Planet Calypso: Calypso Volcano Mission Aborted

Discussion in 'Entropia News' started by nexus7, Aug 15, 2013.

  1. I had been told about a mission that entailed exploring a strange location with unusual structures near a volcano in the south-eastern sector of Eudoria on Planet Calypso and that you had to go to Fort Troy and pay a visit to the mission broker 'Mr Shapiro' to initiate it. It sounded interesting, so I said that I would certainly give it a try very soon.

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    Some eight hours or so later I logged back into Entropia and then teleported to Fort Troy and then went in search of Mr Shapiro that turned out to be the NPC furthest away from the teleporter. There are about three or four mission NPC's there altogether, so finding the right one was by no means a case of instant reckoning.

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    Having double-clicked the mission broker, it soon became clear that I would first have to go and speak to 'Brendan Smith' at a place called Camp Carter. The resulting waypoint told me that it was some distance West of Fort Troy, so I produced the hoverboard from my P.I and sped off in that direction across the grasslands.

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    Eventually Camp Carter started to loom up ahead, a semi enclosed glass and metal structure with a honeycomb roof housing user terminals. Brendan Smith was standing not far outside near to some storage containers, so I got off the hoverboard before going up and double-clicking to find out what I had to do next.

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    The information told me that I had to follow a dirt road into the volcano and to then locate Outpost Two above a flight of steps near the northern edge so as to speak to another mission NPC called Jones to see what the next stage or task was. I already knew from the mission info that a number of personnel had been abducted and taken into some structure near there, so presumably 'Jones' would tell me how to get into it - but this was just speculation, I would have to actually go there to find out.

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    I once again checked the map and zoomed-in to maximum and there was definitely a way into the volcano from the south, but actually getting to it wasn't entirely easy due to massed herds of huge Eomon as well as other creatures that I had to avoid zigzag fashion along the way. A very low ceiling-height is the one main problem with the hoverboard, so you can't go over anything that's too tall - you have to go around it, or crash into it... However, I somehow managed not to prang the ride too badly and eventually joined what had to be the only conceivable way in from that direction; a tree-framed, surreal looking grassy track that I followed for a mile or so - and then the atmosphere started to change as a menacing, glowing red appeared in the distance. I was now heading directly for the eye of the volcano.

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    Grass and foliage soon turned to uneven, lava ridden, scorched black rock as I crossed the volcano threshold. Unfortunately the quickly varying and volatile terrain prevented me from adopting a direct approach and at the same time red-dots were now appearing all over the scope that I quickly identified to be Eviscerators and the nearer I got to the north bank the more the numbers increased.

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    Soon I was dodging left and right ten-to-the dozen to avoid one robot spider after the next, whilst ensuring that I didn't get stuck in some sheer crack or gully. At some point I did manage to see the flight of steps going up to the top of the north ridge, only I didn't get a screenshot of it as I was distracted due to avoiding all the mobs - and it soon dawned on me that there was no way I was going to be able to complete this mission on the hoverboard, because sooner or later I would have to get off it so as to get up the steps which would be impossible due to all the Eviscerators - and to do this mission on foot, forget it! I had no choice but to abort the mission.

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    My immediate concern was now to get out of the volcano intact as I didn't want another repair bill, so I quickly checked the map to see if there was an exit route whilst continuing to avoid any kind of dead-on collision. Luckilly there was one north-west of the volcano floor, so I banked to the left and headed towards it to make my escape bid. As I did this and as half expected, a fair number of Eviscerators then started to follow very rapidly, but the hoverboard is very fast and so I was eventually able to outrun them, but only just. Eventually the red dots vanished from the scope, probably because I had entered another server area - and so I just stopped and evaluated the situation.

    The only way I could think of completing the mission was by using a VTOL aircraft as that way I could avoid using the steps altogether and simply land on the ridge that they led up to, which is where 'Jones' was, but I knew I didn't have one in my P.I as they were in personal storage, so I decided to call it a day with a view to completing the quest at a later date.

    end
     

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    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 3, 2013
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  2. MindStar9

    MindStar9 Floating in Space

    Great read Nexus, you're a real storyteller. Love that you used your hover board, made it more interesting. As I was reading though, I thought to myself ...

    My Lancer would work good with this given the mission details you were able to share with us so far. The Lancer is easier to get in and out of places than the VTOL.

    Looking forward to Part 2 if you're going back at it. :thumbsup:
     
  3. Thanks :) I used the hoverboard as it's far the smallest vehicle I've got but I still couldn't see a way of even reaching the steps due to the spider bots and there's no way it would go up them lol.
     
  4. Wistrel

    Wistrel Kick Ass Elf

    Really enjoyed reading this as its exactly how I'd probably review a mission too. I also have that strange feeling that I shouldn't really need a vehicle to do an exploration mission. I'm kinda revising that rule a little though since its proven to be somewhat impractical.. I do wish this would be incorporated somehow though in the text. Would be cool. But then again so too would so much other stuff in the missions. The HTT ones are still the best I've seen (but actually I am no expert).

    Still, if there are steps to reach something goddamit I wanna use the steps! Flying everywhere is just dull. In fact I wish PP's made more use of the no fly zone functionality. They could also make it "fit" a little better. For example not just bounce you but ground you (ie the engine cuts out). I realise this is harder but I've always fucking HATED invisible barriers with a passion in games. It screams laziness and a lack of care.

    I've revised my ideas on how to do missions anyhow. I now factor in "cunning and resourcefulness" as a way of doing things. For example asking people is acceptable. Also I like asking for lifts to places too. Its fun sociable and so forth. I know I have my own stuff but sometimes its just nice to play with others. I like to imagine I'm a penniless newbie too in regards to such matters. ie to think, "If I had no ped.... how would I...?"
     
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  5. Thanks Wistrel. I since discovered I could land a VTOL on the high-up ridge North of the volcano floor where Outpost Two is, but only just. Doing that I was then able to talk to NPC 'Jones' whereupon I found out that you had to visit five towers with glowing balls of light situated around the perimeter of the volcano so as to acquire some item that would allow you to enter the instance at Outpost Two.
    But there was a problem, which was that two of the pillars didn't register when I clicked on them, so I sent in a support case and MA told me that the mission was working as intended - o.c they didn't tell me what 'as intended' meant ;) I think they want people doing this mission to actually go up the flights of steps to get to these towers, but doing this means going up against eviscerators all over the crater floor, so I can't see how you can actually finish this mission as you're always going to get killed unless you've got uber skills or something...
     
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