Some queries from a potential investor

Divinity

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With CP i had myself been a big advocate of buying the shares and had told everyone i knew in game who asked to buy as much as they can and which most people did.

However, with the AG shares, it is very difficult to make anything out without getting some relevant details. As MA is seeking investors, I am sure answer to these questions will help provide more clarity to the investors and help make the sale a success.

Questions

1. As the Gorgon Armor seems to be the central item of interest which will bring people from across the universe, it would make sense to provide more information about how these armors can be obtained. The stats are genuinely awesome but

a. Will they be tradeable?
b. What will be the cost of making them ( in terms of tt value leaving aside the drop rate)
c. Drop rate of components I am pretty sure you cannot tell us but how about relatively rarity of getting the various sets.

2. Revenue is generated from all activity within the designated server area of Ancient Greece.
100% of share revenue is paid as dividends to shareholders.
Share revenue represents 50% of Next Island’s planet partner revenue for all activity on Ancient Greece.
Seems a bit confusing as from what i remember for people from other planets, 50% goes to base planet of origin , 25% to MA and 25% to destination planet. ( I do not remember the 50/25/25 distribution very clearly so there is scope of some error there). So from that 25% basically, the shares will get 12.5% of the activity in AG distributed is my current understanding.

a. Am i in the ballpark of being correct?
b. The above shows the focus of PP's as initially imagined was to bring new players into EU. How does NI plan to do that? Is any part of the 750k usd for marketing/advertising EU ??


3. AG is not new to the game. In fact the first time around it had a lot of activity surrounding the archon and philosopher blueprints and a lot of grinders in game were there. Considering this can we not get some form of ROI calculation based on past results? I mean it was generating a good bit of income and why was that value not provided to give perspective to the 750k usd valuation of shares? If the above data can be provided it would be great for everyone. It had a lot of bottlenecks like no TP etc so we will understand how to calculate based on renewed mechanics and effort but something to begin with would be nice.

4. Is the area going to be taxed? From the data so far it looks like the shares will be part of the PP revenue/profit model and not a taxed area. Am i correct in my assumption of the same? Please clarify

5. Is there a scope for NI to be moved closer to Calypso? Personally, I do not think this will happen as that would be pretty unfair to PP's like Toulan . Alternately, as i had suggested long back, make Calypso at the center perhaps so that every other PP has equal leverage in terms of traveling to and fro from the hub.

6. Lastly, but most importantly what is the timeline for implementation of the

a. Gorgon Armor Upgrade chain.
b. 8 new and completely reworked creatures.
c. 2 complex mission chains containing treasure hunts, kill-point missions, crafting objectives, mining runs, and in-depth storyline.
d. 21 new blueprints unique to the theme of Ancient Greece
 
Very good points were raised. We need more information about AG to make a solid decision. Otherwise I just feel like an angel investor going off a hunch... Which I'm not a fan of becoming.
 
Will the damn time crystal blueprints that are used to create now useless items since travel to ag no longer requires them be made to have a purpose? Back during the craft event I crafted on secret island, which is on next island and the BP for this dropped more than welding wire does elsewhere ... either give some new use like ingredients to do armor upgrade or reactive the cost to enter ag.
 
Thank you Divinity for well raised points. Seems to me like they are making the Wolf of the wall street strategy. Sell all cheap and let them beg for returns. AMD are not even close to be sold out since like 100k were sold since lol pet was out and most of ppl thought they will be rich buying it (not to consider we have no news about how many are left to be bought), and they released a new type of shares.

The only thing that crosses my mind is the one that "Lets sale shares for Calypso, we still tax it, they buy it, but we sold it (huh we still own it, they think they do). Its like selling O2 in a forrest."

When share holders own something they can vote what happens with their property. Calypso owners cant do that which means they dont really own calypso.
 
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In addition to the excellent points raised by Divinity, I'd like to point out that if the strategy is not to bring in new players and increase the global turnover, this is going to be a zero-sum game.

As a consequence, any temporary increase in activity on AG, to generate payoff and attention to sell shares, will come to the detriment of other deeds' shareholders.

I haven't seen any data pointing to an increase in marketing expenditures, either by MA or PP, resulting in a meaningful influx of additional players. If you look at the number of active players on EL, granted far from accurate, it has been stable between 3k and 4k (hunters) for several years.

In general, any new issue of shares should only come with or aim for a substantial increase in the player base or else it would just amount to an old "pump and dump" strategy and I am not sure that's what the game needs after Compet and Moon Deeds.
 
I'm surprised you think it's even worth the effort to ask these questions.
 
CP shares were a slam dunk...
Next Island with the vague information is not so much a slam dunk.

Sure, 10 ped a share sounds attractive. However, I feel like NI will turn out to be like the ark moon deeds that are still struggling to sell in full.

There needs to be more information given. A time line on when things like the armor and upgrade parts will drop.

Mind ark has a long history of getting investments first by selling on big promises... and then once they have the money taking their sweet time implementing promises. Stables, cargo missions and statues come to mind.....

Please provide more info MA.
 
CP shares were a slam dunk...
Next Island with the vague information is not so much a slam dunk.

Sure, 10 ped a share sounds attractive. However, I feel like NI will turn out to be like the ark moon deeds that are still struggling to sell in full.

There needs to be more information given. A time line on when things like the armor and upgrade parts will drop.

Mind ark has a long history of getting investments first by selling on big promises... and then once they have the money taking their sweet time implementing promises. Stables, cargo missions and statues come to mind.....

Please provide more info MA.

Yeah and that's exactly the point Jade. You ask for more info, and then if you get it, will you believe it?

Imagine if MA gives out all the info, i.e. when the armor upgrade mission items will start dropping, what the PP will do/invest exactly to bring new players, et... It will still just be a bunch of promises...

I bought a Land Plot based on promises almost 5 years ago now and still nothing but a small snug I can build on it... Poeple bought Motherships even longer then that, based on promises of transport missions and other things...

Even with more info from MA, buyer beware.
 
Valid points :)
 
I bought a Land Plot based on promises almost 5 years ago now and still nothing but a small snug I can build on it... Poeple bought Motherships even longer then that, based on promises of transport missions and other things...

Even with more info from MA, buyer beware.

and it took them 2 years to deliver 4 simple statues, even tho they received 2k$ for them.

i'm not holding my breath anymore, sorry, and chances i buy anything undelivered/unfinished again are close to zero.

good luck with the sales. :D
 
Very good points were raised. We need more information about AG to make a solid decision. Otherwise I just feel like an angel investor going off a hunch... Which I'm not a fan of becoming.

Agreed and thank you.

Will the damn time crystal blueprints that are used to create now useless items since travel to ag no longer requires them be made to have a purpose? Back during the craft event I crafted on secret island, which is on next island and the BP for this dropped more than welding wire does elsewhere ... either give some new use like ingredients to do armor upgrade or reactive the cost to enter ag.

Thats from a bygone days and besides nostalgia and personal outlook this has no consequence in my honest opinion.

PS: I have the blueprints and quite a few crystals myself.

Thank you Divinity for well raised points. Seems to me like they are making the Wolf of the wall street strategy. Sell all cheap and let them beg for returns. AMD are not even close to be sold out since like 100k were sold since lol pet was out and most of ppl thought they will be rich buying it (not to consider we have no news about how many are left to be bought), and they released a new type of shares.

The only thing that crosses my mind is the one that "Lets sale shares for Calypso, we still tax it, they buy it, but we sold it (huh we still own it, they think they do). Its like selling O2 in a forrest."

When share holders own something they can vote what happens with their property. Calypso owners cant do that which means they dont really own calypso.

Few things to note

1. AMD was with real cash, this is not.

2. CLD already has provided huge benefits to all CLD owners which is very obviously seen by the markup which is currently 2.2x since the release. I know people with 500+ CLD's and none of them are complaining about the voting bit not being implemented. So besides finger pointing if we look at the bigger picture everyone is extremely happy with CLD's. Also digitial ownership is a very fickle subject and there are way too many loop holes. Being a CLD owner qualifies you for a share of the profit and not ownership rights by any measure.

In addition to the excellent points raised by Divinity, I'd like to point out that if the strategy is not to bring in new players and increase the global turnover, this is going to be a zero-sum game.

As a consequence, any temporary increase in activity on AG, to generate payoff and attention to sell shares, will come to the detriment of other deeds' shareholders.

I haven't seen any data pointing to an increase in marketing expenditures, either by MA or PP, resulting in a meaningful influx of additional players. If you look at the number of active players on EL, granted far from accurate, it has been stable between 3k and 4k (hunters) for several years.

In general, any new issue of shares should only come with or aim for a substantial increase in the player base or else it would just amount to an old "pump and dump" strategy and I am not sure that's what the game needs after Compet and Moon Deeds.


This is in a general sense the whole issue with PP model itself. Personally if you ask me, MA tried to go the PP way and walk out of Calypso but with the Calypso sale failing the whole PP model is redundant and a bottleneck for the whole game. There is much that can be written on that but i'll save it for another time.


I'm surprised you think it's even worth the effort to ask these questions.

At the end of the day, I want MA to survive. For that to happen they need to put their best foot forward. As some of us have been around for more years then most of MA employees, I think at times we can put a perspective which they might not have thought of.

Hence the effort in helping them make EU better so everyone can have a better experience with it.

CP shares were a slam dunk...
Next Island with the vague information is not so much a slam dunk.

Sure, 10 ped a share sounds attractive. However, I feel like NI will turn out to be like the ark moon deeds that are still struggling to sell in full.

There needs to be more information given. A time line on when things like the armor and upgrade parts will drop.

Mind ark has a long history of getting investments first by selling on big promises... and then once they have the money taking their sweet time implementing promises. Stables, cargo missions and statues come to mind.....

Please provide more info MA.

Agreed and while most of these were made by earlier management, the new one has to bear the baggage of it as well. Hence its important for them to be clear in there agenda as they have been with there AMA.

They were clear on there commitments and so far I have not seen another period in which MA have held to there commitments like the current management. As such I have a bit more faith in them then i had in previous managements. That said for people to feel safe, they will need more data points some of which MA can easily provide in my opinion.

Yeah and that's exactly the point Jade. You ask for more info, and then if you get it, will you believe it?

Imagine if MA gives out all the info, i.e. when the armor upgrade mission items will start dropping, what the PP will do/invest exactly to bring new players, et... It will still just be a bunch of promises...

If you believe in nothing that MA has to say, then personally I would ask what are you doing here to begin with? The day i lose complete faith in MA is the day i will cashout of EU.


Valid points :)

Thank You

and it took them 2 years to deliver 4 simple statues, even tho they received 2k$ for them.

i'm not holding my breath anymore, sorry, and chances i buy anything undelivered/unfinished again are close to zero.

good luck with the sales. :D


What you guys are forgetting is MA is Mindark but its the employees who are making commitments and the ones who have made most of the failed commitments are not here. The current bunch does not commit to anything very fast ( from AMA they refused to commit to space etc) and to the things they do, they follow through.

I personally think a lot of this blind hate needs to be tempered with first understanding the realities of how companies and organisations functions.

Back on subject, we are waiting for more data from you Mindark.

Cheers,

Divinity
 
Thats from a bygone days and besides nostalgia and personal outlook this has no consequence in my honest opinion.

PS: I have the blueprints and quite a few crystals myself.
It's not nostalgia if the BP still drops like rain keeping other more useful things from dropping especially with the most recent vu crafting changes. Especially if mindark wants more avatars on next island and Greece full time..
 
It's not nostalgia if the BP still drops like rain keeping other more useful things from dropping especially with the most recent vu crafting changes. Especially if mindark wants more avatars on next island and Greece full time..

We still haven't heard if it is actually MA who will want that. There is a team that so far seems to have the same comms disease as MA. No dates announced, but the mobs and possibly mission chains seem to be there as there are a few videos of them.

And when I look at the (in theory) independent developers around, they are saying in release notes about 'having' to work on codex instead of what they actually would be doing otherwise.

Anyway, to the point: I have been very happy with CLDs, fairly happy with AUDs and pretty happy with CP shares, except that payouts keep changing their format back and forth and I'm beginning to think the payouts are not correct (again). We know about ComPet, and so far the Moon deeds, which appear not to have sold out even with that pet being thrown in for a big purchase. I saw quite a lot of notifications of them dropping, so ok, but what now? For an area which is quite a lot further down the track and really close to the popular planet of Arkadia, it's not really moving along, even if they had their first payout of 2 pecs ever today, I believe.

This simply doesn't make me confident about AG. Another massive problem with the universe as it is seems to be that if more than a couple of people discover an advantage, the market cannot handle it and the advantage is beaten down by the competition to 'not worth it' status again. More and more players seem to be on 'quests' to chase down the 'action' - NI isn't going to develop good and stable turnover like that, but I also doubt that massively long and 'secret?' mission chains will keep people attracted either (except some addicts maybe, but that is also not something I aim to be invested in...).

I'd put in a picture of a motorway built into the desert and suddenly ending at this point, but I don't want to drive the point home... I'll settle for that little pun instead.

More info and a destination we want to visit please!
 
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