there's been many discussions about the lack of a sustainable economy on next island. this thread is one example. first off, it should be noted that the basic economy on next island is primarily the same one that exists on calypso. the mining resources are basically the same, and all the calypso blueprints work on next island. the same default ones are also available from the technician robots. the only significant difference is in hunt loots which contain next island specific crystals and animal parts. I haven't bothered to calculate what percentage of typical returns these items occupy. that figure would be interesting to know. anyways, if we look at the entire economy from fundamentals, two things can be identified as a causality to the apparent failure of the local economy. the first is that there is currently no use for the next island specific hunt loot items (crystals, animal parts). the second is a lack of population. there isn't much that we can directly do about the population. so, that leaves us with the basic (calypso) economy plus the next island specific items. so, knowing that we have a tiny population, how do we resolve the issue? (my opinion is subsequent posts).
crystals and animal parts. it's interesting to note that the crystals all have fairly elaborate descriptions, and it appears considerable effort was put into naming and researching them. this would seem to indicate there was an original purpose or design intent for them. on the other hand, the animal parts, mostly, appear to be clones of similar parts found on rocktropia (which for the most part have no use there, either). both of these classes of hunt loot were introduced into the system too early and in far too great quantities. because of their uselessness, they have no justifiable markup. because of their quantity, the promise of significant markup is marginal to non-existent. future blueprints will likely use these items. however, the trend for planet partners is to develop limited blueprints. this mean the recipe components will always far exceed the blueprints. as a result, any value will likely reside with the limited blueprint. the release of an easily obtainable (technician robot) unlimited blueprint would go a long way to building some value for the recipe components. consider the animal parts (I'm leaving the crystals out for now as they seem to have another intent). a technician print for, say, papoo slurry could drop a couple of other unlimted slurry prints which use other animal parts. then, the three types of animal slurry could be used by a limited print to make something that has some sort of actual use. I'm leaving out the end-product purposely, as it's not important to the effect. and, also, next island isn't paying me to design their systems. the unlimited prints would draw in the overabundance of animal parts and consume them. the parts would result in some additional value (think of animal oils) and a market for these things would be created. in the end, though, this is something only the developers at next island can implement. until something changes, our choices for these items remains the same. keep them for a speculative future use, or sell them to the trade robot as scrap.
We also need armor and weapons, who whats to travel to another planet in order to buy the armor and weapons you need to hunt. I guess the same goes for any other profession. The starter stuff is good for newer players but even then they will need to upgrade at some point. Some more poll options: We need more communication We need the powers that be to take a better look at priorities But this has all been said before, and its like beating a dead horse. I am at the point where I about given up. I hardly sign in anymore. If there is something going on I will sign in. In the past month I have probably been in the game for less than 5 hours. And before that the only significant amount of time I was there was after the update. With all the promises and let downs you get to a point where you just lose interest. EU is the only place where I have been that if you treat your customers like crap they will still come back............up to a point.
We need more communication and a batch of local blueprints using local items like arkadia has before they can even think of increasing population. Users can do nothing at all without the vital tools needed for a stable economy. Playing isnt even sustainable as the majority of loot has no use, and therefore no markup, resulting in even more reduced chances you get anywhere near breaking even.
Understanding the Entropia Universe and its RCE is all about adapting to the environment. There are 2 branches that this thread could cover and go down. 1. What can the devs do to fix all of the issues with the economy? 2. What can we the players do to work with what we have been given and still be successful RCE players? I will just comment on the 2nd branch. Reading your post it jumped out at me so obvious that I don't know why I didn't think of it before. There is one activity on Next Island that can done on as high or higher of a level than on the other planets. Mining. So simple, yet so elusive. We all have that hunter/gatherer instinct in us. But the problem is that we see it in that sequence of prestige and importance. Hunting on Next Island is hard to do right now within the constraints of the RCE and trying to sell useful items/resources for markup because the stuff you loot has no use. Mining on the other hand, can be done without those restraints. Not only is mining a viable option on Next Island, but it is what I would recommend new players on any of the other planets to do starting out as well. I think that for right now, the best choice Next Island loyalists have is to mine and encourage mining to the new players. You will not only be getting something that can be used, but you will be getting something that you can sell for markup! There is one problem with this, and that is that although ore/enmatter can be sold for markup, it will only be practical to sell on Calypso. This is where you the veteran players of Next Island come into play. Although its not exactly an entertaining profession, you need to become traders and transporters. You can work with those of you who have VTOLs and Quads, or you can make arrangements with Motherships or Hanger Ships. There are lots of options for transporting goods. With some research and diplomacy you could likely find 1 or more traders who have already made all the necessary transportation deals who is willing to come and purchase your ores/enmatters for their own business. You wont get someone coming to NI to trade for 5,10,50 ped stacks. But if you work together with your veterans, then you can have large enough stacks ready to either go and auction yourself, or to call a trader to come and buy them directly from you. It is all about adapting to your environment. The smartest and the strongest survive. BUT sometimes it is the hive mentality that allows a species to progress without the individual strength or inelegance of their competitors. Like anything else it takes time. But when people realize that they can go mining every day and not worry about how they will sell what they get, they will log in more often, they will tell their friends and the growth will slowly start. Visitors wont see it as dead when they land and are more likely to stay longer, maybe even taking up residence themselves. It is a slow progression, but this is the direction I see needed by the players to allow NI to become the thriving planet of our dreams. gl and have fun, narfi
yes, you're right. but, those things can be imported. I know others have tried the importer route, but the small population base makes this difficult unless the importer owns a shop. and, personally, I wouldn't have anything to do with buying a next island shop due to their obscene cost. however, imports can work. I was going to address that later. yeah... I forgot some myself (including what I believe to be the general solution). it's too bad you weren't over here to help me out when I was inputting the poll. we could have had some tea and scones with preserves. and, I completely understand the frustration it's born from waiting to "the powers-that-be" to fix the situation. while that may happen, it doesn't appear to be scheduled for tomorrow. so, I was hoping to promote some way to adapt. one way to adapt is to just not log-in or to go someplace else. personally, I'd prefer not to do either of those. stave, you should know me well enough to know that I don't believe that. I'm pretty sure I have the tools necessary, but it's not a closed economy (which I prefer, anyways). and, I'd still like to hear an estimate of what proportion of hunt loot consists of next island specific items. I really don't want to go and calculate it myself. someone must have some data.
yes. waiting on the development team implies doing nothing or going someplace else. ACK! well, narfi, I'm still going to post the second part of my analysis which contains just that. you're really out to ruin all my fun, aren't you, narfi. my third part addresses the hive. I'll probably post that, tomorrow.
dealing with the basic (calypso) economy. we know that hunt loots are diminished overall by the presence of the currently useless next island specific loot items. this reduction makes working with hunt loots riskier and subject to an immediate reduction in available margins. this does not mean that it's not possible to work with them, just that the effort has to be more focused and methodical. fortunately, this reduction does not affect mining resources as there are currently no next island specific ores or energy matter. what this means is that mining offers the best chance, for an individual, of realizing margins. any inventory generated by mining is completely usable. the downside is, due to a small population base, inventories can be difficult to sell. and, any dealing with a reseller will reduce the margin. however, this may be acceptable in dealing with a fair trader. in the end, because of next island's small population, the presence of a buyer/crafter/trader will be limited and restricted. what this means is that the opportunity for an individual is limited and the only consistent, viable market is off-world. fortunately, anyone with a space-ready vehicle can do just that. again, I'm purposely omitting piracy, as it is a separate issue. a common method to mitigate risk is through co-operation. EU is notoriously horrid for the lack of co-operation between individuals. however, with next island, the a small co-operative population base is actually an advantage, if exercised properly. although I'm promoting mining as a viable economic vehicle, for a hunter, the argument is the same, although the hunter has the disadvantage of having a portion of their inventory unusable. so, we can see that it is possible to utilize the existing planetary economy, but we have to adapt to its shortcomings. this leaves us with the question: how do we adapt?
adapting to shortcomings. we know that a viable market path exists via the export of resources: in particular mining resources. providing these resources can be moved off-world, a local demand will be created for these resources. this will allow islanders to sell their resources to a local market at a markup. however, unlike other planets with a larger population base, this market is not a general one. it would be predicate on what was being moved off-world. now, anyone willing to assume the risk can participate in interplanetary trade. but, any individual can only transfer so much. and, one's selection of materials to move will be different from that of another. while individuals operating independently will certainly help, an organized effort will have a far greater impact. small groups (or populations) can be very effective when focused and operating in tandem. on next island, such a focus might be a small collection of more experienced islanders who are willing to co-operate and commit to provide the necessary direction. one thing that I've always liked about next island is the community. while there has been considerable and valid complaints over the development team's apparent glacial movement to provide a solution, an opportunity nevertheless exists for those who are able to pool their abilities and assets to make a commitment for improvement. the small islander population can be an advantage as there is less competition for resources. a cadre of experienced islanders can build a local economy that helps the rest of the population and capitalize upon it. in the end, we are left with a (rather rhetorical) choice: are we willing to do it ourselves, or do we want someone else (the developers) to do it for us?
