How is it morally justifiable that ND is his participants role just sold CND for 635,000 USD and in his developer role build himself a theme park even bigger with unique mobs and such? I really wonder how that kind of bullshit can happen. Outside of EU in blogs, forums, games websites, ... 95% of the comments about Entropia Universe are negative. And exactly those kind of incidents are promoting the negativity. Indeed, ND did a lot for EU, to the worse...
I would add only one caveat to NI - the SE section deserves to be bashed and hard. However, the main portion of the island is still under development so there might be some hope yet.
Thank you for your input, and at this point in time, I really feel badly for David ... I was so excited right along with him when we worked on the interview for the Sep launch of our magazine, and everything was on track and pointed to a great planet with time travel and other exciting things. Nothing was ever mentioned about ND having real estate on the planet, but then I doubt that anyone of us would have really thought he would anyway ... this is David's planet, and ND has his own planet to exploit. However, that's not the way it worked out, is it ... and I just can't get over how brazen it was to pre-launch the planet early (ND's decision I hear) and then exploit the ND island ... nothing less than pure self-indulgence in my book.
Neverdie strikes again, will his ego ever let down. Somehow I do not think so and it is a stain on Entropia as a whole to tarnish other worlds this way. It seems he has his fingers in too many pots and not concentrating on Rocktopia properly as a single branded entity. Sorry David, but this is not going to look too great for you from a PR perspective with all the past negativity ND has accumulated over the years. You may think him a visionary, yet in the end he is only in it for himself and his ego. Still I am willing to see what occurs on the 10th, many are watching and waiting to see if Entropia is worth coming back too again one day.
why doesnt it make sence? the simpliest explanation is a businessman with an idea but not alot of artistic talent or imagination has hired a publicist with not alot of artistic talent or imagination to deliver the idea. is it really much of a surprise in retrospect? not that i was expecting much from Next Island in the first place. i respect Neverdie for delivery, for actually getting stuff done. but i could come up with more imaginitive ideas in a hour. fail on the delivery though, oh well, back to the 9-5, kudos to ND.
lol well put, but I think MS9 is coming from a theme & vision "purity" angle, in that tarnishing David's vision with something totally unrelated will confuse people if not put them off completely.
Also posted on other forums: My personal feeling here: I have had enough Hollywood and if I need it, there will be planets to go to (ROCKtropia, Planet Michael, Monster Planet?). Been running Calypso, CP/CND for years and now RT too and just SO much looked forward to be seeing the Universe from another angle. My impression of NI was, that this was going to be a 'fantasy' planet which would give me a possibility to 'escape' from the rest of the Universe, in a different kind of 'universe' - not connected to the rest. If I then needed a little 'Hollywood' feeling, I could always take the trip back - depending on my mood. The vision I had about how NI was built up around old ancient Greek and History and what this specific planet could offer me is perhaps not totally ruined, but not what I expected at ALL, and it changed my view and excitement. Since the release of the idea about Planet partners and getting other types of companies/worlds involved, I found the setup awesome and containing so many opportunities to involve and attract a LOT of different players. I hope this will still be the case with Arkadia and Cyrene. Next Islands David Post was - or I thought he was - in front of NI, and in the very personal interview we made with him in the last issue of www.EntropiaTimes.com Magazine, he doesn't mention anything about a NEVERDIE entertainment park on NI. He told us the planet was based on a dream world he created way back as a kid - and the whole back ground story (as he told it) is awesome. Now it became muddy - and the purpose of having NEVERDIE entertainment park on NI is just not clear to me. The purpose of having the different planets would naturally be to expand the Universe and create 'new thinking'. Having the same names and 'clubs' on the planets is just wrong - unless it's only about setting up more space without a real purpose. Why would people pay to go on a planet where they can find the same as the one they decided not to join? I will wait and see what happens next though. I am on NI now (on the ACTUAL NI) and I will see the NEVERDIE entertainment park from a players perspectiv and write about it in articles connected to EntropiaPlanets - but from a personal point of view, this was not what I expected. I believe the whole difference here would have been, if we where informed about it. Now it mostly feel like a wet cloth in the face. Dont misunderstand me - I dont want to trash NI or David Post at all - and I've seen of the actual NI so far is absolutely beautiful! It just need more content (and mobs ). I just have a feeling of 'enough is enough' and I think it's a damn shame, because the whole idea behind the actual NI is great and exciting. I feel it's not pure NI anymore and that 'something' - dunno what - got robbed. More to be read on EP when I make the next front page article about it.
Well said Lykke, and I just couldn't agree more. Next Island was going to be THE escape into another world, unlike anything we already have, and for it to be littered with "Hollywood" as you put it, just taint's the vision that was so pure from David Post as a visionary. ND has his own planet, and he should focus on that. I don't want anyone to get my passionate posting about this wrong ... I totally respect and love David Post's vision, and enjoyed my time with him in developing the exclusive interview/article for the September launch of our magazine as Lykke mentioned. I actually felt really awful for David when I learned of this self-indulged display with the mini-release of Next Island yesterday that was actually only introducing ND's island, and really had nothing to do with the full flavor of Next Island at all, or anything that we expected. Look ... ND has done a lot of good for our universe over the years in the way that he has brought attention to it, but ... I have to agree with Lykke when she says (in so many words) enough is enough with his personal self-display, and ego-centered content. If it was on his own planet, that would be a different story, but it's not ... and I don't care whether he's an investor in Next Island or not ... it's not his planet, and I really feel that David got hood-winked here, and taken advantage of so that ND could have yet another platform to promote himself. It's not to say don't promote yourself, but to say to do it where it belongs, and off someone else's planet. Regardless of where David's head is at right now, I just really feel for him in this mess ... and it is a mess. However, I'm going to wait and see what gets delivered on Friday and do some writing of my own. I want to experience David's vision, not an extension of some other planet partner.
It sounds like a lot of people pre-sold themselves on an image of NI, that it would be fundamentally different and better than Calypso.
Good point Dave. What do you think, are Cyrene and Arkadia getting over-imagined too? Will it ultimately turn out that we'll just be having a choice of 5 or 10 different skins to use over the exact same gameplay?
I definitely thought it would be different from what I've heard. I will also say, it still can become what I hoped for. I'm more baffled to see SO much 'neverdie' there. I am looking forward to the new planets - mostly because, honestly, I grew tired of the old ones ... ;)
I´d like the option in client loader to turn off everything and anything related to ND... I am so getting sick of seeing him screw up old and new stuff with his surfer dude, hollywood i am my own avatar BS!! I love the PE/EU history, i WAS looking forward to an imaginary world of time traveling... Now i won´t bother if there´s NEVERSHUTUP pop dragons getting killed in the stoneage (or whatever history scenario there will be) on NI showing up in chat.
Over imagined perhaps, but the only thing that puts me off is that ND crap all over the place. If I want to play with NEVERDIE crap I go to ROCKtropia. And thats the only thing that will keep me from going there again... And no this is not jealousy as some might call it...
Well after reading these posts it is sad! I mean i understand that ND has a brand name and wants to keep it. So why not keep all that on ROCKTropia? Maybe this is the straw that broke the back? Or maybe the jumping of the shark? It was terrible already that the loots on RT just weren't there. And now we have another planet--just leaves me guessing. You can throw all the graphics you want at a game but if the game play sucks--then you are stuck with a make you own movie.
posted 22:11 at FPCF: Next Island Paradise Zone Now Open for testing along with Club Neverdie Land Area and Theme Park Well ... that'll save me 80 PED I think. Nothing to add to MindStar's and Lykke's posts.
Just as an update ... I found this posted by the Admin at the Next Island forum ... it was posted at 6:57pm (front page at NI forum) on the 10th my time East Coast US, and I am -5 game time right now, which means the post was actually made on the 11th game time, so you would think that they could have at least posted this in the morning game time on the proper day? Ya gotta love the "unknown circumstances" and "IF all goes well" ... I just don't get why this planet was even released in a pre-, mini-, or soft launch ... Oh wait ... yes I do!
Sorry for the double post, but ... It just dawned on me, that individuals other than development staff are casually roaming around at ND Studios, which is evident in the that ND created. He even said that Force (Joe) brings in girls he meets who hang out in the office (who set the tone?), and in one scene in the video, Michael is showing one of those girls something on the computer, who also happens to be a Rock Star member. Force himself has posted many pictures in the Rock Stars recruiting thread at PCF of these girls at ND Studios with confirmation that they are EU players - check this out - and this - and this - and this (which is an interesting one - not a girl, but plays a female avatar - and not on staff at ND Studios, that I know of - just a bonus pic) - and one more ... which shows another girl in the ND Studios with ND's son Taliesin (Robot Boy) who hang out there as well, and both are Rock Stars. I don't know about anyone else, but this casual environment where family and friends hang out who are not developers, where people seem to be able to roam freely is rather concerning. Is there not any kind of security in place? And ... people on staff play EU avatars ... Tenacity (does the DJ'ing - could be Michael), Todd (works with graphics/models), Marius (EnzoMarius - community manager/forums), Force (office manager) ... EZ used to be on staff but isn't any more, seems he was let go. In ND's interview being published in the EntropiaTimes on Sunday, he says there are 10 developers on staff that divide their time between RT and NI - who are they, and do they also play regular EU avatars? Whether these people take advantage of inside knowledge or not, the "appearance of 'potential' impropriety" is present. I would absolutely love to hear from MindArk as to what the policies are ... if any. It just seems incredibly wrong that people on staff in a planet developer's office who are privileged to know inside information are allowed to play regular EU avatars.
so how come a new or some other negative player has to live by the law of, "if you dont like the game dont play it, and leave". so what makes you guys exempt from this rule that you have been telling every negative person on entropiaforum, planetcalypsoforum, this forum, and god only knows what other forums that are out there. ill tell you what, your s@#t does stink too, and you are being negative, so if you dont like the game dont play it, and leave. you are proving to the community that you have a neverdie complex, and are out to get neverdie for some other reason then just not likeing what he has on his planet, and nextisland. i personaly dont know neverdie, i dont know much about him other then this game, and i am sure not jealous that he has had the success that he has, god bless him for having vision. but ill make this short, you are not exempt from your own negativity laws, and just because you have some forum cred doesnt mean you get a pass on this. again shame on you for keeping this negativity going for as long as its been dragged out. do the right thing, and just let it go. neverdie is a business man, who does business investments, and makes money off this game just like everyone else trys to do. dont hate the player, hate the game, and again if your negative and dont like the game, just leave. peace out.
Just gotta ask, did you join this forum just to make this post as in the other forums? And not knowing ND, hmm you sure seem like his biggest fan tho sure he was successful with CND but now he passed the line of too much if you ask me and a lot of others What makes him above all else and immune to criticism then, just like you say MS9 isn't? And a successful business man also have a sense of when to slow down, which ND seems to lack... PS. at least his long awaited space pirates have arrived ;)
and why exactly should it just stop and be ignored if there was no official reaction yet? (and I doubt there will be untill things cool down, who would want to open their mouth facing a bunch of glaring eyes ^^) ahh, the dilemma.