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[JJG]

Hi All

I have mentioned the problem to MA about the ridiculous demands that are being placed on our systems just to play EU recently and have asked them to reply, what follows is a transcript of what I sent:

[quote:3aejbq0b]27 Jan 2008 You wrote:
Hi All at support

I am a little concerned about the up coming move to the crysis engine, yes I know we have spoken before about this however I have been talking to my society members and ex members and they are all requesting the same thing, and that is some advice on the upcomng move to the Crysis engine.

As it is they have all said that the video requirements for EU are now beyond their capabilities most of them have had to turn all settings down to minimum just to play EU and of course it looks awful, I have a fairly Hi-End system and I am struggling to balance gameplay against looks so I think we all need an assurance from you that the crysis engine will be less demanding than the current system because as it is ppl are not prepared to buy a New Computer just to accomodate your system considering that they all work fine in other mmorpg's including World of Warcraft, Second Life, Eve, Everquest 2 and Afterworld to name a few and lag has also become a major problem for most players(sorry participants) recently.

I look forward to hearing from you

With Kindest Regards
Jim Jay Gregory
webmaster@euadvantage.com
edjon2000@ntlworld.com
Society Advantage[/quote]
 
so I will be interested to see what they say as I am sure you will

cya all later

JJG.

[JJG]

Ok they have replied with a non-committal answer as usual the details are as follows

[quote:1o4ijgz8]
28 Jan 2008    Entropia Support:
Hi,

We currently don't have any official information regarding the system requirements.

Please stay tuned to the News section of our homepage for further updates.

Kind Regards,
Entropia Support[/quote]

So I guess we will have to wait and see although I would have thought that they would know what the up-coming system requirements would be for their Game

Please feel free to add any of your comments below

[Ben]

A very reasonable question JJG.  Microsoft can't sell Vista except on new computers.  MA may find out that they will lose many existing clients, and many potential users if they set the bar high. 

MA seems to have hit a commercial limit, profits to their shareholders, and playability without looting their players.  Currently that balance has frustrated players, with limited loot, except on really big mobs which only skilled teams or ubers can kill.  Young players don't have a change any more.

[JJG]

Hi All

I have sent another support to MA re the current Climate of the game

 
[quote:1afupbw3]02 Feb 2008 You wrote:
Hi all at support

Yes I think this is the best section to place this.

I personally think that MA have become too greedy, I appreciate that you now have share holders now but this is at the expense of regular low level players(participants), at the moment the Entropia Universe seems to be a place only for the ubers and forget the new player and medium level player ... is this really what you want ?

I have played EU for more than 4 years and I am gutted to see how things are deteriorating please could you rebalance the loots prior to this latest so-called update.

If this does not happen I will have to stop playing(participating) as will my Society and all my spin-off societies.

I would hate to see that happen ... at the moment I honestly feel that I should guide all my friends to a different game.

But at the end of the day yours was the first MMORPG that I have ever played, and the society was born here so please if you can, try to do ... something ...anything to make this universe playable again

With Kindest Regards

Jon Edwards
Avatar Name: Jim Jay Gregory
webmaster@euadvantage.com
edjon2000@ntlworld.com
My Site: www.euadvantage.com [/quote]
 
Ok I have received a reply of sorts from MA

[quote:1afupbw3]13 Feb 2008 Entropia Support:
Hello and thank you for contacting us. We are unfortunately unable to comment on matters concerning in-world balancing however we will forward your feedback to the design team.

Regards,
Entropia Support [/quote]

And I responded as follows

[quote:1afupbw3]13 Feb 2008 You wrote:
Ok well thank you for you response it is something I feel needs to be addressed, it might only be a case of a minor modification of the system rather than a complete restructuring

I look forward to seeing if anything changes

Kind Regards

Jon Edwards [/quote]


So we will see what happens
JJG.

[Xerces]

What do you feel is unplayable about the game right now?  I agree there are major flaws in it and its economy.  However I am able to play 1-2 times per week for 4-8 hours at a time on $15 US per month.  The largest problem I see with the game right now is that progression is twarted due to resrtictions on the cost of items in the economy.  i.e.  m4a costs 175.60 tt  to purchase.  As a regular depositor of $15 US/month I would have to deposit 2 months to be able to upgrade to this weapon to hunt.  There is no chance to loot one.  Nor is there any other weapon in Laser Carbine that gives a SIB beyond some of the Riker series weapons that is achievable for some one depositing a reasonable MMO ammount of money.  This is not a question of $1 per hour of play time it is a question of being able to progress depositing $1 per hour of play time.  This same issue is true for armor.  Shogun/Rascal sets are affordable but Vigi and Ghost are far out of reach. 

As far as playing goes at the level I am at I lose PED like everyone else.  But I lose it at a rate that is sustainable to my playstyle.  I am able to play for cheaper than the $1 /hr model they are striving for but the other limitations are the killer.  I am not in the game to make money but to have fun and I am not able to continue depositing and advancing under MA's current model.  This is the fundamental flaw in the model.

[JJG]

Hi Xerces

Yes you are correct in that the game is playable as is but overall to my mind the price in real terms has become prohibitive, I feel that it is the loot distribution that is wrong now favouring the heavy depositors ie the uber players that have a lot more spare cash than I have, whilst it may be sensible business practice from MA's point of view it does severely limit the appeal of this game new players are now playing for maybe a week or so and then leaving to play other games that have a fairer loot distribution, all it would require is a minor tweak of the business model for this to become possible again.

The other thing that I am worried about is the actual demands placed on our systems just to play the game a lot of ppl I have spoken to have had to turn there video settings down to minimum just to make the game playable again which makes the game field look awful (brings back memories of the original Doom game) so with these to problems plus the up-coming Crysis2 engine I fear that only brand new machines running Windows 2000 or XP (as there is no Vista support yet) will be able to cope, I mean I am tempted to downgrade to Windows 2000 just to speed things up a bit

Anyway I am sure time will tell maybe MA will see sense or at least be able to give some assurances otherwise with few or no new players the game will gradualy erode away.

Just my 2 cents

JJG

[Ben]

Ok, here is my simple observation. 
1) MA is there to make money for themselves and their shareholders.  Their real cash society where people can actually take money out of the game is long gone.  You haven't read about anyone bragging about how much money they make lately.  I suspect some of the ubers were suckered into investing in MA .  If you played WoW, or many other games, like xerces says, 15$ a month is fair, some have 2 accounts, so maybe 30 $.
2) Big depositors spend big money and lose big money.  I know several people who claim to deposit 1-5K$ per year, and they have a lot of "stuff" which can be resold to recover some of their expenditures.  BUT, they also do things like a 300 bomb run that makes 50 ped.  net loss of 250 ped in about 1 hr.  I know low depositors < none as low as me>, who play ever day, as long as they want, but they stick to mobs, mining, etc.. that is within their cashflow targets.  Examples:  I have done 3 or 4 beacon runs, they have been a blast, and I have lost money on every one.  I chose not to do them very often.  Soc wants to go to Land Grab... be my guest, its a money and time waster. 
3) MA continues to tweek and adjust, and mess with loots, yields, damages, etc.  We have to expect it.  When we learn of a profitable mob, guess what will not be profitable next month.  A great armor, it will be trash next month .  Should MA give us more loot-- YES, I would love it.  Have I accumlated maybe 3000-4000 ped (all stuff I own at TT) in 2 1/2 yrs with never depositing, well yes. So, is MA really ripping us off?? I don't think so, but of course I would like to gain skill faster and cheaper.  Heck I played a year before I had 100 ped of value in the game, with JJG helping me by loaning me an old armor set and gun.  .  This game teaches thrifty cash flow management. 
4)  TT everything?  Nope, only TT stuff with 1.01 to 1.03 markups, as its rare to breakeven when auctioning, but keep acculating everything else, until you can make a few ped positive on the sale. 
5) Something I don't do and don't want to do is trade, but Ohan has done very well as a outcry trader.  Take up trading if you want to make a profit. 
6) People seem to get attached to certain mobs.  I am not sure but I think MA tags the mobs you hunt often, and you don't get as much loot, rotate through a large selection of hunting areas and mobs. 
Recognize that all hunts will follow some normal distribution of loot, so if looting is bad, get out.. it isn't going to get better.  Come back later.
Anyway.. just some of my thoughts.  Take them or leave them.  Cheers