Entropia News: State of the Universe Address 2014

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Now this is spot on im glad its here and will be playing again when its implemented this has
a lot of potential lots can be done here as they say extra item storage more design options will be happy to pay the monthly.

I encourage anyone to play APB All Points Bulletin free to play on steam they have a similar system premium accounts go check it it out to see the benefits of this.

 

Please forgive me if I don't jump up and down and applaud. Been around long enough to know with MA the devil is always in the details. From that brief statement it doesn't sound so bad...but I'd be willing to bet it will be different than the way every other gaming company does it....and not neccasarily for the better....just sayin.

As to the rest, i'll treat the statement and the person who wrote it with the apathy they deserve.

 

Yawn ...
Self-praise for fixing issues caused by MA itself, vague release dates aaaaaand: promises, promises, promises. We already know how this promises end up: they will be delayed to a far future or simply broken like many (not all) of them in the past.

I read it regarding my interests as follows:
No really good skill based improvement
No Melee amplifiers
No faithfulness rewarding system for elder colonists
No meaningful future for me in EU?

Elder Scrolls is calling ... last standard Friday deposit went to Betesda already for buying Skyrim Legendary Edition. Elder Scrolls Online is preordered already. I got access to beta test.

 

if you look at the planets page on entropia life this probobly has it cose that more ppl head to ark

 

This dosen't really tell us much. What's probably more important are two metrics that most other gaming services use. Namely DAU or MAU. DAU are Daily Active Users and MAU are Monthly Active Users. Give's you a better idea of how many people are actually in-game doing stuff.

Sure there is a 110% increase of participants but they could only ever log in once and maybe only deposit once.

More important is how much churn rate there are of new users. How many try EU and then leave, how many stick around and play.

This one I've certainly noticed. I haven't really played EU properly over the last couple of years, so I have certainly notice a difference. You can get more entertainment I feel for less money invested, which is a good thing.

Ambitious, so will wait to see if things do actually get launch in 2014 ;-)

 

So this is what I thought when I read this:

Greetings Entropians,


MindArk is happy to report great progress achieved in many areas of Entropia Universe in 2013.


Where?


The MindArk team spent much of the year improving the user experience and upgrading infrastructure to improve performance and accommodate more simultaneous users.


They did?


Infrastructure Upgrades

A series of major infrastructure upgrades was performed during 2013. These upgrades have helped to improve server capacity and stability, and allowed for faster and smoother deployment of Version Updates, patches and hotfixes. These upgrades also help our developers and partners to more efficiently develop new content and systems by streamlining the internal development pipeline.


If you say so...


Marketing

MindArk vastly increased its marketing efforts in 2013 resulting in a more than 110% increase in the number of new participants compared to 2012. Those marketing efforts also resulted in a very encouraging 57% increase in the number of new depositors. By all significant measures such as average simultaneous users, new accounts, and daily economic turnover, overall activity in the universe was at an all time high during 2013, due in large part to the MindArk’s latest marketing efforts.


It was? Crikey!


New Player Experience

Additional improvements to the new player experience were implemented in 2013, carrying on the focus given to this area in late 2012. These efforts have synergized well with the marketing efforts described above, and have contributed to the improvement in conversion rates and participant retention. A series of player-contributed YouTube tutorials were also created in cooperation with MindArk, and new participants were encouraged to view those informative videos to get off on the right foot in the Entropia Universe adventures. The new player experience is an area that will continue to have MindArk’s attention moving forward, as it is an essential component of the growth of the universe.


Finish Thule then already!



New Systems/Features

Several exciting new exciting features were introduced to Entropia Universe in 2013 which have been widely approved by participants. Those features include mission and skill progress trackers modules, as well as new types of consumable items that buff avatars in various ways. In addition, weapons and other items introduced in 2013 sport interesting new abilities, for example: life leech, faster reload speed, or damage blocking. New convenience items were also introduced toward the end of 2013, including portable trade and repair terminals and auto-loot pills.


Life Leech lol! Really? Isn’t that “computer games” in general? ;)


Veteran Appreciation/Cost to Play

As promised in the 2013 State of the Universe Address, MindArk implemented several changes and features that helped to reduce the overall cost to participate in Entropia Universe, including:

Average TT returns were increased across the board for hunting, mining, crafting and other activities.

Removal or lowering of many unpopular fees, such as the armor equipping fee.

Increased the unlimited item tiering speed.

The minimum condition of most items lowered to 3%, freeing up a large number of PED, especially for owners of older UL weapons.

Reduced the volatility of many activities, especially for lower level avatars.

Decay and ammo consumption were removed when using a weapon not aimed at a valid target.


Generally it seems while not actually doing much to change the mechanics of the game they did usefully tweak a bunch of parameters to everyone’s benefit. This isn't really "development" though.


2014 Roadmap

Oh this should be good for a laugh...

MindArk has ambitious plans for the development of Entropia Universe in 2014, with planned primary focus on the following areas.


Systems Development

Social Interface - A completely overhauled and improved social interface has been under development for the past several months, and is getting close to implementation. This upgrade will bring several long-desired features, including offline messaging, custom chat channels and much more.


NO NO NO. NOT “the last several months”, the last YEAR! Let’s not trivialise how long this has actually been worked on here. Step up, be counted, be honest and tell the truth.


Affiliate System - An affiliate system is under development which will allow participants to earn PED by referring new Entropia Universe participants.


Oh god… nah actually that might not be a bad idea to be fair. The players are, and always have been, way better at selling the game than MA have.


Premium Accounts - Still in the early design stage, (paper?) MindArk is planning to offer premium account upgrades for a small monthly cost. Benefits of the various premium account types are still being decided, but may include such features as increased storage limits and increased number of simultaneous auctions. We are also considering making premium account upgrades available via daily mission tokens as well as special lootable items.


“Still in the early design stage”, (paper?) I guess someone who was hard core in trading must have asked for this. Don’t think many will be interested though. This will probably be forgotten about unless it is something the accounting department can set up by themselves.


Citizenship & Housing System - Development of these systems was unfortunately delayed in 2013 due to the critical infrastructure upgrades taking quite a bit more development time than anticipated, along with several other projects receiving higher priority in the second half of 2013 and early 2014. This project now is now tentatively planned for release in Q4 of 2014.


Oh fuck off, that’s bollocks and you bloody well know it. Chat was expected before or just after the summer break and that didn’t happen at all. Who in their right mind would believe in anything that was made up in the first place, delayed massively already and then slated to come out “tentatively” at the end of the year? Man up and just say its on semi-permanent hiatus. People will respect the truth more than this.


PVP - Lots of improvements and enhancements to player vs. player (PVP) combat are planned for the second half of 2014. More information will be made available in a future Entropia Buzz developer notes article.


O’Rly? An unspecified, vaguely hinted at change is slated for a years time? (Sorry “2nd half this year”) Seriously why bother even mentioning it?


New Player Experience - Among MindArk’s highest ongoing priorities is improving participant conversion and retention, and one of the best ways to accomplish that is to continually find ways to improve the experience of new participants. As such, we plan to continue working closely with our planet partners in 2014 to implement systems and features that make Entropia Universe as exciting and user-friendly as possible for new participants.


Thule! It’s reasonable right now verging even on the “possibly quite good”. Make it Awesome - Job done.


Legacy Systems - Progress is ongoing for the reimplementation and refinement of various legacy systems.


Oh just…. stop talking now…. please. I no longer understand your mouth words.


New Systems - Several other interesting new systems are in the early development stage, and are planned for release in Q3 and Q4 of 2014 depending on prioritization of the other projects mentioned above. More details and teasers will be released throughout the year, so be on the lookout!


We are doing “stuff” it will be realised “sometime”.... maybe… maybe next year - Well thanks, thank you very much. I feel enlightened now.


Marketing

MindArk plans to continue to expand and refine its marketing efforts in 2014 in order to maximize the number of new participants joining Entropia Universe. As outlined above, our marketing efforts in 2013 were very promising and we plan to become even more aggressive in 2014.


Planet Toulan

MindArk was excited to bring its newest planet online last week. Though still in its beta release, Planet Toulan promises to bring exposure of Entropia Universe to a previously untapped sector of the online gaming audience, and add a unique Arabian theme to the existing planet partner roster. Full release of Planet Toulan is expected mid-2014.


Or just after the taming update or Cyrene hard launch.


Cost to Play & Balancing

Continuing with the improvements made in 2013, MindArk plans to further improve average returns for many activities. One example would be the removal of the clothing equip fee in an upcoming platform release.


Huh? Why? What? The fee is good. It causes clothes to decay which means there is a point in buying new ones. This is a good thing. What IS bad is having L clothes with Low TT die within a few wears. That DOES need fixing for sure. This could be fixed with parameter changing though.


Infrastructure & Development Tools

Additional improvements to the Entropia Universe infrastructure and development tools are planned, which will allow MindArk and its planet partners to more efficiently develop and deploy new features and content, while minimizing server latency and downtime during patches and version updates.


I don’t know about anyone else but was a day out every 6 weeks in the past really such a big deal? Now MA don’t do major realises, just minor patches, any more is it really such a thing to focus on? I guess it damages the income rates…? Ah yeh… that will be it. The players don’t mind but the accountants do. Got it. Priorities people, priorities.


Deed and Estate Management

Several new deed and estate management opportunities are planned for 2014. One of these will be announced in the upcoming planet partner release scheduled for early March.


I’m pleased for the land owners. I expect they’ve been waiting a long time for that.


Entropia Platform

Several major public and private organizations have expressed interest in making use of the Entropia Universe platform and collaborating with MindArk for future projects.


Would it be a round number by any chance?


In conclusion, MindArk is looking forward to an exciting and productive 2014 for Entropia Universe and hopes all our participants will enjoy the improvements and efforts we have planned.


I don’t enjoy anything you plan. It mostly gets forgotten about or never delivered. And when it does it rarely lives up to anyone’s expectations. News flash. Players only have a HOPE of enjoying things you actually deliver. I plan on getting rich this year, and when I do, I will give all of you £100 to have a right knees up in the pub. Are you enjoying my plan? No… I didn't think you would. I wouldn't either.

Wistrel

 

Sarcasm?

 

Az said:

I disagree. I'd say it was anything but ambitious. Some vaguely hinted at un-speced ideas with haphazardly guessed at delivery dates. No real details aside from a hope to release an equally under specified chat system overhaul that has already been "under development" for the best part of a year.

Tell me something. MA have classically kept certain things underwraps for "fear that prior knowledge of up coming changes could de-stablise the economy or at least grant some people an advantage over others who were not reading the news"

First the latter.. ok you snooze you loose. There is nothing wrong with people who bother to read having an advantage over those who do not. That is life. The first, sure I get that. There was a classic example when they removed TT clothes. If they'd said they were going to do this it would have caused chaos.

Now tell me this; how is community knowledge of a fully speced out chat upgrade system going to damage the economy or cause any other problems? Seriously wtf are they worried about? Competition or ideal stealing from other MMO's? Please, don't make me laugh. Maybe they are concerned the players won't like what they have planned? Oh wait.... but isn't it BETTER to find this out now and change it with informed consultation with the player base rather than churning out a surprise that no one likes?

Maybe I'm just crazy to think these things...

Wistrel

2014 Roadmap
MindArk has ambitious plans for the development of Entropia Universe in 2014, with planned primary focus on the following areas.​

Ambitious, so will wait to see if things do actually get launch in 2014 ;-)

2014 Roadmap
MindArk has ambitious plans for the development of Entropia Universe in 2014, with planned primary focus on the following areas.​

Ambitious, so will wait to see if things do actually get launch in 2014 ;-)

 

Since day 1 in PE, whenever we were waiting for something really big to be fixed or something new we were promised we were given a new UI. Once it was to change every icon in the game. and then the next one changed them again.... So somebody in MA loves to program UI, or gets a bonus for doing it.

 

No not at all i just support a monthly sub with premium features over than free to play.

The way i use words and english is sometimes odd or said wrong.

 

Only 18,000 MAUs !?

Wow...Means there must be some rather large depositors keeping the Net income figures up in MA's financial statements....

 

You're not crazy for thinking these things Wistrel ... MindArk (Calypso) steals ideas themselves from within (I know this for a fact), as well as copying ideas from other MMO's, but ... with regard to surprise, they don't tell PP's most of the time what they're up to either, and they get surprised too ... like when space went totally lootable PvP ... PP's didn't have a clue ahead of time, except for maybe ND

I think what's most disheartening is that we have some very creative PP's who are true visionaries when it comes to EU, and there is so much potential to be realized, but just like player-investors, they get blindsided with unexpected changes after spending an enormous amount of time and effort in their development, and have to go back to the drawing board (I know this for a fact as well), so ...

I take this State of the Universe 2014 for what it's worth, because if I've learned anything in the past (really close to) 9 yrs (Apr 2nd), it's that history continues to repeat itself, but my journey on the inside has also taught me that face value can't be trusted either. It always becomes a case of "wait and see" with less and less hope that this universe will be anything more than a constant money grab, rather than employing "real" dynamics and game-play that excite the community and inspire them to seriously engage in and invest in a worthwhile alternate lifestyle that appeals to their sense of really being a part of something, instead of it being so fragmented and disjointed.

When it comes to EU social psychology, MindArk is both brilliant and incredibly ignorant, but the part of the spectrum that they play to most is not going to create the type of dynamic that would really keep this community satisfied, involved, and continually investing, not to mention draw in more participants.

Think I'll create a thread with something I actually wrote at the request of someone a while back and get contributions from the community with what their ideas would be to enhance the social aspect of EU that would generate more interest, and perhaps even inspire retention ... fixing bugs, glitches and bringing back/implementing needed system notwithstanding.

 

It's funny how many whiners plays and writes about this game
It's think 2014 looks promising and interesting, even if I think it will be a bit slow the first half year, and the more interesting stuff will probably come in the summer/fall and later in 2015. I also prefer they keep some of their plans secret so we get some surprises, new VU with new unexpected features is fun.

 

The wink at the end of your first comment doesn't negate the statement made. I think it would be to your benefit to understand what a real whiner is, as opposed to those who have been a part of this universe for as long as some of us have, and who do a great deal of "critical thinking" about it based on experience and understanding, and who voice opinions because we love this universe and the potential it has.

If you want to get technical, then you also could be considered a whiner for complaining about those who complain about EU.

Even smiley faces tell a story.

 

Yes I whine about the whiners, because I think many of you go to far. Critical thinking? I do that too, but I try to do if with an amount of understanding of the situation from a MA perspective and also from a player perspective. Many here are just negative against everything MA says, I also have negative comments about some MA stuff and think they could do some thing better, the main problem is that the development goes too slow and they have been seriously lacking in the marketing. But many PP are doing an even worse work, it's not like they have done any outstanding work, they are okey, but lack in many areas. So MA are not alone in have shortcomings.

 

I will speak only for myself and say that I have a great understanding of what's happening with regard to development, and I also know the challenges that PPs have in the process, including which PPs are doing their best in spite of barriers and challenges they are presented with, as well as what PPs have taken advantage of players and MA alike in their quest for revenue (facts, not fiction or speculation).

If you have done critical thinking about the current State of the Universe 2014 documentation and applied what they have presented, as opposed to what we all experienced in 2013, then there is much to be said accordingly, which many have done in their posts in this thread ... much respect to them for doing so.

I know more about MindArk than I care to admit, which I'm sure plays into my perspective on how they deliver this universe to us, but that aside ... it doesn't take someone having access on the inside to make a determination as to whether MA has employed sound management decisions when it comes to game-play, respect for players (especially investors), and a fair approach when it comes to PPs.

It's always good to hear what MindArk's intentions are, but it's not always good to experience the end results, or lack thereof regarding intentions never fully realized.

I still think EU has great potential, but it will take MindArk, and not just the PPs, going back to the drawing board and doing some of their own critical thinking about what would really make this a stand-out universe that would honestly invite participants to not only get involved, but stay and become part of the building blocks that make it great.

However, it's going to take a different mindset on MindArk's part before that happens, because it all begins and ends with them and their decision-making, no matter what the PPs propose, or what their visions are for their investments.

It all starts at the top, and IMO, the top isn't doing so well for many reasons (again, it's not all bad), and as far as I'm concerned, that's a shame, because this is a universe worth the time and effort.

 

Nah that's cool. I figured it could easily be either way so thought I better ask. I knew there are a lot of good theories out there on the financial models of games should work. Lots of people in different camps on them too.