Project Entropia systems we miss: Land Grab

NotAdmin · Jan 31, 2014

Not long after mankind colonized Calypso, the continent of Amethera was declared non-governed, meaning that it would be up to the colonists to defend themselves, rather than being protected by the policed safe-havens established on Eudoria.

2008 LandGrab - Still taken from YouTube preview. Credit: Unknown.

As Amethera was a massive stretch of land, containing some unique wildlife and mine-able resources, land plots were drawn up that the government either sold off, or had the colonists fight one another for control over.

Lone rangers stood little chance at a shot at gaining control over these lands, ensuring Land Grab consisted of societies battling one another for hours in order to be able to gain the lucrative temporary land control income.

It typically involved a society heading over to a land area they would want to control, and claiming it at the land marker once land grab started.They would then have to remain in control of the land marker for a predetermined amount of time. Should another society manage to claim it in the meantime, the countdown would start over, until a society managed to keep the land claimed for the designated time.

The first land grab took place in October 2004, and was proclaimed to be a major success by MindArk:

"The launch of the land grab went smoothly and as planned." MindArk CTO Mattias Sundström says. "It was great fun and excitement seeing the Project Entropia participants struggling for control of the valuable land areas".

During the event phase, which lasted some 20 hours, participants from all over the world, ranging from Canada, USA, Australia, Belgium, Sweden, to China, fought each other using various more or less successful tactics. It was a sight to behold the fighters, carrying equipment with a real life market value exceeding more than 100,000 USD in a single battle. While the phase lasted, an in-game news update service was active, supplying all Project Entropia participants, regardless of their in-game location, with speedy up-to-date news. The lucky winners now have large land areas, which they can manage and tax to their delight.
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The next rounds of land grab were plagues with technical issues, ranging from cases of lag, to bugs that caused societies to lose control of their claimed Land Area. The 2006 land grab especially was plagued with lag, that MindArk attributed to the (ab)use of auto-clickers:

The disturbances in the claiming process that some societies experienced during the second phase of the Land Grab have been investigated. Our detailed logs and records show that a certain number of Project Entropia participants were using third-party software, commonly known as "auto-clickers". The use of such software is against the Project Entropia Conditions of Use and is an offence that could result in a permanent lockout from the virtual universe. The auto-clickers were set to click on the "Claim" button over 50 times per second! This caused a massive load on the claim handling system. This system is not designed for this kind of extensive abuse and as the usage of third-party software is forbidden, the situation should not have arisen in the first place. These violations managed to disrupt an entertaining and exciting event for other participants.
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As a compensation, affected societies were randomly given control of some LAs:

The result of the random distribution is:

LA12: Amethera Demons

LA18: Calypso Conquerors

LA13, LA7: cK (Coat Killers)

LA19: Shaolin

LA6: Warants

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Source: http://web.archive.org/web/20060317184005/http://www.project-entropia.com/StdContent.ajp?Id=2144

2007 did not see a land grab, possibly due to MindArk trying to fix the technical issues leading to the 2006 troubles. The 2008 version of Land Grab was even more problematic, with some servers rebooting, and leading to BAHQ somehow being unable to secure their LA in the meantime (where other societies did not have such issues on their LAs). This resulted in the final stage of Land Grab 2008 to be postponed at the very last minute.

Land grab 2009 had an interesting addition to the requirements in that only the top 50 skilled societies were able to participate in it. However, a group of top societies decided to band together to control one or more areas and to keep some of the other societies from getting a shot at securing the LA. They agreed to split the income between the participating factions (by having different societies claim the individual LAs), and thus ensuring the decay during the event was minimal. This manifested itself most clearly during phase 3 of Land Grab, during which no blood was spilled, nor decay spent, and "The Alliance" walked away owning most or all of the land areas, and thus essentially getting taxes for free, and without putting any of the decay money into MAs coffers.

LG 2009. Credit: MindStar9.

As a result, MA decided to change the way Land grab worked, and the system was put in the freezer for a while, until post-VU 10, a revamped version of land grab was released, which involves societies battling it out in forts:

The Battle of the Forts is a continuous epic adventure where avatars can join forces to fight each other
to conquer a Land Area that generates income for the participants as long as they hold it. The system is an integrated part of the Real Cash Economy system in Entropia Universe, enabling this unique function.
...
The players have to combine strategy with tactics and social skills whether they are attacking or
defending a Fort. They have to master an array of skills, ranging from combat, communication and
maneuvering vehicles such as attack helicopters, tanks and armed boats.
The system includes two types of battles. One is Fort vs. Fort - a point-based system where the players
themselves set the rules for what prizes will be handed out. The other, Land Grab Battle, is based on a
situation where there is only one Fort situated on a Land Area. To take the land, the players must first
take charge of the Fort and destroy the Main Control - upon that, the real battle for the Land Area
begins. One thing is for certain - Destruction pays off!
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Source: http://www.mindark.com/press/press-releases/documents/press_release_fort.pdf

All in all, a total number of 5 land grabs were held over the years, most in multiple phases.

Despite the technical difficulties with the Land grab, and the fact they were targeted almost exclusively at the uber societies in-game, land grab was always an event that brought a lot of excitement to Entropia, with numerous people taking a day off in order to either fight with their society or allies, or simply to witness the event as a spectator or reporter. Others simply took advantage of the fact there was massive amounts of on-going decay and ensured they would hunt or mine on a different server in the hope of scoring a little extra in loot.

It was also always interesting to see what strategies would be employed by societies. Some confidently stood around the marker waiting to face their enemies heads-on, while others employed the use of scouts from recruitment societies, or mob trains to bring chaos to what already would be a rabid battlefield. There was even a bunch of noobs from the Church of Lootius society who during the 2006 Land grab figured they could create such amount of lag (by placing hundreds of individual around the claim marker) that it would be impossible for anyone to get close enough to kill them all. This cunning plan was thwarted by a single uber in Shadow mowing them down without flinching. And Lootius wept.

Care to share your experience with Land grab?

NotAdmin · Jan 31, 2014

Summary / outcome of the land grabs:

2004 (3 phases):
cK (Coat Killers): 4 (LA 3, 10, 11, 16)
Calypso Conquerors: 4 (LA 6, 7, 13, 14)
Desert Rangers: 3 (LA 1, 5, 19)
Warants: 3 (LA 2, 9, 17)
Reservoir Dags: 1 (LA 4)
White Tigers: 2 (LA 15, 18)
PAC (Project-Asylum Corp): 1 (LA 8)
Team LV: 1 (LA 12)

2005 (2 phases):
Calypso Conquerors: 3 (LA 4, 6, 7)
Desert Rangers: 2 (LA 1, 8)
Warants: 2 (LA 2, 17)
cK (Coat Killers): 2 (LA 3, 5)
BAHQ (Black Angels HQ): 1 (LA 9)
Universal Brotherhood: 1 (LA 10)
Shaolin: 1 (LA 11)
Team LV: 1 (LA 12)
Ex Cons: 1 (LA 13)
PAC (Project-Asylum Corp): 1 (LA 14)
White Tigers: 1 (LA 15)
Menace to Society: 1 (LA 18)
Amethera Demons: 1 (LA 19)

2006 (2 phases):
Riga Team: 3 (LA 2, 5, 8)
Warants: 2 (LA 3, 6*)
BAHQ (Black Angels HQ): 2 (LA 4, 15)
cK (Coat Killers): 2 (LA 7*, 13*)
Calypso Conquerors: 2 (LA 9, 18*)
Dark Knights: 2 (LA 10, 14)
Shaolin: 2 (LA 11, 19*)
Menace to Society: 1 (LA 1)
Amethera Demons: 1 (LA 12*)
Elite Group: 1 (LA 16)
Calypso Conquerors Cadets: 1 (LA 17)

(* indicates an LA given as compensation for suffering from lag due to abuse of auto-clickers by third parties)

2008 (3 phases):
cK (Coat Killers): 4 (LA 1, 10, 17, 19)
Art of War: 4 (LA 7, 8, 9, 14)
Warants: 3 (LA 3, 5, 18)
Menace to Society: 3 (LA 4, 11, 16)
Chaos Crew: 1 (LA 2)
BAHQ (Black Angels HQ): 1 (LA 6)
Shaolin: 1 (LA 12)
Mod Deja Vu: 1 (LA 13)
Dark Knights: 1 (LA 15)

2009:
Menace to Society: 4 (LA 2, 4, 14, 17, and bonus LA 7 + Chomper DNA for securing most wins)
Art of War: 3 (LA 3, 9, 11)
cK (Coat Killers): 3 (LA 5, 8, 10)
Shaolin: 2 (LA 1, 6)
cK Shadows: 2 (LA 10, 19)
Dawn Daemons: 2 (LA 12, 13)
BlackAngels Evolution: 1 (LA 15)
BlackAngels HQ: 1 (LA 18)

NotAdmin · Jan 31, 2014

Rules of the Land Grabs:

2004:

The preliminary rules and regulations of the land grab:

Any land area can be claimed by any functioning, non-pending, society. (Note that it takes seven days go get a society into a qualified state).

Any person within a society can claim a piece of land in the name of the whole society. The land is claimed by finding a “land marker” for a certain land area. Click on the land marker and follow the instructions presented.

The land has to be successfully defended for 12 consecutive hours before the ownership of the land is turned over to the society.

After a six month period ownership is transferred back (Excluding any house building lots already sold. Meaning that an individual person is in possession of the house-building lot deed).

Defence of the land is achieved in the following manner: At least one member of the society will have to be alive and present within a radius of 30 meters from the land marker at all times from when the land is claimed until the full 12 hours has elapsed. If all Society members have exited the radius, the land marker will emit a warning signal (sound and light) for a period of 60 seconds. This is a grace period given, during which any living society member has to get inside the radius or the claim for the land will be lost and thus enabling another society, or the same society for that matter, to restart the land claiming process.

A single society may only claim one land area at a time. A single society may own an unlimited number of land areas.

The land grab event and battling over the land areas will work like this:

There will be several phases during the land grab. A short time after the application of VU 6.1 the Recon phase will commence. Those avatars meeting the requirements at that snapshot in time will have the opportunity to be transported to Amethera to check it out, fight the new monsters and mine for ore.

Note that once the authorisation is determined it stays valid until the next phase. For instance, if you are on the new continent and you transfer your “Requirement skill” below the level needed to be on Amethera, you will still be able to stay there until the start of the next phase. Also, if you suddenly lack the requirement (skill level or estate) and are located on Amethera when a new phase starts, you can remain there until you get killed. Then you will no longer be able to transport back. Please note that the requirement checks are made at the start of each phase and is not done in real time.

An undetermined time period after the Recon phase (the time is depending on the post VU stability rating) the first Land Area Battle (LAB) phase starts. When this phase starts a new requirement check is done to see who is eligible for transportation. An undetermined number of land areas will be open for battle and take-overs.

After an undetermined time period after the first LAB phase, the second LAB phase starts. A new requirement check is done, as above. The total number of LAB phases will not be disclosed, nor will the number of land areas per phase, to keep suspense and excitement up.

If you die while on the new continent you will be teleported back to Eudoria (the first continent). You can then get back to a random location on the new continent through any teleporter presently available. Note that Personal Revival Terminals will not be usable during this first Land Grab event. In further battles along the way, this may change.

To survive the hardships the new continent presents you will have to meet certain standards to participate. Before the time of the land grab your avatar must meet at least one of the criteria listed below.

Skill *Minimum Skill Rank/Level
ProspectingBeginner (lvl 260)
Color clothesBeginner (lvl 260)
Make clothesBeginner (lvl 260)
SurveyingBeginner (lvl 260)
ConcentrationQualified (lvl 1000)
EngineeringAble (lvl 1400)
First AidAble (lvl 1400)
LongbladeAble (lvl 1400)
HandgunCapable (lvl 2000)
ShortbladeExperienced (lvl 2400)
PowerfistGreat (lvl 3000)
RifleGreat (lvl 3000)
*Note: All estate owners on Eudoria at the start of a phase, are automaticallyqualified to participate in the land grab, no matter what their skill levels may be. Note however that only societies may claim land.

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2005:
Changes this time around includes no requirements as to skill levels and the addition of a Fertilizing station to each area.

2006:

There will be several phases of the Land Grab 2006 event, each phase having a certain number of land areas up for grabs. Following an undetermined time period after the first phase, the second phase will start, and so on. The total number of phases will not be disclosed, nor will the number of land areas per phase. This is in order to maintain the suspense and excitement.

A land area may be claimed by any functioning, non-pending, society. (Note that it takes seven days to get a society to a qualified state).

Any person within a society can claim a piece of land in the name of the whole society. The land is claimed by finding a “land marker” for a particular land area. Click on the land marker and follow the instructions presented.

The land has to be successfully defended for four consecutive hours before ownership of the land is turned over to the society.

After a six month period, ownership is transferred back to Marcus Callender, the MindArk estate broker.

Defence of the land is achieved in the following manner: At least one member of the society will have to be alive and present within a radius of 30 meters from the land marker at all times from when the land is claimed until the full four hours have elapsed. If all Society members have exited the radius area, the land marker will emit a warning signal (sound and light) for a period of 60 seconds. This is a grace period given, during which any living society member has to get back inside the radius before the claim for the land is lost, enabling another society, or the same society for that matter, to restart the land claiming process.

A single society may only claim one land area at a time. A single society may own an unlimited number of land areas.

Certain Revival Terminals will be disabled during the Land Grab.

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2008:

1. Any designated land grab area can be claimed by any functioning, non-pending, society. (Note that it takes seven days go get a society into a qualified state).
2. Any person within a society can claim a piece of land in the name of the whole society. The land is claimed by finding a 'claim stake' for a certain piece of land. Click on the stake and follow the instructions presented.
3. The land has to be successfully defended for four consecutive hours before the ownership of the land is turned over to the society for a period of six months.
4. Defence of the land is achieved in the following manner: At least one member of the society will have to be alive and present within a radius of 30 meters from the claim stake at all times from when the land is claimed until the full time period has elapsed. If all Society members have exited the radius, the stake will emit a warning signal (sound and light) for a limited period of time. This is a short grace period of app. 30 seconds, during which any living society member has to get inside the radius; else the claim for the land will be lost. This enables another society, or the same society for that matter, to take new ownership of the land claiming process.
5. Anyone killed within a certain range from the claim stake during the land grab will be out of commission for five minutes before the revival process is initiated. The only way to speed this process is to be resurrected using MindForce.
6. A single society may only have one piece of land within a claiming process at a time.
7. Pets are not allowed on the Land Grab land areas during the event.
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2009:

Only societies can claim a piece of land. The land is claimed by finding the “claim marker “for a certain piece of land. Then click on the stake and follow the instructions presented.

Any society claiming a land area not in their category (i.e. if any society in Category 1 tries to claim a red-coded land area) will be disqualified. Members of societies that are not qualified for a land area may still assist other societies by fighting in the area, as long as they do not claim the marker.

Societies not listed in the top 50 that claim land will be disqualified.

The land has to be successfully defended for four consecutive hours before ownership of the land is turned over to the society for a period of nine months.

Defense of the land is achieved in the following manner:

At least one member of the society will have to be alive and present within a radius of 30 meters from the claim marker at all times from when the land is claimed until the full time period has elapsed.

If all society members have exited the radius, the claim marker will emit a warning signal (sound and light) for a limited period of time. This is a short grace period of approximately 30 seconds, during which any living society member must get inside the radius. Otherwise the claim for the land will be lost.

If the claim for a land area is lost, any society (including the one that lost the claim) that qualifies for the category may take new ownership of the land claiming process.

Anyone killed within a certain range from the claim marker during the land grab will be out of commission for five minutes before the revival process is initiated. It is possible to be resurrected by Mind Force.

A single society may only have one piece of land within a claiming process at a time.

Pets are not allowed on the Land Grab land areas during the event.

Any society claiming a land area not in their category will be disqualified.
Any society in the Top 50-list per April 8th that increases their membership count by more than 5 will be disqualified.

The society that claims the most land areas during the event wins the additional prize as mentioned under Additional prizes above.

If there is a tie, the tied societies will have to claim land area 7 when all land areas except #7 have been claimed. The winner of this fight claims both land area #7 and the Chomper DNA.

Area #7 is only open for claims by the tied societies. Should any other society claim area #7, that society will be disqualified. Members of other societies may assist the tied societies, as long as they don’t claim.

If a disqualified society has claimed land areas in the event, their land areas will immediately be freed for claiming by other societies, and land area #7 will immediately be closed again pending the result of the grab for these other areas.

Rules may be subject to change in which case a Land Grab update news will be posted and this webpage amended.

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Tesla Coil · Jan 31, 2014

Great times, in a couple of years we going to re-experience them.

Wistrel · Jan 31, 2014

We still have land grabs though right? But they are weekly or monthly or something instead? I've heard they are a lot of fun cause of the reduction in cost of ammo so you can blast away with your biggest gun and not feel your bum clenching.

Kacper · Jan 31, 2014

>
Here's a video of mine production in 2008 ! :)

narfi · Jan 31, 2014

Spawn said: ↑

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/f...um-Forces-Unknown-quot-does-quot-the-landgrab
I guess we should have worked together then?
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That was well before my time, looks like it could have been fun. How did it turn out?
2-5k skills was good-medium at that time? did I read that right?

mastermesh · Jan 31, 2014

isn't the cld system suppossed to consist of something similar to a landgrab? Also I guess you could call the entire Planet Partner system a major landgrab of a different sort...

theProphet · May 6, 2020

hellcome to 2020

https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?315844-Land-Grab-(LG)-tax-distribution

theProphet · May 6, 2020

btw and what does he mean with "the current system"?

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