Watch This Planet Arkadia Update 2014.1 (19 March)

Same but I've had it for a long time now maybe 6 months.

Location doesn't matter for me. I get it 99% of the time at any of over 90 locations that i'm logged into. Generally speaking its time of day that tends to effect it the most. Its pretty clearly a login/authentication issue most likely with the log/auth server.

 

So, Akadia has finally dropped the ball...

It started with Nusul, a subpar design that fits well into some eastern anime-style hack'n'slash flick, not into sci-fi themed MMO. From there it's keeps going downhill. Underground has fallen so far below any imaginable standards that it hurts.

What happened? The original designers have left the team? Or is it some "management genius" who figured it's a "smart business decision" to sacrifice quality for quantity and start rolling out worthless crap?
One detail doesn't fit into the overall picture thou - the oratan miners. Suddenly there's one quality design, comparable with the very first mob designs. Clearly done by different designer.

Anyway, whatever is going on, if u keep going down this road the planet will sooner or later lose it's current position as a 1st runner-up. It will take time, maybe years, but that's where it will end.

Which planet will pick up the ball you have dropped? Cyrene? Toulan? ... or maybe u guys will wake up eventually? Take your time. No hurry, yet.

 

Actually, the complete opposite is true. The quality of mob design has increased dramatically from the original release. Ever notice how the carabok, madana, kiana, kadra, korwil and the bokol, yuka, teladon, huon and kamaldon all looked eerily similar at the start? It's because the A-team wanted to push out many mobs on a deadline, so they used the same patterns (i.e. went for quantity over quality). The quality-designed mobs IMO started with Nusul or Scoria (don't recall which came first) and Oratan lancers and every mob since. The underground mobs are certainly different from what you've seen above ground or on any other planet but that doesn't mean they're "worthless crap" or "far below any imaginable standards".

Since you're not really talking about design quality, what you're really saying is that you don't like the new mobs or that you would prefer if they had a different look. That's your personal preference, not a matter of design quality going down. I personally think the new mobs are interesting. I love the bots, the navi and togolossi and and even the wombana or as I think of them "bird brains" (which are a bit cartoonish) are funny and serve as a needed amusement when mining. There are RL animals with transparent heads. I stood for a while and watched the miner bots picking stuff up and putting it into their trays, very cool animations on the new mobs.

Here I think is the central issue: science fiction means different things to different people. Asimov and Blade Runner (movie, not book), both are classed as Sci-Fi. There's an unfortunate current-day misconception that if something is Sci-Fi, it must be either dirty, depressing, post-apocalyptic... or have vampires, zombies, or werewolves (thanks, movie producers and writers with no imagination). You can have cute, cuddly mobs in Sci-Fi too. Interestingly enough, it's much like the real world where we have some cute, even cartoonish creatures as well as creepy looking ones. Tribbles, pequeninos, ewoks and hrossa, you wouldn't see them riding shotgun with Mad Max but they're genuine Sci-Fi nevertheless.

If there are mobs you don't like to look at, there's a pretty simple solution: hunt a different mob or mine a different area.

 

I've got a small question about mining in the Underground.
I'm a (very) casual miner, but know that usually you can drop probes pretty close to things if they are not on a steep incline.
In the Underground I've dropped probes right next to the yellow trunk-ed trees, but with the blue trunk-ed trees this wasn't possible.
In fact I had to move quite a bit away from it, to be allowed to mine.

Is this for a specific reason? Are those trees not just trees: something specific about them?
Or is this something common for indoors mining areas?
Since I don't have any experience with those, this might be obvious to some, but it surprised me. :huh:

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Also, I feel compelled to make a remark about the mobs post.

These are Underground mobs, who according to the back-story have been separated from the above ground mobs.
Only the Oratan are known to venture to the surface, and mainly to chase the 'intruders' away.
This would mean that the Underground mobs are not 'new' mobs, but are more likely 'ancient' mobs.
When our colonization began, this also made actual new mobs appear, so you could presume that the inhabitants somehow have an influence on the mobs. In that case; the mobs you see below ground are a reflection of the ancient Arkadians.

So it's not that strange that the 'above' & 'below' ground mobs look different.
In fact, I think it shows attention to the details: the story really fits with what you see.

Example of a detail: take a look at the statues in front of the Vaults. They have an Aarkan texture on their armor.

 

I think it's a bug (I've noticed it too), normally you can mine right up close to trees (of any color).

 

Ah ok, thanks for the answer.
Glad to know I didn't imagine it, or exhibited extreme noobish behavior.

 

Thing is I've tried countless times now to log in... and cannot get in at all... so your saying sometimes you can get in?

 

Oh, u noticed? I would use a similar term - anime, or maybe manga would be even more precise in most cases.
In general, anime style can fit with sci-fi perfectly well. This is not a problem. If you think anime characters fit well with CryEngine and the general realistic style of Entropia Universe, good for u.

Compare those 2 pictures (both taken with "Very High" settings):

View attachment 9177 View attachment 9178





If you can't see the difference, well, that would give "blind faith" a whole new meaning...

I can describe what i'm seeing. One is a finished 3D model with decent textures and thousands of polygons. Another is just an animated 2D scetch...


I do respect unconditional loyalty. However sometimes u have to step up and say "the king is naked!" Whenever the real downfall happened the decisionmaker was surrounded only with yes-men.

 

I don't see any pictures in your post, but I do know from hunting on Cyrene that mobs must be optimized or it negatively affects your framerates, so it's not just a simple matter of making them look "as awesome as possible".

 

Yes sometimes it takes 20 plus times but it will let me in. If you log in and hit the loading screen and then once loaded it crashed to desktop then it maybe a graphic issue which can be location based. I know after the last patch I can't go to half moon bay any more. One i crash there i have to be moved in order to get back in.

 

I often get in this thread trying to cutch up for news about Ark update and always follow on some login in issue post! ;/
Guys if you still having problems with log in PLEASE try to post to tech support sections of the forums (Ark - EU) not here.
Moderators also have to move those posts from here aswell pls.
Thank you

 

When will the next patch be? Also will the deeds be released with this patch and if so how many?

 

Deed info:

http://arkadiaforum.com/showthread.php?10132-Arkadia-Underground-Deeds-Delay&p=74280

Yea sorry been trying to find that out myself..200k deeds btw.

 

I seen that thread but that does not answer my questions of when the patch will be and how many deeds will be released if any after that patch.

 

Thank you kind sir!

 

Have MA stopped using their websites for these sorts of announcements? That's really gonna screw with the news bots.

 

My bad, apparently the attachments have to be kept in the post otherwise the forum software deletes full-sized pictures as well. OK, fixed.


One picture tells more than 100 words.

I can see what you tried to do here, sir. Attack is the best defense!
Suddenly the poor badger-thing seems much better. Yes, it's awesome actually. Problem solved.

lmao

 

Looking at your pics, no, I wouldn't describe the badger as cartoonish. I was referring to the wombana when I said that. If that means I'm blind, so be it. The oratan lancer is more complex than the badger, which is not surprising at all, considering that it was meant to be a special event mob... while the badger is a lowly, common mining drone. If you don't like looking at badgers, don't hunt them. I, personally, enjoy their animations, I think they're pretty cool.

It's not a dig at the Cyrene developer, but it is a fact that many of the cyrene mobs cause low framerates, something I have not experienced with Ark mobs. I mentioned this because you said that the mobs ought to have more polygons, so I pointed out that more polygons is not necessarily a good thing.