Entropia Universe: Not a normal mmo

i just stumbled on this page looking around for a nice picture to change and use for my event promotion ....
for this event http://www.entropiaplanets.com/forums/omegaton-event-services-oes/4646-omegatons-car-rodeo.html
i treid to see if it was in the forum some where to find but could not find anything here so i thought let's post it anyway it seems to me this is a nice comment review from our beloved game.


Entropia Universe: Not a normal mmo

December 29th, 2010 Bunker 37
Entropia Universe (formerly known as Project Entropia) is a futuristic mmo that is free to play, everything (even skills) are worth real money, and you don’t need to deposit any money to start playing. It sounds like the perfect game, you spend some time playing it, profit, and then withdraw everything. But alas Entropia Universe isn’t the perfect game, and while it is technically free, it isn’t really free (unless you spend hundreds of hours doing tasks so boring grinding seems like a god send). However it has found a special place in my heart, and despite the cost I have been playing it for the past few years. So read on if you want to view my attempt to give a unbiased review of the an interesting mmo called Entropia Universe.
Before going into the gameplay, graphics, etc. there are a few things which I will need to explain to those of you who have never played Entropia Universe. First off this game has a real cash economy, which means that the in game currency known as peds (Project Entropia Dollars) and pecs (Project Entropia Cents), is worth real money. One ped is worth approximately ten cents, and one pec is worth .1 cents. Items in Entropia can cost anywhere from 1 pec to millions of peds, yes that’s right some items in Entropia cost more then that car parked outside your house (unless you own a really sweet car, you lucky bastard). The amount of money people spend in game varies to the same extent, some people will never deposit a single dollar into the game while others will deposit many thousands of dollars per month.
The second thing you need to understand is that through trading, land ownership, and various other paths it is possible to make money in Entropia Universe. If you enjoy economics or business ownership it is very likely that you would love to become a trader, land owner, pilot or shop owner. Which means you could be one of the lucky few who actually withdraws money from Entropia Universe. However, unless you are very skilled, you WILL NOT profit from any normal mmo activities such as hunting or crafting.
Finally, while I have played Entropia Universe for many years I have not experienced everything. Although I have owned a shop, and equipment worth thousands of US dollars. However I have never deposited more then ten or twenty dollars a month, and due to this I have never been able to play Entropia Universe hardcore. Twenty dollars usually gives me about 10 to 20 hours of game time, assuming I don’t spend a ton of time chatting (when you start playing 20 dollars can last for up to 100 hours). Now onto the meaty part of this review!



Gameplay


To cover all the possible professions one could partake in would take me many pages, and most of you would probably not bother to read it anyways so I will only focus on the three big professions. The big three professions in Entropia Universe are hunting, mining and crafting.
Hunting is the most popular profession in Entropia Universe, and there are many ways to go about hunting. To begin with you have a wide variety of weapons to choose from, you don’t have to use only one type of weapon in Entropia but most people specialize in one type of weapon due to costs. There are many different types of weapons in Entropia, a few are swords, daggers, rifles, pistols, rocket launchers and vehicle mounted guns. Due to cost I decided to specialize in laser rifles, they are the cheapest and easiest to obtain.
Besides for choosing a weapon there are a few different ways to go hunting. My personal favorite is to go in a team with some of your mates and kill some big bad ugly monsters (even in a team there is very little strategy needed to do this). If you are elite or willing to kill little ugly monsters, instead of big bad ugly monsters, you can also hunt solo. Unfortunately, hunting is the only real team based profession in Entropia Universe. Hunting is also one of the most expensive professions in game, no matter how good you get you will probably loss money. Also due to a horrible AI it is possible for other players to troll you and cause hoards of mobs to attack you while you are hunting. Luckily due to the recent introduction of vehicles it is possible for you and anyone who is hunting with you to jump into a vehicle and drive to a remote location. This generally takes care of the trolls.
The second most popular profession in Entropia is mining. Mining is a pretty simple task all you have to do is run around drop a mining probe or bomb and wait for your equipment to tell you whether or not you found anything. Unlike hunting, mining is something you do alone.
While mining is fun, it isn’t as fun as hunting. However mining can actually be a profitable venture. For it to be profitable you need to use a bit strategy and map out where the best minerals can be found. Many elite miners guard their favorite locations with their lives.
Mining is my favorite professions in Entropia Universe. I can do while I am watching TV, or chatting with people in game, and I usually profit. All I need to do is jump in my car speed across the landscape of Calypso (Calypso is the main planet in Entropia Universe) to my favorite mining location, and hopefully watch the dollars role in (in some cases I watch them disappear).
The final and most unpopular profession in Entropia Universe is crafting. Crafting is the one profession that after gaining a decent amount of skills one can guarantee a profit. Unfortunately it costs thousands of dollars to gain these skills, and it is extremely boring. Unlike mining and hunting which involve you exploring the many planets in Entropia Universe, crafting involves you sitting besides a machine, and doing nothing. In the years before the latest major update you had to spend hours manually clicking a button to craft, but after the last major update an auto click button was added to crafting terminals. So you can set up your avatar to craft and then leave for work or whatever else you are doing that day.
Still it is annoying to spend thousands of dollars on a game and not get any enjoyment from it what so ever. Hopefully in the future the creators of Entropia Universe, Mindark, will change the crafting system for the better. Until then I would suggest you stay away, unless you’re some rich guy who likes to piss away money. In which case crafting works way better then going to Vegas, have a blast!


Graphics


After the latest CryEngine 2 upgrade the graphics in Entropia Universe are top notch, and when I say top notch I mean top notch. They compare to any fps, rpg, or rts out there, they are that good. While most mmos are known for being playable on lower end computers Entropia Universe is not. A mid range computer should be able to play Entropia on low, maybe medium, but to crank up the graphics up to very high, and not lag, you need a gaming computer.
If you hate mmos but have a high end computer download Entropia Universe and crank up the graphics. You can wander around for a bit marvel at how the cities glisten in the setting sun, watch them light up under the moon, and just see how great everything looks. After this you can uninstall Entropia Universe and forget about it until the next big item sells for TEN BILLION DOLLARS.


Sound


Unlike the graphics the sound in Entropia Universe varies based on where you are. Entropia Universe consists of many different planets, and asteroids. Each being owned by a different entity, and while the graphics and game play are somewhat similar, the sounds are not.
The main planet, Calypso, has some fairly solid background music, but after a while hearing the same music over and over again gets boring. Also at random times the back ground music will cease to play for up to twenty minutes. The sounds the guns, and creatures make are decent enough, but nothing to blog home about. Most likely you will enjoy the sounds/background music for what it is, and when it gets annoying mute it.
The other planets however are a bit different. The sounds the guns, monsters, people, etc. make are all pretty meh, but the music can actually be good depending on your tastes. The main asteroid (Club Neverdie) has a new play list playing every so often (the play lists are usually pretty good), and during big events you will often be able to hear an announcer who will let you know what is happening. I know having an announcer for big events sounds lame, but personally I love it. It really adds to the atmosphere.
Like Club Neverdie, planets such as Rocktropia and Next Island, also seem to have an ever changing play list. Rocktropia is a planet all about rock music (I have no idea why someone paid good money to make a planet with a rock & roll theme, but whatever) so you will hear rock music in the background. Next Island went live only a week or so ago, and I have yet to visit it. But I hear it has some nice tranquil music going in the background.


The Community


A few of you, maybe all of you, have read through this article thinking to yourself “why would anyone pay to play this game?”, and when I first heard of Entropia Universe I thought the same thing. Most people who play Entropia Universe, like me, started playing just to see what it was like, maybe to make some money, but almost everyone who stayed did so because of the community. I honestly can not say enough good things about the community in Entropia Universe. The people who make up it are just amazing. For example if you ever get stuck somewhere other players, who don’t even know you, will go out of their way to help get you unstuck. There are a few bad apples, sure, but the players really band together when needed.
Many players will actually sit in the area where beginning players spawn (now there is a tutorial section, so they sit where players spawn after the tutorial), just to help introduce them to the game, and give them free stuff (unlike other mmos, this free stuff cost these players money to get). They know a large portion of those new players will quit, and they are not getting paid to help them, but they really do enjoy helping the community grow.
Besides for being part of the overall Entropia community you will, most likely (I highly recommend it), join a society (Entropia’s version of a clan, guild, etc.). The people in these societies, like the overall community, are usually very welcoming and once you get to know them you will come to love them. You will have the regulars who will be online every day, there will be the people who login every few days, and then the people who you see once a month. But all these people will always be willing to join in, via society chat, on a good conversation. Some days the conversation will be strictly about Entropia Universe, but other days the topics can range from life experiences, to the best beer. You never know what you will talk about, but you will always have a good time.



Overview

This is the section all you people who hate reading will skip to, so I guess I will sum everything up. First off the game play in Entropia is pretty standard for a mmo, but your options profession wise are much larger (you can be a frackin hairdresser for crying out loud!). The graphics are top notch, but the sound is meh (although the background music is enjoyable for a while), and the community is stellar.
If you have a good computer install Entropia Universe just to marvel at the graphics, the game is free to play, and unless your bandwidth is capped it is worth the download. Now if you want a cool new standard mmo to play Entropia Universe is not the answer, but if you want something unique I would recommend trying Entropia Universe. Deposit a few bucks, and skip to the fun part of Entropia Universe, or work your way up sweating, trading, and clawing your way to the top. If nothing else play for a bit, and when it starts costing more then ten bucks a month log in just to talk with your society mates, cut back on the hunting, mining, crafting, etc.
If you have any comments, questions or death threats feel free to post them. Below I have included a few of the screen shots I took for this article. See you in Entropia, and happy hofing (you will get what I mean after playing for a bit).
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originaly to be found here : Entropia Universe: Not a normal mmo | Bunker 37

greets, sid

 

yah look liek a pro this time that put some effort in.
a honnest review if i might say.