After months of waiting for this new planet, I was one of the first, I believe, to take a trip up there to discover it on my own. I longed for the days when I entered this Universe, proudly calling it my home, 6 years ago. Everything was so new and exciting and my explorer-gene came to its right when I could run around wide open areas on Amethera, in peace chop up some Corns in Corns Heaven or at the beach of Argus, which is also where I got my very first global. The old days will never return, when you know nothing about the Universe and everything is just so new to your senses, you feel excitement all the way out to your fingertips. Stepping out of my Calypso Shoes I went to Next Island not expecting too much, and yet I expected something. I anticipated some kind of innovation, something not yet seen. My own expectations were perhaps a little too high depending on standards, yet again, we have been running the same land areas for years, and it is nice to finally be able to run on new land. I took the teleporter to Next Island Crystal Resort, not knowing what to expect. It was a warm summer day and I have to admit, I could not wait swimming in the coral blue waters, diving myself into a deep nothing, getting a sun tan on the beach, lie in the warm sand and something completely different from the dusty outlands on Calypso. I seemed to be entering a forest city – or more a jungle. Palms were surrounding me everywhere, wooden houses, the sounds of parrots and monkeys. And I soon realized I didn’t enter Next Island, but Monkey Island. The little creatures are everywhere. Petit Red and Brown Papoos… annoying little bastards. I also found other monkeys around, but these were wearing weird hats – and I found it was the Auctioneers, Trade Terminals etc. being served by monkeys. After I met the monkey Frank, and accepted to help him find his friends, I tried to walk slowly deeper into the forest. Butterflies danced happily around in the sun everywhere – and here and there a boar would jump out angrily from the bushes and start stalking me! Luckily I brought my Opalo from old times! I had to dust it off from the inventory, but I figured it would be best – and cheapest – way to discover this new area, perfectly aware, that some of the mobs here might not care about it, and eat me up anyway. The landscape on Next Island is beautiful. No doubt about it. The areas, mountains, lagoons – everything – is very well made. And it did give me the exact feeling I hoped for; the urge to discover new land. The sun stands proudly on the sky and shines up the endless view of undiscovered land, only waiting for me to enter. Nice tunes of rhythms The music on Next Island is a chapter for itself. I absolutely love the music. It is relaxing jungle music, which again, makes my mind wander around in a dreaming world. It was only back in time when I loved listening to NEVERDIEs ‘Gamer Chick’ I had my music turned on, but now it feels like a must. The drum rhythms fit so well with the theme of the main Island, and it gets you in a good mood. The loud rock music on the island of NEVERDIES Champion Park is something I personally had to get use to though. And there, while enjoying the view from a hill, I found it. My first Next Island Dung! This was certainly a mighty sight. I ran around the island, saw the beauty, collected new loot, crystals of all kind, wonderful looking dragon heads and Monkey feet, and it took me time to find out that I could refine the crystals, even if I had only one, into refined crystals. That will move the huge stones from your normal inventory into the mining inventory, as tall easier to place, crystals. I refine all crystals now, because it’s easier to store them after. They do look alike, but perhaps that will change with the next VU’s. I am carefully collecting everything I loot, because we do not yet know, what the items can be used for in crafting, time travelling etc. Feeling like Robinson Crusoe The different services are not easy to find – especially the Auctioneer Papoos. They are all spread around in the cities – and not to find in all cities. Some are located in the three top cabins, and not easy to see from the ground. Somehow it seems as if they were tossed around with no deeper meaning behind it. A wish would be, that the auctioneers were located with easy access and not spread around. On the Island of Club NEVERDIE, however, it’s quite easy. Just head in the direction of the loud music, into the Club house where the auctioneer is standing behind the bar. If you can stand the loud music in there, which is horrible in my opinion, then you know where you easily can find an auctioneer. The music in the Club house does give you the exact feeling of being in a bar, which I’m sure, is intended. But I’m not that much of a bar person either... The best way to travel around the island is by foot / using a teleporter chip or by using a space ship of some kind. I have a Sleipnir, and that does the trick for me. Unfortunately it’s easy to land, but once you picked up your car or ship, it might not be able to place again because of the very bumpy ground. From Crystal Resort it might be easiest to run South and head towards the small teleporter Pearl Cove (138444; 83312). Follow the road South, and you will soon end up in an area of old ancient ruins – which is also the name of the place: Ancient Ruins. Be aware now, that this area is PVP and you cannot see any mobs or other players on the radar. The place is awesome, and a perfect hideout for lawless people or just a real cool spot to have a PVP event. There is a Teleporter in the back of the Ancient Ruins – and it was also here I found one of Frank’s friends! Neophyte Village (138000; 83980) is a wonderful little oasis, only disturbed by … monkeys! The view from the top of the hill is stunning. The blue ocean is crawling up the beach side and you wish you could stand there in the sun forever. If the little creatures weren’t nagging you all the time, they can be quite annoying. In real life I have a parrot, and when she hears the sound of the monkeys and parrots on Next Island, she starts talking to them, yelling at them and complaining loudly. Then our little kitten feels she needs to join the conversation, and it all ends up in one chaotic bunch of jungle sounds. In this little village you can relax by crafting. All services are available, the music is nice with the tunes of reggae. And because of the huge population of Papoos, this is a perfect spot for me and my Opalo. And there are other little places around, with a great amount of small mobs, just ready to be slaughtered by a small gun or rifle. Take a trip to the Vulcans Pass (132900; 91600) and enjoy the deadly view at the sea of lava, but be careful of the deadly dragons around. The Fire Drakes are not extremely difficult, but they do require some nice armor and a fast weapon – better than Opalo. Ajoite Ridge (125000; 88550) is packed with big Mountain Boars like Leaders, Dominants and Providers, which are more difficult to kill with Opalo, than the naughty baboons. They also loot better, and made me happy a few times. Unfortunately some of the Boar items (like the Boar Head and Hooves) are not yet visible in the inventory, but will be shown as read crosses. Which is a shame, but you might get a nice Boar Eye. Do NOT press T, I repeat do NOT ... It seems as if there are a lot of teleporters on the Island - both the original Next Island and on the island of NEVERDIES Champion Park far South East. Unfortunately this doesn't mean there are a lot of revivals though, and if you believe you can explore the teleporters/towns by running and pressing T to go to the next town, these times are over. To give an example, if you hunt far at the northern tip of Next Island and die, you will end up at a teleporter far more south, and if you're only running, it will take you ages to run back again. It is a pity, because it ruins the game play and spirit for some. Baboons, Dragons, Boars and Skeletons ... The amount of mobs available is still very small. You have baboons in all sizes and colors, different kind of dragons like the Fire Drake or the Ice Drake and the Boars. When you go to the island of NEVERDIES Champion Park, you will also find skeletons – and these are tough mobs. And perhaps some of the most fun mobs I’ve seen in the Universe. Wearing different hats and outfit they stag towards you and try to stab you with their swords. Personally I believe these skeletons and the Calypso mob Thorifoids are some of the best made mobs in game and those with most character. Another very interesting mob on Next Island is the Sharks. They are amazingly well made and give you a real "Jaws"-feeling. Take your plane (or TP chip ... or run) to The Hidden Beach Underwater Passage (146333; 89500), which is an underwater teleporter. You will quickly get chased by the large amount of sharks, ruling the waters around. You might also stand on the bridge at the Hidden Beach (146300; 89200) and be lucky to get a peak of the sharks from above, at least that is much saver. The sharks here are not that dangerous, but I heard there should be much more deadly sharks around the ocean surrounding the islands. I am not sure music underwater was such a good idea – it sounds horrible, but don’t worry, it is gone when you exit the ocean. I hope there will be a lot more new mobs when the new VU comes out, because it can be kind of boring shooting Papoos all the time. The same problem arises on ROCKtropia, where it is also the same mobs all over. I need variation to be entertained. Roadway to Heaven When you enter the small island far South East of Next Island, NEVERDIES Champion Park, you will discover a huge roadway in the sky. You can’t reach it from everywhere – it stands on some very high pillars. You can enter it, however, at the ND 500 Raceway Market (144700; 87900) and the roadway is probably what gave the island it’s name in the first place. It is HUGE and very long, sprawling through around the island, going up and down in amazing rollercoaster style. I took the trip in my car, yes I did. And I have to say, this car-race platform can be the center of many hours of good old car racing boys (or girls)-fun – or a great tool for fun events. Be aware though, if you happen to drop down somewhere along the road, you have no chance to get back up again! Erruption Time Travel Club You are met by a huge skeleton zoning next to the teleporter and I have to admit I fell very small but also rejoiced by this awesomely made decoration. It is worth a visit for sure and if you run through the club house to the other side, you can run down a ramp to the lava crater and shoot some hazardous Death Drakes! But before you jump into the lava (it is save), enjoy the incredible view of the burning lake underneath you. ‘Chapeau’ to the people behind this area, it is absolutely COOL. It’s not so cool to be killed by the Death Drakes, but that’s another story. You find the Erruption Time Travel Club at (14100; 86700) but if you die, you will end up in the (new) Club NEVERDIE (144100; 85500). Rattling bones and Rum in a bottle If you use the language of ‘Aye’ and ‘Ahoy’, you might like the Jungle of Dreams Ruines (146650; 88500). You’ll find the funniest, but also most deadly Pirate Skeletons there. Some of them might seem easy to kill, but believe me, the majority is not. They are really crazy and a must for a nice team hunt! Perhaps, if you’re lucky, these poor bunches of bone relics hid a golden treasure somewhere on the island …? See if you can find it ;) Newcomers lost in Space I met a lot of newcomers who were stuck at the teleporters. The reason is 1) the lack of turrets protecting the cities and 2) the huge amount of mobs surrounding the teleporters. This is a bad move, in my opinion and doesn’t do the planet or the newcomers any good. A lot of the newcomers where dragged to the Universe because of this planet, and I can’t help asking myself, how many will quit after the first day? So, what about it? After a long time wondering if the city/places names are spelled wrong for a reason (like Errupsion Time Travel Club or Jungle of Dreams Ruines) or if they are a simple error of speed, I came to my conclusion. Next Island still needs a lot of work. A question can be and has been casted, if the planet should have been released when it was or not. It doesn’t make a difference now – because it is, and that cannot be change. And we have to get the best out of it as it is now, hoping other Planet Partners learn this lesson. Personally I just hope the little things with the revivals and turrets around the teleporters will be fixed soon to make sure, the planet won’t seem so hostile to newcomers. I also hope that the citizens of Next Island won’t have to wait for months before the blueprints arrive – to assure the economy to grow. Please also fix the issue with the items that are to large in your inventory and make sure the red crosses actually turns into a real picture. Despite the above I have to say that discovering Next Island is fun and to some extend exciting and definitely worth visiting for the seasoned traveler – yes, even the newcomer with an Opalo. But in the long run it might grow a grey beard of boredom unless something new will happen very soon. I know for sure; if you have seen one monkey, you have seen them all Disclaimer: The opinions above are the authors only, and do not represent the opinion of the other members of the EntropiaPlanets.com crew.
Nice story Lykke :) I spent last weekend on the Island with my soc and had a lot of fun there. (even got my name in some guys blog, Next Island, why you need to play this. (Day 1 and 2 of play) | ) Lost a lot of ped on Drakes and Sea Artists trying to win the New Years Global competition, but that's my own fault I guess ;P Jess(my wife) & Fry (from ANF) got a 950 ped shark, so there is definitely some good loots there. Two mobs I didn't see you mention were the Portal Guardians which look suspiciously like the short lived Drummies from Rocktropia (conspiracy theories anyone,) and the ??? (Chimera) which are IMO a very nicely animated rodent type creature that is really creepy the way it crawl/runs at you. I also really thought the helmeted "Space Pirate" skeletons were pretty funny, even though I only ever got to look at them close up while i was dead. I really didn't get to see a lot of it in the 2 days I was there, was really sick last weekend :/ So I hope that Ill be able to manage frequent visits somehow to explore not only the island but future (past?) time travel destinations as well. narfi
great review of NI :) spending my time there now and can say monkeys and boars are a bore after a while. Must say though I love the CND island music, always fun for me to go hunting and hear heavy metal on the background :D
I'm planning a follow up review after the 'real' release of the planet. I probably will meet them then, OR you can always hand me the coordinates to make sure I do meet them ;) Thanks Narfi :) As said, it's my own opinion - I'm not the heavy music type :D I DO love the music on the rest of NI though! And while I can tollerate the music on CND Island too, I just wish it 1) wasnt that loud and 2) wasn't everywhere (even under water). Of course I can turn off the music sound, but it's annoying to do that everytime you go to a new place.
A very well written article with a clean and impartial approach as always Lykke :D You can find Chimeras SW of Biggle Bog tp, around the swamp that they seem to like so much. Smaller, easier maturities closer to the tp, bigger ones that tend to bite a bit more further away. CND music can indeed be annoying at times, but it can also be amazingly good. Guess it depends on the time. [Edit:] And of course i forgot the coordinates :D 130,935
:D Just like with the Portal Guardians, the names are bugged but you can see what they are when they die. Aren't they cute?
If you want a bigger challenge, you can always move a bit further away... you'll notice the red dots that start at the edge of your radar :D
The portal guardians are at a tp in the south west desert area if i remember right, im not there anymore to check for sure though. My tour guide while i was there was Bemo, but I'm sure if you asked any of the locals there they would know. narfi
