seem to be that smart. I'm wondering what the retention rate is. I've seen many newbies come and go already since I joined. Among them three of my real world friends. They join...they sweat...the get a few tp runs in..they try hunting/mining/crafting with a bit of depositing. Next thing you hear from them...I'm out, can't do shit, can't/don't want to deposit more, this game is no fun/a rip off/lamest game I've ever seen/NOT free at all/... and so forth.

Profit? For the average player base? In EU? Fuggetaboutit! We're all just too :cool: !
 
I've heard everyone say that CGA brings bad luck, but almost right after my CGA I hit my biggest ever, 1.9k :scratch2:

That's encouraging...CGA is pretty close for me if I remember to go on a few mining trips sometime :D

If that's right, I somehow feel "punished" for depositing and hunting/skilling and accomplishing things. Wouldn't the other way around be more fair to the players? (But who said that EU is fair anyway? :D)

Well he said more volatile, he didn't say worse. You seem to get longer and worse bad runs, and longer and better good runs. If you have a small bankroll that's a bit hard to weather, but it does bring some advantages as it brings more chances for good items and big L drops during the good phases.
 
I never really notice it so much after a new unlock...but once I chipped in evade...and for about a month after that I had constant losses...so many in fact that I had alomost called it quits....then at about week five it all turned around...starting globalling again up to 8 a day...couple hofs..then the loot dried out again for a couple days..then back up again...now I hit about minimum 3 globals a day....it was almost like I had to pay the price of gettin the little bit extra evade..like my skills were to far ahead or something...then as the time passed...and at about the time it would have took me to get to the evade I chipped in I was losing...so it seems whether we chip to a skill or unlock a new one..we do pay the price for a bit...till it catches up again..
 
Well he said more volatile, he didn't say worse. You seem to get longer and worse bad runs, and longer and better good runs. If you have a small bankroll that's a bit hard to weather, but it does bring some advantages as it brings more chances for good items and big L drops during the good phases.

Oh ok, I misunderstood that, thanks Jimmy. I've got a few more months to figure out if that's the case and if I want to stick around.

Today I thought the good runs are back again, and maybe they are. I got three globals, but it went like this: 6 no-looters....2 looters (some oils and ammo as usual)...2-5 no-looters...gobal....6 no-looters....2-5 looters....rinse, repeat, but minus the global.

There seem to be alot of no-looters mixed in since a while, even with the Allos, who normally at least give a handful of ammo and oil. :D Argos were especially bad, they looted ok, IF they looted. But I've never seen that many no-looters with them in a row as I did on the 2 argo runs tonight. I got a global on each run, but both runs combined, still a loss. MA's approach, when it comes to loot, sure is whacked to say the least. :laugh:

Overall result tonight: small profit, Allo gave me a 19 PED ESI. :D
 
From my experience on Every unlock (Except kill strike and commando) of mine I have had a lose for 2 weeks or so after it just VERY bad luck..
it usually goes away for me after 2 weeks on a new unlock. Only profitables unlock I had where I've done really well after unlocking were ks and commando.

could be entropia senses all your hunting skills then brings up an average.. and when unlocking ti adds a new skill at 1 so it lowers your average skill?

just a theory..


this is interesting theory and I have to say in my career with pe many times I have felt that my loot was effected by skills, even with teams.. you can be doing good solo or with current team but for example you invite a lower skilled player to team and then loot just go down to nothing...

I do think skills does effect loot... either your very skilled and get alot of loot, or your very new and get great loot, but it seems to be if your in the middle not so hot loot
 
After I passed lvl60 in my best prof stand 2½yrs ago, I began to get
bonusloot after I change rank in two best prof stands.
My cycle gets more and more extreme, sadly more impact down than up. :D
I've now noticed 6 different players chipping (in or out, don't know) who
hurry to crafting directly after, and who get a uber above 2k within
minutes after they chipped. Too many IMO to just be coincedence...
I have both terrible skillgain and loot just before I do a change in my
best two prof stands, I feel this when I'm close with most prof stands,
but it isn't as extreme as with two best.
So yes, I do think skills(prof stands) do have a huge impact in what
happens with our loot...
 
I will be unlocking coolness in the next month or so, I'll use Entropiatracker as an indication of what my loots do. I hope they don't get worse!

But it seems to be that loot cycles are independent of profession, by that I mean that when hunting sucks, mining might not. Or crafting.
Mining used to be my primary activity, but as my claims declined I noticed hunting loot increasing. Since June 1, I have had hunting 15 globals (1456 ped) and mining globals 1 (78 ped) . I admit that I am dropping fewer bombs/probes now, but hunting was clearly better than mining before June 1 also.
I think it differs for every avatar and supports the idea that MA "seeds" your avatar to do better at some activities and worse at others.
 
this game is NOT free at all/... and so forth.

When EU became populair it was one of the very few MMOs out there that was free. These days there must be like a hundret free MMOs for which you don't need to pay a monthly subscription. I could name a couple very good ones but Im propably not allowed to do so on this propaganda forum.
 
after unocking CGA i get my 6780 cumb
 
But it seems to be that loot cycles are independent of profession, by that I mean that when hunting sucks, mining might not. Or crafting.

That's not what I experienced. Last night I used the iron I got off the Argos, bought other needed material from the small profit I made from a 199 PED HOF and went crafting Kilian Swords. I was wondering if my bad weeks are just hooked to hunting. You never know before you try, right?

I got ONE friggin sword out of 15 attempts, and 5 PED worth of residue. That never happened before with those swords, even when my skills and the success bar on the bp was much lower. Normally half of my attempts in the past months were successes. But ONE out of 15? Now that was a first.

So, I don't think that only one profession sucks at a time, I think it's hooked to your avatar if you win or lose, no matter what you are doing.

I'm tempted to deposit a big chunk, only to see what will happen. I assume that it will turn me into the "loot king of the Allo lawn" for a few days. There's a method behind MA's madness....number one method: relying on our madness and stupidity. :D

Thinking of it... I won't flash my credit card, I rather flash my middle finger. :D
 
When EU became populair it was one of the very few MMOs out there that was free. These days there must be like a hundret free MMOs for which you don't need to pay a monthly subscription. I could name a couple very good ones but Im propably not allowed to do so on this propaganda forum.

Not allowed? Doesn't Sweden have "freedom of speech"? When did "naming something" turn into "advertising something"?

I could name a dozen good ones after trying many of those games and virtual worlds for the past year(s).

I'm really wondering how many of the EU player base ever ventured out and looked at other worlds, or even knows other games and vw's. Because if they did, EU maybe would be pretty empty.
 
It's just luck you can notice you have good loot cycles and bad loot cycles. It was a coincidence that you unlocked coolness and got into one of those bad cycles. Maybe you just need to stop hunting in the meantime.
 
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