2008-02-15 - Participant In Entropia

:surprise:Incredible! I, 'John PlayerOfGames Darrow' must have been regenerated. I ponder the point as I continue to stare almost in a daze at the giant pyramid throwing a beam of light up into the above. But surely this is Fort Argus, but now I'm not sure, so I do a quick check on the map of Eudoria, and true enough, I am certainly in Fort Argus.
Actually, I realise that I am standing just outside the main entrance and so decide to investigate this new landmark more closely. Pushing the gas peddle to full throttle, I attempt to whizz around to the other side, thinking that there must be more to this pyramid than meets my virtual eye; such as, and with any luck, an entrance.
Unfortunately, after a few split virtual seconds, I suddenly have to dodge quickly to my left due to a rennegade herd of Exarosaurs that have decided to pay a visit. I recall that Exarosaurs often did this.

* Exarosaurs are bad mannered, clumsy, oaf-like, four-legged herbivours that can be found munching on grass all over Calypso, and in biodomes on an asteroid in outer virtual space.*

Luckilly, they are busy with other citizens, which enables me to avert any real confrontation, and so I don't have to be cruel to animals. Then, comming to a halt, I see it. I am staring at what is infact a bank!

 

Participant In Entropia - 2nd report.

I awoke again and waited for a few moments to get my bearings; then realized that I must have slept out in Fort Argus even though I have an appartment somewhere else. Once again I clock the giant pyramid, and then remember why I am standing here in the first place.
Fort Argus is not actually regarded by Entropians as the first place; a hubub called Port Atlantis is, but whatever, this is the place I'm in.

Entropia Veteran's Bank is imprinted on the front of the new giant monolith for all to see. The characters are so big that even one of these berserk Exarosaurs ee-awwing a few yards away from me, couldn't fail to see it. I make a quick e-check on what must be the entrance and go on into the bank without further ado.

* There are two types of banks in Entropia. The 1st type is one that you have to sometimes run down at great speed as a last ditch attempt to escape a terrifying creature, often resulting in a swim. The 2nd type of bank is something relatively new in Entropia, recently introduced to Entropians by Guardian Angel. These banks are one's that you can go into, unlike the 1st type of bank that you run down. Their purpose is to enable Entropians to acquire PEDs, for which Entropians have to pay back more PEDs.*

Once inside the bank, I take a look around and quickly notice an Auctioneer and Technician, the most common form of NPC - None Participating Character. Only then do I look up at the top of the pyramid which is glass, quickly realizing that there is not infact a Teleporter up there at all, something I had considered when first seeing the beam of light.
The inside is impressive stone and marble throughout, and had PEDs written all over it. I discover a spacious shop there with no stalls, meaning there were opportunities here for the future. Not my future, but someone's future. In the end, I decide to leave the futuristic marvel to go and hunt some Fouls on the huge continent of Amethera.

 

Participant In Entropia - 3rd report: The Amazon Mining Run.

Hunting Fouls in Amethera hadn't been a fantastic success; certainly no globals, but after some 20 or so victims - thanks to my trusty old 55rpm EP-40 Mercenary, I had managed to get enough loot to make the trip just worthwhile. I ponder the point whilst heading towards the Teleporter, so as to get to a location that will have Personal Storage Units; or PSU's, as there are none where I am now.

Hadesheim City, back on Eudoria, seemed a good bet for PSU's, as there were never usually that many citizen's there and so very few bottlenecks. I jump into the Teleporter and select the location on the e-map. In a few seconds I'm at my intended destination. Nobody is there; there usually never was - mainly due to the threat of Araneatrox, plus the absence of Gun Towers. I run towards two PSU's in the usual spot a few yards from the Teleporter, and quickly place my ill-gotten gains in one of them before heading back. Now, I was going to do an old mining run that I hadn't done since way before my regeneration, along a very long river that some refer to as the Amazon, and bang in the middle of Eudoria.

* Fouls are red mutant bipeds with huge gogs, that seem to put on a strange dance or jig when ever you get near one, prior to running up to you for no apparant reason. No apparant reason; because no matter what they do, unless you just stand infront of them and do absolutely nothing, they find it very difficult to cause you any real problems. Infact, even if you just stand there, they find it very difficult.*

I decide not to go right to the southern end of the Amazon as this would take me for ever, but to somewhere about one-third of the way up - Fort Fury. Another flashing TP jaunt, and I'm there in a few more split-virtual seconds. I know from memory, that going due East will take me to the river - then I'll just have to turn left and head due North.
An old friend once told me, that you should stay relatively close to a river when embarking on a solo mining expedition, because going too far inland is just plain suicide, unless you happen have both very good armour and very powerful weapons, and even then, a good outcome is far from certain. If you do, you will sooner or later come across a fearsome foe that you haven't a chance of winning against, or many of them, if you do have a chance against one of them.

The river isn't far from the TP and so I hit it in no time at all, before turning North and heading up the left-bank. A few virtual-seconds soon becomes a few virtual-minutes, and then as allways, my senses are suddenly bombarded with the latest EBN hits via my in-ear phones. This is actually a very welcome thing, as otherwise you can easily go du-lally and start thinking of all sorts of things when mining on your own in the middle of nowhere.
Dozens of mining bombs and probes later, and I'm not that happy, with just a few small deposits acquired and one XL - Extra Large. I think to myself that the XL was something, so maybe it wasn't all bad. All I know is, that suddenly nearly an hour has gone past, and that Ithaca Island is dead ahead of me. I know that Ithaca Island is also Atrox land, and so I have no wish to go there, especially as I am now very overloaded and am far from running at full pelt. So, I decide to cross the Amazon to get to the other side, where the possibility of meeting deadly creatures is usually much less, and then go due East towards Fort Argus. I somehow manage to get to the other side some ten minutes later, I was that overloaded; infact seriously overloaded. I couldn't use my Teleporter-chip as I didn't have enough Mind Essence, and in any case, I had no idea what I would land on at the end of a TP jump! Whatever, I head due East as best I can.

Guardian Angel often had a very funny sense of irony. I was a bit miffed at just a few mining small's and one XL, and because of the 10 minutes to get across the river, and so to get things off my chest, I assassinated a Snabblesnot Male Young from long range with my Jester D2 laser rifle. Suddenly, whirly stars and woo-hoo tunes enter my in-ear phones, because I have just globalled! The 70+ PED's worth of loot was all well and good, and I suppose made up for the so-so mining results; but I now of course had a very big problem.

Walking or running made no difference, and I suddenly remembered that I was now heading towards Maffoid Mountains, and Ambulimax Alley! So much for crossing the river to avoid the Atrox at Ithaca Island...

 

Participant In Entropia - 4th report: The Amethera Teleporter Run.

Now allmost at a standstill, I keep checking my e-map regularly until I am certain that I am nearer to Fort Argus than to any outpost, whilst somehow keeping clear of the now numerous Maffoid clan. Unladen, I would have taken some of them on fairly easily, and maybe have got some more loot, but now was not the time. I power up my medium-range Teleport Chip; before I was still too far away, and seconds later I'm next to the pyramid at Argus. All the loot is safely stored away minutes later, which meant I could now attempt to visit six new Teleporter locations on Amethera that had been recently constructed.

It was strange; that you had to get to a new Teleporter by your own means to be able to use it in the future. You couldn't just get into a Teleporter that you already had ID clearance for and get to it that way. This was one of many strange facts of life Entropia wide, but that's how it was. Anyway, luckilly a friend of mine gave me the co-ordinates which was something, so I wouldn't have to guess completely which way to go. I decided to go through the list alphabetically, although it probably didn't make much difference in which order I did it. I had clearance for many other Teleporter's on Amethera already, so chances were, that I could get to one that was near to one of these others. The first was apparantly in Akmuul Island, a place I knew very little about; right in the South-Western end of the largest of the two Calypso continents. The Teleporter at Myrene Island, which I've had for years, was directly West of these co-ordinates and very near to the coastline, and the expanse of water between this island and Akmuul Island, didn't seem too great. Getting into the Teleporter, I select Myrene Island and wait.
Seconds later I'm there, and running fast towards the Eastern shoreline. A few red dots were on my scope, but hunting creatures was the last thing on my mind, as I wanted to get on with this. It was already 2.pm Eastern Amethera Time, and there would still be five more to get after this one.

Very soon it is nothing but water, wave after wave after wave of it; and I'm sure there's something not right as I start to approach the West side of Akmuul Island. Not one Rippersnapper; not any kind of sea creature or Kingfisher had been anywhere near me - it was just too calm; infact, dead calm. Then, my radiation detector starts going off out of the blue, or in my case, when I was in the blue... Fantastic! A Toxic Zone was all I needed and I had no anti-toxic shots. I quickly turn South-East away from the coast with the intention of going due East again after a short while. But it is no good, the detector sounds off again, so this time I head due North for a while and then I cut back East again. Same result! This Toxic Zone was obviously vast; I had no choice but to circumnavigate the West side of the island by going due North-East. This would take longer, but at least I would get there.
I arrive some 15 minutes later, somehow without getting killed, and the usual 'new location found' message comes up on the readout. One down, five to go. So I couldn't rest yet. I alight onto the Akmuul Island Teleporter and jaunt way up to Solfais Crater on the Northern tip of Icy Island, as it is often refered to. New Switserland was my next port of call; and going by the co-ordinates, somewhere that I didn't really want to get to. It was almost an ocean away, and I had already had enough of water for one day. Only EBN's near constant music stream had kept me from going insane.

It took me over half an hour to get to New Switserland, due to fairly intense mob activity that I had to avoid at all costs. Goblin armour was no match for some of the mobs here, and I had no intention of getting stranded for hours or more at some unknown outpost. Medium-range Teleporter Chips are no good in these situations, as you never know what you will land on. So, it was now two down and four to go, and the next Teleporter was just due West of here that had nothing but swishing windmills - Oshiri Hearts!
So I head West, and again come to yet more water, finally reaching land some ten minutes later. I head straight inland, still going West, and then suddenly red dots are all over my scope - only I can't see anything! I look left, then right - but still nothing. Maybe the scope was malfunctioning? Then I look up, and do a double-take as the sky is almost black with Hiriyu!

What would I do now? I decided in the end to just run ahead at full pelt like the clappers, certain that I would be hit from above at any moment. There must have been thirty or more of these leather-winged reptiles, and the red dots continued to show on my scope for at least another five minutes - but nothing happened! Even when I had Gremlin armour and a Malber Annihilator, followed up with rounds of Justifyer Mk.3, these things were not easy to kill, because you were firing upwards, and now I just had this Goblin. All I know is, that I got away with it. I ran right underneath them and they never attacked. Eventually I find the Teleporter, and so now it was three down with just three to go. I smoked a quick rollup, and then checked the list again. Next was Emerald Lakes and the Emerald Lakes Mall, somewhere I had heard alot about recently, mainly due to commercials about shops there on the big ad-boards back on Eudoria.

Shinnok Jungle seemed to be the closest to these new co-ordinates, so that was my next stop - a strange land with purple trees and foliage everywhere. I quickly get there by the usual methode, then head slightly South-East. The map showed that Emerald Lakes wasn't that far, so it seemed like an easy run, but I knew from past experience that there was usually a reason for this. Problem mobs!
I head off anyway at speed, and just hope for the best. I see an Ecuus Mature directly ahead, that I know will easily outrun me if it gets
anywhere near the inner ring on my direction scope. With Gremlin and a Mk.3 I could take these quite easily, but with this Goblin and an EP-40, I'm not sure, so I head slightly off-course. Guardian Angel was up to his old tricks again however, as a lone Thorioid Outcast is suddenly rushing towards me. The next thing I know, is that I'm down to the last possible slither of red lifeline; I could hardly see it - before I somehow manage to kill it after about 30 well aimed rounds. Nothing! Not even a few trinkets, but at least I had survived.

Then however, I'm jumped on by two more of them and this time it's the skull and crossbones, for the first time in ages. Luckilly this has saved me the last half of the trip, as I end up at the revive point in Emerald Lakes. I quickly run in and out of the Teleporter there to make sure it's ID'd me, and then head for the mall to get the other one.
Then I go to Nea's Place, as the last needed Teleporter on the list; Palms Corner, is slightly North-East of there. Another ten minutes or so, and I mange to find this one as well, with hardly any encounters on the way. I check my timepiece which showes nearly 4.pm EAT, which meant that the entire Teleporter hunt had taken nearly two hours, but at least I now had them all.
​

 

Participant In Entropia - 5th report: Back to basics day

I had come to realize a few facts of life as an Entropian citizen well before my miraculous regeneration. That anything was either a benefit, or a hazard, or a bit of both. Locating these new Teleporters for instance was very much a benefit, as it meant I could now get to almost anywhere on Calypso in a fraction of the time, but it had also been a hazard attempting to find them. First, it had taken a great deal of time that could have been spent acquiring more minerals and matters that I really needed, and second, I had yet again become momentarily retired. I had been re-regenerated! However, the real truth was, that retirement was becoming almost a non event. I have been retired so many times already, that I've lost count. Whatever, I had had enough of gallivanting around the map for a while, it was time to get serious again and get my ship back in order. Getting back to basics was long overdue. The maintainance fee for my apartment was long overdue, for one thing, in fact I haven't even so much as looked at it since regeneration, and vital equipment and other items badly needed to be repaired, either that or they would become fit only for Trade Terminals, or as ornaments for my humble abode. There were also other things on the agenda, but these were the most important.
Palms Corner; the last of the new Teleporter locations, was certainly very picturesque and I had made sure to get a few good e-shots that might be useful for v-postcards and other visual material, but I had no intention of exploring this new found land too much at this point; because of the household chores I had to do, and because I didn't know what lurked around here. A visit to an R&D block was perhaps needed, but not today. I quickly step into the Teleporter that I now of course had ID clearance for, and select the home of my apartment, a smart, spangled-5 tower block complex, intervened by sculpted grass banks and concrete thoroughfares. Omegaton West Habitat. I alight near to the Teleporter there in the usual fashion moments later, then head up the long rampart to get to the Beta Block.
As usual, I didn't encounter anybody on the way; it was that type of area. They would either be indoors or doing things elsewhere, not that I really had time for a conversation right now, as I had things to do myself. Finally I get to one of the entrances to the tower and then head on in towards the Televator. Mine was apartment E on the second floor and so I key-in '2' on the level selector. I appear before the Estate Terminal, right next to my door with a giant 'E' embossed on it, and hit the status button. The usual 'maintainance fee expired' notice is displayed on the readout, and I duly transfer the nominal sum of 10 PEDs from my e-credit card. The door then slides open before me and I rush in and make a quick visual check of all the amour, weapons and other equipment that needed to be repaired, and on the myriad of looted items strewn all over the carpet that was really only Trade Terminal fodder.

* Televators are the very short range equivalent of Teleporters, only instead of taking you from one town or location to the next, they would take you from one floor to the next. Other than that, they worked in exactly the same way. Televators are now everywhere on Calypso where there are apartment blocks or shopping malls, and replaced escalators many years ago before I was even around. *

What is regarded as the most important scientific innovation of our time, compound miniaturization, meant that citizens no longer had to rely on holdalls and other carrying equipment. Even so, trying to get from A to B with three full suites of armour, various pistols and carbines and other items, wasn't easy, however much reduced in size they were. I still couldn't use the Teleport Chip as I had no Mind Essence, and I couldn't use the free Teleport implant either, as a certain revive point was nearer to my apartment than to where I actually needed to get to, Omegaton's Trade Center. Teleport implants, as opposed to Teleport Chips, could only take you to a revive point and nowhere else, even if you were not in any danger, and so were not always advantageous, even though they virtually cost nothing to use, unlike Teleport Chips which could get fairly expensive. It took me nearly ten minutes to get to the Trade Center, even though it was only a few thousand yards away, a trip that would normally take me a few minutes, but at least I was now there.
Quite a few citizen's were there, either talking to auctioneers and technicians, or using manufacturing and tailoring machines that were there, but no one I could recognize. Somehow I inch my way forward to a Repair Terminal and push the activation button, to which I am presented with the usual virtual depository and also my virtual Personal Inventory. First I select the weaponry section, and sure enough, there are my various laser pistols and carbines and a few vital power amplifiers rematerialized to near full size in front of me. Dragging them into the depository, I then make the final request, and the items are repaired in the next few split virtual seconds. I follow the same procedure for the armour, and moments later my Personal Inventory is once again laden with fully restored and functioning equipment, well, at least most of it. The repair fee had been considerable, so in the end I couldn't repair the mining gear as well, something that would had to be done another day. But at least I had done some of the essentials, and my apartment was now once again accessible. I leave the Trade Center at Omegaton and head back for the Teleporter. It was high time that I paid a visit to an old friend of mine.

 

Participant In Entropia - 6th report: The Rocketeer

Being a habitual hoarder; or stock-piler, I would accumulate mainly crude oil and also some minerals for at least two months at a time, sometimes three, and then either sell the lot in one go to people that I knew who would buy in bulk, or very often, to do a strait bata exchange for things that I needed.
A certain spaceship pilot that I had known very well, might be able to use approximately PE$4,500 worth of oil lying around in my storage, that had been there before my regeneration and accumulated over some time, but the problem was trying to find the owner. My old contacts list had been wiped for some reason after regeneration, so I couldn't just send a message, but I could try the last place on Calypso where he used to have a hanger, right up on the North-Eastern tip of Eudoria where there was nothing but sand and water. Try, because he may have relocated, or even gone out of the spaceship business completely. I would either be lucky, or would have to ask around a bit.

Stepping into the Teleporter and selecting the most obvious place as my first port of call from the location list, I once again go through the same head-splitting; retina-shattering experience in the next few split-seconds. As usual, I somehow manage to survive the Teleport jump in one piece; though it is still very uppermost in my mind to send an e-memo to Entropia General Council, to let them know that rapidly flashing lights can be very bad for the eye. Who am I kidding? I've said this to myself many times already, and I still haven't done it; probably because I know I won't get anywhere - but then again, who does..?

Looking around tells me that the North Space Base area, was exactly the same as the last time I visited. The lone pillar near to the Teleporter with a Trade terminal, a Repair Terminal and a Society Terminal rivvited to it, and the main complex itself. A maze of five or more closely-knit hangers supported by a wood and metal rig that extended out into the sea. I couldn't see any green dots on the direction scope, so I'm hoping it's because I am still too far away as I make a dash for the superstructure. “Woooo-ah!!” Unfortunately, the dark and coloured blotches still floating around in my head due to staring directly at the teleporter light earlier, caused me to lose concentration slightly on one of the slippery access runs that was also ridiculously narrow. I had done this before... A short swim back up to the bank later, and I try again.

I manage this time to make it to the other end of the metal run, before checking the direction scope again. My impromptu dip may well have been a good omen, as one solitary green dot has now appeared on the scope, and roughly in the direction of where his hanger used to be. It could have been anyone, just a curious hunter or traveler, so I bring up the open text messager to find out for certain and type out the question.

Spaceships are not always the only things that fly in Entropia, time sometimes has a habit of doing this as well when you are having fun, or when things are finally going right. He had been there after all, checking out the next day's passenger schedule, but other than that, not doing that much. We spent the first ten minutes idling outside the spaceship and giving one another the third-degree, asking what we had been getting up to, and chatting about recent changes. At some point, I finally managed to ask how he was doing for oil. He mentioned that he would be needing some for the day after tomorrow, but that he was low on funds for the very immediate future due to on-going repair costs for the spaceship.

This surprised me, having been convinced that pilots usually made enough profit to cover things like expenses, but he said that this wasn't always the case; that ongoing expenses were the biggest problem of all, just like for anything on Calypso. He went onto explain in painstaking detail something that he had told me a long time ago, but had obviously forgotten. About how passengers often failed to turn up at a collection point and ultimately the hanger, which would mean that he would be out of pocket in the short term. I commiserated with him, saying that some citizen's never changed, then mentioned that he wouldn't have to pay in PE$ for the oil, but that I did badly need some decent equipment and to repair some of my own items. Then, as luck would have it, he mentioned his Eon armour and plasma annihilator rifle, that together had cost him a lot more than PE$4,500 at an auction some years ago, but that he no longer really used as he wanted to concentrate entirely on the spaceship enterprise. I already had enough skills for hunting some of Entropia's more dangerous inhabitants in theory, but this would mean that I could do it for real, so I agree on the spot to the more than generous proposition.

The exchange is made some time later near to a storage unit in Calypso's monalithic capital, Hadesheim City, where he lets me know, that he knew that I knew I had a good deal, and that could I throw in a free ad or two for his passenger ferrying business. Half jokingly, I agree that I will of course do this whilst heading back for the Teleporter.

 

Participant In Entropia - 7th report: Revisiting Club Neverdie.

The other day, I decided it would be a good idea to see the famous Club Neverdie, as I hadn't been there in months - based on an asteroid off the planet Calypso. A commercial for a new enterprise based at Rogue Plains Hangers near Fort Argus; Proxima Centauri Airlines, had been broadcasted during the last few days on the big ad-boards dotted around Eudoria and Amethera, and I luckily happened to know exactly which hanger it was stationed in. There was a good chance that the pilot might be there.

Quickly teleporting to Fort Argus, I headed for the exact location, and luckily could see a group of green dots on the direction scope not too far ahead. No doubt they were waiting either near to, or inside the hanger for a lift, so it was time to introduce myself out of courtesy. I couldn't just barge in, after all I wasn't with that particular party.
Intro's were exchanged, and other etiquettes, and some ten minutes later I finally arrive at one of the docking-bays with the other passengers. There had been a slight fiasco in trying to get into one of the seats; I had forgotten to press the red activation button, but in the end the trip went ok, and - hey, we all make mistakes. The passenger fee was very good value, and I'm sure I will use the service again.

I have seen some of the biodomes at Club Neverdie, which I truly remember as being fantastic, but not all of them. Biodome No.7 for instance, which for some reason came to mind, was one that I hadn't seen. Just as for every biodome on the asteroid, this one had two teleporter's; one at the Northern end and one at the Southern end. I selected the one at the North. I end up standing near to it a few split seconds later. The landscape and scenery immediately had my attention, and was something to behold, with metal perimeter walls towering upward by so many hundreds of feet; just as I had remembered the biodomes before.


* Biodomes are vast, self contained and artificially generated habitats, that mimic conditions on Calypso, held together by millions of tons of perimiter steel walls, and protected from the coldness of space by twenty-inch thick toughened plastiglass *

Having no idea what type of mob roamed here; and the e-info panel that I always got didn't say too much, I ventured away from the teleporter with some caution, as I only had Goblin armour on which isn't that good. Red dots soon appear, but luckily they're all Exarosaurs, so I wouldn't have to worry too much. Many though, were Alpha's and Old Alpha's, so I didn't take the shootout totally for granted.

I stayed there only for a short while and managed to kill twenty or so mobs - got some loot to make it just about worthwhile. I then spent the next hour or so visiting other parts of the futuristic resort, especially the awe-inspiring planetarium in the middle of the main complex, where Club Nevedie awards and ceremonies usually took place.
At some point, I then realized that I had forgotten that there were no storage units here. Neither did I have enough currency to get back to Calypso, although I did of course know this on the way up here. I had decided to spend most of what I had on ammo and the one-way ticket, knowing that I was due for a payment in two days time, so it wouldn't matter if I hung around here for a while.

 

Participant In Entropia - 8th Report: Corinth Coast

I re materialize in the usual fashion, near to the Teleporter at Cape Corinth. Life was sometimes full of coincidences. It was a long time since I had last been to this sand-ridden wasteland, stuck out on the North-Western tip of mainland Eudoria; the most North-Western tip actually being a certain point on Ithaca Island adjoined to Corinth by a string of stepping-stone islands, that I intended to head for very shortly. Full of coincidences, because someone I hadn't heard of since way before my regeneration has just decided to PM me.
He was an old buddy from a society that I used to belong to ages ago, who just wanted to make a casual 'hello, how do you do' inquiry out of simple curiosity. I filled him in on some of the recent changes and other chit-chat fodder, but after a short while, he had to break-off because of some event he was helping out with. I checked once more, that I had enough mining bombs and probes and to see that my detectonators were firing on all cylinders; which they should have been, as I had just repaired them at a credit reducing Repair Terminal, but you could never take anything for granted these days.
I run dead-West and hit the barren coast in a few minutes, then turn sharp right and head North. Sticking to the coast when mining, was a tactic I always used and it had never failed me yet. Although it was generally agreed that you stood a greater chance of finding bigger deposits further inland than by sticking near to the coast, there was the very big danger of encountering something that would end any mining trip very quickly, so in my mind this simply wasn't worth the risk, and in my experiences, there were never any guarantees of bigger finds anyway. By sticking to the coast, at least I knew I could finish a mining trip in one piece and still end up with enough loot.


* Repair Terminals are green, small, metal and plastic units that have the appearance of antique letter-boxes of many eons ago, and which activate upon a finger print and retina scan ID check. An inbuilt matter reducer, allows you to transfer items that need to be repaired from your molecularly shrunk portable inventory and storage facility, into a matter receiving bay. A few key-presses later is all that is needed to bring your shrunk items back to full health, after which they are miraculously returned. *


The barta exchange the other day had indeed been good value; my pilot friend had been right on that score, although he badly needed the oil quickly and he would have been lucky to resell the plasma and armour for any real profit, but it now meant that I myself was now very short of probably the biggest commodity in Entropia. I still had some left in storage, but I desperately wanted to ad to this as quickly as possible - and this is why I was here, running along coast. Corinth had been good for oil before, so hopefully it would be this time as well.

 

Participant In Entropia - 9th report: Scanning the Miner Bot Generation 4.

Some hours later I was back on Calypso after another spaceship ride and looking at the auction entries in Fort Argus for a scanner. I knew very little about scanners, as I had never used them before, but something that someone had told me back on the asteroid, meant that I simply had to have one.
The info was, that you could point a scanner at any intelligent entity, such as creatures, mutants, robots, or even other citizens, and transfer innate or programmed abilities and skills to one's self via telemetric modulation. Different abilities would be gained according to what was being scanned. I was interested, in a particular class of robot that allegedly I could gain further mining and probing skills from, as I needed as much of these as possible.
There was of course another way of getting more abilities, other than by learning from scratch which took for ever, and this was by inserting skill-implants. These were often very expensive, and you had to get different implants for different skills, and the insertion process was not entirely painless either. Scanners on the other hand were relatively cheap and could be used to gain almost any skill.
I was also told, however, about one very potential and hazardous drawback. That certain entities did not like being scanned if they thought you were a threat, which simply meant being too close, or if you were wearing amour or carrying weapons. There was also another problem. Being able to even approach the robot I had in mind in the first place whilst trying to avoid the robot drones that usually protected them, which meant wearing amour and using weapons, as otherwise you would surely experience temporary retirement. Catch-22!
I muddle through all of this in my mind for a few more moments, but then decide that I want to get on with this if I am to do it at all. I had mapped out a good idea of what to do anyway, and if it didn't work the first time, I could always try again. I quickly purchase a scanner that was in a good state of repair, at least going by the stats readout, and then head for the Teleporter. The best place, according to the one who told me; for finding a 'Miner Bot Generation 4', was due North of a large stable near to a well known land mark on Amethera, Treasure Island Castle. I knew both the castle and the stable buildings very well, although I had never ventured too far away from either for some reason, probably because of the arduous and awkward terrain that made getting anywhere very difficult.
I arrive next to the Teleporter at Treasure Island Castle a few moments later, and then duly head for the stables which is some distance away. The southern end was as I last remembered it, more or less level with the terrain, but I had forgotten that the northern side of the complex was effectively cordoned off on three sides by sheer walls of rock. Fantastic! So, to be able to go further North of the stables in the first place to find the miner bot, I would first have to circumnavigate the immediate area by going either due North-East or North-West, which would take up more time, however I considered that this was little inconvenience if it meant being able to get good mining skills for virtually nothing. In the end I go North-East as it made no difference judging by the crevices on either side, and then head strait North after reaching the top.
Soon I'm in open territory, and running full pelt as if I am in some sort of Marathon; because that's how it felt at the time, and then suddenly I notice a spangle of red dots on my trusty old direction finder. Immediately I stop to study it more closely and see that there are five dots in all. I put the plan into action by producing the plasma rifle that I had exchanged for the oil and then quickly attach an opitcal scope that I hadn't used in ages, mainly because it reached a high level of decay fairly quickly and was expensive to repair, but now it was essential. I scan the horizon with the scope and note that the nearest four are drones of various classes. The fifth and farthest one was the Miner Bot. I fire one plasma round, and sure enough it stops mining and starts to come at me. This was the advantage of this fantastic weapon. Being able to ping it at long range but without disturbing the intervening drones because they were still too far away to positively ID me. Besides, if they had done, they would have come at me already.
I quickly about turn and head back towards the stables, constantly checking my scope, and remembering to slow down every now and then to make sure that it kept following. Soon it was time to attempt the next and most important part of the plan, as I once again approach the stables, only this time from the other direction. There was no time to dwell on anything as the Minor Bot was now almost upon me. If I was suddenly retired, I would have to go through the whole process again, which really I didn't want to do.
I quickly remove my amour and return it to my personal inventory in the usual matter-reducing fashion, before jumping over the edge and plummeting down the sheer drop, but manage to land safely as always due to the anti-gravity aid on the soles and heels of my boots. The direction scope shows that the red dot is right behind me, as I proceed with the one last vital step needed to effectively trap the robot. I quickly dash for a very narrow gap between one of the sheer rock faces and the edge of the stable's foundation wall, and then stop when I am certain that the robot cannot possibly follow, before turning round and assessing the situation.
The miner bot had indeed followed me over the edge, but, and as I had hoped rather than calculated, it had stopped more or less where it had landed and had not advanced any further towards me. I had only run into the gap as a final precaution, just in case it had. It was taking off the amour that had done the trick, as it no longer considered me a threat. The citizen on the asteroid had told me, that once I was no longer a threat to the robot, and providing it followed me down to the bottom, that it would start mining again, and that this was the time I could begin scanning.
This is exactly what the robot started to do - mine. It mined none-stop for ten minutes or more in the same spot, then moved slightly a few paces sideways, before mining for another ten minutes. Then it moved again, and mined again for another ten minutes or so - and so it went on; and on, and on, and on. I had scanned the robot during this entire phase almost to the point of monotony, and at no time did it approach me at all. It was almost as though I was invisible. As boring as this was, it had made the scanner purchase very worthwhile. After an hour or more, I had gained a whole string of mining related skills and abilities, and the truth was that I could have stayed there for almost ever, but boredom in the end got the better of me.

 

Participant in Entropia - 10th report: Vacation in New Switzerland.

After all the recent activity, the mining run; trapping and scanning robots; space rides to the asteroid resort or the space station; repairing vital equipment and acquiring new armour and other things, I was starting to feel a bit jaded. There was no other solution, I simply needed a vacation!
Once again I consulted my personal e-map, before selecting the atlas for Amethera, as by default, one was always presented with Eudoria for some reason on starting up the hand-held device.
Looking at the list of entries on the left-hand pannel, I decided to go to somewhere that I had only been to once before; which was simply to acquire the Teleporter there - New Switzerland! This new frontier in North-West Amethera hadn't been there that long, having been constructed only recently - not exactly the size nor characteristic of a city, but not your typical townscape either. I remembered it as being an ornate and picturesque collection of sureal timber houses on wooden platforms going into a large lagoon or fjord, surrounded by evergreen grass banks and forested hillsides, and the constant swishing sound of the wind turbines that generated electricity for the residents.
However, I had no intention of sleeping out rough there troughout the whole of my stay, whatever the novelty value of the landscape. After all, I didn't really know which creatures or robots lurked there, and furthermore, there was no point in having a vacation if I wasn't going to enjoy a few mod-cons. Not having looked at the global chat log for some time on my electronic readout, and so not knowing whether a friend or two had recently logged-on, I closed down the e-map before looking-up my Friends List, to see if someone that I knew had an appartment there, was showing.
Luckilly, Bill's entry was there, so I sent a 'hello - how are you greeting' on the PM facility and waited for a few seconds. I was presented with a similar message not long after, and duely filled him in on my vacation idea, asking if it would be OK to use his abode for somewhere to crash-out in for a couple of days or so. Offering the consideration of 50-PED's in return; which would easily cover his monthly maintenance fee, quickly sealed the deal without much further ado. He told me he was conducting a Teleporter run for a small group, and asked me to meet him at the popular appartment complex of Omegaton West Habitat. As I happened to be near a Teleporter anyway, this wouldn't be a problem at all. A few minutes later, and I'm at the given location, and sure enough he is waiting there. I sent another private text message that only he and I could read.
“ Thanks for helping me - how you doing?” Bill was never the type to get in a flap about anything.
“No problem... The 50-PED offer helped though - he, he!”
“Sure - hold on..” Quickly activating my private trade terminal, I place the 50-PEDs into the matter converter before pressing a few keys, and seconds later the amount reappears in his own machine. “Great! OK - thanks alot. Now, I must get back on with this TP run - no offence. The house number is '8' and public access is enabled. Here's the coordinates... See U laterz.” I give a final farewell and then quickly log the figures before alighting back onto the Teleporter. This time, it would finally be to New Switzerland.
The coordinates must have been slightly inaccurate, as ten minutes or so later I was standing infront of a doorway with the number '5' on it, which ment that the actual house that I wanted was either three further along to my right, or three more to my left. The sureal sound of the wind turbines continued to fill my senses, as I did a quick check of some of the other dwellings. Finally, I find the right one. The auto-door opens as I approach the ornate wooden entrance, and I go on in to have a quick look around. There were hunting trophies and various weapons on display-boards on the walls, and other trappings of success all around the main room. There were other rooms leading off from this one, but I didn't bother checking them out strait away, as it didn't really matter where I crashed-out later on. Right now, I was curious as to what creartures roamed around here, as I felt like doing a spot of hunting so that I would have something I could sell in a few days time. I quickly check my equipment, and then leave for the neighbouring hills to see what I could find.
Half a mile or so later, and not even one red dot had appeared on my direction scanner. As idillic as the landscape was, there was something odd here.
There were no gun towers anywhere, and yet no mobs either, so I decided to go on just a little bit further up and down the steep hills and crevices, through tall grass; thickets, what have you; mindfull however, that I was going further and further away from the Teleporter, and that I could come across major mob activity at any moment, which was often the case in my experience after not seeing mobs for great lengths of time.
Suddenly, two dots appear on the direction scanner approximately 70-yards away; one to my left at about '10 O'Clock' and the other to my right at about '01 O'Clock' respectively. I couldn't detect any 'growls' or 'grunts', so they wern't anything like Atrox, but I couldn't see anything through all the dense undergrowth either, so I walked rather than ran a little bit further just in case. It turned out that I had nothing too much to worry about. They were two Molisk Scout's, slowly moping along in their usual arm-paddeling fashion. However, as dead one's often resulted in fairly valluable byproducts, I decided to take the opportunity. Some time later, and I had taken about twenty Molisks in all; more had appeared on the scene, and had managed to convert some of the carcasses into saleable items via my ever useful matter-converter. For now though, I had had enough of hunting, and so decided to head back to the cabin.
In the end, I stayed there for only about a day-and-a-half, and did three or so further Molisk hunts. The change of scenery was good, and New Switzerland was certainly different from alot of places that I had seen, but in the end, there was a certain monotony about the area that one could only put up with for so long.

 

Participant In Entropia - 11th Report: Attack of The Robots

A strange anxiety went through me as I headed away from the vast plains due west of Twin Peaks, at way past two-thirty in the morning, whilst engaging the teleporter-chip implant. Strange, as the hunting foray here had been more or less successful, so I couldn't understand why I was feeling this way.
The chip power-up phase completed as usual, and I then selected the teleporter at Twin Peaks itself from the corresponding e-map, before entering the engage command. Landing somewhere near the teleporter a few split-seconds later, I barely have time to gather my senses as all mayhem lets lose.
The unmistakable 'zap, zap - ping, ping' of rapid laser fire suddenly fills the area, as two; maybe three collumns of robot-drones appears out of nowhere, along with what seemed to be a Tantilons escort! A few more split-seconds, and 40+ drones are on the scene, making short work of a few unfortunate 'new kids on the block'.
I wanted to try and even the score, but I was rediculously low on ammo due to the hunting, and Goblin armour was no match against an army of robots anyway. One or two, perhapps, but not a whole bunch of them in concert.
Instinct took over very simply, and very quickly - and I just bolted for the nearest entrance as fast as I could, somehow avoiding being fatally hit. I was now inside the local Bar, and immediately I turned to face the entrance with my Isis HL6 'Limited' at the ready, just incase a drone had decided to follow up the short ramp.
Nothing appeared, however. For the next ten minutes or more, it was almost as if time had stood still in this very strange and sureal situation, as the battle outside ensued just a few yards away from me. In the end, I decided two things. To try and help out in some way; as I couldn't really stay here for ever, and to try and get a screenshot of the action as the word 'news' was suddenly going around in my head.
This was a big mistake... Of course, I should have realised that drones would probably be covering the entrance, which they were. I was hit rapidly by a deadly crossfire, just as I exited the building, and the next thing I know is that I am at the Revive Terminal in a heap. I was determined however to get the printscreen if nothing else, if this was at all possible, and somehow I managed to get it just before I was terminated yet again. This time the number of bodies at the Revive was almost comical, not that the situation was at all really funny, infact the situation was becomming almost embarassing.
Luckily, a few uber colonists finally arrived on the scene with the right armour and equipment, and decisively began to even the odds by giving the drones a taste of their own medicine - and then, suddenly, it was all over, almost as quickly as it had started.
I walk over to the teleporter amid the robot wreckage, and select my next port of call...

 

Participant In Entropia - 12th Report: Open Sesame in Port Atlantis

It had been a fairly routine last month or so on Calypso, with a few hunting and mining runs here and there for average returns, inbetween doing essential repairs and other tasks.
These and other things were going through my head, but it was geting late, so I snapped out of it and alighted onto the teleporter to get to Port Atlantis to do another recruitment stint for Entropia News Network. Rematerialising in the main square at Port Atlantis a few seconds later, I can't help notice that the entrance to a small outbuilding adjoining two of the perimiter walls is wide open. For years the doors had been closed, so this was a mystery. Maybe not a big one, perhapps not that interesting to many, but it stuck out like a sore thum to me.
I realize that this may not have been anything new to others that were milling around there, as I had no idea as to the exact number of days the doors had been open, but it can't have been that many, as I had been to Atlantis a few times during the last two weeks or so. Whichever, why all of a sudden were the doors open? I had looked all around inside, not that there was anything in there, it was just a vacant, empty space; partially lit due to a small gap between the roof and one of the walls, with no apparant purpose or function. Now, I had thought for years, that it was some sort of power relay or some other electrical gizmo - I had no idea there was absolutely nothing in there.
Maybe something was stored here, and it had been moved somewhere, or perhapps it had always been empty and the owners had just decided to advertise it to potential future investors. Who knows?

 

Participant In Entropia - 13th Report: Changes

Things have happened, and I have been lying-low for some time. One thing after the other just came up and hit me out of the blue, although many Entropians have been 'hit', not just me. No one is unique here where fate is concerned, no one... Rich; poor; inbetween - adversity can strike anyone here.
First I lost my VP job, as I had to quit ENN after their systems had been zapped by some still unclassified viral attack. This was never confirmed by official investigators, even though everyone knew this had probably happened. Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, Calypsonians had endured a series of intense incursions by our old enamy, the Robots.
Still as intent as ever in their quest of trying to exrterminate all higher life on Entropia, they had first sent down a number of surveilance pods, only at the time, when first discovered by random visitors and passers-by at major locations and attractions, no one initially knew this. No one really knew what they were.
Big; menacing; dark spheres that appeared out of nowhere for no apparant reason, that turned the immediate area a strange red if anyone ventured too close, although no physical harm as such was ever experienced, which made the presence of these objects even odder.
The heart and capital of Calypso, Hadesheim City, had been the first and the most threatening campain, such was the audacity of these alloy and resin invaders. I know, as I had landed there myself, albeit via teleportation, completely by accident. I had intended to go to nicely serene and undisturbed fawna and hillsides, Atlas Island South, but had hit the wrong destination button by mistake...
In the first few seconds I didn't know where I was, as lasers; masers; phasers; and other energy beams of all magnitudes zipped and zapped over my head from all directions. I just ran for the water under the nearest bridge, hoping that this would lower my heat signature quickly enough and make me to all intents and purposes invisible, and it worked. Perhapps the fact that I wasn't armed at that moment, made them think I wasn't a threat. This could also have been a factor, as suddenly, nothing was comming in my direction, and I was for the first time able to take stock of what was happenning, and what I saw was like something at the end of the world.
There were robots of every size and type, caterpillar robots; two-legged robots; flying robots; Warrior-class robots, and the all too familiar drones - tens and tens of them. Inevitably, many off-guard, or brave but underpowered colonists were being sent to revive terminals in quick succession, until some with more uber firepower and defenses arrived on the scene, who began to even the odds slightly so that the robots wern't having everything their own way, although the overall situation, at least from where I was standing, probably wasn't going to change that much. There were just too many robots.
In the end, I knew that I couldn't stay under the bridge for ever, and it would only be a matter of time until I was targeted anyway, so I decided to enter the chaos to see if I could help in some way. I knew I wouldn't last long with my mid-range Goblin armour and Isis-53 carbine against any of the bigger robots, but I could if I was lucky, take one or two of the easier drones, and maybe even get to scavange some valluable robot parts, before I myself was retired...
I evaluated the situation quickly, as I didn't want to just run out like a headless Berycled and get zapped too quickly either. What use would I be then! Directly ahead of me, three hunters seemed to be holding their own against a gigantuan Big Bulk, but I checked their health-level meters just incase, when suddenly a Generation 02 Drone ran up behind one of them and started firing. I zeroed-in with the scope on the Isis to try and even things up a bit and fired a shot near to where the CPU would be, and it turned it's attention towards me, running like some two-legged train on steroids. Drones always ran like this...
I just kept firing as quickly as the carbine would allow, as the drone's multiple laser bolts began to dent and smelt my defenses, but not quite yet penetrate. My slower, but more precise rounds, however, had reduced the drone's health-levels to almost nothing. A few more shots, and it fell in a crumpled heap on the ground.
Quickly, I transfered some of the wreckage with my trusted ionic convertor into the matter-compact, then looked around some more to see what else there was. I didn't have much time to ponder the variables, as in the next instance, I myself was also in a heap, made all too evident by the dreaded 'yang-yang' sound and the rotating skull hologram, accompanied with the message - 'you were killed by the psychotic Warrior generation 05'. Ten seconds later, and I'm also at revive 'pile-up' heaven.
Somehow extracating myself, I went back into the fray and managed to get two more drones before getting zapped myself yet again. This time, I decided to call it a day and head for one of the other Hadesheim teleporters, where I knew there wouldn't be any robots. I was nearly out of ammo, so I couldn't do much more anyway. Besides, I still had to reschedule the meeting at Atlas Island North, as there was no way that the original one would still be on after all the great fun I just had...
I headed for the monolithic power-building on the grass flats in the distance, and no robots followed.

 

Participant In Entropia - 14th Report: More Robots and The Great Land Grab

Stiring from my slumber within the confines of Fort Troy, I'm not certain if the announcement in my head is from a dream or if I had remembered seeing it somewhere the previous day.
I then make for the big display screen not far from the teleporter outside, only to find that it was no dream. There for all to see; not that there was anyone there except myself, was the same EBN info that I had seen earlier, about yet further robot incursions at Fort Medusa and Jason Centre.

Realizing that this could mean right now, I decided to check two firearms that I'd recently acquired in exchange for three months of accumulated hides, armour parts, a lot of crude oil and stack loads of minerals and matters of various kinds.

The local Exarasours, Dakaibars and Fouls - mainly young's and matures, were no real test however, for the high-amped Foxtrot Plasma and Isis LR59, so I decided to try them out on more difficult targets. Maffoid Warriors, Guards and other ranks, not far from Fort Argus.
I step onto the teleporter and select the destination from the readout, and I'm there in no time at all.

A few teleporter-chip jaunts later, I'm facing a large group of Maffoids up on their usual rocky lair way off in the distance, just past the usual heard of Cornundacaudas. Pressing a numeral digit on the matter converter produces the plasma rifle in the next split second which I raise to the firing position, in order to scan the group for a likely target with the optical scope. One of them breaks off slightly from the main group, and I check that it's in range on the radar screen before firing the first 'pinging' round.

The Maffoid Guard starts lumbering towards me as I quickly check the creature's health indicator. Not much had come off, but then I wasn't expecting it to at such a long range even with a Foxtrot. The real test would be the next two rounds that I knew I would be able to get in, before switching to the Isis carbine. The second bolt is much better, causing the Maffoid to stumble in it's tracks, even though it continues to keep on comming, and the third round of the annihilator causes it to yell out at me in pain.

Quickly I switch to the carbine, as the Foxtrot would now be too slow at such a short range. A few rounds later with the Isis, and it's all over. The Maffoid hadn't even managed to get within it's attack distance, which surprized me, so I was more than pleased with these new weapons. I now knew that I had a realistic chance of maintaining a conscerted effort this time in a team setup against the robots. Not just the odd one or two lower-generation drones here and there like before, but many of them.

I decide to call it a day with the Maffoids, as I wanted to save my ammo for the robots, and attempt to initiate the teleporter-chip once again to get back to Argus, when as luck would have it, I'm joined by an old friend of mine. I obviously hadn't been looking at the radar scope for a few minutes, and so hadn't seen the green-dot that was now in the middle of the dial.

“Greetings! How's it going?” This guy was from one of the highest-per-capita skilled societies and so certainly worth having as an ally.
“Not bad... Just tested some knew guns on a Maffoid to guage their potential.” I was still carrying the carbine, which hadn't gone unnoticed. “Great. Which model Isis?”
“LR-59! Didn't even know I was maxed-out on them, though this is probably kiddy stuff by your standards...”
“Ha, ha! You should be a politician... But not really, though a bit over the top for Maff's I would have thought...”
“Yep! This was just a tester for bots at Jason's later, or Medusa, but I felt they were still a good enough challenge, although you're right - it was a bit too easy...”
“So I noticed John. Anyway, so what you doing now?” I inform him as to my little plan.

“Well I'm thinking of going back to Argus and then Limnadian Disrict to hit Jason from the North-west. If I TP strait into Jason, I'll prbably get zappped strait away and may never get out of the revive area...”
“Not a bad idea - very similar to what I would do. But you'll need to team though. You won't last long by your own whatever you've got. It won't just be drones down there, it will be everything!” He was right. I wouldn't last long at Jason's on my own, but it now looked as though I had the beginning's of a team.

With his superior skills and no doubt firepower, the returns would with any luck, turn out to be quite good. “Can't argue with that. Why you wanna team, or you're still gonna stick round here?”
“I came here to meet some people, not to hunt, but they haven't turned up - so why not. May as well get back to the TP...” I agree, then fire-up the teleporter-chip, and he follows siute. Soon we're both back at Argus so that we can take the teleporter there to Limnadian, except we are not exactly together at this point. He makes an understandable enquiry.

"Where the eck did you end up? Can't see you near the TP...”
“Well, I've landed - and this is the absolute truth, on the roof thingy... So I'll be a few seconds behind you.”
“Ha, ha! OK - I'll meet you there - cya laterz...” Not long later, we're both at Limnadian and heading for Jason. We both new of course, that the miriad of drones, worriors, and others, would be tied up dealing with other colonists at Jason, which would enable us to sneak in unobserved by Robot Command. It would be paying less attention to us then lord knows how many other colonists already there, which really was the whole trick.

“...We did well btw in the recent land grab outcome - ck c killers came joint second, we came first, and got awarded with some chomper DNA. Don't know if you've been following it...” We continue running at full pace. “Gratz! Yep, I've been reading up on the info on and off. Don't know how M-T-S always seems to do so well...” The unmistakable forrested hillsides slightly right of centre, tells me that we're not far from Jason. “Thx. Well it's like anything else - u gotta put money into something to make money out of it, and use the right equipment -”
“True...”

Nearing the point of no return where robots were concerned, made all too evident by the mass of red and green dots on the scope - although far more red than green, we agree that the best tactic is to work in tandem against one robot at a time from the open, flat causeway leading up to the TP area. “Ok - lets stop here. Some are now just within max plasma range which is what we want... You got laser pointers?”
“Yep, on both - and optics on the plasma... So what do you reckon? Either side of the clearing, so we can get them in a crossfire?”
“Exact - and make sure we both hit the same one and only one at a time. We don't want the whole lot ontop of us...”

The pattern was now set, and we knew exactly what to do. A few minutes later and we're about 50 yards appart, either side of the causeway. I raise the Foxtrot and point it in the direction of a red dot that has broken-off slightly left of centre from the main group. It was also getting closer to a few green dots; colonists - so I had to be quick.
I zoom in with the scope and ID it to be a Drone Generation 02, which would be a good starter. I fire a round strait into it's mid-section and it starts running towards me in true metal-zombie fashion as if it's on rails. In the next split-second, the team leader sends another plasma bolt strait into the drone's visors, that hopefully would leave it completely disoriented, which it did, as the drone then starts going towards him. We then switch to the more rapid carbines, and start firing at will as it manages to get a few well aimed shots of it's own on us in return. Seconds later and it's in a crumpled heap between us. “They'll know we're here now, but we should be able to get a few more before they come at us in numbers...”
“I get you. But it looks like most are tied up with other hunters... How about that Warrior 04? Looks like it's just idling.”
“Why not. Do you have a rocket launcher? We'll need those after we've pinged it with the plasmas.”
“I have a Skildeck I've done OK with.”
“That'll do. We'll ping it together - it'll confuse their servers...” At that, we send two plasma bolts into the Warrior's defenses, and true enough, it seems confused in the first few split-seconds as to which of us to run towards. In the end it sort of zig-zags iratically as it alternates its own fire, first at him and then myself, which wasn't entirely ineffective, even so. Ominous dents and divits start appearing in my Vigilante harness and armguards, although probably nothing was happenning to his Eon armour, so it was time for me to get serious, or end up at the revive, which would be embarrassing to say the least.
At the critical moment, when it is no more than thirty yards away from me, I fire a high explosive projectile into it's mid section, forcing it to whirr and stutter in its tracks, and causing it's laser fire to not so much hit me, but to pass harmlessly over my head by mere inches. The leader then sends another rocket into it, and soon the robot is caught between us in a hopeless game of something in the midddle. It also falls in a heap not far from the drone seconds later.
We were now on a run. We manage to get three more Drones; two Warriors and one Attacker - by far the hardest which nearly got both of us, in the next ten minutes or so. At the end of it all, we have a considerable pile of robot parts that we can sell for serious money, which was really the whole point.
“Good! We've done well. I'll get my matter-divider to quickly split this all up. I'll set it to 50-50. Then I've got to get out of here and back to Limnadian, as we only have a few minutes before the lot will be on us, and I gotta meet someone!” The device kicks-in and transfers the pile of parts via conversion-beam in seconds, and the usual virtual trade window appears infront of me shortly after with my half of the loot in it, which I transfer into my PI.
“Good idea, I'll be TP-chipping back there myself. I would have needed more ammo anyway...'
“Ok - I'm sure we'll do a team again - and keep skilling! It's harder once you start passing the middle levels and start going towards the top one's, but it's worth it in the end as you get dividends. laterz!”
He initiates his teleporter-chip, then disappears in a flash moments later, and I follow siute. This wasn't because I wanted to do anything more for the day, but simply because it was going to be much quicker than trying to enter the teleporter at Jason. There were still too many robots.

 

Participant In Entropia - 15th Report: Skilling 'n' Killing


He was right... Things certainly got harder in passing the middle levels and trying to get towards the top ones, only I was still bang in the middle ones and nowhere near the top!
There was one thing though, that was becomming more and more apparant with the new carbine and plasma ; a faint glimmer of hope that told me I was doing the right thing - er, humm... Which was, that I was gaining new ranking positions more frequently. This was still a fair snail's pace, but it was still slightly quicker than before.
The one downside though, was the increased ammo expense in going after harder mobs, which I was now doing more and more, otherwise what was the point of having these fairly hard-hitting long and mid-range blasters?
Just now, for instance, I was on the tail-end of nearly a two-day long solo expedition against yet more robots and other creatures, having had just a few hours respite here and there to keep sane.
I had started out from the North Space Base teleporter with enough energy cells and explosive projectiles and gone due south along the coast, first encountering the usual herd of Cornundacauda. My usual P5a handgun was enough to take a few of these which got me a few more every-day commodities, but I had no wish to waste too much ammo on these, so I had circumnavigated via the sea and hit the coast not far from where I knew the odd one or two Warrior 05's would be.
Two red dots appeared near the edge of the radar, and I checked to see that they were the intended targets with the plasma's optical scope, prior to donning my Vigilante armour and raising the Foxtrot to the firing position. The key against Warriors, because of their multiple fire-arms and fast attack speed, was as much distance as possible.
I pinged it with the plasma and the robot hurtled towards me at great speed as I quickly switched to the rocket launcher and sent an explosive projectile strait into it. A ball of flame went up around it, but it kept on comming anyway. I was able to get a second projectile in which caused a lot more to come of it's health-level, as I myself was suddenly hit by it's own return fire. Then I switched to the Isis LR59 as the launcher would now be too slow. I just kept firing as quickly as I could as my own health levels started to get dangerously low, and just when I was certain of being retired to the nearest revive, I managed to stop it in it's tracks by switching back to the launcher and firing one more projectile at point-blanc range.
Transfering the robot parts into my inventory, I decided to leave the other Warrior alone, as something told me that I might lose out next time - so instead I went back to the teleporter at North Space Base and decided to go to Orthos West Mound to tackle the more numerous but somewhat easier Drone 01's & 02's. I got quite a few, as well as the odd Atrax and Faucervix, and slowly but surely, my inventory started to get fuller and fuller.
The rest of the two-day stint was spent going up the Amazon River; as some refer to it, in the middle of Eudoria - starting from the South and going up North on the left side bank, and then comming back down again on the other side. In the heavier Gremlin, this had taken over five hours, and at the end of it, after numerous Allophyl kills and more Faucervix and lord knows how many other creatures of all kinds - although I was mindful to leave 'big' Atrox alone and stay well clear of spiders, I was seriously overloaded.
I could hardly move, it was that bad - so in the end I decided to get killed deliberately instead of using the teleporter chip, as there was no way of knowing whether or not I would end up ontop of some major mob and get killed anyway. I revived at Tethys Creek which sort of made ironic sense, as I felt like I was up-the-creek anyway, and finally decided to call it a day. I had used alot of ammo, but the returns were at least some sort of compensation and so I was generally pleased with the end result.

 

Participant In Entropia - 16th Report: Dunes


I had probably had enough of the routine every-day for a while, so I decided to hook in once more to do something completely different, that is, to go somewhere completely different. To go to Eudoria's back-of beyond, at least that was how it was quoted to me not long ago.
The person who told me hadn't even been there, having received the info second hand - about a collossal tower way out in the desert region due south of the remote outpost of Fort Pandora. I asked about any mob activity there, but this had drawn a blanc, so it looked as though this really was going to be a real box of surprizes - maybe... Maybe there wasn't any tower either and this was just folklore? Time would tell.
I arrive at Fort Pandora in the usual way, somewhere that I had only been to once before when acquiring my first batch of teleporters, and start to head south. I hardly remembered the area, which going by what I could see, wasn't that much. First came the slow ascent up the perimiter grass bank that finally levelled-off as I got to the top, and then what seemed like the beginnings of a desert. I checked the e-map just to make sure, and true enough, there was nothing but miles and miles of light-coloured terrain ahead of me.
Soon it was nothing but dunes. Acres and acres, and who knows how many tons of silicon, that just seemed to continue for ever. I'm sure I would have fried in the Calypso Sun if it hadn't been for my thermo-regulator, which annoyingly was starting to play-up, but I pressed on anyway, now determined more than ever to see if this tower truly existed.
The monotony in this endless wasteland was starting to get to me, as yet more miles of sand passed beneath my boots, which luckilly was broken by the sudden appearance of a red dot on my direction scope. It turned out to be just a Berrycled, which I left alone inspite of the monotony as they never looted that well, and because I wanted to save my medium laser cells incase of more didfficult mob activity later. A few more appeared in the distance as well as the odd Sabakuma, but again I left them and went right on past in my continuing quest to find this tower.
Then, a sea of clam-shaped outcrops of some kind appeared just below the horizon, prompting me to check the direction finder for mob activity, but no red dots were showing - but then what were they? Closer inspection with the optical scope on the plasma revealed that they were some sort of strange rock-shaped plants with huge blades of grass sprouting out of the tops. I had seen it all now...
I must have passed hundreds of these things in the ten minutes or more that it took to get clear of them, only to be met with yet another expanse of nothing but sand after this. I carried on anyway, and just as I was thinking that perhapps this had been a complete waste of time, so the sky ahead of me started to change from clear blue to a faded concrete-gray tone.
Was this a mirage? I couldn't yet tell because of the heat haze, so I would have to get closer. Then, slowly but surely, a huge quadraped-tower began to loom towards me like something out of a dream - so tall and vast, that it seemed as though I was running in slow motion. This was a marvel in civil engineering and made the Pyramid of Argus seem simple by comparison - but what was it for, and what were they; who ever 'they' were, doing in there?
These and other questions go through my head as I begin to approach the nearest of the four collossal pillars, wondering how much longer it would take to actually get to it. Something also told me that there would be more difficult mobs here, and true enough, a few red dots appear on the finder a few seconds later, slightly to my left. Two Berycled Provider's and a huge red-beaked Longu Mature.



I raise the plasma rifle and fire one pinging round, and the Longu starts lumbering towards me in their usual ungainly fashion as I switch to the quicker but shorter-range Isis carbine. Four rounds later, and it crashes to a halt a few yards infront of me. My trusty old matter converter then makes short work of the carcass before I switch my attenton to the side-by-side Berycleds. I decide on a double-hit just for fun, knowing that the plasma should do most of the damage anyway.
I send one round into the first one, that for some reason just stays there and doesn't run at me, although a fair amount had come off it's health-level indicator - then another round into the other one which does run towards me. Much faster than Longus it reaches me in very little time, but a few rounds of the fast reloading Breer-P5 makes short work of it. In the next ten minutes or so, I've finished off the other Berycled, and two Atrax that came onto the scene prowling around one of the other pillars.
Then there were no mobs, it was just me and this huge construction, the purpose of which I still couldn't quite figure. There were no doorways in the four pillars, and no apparant means of accessing the huge dome-shaped top. The whole thing was just an enigma, stuck out here in the middle of this desert.
In the end I decide to make some distance between it and myself so that I can take a Print Screen of it and turn it into a work of art for my appartment in Omegaton. If I transfered it onto a recently acquired sign-board that accepted 'participant created' content, it might even be worth something in the near future. It was time to get back to Pandora.

 

Participant In Entropia - 17th Report: Palms Corner Escapade

With the meeting over at Jason Centre I racked my brain as to where would be a really good place to go to try and get more resources, ideally somewhere with the promise of higher value commodities than usual, when someone on Calypso's televoice network came through on my headphones. 'Greetings John! How's it going?'
'Ha, ha! I'm OK... You still on the asteroid?' It was Delos, an old friend of mine that had emigrated from Calypso nearly two years ago. 'Nope! I got back down just yesterday - they hiked the rents way up last week, so I had to relocate back down here... Anyway, I've been P-Eming you but I never got any response, so I gave up a few months ago - I'm sure there must have been a reason...'
'Yer - sorry about that. I had to quit televoice about a few days after you went up there - I was having all kinds of network problems, but just got back on it just over a week ago. But I'm glad you called coz I'm trying to think of a good place to go where mobs and or minerals are better value than most places, so nothing every-day easy, but I don't want the mobs to be too hard either, at least not solo.' It turned out that Delos had a small team in the making.
'Snap! I've got something similar in mind. I'm with two people in Zychion and we're thinking of going to Palms Corner, so I'm wondering if you wanna join. Theres alot of big Exo's due north of a lake that's near there, so I've been told... Four people should get alot of stuff, there's Hyriuu there as well.'
'Yep, I know it... Haven't been there in ages...' I'm wondering at this point, if he remembers that someone owns this area and that you have to pay dues every time you acquire anything. 'There's hunting and mining taxes there though...'
'That's true, but that's why apparantly, so I've been told - hardly anyone goes there. We should get a clear run... Anyway, up to you.' I had to admit that this little factor made sense for going there. 'OK, I'll meet you all there in about five-minutes. I'm in, you convinced me...'
-
Once at Palms Corner, an idillic tree and fawna place with some ornate and uniquely shaped dwellings, we made customary introductions and went over some sort of plan. I pointed out that there were also Bristlehogs there that could deal lethal electric charges if the right armour wasn't being worn, but luckily everyone had the right type. 'So you've not been here Delos before?'
'To Palms itself, yes! But not north of the lake. We'll follow your lead...'
-
Minutes later, and we're nearing the lake in question. 'We'll go around it instead of accross it - it's quicker that way.' I hug the coast for the next ten minutes, checking my scope every now and then to make sure everyone's more or less following, when the lady in the team announces a discovery. 'Delos - it's Steph here... There's fishie's in the water! Do we get them?' Tyler gives his much appreciated ten-seconds worth.
'He, he - they're Rippersnappers. Personally I'd leave em. They're not worth much if you do get them and they're harder to hit then you think. In the water or out of it.'
'You mean they come out on the land? Ell's bells!' Stef obviously hadn't had much to do with Rippersnappers. For some reason, Delos, myself, and the fourth member, Tyler, find this incredibally funny, which was probably as much to do with the balmy conditions as it was with the fish themselves. Steph knew that we wern't laughing at her, but at the sudden revelation - and even Stef started laughing anyway. Delos cuts in. 'They certainly do Steph - but leave them. Waste of ammo for nothing!' I can only agree with this too strongly.
'Yep. There may be just a few now, but as soon as you're in there you can guarantee that more will show up all of a sudden on the scope - going by my experience! And the bigger one's do more damage than you might think. They're certainly a waste of ammo and we'll also waste time...' Now with a unanimous agreement for leaving the fish alone, I continued the lead upto the apex of the lake and then headed due north towards where I knew more interesting activity would be.
Familiarity of the area was all comming back to me now. First it was just barren coastal land sparsely covered with stumpy plants, then all of a sudden the hillside ahead of us was covered with Exarosaurs, confirmed by a mass of red dots all over our direction scopes. 'Right, we should stop here - and ping them from here. The Exo's have a fairly safe agro range, though they can surprize you. It's the the odd Argo Hunter we've got to watch out for...'
-
The next hour or so was great fun all round, having killed so many mobs with concerted annihilator and carbine rounds, that we lost count - and there hadn't been one retirement to any revive station. Not one. We then teleport-chipped back to Palms and did a careful stocktake of all our hard-earned goodies, now safely matter-converted in our portable personal inventories.

 

Participant In Entropia - 18th Report: The Typhon Aftermath and Something Strange in the Atmosphere

Stumbling to-and-throw, and somehow not falling over, I finally managed to focus on my surroundings. Eh! What was happening and where was I?
The more I looked; now that my vision had fully returned, the more I was confused. Everything was different and there were other citizens here and there, looking just as lost as I was, and there was something else that was not right. Everything around me was covered in some bright-white matter and it was much colder than usual, even with the internal heating of my cognac coat. Still, I'm sure I would have been frozen without it.

One of the wanderers had come slightly closer, so I introduced myself through the face-guard's voice amplifier. “Hi – I'm John.”
“Dilinger...”
“OK, hi! What in Calypso is going on? Everything's changed – and this white, cold stuff that's everywhere. All I remember – just about, is the last Typhon warnings, that fireball in the sky - and that's about it...” Dillinger chuckled slightly at this.
“Ha, ha, ha... That's about all everyone remembers, but according to the info terminals, anyone in the area was auto teleported to cryogenic capsules beneath Hadesheim, and this white covering everywhere is some atmospheric bla-bla, that happened as a result. Of the impact! It's frozen water in the atmosphere, or something...” I took-in what he was saying as much as I could whilst producing my electronic atlas and hitting the power switch.
“Right, I get you...” I just stared at the map, which was completely different from how it was before. “The outline of Calypso's continents are completely changed, and I never heard about the cryogenics during all the warnings!” Dillinger shrugged at this.
“Nope... Nobody did, but I'm sure glad we're alive. It's a miracle - if you think about it..”
“Yep. We also wouldn't be walking around if it wasn't for our heat exchangers.' Two small pools had formed beneath my thermal Reiley boots, which I pointed at. “Looks like you're right. It is frozen water! Never seen anything like it – and it's still falling. I can hardly see anything.”
“Yer – it's been like that for weeks, months according to some people.” I shook my head, not quite certain if I had heard him correctly. “Months!”
“Yea! It's been like this for at least months. Two or three, or more... The cryogenics hadn't teleported us back outside all at once – you must have been one of the last one's to have come out.”
“Thanks for the info. That explains a lot – didn't know what was going on to begin with. Right, I'm off to Omegaton, if I can find a teleporter. That's where all my gear is...'
“Well there's no teleporters round here. Hadesham was flattened. The nearest one from here is Corinth I believe. And one other thing... You won't find anything in your place either, if that's where you're going to. If you had anything, it will all be in matter compacts in personal storage.” I was very glad that Dillinger had told me this. Because, if I had gone all the way to my apartment in Omegaton and found nothing in it, I wouldn't have been very happy.
“Great – thanks! That's exactly what I was going to do. Thanks for the info. When I'm sorted we can get some mobs later or do some mining...”
“Nope! Can't do. Just spent what little I had left before the fireworks on DNA fragments. I already had a small plot and I'm hoping to spawn some berycleds and daiki's. Don't know if it'll work, but...”
“He, he! You're going into the landowner business. I wish you luck, you're gonna need it...” He just nods as I fire-up the teleporter chip and vamoosh a few split-seconds later in the direction of Cape Corinth.

 

Participant In Entropia - 19th Report: The Road from Twin Peaks

It took me about five teleporter-chip jaunts in the end to get to Corinth, and mob activity had been fairly high in-between, but finally I managed to find a personal storage terminal and the two matter compacts that Dilinger had mentioned.
The matter-shrinking technology boffins must have reached new levels of refinement at some point, because the matter compacts themselves were no bigger than some of the armour pieces I was wearing, but most important of all, the virtual viewer was showing that the entire contents of my apartment was somehow held within their confines. How, I didn't know exactly, but the main thing was that everything was there. Then I fired-up the matter transferer, and within seconds the two compacts were in my personal inventory.
Alighting onto the teleporter, it wasn't long before I was once again in the slightly more familiar surroundings of Omegaton West Habitat. Slightly more familiar, because even here things had changed and white frozen water was still falling everywhere. The teleporter was ontop of a stepped entrance, and the long rampart had gone, and the landscape was different. Everything was different...
Calypso's government city-planers had obviously been working overtime with their works robots, as it took me a while to find the Beta-complex where my apartment was, but eventually I did and it wasn't long before I was inside my now very bare and humble looking abode. Again I used the matter transferer to place the two compacts in front of me in the middle of the main room, then pressed the matter re-converter switches on the two units.
The matter compacts must have been programed not only to restore things to their original state, but also to their original position, because in a few seconds, everything was exactly where it had been before. However, my personal bank-balance teller was still telling me that I was very low on funds, so it was time once again to hit the outside world to get some more much needed commodities that I could sell for credits or exchange for items that I badly needed.
Checking once more that everything was as it should be, I quick-marched back to the entry door which opened before me, and alighted onto the televator.
Back at the teleporter, I selected Twin Peaks from the locations menu, as I wanted to track down some argonauts that used to roam around not far from there.
Argonauts had the nasty habit of using large pieces of iron ore as primitive bludgeons on the unsuspecting, but iron ore also happened to be a much needed commodity used for the manufacture of tools and equipment. They also robbed victims of their possessions, even if they didn't know what to do with them, so there was a good chance that I could get other items as well. Unfortunately this little plan was cut short, as it turned out that the landscape had been changed just like everywhere else that I had seen so far, and that the argonauts there had been wiped out by fallout from the typhon impact according to other colonists. I also found out about what was a 'road' from a nearby information terminal.
Apparently, a road was a long, narrow stretch with a smoothed or paved surface that enabled easier navigation by connecting two or more locations, and were constructed by the Calypso Government all over Entropia. Roads, and their narrower versions - walkways, could be either at ground-level or suspended very high-up by two other equally new constructions; Bridges and Support Towers. This finally explained the odd looking fissures that I kept seeing when ever I looked at the electronic map.
There was such a road due-west of the teleporter, and at first I wasn't too sure as to if I should actually follow it, or leave it completely and take the more usual scenic route, but the more I stood there and thought about roads and walkways, the more I realized the sense of them. The important difference of having roads as opposed to not having them, was that I wouldn't have to keep checking the electronic map to know where I was or where I was heading in relation to Twin Peaks, or for that matter, any other place in Entropia that now had roads. As long as I stayed on the road or didn't wander too far from it, I knew that I would never get lost. I cleared my mind, and without further ado took this road due-west of Twin Peaks to see what I could find.

 

Participant In Entropia - 20th Report: The Road that went Two Ways

I must have traveled miles along this road west of Twin Peaks without even one red dot showing on the radar scope, and the frozen water that was still falling everywhere was making visibility almost impossible. Suddenly I stopped in my tracks and stood perfectly still as a very bad thought occurred to me. The frozen water storm may have been jamming the scope, and that was why red dots indicating mobs hadn't shown on the display.
For all I knew, there could have been creatures of all kinds not too far from me, right there and then, although I was fairly certain that nothing very territorial or predatory had got too close so far. Even so, I knew I couldn't take any further risk â?? it or they, could attack at any time. There was no choice but to increase the gamma rate in the visor of the face-mask as I looked around warily with my Isis laser-carbine at the ready. Nothing was showing though, so I continued further along this road that seemed to be leading to nowhere in particular. Minutes soon turned to tens of minutes and mile after mile had passed beneath my thermal Reilly boots, but still I saw no 'mobs' of any kind, making me wonder if perhaps creatures were as unfamiliar with roads as I was.
I stood still and checked my electronic map once more which told me that this road would very soon branch to the left and right, but which deviation should I take? I was undecided, although it probably wouldn't make any difference which way I went. Finally I came to the fork in the road and decided to take the left path and continued going ever further at a fair pace, but still nothing. This lack of mob activity was becoming puzzling and also a major concern. It was getting late already and I still hadn't acquired anything, not even one Caroot, nothing!
Then I saw them. Three Dakaiba Matures just ahead of me bang in the middle of this road.
Dakaiba's had a wide aggro-range and ordinary mature one's were a very little threat, so I had been very lucky so far to say the least, as the scope was still obviously being jammed by this falling frozen water. I switched to the lower-powered Isis handgun and fired several energy rounds in quick succession into the three of them, conveniently grouped together and so effectively making one big target which made my job a lot easier. Once again my trusty matter-converter automatically kicked-in and made quick work of the carcasses, transferring the valuable byproducts into my portable inventory a few seconds later. At last I had something to show for all my searching and a new incentive for carrying on further.
At least another mile or so must have gone by, making me think that the Dakaiba's were maybe a false dawn, when suddenly I clocked the unmistakable silhouettes of a pack of predatory and vicious Atrax on the horizon. Gremlin armour worked against one or two attacking at once but no way would I get through the whole five or six of them rushing me, which I knew they would do if I got any closer. But I still needed the byproducts â?? that's what I was here for, so I decided I would back-off fifty yards or so and deploy the long range plasma rifle to separate them before finishing them off one at a time with the Isis carbine.
A pile of carcasses were lying in a heap in front of me ten minutes or so later and once again the matter-converter did its invaluable job before the matter-transfer-er sent the resulting byproducts to my personal inventory. For now though, I had had a belly-full of killing creatures, so it was time to turn around and head back for Twin Peaks...