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AlphaGeek <span style="font-size: normal;">--Surviving at the oil rig these days would involve a pretty significant outlay of PK equipment and the ability to fend off high maturity atrox. Sure, it's possible, but not for the beginner, or even the mid-level player.

There is one more way to get money, and dont know why no one is talking about it. Oil rig. Place in middle of PvP zone, crawling with Atroxes where oil barrel is spawn every 5-15 min. Each barrel is worth between 5 and 15 ped, so if u can survive long enough its great way to make money. Was there, done that. I make my way from zero to over 40,000 ped in 3 years. No minning, hunting, just pure rigging 2-4 hours per day. Thinkin about it like an extra job. After 3 years cash out and leave with almost 4000$.

  Question remains then.
 

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<p>Why sure does it feel tough as a EU noob. Boy I 'll tell ya</p>

So in short summary, lack of advertising & RL cash makes this a show-stopper.

After having played for a number of hours now (don't check my XFIRE, it isn't always on), I can understand why the average player won't care for this game. You do a lot of running around just to find a hand-full of mobs - it is not like they spawn every 30 secs at same place in huge crowds as in your standard MMO. And that can make it a bit boring. Then again, sandboxes are often like that, take away todays quests in SWG (or rather, think pre-NGE/CU) and there didn't seem that much to do there either (well, aside from more mobs). And the hardcore skill lovers shouldn't mind.

Oh well, I was just curious what you all had to say. Perhaps I should have posted in General to get some more of the trolls here :D

For me personally, I am still not sure if I like it or not. And if one can't make up ones mind after several playing sessions....

Why don't I play EU?

For starters, I had never heard of it.  So, that in and of itself would be a fairly large show-stopper.

Secondly, I'm not really looking to throw RL $ at a company for virtual goods, atm. 

If there is a way for 'skill' to overcome $ in the game, great.  If not, no thanks. 

Originally posted by docminus

So in short summary, lack of advertising & RL cash makes this a show-stopper.

After having played for a number of hours now (don't check my XFIRE, it isn't always on), I can understand why the average player won't care for this game. You do a lot of running around just to find a hand-full of mobs - it is not like they spawn every 30 secs at same place in huge crowds as in your standard MMO.

Actually that isn't a problem in EU. If you've only played for a few hours I'm guessing you're sweating, unless you put in cash which seems unlikely. If so you obviously didn't find the sweat camp or other sweating areas. Running around to find mobs isn't really a problem for a noob in EU.

I've played for just over a week now and I think the biggest problem for a noob is the cost of consumables like ammo and the repair costs, coupled with the quick degradation of equipment. This is made worse by the fact that sweat is very difficult to sell right now, the price is low, and you spend way too long standing around trying to sell it. You can't sell it through the auction house, you have to sell it through trade chat in a local area. The more free players there are I suppose the cheaper sweat becomes. And I can understand MA need to make money. But I'm coming to see that things simply cost too much in EU. If they didn't perhaps more people would stick around. Not that EU is empty compared to similar games like AO and Ryzom. It's doing better than either of those.

Yes, it's the "RL cash thingy".

Thanks but no thanks.

Yes... the "RL cash thingy"

Well... i was quite active player about 1,5 years so i know something about EU. But now... pfft. Online casino - nothing else. Im nothing against to pay to play... (EU free? drop it) but, u usually get something back what is worth u r money. SO simply.. that game is not worth that money what u will put in it. Disappointed. MA may burn.. with or without Cry2.

Thats my opinion and that is based on something bit more than just 3h gameplay. Me, as player who likes to have good time if  "i play"... not second job.

Originally posted by Mahlo 

Not that EU is empty compared to similar games like AO and Ryzom. It's doing better than either of those.

Post the numbers, then.

The "real cash" economic model is a turn off for some people, and hence, is why it only appeals to certain types of people.

For one of those people to even download and play, they'd have to get the same or better bang for their buck they could get elsewhere...

If WoW had a "real cash" model and EU had a "P2P" or "F2P"  model, well the populations "might" be reversed, or not...

I tried it and the controls at the start kind of set me off on the wrong foot - just didn't like the "feel" of it. Then the whole sweating animals thing was a snore so just went back to WoW.

Thinking about it, the real cash thingy wasnt exactly what droped me out of the game, the problem was the game was expensive to play. I really liked the freedom feel i got in the game, but it was expensive to play it. 10 € lasted me for around 1 week, it was too much for my economy. What pity, if the game was cheaper in it's paid items it sure will have more peeps.

Originally posted by alakram

Thinking about it, the real cash thingy wasnt exactly what droped me out of the game, the problem was the game was expensive to play. I really liked the freedom feel i got in the game, but it was expensive to play it. 10 € lasted me for around 1 week, it was too much for my economy. What pity, if the game was cheaper in it's paid items it sure will have more peeps.

I agree things are too costly. I think MA have got it wrong at the moment. But then maybe they think it wouldn't attract more players if it was cheaper, in which case, they haven't got it wrong.

I have yet to deposit any money, and I've been hunting a few times now from sweat I've sold and with help from my mentor. It has another dimension compared to hunting in usual MMOs. No sense of grinding at all, although you constantly skill up. And one thing that hasn't been mentioned are the creatures. Really convincing, I think.

Anyway, I prefer SF to fantasy, prefer skills to levels and like the real economy idea. So, for now I'll keep playing EU, maybe I'll deposit. I probably will deposit once, at least, to see how things go. I wouldn't chuck money at the game though. Some players do, there's no doubt.

Originally posted by halldorr

I tried it and the controls at the start kind of set me off on the wrong foot - just didn't like the "feel" of it. Then the whole sweating animals thing was a snore so just went back to WoW.

Sweating getting boring i can understand, but the controls? Basically anything you can do ingame can be mapped to any key you like, it's fully customizable, the hotbars are too or can be hidden plus you can play 1st person view or 3rd person. what kind of feel were you looking for? :)

As for things being too costly, Marco mentioned it in the post he made about the reinvention of Calypso ( www.entropiagateway.com/2009/05/the-reinvention-of-planet-calypso/ ) One of the things they want to focus more on is making the game accessible to both players willing to invest money and others only time. So let's hope that's what we'll see more of in the future.

Re: The OP

My trial of EU showed it to cost me about $10/hr for an acceptable level of entertainment.

That was a loser for me. But I suppose if a person has money to burn, it would work out just fine in the end.

lol

I'm pretty curious what acceptable level of entertainment you got for $10/h :)  One of the challenges you can choose to pick up is doing things efficiently/economically, there's plenty of info and guides around to help with that and will make things alot cheaper than those 10$/h. On the other hand, like you said if someone does have the money to spend he can play around with the big guns he's not skilled enough for too. It's an open world that doesn't hold your hand, the choice is all yours ;)

whoever said the sandbox crowd wanted hardcore?

anyway i avoid this game because of the big cash sink that lies underneath the surface.  I think in the MMO Money blog the guy reported that the company who owned this game made some crazy profit last year (30 million?) which to me shows how much of a money sink it is.

Originally posted by Death1942

whoever said the sandbox crowd wanted hardcore?

 

anyway i avoid this game because of the big cash sink that lies underneath the surface.  I think in the MMO Money blog the guy reported that the company who owned this game made some crazy profit last year (30 million?) which to me shows how much of a money sink it is.

I agree. I just want to advance and sustain my characters progression but the input/output ratio is severely out of whack in this games economy.

Originally posted by kicek.1

There is one more way to get money, and dont know why no one is talking about it. Oil rig. Place in middle of PvP zone, crawling with Atroxes where oil barrel is spawn every 5-15 min. Each barrel is worth between 5 and 15 ped, so if u can survive long enough its great way to make money. Was there, done that. I make my way from zero to over 40,000 ped in 3 years. No minning, hunting, just pure rigging 2-4 hours per day. Thinkin about it like an extra job. After 3 years cash out and leave with almost 4000$.

Congrats, you made 55 cents an hour!

This game is a joke.  Mostly because it's not a game, it's a virtual world scam.  It's an online casino and nothing more.

Originally posted by RedwoodSap

I won't even consider a MMOG with an item shop or cash purchase system like EVE Online and Roma Victor, or a gambling loot card game like SOE employs in their products.

I want a pure unadulterated classic MMOG design.

Eve's PLEX system is designed to fight money farmers.  The market decides what the value of one month of play is.  It has significantly dropped the value of ISK Farmers work.  I don't mind it.  If I want to get a free month of playing, I can buy a PLEX in game with some extra cash I have.  It's a fake economy, in a fake world... you shouldn't care too much.

The ability to sell play time for ingame cash doesn't bother me.

''Money sink'' Everything is money sink.. go watch a movie with popcorn, cola.. $15+ for 1:30-2 hours of entertainment... go to a night club Taxi+Beers $50+ for 5-6 hours of entertainment.. and you can both reduce the cost.. but lower your entertainment but you can still use the social aspect of both... if you dare to..

Both aren't comparable entertainment.. like EU and other MMOG

Sorry.. English isn't the first language i learned

Originally posted by docminus

Since I am yearning for some more SciFi type of MMO I figured I check out EU. And boy does it feel tough as a EU noob. The basic info isn't too bad though, better than in many other games with the keyboard layout on screen. In the end though you really start from 0. UO, Darkfall or SWG-pre-NGE/CU give you at least a weapon to start with. But hey, it's all skill based and you need to work your way up, so why not really start from scratch. 

Isn't that what many skill-lovers want? Hardcore, hardcore, hardcore. Skills only. Well, EU seems to have that? I see a lot of hate against WoW, LOTRO and other games, or at least the "clones", but EU seems to have it all. Now I am not saying I am loving it or that I will stay, but I will give a fair try.

So in the end - is it the money transactions? It is for free after all, that should prolly satiesfy the biggest hardcore players if they don't want to pay cash for equipement. Or is it lack of PvP or Raids? (I don't know if that exists or not, so I am just guessing).

*shrugs* Guess I am once again the n00B despite many years of MMOs.

My simple answer to the question posed in the title is, "yes, it's the RL cash thingy."  Why?  Because I would prefer to spend a fee up front for a service that I can enjoy for a specific time-period.  In the RMT model, I don't know how much I'm going to have to spend to make the game enjoyable, or to make myself competitive.  Simply put, the system (by design) allows the producer to manipulate the game environment to their financial advantage.  The best way to avoid being sucked down by the undertow is to stay out of the water.

Originally posted by lkavadas

Congrats, you made 55 cents an hour!

This game is a joke.  Mostly because it's not a game, it's a virtual world scam.  It's an online casino and nothing more.

Pretty much this. The game itself could actually be half decent, but the gameplay/payment model they're using is atrocious, and is probably the penultimate form of "buying your way to the win!" RMT that is ruining the genre. Couple that with the fact that you can actually lose money playing the game and it is basically virtual gambling only with more grind.