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Observations about the business side of Entropia

Discussion in 'New Player Discussions' started by Starburst, Sep 4, 2013.

  1. AxeMurderer

    AxeMurderer Active Member Pro Users

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    I will disagree here with you. I started having fun from the moment I loged in. And that was before the starting mission you have now. May be even had more fun first months before depositing and then deposoting just 20$. If you compare that to EVE online where everyone will tell you that you can't have fun until you spent months skilling and joining big corporations. In Entropia fun starts from day one. It may stop when you finish the starting missions and don't want to deposit, but if you don't deposit in EVE or other good MMO's fun will stop too. And if your mentor is playing from 5 years 1500$ is just 25 $ a month and he probably have gear and skills to sell.
     
  2. Neil

    Neil Adviser Pro Users Arkadia Adviser

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    The game is like RL in some ways... if your goal is to profit, you can do so easily, but you have to treat it like a business, not like "play".
     
  3. Cyborg Bill

    Cyborg Bill Well-Known Member Pro Users

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    The hardest lesson I see people struggle with in EU is when NOT to be doing something. Every person I have ever met in the 7 years I have played myself included had to learn this lesson and usually do it the hard way. When times are good they are good hangout and ride the wave of happiness. When things are bad TRUST ME they wont get better. WALK AWAY. Go do something else.. or test the same thing you were doing elsewhere. I hear many say well if I hang out here it will have to pay me back sooner or later.. No it does not. everything you are losing there waiting for your share is going to pay other. Maybe the OP is struggling with this lesson as many do.
     
  4. Starburst

    Starburst Member

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    It was wrong of me to divulge this information to make my point, but it was what I was thinking about at the time. How much my mentor did or did not invest is really his business, and not something I should've disclosed, so I apologize to him for that. I've given this matter some more thought. I believe it is a mistake to plan on profiting from a game; however, honestly, Mind Ark does go to certain efforts to give you the impression that, in a real cash economy, there is money to be made.

    I received an email from the Caly forum the other day. It described that one person had managed to kill a creature worth $33,000.00. That's a lot of money for one creature I thought. I had seen the various HoF entries go by on my messenger window, but never put two and two together somehow. The game is like shooting craps or playing black jack or other such games where you spend a dollar for a raffle ticket in hopes that your name is drawn out of the list of thousands or more who also wanted a shot at winning the jackpot only better: by playing smart you can really increase your chances of winning albeit not with any promises. And I imagine, when you do hit one, even a moderate or minor one, there is a certain thrill you get you just can't get anywhere else.

    So, logically, the only way for me to have a chance at winning a small payout is to play the game if that is all I play it for; however, that's the thing. It isn't all I play it for. It is fun to play. And any payouts it might offer are an incentive to keep trying. Some may disagree with my logic, but that seems like a good reason to keep at it to me.

    Sadly, this point may have been lost due to the unnecessary emphasis being put on profitable business. I suppose that such a business is possible, but with a rather low rate of success, so I hope KikkiJikki is successful, and can prove it can be done. Until then I believe it to be an established fact that people willing to invest in something like real estate do stand to profit from it to a degree; however, seeing as how I haven't, and probably won't put that kind of capital into it, nor have the level of capital to invest that KikkiJikki has already put into it, means I have to play for reasons that suit me like everyone else I suppose. Coming to grips with this reality though could explain why so many start playing and within a short time quit. Simply because they discover it isn't what they expected.
     
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  5. ebo-ice

    ebo-ice New Member

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    'expectations', its what [you] formulated in [your] mind. [your] vision of how it [should] be. expectations will let you down every time...

    Ive played off and on since dec 2002. I had expectations. I now play for the sake of playing. The HOFs we see are all we see. What we do not see is how much time that avatar spent killing or crafting to get that HOF or global. 1500 HOF? That player might of just blown through 3500ped crafting before that...

    That global or HOF being broadcasted leaves a lot of room for the imagination unfortunately. So if you enjoy the game, play it. If you are here to make untold amounts of RL money, I think you came to 'expect' too much from a virtual reality.

    Ebo
     
  6. Starburst

    Starburst Member

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    I think it is a bit unfair to say I am the only person who ever had the same type of expectations. Of course, I can't say what is in another person's mind, but I can deduce what they may have thought based on the same information everyone has when they sign up to play. I couldn't possibly be the only one with delusions of grandeur...
     
  7. Snape

    Snape Master of the BanHammer Staff Member PAF Administrator

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    Nope, you've got plenty of company. I was one of the people that joined just after Deathy bought Treasure Island...

    Now, not to say I had stars in my eyes but the marketing hook is certainly what got us to create and continue to run SFE over the years. Whilst it certainly hasn't made Squillions, we have got it to a point where it not only breaks even, but pays for its own maintenance and slow expansion over time. We've even started to slowly (very slowly) pay ourselves back over time, though that goes back into the game as either hunting fair (on very rare occasions) or supplementing my own personal purchases over time.

    In case anyone is wondering, for the record, we've never withdrawn anything from the game, though obviously that is the long range/term plan with the business.
     
  8. Starburst

    Starburst Member

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    I imagine everyone else knows what you mean by SFE, but I'm afraid I am new, so it doesn't register in my memory bank. I assume it is a shop either in Celeste Harbor or Sanctuary Cove. I haven't spent a lot of time in the shops I'm afraid. Could you or someone else expand the acronym?
     
  9. Puck

    Puck Adviser Pro Users Arkadia Adviser

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    Southern Fortress Engineering, listed in his profile. It's a soc specializing in armor constructions and sales.
     
  10. Starburst

    Starburst Member

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    Sorry. I should've looked. Wasn't thinking I guess.
     
  11. sostoned

    sostoned Member

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    This!