I searched the forum but could only see 2 short threads about the site and both other 10 years old so figured I'd start a new one. I can remember using the site when I first started but don't think I went to it for a long time after that but from what I remember it was always there for the entire time I've been in Entropia (18 years). Sad to see it went but it's understandable. The author's leaving comments are fair. Probably between a lack of knowledge of the modern game, the need for a re-write and likely changes to the language used (php) needing maintenance it is indeed probably better for someone to start again from scratch with such a thing. TBH since I went there so few times so many years ago I can't even remember what the site did. IIRC it was something like a database of the blueprints so it could maybe do queries where you told it what you had, and it would tell you what you could make? I honestly can't remember but maybe the web archive has recorded something of it to figure it out. I note the author @Candyman has an account here Candyman | EntropiaPlanets.com - Entropia Universe forum, news, wiki, media, tools but has only posted once (and is from Gothemburg interestingly, so just in MA's back yard). Maybe if they see this they can enlighten folks for record. There does seem to be a bit of a drought of Entropia tools these days compared to the past which is a shame. I guess it takes a lot of work to maintain them and people just move on to pastures new over the decades. Interestingly the tool is one of only 3 that are officially approved by MA. Planet Calypso - Tools From what I can tell, we seem to have EntropiaLife and the Mining log and that's it. I was asking about Auction tracker sites on the other forum but the question seemed to receive nothing but shrugs, with the exception of one helpful person pointing out there is still Expiring Auction Data available from MA but nothing about if there are any remaining sites doing anything with it. I'm not even sure if Virtual Tycoon still works on modern smartphones. It runs on my ancient ones still but does have a certain element of ropiness to it. I don't know if the newer companion app has any similar features though, i.e. the ability to browse auction, avatar stats or to actually craft outside of the game. This said, there is someone on the other forum who has made a tool for tracking your hunts recently I think. It's basically just open source code though so wouldn't be something everyone would know how to use. Incidentally, I note that Entropia Life has an affiliate code and an advertising website
Lol, speaking of Entropia Life... apparently I got a "global" last year and never noticed =D ,-) http://www.entropialife.com/profile.aspx?P=243326
A big reason that interest in tools dwindles is that one always relies on MA when it comes to this. They can change a minor thing, and all of a sudden your carefully constructed tool will not work anymore. EntropiaLife also has and always will struggle due to MA's choice on how globals are shown (every server pretty much has to receive them from a central server. And this doesn't/didn't always happen, meaning it was always difficult to verify globals. There were also issues with times, which complicated things further. If I recall correctly, it used to be that Starfinder built his back-end to consider a particular global to be "confirmed" if it was sent to the back-end by at least 3 players within a certain period of time. It was just about the only way to go at it. The same applies with virtually everything else, from item-drops to mob locations. It's all player-provided, and can change at the drop of a hat. I'm used to games that simply push out data where anyone can pull it, in order to come up with an easily adaptable datafeed (typically through APIs). MindArk apparently choses not to use that approach. Add to this the decreasing player population, and all these sort of projects end up taking gigantic amounts of time, pretty much always on a voluntary basis, for a handful of people, and almost always out of one's own pocket. Most people have better things to do with their time and money.
I noticed this some time ago. Always sad to see something ending, especially whent it has been around for so long and a great source of info. And yes, we have less stuff than 15 years ago. Less info sites, less tools, less magazines, less radio stations, less fan art... but hey, we have more Twitch channels... I think Twitch really plays a role in a general degeneration across the the whole gaming scene. When people set up their Twitch channel they arlready have donation links before they made their first stream... and from there it's all just monetizaion, tips, subscriptions, affiliate links, donation campaigns for pets in need of surgery, simple games & gambing, ... pretty disgusting. And gaming companies retweet this shit and embed it in official websites. The poeple who build tools, compose info, feed wikis, write articles, etc. don't get anything, no money, no recognition, no retweet, not thanks. And with EU the problem is that the community is also getting smaller. Less resident and more occasional players, the latter not as deeply involved in the community. Players jump from game to game, EU is just one of many. Less people spending hours researching and refining their setup just to save 5 PED / hour because it doesn't matter if you play just 5 hours a month instead of 5 hours a day. And then, yes, MA changing stuff destroying your effort is a typical EU phenomenon. How often has the new player area been re-arranged? Why bothering writing new player guides. I've just started improving the wiki again but I don't feel the motivation to look into actual content because most of it would have to be redone after Unrealverse. Same with recording videos. And MA is especially bad at rewarding efforts, and even more so if you do not constantly praise them. Well, they totally suck at community management. At the same time we get offered unreleased games for free + money if we somehow cover them, sounds like an easy choice, yet I'm just trying to improve wiki performance...
Yeh you make good points Tass. I agree that when people do stuff now its for this dream of earning money via twitch or youtube or whatever. The motivation doesn't seem to be about contributing anymore. And comedically these people call themselves content creators... often they just dilute content not add to it. That said, I've got a friend who streams. I can see it's a lot of work, akin to basically being a talk radio presenter and you have to somehow play a game and pander to/communicate with your audience at the same time. It's a lot of work for some but maybe not so much for others. I was rather impressed by the code miko streamer too. She went to an insaaaaaaaaaaane amount of effort and expense to create a unique experience. The fact that the viewers can influence the virtual environment her avatar exists in with the donations is a really novel idea. But you make a good point about the landscape of available games having evolved a lot. I can imagine going back in time and telling myself in the future there will be millions of free or cheap games available on a whim without having to go shopping or wait. Also that many people own tons of games that they never even get round to playing. So indeed folks may feel less motivation to focus on or care about a specific one. This said... sometimes I just feel like I want to work on something rather than play a game... because I have a sort of issue with games that I feel they are sorta a wast of time even though I know they are not... it's a bit like doublethink from 1084. I don't know how I keep the 2 conflicting ideas in my head. I guess I just feel guilty if I don't play a game socially. Doing something for my own enjoyment just only just doesn't seem enough. Anyhow speaking of tools... I made a very very very minor one the other day. Not sure it's useful but you know... it's a thing.
