Incompetent, lazy, MindArk...

I have to say (well, I don't have to, but I will) ... that posts in this thread have inspired me, and if any of you are following what's going on at MindStar Media, it is slowly evolving into sort of a personal environment to publish what I really want to publish, rather than "playing the game" ... if you get my drift.

I've always wanted over the years to bring the developers closer to the community, and I feel I have really given it the old college try, but I have come to realize (I'm a glutton for punishment) that no matter what amount of effort is exerted, the end result is always the same ... we find ourselves dancing to the same tune, only the lyrics have changed.

McC ... you know I've always been a fan, no matter what my efforts are at any given moment, but I'm finding myself becoming more in line with your view on how PE/EU is being presented not only to the community, but exploited to the outside world. There is far too much potential that for whatever reason, is being abused, neglected and even abandoned, much like the children I used to counsel.

Thank you Xandra for your most kind words, they are very much appreciated. While I'm known for my lengthy posts, I always hope that what I share has value and represents the variables of truth, and not a veiled offering of projected or skewed perception that invites or lures those into the unexpected in more of a cloaked negative way because one feels it's of benefit to self without regard for potential results.

This is not to say that our universe doesn't bring me immense joy because of my friends and the result of being the creator of my own experience in an environment (glitches and all) that comes with beauty and possibilities. The above just speaks to the incredible disservice that has a profound effect on us all from the top down.

I haven't been as active at MSM recently, other than publishing what I call my dailies (Tune of the Day, Let's Laugh, and Quotes/Thoughts <--- real quotes, thoughts are mine), but I'm about to offer up a different level of writing, and I'm also in the midst of doing another couples Who's Who.

The critical thinkers in truth are who inspire me ... thank you.

 

Entropia is an abused Child... interesting analogy...

 

What is interesting McCormick is that I posted a comment on his article
and it has not yet materialised...
I just pm'd him on PCF asking why... will see what he says.

 

I guess I am the only one that doesn't see the same things others do about the article.

What I see is a fun filled game that envolves not only avatar skills but RL skills as well. Skills like patience, understanding, comprehention, reasoning, time management, money management, data logging, the ability to see things at different angles (thinking outside the box), imagination, and the biggest, (and the one most fail at) self control. Not just in how much money they deposit, but also how much time they invest. To me, this is absofuckinglutely exciting!!. Yes I get out lots!!

The biggest thing I see, and most often missed by others, is this isn't your average MMO. In fact the only real thing that could be changed in the article is that this game shouldn't be advertised as a MMO. Yes it has the Massively Multiperson Online part down to a tee, but the rest, well isn't so clear cut. There isn't any average part about the game. You don't just start off as a noob, make mistakes, and then learn most of the game within the first year. NO, you start off as a noob, make mistakes, (that has either monitary, or non-monitary repercussions) continue to make mistakes, and never understand more then the basics in the first year. If you last that long. The biggest thing I see here is that most people come here with the idea of making money, but still grasping on to the MMO aspect they expect to see in other MMO's. Right away they fail.

Can you play this game for free? Yep. I did it my first year. Then deposited for 2 more. Then deposited 25 usd, and made that last a year and a half, and at the end of that time, I still had the 25 usd on my card. I then deposited again, and continue to do so, but at my level of comitment, my cost to play the game for fun, and the understanding that what I deposited, I would never see back...... Self control, money management, the two biggest bolded words about this game that should be in every advertisement.

This is just a small example of the changes I would make.

Are you a person with some spare time and likes a very hard challenge?
Do you enjoy a game that requires not only avatar skills, but real life skills as well?
Do you have a strong understanding of math and data logging?
Do you have a level of self control that others would say is next to anal? (lol ok the last part of that sentence is for fun, but I think a few people who play, need to learn this fast!! )
Do you have an imagination that lets you see a Rorschach test as more then an accident on a peice of paper?
Do you like puzzels?
Are you into Sci-fi?
If you answered all of the questions with a yes, and I mean all of them, then here is a game for you!!

The rest of the article is insight into what you can expect from his point of view and some others.

Does Mindark make mistakes? Hell yeah. Will they continue to make mistakes? Hell yeah. Will they learn from their mistakes? Hell yeah...Eventually. They are not perfect by a long shot, and for me, this adds to the mystique of the game. A company working hard, trying new things, making mistakes, haveing fun and most of all, in for the long haul!!

There is one more caveat I would also include! If at any time you feel frustrated, dissenchanted, mad, and a general feeling of unfullfilment and loss of fun, then it's time to stop depositing and step back for a short amount of time. Re-evaluate what drew you into the game in the first place. Weigh this with what you know and what you don't. Ask others in a polite way if they feel the same. Take a few months off and don't even glance back. Look at other games and see what is out there. After all that, come back slowly for one month and see if the above conditions have been resolved. If not, then take a year off, and check back then. If your excitement and fun level isn't there at this time, then it's time to do one of the following:

First, depending on how much you have into the game and how much you are worth, start the sell out process, and never look back.

Second, hibernate your avatar for a much longer period of time. Say 2 to 3 years. Come back at that time, read the forums, check to see what has changed, and then move forward very slowly. At this point if things haven't changed in 6 months of very light depositing, then refer to the first!!

The thing I don't understand the most here, are people who continue to hang on to what they see as a sinking ship. They believe in the game, but for the life of them can't fathom why the makers do what they do. Even after many attempts at offering suggestions and constructive criticim they don't see them changing or going at it very slow. Then why for the love of god would they continue to torture themselves? For these people, not necessarily everyone, it will not be what they wanted. Sure there is hope for the game and the future always looks bright, but if they really understood that, they would make constructive comments and not bash or dewell in the past. They would understand who is making this game, and will like what the makers are trying to do, even through the rough patches. Others will loath everything they do.

Now if your the latter, move on, cause it isn't going to get better, but worse. This is because you have already made up your mind that they can't fix it to your liking. If of course you like to feel unhappy, or generally unpleased, then continue to play and deposit. If so, you have lost your right to post your disspleasures, as this actually gives you more disspleasure, and in turn pleasures you!!?? Always remember though, there are others here as well, and your pleasures may not be their pleasures.. Don't get me wrong, a little spanking now and then spices things up, but too much leaves you with sore butt, and distaste to try it again.

 

Ok, get those horse blinders off :)

I didn't come here expecting to make money, and I surely didn't come here to expect to lose money. To me there is no game that is fun to play if your always losing. :(

I would like to know what the hell you did that you played the game for free. Cause my definition of play includes having fun at what your doing and sweating for hours is not fun. And does most of your time playing now consisted of mostly sweating and that is why $25 has lasted 1 1/2 years?

I think the sentence I bolded sums it up, cause you would have to be anal to sit there and sweat for hours on end :)

This one just makes my blood boil......Do they learn from mistakes? Maybe eventually, but how long is a reasonable amount of time that a customer should wait to have something fixed? And why are items changed when we didn't buy them to be that way? I am still waiting for items to be fixed since VU9 and now with all the clothes changed who know when or if they will be fixed.......and will they look like they did when I bought them? I am still surprised they are in business. And I believe they are only because they are the only ones that have this market. Once they have some competition how long do you think it will be before they fail? I refuse to buy anything until the items I have already bought are fixed. And the items I do have that work has lost value. Even though I love the idea of all the planets I think they have caused a decline in the value of items. Which is good if your first starting out.

Been there done that, still doing it :)

Comes back to hate losing, if I was to sell out I wouldn't get nearly what I have put into it. So you hold on expecting it to change.

See prior comment :)

I would be happy right now if they just fix what I paid for

my 2 cents

 

LOL no blinders, I see it as a challenge that I like compared to other MMO's that I get bored of easily.

Nope I understand that there are people here that actually came here to play for fun, and not profit. I agree that losing sucks, the only difference is that I see it as a challenge to over come and I have been successful at it. Not pulling out great heaps of money but not putting in heaps as well. :)

The only time I sweated was in the first year. After that I only sweat for what I need to mix with any Nexus I find. ;)
As for how I did it, well it wasn't easy, but at the same time it wasn't hard. for the the first month I thought it wouldn't work. I had all this loot stored, and no-one to sell it to. Also I thought I was down to 50 ped at first glance, but once I found a buyer, which turned out very easy to find, I realized I was up 40 ped!! LOL that boosted my excitement level even more and also taught me a valuable lesson. Track my loot, track my expenses, and do test runs. Once I did this, and it wasn't extensive 3 hour number crunching, I could see where things were right and where things were wrong. I adjusted my activities to this, and after that, it was acutally very easy. Not boring at all. I had a great time doing it. Was a huge learning curve with loads of fun.

LOL this was ment to be a joke, as to exagerate that all it takes is to say "no I won't deposit another 10 grand USD this month in hopes of forcing the system to pay me back." We all know that if you have to force anything, most times it doesn't turn out very well. ;)

Yes it is very frustrating. After the avatar update, I have jeans that look like complete shit, and other clothing that isn't usable or looks like I stole them from a person in a dumpster!! "Im sorry to the dumpster guy, as I am insaulting you with this comparison. Your clothes look better!! :P"

With this though, I have some knowledge in computer software and hardware development. I have an understanding of what kinds of problems they face and in fact have suggested many times on how they could remedy some of the problems they have, but they don't know me from a hole in the ground and I think they are listening just not taking my word for absolute truth. Once they do some of their own research into it, I think it will be more apparent to them.

I don't believe they changed the clothes or other systems, to lower the value, but in necessity for the update/updates. They did it poorly yes, but it will be fixed in time. How much.. lol i'll leave that one alone!! :D

How much time is a reasonable time for a customer to wait, is directly related to every individual. For me I can wait for a long time as, I know that things will get better. How do I know this, well I have seen it with every update. Others see the problems, I see the good side of it. Glass half full or half empty part. :)

This is where you as a smart individual needs to decide what is right for yourself. I can't tell you what to do or how to think as everyone is different. See above analogy. ;) All I can suggest is, when is it time for you to decide how much you can take before it becomes detrimental to your veiw of the game and your RL activies, you may want to step back and have a tough discussion with yourself or someone who knows you and loves you. Does it cause you to scream and yell out loud at home? If so, I don't think it's healthy, but maybe it's what you do?! LOL ;)

Holding on for the sake of hoping is ok in small doses, but long term, it isn't good for you. Again, it's dependent on each individual, as some live off of it while others cause them to loose sight of reality. :)

See prior commet as well. ;)

In the end I too would love to see all recurring problems and bugs just disappear once and for all. This would add to the value of the game, and help with PR.

Im not saying that all have to agree with me. I am saying don't dwell on the negatives. Focus on the possitives, so as too see things for what they are. To much focus on the problems can sometimes blind you from the real greatness this game has to offer. At the same time, too much focus on the possitives, can lead to fanboyism!! lol A healthy mix of both, will give you respect for what is being done, but still allow you to see the flaws. With this mix, you can offer constructive posts/threads, and help you keep a clear mind of the amount of work that has been put in, and how much more there needs to be added.

Otherwise, you get posts from people who state that MA is good for nothing, and will never amount to anything. No matter what MA does at this point, these people will never be happy, and even if they fix the things they are complaining about exactly how they wanted, it wasn't fast enough, and it wasn't done right. They won't be happy until they fail, so they can state with all glory, " I told you so!!" :D

Btw, thank you for your 2 cent's. It was nice to read feedback with great thought, honesty, and passion in it. A nice change. ;)

 

A great post. I really don't have much to add, that I haven't already in the above reply. Also, with your post, I have a better understanding into who McCormick is. I hope you understand me as well as I believe we share the same views of EU. Plus, the original post I made wasn't directed at you, but as a generalisation of what I have been seeing on the forums for some time. :)

Ty for the repy. :)

 

Sounds like you should take a
look at AfterWorld Survival



Greetings - Zwarka

 

LOL yeah that last post was supposed to go through right after my response to Softy, but the forum has been acting up for me lately. :(

As for the other one you posted, Im not making the suggestion of leaving lightly, or to you for that matter. There are people here that post on the forums just for the sake of saying something negative. These people, don't add to any conversation other then to spread unpleasentness, and for their sake and ours, it would be best for them to pack up and leave. Not only that but it isn't healthy at all. All that aggressive pent up anger, frustration and unhappiness, only causes one to be hatefull and even more extreme, is very bad for their health. Playing EU is supposed to be fun and entertaining, not a constant battle of anger, frustration and unhappiness. The only people who can decide that for them, is themselves. What I see is people holding on to a dream because of what they have invested. Not just in money but time, friendship, and the overall feeling of being part of something different and full of potential. Even if it was just to take a long break. Do I want people leaving.. NO!!

I don't see MA as being lazy or incompetent. What I see is a company trying to move forward, by using tools they maybe should't have. Was it a bad choice to move to Cry2, yes and no.

Yes because, they chose an engine that was not designed to work with MMO's. For this, they had to modify the engine hugely. The biggest side effect is what you are seeing. Loss of the alien word you once new, and bugs recurring. This due to the easiest way to port the old EU over to the new engine, was to modified Cry2 to run exclusively with direct X 9.

There were things lost, like the old layout, old systems, and big places like Hadesheim, and Port Atlantis. It was huge file they had to force to work with Cry 2, so some things where either changed or deleated. This also changed the way the engine behaved as it was built to use Direct X 10. Side effects of this is perfomance issues, having to redesign old systems like taming, but the biggest is the bugs. They come back time and time again due to using Direct X 9. This also makes it very hard for them to find and fix again. Direct X 9 had it's time but they made 10 and 11 because there was only so much you could add or change with 9 before it became a waste of time and money. Cheaper and more effective to move on and make a new direct X, which is what happend. Once you understand this, then you understand that they aren't being lazy, or incompetent. What they are being is stubborn. BUT!!! Look at what they did acomplish with something that wasn't designed to work with EU. They were far from being incompetent or lazy in the fact that they did this while others would have just said, fuck that! lol

Now for the no. Why? This engine has the power to fullfill all that potential that is EU. The other engine, no matter how good it was, isn't able to propell EU to Mindarks vission of what EU will be in the future. Reallity is, they had to move on to another engine. Is there other engines better suited for the task, maybe, and maybe not. At the time, I think there wasn't, but only MA would know. I don't see it as they would have choosen an easier path that would give them the same power as Cry 2. LOL I don't think MA would have chosen to deliberately make things hard on themseleves. ;) Now though, would be just a waste of money and time trying to port EU into another engine. Plus what other things will we loose, or have to wait for to get implemented?

What I know is I don't see these things being said about MA as true. What I see is them working hard to keep EU alive for us, and to show their vission of what EU is.

LOL I'm stubborn too, but I have fun as time is short in real life, and it only takes one small thing to change how much time we have or how we want to spend that time. I think it is just a bad choice to be here if all the time you spent, was being unhappy or frustrated. Just my oppinion of course. ;)

 

If you are aiming this at me... The reason I started entropiatrash was due to frustrations that could not be spoken of in that other forum that I visit daily because of overmoderation, etc. Also, it was started as a way of venting frustrations that had been building for quite a while.. For me the 'straw that broke the camel's back' so to speak was when some of the most expensive assets in game - the estates - became completely nonfunctional due to the incompetence of the folks running this crazy virtual world. While on some level, I do agree with you that level of negativity is bad mojo, voicing an opinion about it... gettting it out somewhere where someone will see it can be healthy. It's a catharsis somewhat.

The reason that I 'gather the trash' that I find in forums, etc. is simply so that the trash pile is in one location. To the n00bs and general populace, all the trash - the scams, the lies, the broken promises, the backroom deals getting cut in the upper elchions, the players getting paid by planet partners to pvp the hell out of the general populace, etc. - isn't apparent when they first come to the game. It's buried under layers, and layers, and layers of forums, deleted and non-public chats and society talks, etc, with a lot of of other bullcrap, fanbois, and other crap. It's my hope that 'the good stuff' in the virtual world can be strong enough to overcome the trash pile... so like the pros outweigh the cons as the history is made to stop repeating itself... but the history just keeps repeating and repeating, and repeating over and over and over again.

Speaking from a personal point of view, the promises of a bright future are definitely in game, and that what keeps me around. However, the garbage pile just keeps growing and growing... so maybe you are right. Maybe everyone that can be blind to the negative stuff should be the only ones around so that they can continue to feed the ponzi scheme?

It's sad how so many people rely on markup in game so much... and seek millions of n00bs to join now so that the n00bs will overpay the hell out of everything and create shitloads of markup for the general population due to their mistakes. While you might not personally feel that way, if you read enough forum threads related to Entropia, you might start seeing that trend like I do. Due to that kind of mentality, etc. it makes me want to just keep watching as the garbage pile grows and grows. Just observing the garbage is an interesting thing to do in and of itself. It's amazing how evil some people in game allow themselves to become. Some of my best friends in game have come to stab their trusted friends in the back so to speak with various trust scams, automated bots to chat spam, etc. There's a shitload of potential in the virtual world, but so many people, not just the devs, but the community in general, don't allow it to be. Ignoring the garbage pile and just blindly staring at the light/hype like a bug heading straight for a bug zapper isn't the right thing to do.

 

No Mastermesh, you where not the focus of my post. I should have made things clearer in my first post. My apologies.

When I said there are people here, I meant it in Entropia Universe, rather then specifically In this thread. Yes I may not have agreed with the feed back of others about the article, in this thread, but that was just the spark to write my post. If you check any of posts on any forum, you will find that I either plus rep most people then add a post that is more then likely waaay off topic, or I just don't bother posting. ;) So for me, this was important.

I have seen some of your posts that border on the negative yes, but for the most part you add a lot more constructive criticism then negative. In fact I have learned a lot sbout this game, from your posts and McCormicks over my time here. :)

Last thing, when I wrote it, it was 4 am. O.o Not a good excuse, so again my apologies.