Since the bots haven't picked up on this one yet, check out this announcement: Monria, a Top Entropia Universe Destination, is Now for Sale. Who'd have thunk it?
I've been there, and there's nothing horror-esque about it. Also their video on steam didn't do the planet much good as it was a wrong presentation of what the planet and the game was like. It's a shame they are to sell Monria, I'd like to see it staying alive.
I'd look forward to its development by its potential buyers. It's pretty underwhelming in its current state. Hunting's nearly non-existent, with only 4 types of mobs available. Crafting too, though the daily 0.75pec engineering mission is superb. The only thing it's got going for it currently is the tax-free FOMA/AU-styled mining.
So being green-lit on Steam didn't had the desired effect? Well, at least they're selling it, or are trying to. That's better than leaving it in a semi dead state like Next Island. But yeah, sad to see any PP fail to live up to its expectations. And glad that Ark is a happy exception.
They were never a PP, the estate was owned and developed by MindArk, they were able to provide the name and theming but ultimately MA called the shots and developed the content. Really the Monria deed could be considered a big CLD with voting rights, the payout cut is actually pretty slim. As far as Steam, they largely worked on that without the consent of MindArk, thus when it became greenlit they still had to work with them to make changes to both MA policy and the platform, MA has largely pocket veto'd those changes. I also never felt, and I'm sure MA does not either, that Monria should be the representation of Entropia on Steam, it should be a full planet like Calypso or Arkadia, or better yet you have to pick a planet and the Steam entry is simply Entropia Universe. The small and fixed content state of Monria would actually have caused more harm to the reputation of Entropia than good. I know you start on the Calypso new player chain, and I know that you get a free one way one time teleport to Calypso after completing some Monria missions, but I dont feel that it would have been enough, nor that the player would get to that free teleport before quitting.
Hmmmm, totally shocked! How could this go wrong? Break it up, sell it to the players in another money grab and try to make something out of nothing.
So.. I had two shops on Monria. Sold one a while back, lended the other one out to a friend who wanted to try out running a shop. With this announcement, my deed is worthless Let's hope Star pulls it off. I'll probably buy a chunk as well.
Dont loose hope yet, your deed is still valid and under the new ownership you will still have your shop, same goes for Monria apartments. Perhaps they will even have a better marketing plan which could bring you more income.
