Next Island Client Loader

Next Island presentation said September 2010. Mindark financial report said Summer 2010 (September is still summer until Sept 21). With Cyrene info also coming out and their release slated for Fall 2010 this makes sense. I'd expect Next Island to be out this coming month.

 

Tuesday? ^^

 

coul;d very well be

or Wednesday which would be September the 1st :)

 

That would just suck D:
Scholl starts at September the 1st

 

I doubt very much that we will see Next Island this coming week. Since when has anything ever been on time. :p

 

Well, Next Island was originally supposed to be released in March. So 6 months later isnt so bad. Right on schedule for most software development! ;-)

 

Oh, is that how it works! :D

 

How many planets will be left by the end of 2011?

Rocktropia will last a couple months I guess, and I can't see NEXT Island doing much better ...

 

Cyrene , however, will do much better :)

 

IMO the success of worlds should not be based off Rocktropia, or even Planet Calypso. Neither has a significant portion of their budgets dedicated to advertising or marketing of any kind; the marketing that has been done has been incredibly inept on both counts. Rocktropia may one day have concerts, but events that happen once every few months or more are not something to base a brand around. Marketing centered around the horror based aspects of the game would be much more successful, and allow Rocktropia to assume a place beyond its current status as a resort. Planet Calypso's marketing has been equally inept, stressing the ability to make money instead of the possibility of fun. Everyone can have fun, not everyone can make money. By stressing something that most people will not experience you generate great unhappiness.

Both Next Island and Planet Cyrene have dedicated, multi faceted marketing approaches, geared towards the new player experience. As a new player is not going to be getting rich off the game anytime soon, the focuses must be looking elsewhere. The question is where? One of Next Islands schticks is obvious --- time travel. Let's think about that. Multiple worlds combined in one game. Thats not bad, if the platform is up to par*, and is something that most games simply cannot provide. Entropia Universe has a similar schtick, but on a wider scale... and until now the Universe part (multiple games with a single developed character) has not been realized. But it is one reason I in particular play. If I need a change in scenery I dont need to download a new MMO and be a noob again. I can simply change worlds and keep progressing. This suits me as my virtual name is the name I always use, and my character archetype has remained similar across games.

At any rate, what Im getting at is twofold. 1) We have marketing professionals who are going to be working with these next 2 titles. With MA marketing was an afterthought. They were developers first and marketers second (or possibly third). With these guys it is not. 2) Rocktropia by its own marketing stance has relegated itself to the role of virtual resort. Think of it as a stopping point between planets in this universe, not as a planet in its own right. Its like a trip to Vegas. You dont go to Vegas and say "America is great." You go to Vegas to party, gamble, and have a fun weekend. Rocktropia is the same way. Sure some people will live in Rocktropia. Some people also live in Vegas. The population of Vegas is very dependent on the tourist traffic. The same will be true for Rocktropia. Other fully developed virtual worlds should not be compared to the Las Vegas of Entropia Universe.

*The platform can only be considered up to par when MA finishes all missing elements from pre VU 10, and also gives the MOB AI a much needed update. Combat in this game is shallow. Without massive amounts of skills and tricks to choose from the mobs need to provide the play experience. Right now they dont. Its simply farming. MOB AI is in dire need of an overhaul, behaviors need to be enhanced, attacks need to be enhanced, and some mobs should be given enough awareness to be able to say "Im losing this fight" and try to run or call for help. This will in turn add strategy to the game and character development. It might be nice too if the mutants (former humans - feffoids, maffoids, etc) had the drive to attempt to do something, build something, etc. Adding another dimension to the colonial storyline cant hurt!

 

I may not always agree with you my dear Magyar, but I absolutely respect your critical thinking, as well as how you present your thoughts in print. While we may differ at times regarding content, I am definitely a fan of your writing ...

Now, on to what you posted ... this time I actually agree for the most part, especially when it comes to marketing. Next Island seems to be preparing for a mass marketing blitz the likes of which we haven't seen yet ... at least not as it relates to Calypso and ROCKtropia ... and will be employing not only state-of-the-art technology, but utilizing television to reach a mass audience, which is already in place (as stated in the PowerPoint presentation at EP Wiki).

As a community, I'm sure we'll be quite interested in following this marketing plan once Next Island goes live. I too think that one of the advantages that Next Island has is the time travel, with portals that take us to separate destinations. All indications are that this aspect of Next Island is on track, but as we all know, it's always a wait and see proposition when it comes to MindArk and how planets and content are delivered to us.

With regard to Planet Cyrene, I too am very intrigued based on what we have been privey to see and learn thus far. I don't think there is anything definitive with when the planet will arrive, but one can hope that perhaps it too will be before the end of this year. There's stirring in the universe, and I for one am getting more excited. :D




.

 

I remember reading somewhere you will have to buy something from the TT in order to travel. Maybe some form of mindforce?

 

Nope ... according to their website, it looks like some sort of time travel crystals will be involved.

 

And you have to buy them from the TT?

They also mention a "Time Travel Game Card"
So it's something you have to pay for..

 

I don't think so ... not sure from where, but I think the time travel crystals are something we have to acquire, not buy.

 

Either way, it won't be free..

 

Probably not, but it will be interesting to find out how it will all work. :)

 

The problem I have with Rocktropia and Next Island is that they are not games.
They are marketing products.

EU is too complicated and too limited in it's features to be a good marketing platform.

That is why I think it will fail.

A giant marketing campaign won't help when you're product is bad. And as long as the new worlds are just a bad copy of planet calypso with even less story, history and events, they will not be succesfull.

The next island presentation is a complete joke.
Time traveling is just a different way of tp'ing, not a really shocking feature to me ...