Donald's Diary

Introduction: My name is Donald and I am new to the EU. After reading some of the diaries posted here, namely goldpython's and lyyke's, I have decided to begin my own. As for the diaries I have been reading, I have not read them to completion- infact I don't think that is possible since they are on-going. I am more interested in others EU experiences than I am the consequences of their recent divorce or newly acquired black belt. Forgive me but that's the truth of it. In my journal I shall restrict myself to EU experiences. Who I am in real life is of no importance to any who happen to read this.

My first impression of the -oh dear, can I please say 'game'- game is 'interesting'. I spent my first few days collecting animal secretions which I sold for the sum of 12 PED. Like many, I was disappointed to find that the offered price of 1.2 per bottle was in PEC not PED. I suppose I ought to have asked first. In any case, I got my 12 PED and immediately bought a Solomate Opalo. Since then I have whacked two creatures in the area just south of PA. I can't recall what sort of creatures they were, or why the needed whacking. Possibly I hoped they would be chock full of gold nuggets or something else worthwhile. So, having depleted my ammo and encurring wear-and-tear on the old Opalo, I received nothing in return. And the animals shortly disappeared rendering them unfit as food. A bitter experience indeed; I have holstered the arms for now.

This is my take on the whole deposit/don't deposit controversy:
At the present time I am not planning to deposit any funds into my EU account. That's not to say I never will, just not now. I feel that, as in the real world, there is actual value to hard work. My 'deposit' is my labour, my time, the sweat of my own brow. If I spend 2 or 3 days gathering perspiration, then selling the gatherings to another in the EU, that person spent the equivalent of real life money. So I am helping the economy from MA's perspective. If player A takes a good bit of time to hunt for fruit or dung, then turns around and sells it to player B, it is absolutely necessary that player B have the funds to buy said fruit or dung. So even we lowly ones who do not choose to deposit immediately, are helping MA in it's quest for solvancy. Also, I am 99.99% certain that I will shortly be making some deposits of my own.

I choose to engage in activities in the EU (notice how studiously I am avoiding the use of the G-word) because it was a not-too-hard sell to the missus who loathes mmorpgs. So far I have not found there to be any mysticism or demonism, witchcraft or the like, which we would both be opposed to- and best of ALL, IT'S FREE! "Why, my dear, the prospects for making a fortune are limitless..."

Now on with the diary. Thanks to all who have stayed with me until now.

Sincerely,
Donald

Dear Diary,

I discovered a new game recently, called Entropia Universe. The publishers want for it not to be called a game, but to be thought of as an alternate universe. I shall try to comport myself in harmony with their desires and refer to it as the EU as much as possible. In the EU, I am a displaced Englishman, trying to find my fortune. It's not easy!

To begin with, I found the character customization process absolutely dreadful. No matter how I tried or how long I played with the 'controls' I still ended up looking horrid. Should you run into me in the EU, please try to focus on the person I am inside and not on my countenance. I do have very pretty red hair and green eyes, a highly favored combination. That is the only good news. Other than that I am plain, a homely gent, in an orange jumpsuit which is totally lacking in style. I am about as conspicuous in it as a knight in his knickers.

For brevity, I will combine the details of my first few days. Initially I was hellbent on using the 3rd person point of view. After reading several posts in the 'newbie' section of the EU forum, and being goaded into switching to 1st person, I decided to keep a stiff upper lip and remain in 3rd person. This turned out to be a huge mistake and I nearly quit. Navigation was a nightmare; I hated the EU. Finally I got wise and switched to 1st person. This is the way to go. Now that I have acclimated myself to it, I love it beyond imagining. I have such a feeling of power now that I am in control. Also, toggling between cursor modes, using the spacebar, is entirely intuitive now. I am aces!

For the first few days, working out of Port Atlantis, I focussed on collecting perspiration from the various wildlife forms in the area. I actually found the process to be interesting and gradually achieved a degree of skill. Listen, I have learned a few things. It is not necessary to sweat the same beast you concentrated on. If a beast is in motion but nearby I use it for concentration. This works and the beast runs off and gets killed or something. Then I spot another beast fairly close by and sweat 'em! It is even possible to run a long distance post-concentration, and sweat an entirely different animal. Sometimes, if the creature is still, it might be possible to go through the concentration/sweating process multiple times. Once the process begins to pay off, it might work 2 or 3 times before the creature either moves or drys up. I earned 1030 sweat in the first 2 days. This I promptly sold for 12 PED. I believe I could have done better in the transaction but I was nervous, and excited and settled quickly.

Still in the region south of PA, I made my first two kills. Word of advice, on using a Solomate Opalo, be certain to be at maximum health. You will most likely be charged and will need all your strength to endure the attack while you counter. As stated in my Introduction, I gained nothing from either creature. I see this as a waste of time and precious resources. I will hang on to the equipment but refrain from any more hunting for the time being. I would so love to find a clothing store with some nice economical clothing. I want to shed this ghastly orange... PM me if you know a place.

I am not willing to immediately start back to gathering secretions. I will get back on track shortly but first I have other interests. Currently I am in the midst of a 'World Tour'. As I progress I find new Teleporters and these are added to my map. At the present time I have 3 TPs and numerous Outposts registered. My present position is vertically just south, and horizontally central to the northernmost coastline. My goal is to reach the NE tip of the current map by tonight. Travel-by-Death! It is the only way to make good time on Calypso. Each time I advance quite some distance, I ultimately get set upon by the local fauna and revive in a position in advance of my place of dying. This is not so bad since there are no repercussions to death! Unlike in the real world, death can be a friend in the EU. I must ask, will there ever be a downside to dying? Currently my gear takes no damage and I do not lose my possessions. I suffer no reduction in skills or levels. Does this ever change in more advanced phases of the EU? PM me if you know the answer.

As of now I am just about due west of what looks to be a volcano. I want to check it out but am guessing it will be rife with all sorts of viscious lifeforms. Maybe I will press on to the NE tip and then make the jaunt to over there. Let's see what happens. I have heard about a city at the NE tip of the continent- El Dorado! I hope it is real and that I can find it....

This concludes my thoughts and experiences up to last night. My Diary, I will keep you updated as time goes by. Stay tuned, as the saying goes....

Sincerely,
Donald

My Travels Updated

Dear Diary,

I have concluded the initial phase of my 'World Tour' tonight. So far I have visited, in alphabetical order, Atlas Island South, Fort Fury, Fort Ithaca, Fort Zeus, Othos West Mound and Port Atlantis. My wandering has taken me from south to north right up the middle of the map. I have been to the NE corner, where I did find a city, Fort Zeus- not El Dorado, as I had hoped. Still it was a welcome sight when I arrived. This was the very first TP that I arrived at intact, walking on my own as it were, rather than by arriving on the 'Resurrection Gurney', as is my usual tactic.

Leaving Ft. Zeus I TPed to Orthos and began walking in a NW direction. I chose this direction because the landscape looked intriguing. I could make out a round clearing in what appeared to be a dense wood. So that green clearing became my next destination. This proved challenging as all sorts of very nasty creatures were lurking in the woods, waiting for me. I hit upon a plan. If I walked just E of Othos I would come to a river running N and S. I stayed on the river bank walking N as much as possible. When animals appeared too close for comfort, I swam out into the middle of the stream and continued. There is no limit to my stamina on this planet. I only wish it had been that way on Shadowbane. But that's another story for another day.

I wish I knew how to capture images. I have seen such sights and wonders that put a lump in my throat. Say what you will, we are truely blessed to live in such a marvelous place in such a wondrous time. If I learn how to take snaps, I will begin including them in this journal. On my way to what turned out to be Fort Ithaca I came over a small mound. Below me stretched a valley, lush and green, as far as I could see. There were animals dotting the landscape as well. I made it through the wilderness. Somehow I made it through. Occasionally I would spot hunters running about and firing at things. I hope they all made out alright and returned home safely.

In the interests of time, I must needs wrap this up. Just a brief note. After a short visit to Ft. Ithaca, I opted to head due west and look for another TP site. I barely left town when I was murdered by a Drone Generation 01. More than anything else, this put the fear in me. Maybe because it looked so human at a distance. I even approached although the map showed it as a red dot. Misplaced trust. All that looks human is not necessarily. At this unfortunate incident, I made a quick decision to return to Port Atlantis. Somehow, it has already become 'Home' to me. The rest of tonight I have spent in 'sweating' the local unfortunate creatures in the wood to the southeast of there. I don't suppose it hurts them, does it? I mean, causes pain? I hope not.

I currently have in my possession 11 dung (oh goody), 31 fruit of the type Bombardo, and 237 sweat. I have become accustomed to saying 'sweat'. I wonder what other standards of speech and habit will shortly fall away... One last thing then off to bed. I have been tired of the orange jumper since I arrived. So today I squandered the last remaining PED I had and bought a Pioneer Harness. It really wasn't a very satisfying exchange at any level. I still look beggarly, and I have tested it against Torps. They still do the same amount of damage. I don't suppose MA has any sort of returns policy.... no, of course not. Oh well....

Good night, m'Luv,

Yours,
Donald

"What a difference a deposit makes..."

Dear Diary,

Yesterday was a red-letter day for me. I made my first deposit and gained a mentor. But before I go into that, let me violate one of my own principles. I want to talk, ever so briefly, about some real life issues, which do relate to the EU.

My wife and I are in our fifties and each have 3 children, 2 girls and 1 boy, from previous marriages. Our children are all grown and have offspring of their own. So we are also very proud grandparents. My children have little interest in internet gaming, and my wife abhors it. It is clearly a tool of the devil. Right. I am mostly with her on this point. In my previous game-existance I was a female, nephilim, mage, wizard.... and as we know, the nephilim are hybrid offspring of demons and women. Under well-deserved fire from the entire family, I left off playing Shadowbane altogether, and began my quest for a replacement. In an obscure forum somewhere, I came across mention of Project Entropia. "If you have $50 to throw away, invest in this monstrousity of a game! You'll rue the day you were born!" How could I not look into EU, with such a ringing endorsement.

So I am now Donald Cleveland. Visiting the EU whenever the wife is out, or when she is busy elsewhere in our home. If I happen to excuse myself and log-off quickly, it is because I am trying to maintain the balance. I walk a fine line... Sometimes she (Madeleine, my spouse) will walk up and just stare into the monitor as if trying to see what is not there. Listen, truthfully, I do not smoke, drink alcoholic beverages, gamble, use swear words, or pursue the ladies... It's all true. I do love Internet gaming, although I tend to not get too deep into the social aspects of it. I just wish I could indulge in my one great fault without being made to feel so dirty. Right.

Thank you for letting me rant.

On with the show!
Yesterday I made two very important decisions. First, I decided to become a tailor. Perhaps not the smartest of moves considering the uncertainty surrounding that occupation now that the latest update has been released. There is a controversy regarding the pricing of the fab, new styles just released. I will procede with skilling up the tailoring trade until I see how that shakes out. Not too worried about it though.... I'm sure MA knows what they are doing. My other big decision was to find a suitable mentor. I posted on the EF and received a number of responses in short order. The hardest part was choosing. From the initial offers, they all sounded well-qualified and sincere. As soon as I was able, I logged in and went to the TP in PA. Immediately I spotted she who was to become my mentor. I will not name her incase she would prefer her anonymity. I might release her name later though upon her approval.

I usually don't pursue the social side of Internet gaming, prefering others to be there just for the ambience. I cannot play a solo, PC-based game any more. It has to be a universe populated by real people, even if I rarely speak to them. Am I mad? I certainly hope not; it's just how I've grown to be. Now fancy me having a mentor who is, of all things, a female. Not only in-universe but in life! I can't tell you how awkward those first few moments were. I stood there, with the silliest avatar you've ever seen, just digging my foot into the ground and avoiding all eye-contact. I hope my discomfort wasn't too obvious. She had more class and dignity than me and so we eventually got the show on the road, so to speak.

Since my goal is to be a tailor, she bestowed upon me two kinds of leather, regular and fine, as well as some wool. She gave me a blueprint for making shoes as well. And she led me to a 'Technician'. Here is where I could purchase a blueprint book, as well as additional blueprints should I so desire. I wanted more, so I bought the basic pant and shirt blueprints too. Did I mention I made the initial deposit of $10? So I had some capital at my disposal.

After this, I asked if she could lead me to Camp Phoenix, and she said she would. Along the way we did some hunting. I was extremely bad at this, at first. "Did I shoot you? Sorry!" I only had 28 unspent cartridges and these went very quickly. Also, I was unaware that there was an auto-run option in the first person view. My new-found companion quickly taught me how to do the auto-run, and how to stop as well. I have to laugh. At first I could run but not stop. We had reached Camp Phoenix and I was jogging in circles growing rather weary. At my request she gave me the magic key-combination that brought me to a halt. Thank you, Ms. X!!

By this time, it was 9 pm cst, and time for bed. I thanked her for her efforts and logged off. I neglected to mention, on our initial visit she loaned me a fap (which I, as of yet, possess) and bought me 10k rounds of ammunition! She would not accept payment for this! More than anything, this is why I will not release her name. I imagine she might be subject to all sorts of harassment if word of her generous nature got out. I do have a hard time accepting gifts. With as much grace as I can muster, I will say once again, Thank you! ...and I hope she will not hesitate to tell me what thing I can do to help her.

On a side-note, I found a great EU guide, compiled by one Sir Odd. It is in the form of a 55-page pdf file (horrid format! pdf that is) and is quite useful. It was this guide that tipped me off to the prospect of tailoring. Was unaware of that profession until I read about it in this guide. Dear Diary, should you ever want to see a copy of it, PM me and I will get it too you.

Must go for now. I am in the office and duty calls. As a side-line to tailoring and hunting, I also work as a data-analyst for a large hospital system in Texas. So, it's back to squinting at numbers, and producing graphs and charts for me! Cheers!

Donald

P.S. Upon review, my current submission seems extremely negative regarding the missus and me. I did not mean to convey the impression that I am unhappy with any aspect our relationship, except where gaming is concerned. Other than this, she is my friend and companion, and one great love! There are some things that we have to accept and in this case, I accept that she and I will never see eye-to-eye on this issue. With all that, she is the best person I have ever known. Have I made my feelings clear on this? I do hope so. The picture was taken on our latest Carribbean cruise last month. In December we will be sharing a berth on the Queen Mary 2.

Dear Diary,

Life in the EU is becoming more and more interesting. I fear there will soon be no limit to how much time I spend here, or how much cash.... I activated my CC this morning. Please do not relay this news to the missus.

Yesterday I bought a Gootz refining machine, and a colourizer. I refined the materials, which Mynx (my mentor!) gave me, into usable materials. After this, I proceded to make some shoes! Silly me, standing there proudly looking at the new pair of shoes I had produced. The value was 2.25 ped out of a possible 5. I know the sensible thing would have been to TT the new shoes and get the 2.25 ped. But I am serious about learning the ways of the EU, so... I went to the Auctioneer and immediately put them up for bid. Thanks to my experience with another very popular auctioning system (...starts with an 'e'...) I set the initial price at below their current value. I did this to prompt potential buyers to bid. "ahh... those are worth 2.25 ped.... I shall bid 1." This morning there is a single bid for 1 ped. I set the duration for 7 days, so let's see what happens, shall we? I believe the auctioning of various goods will become a point of keen interest for me, having done so well with that other system...

I need more regular leather to continue producing shoes and raising my tailoring skills. So, I am spending most of my time now in Camp Phoenix. I have not found it to be as over-crowded as was initially reported. There are people there, but not huge hoards of them. And those I have found tend to be an intelligent and friendly sort. It is a good place to practice sweating, and hunting. I'm going to regret this. Sometimes I practice 'sweating' while hunting! Hah! If you get my meaning.... Right. That was a bad move- oh well, not much of a reputation so far. I'm sure it can't hurt me....much.

I am getting better at hunting. I am trying to perfect the art of backing away from the prey while shooting. My main purpose in hunting is to get materials for tailoring. So far I have acquired several pieces of Snablesnot skin. I have the occasional odd can of paint, as well. It seems I always get a different colour. One of each. It would be nice if they came all in blue or green, or whatever. But as luck would have it, I have a single can of yellow, blue, green... really... Is that necessary? I'm only kidding. "It's all good." I will just stockpile these items until I have usable quantities. I bought a colourizer along with the refiner, so it's just a matter of time until I can produce a nicely coloured pair of shoes. I wonder what those are worth.

A side note: I got 4 ped for one 'kill' this morning. I know that is not much, forty cents American, but still it was quite nice to see the glint of gold in my loot rather than the silver I have become accustomed to.

There is a TP run scheduled for Saturday. I am not clear on the time, 22:00 MA time. I am in Texas, so I am still trying to determine when that actually is. What is MA time? Stockholm? Dear Diary, please PM me with this if you know. I am hoping to make this run. I think it will be a grand adventure, especially if it is mostly newcomers. I can see us all now, arms flailing wildly as we run in terror from a viscious gang of Torps. -perhaps shooting each other along the way... Now that's my kind of fun. The plan is to spread this event out over a period of several days, Saturdays, and gain at least 4 TPs each day. It is my hope to participate in it from start to finish. This TP run is the brainchild of AndyZammy, of the society Jurai Blood. Whether or not I am able to fully participate, I wish him success.

One last thing, and then I must get to work: I joined a society today. I am now a proud member of the 'Entropia Gaurdians'! tada! I rather like the name. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think? I was unaware that Entropia needed gaurding, but apparently it does, and we are the chaps to do it! I really don't know much about the society yet. I was killing a small but particularly nasty creature at the TP in Camp Phoenix when up pops this little chat box. It was some bloke offering to let me join his soc. I ignored it once, responded No, the next time, and accepted on the 3rd go. I have a good feeling about this group. I think it is going to be alright. In any case, I will keep you posted. As I like to say, Let's see what happens!

Goodbye for now,
Donald

Papa has a new pair of shoes- almost

Dear Diary,

Well, this is embarrassing to say the least. I really have nothing new to report. I've been visiting the EU as much as possible since our last correspondance. The good news is that I am getting quite comfortable there. I am now very familiar with the basics of how things work. The bad news, as far as this journal is concerned, is that I have also fallen into a routine, so I don't have a lot of news. Let me see what I can tell you that might be the least bit interesting...

I am still associating with the crowd at Camp Phoenix. Ever since my mentor showed me the place, I have been staying in that area. My hunting skills are much improved and I am showing a good profit as a result. I've had some nice drops. Some gear dropped which was worth a bit of PED. The odd part is, sometimes when I am hunting things get so hectic that I do not actually examine the 'loot' until later. I discovered some advanced sort of rifle, a power-fist and some armor in my inventory. I don't even know which kill produced these items- perhaps it was the result of several kills. At any rate, I examined the items carefully and determined that the cost of repairing would be prohibitive. I would need to repair and then sell the items at their full market value. I opted for the cheap and easy way out- I TTed them as is. So from my initial deposit of $10, which resulted in about 96 peds, I now have about 108 peds. This is not as good as it looks...

The reason things are not as rosy as they seem, although good and certainly to my satisfaction at the present time, is that my mentor, on our first outing, gave me 10k rounds of ammo! Think of that for a moment. Someone I do not know, a total stranger bestowed me with a gift of what is worth slightly over $10 in real life. True, I did ask her to purchase some ammo for me. On our initial trek to CP we stopped as she needed to return to PA for certain items. After she left, I gave a shout out to her, requesting some ammo, since I had already fully spent the 28 rounds I had in my possession. Here, I am awaiting her return in anticipation of being handed 100 or 200 cartridges. When she placed 10k rounds in my mitts, I nearly soiled myself. "My Lady, I cannot accept this. I do not have the funds with which to pay you." She remained steadfast, and the ammo remained in my pouch. So, when I contemplate my healthy bottom-line, it is with the knowledge that my 'loot', which is the cause of my current financial well-being, is the result of many kills, which without ammo would not have occurred, and the ammo was a gift.

Diary, I would that Mynx should know:

By Grabthar's hammer, by the sons of Worvan, you shall be repaid!

True, the community centered around Camp Phoenix is an amiable crowd. I have met some nice folks, and had some satisfying interactions there. One thing I enjoy doing although I do not know for certain if it is recognized and appreciated, is leading animals to the TP for sweating. Then while others are sweating whatever unfortunate creature I have misled, I am alternately taking potshots at it, to have it's attention, and running circles around the others as they work out their extractions. I am ever diligent in that I do not run between them and their target. Occasionally I will maintain some distance or alternately 'tank' the damage and test to see if the beast is still in production mode. If it is beyond use, I take it out with the old Opalo. So this is a win-win situation. God-forbid anyone think I would dispatch the beast while they are still capable of milking it. Yes, "Milking it", is a much nicer term than "sweating". Less accurate but nicer, in the same way that "Hyperactive" is nicer than "Rowdy".

Speaking of community, I am also enjoying our community in the EF. Since while at work I am not yet able to visit the EU, I spend as much time in the Forums as possible. I hope to determine the proper method for burning my Entropia Universe folder to multiple CDs. Unfortunately the Windows OS does not recognize a CD burner as a legitimate backup unit. So I cannot do a proper backup of the folder. I am toying with the idea of splitting the folder out into various units of the proper size to fit, one per CD. This will be a long and difficult process and I haven't had time yet, since I am always in the EU when I am at the Vaio. I sit, I log on, I visit the EU. Maybe I will get to the back up process over the weekend. I hope so, really I do....

My sincere apologies to Mynx and anyone else who may have been offended by my 'cat picture'. I kluged that together by means of my fav graphics program, Paint. It is distributed freely with the Windows OS and I am aces with it. The elderly gent in the picture really is me. I can prove it... no I can't, but it is me. I found that cat picture on the internet in doing a Google Image search under 'Cat'. It had a certain charm, an appeal, so I excised my new little feline friend from his source, and named him Fluffy. I hope you can see the humour in it; it makes me laugh each time I look at it. Also, I have a series of photos of different people or locations wherein Fluffy makes an appearance.

Well, I will leave off this pointless ramble. I have received notice that certain of my fellow citizens are actually reading my letters to you, Diary. I want to give them a nod and say Thanks. I sincerely hope I will have something more exciting to report shortly. How's this: I have acquired the proper materials in the correct amounts and will be producing my second pair of shoes tonight! I will undoubtedly tt this pair, but I hope to receive some sort of skill increase- or am I pushing it? And again I must ask, if I have been producing shoes, rather than a Tailor, should I not be considered a Cobbler? Peachy!

All my love to you and yours,
Donald

P.S. I have located Billy's Spaceship Afterlife! Right. Just thought you should know.

Of Chirpies and Men

Dear Diary,

Yesterday was the big event I had been waiting for, the TP run! It went smoothly, I suppose. We got off to a later than expected start but that was fine. Mrs. Cleveland was away, at the shopping mall, so I had plenty of time. We met up at the Biodome in Port Atlantis. It was a fair size crowd- not sure of the exact number. There I was met by Mynx, my mentor. She gave me a full set of pixie armor, as a loan from her husband, Gryff. I must say, this armor makes a huge difference in my safety. I used to take quite a beating from the Berclyds, but today they scarely make a dent when attacking. But I digress...

In a little while Gryff himself showed up and we chatted for a bit. Then it was time to run. I would like to state that I knew this trip would be all old news to me. We did not cover any new ground, and I didn't think we would. I wanted to go mostly as a show of support, and for the fun of it. I was not disappointed as to that aspect. There's nothing like being part of a great crowd participating in a group activity.

We covered Billy's, Camp Phoenix and one other place... dear me, I can't remember the name but it is a little SW of CP. I am referring to that large bombed out shell of a city- you know the one. At that point the leader excused himself, stating that he needed to log off. I attributed that to our late start. I was actually thrilled that I had been able to make it, due to my own weekend schedule. As it is, I promised to take the missus to dinner tonight, by way of compromise. Not exactly a hardship, since I am very fond of eating...

Whether I attend any subsequent runs will depend heavily on the distribution of the 'loot', the timeliness and amount. I imagine others feel the same way. This event has a lot of promise; I hope it isn't spoiled.

Another matter of interest to me, and has been since I entered the EU, is that of exploration. I simply love it. I have added 3 new TPs to my list. The new entries are Strength Keep (not a TP but absolutely fascinating place none-the-less), Ft. Troy, Twin Peaks and Nymphtown. Nymphtown was not exactly what I had been hoping for. It's rather ordinary, actually.... I was trying to set a TP as close to the Oil Rig as possible. I haven't seen that place yet; I may go there yet today, since the missus is working and I have a long afternoon ahead of me.

After reaching Nymphtown I decided to just go to Camp Phoenix for a while and alternately milk and kill the animals there. So far so good. The milking has been less than satisfctory but the 'loot' is nice. Also, due to the abundance of visitors in the CP area, I am not working just there, but all around. Someone named Baby was spamming the local chat, and someone named Mad was hurling insults at Baby. It was amusing for a few minutes then I left. I only wish I could have got a screenshot of the place! Those green milking-rays were going all over, in a crazy fashion! It was very funny to see!

One last thing: I don't know if I have gained the admiration and/or respect of any who reads you, Diary. If so, I am about to lose it now. Lately, out of boredom, I have begun hunting Chirpies. Sad but true. I have located a place where chirpies exist in great abundance. They actually can be milked with some results, but their real value comes in watching them disintegrate in a burst of feathers. I've never been a hunter per se. It's not my cup of tea. But lately, when I'm starting to get bored, I go to the area just NE of Atlas, and harass the little birdies there. I know I shouldn't have said, but there it is...

I will close for now.

Yours Most Sincerely,
Donald

Monday's Log - Part I

Dear Diary,

I have so much to tell you, I scarcely know where to begin. First, as you are aware, I have a sideline to my Tailoring/Hunting professions. I work as a data-analyst at a large local Hospital. I have only just now, notified the chief of my unit, that I will be staying home today. I live in, what we like to call, "The Allergy Capital of the World"! Splendid situation, that! My watery eyes, runny nose, raw throat and burning ears, all allow me to report with 100% accuracy, that I am too done in to perform my secular duties for the day. Perhaps it will be a different story tomorrow, but for now, I will sit here, hanky in hand, and enjoy some uninterrupted time in the EU. Now, on to other matters....

Yesterday began with me in the middle of nowhere- literally! According to the map, I was at verticle center and directly above Twin Peaks. So, if you have the map handy you should be able to pinpoint my location. And as usual, as is my want, I was pursuing an aimless course in search of heaven-knows-what. Just the other day, on one such ramble, I came across the Strength Keep Castle, and had a look. As I went through the castle, room by room, floor by floor, I constantly expected to be challenged by a guard or at the very least, the concierge. I had a very real sense of invading someone elses space. I know now that this is a tourist hotspot and open to all. But initially it all seemed so personal and cosy. I think it is here for the purpose of showing what can be done in EU given the necessary capital and desire.

Yesterday my wanderings led me to an evil place. A small red triangle began flashing on my HUD. I quickly read the message waiting and was informed that I had entered a contaminated zone. If I proceded in the present direction, I would be overcome and die an instant but not painless death. Well, it didn't really say all that, but my pulse was pounding and my imagination injected a few thoughts of it's own. It did plainly state that in the contaminated zone others could kill me (I thought I would die in an instant anyway?) and loot my corpse. Naturally I was anxious to leave the area. Unfortunately I did not read the message the very instant it came, and so I could only guess which was the best direction to back-track. In avoiding dangerous animals I often change direction and skirt around them, resuming my original course once it is safe. So I had to guess which direction to retreat to. But it all worked out. Sadly, there is no corresponding message notifying you when you are safe once more. I had to surmise...

Eventually I was killed. Alright, I was killed repeatedly. Spare me no humiliation! I was killed by a wide assortment of beasts. I was killed equally well and often by many generations of drones, 01 through 04. They no longer terrify me as their lasers kill cleanly and without mess, unlike the 'being mauled and torn asunder death' I've endured many times at the paws of the organic creatures. I was even killed by a strange sort of humanoid female creature. Perhaps you know the ones. They are colourless and nude. Their faces are not pretty- beastly looking things- and they attack in pairs. I wish I could have gotten the names of these beings. Are they human? Are they mutants? Why are they without clothing? (Just a thought, could they represent a potential market for a tailor?)

The longshot of it is, I was revived in an Outpost, on the map, just south of a large sandy desert. I had received a message from my mentor, who informed me that she has made me some clothes. Three shirts, three pair of trousers and a pair of shoes. Although a constant check of my Friends List revealed that she was not available, I wanted to be sure to be near a teleporter when she did arrive so we could meet up. That being the case, it was absolutlely necessary that I find a teleporter. This was not going to be easy from this location. Truthfully, no matter which direction I went, there was something waiting to kill me. At one time I ran into a miner named CPtain. He was a most pleasant chap and offered to lead me part of the way to safety. We ran, me following him, him shielding me from danger. Eventually he stopped and said, "Right. Now just turn S from here and you should be fine." He healed me, shook my hand and off I went. As I looked back from a good distance I saw him planting a charge of some sort. Miners and their blasting! I wonder do they ever have a mishap...

Running S for a few minutes I felt new hope brimming in my soul. Then it happened. A large and nasty pair of Bercylids attacked me from out of nowhere. Mind you, this was a large pair. I forget the exact designation- Patrons? Is that it? I'm not sure but I am fairly sure it started with a 'P'. No, not Professionals! That would be.... nevermind! So they killed me and I revived right back where I met CPtain, that same Outpost. Coming round, I couldn't help but notice a woman standing in the room, facing me. "So, you died? I felt CPtain turned you loose a bit too early."

"I just want to get home...."

"Where is your home?", she asked. The question caught me off guard. I don't really have a home in the EU yet. So I replied, "Just anywhere NOT here! I desparately need to reach a teleporter."

"Give me a moment to sort some things out and I will see you safely to Fort Pandora. My name is Cat."

I introduced myself and let her know how very much I appreciated her kindness. At this point I received word that my missus was 'very tired and needed to sleep'. Why did I bring that up? Well, I saw Cat as my one best chance to leave this place. If I let slip this opportunity who knows when I might get another offer of safe conduct. So I messaged back my wife wishing her a Goodnight, and remained in my position at the Vaio. "I will check on you soon!" I promised. It has been a habit of mine to see that she has a fresh glass of cool water at the bedside ab initio. On our honeymoon she had a nagging cough, so I fetched her a drink. As true as it is written, what habits you start on that merry occasion really do last a lifetime. So as I waited for Cat to lead me out my thoughts were fixed on the missus and her lack of water... Do I or don't I? The question was answered when Cat announced, "Ready!" and off we went.

We formed a team and did a little hunting along the way. Whether it was her superior knowledge of the area, or something else I can't say, but we did not encounter a single truely deadly beast all the way to Fort Pandora. We shot at little crawly things- oh dear, if I am to continue doing this journal, I am going to have to get better at recording the names of things. "Large dinosaur-looking thing", "Pale nude women", "little crawly things"- just won't do for future postings.

We ran over clean yellow sands, a desert of Arrakean proportions, for ever so long. Running through the desert, and trying to be descret, I had to ask, "Are we there yet?" from time to time. I didn't want to let on that I needed to be elsewhere. How can I ask her, who is being so kind as to save my life, to please allow me to sit down for a moment. I kept thinking about a glass of cool water. I didn't say anything. It would seem the height of ingratitude to have asked her to wait. Also, my grandson needed to pee. He's still quite young and under my care. Well, he made it. He held on, so to speak... And we arrived in Fort Pandora at last!

At this point I quickly thanked Cat for all I was worth. Then I sat down to attend those other issues. The last time I saw her, in what I took to be a full set of Nemesis armor, she was laughing and waving.

"Goodbye!"

[End Part I]

Monday's Log - Part 2

As soon as I was able I teleported to Fort Ithaca. I cannot state with certainty why I choose that place. I just wanted to be out of this current area, where I had suffered so much humiliation and defeat. I usually avoid Port Atlantis these days, as it seems to be over-crowded. So I went to Fort Ithaca. From there I considered the map. Where to head next? I would not let myself get too far from a teleporter this time, since I was still on the watch for Mynx. I was jazzed about getting some new togs and out of the newbie-orange I had come to hate. At least the Pixie-armor, on loan from Gryffon, helped hide the fact that I am still a newbie. But I wanted proper clothing! So I decided to visit New Oxford.

Ah...! the City of New Oxford! At last I feel at home. Having found you, I may never leave. I wonder, what are the rents up to in these parts? "Sweetums, we are moving!"

I shrugged off the swiss cheese effect of teleporting and looked around. Which way do I go? In one direction was some sort of market center, a long avenue led off in another, and behind me I spotted a large structure, like a covered bridge made of stone. I opted to go that way. Here is a photograph...


The PvP Area

I ran to the bridge and began crossing. A few steps along the way and I received a message to the effect, "You have entered a Player versus Player zone. You may leave now, but will still be open to hostilities for up to 30 seconds" I fairly moon-walked out of there! I am no fan of PvP. My idea of PvP is to run screaming in the opposite direction. I am a tailor; the gun is just for show more than anything. So I backed out and hid in a tight corner of the bridge abutment. Here I am holding all the procedes of my hunt with Cat. Plus I have many other good things that I would have hated to lose. I am not one to complain but telling someone after the fact, that they are now in PvP, is really too late, in my book. Fortunately no one was interesting in PKing me and the timer ran out soon enough.

My next point of interest became the Market. I am eager to acquire a full set of Rascal armor, per instructions from my mentor. She gave me several choices of armor for someone with my physique and means. So I decided on the Rascal armor. I think the name also suits my personality. Don't you agree? First things first, I always say, so I made another deposit. Next I headed to the auctioneer to see what she might have for me. I sorted by items, armor and scanned the listing for Rascal in each category. Eventually I was able to find a decent item in each. I did not immediately bid on every piece I found. Some were over-priced and almost worthless. No one needs to get 'ripped off' in the Auctions. All the information you need is plainly visible- just look at it. When an item of interest is listed, give it a double-click and a more detailed description will appear. This shows the actual condition and worth of the item on auction. It might be worthwhile to buy something damaged at a good price and pay for the repairs; it might be better to let it pass. Is there a point of no return where fixing is concerned? Dear Diary, you are so wise. Please let me know.

In fairly short order I had a bid on a full set of armor. Since then I have been outbid on most of it. I will wait nearer the end of the remaining 2 days to see what it gets up to. Maybe I will snipe it in the very last second, or maybe I will let it go and solicit the armor from street vendors. It's hard to say at this point, really. Let's see what happens...

Leaving the market, I just roamed around the streets of New Oxford. I entered the Art Gallery and browsed the paintings. It's quite lovely and free, open to the general public. I strongly suggest going there, if you have not yet done so. I took a photo of one of the works, "Lost in a Cradle of Grief" by Mark Kostabi. This lovely is going for a mere 5043 peds. Tempting as it is, this was just one of many beautiful pieces in the gallery. Again I say, go there if you have any interest in art. It is worth a look.


A Sample of Original Art

Eventually I found my way to Billton Towers I, and took the lift to the 7th floor.


Billton Towers

There is a little balcony that you can walk out on and admire the view.



This is where I want to live. I wonder how one goes about that? I have manipulated the little real estate terminal but I don't really understand how to go about renting a place. Once again, some help would be nice. I do confess to having a feeling... a feeling of hopelessness, of utter despair. How can someone on my salary ever afford digs in the Billton Towers? I should probably give it up, and head back to that outpost. Live out my days, chatting with others who are cut from the same cloth. "Good day Guv'nor! Gonna give the beasties a run for their money? Right, off with you now!"

At this precise moment, I received word, "Mynx has entered the Entropia Universe". So I hailed her postehaste and we made arrangments to meet at the teleporter in NO. I was very proud to be able to say, "Yes, I am currently in New Oxford, the Billton Towers I, 7th floor." I wanted to impress her with my worldly-wisdom. Not entirely certain that that worked, but I did get the clothes. Unfortunately, I needed to leave almost immediately. We had only just enough time to make the exchange and say Goodnight. Madeleine and I have taken on caring for my 3 year old grandson, while my daughter works. So for this first week of her on-the-job training, I need to pick her up at 10:30 pm local time and take her home. It's nice having children. At 25, 27 and 28 years of age, mine are practically all grown up and on their own. Practically...

Diary, I really must go now. I am ill and not getting better. I shall end this and go medicate myself. Then it's back to the EU and the wonders that await me there!

Sincerely,
Donald

P.S. Here are a few more images for you. Oh, and I took all these photos this morning, hence the new clothing. Snazzy, are they not?



[End Part II]

Apartment Hunting...

Dear Diary,

Well, Here I am, at it again. I am becoming increasingly drawn into the Entropia Universe. Now I've got it in my head that I need an apartment. So I've been on the look out for one. On monday I visited New Oxford and checked out the digs there. Yesterday I went back and did some follow up reconnaisance work. I've discovered the most magnificent place in the Billton Tower II. It's on the 6th floor and has an Ocean View.
I mean the entire outer wall is glass so the view is splendid. I am so tempted, and it is within my budget! The asking price is 800 ped, with a maintanance fee of 10 ped monthly. I wonder how they can let it go for so little? I suppose the lack of toilet or kitchen facilities is what makes this possible. I know it's stupid but once I get an idea in my head, I am hardpressed to let it go.

On the other hand, I also checked out Minopolis. As I had been told, this is a quaint and charming community, very much different in tone from New Oxford. It has a rustic, almost Middle Earth quality about it. On the downside, the only accomodations I could find here were woefully inadequate. I could see myself settling down here if only I could find the right place. The apartments I looked at were tiny, dark places with low ceilings. This is no lie: In order to get on the stairway to the second floor, one actually has to stand beside the bottom step and leap onto it. There is not enough room between the bottom of the stair and the facing wall to simply walk up and ascend. I find this most unacceptable- I mean, really? Wouldn't you? Furthermore, the ceilings are so low that one has to actually lean forward stoop-shouldered, in order not to impact the ceiling on the ascending. Who on Eudoria were these places built for? I haven't run into any munchkins yet, although I am now beginning to wonder if there are some about. Here are some photos from there:

A lovely pastoral setting:


I found this small caravan. I don't think I could live there...


Once again, if I run across a decent-sized apartment in Minopolis I will settle there. Unfortunately I don't expect that to happen, and Billton Tower II, New Oxford is beginning to look more and more like home.

On a different note, I continued to explore yesterday. Opting out of my day-job, I stayed in the EU quite a while and really got around. New entries in my TP list include Minopolis, Hadesheim and Cape Corinth. There were some lovely beach front houses in CC. I didn't get a price on them, once again feeling certain they would be out of my range. Also, the area didn't quite suite me. Well I dare say it did not! I was positively slain by an Atrox in the front yard of one of the houses I had been considering, before the Turret even got off a shot. Can you imagine inviting my friends over to visit in that neighborhood?

"Refreshments will be served at 6, music by 7- Oh, don't forget the armor, and Lock and Load! Tata!" If I actually had any friends I would not have them for long, would I? Besides that, it's really a lonely kind of place.

Hadesheim was astounding! Simply astounding! It is the biggest virtual city I have yet seen. Infact I need to return so as to see it more fully. I only set a single TP for there, not sure which one it was although I assume there are several. (I only learned last night that within New Oxford, the Billton Towers have their own TP. Can you say, frou frou) Anyhow, I am guessing each quadrant might have it's own TP in Hadesheim. I will return shortly to either prove or disprove this theory. Here are a few photos from there:

This is the power supply to the city. It is unprotected:


I do not know what this company is selling but this add piqued my interest:


I had hoped to talk shop in this clothing store but simply could not get their attention:


I had one really negative experience there, though. I'm not sure of the name of this rather large and imposing building- it's the one with the Auctioneer in it.... you know? Somehow, while roaming around in there, I managed to slip in between the walls. I got inside the graphic somehow and could not escape. Needless to say, there is no open passage between the interior of the walls and the building proper. It really was most distressing. I ran about, I jumped, I ran and jumped, to no avail. I called out to my Soc. mates, "Can you hear me? Hello, I am in trouble!"

"How can I help you?" Ah, the sweet voice of sanity. It calmed me a little.

"Yes, I seem to have slipped between the walls. I am inside them and cannot get out. Can you help me?" Silence. So I waited.

Again, "I am stuck within the walls of a building. Inside the structure itself. Can you help me or send help?"

After a time, "Have you tried moving about?" At this point I decided to attempt something else. So I logged off and shut down the Vaio. About 10 minutes passed. During this time I set the laundry on 2nd rinse and added some fabric softener. My wife knew I took the day off for my allergies, so I figured doing the laundry was the least I could do. No, really, I gave it a good think, and it really was the least I could do. Then I went back to the EU.

Upon logging on I was dismayed to see that I was still standing in that same exact spot. I spent a few more moments in frustrating attempts to free myself. Then, at last a thought struck me. At first I thought I would beg someone for a TP chip. But that course of action was fraught with problems. First of all, who? I have little doubt that my mentor, Mynx would have been there for me, but I also know that at that time of day, she would be at her job and unavailable. Then if I got a TP chip delivered somehow, how would my benefactor get it to me? I was in no direct communication with the world outside those hideous, imprisoning walls. I could not risk asking them to make the same mistake I had made -trap the both of us- a lot of good that would do. While these thoughts were knocking about in my head, a rational thought took shape. "...press the T key..."

"What?"

"...press the T key..."

"Press the tee key? Yes! Quite right! I shall press T and teleport somewhere! At this point I dont care where except to get out of here!" By now I would have been willing to go back to the god-forsaken outpost of the many drones, crawly things and pale nude women! So I pressed T, watched the 60 second countdown, and disappeared. In a jiffy I was transported to just outside the building that had had me trapped for many long and maddening minutes. I guess I am rather reactionary at times, because I immediately decided to leave Hadesheim.

The rest of my day went rather peacefully by comparison. I ran N by NW from Hadesheim until I reached the sea. From there I stayed on the coastline running W. This is where I ran into those lovely beach houses. This is where I was killed once and had to run back from Hadesheim. This is where I could not in good conscience have a reception for my friends, If I had any, thanks to said beasts.

I need to conclude this now. Oh, I keep forgetting to mention, I've made 3 attempts at shoe manufacturing to date. My first attempt was smashing as I produced a lovely pair of shoes that were almost usable. My 2nd attempt resulted in no results of any kind; no shoes, no leather, no fluff. The last effort resulted in some residue. I kept it. I don't know if it can be used for anything but I figured I'd hang onto it until I spoke to Mynx. Let's see what happens. Also, I may have a permanent source for leather. A fellow Entropian has kindly offered to sell me all leather he currently has, and is ever likely to acquire. I may just take him up on it, as it would greatly boost the rate at which I level in tailoring. Which brings up another issue.... I will mention one last thing and then close. It concerns funds.

Initially I had hoped to build myself up from nothing, and see how far I could get. I am hearing how others have done this and it sounds like a very interesting adventure. Nealix is one who has impressed me by his financial derring-do! However, speaking only for myself, I see a danger. If I turn a pleasant pasttime into an additional job, I might just burn out and quit. I must give this matter some additional thought. I could make the best of both schools of thought and consider the funds I've invested to date, a sort of tuition or grant, to help me off to a good start. I need to consider my options carefully.

All My Love for now,
Donald

New and Improved

Dear Diary,

I may have reached a decision. It has occured to me that I might be wearing you out with my long-winded description of my day to day activities in the EU. Henceforth, I shall try to be more concise and only relate the pertinant facts- the key issues, as it were. Also, I feel a sense of responsibility toward the EF server. I will try to limit the number of photos I post from now on. I rather enjoy illustrating my tales with photos, as I think it may help you to have a keener grasp of that which I am speaking. Also, I see it as a further outlet for my creativity. But, I have already uploaded in excess of one million bytes worth of images, so I shall limit future uploads to those that are exceptionally well-done. They will be no pictures today.

One brief comment and then we press on: In my journal entry as of yesterday, part II, the photo labeled "A Lovely Pastoral Setting" did not do the reality justice. The place, in real life, was just beautiful. Just a step to the right of Minopolis is where I shot that photo. The sun was soft and warm on the meadow. Nearby bees were buzzing in a flowerbed of petunias (or something very much like petunias). And in the distance, a windmill. I haven't seen one of those in quite a while. So all in all, it was a lovely scene and deserving of capture. Unfortunately it didn't transfer well from reality to film.

Now as for yesterday, not much really happened. I continued my cross-country jaunt. New additions to my tp list include Atlas Haven, Jason Centre, Fort Medusa and Fort Ares. The last thing I did before leaving the Fort Ares region was to kill a Comundacauda. This is my largest kill to date, and I am quite proud. It was really a toss as to who would best who. In the end, the Pixie armor served me well and I remained standing. The payout, as well as I can recall, was 1 ped, some skin colouring gel and female goblin shin-gaurds. I will put the goblin armor up for bid later today and see if I can make a bit of change from them. Their tt value is about 2.4 or something, as I recall. Anyway, it was exciting to test my skills against the Comundacauda. I had planned to run but then I remember reading somewhere that it doesn't hurt to die. This is so contrary to what I've always believed that I still have to fight the natural inclination to preserve my life. (This reminds me of the one and only time I ever bungie-jumped. The platform was 75 feet high. Even though logically I knew I was safely tethered, when it came time to let fly, it was more difficult then I had imagined it would be. The mind rebelled.)

[Out of Character]
I will end this now, in keeping with my resolution. I only want to add that I have been reading the other diaries, that are presently being updated. I can relate to the feelings expressed by Lyyke in regard to her relationship to the EU now. I find Huskie's hunt log interesting and plan to write a small routine to parse it and give me a bottom-line figure on his ped. Hope he won't mind; I won't publish the result.

Lastly in all seriousness, I am so sorry for the nephew of goldpython, and his family. My thoughts and prayers are with them as they endure this time of sorrow.

Sincerely,
Donald

A Totally Self-Indulgent Post

Dear Diary,

After consulting with my mentor, I have made a final decision. Well, I'm not sure any decision is ever really final, but this is final for now. When I first began posting here, all things discussed were just between the two of us. As time went on, I received some accolades from others who had found amusement in my postings. I was gratified by this, and my focus shifted. I became publicity-minded, writing to an audience, the 'Donald Cleveland Fan Club' as it were. I have regained my senses. This diary is for me. What I write here is what matters most in my EU life. I will, however, continue to try to refrain from posting things of a personal and real-life (whatever that is) nature.

The last several days have found me to be largely absent from the EU. I am still there in my heart, but time has not been on my side. Hopefully, I will be back tonight for a little while and then over the weekend as much as possible.

Yesterday was a good day for me in one sense. I won the high bid on a set of Rascal armor. I am now in possession of and wearing same.


Hi! It's me again!

And...


Who's a Handsome Fellow?

I went to the market in New Oxford to wait out the auction on this armor. There were still 13 minutes left remaining, so I put up my final bids, which thoroughly drained my account! -then I waited. I realized I could go out and about, maybe do some hunting or whatever. But I was too anxious for the results. Instead I hung about in the market just marking time. I ran into this fellow there:


The Creature

'The Creature' actually was his name, Dear Diary, lest you think me rude. How would you like to wake up to that every morning! We did not converse, as I am not even sure this one could converse.

Desparate to know if I had been outbid, I sat before my Vaio, staring at the monitor while constantly hitting the Refresh button. I was literally watching the minutes tick by. I tell you truely, the last minute was the longest. And then it happened. The auction came to an end. Once, on a refresh, the message changed to You have no bids or something close to that. The items had disappeared. And my funds remained depleted, telling me I ended up high bidder! This was good news for me, except that... well, the items had left the viewer. They were not in my inventory (I looked at the Armor page), and I had not received any messages. My anxiety grew. After spending the larger part of yesterday reading the Scammer II thread on the EF, I was fearful that some treachery might have taken place.

I was in a panic by now, not knowing what to do. Finally I spoke in local chat.

"Excuse me... can someone help me? I have won the high bid at auction but I cannot gather my things. What should I do?"

At once I received a response.

"You will receive notice in 5 or 10 minutes to come to the auctioneer to collect them." came the reply.

"Oh right! Should've known that! Thank you!" By way of response I saw those two little characters, np, appear in local. That stands for 'No Problem', meaning that responding to my pleas for help and providing the correct information worked no hardship on the person. I am sorry not to have recorded their name for this account.

I still stayed in the market there in NO, wanting so badly to don my new armor. For one fleeting moment I thought, "Oh goody, now I can put up the pixie armor and recoup some of my expenditures." In an instant I recalled that they were a loan item and soon to be returned. (Speaking of that, I will be joining my mentor Mynx and her husband Gryff, on a TP run this weekend. We are going to Ft. Argus. I have not been there yet, so it should be fun! Mynx says this is one of the harder ones to get to. No doubt we will do some shooting along the way! I am really looking forward to this. I hope the timing works out well all around. It's sometimes difficult to sync-up for these events. My aim is to be as flexible as possible.

(I want to touch briefly on the problem with family members who are not involved with virtual universes. They have no concept of how virtual events really matter to those involved. By way of example, I can be surrounded by Atroxii, either attempting to fight or running for my life, and my missus, the inimitable Mrs. Cleveland will call to me from the other room. "Sweetheart!". Then she will become irritated if I do not respond soon enough. I could relate many examples of this, some more trying than others. How often have you waited for a team to form up, for a certain big event to take place, after waiting a week for it, only to have a non-pixelated acquaintance suddenly demand your time, at precisely the wrong moment? What are we to do in these situations? You would need the wisdom of Solomon to answer that correctly. When I try to explain about the virtual universe to my wife, I can feel my stature and credibility draining away.))

As I stood around in the market waiting, a series of messages began to appear. Each one informed me of having been high-bidder on a specific piece of armor. When all pieces had been cleared, I ran back to the auctioneer, and collected the goods. Ofcourse I put them on immediately. Please see the pictures above. Those photos were shot a few minutes later in Port Atlantis. I went there after donning the armor. Why was I there?

I recently held a tiny contest, wherein I requested EF members to guess a film title based on a single quote. Of all the responses, Pinky came the closest to being correct, although she was completely wrong. The prize I offered was a single ped. Pinky very graciously requested that I take my ped, and give it to a newcomer. I consider myself a newcomer (and truthfuly, I am), but I think it would defy the spirit of her kind request to award it to myself. So I was in PA looking for a worthy noob. (Diary, please mark the first instance of my use of the n-word. I shall try to refrain from using it, as I think it is overdone.) The only problem was the lag (Now I've used the l-word! Dear me....)

I could scarcely move about in PA. It really is rather dreadful down there these days. So the ped remains in my possession for now. I think I will await just the right circumstances, to make the award. Rest assured, when the time does come, photos shall be snapped and an account of the presentation will be rendered here, with you, My Diary.

One more subject to cover then I am done for the time-being. I have tried to stay out of the way in this. I have tried strenuously to keep my mouth shut. I have failed. The following is my opinion only:

I meet that scammer at twin peaks yesterday and he sold me the armor set Of course i didnt know it was stolen and i put all i had to buy it.

And i m really sorry for what happened.

Click to expand...

To the best of my knowledge, the one who made those comments is still in possession of the stolen armor. To me, this is beyond the pale. How can this person, at one in the same time, state that they are really sorry for what happened and not return the armor? It is stolen; it is not theirs to keep. I am sorry but I cannot speak any further on this subject. There is a serious dearth of heroes, or even people of good conscience, for that matter, in the world today. The one who wrote those words above is in a wonderful position to show the rest of us how it's done. They may live out their lifetime and not have another opportunity to make such as statement. Whatever the financial loss may be, it is small potatoes compared to what is to be gained. I pray they do the right thing.

That's it for now! I cannot wait to get back to EU and go big game hunting in my new Rascal armor. No doubt tonight will be my first crack at it.

Sincerely,
Donald

A Tribute to Hades! Part I

Dear Diary,

Good morning! I have quite a lot of free time right now so I want to get you updated on what's been happening with me. First, as you know, I have acquired a full set of Rascal armor. I am very pleased with the protection it affords me. I feel quite invincible these days! To test it out, I teleported to Jason Centre yesterday. From there I headed SE in order to see the space ship. According to my map, there is supposed to be a space ship out there somewhere. I never did locate it- the map might be wrong or out of date- perhaps the ship has been plundered, cut up and carried away. In any case, I was able to put the new armor through it's paces. None of the mobs inhabiting that region made much of an impression on me. The Beryclids, which used to terrorize me at Camp Phoenix, are as gnats to me now. Hitting for 1 point at a time, I could choose to ignore them if I wished. What pleased me the most is that I can now go up against, not one but teams of faucervix. I used to die quite readily when these giants showed up. Now I take on all comers, and they go down fast. Further, I can also hold my own against the umbranoid females. I have encountered a few of these, since donning the new armor, and while it is far from a foregone conclusion, I have bested them on two occasions. I am only able to deal with them one-on-one at the present time.

That brings us to today. I have been reading a little about the origins of the City of Hadesheim. I've learned that it is the capital of Eudoria, that there are no apartments there, and that it is largely uninhabited. According to the lore, it was once plagued by lag. Also, it was the starting point for all newcomers. Since then the starting point has been relocated to Port Atlantis, and the regular population fled due to the laggy-situation, as I just mentioned. That being the case, I felt something needed to be done. Despite my recent nasty experience there, I opted to return today and take some photos. Perhaps this will stimulate a reverse migration. Or at the very least, encourage tourism. Why do I care? Because Hadesheim is truely a remarkable town. It is the largest virtual city I have even seen. It is larger even than Omikron with all it's subdivisions. It's a shame that it is just sitting out there, in the western part of Eudoria, going to ruin. So let us begin! Here are the photos I took this morning with a brief explanation of each:

First, I was able to determine with 100% accuracy that there really is only one teleporter in the entire Hadesheim metroplex. This is disconcerting when you consider that New Oxford has one teleporter in town, with another nearby at the Billton Towers. I am not certain but that there might even be others. The tp in Hadesheim is located dead center in the metroplex. This is of interest because, in considering the photo, note that there in not so much as a building in sight. Yet this is in the very heart of the city! That gives an indication of just how huge the place is!


The Only Teleporter in Town

The teleporter is situated on an island with a bridge to the N, E and W. Just to the S is a storage unit. Very handy.

This next is a photo of one of the buildings downtown. I just wanted to give you a sense of scale. Magnificent, isn't it?


Building 110, Hadesheim

As one might expect, roaming the city and looking for scenes of interest to record, I became quite thirsty. So it was with joy that I spotted a sign on one building. It simply read, "Bar". I ran there quickly, nearly tripping on the way. Once inside I was very disappointed. The bartender explained that they had nothing to drink! Really boys, the business might pick up if you actually had! Also, might get some ladies to serve the drinks when there are any. This chap was about as homely, and gloomy a fellow as any I've met.


"Sorry, nothing to drink here!

Over by the jukebox was a woman, three sheets to the wind, is my guess! She offered to dance for me... No, I did not allow it, neither did I take her picture. I am just not like that. I do wonder where she got a drink. There is still much in Entropia that I do not understand.


The Hadesheim Auction House

Above is a picture of the building I became stuck in a few days ago. I did not go inside this time, but only because I was attempting to remain on schedule. I no longer fear it. Remember, Diary, should you ever become stuck within the walls of any structure, press the T key and simply teleport out. There is no gaurantee where you will end up, but it really does seem the only way.

While there, I spotted this splendid auto, parked down a side street. It is the first I have seen. The owner was sitting on a curb nearby and we had a bit of a chat. It seems he was no longer able to purchase petrol for it, prices being what they are. I made him an offer, and am now in the possession of a shiny, red Tantillon 3000!


My Tantillon 3000

I am at one and the same time, most proud, and a bit remorseful. It cost me more than I will admit here (lest the missus learn of it), and I now know I have much, much skilling to do in the area of mechanics and spatial relationships! It is to laugh- or cry! Anyway, at least I can boast of having the thing... even if I can't actually operate it yet!

As I was just mentioning a bit earlier, there are still many things that I do not 'get' in the EU. Among them, what does all the information mean, in the Real Estate terminals? I understand about buying a deed and then going and claiming your purchase. But there is a lot of verbiage on that terminal crt that is, as yet, meaningless to me. Another thing I've often wondered, why is it none of the animals I lead to the turret, to get them killed, ever carry any loot! I can't think of a better occupation than that of leading animals to their doom and looting the corpses! Which brings me to my next question: What on Eudoria are they selling in the following advertisment?


[End of Part I]

Tribute to Hades! Part II

Genesis Star Energy is the power company that supplies energy to Hadesheim. Check out the pictures below:



Can you feel the power? GenStar could give the Krell a run for their money where sheer power is concerned and make no mistake about it!

If you do decide to head out west and visit Hadesheim have no fear of becoming lost. While it is actually even larger and more elaborate than I have made it out to be, there are maps or directories scattered around about the city, in convenient locations.


"You are here..."

This particular directory was in a public square. Also in the square were numerous kiosks where folks were offering things for sale. Some were offering Armor and weaponry, while others had mining supplies. Still another had various odd spacecraft parts and accessories. Even fuel could be had. Most of the stalls were vacant and available for renting. This is another good incentive to come on out, as the saying goes, and visit.



I forgot to record the exact price on the Ninja Hood in the photo above. It is a limited run item, only 730 made, and cost upward of 500 ped. Just so you know... (Will I ever be able to make anything like this.... I wonder.)

Well, Dear, that is all I will post for now. The last time I included many photos in my post I received a nasty message and had to cut back on them. I am going on a tp run slash hunt with Minx and Gryffon today. I will be sure to let you know what happens. Also, I have one or two more pictures taken just to the west of Hadesheim, on my way to the outpost where I am currently trapped. Apparently I am still no match for Atroxii or drones of any generation. My time will come. So, I need to find my way out of here and to a tp so I can meet up with the friends. More to come later!

Cheers!
Donald

P.S. It is now Monday, of all things, and I finally have time to update this particular entry. I have been informed by one who should know, that Hadesheim actually has 4 teleporters! Well colour me red, for embarrassment... I will redouble my efforts to find the others. Thank you, Crash for informing me of this.

Below are a few more pictures from the city. I found a nice armor shop there. Right. The shopkeeper wasn't very helpful and the selection was scanty but at least it was good that they are keeping Neil Diamond with something to do these days!


Is that Sweet Caroline on the right?

After I left Hadesheim I headed W to check out some odd-looking features on the map. This is what I found. There were many of these smokestacks protruding from the ground in this area. Diary, do you know what they are, or what happened here? Seems interesting...


Something bad happened here

Finally, while attempting to reach the western coast, I became trapped at another outpost. This one seemed to have more visitors than that one before and I was not exactly panic-stricken. I saw a chap standing there by the name of Crux. He is the Captain of a charming society by the name of 'Quest to Kill the Rest'. I am afraid he was afk for the time-being as he never spoke or moved during my time there. Also, I encountered Ms. Moon. She seemed pre-occupied with some strange sort of activity. I noticed her hands were glowing with a blue light. I have no idea what she was on about. After I tabbed away to paste her picture in Paint, she had gone! Til we meet again, Ms. Moon! (Due to restrictions on the number of pictures a single post may have, I had to cut her picture...)

Lastly, I met Lan. Nice name, and I wonder is that Vietnamese? Not sure... At any rate, I say I met him. We spoke in the chat window, and he unofficially escorted me back to Hadesheim and safety. Although his green dot registered on the mini-map, I was never able to actually see him, no matter how close he appeared to be. Having read the adventures of Siegfried in the Nibelungenlied, I wondered outloud if he was perhaps in posssession of a tarnkappe and invisible. He replied that he was, infact, not and that the difficulty might originate with his machine, which he would shortly reboot. Anyway, with his assistance I made it safely back to Hadesheim. From there I was able to teleport to Camp Phoenix to look for Crash -but that is another story!

On a humourous side-note (then I am gone), I happened to spot Lan at a teleporter later on in the day. His society is the Menace to Society. He certainly did not live up to that name.

The Mynx, Gryffon and Donald Hunt Team

Dear Diary,

Saturday morning, the day dawns bright and clear- no, it did not! It dawned just like the last several days, here in Central Texas. Morning after morning has seen drenching downpours of rain, torrents cascading earthward, hellbent on drowning out the indigenous lifeforms. Brilliant displays of lightening coupled with thunder of such volumn and surpise, it threatens the integrity of ones eardrums, and shatters the nerves. Braver folk than me, have been sleeping in their closets or toilets, afraid of what might happen. And, as if this was not enough, intermittant hailstorms, have been pounding the windows of our home, assaulting the glass panes. I've tried to keep all the curtains drawn, the shades lowered. To date, for us at any rate, there has been no damage. None at all. Through-out all this, it has only been my love of the Entropian Universe that has prevented me from powering down the LAN, and pulling the plugs. At any other time, subscribed to any other 'game', I would have taken such precautions days ago. Not now though. I must log in; I must participate. There are things to do. Within the Entropia Universe....

Dear Diary,

As I gradually came to, I could hear the sound of battle, interspersed with the hypnotic chanting of those who were concentrating. The rancid smell of burnt snablesnot mingled with the scent of their mucus. I was in Camp Phoenix, and it was a beehive of activity as always.

"Crash are you here?", I cried. It was the first of many such attempts to contact my would-be friend. On April 25th I advertised for a mentor on the EF. Almost immediately several members volunteered for the assignment- my hats off to them all- however, the system allows for only one, and I made the happy choice of Narcissa 'Mynx' Gryffon. Crash was among those who had offered to accept the unenviable assignment, but was spared. Since that time, we have been playing email-tag in an attempt to join each others Friend List. So, according to our latest agreement, we would meet up in Camp Phoenix on this morning.

"Crash, are you here?" I set myself to autorun and made crazy circles around the teleporter, fully aware that my so doing would add to the considerable lag the area was enduring. After a bit, I noticed in the distance an unfortunate soul, trying to milk a Berycled. So, still proudly wearing my new Rascal armor, I ran over to the creature and got it's attention with a few Opalo shots to the noggin. Then I stood stock still while it fairly pecked at me in a vengeful attempt to do me in. All the while, Venus (for that was her name), went through the concentrating-and-milking dance. Time after time she did this. When upon occasion the Berycled decided to rush her, I would commence shooting and regain it's affection... During the course of this process she thanked me, and I told her not to concern herself but to inform me of it's going dry. In the meanwhile I continued my verbal search for Crash. We never made contact, and I only hope he will not become either miffed or discouraged. So-called real life intrudes in the EU in many and unexpected ways and we must adapt. In short order, Venus announced 'Dry' and I took the creature out with a few more shots. All in all, my recompense amounted to 39pec, and the satisfaction of knowing I had assisted a fare damsel in distress.

At this point, I decided I really did need a little bit of time away from the Vaio and EU. So I logged out, entered the EF and left a note for Mynx telling her I would be back online at 1pm local time and I would await her then. Recall that today was to be the day of our tp run and hunt. She and her husband, Gryffon had offered to take me about a few places I had not yet been, and do a bit of shooting besides. So I left her word of my plans, and shut the computer down. Since by now, the weather had cleared, I went outdoors and took in a bit of light and air. Outdoors everything had a fresh-washed look, but small branches and leaves were everywhere. The local flora, mostly scrub-oaks and mesquite, do not hold up well in stormy weather, always leaving a mess after the slightest bit of wind and rain. I walked about, thinking of nothing but the upcoming hunt. I fought the urge to go home and log on. I toughed it out, and finally the hour arrived.

Entering the EU, I noticed immediately that Mynx was there. So I initiated contact and asked where we should meet. She suggested that I come to Fort Ares, and I agreed. Once there I began reviewing my Character information sheet. While reviewing the entries there, I became aware of a female voice speaking. It was the Mynx. I am often aware of her presence via this audio clue more than any way else.

After we exchanged greetings she told me that Gryffon was also in the EU, and was taking care of some other business- would be with us shortly. Prior to this time, I have interacted with Mynx most often via private message in the EF. She is apt to send me long, and quite interesting letters, wherein she explains many things to me that I might otherwise remain unaware of. As a consequence, I never really been able to get her picture. So, while we both stood there, waiting for Gryffon, I snapped this shot.


Notice the 'hunting' shoes...

Unless I am mistaken, she is wearing a full set of Nemesis armor. Take a look at the 'hunting' shoes! Never-the-less, she is able to run like the wind in those! Later on, at one of our rest stops I asked Mynx and Gryffon to pose for a shot together, and they agreed. However, in taking this particular shot of Mynx, I needed to tab over to my Paint programme and paste it. This process is rather hard on my system and slow. There is also a chance of crashing the EU. That did not happen, but as soon as I returned to EU I saw a Team Invitation window timing out. I clicked Yes as fast as I could but it was too late. Without telling her what had had me so preoccupied, I waited anxiously and she reintiated the invite. A team was born! In a minute, Gryffon too, joined the team and soon we were off.

During this run I acquired several new teleports. Among these are Aegis Mound, Chimera Canyon, Camp Echidna and Fort Argus. It is possible that I may have missed one for this listing, as things happened rather fast. I have learned that when you are with Mynx and Gryffon, things do happen very fast. Let it be said that in my humble opinion, the thing that causes Entropia Universe to stand out from the typical mmorpg milieu is the community. It's not the 'Cash Economy', or the pretty graphics- it's the people! Entropia Universe is People! And among the finest of these are the Gryffons. However, they are a team and they know what they are doing.

The hunt was fabulous. Mynx and Gryffon carry an array of weaponry and they know how to use it. I can't give you the proper names of these weapons for lack of knowledge but I am certain that at one point, when facing a new variety of beast, they both immediately pulled some sort of machine guns and began firing as one. The syncronicity of their actions amazed me greatly, and I had to remind myself to shoot as well.

There were also many humourous exchanges between the two of them.

Along the way, during the run, I asked how it was that I would often hear voices. I've noticed in places like Camp Phoenix there is often a strange cacaphony of voices, and I wondered about the cause. I mentioned that whenever Mynx is about, I usually know first by hearing the sound of her voice. Mynx explained that this is the result of entering text in the chat box. How marvelous! Kudos to MindArk for implementing such a wonderful system! At this point Gryffon pointed out that Mynx was stuck in chat mode! I am not 100% certain whether he was jesting, or whether her programme installation has some sort of gliche. Never-the-less, it struck me as highly amusing and I added that, Mrs. Cleveland was also, "stuck in chat mode"!

On another occassion when we left one location for another, Gryffon said we should head northwest to avoid an area of contamination. After a few minutes during which I dutifully followed Gryff, he said, "...pssst, Mynx! This way!" She was apparently on a different tack.

"I thought you said northwest?", she replied.

To which Gryff responded, "Northwest indeed, but with a whole lot of WEST!" This cracked me up. There were many more moments like these along the way. Finally we stopped for a rest break in Camp Echidna. It was here that I got up the courage to ask the pair to pose for a photo. They very nicely complied and here are the results.


What a handsome couple

At one point, after reaching Camp Echidna, Gryffon asked if I had ever seen a hanger. Well, up to now I hadn't so he took me round to an area where they were, just outside the fort. Mynx explained that the hanger and the spacecraft within, were the property of a friend of Gryffon. Inexplicably, the door to the hanger was left unlocked and we went in. Once again, as at the Strength Keep Castle, I had the feeling of trespassing. Gryffon was there so I know it was alright, but still...

At any rate, I got to see my first spaceship! There might be a noticable lack of photos in this entry. That is because of the fast pace of our outing and the necessity of my tabbing over to Paint to paste screenshots. This process really dogged my system down after a bit. At one point we all even took a break to reboot our machines. After which things improved but I resolved to take no more photos. Today (Sunday), I installed PE Assist, and tested it, and things will be run much more efficiently from now on. All that being said, I was able to get one last shot.


It's a Spaceship, Buzz!

As you can see in the photo, the doorway to the craft was open, and while I was restrained from actually entering, I was able to poke my head in and take a look around. Most amazing! I somehow feel that there will be a trip to outer space in my near future.

After installing the PE Assistant, I returned to Camp Echidna and took a couple of more shots, to fill out my story. Here they are:


Camp Echidna


This is what hangers look like

I can't think of a whole lot more to say. At Camp Echidna, Gryffon presented me with my very own Fap unit. So now I have my own. I am proud of the way things are coming together for me here, and grateful to those who have assisted me along the way. All in all it was a very good run, and the hunting was an added treat. Oh, I forgot to mention, Gryff has taught me how to properly aim and shoot my rifle. Until now, I had only been pointing it in the general direction of the beast and praying for a miracle. Now I can actually practice aiming and firing with some degree of accuracy.

Oh dear me! I feel the need to end this now, yet there was one more thing... what was it...? Oh yes, how silly of me. We globalled! See the picture below! As a member of the 'Mynx, Gryffon and Donald Hunt Team', and as a result of killing an old Atrax, I got my first global! How splendid!


A Nice Surprise!

Also, the record in the Hall of Fame thread can be viewed here.

Right. That's it then. Once again, I would like to send out my thanks to Gryffon and Mynx for taking their time to spend this time with me. The only real fun I've ever had in any online game, to date, has been 'people' fun.

Sincerely,
Donald

A Jumble of Thoughts

Dear Diary,

This will be a different sort of log today. So much happened on Saturday, and so little since then, that I feel I will take a breath and relax a bit. I should very much like to catch up on what I missed in my previous posts, in order to fill in the blanks. So let's get cracking...!

First, the largest and most noticeable omission in my recent daily logs pertains to the hunt. I simply ended the story in Camp Echidna. That is not where it ended. In fact we had reached our goal of Fort Argus by the end. Also, the trek from Camp Echidna to Fort Argus saw some of the most difficult terrain and heaviest fighting. At times, rather than being a mere hunt, it was almost a combat situation. With the able assistance of Mynx and Gryffon, I was able to deal swiftly with all comers! (Read that as: Standing safely behind Mynx and Gryffon, I occasionally lobbed a shell in the general direction of various fearsome beasts!) Now for some honesty. My team-mates were so adept at their craft, i.e. hunting, that unless the animal was quite sturdy, I could seldom get a bead on it before it was dead. I am pleased to have contributed to the demise of some Longus, Argonauts, Atraxii, Prancers and others. One Atrax nearly did me in, but Gryff healed me and allowed me the kill shot. The prancers were almost too pretty to shoot. And as for the high, flying things, I couldn't hit them at all- plus I got a stiff neck for trying. I am still sore today.

As I said, we did eventually reach Fort Argus and complete our run. Coming south from Camp Echidna, we crossed a lovely valley of yellow grass. This valley runs from east to west. Previously, in my early days, I had run solo from the Atlas region to Fort Zeus. My trip that time had me traverse the entire length of this same valley. The amazing part was that I completed the trip successfully to Fort Zeus. The sad part was that in those days I did not have a proper map, and used to run blind, just seeing where I could get to. As a consequnce I had passed within a hairs-breadth of Fort Argus and never even knew it.

Now I can honestly say, the Hunting trip has been adequately reported on. What else should I relate? Well, perhaps I can post a few pictures along with commentary. The Entropia Forum hasn't banned me for uploading yet, although I fear something might be in the works.

First off, below is a picture of Moon, who I had mentioned in an earlier post. I met her in an outpost and am still quite curious as to what she is doing. I did not ask her since she seemed very preoccupied. If you should know, my learned Diary, please do inform me.


What's she up to?

Next, please see a charming street scene I shot while on a tour of Minopolis. In the foreground you can see some of those tiny apartments I spoke of before. I need to go back there and determine whether there are larger ones or not. I still really would like to live there but I am not willing to undergo a shortening of my avatar to do it.


A charming street scene

And, finally, woe is me. In my side-line as a data-analyst I love to play with numbers. So today, after my noontime walk, I came back to the office and put together this little pie-chart. I fear it speaks volumes. What to do, what to do. I have never achieved anything like balance in my life so let's not mention it. It's just a curse I shall have to live with. C'est la vie!


Something to think about

I frequently hear folks talking about unlocking skills. As an avid hunter, what skill am I most likely to unlock first? And approximately when will this happen? Also, as to the whole tailoring/hunting thing... I have been aware for some time now, how very easy it seems to be, to gain skills in hunting. I am constantly seeing either green or very light green in my chat window. I am also constantly either running about or shooting something. Now, let's relate this to tailoring. To date, I have tried my hand at producing 3 pairs of shoes. To date, there has been no increase in my tailoring skills. Surely not after 3 attempts. But I am thinking now, just how ghastly expensive will this whole occupation end up being? I have finally procured enough material to attempt at least 2 more pairs of shoes, but that is still nothing, right? I mean, am I right about this? Apparently the folks who at first warned me were correct. It is about time to make a decision about the tailoring thing. Expect more news on this shortly.

I guess I will conclude this for now. If I think of anything else that needs reporting on, I shall add to this.

Sincerely,
Donald

P.S. Stayed up late with the missus last night watching the new version of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy! It just never gets old!

A Text Adventure!

Dear Diary,

It's been a few days since my last entry and I wanted to fill you in on what I've been up to. Unfortunately, not much of it concerns the Entropia Universe. I will, however, try to stick to that topic, and avoid as much of the 'real-life' concerns as I can. That being said, I will just briefly explain that the remainder of this week, my daughter will be in on-the-job-training- the proverbial OJT as it is known in these parts. As a consequence, Mrs. Cleveland and I are caring for my darling grandson. We have him daily from after my work until about 9 o'clock in the evening. At that time, I collect my daughter from her place of employment and convey the two of them, mother and child, to their home. This leaves very little time for me to visit the EU. Starting next week, her regular schedule will be from 11pm until 7am, so we will only have the child overnight. This will provide us with the necessary freedom we need for our personal pursuits. Moving on...

After repeated attempts and subsequent failures to meet up in Camp Phoenix, Crash and I were at last able to. We met face-to-face in CP and joined each the others Friend List. So that's been sorted out at last! After chatting a bit, Crash asked if I would like him to lead me to the 3 teleporters in Hadesheim that I had missed on my previous visits. I said that I would like that very much and off we went.

We arrived in Hadesheim at the teleporter located in dead-center of the city- the one on the island. From here we ran to two of the others. I am at a loss to describe their positions. I'm not sure merely handing out the coordinates would be of interest. So we'll leave it at that. One funny thing, on our run through the heart of Hadesheim proper, we encountered a faucervix! Right in the blooming downtown! We both ran passed it, but it caught up with me on the outskirts. So we both stopped and killed the beast. Hated to do it, but it really was out of it's element. Afterward we continued our run. So now, thanks to Crash, I have all four TPs in Hadesheim and I do apologize for having mis-spoken so badly before. I am not very keen on revisionist history, so I will leave my errors as they are, along with this correction.

Once we had done with this task, Crash asked me where I should like to be led now. I gave it a good think, and came up blank. So he offered to take me to both the North Space Base, and Camp Caravan. As a matter of convenience we teleported to Fort Zeus, which is the closest point to either of these locations. Once there we checked our gear. I gathered from comments made by Crash, that the trip would not be easy.

"How much ammo do you have?", he asked.

"Right at 2700 rounds. Do you think that's enough?"

"Get more", he advised me, so I went into the nearby Service Center and picked up an additional 2000. At this point I informed him that when the missus arrived with our grandson, I would be absolutely compelled to 'hang it up' as the saying goes.

"Understood. In that case, you might want to record the coordinates to both places, so you can continue on your own later." After which he gave them to me. They are presently at home on a notepad at my workstation there. I will insert them here at my earliest opportunity. Meantime, imagine if you will, two sets of coordinates, each of 5-digits in length.

At precisely the moment of my jotting down the last bit of this information, I spotted the Honda CRV pulling up outside.

"She's here!"

"Right. It's been nice finally meeting you! Good evening!"

With this I ended the transmssion. I would not enter the EU again until yesterday immediately after returning from the office. Logging on, I at once noted that no one from my ever-lengthening Friends List happened to be online. So I decided to head for a spot halfway between Camp Phoenix and Billy's. There is a small pond there and many snablesnots and berycleds. "Bye Bye Baby Bunting! Daddy's gone a-hunting," I sang softly to no one in particular. All along the way, I shot and killed many things. The pay-outs were not great, but steady. A feeling of satisfaction rose in me. Finally I reached the spot.

Once there I noticed exactly two other hunters- orange-suited ones! We kept our distances, and minded our own business. Only at one time I couldn't help but notice by the movement of red and green dots on the mini-map, that one of us was fleeing in panic. I ran in that general direction and was able to distract a Berycled Provider from it's course of action. The newcomer was able to get away safe and presumeably heal, if such was needed. I, for my part, added the creature to my list of kills for the day. So all in all, I am feeling very comfortable with Life, the Universe and Everything. Then it happened!

Machisimo at it's highest level ever, I initiated hostilities against a snablesnot male, a snablesnot female, and a Berycled of one description or another. Once having gained their attention, and shooting all the while, I noticed a message in yellow in my chat window. I can't exactly give a quote but it said something to the effect that my equipment was broken! At precisely the same moment, I noticed that the Opalo ceased firing. Now I was under attack with no defense but my feet. So I ran. At this point in time, I don't recall whether or not I survived. I think my main concern was, what happened? As soon as I was out of the field and safely at Billy's (I seem to recall now, that I did infact die of wounds received by the 3 creatures I had so brazenly attacked), I checked the equipment. The Opalo had little wear, but the A103 was destroyed. It had zero value remaining.

Here is my query: How did it go bad so fast? I had spent 38 ped and fully repaired it just prior to the now famous "Mynx, Gryffon and Donald TP run" a few days earlier. Also, I am unaware of ever having received a message that it was on the fritz. Do these things ever just break without warning? I am just a little bit bothered by this. Just when it seemed that my hunting experience was about to pay off, and I would realize a small amount of profit, the thing goes belly up! GAH! I try to make sparing use of emoticons, my thinking is that one should be able to express one's emotions through the proper use of words, however I think this one is called for:

After recovering from the shock, and not willing to shell out 40 peds to immediately repair the A103 unit I consoled myself with, "Well, I was happy hunting before I had the blasted thing. I shall be happy hunting with out it now!" And I set forth to continue the hunt.

I don't think I have yet mentioned it, but on one of my early visits with Mynx, she allowed me the use of a Fap-50, and some Pixie armor, both on loan from her husband Gryffon. Also at that time, she brought me a gift from him as well, an A103 unit. I attached it to the Opalo and had been using it ever since. Since then I have done a lot of hunting and have risen many levels in the appropriate categories. I had been led to the false conclusion that my prowess at hunting was the result of my increasing skills. It is not. It is the direct result of the A103 amplifier. This thing does more than simply fire an additional round on each pull of the trigger. It also increases damage output- in excess of that single additional round. Now, as I began to hunt again without it, I stood close to tears as I fired and fired into the first beast I came across. The effect was minimal. I could see my ammo drain away as the insufferable thing refused to take damage. It stood there laughing!

"Is that all ya got!" After a bit, I gave up and returned to Billy's.

From Billy's I thought about pursuing the old Tailoring game for a while, so I teleported to Fort Ithaca. Once there, I was able to produce a very nice pair of female mannel shoes. They had a value of 3.45 ped! I am making progress! True, there was still no skill increase, but this was truely a step up from before. This was just the sort of ego boost I needed. Now, I have on hand enough generic leather for 4 more attempts. I do need to increase my fine leather and wool supply. So I need to concentrate on hunting things which will give me those items. It's either that or buy the materials. I believe I will try the 'hunting' for them approach. In order to do that I would need to repair the A103.

Earlier in the afternoon I noticed that Mynx logged on. How to say this properly...? I am desirous of not intruding on her EU time any more than necessary. She's my mentor; not my nanny. And as a mentor she has been aces. I feel that being my mentor does not obligate her to 'hang out' with me every time we are both online. So I made no attempt to contact her. In a little bit, I did notice the small brownish icon which indicates that someone is attempting communication. It was Mynx.

I opened the private chat window and we conversed a bit... something to the effect of, "How's it going?"

"Fine, how's it going with you?"

"Fine as well"

I recall mentioning that (by now), my grandson was with me, and my wife just behind, at her console. During my conversation with Mynx, Mrs. Cleveland and the lad began playing with one another in an uproarious fashion. I could hardly hear my thoughts to type them. I mentioned that I still had the original fap that she loaned me, and would return it. She was dis-inclined to accept it at that time, so after some further discussion, it was decided I would hold onto it yet a while longer. I also mentioned the sudden and unexpected breakdown of the A103, and that I was considering buying an A104 or 5. So she gave me one. Right then and there she teleported to Fort Ithaca and made me a gift of an A104 in perfect condition. I have yet to do much with it, because it soon became necessary to fetch my daughter from her place of employment, and so on and so on....

I need to mention now, that this is primarily a Text Adventure for one reason only. I have the worst time ever, remembering to load the PE Assistant before entering the EU. As a consequence the tools necessary for picture-taking are always absent. I need to add the PE Asst shortcut to my startup folder upon my return home this evening. That being said, I was able to get one shot. But I did it the old-fashioned way, via a Printscreen paste into the Paint programme. I hope that's the last time I have to do that. However, it was worth the effort. Don't you agree?


Mynx - Dressed to Kill

Sincerely,
Donald

Excerpts From a Letter

Dear Diary,

I wanted to share with you the content of a letter I've recently received from my mentor. I often refer to her tireless efforts in tutoring me in the ways of the EU. Below, I have copied some excerpts from her latest offering, with a commentary on how it actually affected my activites in Entropia. I do not think she will mind my going public in this way, as I have found her to be of a mild and congenial spirit.

Re: Just Touching Base....

Hi Donald,

...Of course we will pose for another photo. Maybe we can get one with all three of us as well.

In my previous entry I included a nice photo of Mr. and Mrs. Gryffon. On further consideration, I felt that I could have done a much better job of it. So I sent Mynx a request that I be allowed to attempt the shot once more. Next time, I plan to give a bit of instruction as to how my subjects should pose. If all goes well, I hope to set myself up as a professional photographer. Hence, I appreciate the friends letting me experiment, as it were.

Your amp issue puzzled me. I think with an Opalo you would have to go through 5k ammo for it to wear out. Can you remember how much ammo you went through?

Unfortunately, I cannot. But I don't believe I had used anywhere near 5000 rounds of ammo since repairing the thing. It is quite possible that it is simply defective. At my earliest opportunity, I shall repair it once more and keep a closer eye on it. If you have no idea what I am talking about, look to my previous entry. The A103 simply failed completely while on a hunt!

I was thinking that maybe the 2 of us can try Akoz's new landarea together sometime. He made it for Opalo hunters and the spawns should be pretty big. In my experience I do a lot better loot wise on Land Areas in spite of the taxes.

This was in regard to my need for fine leather and fine wool. I have been attempting to hunt up the materials I need to continue my tailoring...

As for tailoring materials... A great spot for Corns is on the beach north of Argus. There are lots of them around there.

More on this quote in Part II, but finally this....

If you ever make it to Treasure Island City feel free to check out my apartment. I'm in the... building...

Okay, now I'm done ... for sure this time...

Mynx

At this point, I want to back up just a little and begin with yesterday morning, before ere I received her letter.

Since I wanted to gather fine leather and fine wool, I did a bit of research and determined that Exarosaurs and Daikabas were what I needed. So I teleported to Atlas Haven West. I know those creatures to exist at that location, but in modest numbers. Upon arrival, I really did have to hunt for them. More's the pity, the few I stumbled upon did not offer any loot what-so-ever. This was during my pre-work, morning time. So I was bitterly disappointed and thinking dark thoughts toward MA... On a brighter note, the A104 unit gifted me by none other than Mynx was performing admirably. I am so close to one-shotting the weaker variety of creatures!

I soon left off the hunt and went onto the office, wet with the morning dew, and smelling of laser-flash. It was sometime later that I received the letter from Mynx. After reading it through several times, one thought stuck in my head, "if you ever make it to Treasure Island City..." Now Diary, do you hear a challenge in that statement? No? Right, neither do I, but once the thought was planted I had to act on it. I resolved, the moment I got home, it's off to TI City for me!

At long last 4pm rolled around and I came home and went straight to the EU. From Atlas Haven I teleported directly to Treasure Island. I thought this was the place to go. Once there, I began scouting around for the building where she lives. I found many other buildings that were quite interesting.

Also, nearby the TP unit, there was a large property marker of some sort. It had multiple blue-strobe lights and served to indicate that this land belonged to one Mr. Deathifier. Also belonging to Mr. D. was a very large and fancy-looking spacecraft parked in an even larger hanger. It amazes me still, that these things are not kept under lock and key. The prospect for sabotage is staggering, and yet, I am the only one who seems to care... Odd world.

Despite my searching, I became conscious of the fact that this was not the correct place. So, standing near the teleporter, I asked where I could locate that particular building (notice how careful I am being to protect her privacy!). I was gratified to receive an immediate reply from one, Ms. Kitty. See below...


TI City, here I come!

I ran from the teleport area toward the SW as fast as I could run. Along the way, I couldn't help but notice how lovely this new landscape was- in a very rugged sort of way! I paused to catch my breath and took this shot (see below). Notice, off to the right in the photo, a small, innocuous-looking creature. That is a bristlehog.


Quite lovely, isn't it?

It was snuffling about in the weeds there, and I didn't pay it much mind. Soon after I took this shot, I continued my run. Unbeknown to me, and to my misfortune, the bristlehog followed. In short order it began attacking. So I pulled my Opalo and tried to defend myself. Notice I said 'tried'. It wasn't long before I lay dead on the ground. well, it certainly seemed harmless. My advice to you, Diary should you ever go wandering, upon seeing a bristlehog- RUN!

Once revived and off to the SW again (and Treasure Island City), I decided to do it smarter this time. On seeing any red dots I would give the dots a very wide berth. I would avoid them. I felt good about things, thinking I had the challenge met. I was almost to TI City, I believe, and heading due south to avoid a large mass of red dots, when it happened again. Simply out of nowhere, a Globster attacked me, hitting for 121 points. I was not wearing any armor at all. My reasoning being that no amount of armor would protect me from the local fauna, and it might possibly slow me down. I reckoned speed was what was wanted. Be that as it may, I lay just as dead as the time before.

Upon my revival, I opted to try something desparate. I am ill-disposed to failing in a challenge- even if it is only a self-imposed challenge. So I studied the map of Amethera. It seemed as if, rather than TP to the Treasure Island location and head southwest, I might could start from New Oxford City and head Northeast! According to the best map I had, there would be a series of small islands separated by channels of various widths. It seemed a good bet, so off I went.

[End Part I]

Excerpts From a Letter - Part II

Immediately upon my arrival at New Oxford City, I spied a young lady in an orange jumpsuit. As no one else was on the scene, and I had just arrived, I had to conclude that she was dancing with such wild abandon to suit herself. She seemed fairly ecstatic. Needless to say, I whipped out the DigiFilm EP500, set to continuous mode, and took a series of shots. I cannot post them just now, as space is needed for more relevant shots. So I've added them to my stockpile of photos, and I will publish them shortly. Maybe I will dedicate an entry to all the photos that have yet to be seen. Among these are the read-out from an Estate Terminal (which I have yet to fully comprehend), a close-up, inside shot of my Fap-50 kit, the Silvia dancing sequence, and many, many more....

From New Oxford I began running to the NE. Almost at once I needed to go in for a swim as the land ends just there. Not only was I swimming in very deep water but I was also in a PvP zone. Through-out this part of my trip, off and on, almost all the way to TI City, I was in PvP zones. Also, through-out this part of my trip, I did not see another pixellated soul. For this I was truely grateful. Apart from worrying about being PKed, this trip was really quite nice. My grandson was now at my side and he kept encouraging me all the while with, "Go in the water, Grandpa!"


In short order, I received an unexpected surprise! See the photo below.


Genesis Headquarters

Little did I realize I would gain a TP to Genesis. To be perfectly honest, I hadn't even heard of Genesis until now, so it was indeed, a total surprise. I stopped only long enough to locate the actual teleporter and record it's location. Then I pressed on. Now, I realize that I am want to go overboard with the photos, and I am trying to cut back. But there was one spot which I wish I had recorded on film. This was an area after Genesis, and just before TI City. It was a long, sandy shoal. I loved this place. The sky was clear, the sun was shining and the sand was absolutely fine, and clean! I expected to see the profile of a cruise ship on the horizon at any moment. None arrived, and I continued to run.

Soon...



I will let the above photos speak for themselves. I had arrived! As soon as I reached my destination I headed inside the building. I had, until this moment, fully intended to visit Mynx's apartment. Once actually having arrived, I found I could not do it. I started thinking, "I'm sure she said it was alright.... but then, how would it seem if she logged on, and found me standing in her livingroom?" That would have been an awkward situation for both. So I remained outside, instead. I did pause inside long enough to look at some of the shops in the lobby. This was a danger to me, because I believe I have hammered out an agreement with myself concerning my EU budget and it does not involve that really fine stetson-hat I found there.


Just catching my breath

So in the end, I made it. Whether her words were issued as a challenge or not, it was with a deep satisfaction that I succeeded. Doubly so that I had envisioned a way of approaching the problem that didn't involve Bristlehogs and Globsters. Now that my goal was accomplished, what next for me?

After resting up a bit, I left there and TPed over to Fort Ithaca. Not having her letter right before me, I thought she said I should find good hunting just north of there. What I did find were Drones. The first one I came across, a short distance north of town, nearly bought the proverbial farm. I almost had it destroyed when it got off a lucky shot and did me in! Angry and hurt, I ran back to the spot as fast as I could. I had to force myself to stop long enough to heal myself. No good could come from finding the wretched thing with me half dead. The hope was that I would find it half or three-quarters dead, as I left it, and finish the job. Unfortunately before I could locate the wounded one, a perfectly healthy one found me first. This time I had virtually no chance against it's might. I died quickly.

As fortune would have it, Mynx was now online and we made plans to meet up in Fort Argus and hunt Cornundacaudas, or Corns as they like to be called. This, to me, was a great hunt! Mynx was rather disappointed because she thought there were too few 'corns'. I thought there was a nice, manageable number of them. The loot was also to my liking. On one drop, Mynx received a pair of Goblin Shin-gaurds. She offered them to me, explaining that the Goblin armor was aces against snablesnots. I thought it might be a good idea to collect a set of goblin-wear for this purpose. I know I have already auctioned off several pieces, much to my current regret. So she said she would hand the shin-guards over to me when we were done. However, within the next few kills, I received a pair of my own! That was a nice surprise.

Recall that my 3-year old grandson is watching all of this transpire. He is fully aware that Mynx and grandpa are really interacting within the EU. He also gets a big kick out of listening to her speak. He mimics the sound well. This is funny too because when my wife is speaking on the phone to her daughter, in Tagalog, he laughs and mimics that language as well. He can already say, "O Sige!" pronounced Oh see-gay. It means roughly, "That's fine!"

Sorry, for the digression. Back to the hunt! Well, actually it's 'so long to the hunt'. At 9pm I had to part ways with Mynx. She was kind enough to watch over me as I teleported back to Fort Argus. From there I logged off.

I realize this has been a long read, Diary, and I do apologize. Just one more brief note: I returned to Corn Beach this morning (that's what Mynx said it was called), and did some more hunting. As poor as the loot was yesterday, it was fabulous this morning! I felt I was receiving loot on each kill. In one drop I received a male and female goblin harness. The male one is nearly whole! Right. I am done for the day. Sorry if I took too long and said too much.

Sincerely,
Donald

[End of Part II]

"A Shirt and a Sandwich"

Dear Dairy,

I have so much to talk about, so much is going on that it will require all the self-control and discipline I have in order to relate it all properly. I want to just blurt it all out in one or two sentences, however I won't do that. I shall attempt to maintain some decorum. Let's start at the beginning.

As of yesterday morning, I had returned to Corn Beach to get in some hunting and to practice some new techniques I had picked up from Gryffon and Mynx. They've both been trying to help me master the art. It's not just pulling a trigger, after all. So being on my own, and with a good many Corns about, I was able to really get some practice in. As I mentioned in my last post, the loot drops were excellent. So, in this way I passed a pleasant hour, before leaving for work.

Upon my return, at around 4:30 pm I was back at it. Soon the hunt became a lazy sojourne for me. I idled away the time, moving slowly in a westerly direction, along the coastline. Bye and bye, I came to a wide river delta. I decided I had had enough swimming for a while, so I followed the river southward. Occasionally I would come across some hapless creature and I would shoot it. All in all, a very enjoyable afternoon was spent this way. Coming up over a hill I spotted the most outrageous landscape! See below.


A Sea of Orange

As far as the eye could see was nothing but the colour orange. This oddity of nature can easily be seen on the mini-map. It lies just south of Ft. Argus. As I entered the area, still proceding south even the sky became orange in colour. It definately reminded me of the spice melange, although why I should make that connection, I have no idea. When I had reached a latitude far enough south to place me due east of Ft. Ithaca, I had a brilliant thought. According to my best information, I was close to nowhere. Let's press the T key and just see where we get to. So I did...

This innocent act turned out to be the one worst mistake I have made in the EU to date. No doubt there are bigger errors waiting for me in the future, but this was a veritable doozy! Where I teleported to was exactly in the middle of nowhere- and worse, nowhere with no way out! I became stuck in an outpost I have come to know as the Punxsatawney Outpost. This name I chose in deference to my friend, Gryffon. Take a look-see at his interesting assessment of this hell-hole.

Once in said outpost, I simply could not escape. At my first arriving there was no one about. As the afternoon wore on, people would come and go, but no one seemed either willing or capable of helping me. I tried in every direction imaginable. Each time I thought I about had it, and I was free, I would suffer a humiliating death and subsequent revival at the same place. This happened over and over again! Finally I logged out and went to watch the telly with Mrs. Cleveland for a bit. About halfway through the second episode of The Munsters, I hit upon a plan! I would simply request help from my friends on the EF! I simply knew that some kind soul from among that crowd would bail me out. once I was certain that the missus was napping peacefully, I rose quietly, went to the computer-room and left the post. Then I logged back into the EU to await rescue.

Help was not slow in coming. First of all, while I was away, the outpost became a beehive of activity. There was every sort of professional hunter or soldier on hand. Several came right up and asked if I needed rescuing. They had not seen the EF post; just being good neighbors. I politely declined their offers. I had created a delemna for myself. What if no one from the EF ever came, and this was my chance to get out? What if I accepted the offer, then someone arrived to save me but I was gone? So I declined the offers of those who had not seen the post.

There was one person there, Mystique, who seemed bent on getting my attention. I eventually learned that she was, infact, simply there to save me. This moved me deeply. Also, by this time, I was aware that my mentor Mynx was also in EU now for the same purpose! In short order Mynx arrived where I was, and the 3 of us teamed up. It was the 'Rescue Donald Team' or something. An interesting point, while I was at the outpost, literally just outside the door, I was attacked by an Atrox! Either Mystique or the turret made short work of it, but I was very nearly killed... again!

Getting out with the help of these two ladies was no big deal after all. Along the way, I only died once when I shot at an Atrox Alpha. Other than that slight mis-step on my part, we all arrived to saftey in a matter of minutes. Mynx and I said our goodbyes for the evening. We both had real life business to attend to.

That pretty much wraps up my exciting activities as of yesterday. But, the exciting news doesn't end there. I have contracted with a local pilot, one King Buzzo, for a round-trip flight to Club Neverdie! Yes, I'm going to Neverdie! Isn't that great! In my discussion with King Buzzo, one thing he asked me to do, was locate the TP at North Space Base. This was an excellent suggestion. Ever since my TP run with Crash, I had wanted to go there. I hadn't made it yet. My few attemtps to get there resulted in my simply being revived ad infinitum at Ft. Zeus. So once again I was off for NSB!

I logged in shortly before 6 am this morning. First, I wanted to give some attention to my storage unit. I went through it and refined all the materials I could refine. Then I took some junk that was cluttering it up, and put it on auction. Finally when I felt I had it pretty well sorted, I headed out for that space camp.

Along the way I became aware of a wonderful electronic device. This device, when activated, can help you travel many coordinate positions, in a matter of seconds! You know the device I am talking about? Yes, it is the Warrior Generation 06! To reach my destination I skirted the eastern shores of that large lake just south of Ft. Zeus. At the halfway point I turned and headed due E. Now, I did not have my map open but I figured the NSB was somewhere in that general direction. I was clearly wrong on this. The base is toward the north-eastern tip of the continent! I would not have found it very soon going the way I was. Soon however, I spied through the trees, a large mass of something red and black. It had a mechanical appearance. Something inside said, "Run!", but my curiousity got the better of me and instead of running, I stood staring. My mouse-pointer told me it was a Warrior Generation 06! Splendid machine, if ever there was. In about 1 second, I lay in pieces on the ground.

"It's back to Ft. Zeus for me!," I thought bitterly. But upon my revival- oh happy day! I was in an outpost well toward the eastern seaboard! This was fabulous good news for me! I had covered many kilometers in that 1 second. It was at this point that I decided to make use of my newly acquired PE Assistant tool, and consider a map. It was at a point slightly after the first, when I discovered that the North Space Base was actually toward the NORTH! How very clever of them to put it there! So I decided to do what I like to do in a pinch- I swam for it! From this outpost I swam due north for a very short while. Very soon I spied some structures on the land.

"Can this be the NSB already?", I asked myself. Clambering out of the water I ran toward the buildings only to stand corrected. It was the Blue Zone East hanger area. I didn't even realize it was here. I should have noticed by the map, but I was fixated on reaching the NSB. Once here, I couldn't help but to notice the single long line of hangers. There were also a few turrets along that line. Not enough turrets to actually help you, but just enough to kill steal from you.

Soon after arriving here I was killed as I read the information published on one of the hangers. I was hoping to find King Buzzo's hanger. He did say to go to the NSB, but I just thought I'd check. The beast that killed me this time happened to be an old howling Neconu. This might be the most deadly beast I have yet happened across, as it hit me for 210 points and killed me dead quicker than something just slightly slower.

A day for miracles, indeed! I revived this time at the North Space Base! All of the hangers here are built on piers, set out over the ocean. Once again, there seemed to be no end of hangers. So being at NSB I sought out King Buzzo's hanger here. I looked at each and every one. His was not among them. While here I did enter one hanger. The spaceship was parked inside and it's door was open... so in I peaked. This is what they look like on the inside:


The Spacecraft Interior

Getting this second glimpse of the inside of one of these marvelous machines has really whet my appetite for more. I imagine space-flight to be a booming business in the Entropia Universe! Maybe one day I will join the ranks of those who navigate the friendly skies! Or maybe not. I get panic stricken when aboard a simple 747! Anyway, King Buzzo's hanger was not here. So I headed south once more and to the Blue Zone.

This time I was more methodical and started at one end, the end by the sea, and checked every hanger. This was tricky because there were some of those Warrior thingys nearby. Once I had to run for my life toward a turret. It did not pursue me but did cease shooting. Eventually I found the proper hanger. It was the 2nd from the south end of that long line.


King Buzzo's Hanger

Now I know exactly where to go when I get the call. As soon as he has a full load, we will head to Club Neverdie, and I will become a space-traveller! I cannot wait. Diary, should you ever wish to slip the surly bonds of Calypso and go airborne, check out this link: e-pec.info travels

I am almost done, and I appreciate you hanging tough with me. Lastly, before I left the Blue Zone Hanger Area, I thought I would try a little bit of Corn hunting, since they were all over the place. On two separate attempts, I was apparently just a wee bit too close to the turrets. In both instances, when I had the corn just about where I wanted it, the turrets kicked in and stole my kill... Really now, I would expect that sort of thing from some ill-mannered people whose mums and dads failed to raise them properly- but from a turret!


Donald Railing Against the Machine!

That's all I have for today. No doubt there will be more to report tomorrow. I am in hopes of going hunting with Mynx this afternoon!

Cheers,
Donald

Entropia Is People

Dear Diary,

Donald said:

No doubt there will be more to report tomorrow. I am in hopes of going hunting with Mynx this afternoon!

Cheers,
Donald

Click to expand...

I wrote those words on Saturday morning. Today is Tuesday afternoon, and until now I have not been able to get together with my mentor and do some hunting. This is not to be considered a complaint- just lamenting the fact. On Saturday she spent the day with her mum, and I went to a party on Amethera. Let's back up a little bit.

I first got online very early Saturday morning, and did a bit of shooting. Then again, about 11am, I came back. It was at this time that I made a search and located King Buzzo's hanger on the Blue Zone East Area. Later on I teleported back to Atlas Haven and started to hunt a bit, but stopped. I was just all at once very bored with it. What to do, I pondered. Ah! I know. There is a party today. So off I went!

It was about 5:30pm local time and the party was probably close to over. But still I hung about, dancing like a loon (which is the only way I can dance!) and taking photos. Everyone was in a jolly mood and no one seemed to mind it. I have put on display some of the pictures at another location so I won't bother to do so here. Look in the McCormicks Gallery if you are really curious. It was with amazement that I found both Marcos and Deathifier just loafing about. I looked for Neverdie but did not find him. Still, there were a lot of colourful and interesting folks there. I also got a bit tipsey.

Being a tee-totaller in real life, it's scarcely a surprise that I would get quite woozey on the stuff they were serving on this day. Now add to that the need to stay semi-alert in order to avoid the two snables that were let on the loose, and it was a wild time! I stayed for approximately one hour then took my leave. It was fun, and I am glad I went. Unfortunately the trip home is one I shan't forget- I mean, remember! All I can recall is telling everyone goodbye and running toward the teleporter. The next thing I knew, it was Sunday morning and I was lying face down in Deathifier's hanger! I am so glad no one found me there in that condition. I was able to rise on my own and make my retreat to Eudoria unseen.

I visited the EU very little on Sunday. It took me most of the day to stop feeling ill, hung-over from the previous night's events. So I played the shiftless lay-about for the rest of the day. But Monday was a different story. When I first set out to find a mentor for me, I received several offers, among them, Kira-red's. Well, until Monday I had not had the priviledge of meeting her. We had exchanged a few private messages, much to the effect of, "Let's meet online and do a bit of hunting sometime." Well, Monday we were able to do just that. After exchange messages during the day, we were finally able to get together at Ft. Argus.


kira "red" star-rigger

She left it up to me, as to what we should do. So I fell back on hunting Corns on the beach. Next she asked me to form a team. I hated to admit it, but I did not know how. Until now I had always left it to others. So she kindly formed a team. A friend of hers joined us, and soon we were off. As is sometimes the case, the Corn Beach area was not overly populated. We had to run about to get to the prey. I am satisfied with very little. To me just being part of a team of hunters and chatting while we run about is good fun. During the hunt I noticed Orion, Kira's friend, doing something odd. When I asked about it, I was informed that it was a practice known as 'Biotrophy'. It has something to do with using the force of one's mind for healing. Be that as it may, it was very impressive to watch. (Unknown to me at the time, Kira had a few hidden talents as well!)


Orion Practices 'Biotrophy'

At about 6pm, Mrs Cleveland arrived and I opted to teleport home to be with her. So for the next two hours I was out of the EU. However, at 8pm she wanted to do some work on her computer. In a matter of seconds I was back online. This is the occasion that I referred to elsewhere in another post, where upon logging in, I first heard and then saw myself surrounded by snablesnots and under attack! There had been nothing there when I left earlier. I fought them off, just taking them one at a time and finishing them. I had noticed that "Red" was still online so I asked how she was, and what she was up. While we were talking I stumbled into a maffoid. No power on Calypso could save me as I tried to outrun the thing. What are they, anyway? Great lumpy men! In less time then it takes to type this out, I had died. And revived at.... oh no, another evil outpost!

This time I came to at an outpost, which is easy to locate on the map, at the eastern end of that long yellow valley which runs from Ft. Argus east to the river. I suspect I was several kilometers from the river. Kira asked me where I was and I told her. She absolutely insisted on coming to bail me out, and in less than a minute she appeared. This time I took the initiative of forming the Team, the 'Just Us' team, and off we went. Kira is a unique person in many ways. First, she likes to walk. I have always thought this was a good idea as well. Although it seems customary to run, run, run everywhere it is really quite nice to sometimes simply saunter to where you are going. You will see more; I kept finding fruit. She also taught me how to autowalk by clicking the sky. This will keep you going for a while since you will never reach the horizon.

We chatted quite a bit about in-universe issues. She believes, as I do, that there many different approaches to existing in the Entropia universe. What suits one citizen may not suit another. It's good to be flexible. In a while our flexibility would be put to the test. We spotted a Warrior!

"Be still", she said. So we both just stopped in our tracks. Quickly the mechanized monstrousity moved away. A few steps and we had to stop again.

"An Armax! A boy one!" This was not going away. Infact it headed right for us! She did something rather spectacular and the beast lost a lot of hp. All the while I was plinking away with my Opalo! In a second it was upon us! Since my friend was doing the greater damage she got the most attention and died quickly. Next it was my turn. In no time at all, I was coming round back at the same outpost. I can hear Kira laughing. I like her spirit!

"That went well" seemed to be our take on things. I asked her if it would not perhaps be better if I fapped her while she dealt the damage. We discussed the various fap-units I happened to have in my possession and decided that my recently acquired fap-28 would be the best in this situation. We headed out again. It felt odd and sad at the same time, discussing which unit I should heal her with. Pixels or not, we were discussing her impending injuries and how I could best heal them... Do I think about things too deeply? I suspect so, "and there's nothing at all to be done about that!"

In short order, we were ready once again, to make like babies and head out. Following the same trail we did eventually encounter Armaxes again. The first was an Armax cow, which Kira referred to as a 'girl'. It was at this point that Kira did that marvelous thing again! See the picture:


Kira Uses Nerve-Blast

After the creature had been properly dealt with, with both of us fighting, and holding our own, we turned our attention to the other. I believe it was a dominant, or some such.... It was a brute. I knew I couldn't do much against it so I turned my attention to Kira. Fapping for all I was worth did no good what-so-ever. So she, then I, was dead. And again, we soon revived- at Fort Zeus! We had made excellent progress!

Once here, we talked about what we would do next. Rescue mission accomplished, I wondered if she had to be elsewhere but she did not. So we discussed our options.

"Well, what do you want to do?", she asked.

I do not think fast on my feet, but somehow I came up with a cogent thought.

"I do not have the TP for Camp Caravan yet. It's the last one I need." So she agreed to take me there.

Now this was a very strange trip. First off, we teleported to North Space Base. From there we went into the sea. She told me to just follow her as we would be going a long way. This I did by means of the 'follow' option. Along the way, she sang softly, "la dee da! Laaa la de dah!" It was a pleasant trip. After a bit, she indicated that she would be away from keyboard for a time, going for a drink. No matter, we were in autoswim mode now. The interesting part is, that while she was away, she was also in chat mode. So I sat, my attention riveted to the chat box, waiting... "Wow! She's writing a book!"


The Long Swim

Of course she wasn't. She was away getting some Tang or something. In a bit she came back and we continued. The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. We eventually went back ashore, dripping wet and tired. I noted that it was almost time to gather my daughter and take her to work. She works 11pm to 7am now.

"We are almost there", she responded. One thing I thought was extraordinary about our time together, was that at times we would be quietly walking through the countryside, with Kira dropping bombs along the way. Doing a bit of mining as it were. The picture of that idyllic walk, side by side, just taking our leisure, and the trail of bombs blowing up just behind was quite funny! I'm not sure how she made out with it.

As she said, we soon walked into Camp Caravan and the last of my teleport locations. I now have the entire Eudoria collection. Next for Amethera. Kira has advised me not to go it alone. I hope I shan't have to. Diary, if you know of anyone who would like to join with me, whenever we both have the chance, I am open to it.

I hope Mynx is proud of the way I am widening out. I am a social misfit, an outcast! Everywhere I go, people even make fun of my Texas accentl. But in the EU I am beginning to feel at ease among others. Of all the virtual universes I have visited in my time, I like this one the best.

Upon our arrival in Camp Caravan I spied the wreckage of some sort of huge machine.


Look Ma! It's the ED-209!

I guess it is one of those robots I've heard so much about. You know, the one in that video? Frightful things! Anyway, I ran and caught up to Kira and told her I had been taking some pictures.

"Oh you and your pictures..." she lamented. So, we got to know each other quite well on this little sojourne, didn't we!

I must go for now. Have much yet to do. Text needs proofreading; pictures need cropping and editing. So long for now!

Love,
Donald

Having Hit Rock Bottom...

Dear Diary,

*sigh*

I have made a major decision and it grieves me badly. I am not sure how I am going to bear up under the pressure it has produced. I suppose I will survive. But first...

This post will be without pictures, fairly short and to the point. Lately I have been spending all my time north of Ft. Argus hunting. I have really come to enjoy hunting quite a bit. It gets in your blood. I find that practicing the techniques I have been taught by both Mynx and Gryffon, and more recently Kira-red has made the art of hunting much more interesting. I now consciously aim for various spots on my game and make note of the resulting damage incurred. And I am getting better. Ostensibly, my purpose for hunting is to acquire the materials necessary to practice my profession, that of Tailor. I enjoy making shoes.

In that regard I have recently made some small progress. Yesterday I achieved success in 50% of my efforts. And these were shoes of a fairly high quality. I sold the both for roughly 7 ped and pocketed the gold! Also, I am practicing the art of colouring. I have recently been advised not to do this because it will detract from my primary objective of becoming a tailor. The jury's still out on this. I already own the colourizer, and I have found tons of paint in the field. Who knew so many Snablesnots were keen on carting about gallons of paint? So odd...

So then, as long as I don't actually incur any additional expenses doing it, I suppose I will continue.

Anyway, my major decision is, to live out the next month entirely without additional deposit. Yes, that is right. I have been scouting around for an apartment. I have been looking at buying a Castorian EnBlade of some sort. I want to concentrate more on tailoing so buying materials becomes necessary. There seems no end to the things I want to buy. So, I am going to force myself to live within a budget. I may increase the amount as time goes on, but for now it is going to be comparable to what I have always spent on a monthly basis on lesser universes. Trust me, my friend, I am quite capable of going overboard with this spending thing.

In recent years I have bought hundreds of dollars worth of PC games. I honestly became addicted to the purchase of games, more than to the playing.

In one corner in my computer room, there is a stack of swords against the wall. Once again, hundreds of dollars spent. Fortunately there are less there now as I learned how to use a popular auctioning system on the Internet. Even made a little profit.

On one occasion I had 3 paid accounts on one mmorpg. That's a role-playing game, if you can fancy me doing that sort of thing. It was just overkill. I quit that and unloaded all my virtual stuff to the tune of nearly $1000 on that same website.

So there you have it. I will, during the month ahead, put the hunting gear in storage until I am with friends. At that time I will hunt, then put it up again afterward. No more solo-hunting for me. That luxury will be reserved as social event. During the month ahead I shall sweat creatures, look for fruit and the occasional dung. I might even try my hand at trading. Or perhaps I will explore some new ideas I've been kicking around. In any case, wish me well!

Perhaps a whole new adventure, an adventure in frugality, is opening up! I will keep you posted.

Sincerely,
Donald

Welcome to Port Atlantis!

Dear Diary,

In keeping with my resolve to train myself to be thrifty, I've decided to take up a small project I had been putting off. Well, to be completely honest, I have been trying to complete this project but it has been most difficult. As you may know, I recently posted a nice tribute to the City of Hadesheim. I can do no less for Port Atlantis. After all, PA is the point of origin for many, if not most, newcomers to the EU. The reason for my difficulty in completing this task is due to a certain condition known as lagggg. I am sure you've heard of it. On my first attempt, I teleported into town and got right to work. I hadn't been here for several days and I picked the worst possible moment to arrive. It was simply unbearable. To think that this is where newcomers, those interested ones who want to "check it out!", first arrive is disconcerting. If I could hardly walk from point A to point B, how do they feel about it? Well I won't go on a rant over this. It was fine this morning at 6 am, when I teleported in.

Port Atlantis is a city of modest size, situated on the southern coast of Eudoria. As one approaches town from land, they are apt to see a sign similar to the one below.


It's good to be here!

In some instances there are smaller, double-signs hanging over the entryways. It all depends on ones avenue of approach. But this is not where it begins for newcomers. All newcomers that come in through PA initially arrive here:


Welcome Immigrants!

As I have documented in the composite photo above, the new-arrivals zone has many kiosks, or information booths, where basic yet essential facts concerning the universe can be garnered. By simply walking from booth to booth and addressing the service representatives in each, you can learn a lot.

One sign here in particular, got my attention.


Yes, I believe I do!

Slightly off topic, but worthy of mention is that I recently held a mini-contest on the EF. I offered the lordly sum of 1 ped to the first person to identify a film title based on a single quote. The one who came closest to winning was none other than Ms. Pinky. However, she declined to meet me and accept the ped, no doubt feeling that it was too small a sum, or an brazen attempt on my part to get to know her... Be that as it may, she suggested that I present it to a newcomer instead. So today, it is with great joy that I announce, the winner of the 'Name That Film Contest' is newcomer Jamie Papusha Woulfe! Bravo! Bravo!


Here's for you, young Miss!

I had long since decided, due to my embarrassment over Pinky's lack of interest, to raise the amount to 10 ped. There are several reasons for this. Call it Karma, call it casting my bread upon the waters, call it what goes around comes around. At any rate the deed is done. I wish Papusha well, and I hope she sticks around. I directed her to the Entropia Forum, and gave her the names of a few potential mentors. Let's all (I mean you and I, diary) give her a hearty welcome should she turn up in here. Let's see if we can lure her away from an alternate universe she is currently inhabiting. I am not sure of the name- give me a Second to recall.... it pertains to Life- Oh blast! I can't recall. Anyway, let's do give her a warm welcome!

Welcome to the Entropia Universe and Forum, Papusha!

[End of part I]

Welcome to Port Atlantis - Part II

Not too far from the newcomer arrival point, is another very important area, the Biolab. This is a common meeting point for all sorts of activities. I am not certain why it bears the name of Minopolis. As you are aware, Minopolis is a lovely agricultural community on the Eastern seaboard. Perhaps it was founded by residents from there. Let's see what a search of the EF will turn up...

Aha! So that's it!

Well, that certainly says a lot. Still I think the biolab adds a nice ambience to the place. Some people are sad in that it contributes to lag. There are all sorts of solutions for reducing that problem. I say, let's keep the biolab. I do rather like the idea of filling it with chirpies, and other small harmless creatures. Make a petting zoo of it.


Calypso's First Petting Zoo?

Below is the notorious turret of PA. True, it's not the only one there, but I feel that it is the most popular with the newcomers. Given it's location, it is ideal for running from the viscious creatures that inhabit the plains of the southeast. When a sweating attempt goes awry most will simply run to this stop and let the turret do it work.


Turrent and Plane

I am not sure what the really handsome aircraft is all about. Perhaps you could enlighten me, should you happen to know.

For those newcomers that do the sensible thing and die trying, the revival center will seem very familiar. This is where one goes upon pressing T in and around Port Atlantis.


The Author at Rest

Within the walls of this center are a number of terminals, including the Revival terminal, Repair terminal and Trade terminal. There is also a representative from the local auction house who will be most happy to help anyone with any sort of transaction. However, should you ever get a job with them, do be on your best behavior.

There is another location wherein one can perform any number of activities. That is the service center. I will not go into detail as to what you can accomplish in there. This is not a guide or tutorial per se. Just be aware that this service center is toward the northern end of town, nearby the Teleporter. Please see the picture.


Service Center and Teleport

The teleporter is all the way to the North in Port Atlantis. It is the social center of town, and usually quite busy. All types of trade and negotiations are made here. In snapping a shot of the statue (see below) I inadvertantly caught the successful conclusion of a trade. This goes on constantly here and is the best place to be, when you want to unload some dung or fruit.


Successful Trade!

I will conclude with a nice compilation of several scenes from around town. I do not understand the importance of any of the places or things in the photos. It only serves to give you an impression of what the city is really like.


Tanks and Obelisks

There is a good bit of military hardware here, as well as some landing pads out over the ocean. What they were built for I have no idea. What sort of craft could use them? Do the spaceships have verticle take-off? I suppose I will find out when the big day comes and I get my trip to Club Neverdie! Speaking of that, King Buzzo hinted that it might take place this weekend. Here's hoping! If it does, you can believe there will be quite a write-up here come Monday!

Well, Diary, that's all I have for now. I hope you have enjoyed the photos and my bit of explanation. I want you to realize and remember that I am still very much the newcomer to Entropia and there is much I don't know. I am only trying to relate to the universe around me- hit or miss. And I am very open to correction and enlightenment.

Oh! I have just received this communication from King Buzzo himself:

King Buzzo said:

Fly to the Stars Tonight

Firstly, let me apologize for being absent. I have had a rough week in the real world.

Are you available this evening at approximatly 8pm Pacific Time? Let me know, we can arrange to meet in Twins.

Talk to you soon!

Click to expand...

Isn't that fabulous? I can't wait to do this so I can give you the scoop! Stand Bye!

Sincerely,
Donald

King Buzzo and his Wonderful Craft!

Dear Diary,

Oh dear, I've only just now received your message:

Donald's Diary said:

Dear Donald,

Listen, I am getting just a little bit tired of the stuff you've been turning out lately! Sure, pictures are nice and all, but your recent letters are really lacking in uumph! If you know what I mean... They are.... what's the word I am looking for? Oh yeah, boring!

Let's see if you can't come up with something that is actually interesting. Otherwise, I'm going to start reading that nun's letters instead.

Yours "as always",
Diary

Click to expand...

I am mortified! I never meant to bother...

At any rate, I do have some exceptionally good news. Guess, where I am at this present moment. Club Neverdie! King Buzzo is as good as his word and he brought me up here late last night! And what a night it turned out to be. Once again, and as usual, I will try to hold myself in check and relate this most recent installment of my adventures, in an orderly and concise manner. Let's begin with an adventure of a different sort...

Some few weeks ago, my mentor, Mynx, and her husband Gryffon took me for a tp-run and hunt. It was during this hunt that I got to see my first aircraft hanger and ship. What a thrill that was! I mentioned at that time, well, to quote: "Most amazing! I somehow feel that there will be a trip to outer space in my near future!" How true those words have proved to be.

As a man of modest means, I considered how I could best approach the matter. Then I hit upon an idea: A barter arrangement! Some have said that I have the gift of gab, that I know how to turn a phrase, express a thought. Well, maybe I could exchange a trip to that asteroid everyone has been talking about, for a nice bit of reporting. With that idea in mind I approached our local pilots. It wasn't long before the offers came rolling in! I was gratified to see that others thought so highly of my plan. Given that this would be a one-time offer, due to it's very nature, it could only be done once, that I would accept the services of the first pilot to accept mine. That pilot was none other than King Buzzo of e-pec.info travels!

We agreed that the account of my first ever space-flight to Club Neverdie, with emphasis on his service, would be rendered in the days shortly following the flight. Now all I had to do was wait until he had a full load. King Buzzo has since informed me that it costs about 50 peds for a single flight to CND. So it is absolutely necessary that the ship flies at maximum capacity.

(I would like to remind you, Diary, that I am reporting from the vantage point of total ignorance. If I misrepresent anything that has been said to me, or if my impressions are incorrect, please do accept my apology. It is not my intent to deceive but to convey as clearly as possible, that which I know and that which I think I know.)

In the meantime, while waiting for word from King Buzzo, I took the opportunity to physically locate the hanger and the craft. Based on certain clues from himself, I did eventually find the hanger at latitude 24505, longitude 27912, in the Blue Zone Hanger Area.

That having been done, there was nothing further to do but wait! No, not exactly. I wanted to be as prepared for this trip as I could possibly be. So I sought the help of my mentor, once again. First I asked her what to expect by way of the trip itself. She explained to me that the first thing to happen would be the joining to each of our friends lists, I to King Buzzo's and he to mine. Next we would proceed or meet at the hanger itself. Once there I would be added to his passenger list, where-upon I would be allowed to enter the craft. On board, it was simply a matter of picking my seat and buckling up! It all sounded rather simple but it is always good to have a heads-up, I say.

She also included links to various websites which contained detailed information regrading CND itself. I do not wish to go into any details regarding that yet. For now, my focus is on King Buzzo and the trip.

As I was saying, there was nothing left but to wait until the happy day when I would receive the good word. Well, my dear, dear Diary, yesterday was that day. Out of the blue, when I was least expecting it, I received word from KB that the day had arrived. In his message he stated that I was to meet him at Twin Peaks at 8 pm Pacific time. That is a reference to old Earth's time-zone system, where different parts of the globe marked the hours as plus or minus a fixed position. I much prefer the global time system we use on Calypso, although I do not quite understand what is meant by MindArk Time...

First things first. I checked my watch. I had exactly 1.5 hours to prepare. So the first thing I did was inject my account with a healthy sum of PEDs. Then I repaired my armor and weapons. I bought a cheap pistol with ammo, and brought my Opalo ammo stores up to 7k. I assumed there would be Trade Terminals on CND but I wanted to be sure. Next I put everything in storage except what was absolutely necessary. I wanted to travel as light as possible. "Who knows", I thought, "maybe I will come down heavy. LOL!"

Next off to Twin Peaks and wait!

I arrived at Twin Peaks around 5:15 pm my time. Compensating for the time-zones involved, I calculated I had about 45 minutes to wait. As luck would have it, a friend of mine was also online so we started to chat. It was Kira "Red" Star-rigger.

"What's going on with you?"

"I am at Twin Peaks, waiting for King Buzzo. He's taking me to Club Neverdie tonight!"

"Great! When are you leaving?"

"Very soon now. He said to meet him here at 8 pm Pacific time. It's a few minutes after now..."

"Wait a minute. You're in Texas, right? I'd say you've got about 4 more hours to go!"

"Can that be?" I did some checking. And she was, of course, absolutely right! I had estimated the time difference the wrong way around. Rather than putting 8 pm as two hours earlier than me, I put it later, as if it was eastern time. So, thanks to Kira, I was spared a 4 hour wait. Who knows, I might have become discouraged and scrubbed the entire mission. As it was, I thanked her most politely and teleported to home and the missus. As a side-note, given the seriousness of the events in store, I had strictly charged Mrs. Cleveland to accept that I was going to be out of pocket through-out most of the evening. How little I knew what was in store for me... and how long and eventful an evening it would be.

At Kira's news, I did repair to the livingroom and watch the telly for a bit. But at about nine o'clock I was back in Eudoria. With an hour to pass I was beside myself. I was nervous; I was excited. I just kept thinking about the impending flight. To burn off nervous energy I even teleported to North Space Base, and ran to the hanger just south of there. It was open and I went in. King Buzzo's fine ship was there and I took the opportunity to examine it. As fine a craft as any I've seen. While there I also hunted for a few minutes, killed a few corns, but my heart wasn't in it. So shortly I went back to Twin Peaks.

Soon it was 10 pm, or 8 pm Pacific. Kira was about so we spent a few moments in converation about this and that. I had noticed that in one of her EF posts she showed a good understanding of some programming issues. That impressed me very much but she attributed it to information that someone else, a certain K.I.A., had passed along to her. Suddenly I spied, in the local chat window, words from the King himself, "Anyone need passage to CND?" or something to that effect. Begging Kira's pardon, I immediately answered, "I do!"

"Oh, hello Donald", and there he was...


King Buzzo Himself!

We joined each the other's friends list and chatted for a while. It was decided that since I already knew the way to the hanger, I would go ahead on, and await the arrival of the rest of our party. And so it was done!

In a very short while, at approximately 10:15 pm, my local time, he arrived. With him was one Craig Aiya Supremus. I did not have an opportunity to actually get to know Mr. Supremus.


King Buzzo Arrives!

Things were very exciting, and chaotic, to my way of thinking. I did notice that KB started fueling the craft at once. When this was done he went over his pre-flight check list. I found a seat in the middle aft section of the ship and expertly buckled myself in. We had a bit of a wait as another chap, Chris was it? arrived a bit late. During the time Chris was arriving and getting situated King Buzzo tried to put us at our ease. I was offered an adult beverage which I turned down. "I must keep my wits about me!", I intoned.

(Sadly, several of the photos that I had taken within the hanger did not come out well enough to be worth posting, namely the fueling sequence and the mighty engines. I must get a better camera soon!)

"Also", he continued merrily, "please keep all extremities within the ship during the flight." After which he and Mr. Supremus went on to rephrase the statement in every possible way.

Supremus said, "Whatever could stick out!".

"Also please close your eyes during the flight. Last trip we had a passenger get their eyes sucked out!", said the King. Of course they were just having a go at the new guy! It was all very jolly! Then suddenly we took off!


The Heads-up display

...and then...



We made it! The trip was both smooth and at the same time thrilling! I have truly never experienced anything like it! And it was great to know I had finally arrived at Club Neverdie! Once the ship landed and was secure, I was allowed to take several more shots. Here is my favorite:


Donald Cleveland, co-pilot!

And finally I took this shot of the captain, King Buzzo and his fine, fine aircraft:




I just want to note at this point that space-travel is of itself an exhilerating experience and I strongly recommend it to anyone- even newcomers. While the trip itself is peachy, I will elaborate more on the wonders of Club Neverdie, and why anyone would want to visit or live there. In the meantime, King Buzzo can easily be contacted by that name in these forums.

And finally, I just want to say thank you! Thank you! THANK YOU! To King Buzzo for making this trip possible.

Sincerely,
Donald

[End of Part I]

Prelude to Part II - Excuses, excuses...

Dear Diary,

As of Friday night, at approximately 10:30 pm local time, I landed at hanger #3, at Club Neverdie. Thanks for the most part, to the largesse of King Buzzo, who brought me here, I have now become the subject of my own admiration- A Space Traveller! (to paraphrase Samuel Clemens). Now I have been at CND for parts of 3 days. I have many, many gorgeous photographs to share with you, and a good many experiences to relate, as well.

I can only say, please be patient. With over 70 million bytes comprising 160 photos, I am faced with no small task. And, if that weren't bad enough, my family seized control of my week-end, and fairly kept me out of the EU.

So please be patient, but rest assured, good things are on the way!

Sincerely,
Da Old 'n

("Donald"- I have learned to do anagrams!)

P.S. I shall post one picture for now, just to set the table for what is to come...

An Evening at Club Neverdie

Dear Diary,

I have much to tell you so please get comfy. There is a lot of material to cover. This concerns my recent space-flight with King Buzzo, and subsequent (on-going) visit to Club Neverdie. Henceforth, I will use the appreviation CND since it is shorter and widely accepted. I want to rewind a bit and retred some old ground, if I may.

First, the adventure began where I least expected it, at Twin Peaks!

King Buzzo asked me to meet him there on friday evening prior to leaving for CND. So while I was waiting I roamed around the area a bit and came across this very imposing ship! I don't know much about Entropia yet, it's system of government, it's politics, it's military. All I am sure of is that this was some sort of Military Spacecraft. Look at those missiles! I would feel very safe flying in that thing.

I will not recap the flight itself. Let's just say that I Ran on ahead to the hanger in the Blue Hanger Zone, and met up with King Buzzo and the rest of our party there. As described previously, we shortly launched and were soon safely landed at hanger #3, at CND! Once there King Buzzo allowed me to shoot some photos of the ship. Here are a few more of those.

The Pilot's Seat, Donald In Control, and The Crews Quarters.

Once I was done shooting, King Buzzo showed me to the main control room. Along the way, I got a nice glimpse of Outer Space. Chasing along after King Buzzo I came to This Door. No one had warned me about it and I was at first hesitant to pass through.

Dare I Enter? I did, of course, pass through as King Buzzo had only just done, and found myself in the Main Control room. Inside were all sorts of strange and wonderful beings- all of them human, I think. I stumbled across a gentleman after my own heart, one Lord Steinmeyer. He appeared to be trying to buy a pack of fags from a tailoring machine! My uncle got like that before he passed on...

King Buzzo told me to wait for a bit, so I did. This directive really bothered me because I was brimming with curiousity about my new location. I wanted to run about and see everything all at once. But I waited. Meanwhile the King seemed to be just larking about, doing nothing. He has had my respect from the beginning so I figured there was some purpose to this torment. Soon however, I had a strange feeling.

"King Buzzo? I need to go AFK for a bit." Yes, the proverbial bio-break imposed itself.

[Supplimental Information: As a rather important aside, since our departure time was roughly 10 pm Texas-time, and fully one hour past my regularly scheduled bedtime, I have resolved to simply land at CND, log off and begin my adventures on the morrow. My missus had toddled off to bed by now upon my word of arriving shortly. The chilled water had been delivered.]

"No! no! You must stay! MindStar9 is on her way to give you a personal tour! You can't leave now!" This was a very startling revelation, and all thoughts of the bio-break were temporarily dispelled from my mind. He went on to explain that he requested she do this for me, and that directly she had changed, she would be down. So, I waited. (Standing just off to my left was Sir Odd! I was surprised to see that he and Crash are of the some society.) And in a minute she arrived!


MindStar9

I must at once say that she is as friendly as she is lovely. I felt very comfortable in her company during the hours that followed. Perhaps it is my regular association with Mynx that has enabled me to loosen up a bit where females are concerned. I rather suspect that is it. In any case, we hit it off very well. After introductions were made, Buzz shot off to take care of other things, and we commenced the tour.

"We will start with my apartment", she said. That did not concern me. Neither did the some jesting on the part on onlookers about the 'initiation' and 'whips'.

"Lead the way", I replied with a worldy aire.

A quick stroll to the evelator and we were there! Here are a few shots of the interior: A Cozy Nook, The Living Room, and A Lovely View!

She described the area by the window, "This corner is the 'space gazing' corner and where Moonie and I sit and sign off at night, and also chat with each other and friends who visit. You can See the Moon if you look up."

Turning around, I took this shot which encompasses, more or less, the Entire Apartment. Then we were off to see the rest of the place. She did mention that they hoped to soon have the balcony glassed-in so as to be able to go out there. Currently, the only options for going outside are to either wear a spacesuit, or to blow up. Neither seems acceptable.

We went from the apartment area to the main complex.

"This is one of two main complexes right now. It has a technician, auctioneer, terminals, crafting machines, and ad system. And it is one of two entries into the main dome arena." You may have noticed that there is no accompanying photo of the main complex. No doubt, and you can be sure of it, I will add one later. Unfortunately I have had the devil's own time trying to get good shots. I am appalled at the quality of some of these photos but have as of yet, not find a means of getting good ones. Please accept that as soon as I find better equipement or processing facilities I will make good and immediate use of them. Moving right along...

From here we headed for the main dome arena. She seemed really keen on showing it to me. And right she was to feel that way! It is simply the most fabulous place, right after the new disco. Here are some shots of it. The Main Dome Arena: View Left, View Center, and View Right. Isn't that marvelous? And it's all in motion. There are planetlike thingys rotating around the center. You really must visit sometime...

Now on to the Mall! On the way there, we crossed the Mezzanine with it's glass floors! Apparently MindStar9 was more concerned with these glass-floors than she was the proverbial 'glass-ceiling', or maybe that doesn't exist any more in the Entropia Universe. In short order we were in the mall. Notice how I am always running to get everywhere now. That is for two reasons. Frist, everyone I meet moves much more quickly than I do- possbily the effects of aging, and also, I was just so tremendously excited about everything! You would be too had you been there, Dairy!

"These two shops here... across from each other, belong to Buzz. These are all individual shops", she explained.

"King Buzzo? Really?", I asked.

"no... Buzz Lightyear.", she replied, to which I laughed out loud. In a few seconds I would discover that these shops, did infact belong to Buzz Lightyear. Too bad we haven't met, as he is one of my favorite people. I think it is his earnest desire to serve that draws me to him...

I came across this display that reminded my of my home back in Texas. We did not go in.

We did enter This Store. Notice the Vibrant Colour of the fabrics. Soon I will need another job so as to purchase some of the Fine Furniture they had here. As if this was not enough, she led me to yet another shop. These are all avatar owned shops. And I assume everything can be purchased from the owners.

Take a look at This Place. Everything appeared to be of the Finest Quality. I won't give a quote but the price on that Tapestry was very reasonable.

By now I was a little tired, as it was quite late, so I Sat For a Bit, and asked her to join me. Sadly, she would not, even after my pledge of good behavior. So we moved on.

"You must see the discos. There are two of them, the old original, which is smallish, and the one Neverdie had built." On the Way I shot a few more pictures. In This One the original club can be seen on the left, and the big, new one is on the right. Also, along the way we crossed over many more of those Glass Floors. And I spotted this immense Rock Formation through the window!

Upon arrival at the small disco, we entered the dance floor! At once, with the enthusiasm of an tantillon, I began to dance! Hitting buttons 1 - 6 on my quickbar, I went through all the moves! Much to my joy, she joined me. Listen Guys, I danced with MindStar9! During the dance I quipped that I had learned my moves from Mr. Bean, to which obeservation she made no reply at all. I can only assume that she missed it in the chat window somehow. I fairly roared with laughter at my own wit.

In a bit she said it was time to see the Big Disco! So off we went once more. On our way she told me that if ND had left the V.I.P section open, she would show me round in there as well. This is what the main Dance Floor looks like. I realize this may be old news to some, but you Dear Diary, do not go anywhere, and as such, this is all brand new information for you! I hope you like it. From the main dance floor MindStar9 showed me the so-called Hot-Tub. Access to it is through the V.I.P. lounge. The main dance floor is surrounded on all sides by huge moving statues of
of women, all of whom are totally sans clothing. At first, in my excited state and in the semi-dark ness of the disco, I thought they were a new race of living beings. Finding out that they were, infact, merely statues, I do not know whether to rejoice, to weep or to remain indifferent. Let's see what happens...

It was after leaving the dance floor and heading to the V.I.P. lounge that I discovered a genuine Love of Fine Art developing within me. We made our way through a small lobby with a beautiful chandalier and several fine art works, then entered the lounge. I'm not sure Who This Is. But once there, MindStar9 went Behind the Bar and offered me a drink. I requested Perrier; she offered me flavored or regular, and She Smiled.

Not much else to report on this night. By now it was well after midnight, the wife was fast asleep, and I was very tired. We did end up going out onto the Hot-Tub. In reality it is a little glass-bottomed dance floor that entends out over the main floor. It is a very cool place to be. I recall my final words to her at that time.

"This might be a major blunder on my part, but I have to leave now. I have to be at work early tomorrow." I feel there was still a lot to be seen and done, but I had already broken my old records for endurance. Also that bio-break was still an issue. So the lady bid me good night. She made some reference to the initiation, and that perhaps that would happen on another occasion. And perhaps it shall. In the meantime I shall live life wondering whatever it might entail. Should I be worried? I made a joke earlier about the involvement of small biting creatures and she said it was possible.

Diary, I must go now. I hope you have enjoyed this account, of my first evening spent at Club Neverdie. I have more to report, mostly about hunting, and the Biodomes. But we'll wait on that for a bit.

Sincerely,
Donald

Donald Cleveland, Miner

Dear Diary,

I have now been in Club Neverdie for several days. It is with much regret that I must say, MindStar9 and I never did get back together for the remainder of the tour, or initiation. Be that as it may, I have contacted King Buzzo about returning home. I am not anxious to leave here, but I feel there might be some slight delay, so with that in mind, I made my request. Due to the nature of our agreement, I am content to wait until he has an empty seat for the return trip. If need be, I can always do other things, things of a more mundane, Earthly nature, while I wait. Donald, as you have come to know him, could even take a long nap and dream of life in Texas.

Let's see, what have I been up to? Well, on my second day in CND I set out for the hunt! Approaching the teleporter in the main control room, I randomly selected a Biodome and went there. I believe I choose #3 North.

Shortly after arriving I was greeted by some other visitors. A team invite box popped up. As is my custom, I wanted to check out the dome solo, first time around. I like to get my bearings first when I begin a new adventure. So, I clicked the 'No' option. Faster than I can tell you, the box re-appeared. I clicked 'No', and again, and again, and again. The Ignore option did just nothing. This was most distressing as my daughter was there with me (oh! I had negected to mention her!), and she wondered what was going on.

"Just some clown", I explained, "Try to ignore him."

Finally the box stopped appearing, and I began to hunt. Within mere seconds I was lying dead on the ground! I'd been murdered! Hardly a promising start! As I revived, back at the main control room, I read these words in the chat window, "Max Flame Boy killed Don using a Starkhov AS-97", in light pink. My EU client alternates between referring to me as 'Donald' and 'Don'. I much prefer 'Donald'. Don't you? I was unaware that the Biodomes were PvP zones. Nevermind. It hasn't affected my visit to any large extent. But, I did want more control over where I hunted and what. So I sought help in the EF.

"Hello, Entropia Forum? Where can I find specific information about which biodomes hold what variety of fauna?"

"Answer unclear, try again later....", came the response.

Right, I'm only teasing! Actually, I was encouraged to check out the fertilization stations. So upon my return, I did just that. The Fertilization Station was due west of the main control room. It could not have been easier to find.

Once inside, I kept my mouth shut tight for the flies, and I went up to a large unit numbered 1 - 6, I believe. This first unit held the information I desired. Biodome #5 was what I wanted. It was said to contain exarosaurs and snablesnots of the proper maturity for my abilities. I went there posthaste! Here is a nice view of Space Through the Dome.

During most of my time on CND I have been in biodome #5, just hunting. The loot is nothing to write home about, but I am having fun. One thing happened quite by accident that was of a serendipitious nature. I made a mistake and travelled to CND with my Goot Refiner in the quickbar. I meant to travel ultra-light, so as to cart off more loot. As it turns out, by refining all the leathers and wools that I have found, I am staying much lighter than if I had not refined them. This has turned out to be a happy accident. If need be, I can even sell the refiner and buy another one once back at home. I shan't lose much in so doing.

On one of my hunting trips I ran into TheCreature. I forget what style of hunting he was doing (although he told me- I have forgotten!). It is amusing when I recall my first sight of him in the auction house at New Oxford City. See the inset in the linked photo. He had on a white ninja hood and black spandex shorts! He later explained to me that he had been out all night, at some party, and that accounted for the way he was dressed. No explanation was necessary however, and I am now on good terms with both him and his brother.

I am the sort that takes advice to heart and I usually try to follow it when it is offered. Now, I don't approach this in some mindless, robotic fashion. If it seems totally off-base I can ignore it, after consideration. However, if it appears to have merit, or I feel it might have merit that I cannot immediately see, I will act on it. That is why, as the result of my last conversation with Kira, I bought an Omegaton M2100. She spoke to me of layered defenses. So now I use the pistol for close in fighting and kill shots. That being said, a number of people told me I really needed to give mining a try while at CND. I am not really very keen on mining. In a different virtual universe I once inhabited, I operated 3 accounts at one time, on the Vaio (proud machine!), doing nothing day and night but mining. So I have a bit of a bad taste in my mouth about it. Never-the-less, at roughly 5:30 am today, I entered biodome #5 with some spanking new mining gear.

For my first mining effort, I had bought an Omegaton EnMatter Detector ED-10 and 20 Omegaton Seismic Bombs. Needless to say, nothing good came of it. When I attempted to detonate a bomb, I could not. When I attempted to activate the EnMatter Detector I received a message concerning 'probes'. It said I needed to use the Enmatter Detector in conjunction with probes. Right. It was about this time that I spotted a real miner, Icey. She was kind enough to give me the very specific information I needed to get off to a good start.

With the information Icey gave me, I went back to the Trade Terminal and purchased a Genesis Star Energy Extractor and some Omegaton Survey Probes. I felt good things were about to happen! Soon I was staring at the detector and receiving a different kind of Message. So, it was just a matter of time until I achieved success. Continued mining in those hours before I went to work, paid off to some extent. I mined 775 units of Melchi water. It was fun and I probably won't do it again. No, I am still not a miner; I am still a tailor hunting for materials.

This is all I have for you today, Diary. As I await the good word from King Buzzo, about my return trip to Calypso I will probably return to the mall area and browse the shops. How I wish the missus were here, as she just loves that sort of thing...! Oh well, until next time!

Donald

A Time for Reflection

Dear Diary,

It is time for me to sit still for a while and reflect on my time here at Club Neverdie. Up until this point I have been eagerly running about trying to see and do everything I can- preferably all at once. But now I need to be still.

What do I think of CND? I honestly think it is great! As you are well aware, my Diary, I am not on anyone's payroll. I am strictly an unbiased observer. As a matter-of-fact, observing is what I seem to do best. I will get more into that later but first my CND observations.

There haven't been any parties during my time here, so I don't have anything to say about that. I am rather unimpressed with the small disco. It lacks excitement- pazzazz!, so to speak. Also, the rubbish that was on the floor last friday when MindStar9 took me there, was still there Tuesday night! I think the housekeeping staff wants talking to.

Needless to say, the new large disco, built by ND himself, is simply remarkable. I love the undulating effect of the dance-floor. Of course, it is all done with lights, but the effect is marvelous. And as for those statues, while I wouldn't take my little grandson in there, I think they are quite lovely- in a Greco-Roman sort of way.

Now as for the hunting... it could be better. I have confined myself to biodome #5 due in large part to the restrictions placed upon me by my own skills, and my equipment. Perhaps the next time I come to CND for a strictly hunting holiday, I will be better trained and equipped. I am shooting snablesnots and exarosaurs as a regular thing. It's about all I am doing these days. I did take a brief respite from that activity to pursue another- that of mining. I posted about that on Tuesday and have nothing new to add. Well, I do. I have decided that my next trip will be all about mining. I think I gave it short shrift this go-round, and want to see how far I can really go with it. On the one attempt, I did clear 15.5 peds in about 1 hour. This is the most money I have made in any venture within the EU to date. Hence my natural desire to return and give it more attention. I did not make a profit as my initial expenses (including the 20 seismic bombs which I purchased out of ignorance) far exceeded that amount.

On my own, I have done a little bit of sightseeing. I have returned to the mall area and browsed all the shops there. Among those who have nice places, worth a visit are Augis Tumas, Buzz Lightyear, Epictetus Ahab, Ido sunrider, Lady Wolf, Primary Jones, Steph Kiokay, et al. Not all of these sell merchandise. Some, like Ido, offer services such as hairstyling. If time permits, I plan to return to the mall once more and gather some decent photographs of the various shops in there. I think it might be of interest to others to know just what is being offered, both in terms of the merchadise and services, and also the shops themselves. Unfortunately many are still lacking a tenant. If I had something worthwhile to offer, I would gladly set up in this location.

[Supplimental Information: On my latest visit to the mall, I did infact, shoot many, many photos. It was only near the end of the evening that I realized I had not loaded any film! I was geniunely distressed over this. I hope I get the opportunity to return and do things right.]

The only down side to my visit so far, is my sense of isolation here. I do not know anyone at CND, and so I am keeping to myself. I am not nearly as outgoing and gregarious as some folk take me to be. So, it is my hope that on future visits I might be able to put together a group of friends, and charter a ship. Of course, my choice of pilot would be King Buzzo, who deserves an unsolicited plug for the fine service he has thus far provided.

As for being alone, it was particularly painful during my window-shopping session of the other evening. At home, my wife and I will often frequent the shops. It always comes down to Ladies Clothing and I always end up holding things... I don't mind this activity at all. In fact I find it a challenge to come up with new and inspired responses to her requests for my opinion. For instance, "Sweetheart, what do you think of this blouse?" is a trigger for me to come up with an intelligent and meaningful description of my feelings for the item in question. It's really rather fun, and she does seem to appreciate it, although my recommendations are ignored as often as not. One pasttime we both find amusing is 'colour identification'. We like to let slip from the vast store of our mutual knowledge of colours. Sometime, however, if I am really stuck for the correct shade, I will invent one. She's Philippino. Sometimes I can get away with this, and sometimes I cannot.

Anyway, this more than anything led me feeling slightly morose, just ever so blue. Not only is she not with me here at Club Neverdie, she's not even in the same universe...

I'd better go now. I am at the office and sooner or later they are bound to want something from me. I have a long, on-going project, but I am now down to the final month and need something to show. All I can say is, thank God for civil service!

Sincerely,
Donald

The Big Dance

Dear Diary,

It is early on Saturday morning as I make this entry. I was just compelled to rise and get the events of last night down in writing, before they slippped away from my feeble memory. Yesterday was about the same as ever. I got up, went to work and logged into the Entropia Forum. As usual there were posts to be made, and controversies to be dealt with. I have come to realize that the EF is as much, if not more, a part of my life as the Universe itself. I have never felt this way about a community of people before, and that is saying a lot given the earthly community I frequent. About midday, a notice appeared under the Events heading under the About Entropia section. It was MindStar9 reminding us about the upcoming party at CND! Well, I had no idea such a thing was about to take place, so I was ever so glad to still be up here. I am also proud to say that a short while after the initial reminder, I received a private message from the lady herself, inviting me to attend! So, the rest of my day was basically nothing but waiting for the big event. What made this special was that the party was to be aired over several large monitors on the dance floor of a club in Miami, Fl. known as 'The Pawn Shop'. How quaint.

Once home from the office I went to Entropia and got to work setting up my #3 quickbar. Then I found a quiet place, somewhere west of the fertilization station and got in a bit of practice. In a short while, I realized I had it down. I said to myself, "If that's the best you can do, then so be it." I had no illusions about winning the dance-contest. Infact had I won, I would have been forced to investigate whether or not it was rigged! That's how bad I am...

For just a little while I entered biodome 5, as is my custom, determined to waste the last precious rounds of ammo I had in my inventory. Sensing that the day of my departure is near, I went back one more time in hopes of striking it rich (read: Getting a Global). And one more time my hopes were dashed. But do take a look at this Picture. Is that not heartbreaking? I saw the glint of gold; I saw the number 53 next to it, and my foolish heart lept to my throat. I squinted and search the chat box for that familiar text to appear. "Donald Cleveland has definately Globalled" or words to that effect... but none appeared. It was not a global. There were no fire-works, the golden sparkles- no cheering was heard. No, but after the shock, I was still quite happy with what I had received.

There was one nice surprise on this particular hunt. I advanced in my rifle skills to Initiated! I have over 800 skill points now. I am very pleased with my progress in this regard, and hope to reach Able soon. However, the a104 unit once again broke down on me, the ammo was about gone, and I switched to using the Omegaton M2100 for the balance of the session. I am becoming deadly with the Opalo, I must say. The instance of one-shot kills where low-level Snabes and Exaros are concerned is alarming to me now.

In not to great a while, party time arived. After my hunting session was ended I returned to the Control Room to process my 'loot'. I also took this time to freshen up and get ready. While in that area, I noticed quite a few visitors to CND. Many were rehearsing their Dance Moves. I tried to snap a few photos as inconspicuously as I could, not wanting to embarrass or intimidate anyone, but in short order Felicity caught on to what I was up to. By the way, do you happen to know the name of this Young Lovely? Speaking strictly from personal opinion, sometimes the quieter, more understated beauty is the most appealing. So Hello! to whoever you are...

Soon it was 02:00 ma, and time for the party to begin! As quick as I could, I teleported to the small disco. From there one has only to take the shortcut through that disco, and out the other side. A corridor goes directly to the new place. I was soon running across the Big Dance Floor! Here is a shot of me, Doing My Best. By the way, I've learned some new moves. I hope they were viewed favorably by the crowds. It's hard to tell what anyone thinks about at a time like that. I was please to see that they had hired some Security, although with all the shooting, blasting and whipping going on, I'm not sure if he served his purpose.

I never got the CND radio to work as I had hoped. That's alright because the regular EU music makes for easy listening. One troubling thing though, I kept hearing a female voice softly moaning and sighing. Somewhere, I feel certain, was a woman in distress, but I never could locate her. On my attempts to do so, I did run into MindStar9 once more. It was good to See Her! We have since made definate plans to conclude that tour in the coming days! I may even get initiated yet.

This next picture is really quite nice, but Rather Saucy, so be warned. I like it though, and chose to post it because it clearly shows the large main dance floor, the elevated smaller floor, and the hottub! This last area is accessed by means of the V.I.P. section. I've been there!

Oh! I want to throw out this final shot of me Dancing Once More. I found this nice little disc empty and took full advantage of it, to show off my so called talents. I also noticed this person watching me from a safe distance. I cannot for the life of me recall her name, but I am certain she used to sing with the B52s. Diary, do you remember them...? From the nineties.

Well, as is so often the case, eventually the needs of corporeal entities took precedence over the desires of those virtual, and I had to leave. My daughter needed to get to work and Phillip need to come home with us. So my night at Club Neverdie was ended. It was a marvelous time, all in all, and I will do this again, as soon as time and circumstances permit. That's all I have for now. Thanks for always being there for me and listening. I hope to post something nice about the shops up here, very soon.

Sincerely,
Donald

P.S. Diary, I thought better of the original picture of the 3 views of the dancefloor, and replaced the 'saucy' version with a much milder one I took this afternoon. If you saw the original, I apologize for my momentary lapse of good judgement.