Jan Welter Timkrans - State of the Universe Address 2012

Earlier today Jan Welter Timkrans, Chairman of the Board of MindArk PE AB, has published a message to the Entropian Community reviewing 2011 as well as giving an outlook on 2012.

This is the full text:

State of the Universe Address 2012

Fellow Entropians


After an eventful and challenging 2011, Entropia Universe enters the new year with solid plans for growth and the opportunity to dramatically improve the user experience for current and future participants. Before detailing some of our upcoming development plans for the new year, let me first take a few moments to summarize the progress that was made in 2011.

Entropia Universe participants enjoyed many improvements and additions in 2011. One of the most anticipated of these was the launch in May of Entropia’s fourth planet, Planet Arkadia. Throughout the year, the existing planets of Calypso, ROCKTropia and Next Island received numerous content updates and patches to expand and improve the overall user experience and fun-factor.

On the platform side of things, work continued in 2011 on reimplementing some of the older game systems into the CryEngine2 environment, such as make-up and robot beacons. Several exciting new game systems were also developed and released, including an impressive achievements system, space travel and combat, fort PvP events, and wave spawn logic for boss-level creatures.

By far one of the most exciting events of 2011 was the announcement late in the year of Calypso Land Deeds, which allow avatars to become citizens of Planet Calypso and receive a share of the Planet Partner Gross Revenue. In addition, each of the 60,000 land deeds will provide the holder with voting rights in a new Political system scheduled for development later this year, which will allow avatars to have a direct influence on the future development of Calypso. Probably due to the high rate of return received since they were released (currently over 28% ROI), Calypso Land Deeds are being snapped up incredibly quickly on the Entropia Universe global auction, with less than half of the original offering of 60,000 deeds remaining.

While much was accomplished during the last year, 2012 offers even more opportunities and promises to be even brighter for Entropia Universe in terms of number of participants, active Planet Partners and the continued development of rich new game systems. MindArk is very much looking forward to welcoming two exciting new planets into the universe in 2012: the sci-fi themed Planet Cyrene, and the Arabian themed Planet Toulan.

To accomodate the increasing number of planets within Entropia Universe and to encourage the growth of local planetary economies, one area that will receive special attention in the coming months is space travel and interplanetary trade. Resources and materials will be rebalanced among the planets in order to enable each planet to develop a thriving and healthy local economy, while at the same time creating opportunities for participants to engage in commerce across multiple planets.

One of the main priorities for MindArk and its Planet Partners in 2012 will be improving the experience for new participants. Our development team is already hard at work redesigning the Genesis new arrivals area, with a focus on making it easier for new participants to become familiar with the user interface and Entropia Universe game concepts. Another priority during 2012 will be improving the balance and performance of existing game systems, along with finalizing the reintroduction of prior game systems disabled after the CryEngine2 conversion.

MindArk’s plan for maximising the potential of Entropia Universe in 2012 focuses on two key areas:

1. Upgrade existing game systems to provide an enjoyable and rewarding user experience.
2. Develop innovative and reliable new game systems to enable our Planet Partners to deliver engaging and immersive content for Entropia Universe participants.

As these planned improvements and developments are completed during 2012, MindArk will ramp up its efforts to promote Entropia Universe and expand the active user base.

Finally, I would like to thank you for your participation in Entropia Universe. The most important ingredient for a successful virtual universe is a dedicated and enthusiastic community of participants. Without a doubt, Entropia Universe would not be the vibrant and unique experience it is today without your involvement.

I hope that you share my excitement and outlook for the future of Entropia Universe. All of us at MindArk promise to do all we can to make 2012 the best year yet to be an Entropian!

Warm Regards,

Jan Welter Timkrans

Chairman of the Board, MindArk PE AB
Humble Creator of Entropia Universe

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