Yeah, I played this. Look, it's not a scam, per se, as they do deliver the promised gaming experience, they disclose everything..but, the deck is stacked. It's a setup for you to lose money. You WILL deposit, if you want to have fun, because sweating is about as fun as having your balls stuck in a vise. It's possible to make money, but, hey, it's also possible angelina jolie will leave brad pitt for me, but I don't think it's gonna happen Unless you have a lot of time and disposable income, don't bother.

I'm sorry, but not everyone who sees MA and EU for what it is "...had the wrong expectations."  I sat there and scoured over the EU forum site for weeks before I even started.  I had a great mentor to help me along.  I knew what I should have been doing.  In fact, if you ask my former mentor (Poisonhearts, a pretty respected member of the community) what my goal was when I started it was to plunk down my initial investment and then basically pay into EU the cost of the average subscription per month (I was willing to ratchet it up to twenty a month because I was desperate for a sandbox).

I threw down an initial investment, bought my pixie armor, my opalo carbine, and my TT mining reader and mineral extractor.  Every last cent I had thereafter went to ammo and bombs.  Mostly bombs.

I spent 25% of my time hunting and 75% mining.  I knew full well that hunting would be a losing proposition from research (I hunted those dinosaur and octopus looking things in that northern area which basically looked like it had a bunch of dicks growing out of the ground).  I knew full well that resource spawns apparently followed no observable pattern of spawn (like there won't be a vein of a certain resource that you can key on) and that for some reason people said mining on the coasts was the best (this is indeed confirmed by a huge amount of people on the EU Forum site).

I never once bought any upgrades over the course of the month and a half I played this game.  The equipment I have on my toon right now is the same equipment I had first purchased when I entered the game world.  I had every expectation and knew full well I had to manage my money wisely.

End result?  I made it about a week on my thirty dollars.  I rarely ever died.  I explored around to get the various teleporters.  I never once paid any taxes for private land use.  I never bought anything nice.  Every last cent went towards bombs and power cells.

What did I have to show for it after my thirty bucks of PED ran out?  Dick.  How people can defend this game as anything but a gambling racket is beyond me.  How does a dime slot machine work?  You put in a dime, pull the lever, and hope for the best.  How does mining work?  You buy a bomb (the dime), drop it (pull the lever), and hope for the best (hope for the best).

I feel absolutely retarded that EU scammed me out of about seventy bucks but at least I realized what this game was before it was too late.  And if I couldn't make it, after all of that research, having hard copies of continental maps at my disposal (basically the same care and forethought I put into SWG which is pretty substantial) what chance does an average player have?

That's why this is a casino.  Intelligent approach means nothing and gets you nowhere.  You either have a massive amount of PED banked that you can invest into something which will easily provide returns (basically any piece of land in the game will pay for itself over time pretty easily if you're not retarded and just keep it stocked with game) or you hit a few big payouts through sheer luck when hunting or mining or finding a spaceship.

But really though, the only difference between a casino and EU is the interface.

I started playing EU during the beta (rather, Project Entropia beta). I've never been a die-hard player but I keep going back to it. Basically I've seen quite a bunch of version updates.

Anyway a few misconceptions I've seen in the comments so far:

- "Avatar skills don't mean much". Not quite true, the higher your skills, the more proefficient you get at using equipment to its maximum potential. With guns that means getting the most damage out of each shot, if you have high evade you're get hit less often and your armor deteriorates slower, while mining you can prospect larger areas with each bomb/probe.
Sure, whether you "hit the jackpot" (since the gambling analogy seems popular) doesn't depend on skills, but the loot/revenue sure does since you're able to go after bigger stuff at a lower cost.

- "Old timers have an edge over newcomers". Again, not quite true. Yes they do have the advantage of higher avatar skills and potentially better stuff, though doesn't that sound familiar?
However, over the course of the VUs, several things have been implemented to make it easier for new players to get into EU. Like the oil rig or sweating. One can also collect fruits and dung (not too glorious but hey...).  New arrivals now all happen in one major city, with tutorial NPCs and a live Guide. The crafting system was revamped and streamlined a few years ago which got the veterans grind teeth. And so on...

EU shares a lot with MMOs but builds on a different philosophy... The developers don't even market it as a game, insisting on the "virtual universe" tag line. I find that kinda lousy myself though I can see their point.

Anyway, it's got a steep learning curve and investing time and/or money is definitely needed. It's another niche product that is easy to trashtalk in an attempt to compare to everything else, but then you're missing the whole point.

I like that it's completely open-ended and that I can pretty much do whatever I want (within the game's mechanics of course). Mining (primarily), hunting, crafting...
I prefer mining because it requires a good understanding of how deposits work and YES it DOES make a difference if you play it right. Basically, if you all do is "click and hope" you got it all wrong.

Do I have any gripes towards EU or MindArk? I sure do, I could have done without some features and changes they implemented. Though as I said, you have to take a completely different approach if you really want to have an objective view about it.

You have to think long term.

Originally posted by Darkaner

Lots of disgruntled people here... I had to register just so that I could say this.

I think much of the negativity comes from people who expected something else than what they got. EU is quite different from most other MMO's, and those who expect to become uber after a few weeks of grinding will of course be disappointed. And if you expect quests and storylines, you will also be disappointed.

EU is a game for people with money. Other MMO's gives benefits to those who spend a lot of time, EU gives benefit to those with cash. To me this is great, as I can't compete with youngsters who has nothing better to do than spend 12 hours a day in front of the computer.

And jeans does not cost $200. More like $60-70. :)

This is being a game for people with money is 100% true.  EU is unique in that it allow people with disposable income to use their  wallet to make them better than everyone else in game. Most MMO's best players are the folks who don't leave the house for weeks at a time.  The only way a casual gamer on a budget can compete is to play a pure twitch game like an FPS.

Originally posted by admriker4

well Im so desperate for a sandbox MMO that I downloaded Entropia. However I couldnt get past naming my avatar. No matter what name I choose, someone else either had it or it was too close to someone else's name. I was using common english names, artsy fantasy names, any combo, etc and no matter what name or variation of it, entropia said it was taken. After a half hr of this, I deleted the game

Admriker4, are you kidding? you quit over not able to find a name? After that long post on AoC forum about finding the perfect sandbox game. 

 Well let me tell you, EU is THE sandbox game, there will never be another like it.

You can buy a store, you can buy a mall and rent out the stores inside, you can organze your store however you want with different layouts and furnitures,  you can own land then buy/find different DNA to create creatures to put in your area for other players to hunt, you can become a beautician, you can craft most anything in the game, you can fly a spaceship, you can literally do whatever you want. You gain skill by doing it, there are no artifical level or caps.

Dont listen to all those wow idiots, EU is a completely different game, it is an adult game and takes more than just leet fast finger skillz and trash talk to succeed. Yes it takes money to play for some professions and the end game is very expensive.  But that's the whole point of a sand box mmorpg, otherwise everyone would be right on the top tier doing the same thing. There are so many different paths in the game once you get pass the initial learning curve, it's really up to you.

What most of those newbies are whining here is going down the path of a strict hunter(killing monsters). Of course if you played the entire game as a hunter, you are playing against the developer.  Mining and hunting, you are trying to get developer to give you money (in the form of mob loot/ores).  OBVIOUSLY they will not give you more than you invested in the game. This is not (*#*(@ wow where you can farm 100000 gold a day and every item in the game is in 6 figures after a few months. Even if you play a hunter, if you play efficiently and do your research, you still dont need a lot of money, about the same as a monthly subscription. 

But the meat of the game is not as a hunter,  here's a giant hint for your morons, you make money in the game by playing a profession that makes money FROM PLAYERS NOT MINDARK. Of course some players love to hunt and dont mind paying a bit money each month, which is perfectly fine too.

The only downside of the game right now is the graphics are a bit outdated so it doesnt look that nice, once the game gets facelift from crytek2 probably by next year realistically, it will be truely perfect.

I love the idea of putting a real dollar vaue to the in game currency, everyone takes the game much more seriously and the quality of people playing the game is also much different than your "i ownz j00" high school crowds in wow.

Originally posted by gagaliya

Dont listen to all those wow idiots, EU is a completely different game, it is an adult game and takes more than just leet fast finger skillz and trash talk to succeed. Yes it takes money to play for some professions and the end game is very expensive.  But that's the whole point of a sand box mmorpg, otherwise everyone would be right on the top tier doing the same thing.

....

I love the idea of putting a real dollar vaue to the in game currency, everyone takes the game much more seriously and the quality of people playing the game is also much different than your "i ownz j00" high school crowds in wow.

 

Well, maybe for you the point of a sandbox game is paying real cash out the ass for things, but for a lot of us the definition is different.

What are you talking about, having the currency pegged to the USD does not mean paying cash "out of the ass" for everything.  You can certainly play it that way just blow cash on the game, but you dont have to, and most dont.  Get a clue.

Originally posted by LynxJSA

Originally posted by gagaliya

Dont listen to all those wow idiots, EU is a completely different game, it is an adult game and takes more than just leet fast finger skillz and trash talk to succeed. Yes it takes money to play for some professions and the end game is very expensive.  But that's the whole point of a sand box mmorpg, otherwise everyone would be right on the top tier doing the same thing.

....

I love the idea of putting a real dollar vaue to the in game currency, everyone takes the game much more seriously and the quality of people playing the game is also much different than your "i ownz j00" high school crowds in wow.

 

Well, maybe for you the point of a sandbox game is paying real cash out the ass for things, but for a lot of us the definition is different.

What a bunch of hogwash trying to call this game a perfect sandbox lol.  It is strictly a casino, nothing else, it is NOT even close to being what us MMOer's call a sandbox.  How dare you to denigrate the definition of a sandbox game.

It is tragedy that some try to paint this game in a favorable light.

Originally posted by HawkwoodEU

 

About younger avatars I know and who are better equipped or skilled than me. Or as good as me, yet they played much shorter. They are not avatars of one person and I can assure you of this.

 

...

Why some avas could be more succesfull than me? For example they did something better than I or wiser. There is no official guide telling you: "if you go and shoot X ammount of X creatures at X hours, you will get 1k ped". You need to learn yourself what you should do and adapt to circumstances. Maybe I wasn't adapting fast enough. Yes, they could have deposited more than me, so having more money to cycle they received higher reward. Some of them might have used exploits ingame. Some could have used bots for skilling (yes, like in every online game there are players in EU who do not play fair) and noone caught them doing so. Some of them could trade more than I (which is not difficult, as I do not trade at all) and make some profit from this, which allowed them to get better gear. Some of them were probably just lucky.

Originally posted by HawkwoodEU

Don't really understand what do you mean by saying F2P Sales Speech Package #8? I'm just telling you the truth.

Originally posted by gagaliya

But the meat of the game is not as a hunter,  here's a giant hint for your morons, you make money in the game by playing a profession that makes money FROM PLAYERS NOT MINDARK. Of course some players love to hunt and dont mind paying a bit money each month, which is perfectly fine too.

The amount of time and money being sunk into EU to make positive money would produce better results if used in the real world.

One thing is blatantly obvious when reading this thread. Entropia creates emotion. That is good.

Another thing this thread proves is that people that don't get gets angry and people that get it gets rich.

Originally posted by Lagavulin

One thing is blatantly obvious when reading this thread. Entropia creates emotion. That is good.

Another thing this thread proves is that people that don't get gets angry and people that get it gets rich.

Money does crazy stuff to people.

Originally posted by Ozmodan

What a bunch of hogwash trying to call this game a perfect sandbox lol.  It is strictly a casino, nothing else, it is NOT even close to being what us MMOer's call a sandbox.  How dare you to denigrate the definition of a sandbox game.

It is tragedy that some try to paint this game in a favorable light.

So you know better than the swedish gaming commision then do you?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme

I don't get what he was talking about with Storyline. There really isn't a fluid state of affairs in that game.

I really despised EU after having to do something called "Sweat" (harvest sweat off animals) for 3 days when I first started. I found that pretty crappy of any development team, and because of that have done my part to dissuade people I know from trying it.

You should never introduce such a tedious form of grinding from the very start of a game.

I really think MMORPG shouldn't support this game.

The Ped for Cash system is borderline fraudulent/scamming. Despite being F2P.

Originally posted by Nytewolf2k7

Originally posted by Ozmodan

What a bunch of hogwash trying to call this game a perfect sandbox lol.  It is strictly a casino, nothing else, it is NOT even close to being what us MMOer's call a sandbox.  How dare you to denigrate the definition of a sandbox game.

It is tragedy that some try to paint this game in a favorable light.

So you know better than the swedish gaming commision then do you?

Next time quote a viable source.

Sorry if I insulted anyone that plays this game, but I do feel sorry for you.

guys this game is not what it seems to be. You get stupider as you play it.

You can make more money with a job common now. you have to sweat as a newbie and the chances of you becoming really rich is pretty hard in the game. everything is hard but trust me when i say this is not worth your time. you'll sweat for hours and you'll end up with a few buck real life money. you'll merchant and everything but the sum all ends up being way LESS THAN YOUR ENERGY BILL.

DOn't think you can play and make money easy. it'll be better to work for it in real life.

Here is a good example of how Entropia is funny and rewarding:

http://www.massively.com/2008/06/05/entropia-universe-bidding-war-leads-to-12-000-payout-for-newbie

"How would you like to wake up and find that you made $12,000 overnight? Seems like a dream, doesn't it? How would you like to have that $12,000 come from a single drop you found one day while farming in your favorite MMO? Now it seems even more like a dream."

Which other MMO can the above happen? None. Correct!

Originally posted by Lagavulin

Here is a good example of how Entropia is funny and rewarding:

http://www.massively.com/2008/06/05/entropia-universe-bidding-war-leads-to-12-000-payout-for-newbie

 

"How would you like to wake up and find that you made $12,000 overnight? Seems like a dream, doesn't it? How would you like to have that $12,000 come from a single drop you found one day while farming in your favorite MMO? Now it seems even more like a dream."

 

Which other MMO can the above happen? None. Correct!

Originally posted by ecator

 

Originally posted by Lagavulin

Here is a good example of how Entropia is funny and rewarding:

http://www.massively.com/2008/06/05/entropia-universe-bidding-war-leads-to-12-000-payout-for-newbie

 

"How would you like to wake up and find that you made $12,000 overnight? Seems like a dream, doesn't it? How would you like to have that $12,000 come from a single drop you found one day while farming in your favorite MMO? Now it seems even more like a dream."

 

Which other MMO can the above happen? None. Correct!

..and that makes "the game" somehow not like a casino then?

 

 

You can also call the thing we all share, Life, as a casino as well if you take that perspective. Everything in life is a gamble. So your comment is in my pov useless.