Too many Landareas?

[JohnCapital]

Some folks have noticed my complaint thread about the lack of DNA for all the LAs. Well, recently I was mentioning to some that FPC has given a ton of LAs as event prizes over the past 3-4 years, as well as sold a few others so I decided to do some math.

Short Version:
On Calypso, there are currently ~140 Land Areas

There are only 96 possible mobs that you can make DNA out of.

• 140 land areas
• 96 possible different DNAs

Long Version:
Here's the math

Land Areas

• Landgrab LAs: 19
• Reg. LAs: 66 (2 of them broke into 3 sections) = 70
• F.O.M.A. domes: 20
• CP: 4
• Emerald Lakes: 1
• Treasure Island: 18
• Medusa: 8

= 140 LAs

If you take all the Calypso mobs, remove all bots and event mobs (Eomon, etc.) you have a total of 96 unique mob DNAs. Even if FPC made DNAs of every single mob on Calypso, there would have to be duplicates of about half the DNAs.

And as we already know, the list of currently available DNA is vastly lower than this.

Now the Landgrab LAs are, for all intents and purposes, dead. This has been admitted when Marco said Landgrab wasn't on their "to do" list any time soon. And perhaps 2 or 3 of Treasure Island's areas can house DNA

But that doesn't alter the math enough to change the problem.

So, gratz to Qetesh for buying Medusa, but I have to say I hope FPC doesn't award or sell any more land for quite some time.

 

[das]

for some reason, this sale seems to smell imo..
So I'll be the first to say it out loud, another place for me to avoid, or make it LA owner
& for some reason I think loot is gonna suck bigtime for a few months

 

[Naifas Anaconda]

Watch the property market bubble just burst . IMHO, all LAs just lost a tremendous amount of value with this sale.

 

[das]

do you really think it only affect land prices.. I seriously doubt this for some reasons

 

[JohnCapital]

This really has nothing to do with the price Medusa went for. The # of LAs and DNAs would be the same even if it went for 2 million.

The whole point is a serious imbalance in the overall LA system.

 

[das]

well, seeing the medusa sale, do you really think MA will be releasing dna soon now?

 

[mczimi]

We need players to buy!!!!

 

[Warpath]

They should do something with bots, like loot parts to assemble a manufacturing station on your land area for colinists to hunt. Might be a stretch to fit it with the storyline, but I'm sure they could come up with something.

 

[Zorander]

They should do something with bots, like loot parts to assemble a manufacturing station on your land area for colinists to hunt. Might be a stretch to fit it with the storyline, but I'm sure they could come up with something.

Because they're so concerned with the story line, lol.

Now... where'd that egg go?

 

[LeWolf86]

Actually I think DNA is what needs to be starting to sold from MA.... or they need an event with a new series of DNA to be released.... currently theres far to many LAs... and releasing more and more isn't doing anything because you get the same shit mobs on each LA... except those that have lucked out with the 1-2 unique ones or super rare ones.


I think if MA started events for DNA or started selling DNA they could make a bit of cash.... We need a variety of DNA, with loot that is actually useful from them....

 

[Bernz]

Yes, I think there are too many Land Areas.

Since the Banks and Malls auctions, MA|FPC started to sell and/or give OLA as reward (approx 10 OLA / year) and they never stopped because they were sold for a lot of money.

This year, the "Big Sale" was suppose to be something special (cant remember where I read it) but in the end, it was again 8-10 OLA. Beside the thing that they sold a bundle of 8 in 1 OLA for the markup of 2 very basic OLA (without DNA, TP, Terminals, Aparts, Shops, mission(s) ect ...), I cant find what was so special about it.

 

[Warpath]

Yes, I think there are too many Land Areas.

Since the Banks and Malls auctions, MA|FPC started to sell and/or give OLA as reward (approx 10 OLA / year) and they never stopped because they were sold for a lot of money.

This year, the "Big Sale" was suppose to be something special (cant remember where I read it) but in the end, it was again 8-10 OLA. Beside the thing that they sold a bundle of 8 in 1 OLA for the markup of 2 very basic OLA (without DNA, TP, Terminals, Aparts, Shops, mission(s) ect ...), I cant find what was so special about it.

yeah Medusa's head didn't really wow me when it was announced. When they announced the CP sale I genuinly got interested and depo'd a lot ( well it was a lot for me, many many times my biggest ever depo) to be part of a group trying to buy it.

It's kind of just a bunch of LA's with 2 dna's it there were more dna's in the package it might have been more exciting. I was kind of hoping there might be a water LA in it with leviathan dna or something.

As it is it kind of reminds me of T.I.'s retarded cousin - looks similar, but it's not all there.

 

[Charlie Gloom]

More dna is needed, but dna in loot does not make fpc any direct quick money. As it is looted not bought directly from them off auction.

The idea land areas did not fall in loot or prizes for events only, but instead selling through auction shows there greed for money. I am also expecting bad loot for sometime once again

 

[Zorander]

More dna is needed, but dna in loot does not make fpc any direct quick money. As it is looted not bought directly from them off auction.

The idea land areas did not fall in loot or prizes for events only, but instead selling through auction shows there greed for money. I am also expecting bad loot for sometime once again

They could probably get away with selling some DNA's just as they sell land areas though. And even if the just put them in loot it still gets people that might not hunt out there looking, so they do make a bit more. I think DNA parts or whole DNA as rewards for events (MM?) is a pretty good idea.

 

[Lavawalker]

Add 8 more LAs that sold for 3.5k each, wowsers

 

[rhogenbe]

It just shows there is to small a player base if the player base can organize itself so that it outsmarts FPC/MA.

Due to the small player base there are to few people willing to do risky investments. So the few who do are smart enough to join up the forces and create a monopoly where they can dictate the market.

I think FPC/MA made more money with Merry Mayhem then with the Medusa auction.

It is time for them to evaluate how they can get a bigger ACTIVE player base. Because that is what is needed.
Bigger ACTIVE player base means higher in game economy. Which means there will be more business opportunities. Which in turn draws the investors they are hoping for.

Cheers
Siam

 

[Terminator]

For sure there is a loss of interest and/or confidence from players, but 300K for 8 LA is really too small price.

I'm sure there is a secret arrangement.
Allainces on LG, MM, Medusa, it seems MA should worry...

 

[LeWolf86]

Probably terminator... but as someone above said... other then the fact that the smaller (noober) userbase cant participate effectively in most events and they cant afford any big purchase items you reduce these things to the mid->uber player base.... even mid player base cant afford big purchase items... which gets left to ubers.... theres not a lot of ubers out there and they all know each other... they can organize and do what they did like today.

In MM its mid->ubers that once again organize with each other and win the prizes because they use their connections and skills and items.

The player base is small.... no matter what people want to believe... look at entropia tracker and you can get an idea of the general player base, and considering many people perform multiple professions... we can see the player base is very small.... I think the game needs to somehow do a big promotion and it needs to change its system so that theres less ATHs (as it should be something fkin special not so often) and then spread out loot better, and stop doing as many big rewards. I think most people would be happy with less hofs and more globals.... to much PED drainage to soon does not make any new player feel like this game is great....

I think all the planet partners will continue to rip people away from calypso... and spread out the player base far to much.


Anyways I dont know, I haven't been in this game long enough to know if this has happened before or what not... or if its just another circle of the sky is falling worry that I sometimes get from things happening .

 

[Alice]

tbh, i think that there are too many LAs for several reasons, DNA not being the main problem really

for once, there are just so many players, of which most actively avoid (!) going to taxed LAs
secondly, even though FPC/MA often enough removes, changes, reduces - in short nerfs- mob spawns so that the LA owner (partially if which the LA didnt exist before, see Proterons), there are still enough options to hunt mobs outside LAs, which is preferred by most i guess

third and lastly, i wouldn't be too surprised if the LAs are actually one of the reasons of the low loot, which got worse and worse overtime (that there came more and more LAs at the time may be coincidence though)
but think about it, what were the figures?
CND brought its spent money back after a year? so MA got $X and they were removed (i doubt here ND left it all ingame) 1 year after
twin mall price was brought back with the shop sales and likely taken out immediately too, so that was +x-x=0 in a few days probaly

but even if not, LAs are likely bought for profit to take cash -out- of the game, not necessarily to spent it ingame and thus keep it in the loop (or loot pool, or whatever)
and i hardly doubt that this keeps loot at the same level or even improves it

but thats just an opinion, who knows

 

[remontoire]

Some folks have noticed my complaint thread about the lack of DNA for all the LAs. Well, recently I was mentioning to some that FPC has given a ton of LAs as event prizes over the past 3-4 years, as well as sold a few others so I decided to do some math.

Really? Lets look at what the people who have bought Land areas and CND domes have done with DNA - they have by and large destroyed it. So why should FPC listen to us "whiners" saying that there should be more DNA when the actions of those that could use it say they don't want it?

If and when there is a land grab, I fully expect the DNA in the awarded LAs to get destroyed, if it is destroyable and it all converted to mining LAs. I also expect more LA owners to have native spawns destroyed and FPC to have a couple of more mobs stop spawning over the next 12 months.

 

[rhogenbe]

DNA of mobs that are not unique and are also available in the wild seem to make most of the times less money then turning it into a pure mining LA. With the big mining amps the domes on a lot of LA's make more money from mining then they do from hunting tax.

So for the LA owners it is simple math. The DNA causes losses so they remove it. Especially since ores/enmatter spawn for free. There is no fertilizer needed.

Cheers
Siam

 

[sky west]

Due to the small player base there are to few people willing to do risky investments. So the few who do are smart enough to join up the forces and create a monopoly where they can dictate the market.

'And you are going to hunt in MY LA!!! Right now mister, move it'

 

[remontoire]

DNA of mobs that are not unique and are also available in the wild seem to make most of the times less money then turning it into a pure mining LA. With the big mining amps the domes on a lot of LA's make more money from mining then they do from hunting tax.

So for the LA owners it is simple math. The DNA causes losses so they remove it. Especially since ores/enmatter spawn for free. There is no fertilizer needed.

Cheers
Siam

Mining on a LA that not just takes a percentage of your finds away but also doesn't also give anything special in return, except possibly slightly flatter land is just plain daft. And thats how over half of the "mining" LA-s can be described. Going to a LA and giving away part of your returns has to actually give you something in return. "No mobs" on its own is not a benefit enough to go to mine in a LA and never will be. If anything, "some mobs" is a benefit, as it will keep other green dots away.

Really - why pay for better weapons and other items that have higher prices due to miners using large amps in taxed LAs if in turn, there will not be exciting mobs for me to hunt? I can just as well hunt and mine on Eudoria, use whatever is the best that gets looted from mobs, and take the extra armor decay I get - it is going to be far cheaper than paying LA tax anyways. Paying extra should give me something extra in return. The majority of LAs are failing really bad at this, or really, going to an effort of making me not want to go there.

 

[remontoire]

The player base is small.... no matter what people want to believe... look at entropia tracker and you can get an idea of the general player base, and considering many people perform multiple professions... we can see the player base is very small.... I think the game needs to somehow do a big promotion and it needs to change its system so that theres less ATHs (as it should be something fkin special not so often) and then spread out loot better, and stop doing as many big rewards. I think most people would be happy with less hofs and more globals.... to much PED drainage to soon does not make any new player feel like this game is great....

You know, people stopping this stupid shit of counting achievement or number of "active" participants in terms of globals would be a good start to actually having more players that bothered to play more.

 

[JohnCapital]

Maybe I'm just misreading, but it seems a few of the responders here are completely misunderstanding what I was saying in the OP.

 

[mastermesh]

Maybe I'm just misreading, but it seems a few of the responders here are completely misunderstanding what I was saying in the OP.

You are right, there's not enough participants or dna for as many LAs as there are...

HOWEVER, on the other hand, not every spec of land in game in the Participant owned continent of Amethera is broken up in to LAs yet. That entire continent should be like real world continents where every inch of the land is owned by someone... but it's not like that yet... They should make it like that...

Make each inch of every continent a participant owned location. Release every estate that is not participant owned yet to the participants... There's still lots of shops here in Omegaton that no one has ever owned. Actually the estate terminals weren't even there until earlier this year. Some of the estate terminals don't even show the estate broker as owner because they are so new. Clicking on them brings up an error message...

FPC should collect money only on the decay costs, not off of taxes on places they own like Genesis, Sakura, etc. Sell off those places to participants. Sell off the sub-estates there too, and/or include it in the master sell in a similar way that Medusa and CP were sold off.

They should make the entire map a participant owned place where anywhere you go is owned by someone like it is in the real world. Give all avatars a chance to own a piece of the pie, not just those willing to spend mega bucks or team up in groups in order to do that.

Then property values will be more close to matching real world economics sort of. It's not fair right now in this regard because no one knows exactly where the cap is that will be 100% of all estates... They should set the size of the map to be a certain size and leave it alone by making it possible to get from the left side of the map to the right side of the map... able to walk around the entire planet from one side to the other like the real world globe... but they don't do that because they keep wanting to throw more pixels down as a new continent the next year....

Even though Medusa allows us to now travel from Amethera to Eudoria, there's still locations North and South of that corridor that are not available yet. Try swimming or TP jumping from PA straight west to get to the North of Medusa and you'll find the server border. There should be no server borders with no part of the map like that... You should be able to go from any direction in a straight line and end up back where you were if you go far enough around the globe, just like in real world.

making it possible to essentially "create money" out of thin air by opening a new server every year with a new continent... they don't have a max on the total amount of property on the planet yet, but should...

Once they start doing that and sell off every blasted part of the map, and make it possible to travel the entire world north to south, east to west and get back to where you started by making one line they might be getting somewhere... instead up til now it's been lets make new LA, new astroid, new continent over and over and over, similar to the way a forger might say let's print this 20 dollar bill today, a 50 dollar bill tomorrow, and a few hundred dollar bills next month...

If it's a real cash economy, make it more like the actual real cash economy as far as estates are concerned. You don't see a new state being added to the US every year any more. That's because in the real world we don't just keep adding more land where there was none. That's because in real life there's only so much actual real estate that exists... Once all the frontiers are claimed the only option is to buy them off of the current owners or subdivide. So far in game we have not reached that point as new LAs are created on the fly and entire new continents are too...

As far as DNA goes, they should make it possible to pull the DNA out of the LA and reuse it elsewhere. The system now that exists where once DNA is used it's gone for good is silly. The whole process of using DNA in game is similar to cloning in real life. IRL you create clone by making a copy, not by taking the original and destroying it for good forever...

The problem of being able to add infinite amounts of LAs, infinite amounts of continents, etc. is only going to continue to get worse as more planet partners enter the picture... unless there is a predifined amount of Land on any planet, which can only be done by making the entire planet exist when it's created, able to be traversed from north to south, east to west, around the entire globe. Then if teraforming of certain areas is done, fine, no problem... but to just continually allow new continents, along with infinite amounts of LAs and other sub-properties on those locations just pop in to essence at any given time makes the "real" in the "real estate" in game not be real at all and really makes the "real" in the "real cash economy" not be real at all.

 

[Dab]

Maybe I'm just misreading, but it seems a few of the responders here are completely misunderstanding what I was saying in the OP.

I think people understood, but there is no arguing with the facts you've presented. So they drift.

The solution might be new mobs and new DNA. Maybe that will be the next sale/prizes we see.

Main problem with new mobs is that they need new items/loot tables to make them mean anything. This world already has too many items which are too similar to each other and they can't possibly balance the economy (crafting materials) correctly, so a dilemna.

I think a totally new class of items would be a possible solution, but that would require a new system/skillset from MA (a long time ago I suggested chemistry in the wishlist forum, it could be this or something else). They need to re-ignite people's desire to actually do something in the game. New skills with everyone starting out at 0 would give new players a lot of incentive rather than competing with people they can never catch up with in other areas. Granted existing players would have an advantage still since some current skills would effect the new profession levels.

Putting out more of the same mob types with new skins and stats won't do much to help. FPC will have big competition coming from the new planets and they had better get it together now. 40 Peds won't stop any of the depositing players from immigrating.

I drifted.

 

[Charlie Gloom]

maybe the implementation of banning people with 2 avatars not approved by MA, will start to take effect soon?

 

[remontoire]

The solution might be new mobs and new DNA. Maybe that will be the next sale/prizes we see.

Main problem with new mobs is that they need new items/loot tables to make them mean anything. This world already has too many items which are too similar to each other and they can't possibly balance the economy (crafting materials) correctly, so a dilemna.

No. We should get DNA for many of the old mobs first. Does not really matter if this is sold by 'Marcus Callender' or if these come from mobs themselves. There may be more LAs than mobs could supply with DNA, but as things stand, a lot of the mobs do not have DNA in the first place. There should be more than 2x the variety of DNA available given the numbers of LAs. There isn't, and that blows.

 

[mastermesh]

maybe the implementation of banning people with 2 avatars not approved by MA, will start to take effect soon?

Not likely to happen UNLESS there's more support tickets about multiple avatars being sent in then just the few that I personally have sent in over the last few months. If the community does not care, they don't care... if no one sends in support tickets, they assume no one cares. If only a small handful of folks send in support tickets, they really don't seem to care much either as it's a minority issue, and the majority rules. I think their stance is that if no one complains there are no problems - carry on as usual.

I, and several others have tried raising the issues about multiple avatars, but it seems every time we do the community sends out the message that they don't give a darn... and the support tickets simply say the issues get forwarded on to other departments, but there's never any further clarification about what that other department is doing about anything, of if that other department isn't merely Department 13, keeper of file 13, in the bottom of the nearest trash bin.