MindArk faild - A Rant

Hi all,
i am in EU for some Years now. When i was noob there were stories about "vehicles soon", "Mindforce update" ... i got the idea of a dynamicly growing Virtual World with many possibilitys. A world to explore and conquer.

Today i still see a game, as its has been for Years. There were basicly NO improvements. Sure, we got Displays for Personal Content, Limited items and some new tools and recources. But thats it.
Personal Content (PC) is more or less totaly nerfd. I made animations, pictures and other things for PC and sell them. They sell somewhat, lets say.. ok. But the big drawback is the high TT value and upload cost. To upload my "Fishtank with RipperSnapper" i paid more than 1.2k PED. Each display has a TT of more than 380PED. Hello!?
Personal Content could have been:
- a Radio for listening to music of your fav. Internet Radio Station.
- Displays which can hold a basic Website, so people can interact with the content
- a Message Board or even a "mail me Display"; people could wirte a message which will be mailed at your email account.
All that is not very hard to program. But even the most basic function we have with PC is not good because MA thought its a good idea to take ridiculous Fees and TT values. They Faild.

Pets! What a nice idea. Be a tamer, train pets and mybe sell them! Yeah, right, nice idea.... Pets are usless since Years.
- Pets could act as "Container" for Miners or Hunters so they could drop loot into them.
- Pets could be trained to do the looting for you...
- Ride your Pet!
- Crafter could make saddles and other stuff
- Pets could produce "Dung" which could be sold
....thats so basic, i really can´t understand why MA failed to make this for YEARS now. MindForce does not work in V10, but you can ride your pet! Now that would have been a sweeter start to VU10.

Mindforce - be a modern Wizard, use the technology and your imagination to alter space and time! Beside Teleporting Mindforce is useless. Ok, if you have loads of skills and a very good healchip.. that might be usefull too...
There is so many "Wizard stuff" in other games, look there if you need an idea what MA could have done. A few things i would wish would be:
- "Semi TP" - You TP into a location but do not materialize.. you have a timeframe where you could run at the new location and show up there or dissabord the TPing.
- Be invisble for a few minutes, to Mobs and other players
- Be protected for a few seconds for 100%
That hard to implement?

Professions: There are Professions? Yes, mining, crafing/tailoring and hunting. You have to be a Top end crafter to survive. If you are a Top end crafter, you can craft all. No specialization needed. This kills this profession and brings it down to a few people.
Mining, oh well, yes.. you can use strategy - and you should do! High skills do not really matter An unlimited Amp is worth more than any skills beside a list of good locations. The rest of the people can mine TT foot.
Hunting, a big gamble if you on not own gear worth a top end car and skills worth a house and you are lucky. For the rest it is reduced to be lucky. As side profession you migh wanna be a PKer and make some PED in PVP...

Oh, you can be a Spaceship Captain too. Standing around all day, bring people to your spaceship, get them on FL, tell them to sit down and Press a button. If you don´t get *cked by a bug - repeat that task.

What about:
- Framer, has some land and grows Fruits
- Forrest owner, has some land and collects Wood
- Tamer (look above)
- Mechanic, repair others Gear in the Field - maybe even repair L up a few %
- Diversification in Crafting: Craft tools, components, weapons ect. But if you reach a certain lvl you can´t progress in the other crafting professions anymore.
- Pacifist Trader - trade with Feffs, Umbras and other freaks. You might buy stuff which went to the TT for 101%-105% if you like, but never ever shoot one of them. Get missions or Tips from them and sell them to other players (Like beacons but with a goal)
- Plant Grower: Grows plants and flowers as decoration for others homes. Remember to water your plants altast once a week or you will need a new one!
.... write down you own idea... thing is MA totaly Failed to improve the idea of Professions or Jobs totaly. Its the same for years now and everything but NOT dynamic. If players start to be dynamic on their own, well look at the Banking - you might not be allowed to do it.

Vehicles?
! I want to ride my bicycle i want to ride my bike... Hello MA? Where is the problem? Did we need Mulums and other human looking Mobs to kill or will you introduce someting new one day???? Beside its promised since years. And don´t forget that a system of Vehicls could bring some nice profressions and jobs. Rent a "Car", take the Bus or go on Safari. Repair the Vehicles or build them. Make them L but repairable for a limited time as well...

Last thing (even i could get on and on for hours):
Locks on Items, maybe one of the best examples how blind and ignorat MA is.
People want locks on items so they don´t TT them by accident. If you have a weapon with an Amp attached you can´t TT it. There is a "Standard Locks" as BP if i remember right. Where is the problem making it possible to attach that componet to any item so it can´t be sold to the TT? One more Colum in the DB? "Remove Lock" as menu beside the remove attachemnt? Big FAIL again MA!

Look how ridiculous the SGA event is: I looted 5 Stink Tree Paintings so far from Ambu. FTW.. why isn´t there at last a new Picture in the loot????? Whats wrong with you MA?

I am not surprised that there are so few people online after the update. It was no update... its just the same files in a new format.
Beside Planet Calypso - do you really think the new planet will be much different beside items have an other look and you will need everything tiwce? Like "Time Crystals" instead of TP chips

Dont worry. I didnt get any SGA items either. And I probably wont get any.

If you think the game and MA are that bad why play?

the game sucks that's why a lot of peopl actually don't whine anymore and stopped playing....

Maybe a bit depressing, this post... but still...

Great ideas! I am sure MA could greatly improve gameplay by introducing new stuff. And the ME question....

Also, I search for new ways to play not putting money into the game. Blackhawk was musing about guns without ammo, getting no loot... just for fun... things like that!!

sob said:

Dont worry. I didnt get any SGA items either. And I probably wont get any.

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Its not about getting a SGA item.. i will continue hunting Ambus.. maybe i am lucky. I only mentioned SGA items because MA seem to think its sufficent to get back just the old stuff into loot with some new stats. There is no heart in the SGA. Nothing where i could say: Oh, what a sweet idea.. or "a nice picture of whatever". Just loads of Stinktree Paintings.

kintoo said:

If you think the game and MA are that bad why play?

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He didn't say the game is bad. What he did say is that contentwise MA has been in idlemode for ages, and I fully agree with him there.
Much more could have been done with no extraordinary effort, and so many things have been discussed over and over and over again with no result. The game could be a lot more interesting and retain many more people for much longer if there were some new real features implemented over the time.

+rep to the OP not only for giving constructive feedback, but also putting in own ideas.

you know those guys that like to do stuff and have lots of ideas to build new projects then get bored and never finish any of them?

Thats MA, they always come up with new stuff but usuany never finish it unless it involves ripping of alot of money from up (Decay on cloths and armors when you equip them)

I wrote MA a suggestion to implement fishing as a new skill or farming also but I don't see it so far in VU 10...maybe in the future?Many other online games have fishing as a skill.

Many valid points and good suggestions

+rep

Robin said:

I wrote MA a suggestion to implement fishing as a new skill or farming also but I don't see it so far in VU 10...maybe in the future?Many other online games have fishing as a skill.

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You are not the only one who did write this to MA. And all those ideas i listed have been suggest to MA either by others and/or by myself..
.. maybe in the future.. thats the key. How i see it the future was 1 or 2 years ago... MA had loads of time to atlast do one thing! One!!! They did nothing of what everyone is asking for since years!

Bear said:

Its not about getting a SGA item.. i will continue hunting Ambus.. maybe i am lucky. I only mentioned SGA items because MA seem to think its sufficent to get back just the old stuff into loot with some new stats. There is no heart in the SGA. Nothing where i could say: Oh, what a sweet idea.. or "a nice picture of whatever". Just loads of Stinktree Paintings.

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It's actually a good management tactic that when you cannot supply something someone wants give them something else they didn't want that is shiney to distract them. Only lasts so long though

Theres always hope that the new planetpartners will be a little more efficient than MA/FPC has proven to be. I have big hopes for that and wish they come online very very soon

they made the "make up" system.......
don't tell me that u don't want to put some powder or lipstick or eye shadow before u go for hunting........

they have no clue at all about what the players really want.....

Don't worry. This will all be addressed in the post 10.2 roadmap.

strakkan said:

Theres always hope that the new planetpartners will be a little more efficient than MA/FPC has proven to be. I have big hopes for that and wish they come online very very soon

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They are not allowed to change the gamemechanics. They can only make eye-candy like other Terrain and models/animations for weapons, armor, mobs .....

As I see it, there are two major problems with EU/MA/FPC going forward in the long term.

First, MA/FPC have avoided too much player-created content. I think this is a problem. If they are clever they can get players to (a) create graphics for mobs, (b) create quests, (c) create new land terrain, all for free - and then MA/FPC just check it at the end to sign it off. Players already do most of the marketing for EU and some of us would be happy to develop for them for free given an interface.

Second, Blizarrd/WoW has 2500 employees (if someone knows the exact number please post) and MA has..... being very generous..... less than 100. So things will not happen as fast in EU as in WoW.

Forrest

PS Just to expand my idea about players creating quests.... I have been thinking about this for a number of years.... MA should create a quest-building interface for players to create quests. (Basically just a room designer and a mob locator.) That way a player can create a quest for free for MA. MA, or some kind of player questmaster "signs it off" and it then goes live. Every time an avatar starts that quest the designer gets say 1 ped. The quest system itself would be totally optional to players to take part in, so just a bit of fun, like a beacon mission. Taking hunting quests (as most would be hunting related I assume), the only factor would be your HP and evader/dodger. Every avatar enters the quest in their pants and then is given a set of equipment, guns, armor, fap, which they use. e.g. So a noob can do the first few quests but cannot do the harder ones because the mobs are hitting for 50 through his armor and his fap heals for 15. An uber can do this quest no problems because the mobs hit him less and he has enough total HP to soak up the hits.

Hi Bear,

I feel your pain after i red your ambu thread

And the content well...
I guess you should not expect anything like this happening in the years comming. I joined 2007 and the only real change i saw was the mobs health regeneration to generate more income.
Dont be naive. You wont get that content you like.
Kill - loot - go on. Click - loot - go on. Dropp - loot - go on.
Its all about money. Thats what makes the "game" running. And thats as well the reason why most people play in here. Forget all the crap like "having friends,fun... etc. " "RCE" is the magic word

I fear if you really want amazing "content" you have to look elsewhere for it.

Viel Glück mit den Ambus

I cant hunt worth shit without my AC VU's have been getting stabler and one last thing

MA DID SOME SERIOUSLY HARDCORE TECHNICALLY DIFFICULT stuff implementing cry2

so all those point still do not negate the cry2 into a FAIL

This is not a plea to leave or a whining thread. MA is one of the luckiest companies in the world in that their consumers desperately want to interact with them and give them new ideas and are incredibly forgiving.

The reality is that with the new model it appears that each planet partner must now stand or fall on their own. Calypso will be judged by the others and indeed the other MMO's currently out there.

This basic abuse of a customer base can only go on so long - the "field of dreams" approach can only last so long !

Bear said:

They are not allowed to change the gamemechanics. They can only make eye-candy like other Terrain and models/animations for weapons, armor, mobs .....

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And you know this how?

I only se FPC as a user of a system that MA provides? Surely another company can choose to use this system in anyway they please ?

strakkan said:

And you know this how?

I only se FPC as a user of a system that MA provides? Surely another company can choose to use this system in anyway they please ?

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Yes, exactly...the system MA provides. And what MA provides is what you see on Calypso... and someone who must know told me so..

Kygon: Sure it was a hard task and lots of work for MA to change to Cryengine2. Took them a while and i don´t wanna know what those people of Crytek think about MA...

Beside choosing to get a new gameeninge - what did MA improved over the last 4 years? Improved in the sence of gameplay?

ALEXANDER said:

the game sucks that's why a lot of peopl actually don't whine anymore and stopped playing....

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Anyone have the intelligence to work out that many people haven't logged on yet untill their systems are uppgraded to handle VU10 ?

Bear said:

Yes, exactly...the system MA provides. And what MA provides is what you see on Calypso... and someone who must know told me so..

Kygon: Sure it was a hard task and lots of work for MA to change to Cryengine2. Took them a while and i don´t wanna know what those people of Crytek think about MA...

Beside choosing to get a new gameeninge - what did MA improved over the last 4 years? Improved in the sence of gameplay?

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Yeah too I read that somewhere official. MA's "platform" system is going to stay the same (gameplay mechanics/loot system, whatever you want to label it), and the new planets, just as Planet Calypso has been, will be built up around that foundation.
All just variations on a theme. MA's Rob-You-Blind theme.

IMO yeah the new planets will be a curiosity spot to visit, but I doubt they retain many committed participants at all unless MA sheds their greedy ways. You can roll a turd in powdered sugar all you want but it still ain't gonna be a doughnut.

An excellent post, expressing almost exactly how I feel after 6,5 years of PROJECT Entropia.

I do understand that the migration to CE2 was a time-consuming and costly operation. But on the otherhand the development of content never has been MA/FPCs strongest part. It's very double and often very frustrating that's for sure .

HAHA
Just hold your breath and hope that they won't:
1. Stop dropping items including (L) in the loot, because crafters dont get enough!
2. Make auction fees 10% to help mall/shop owners be more competetive
3. Remove all good mobs outside land areas and fill empty space with merps, diripis, mermoth and such
4. Set yellow weight level to 60! for realism sake, make us run two times slower again, to help them sell riding pets/vehicles in future you will have to have to retain the old speed
5. Do something about the weapon amps abuse, like giving levels to amps.
6. Multiply the uber loots value by 2, divide average loot value by 3
and so on

Patience Grasshopper.

<removed...>

Pham said:

HAHA
Just hold your breath and hope that they won't:
1. Stop dropping items including (L) in the loot, because crafters dont get enough!
2. Make auction fees 10% to help mall/shop owners be more competetive
3. Remove all good mobs outside land areas and fill empty space with merps, diripis, mermoth and such
4. Set yellow weight level to 60! for realism sake, make us run two times slower again, to help them sell riding pets/vehicles in future you will have to have to retain the old speed
5. Do something about the weapon amps abuse, like giving levels to amps.
6. Multiply the uber loots value by 2, divide average loot value by 3
and so on

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Hey how'd you get hold of their Roadmap for the Future??

Not to mention the promised "factories" in the Entropian magazine and the vision of making Hadesheim a usable city.

Hahaha that one kind of went bang didnt it