Communication and Development Roadmap Dear Entropians, Given the real-cash aspect of the Entropia Universe economy, it has historically been MindArk’s policy to be very careful when releasing information related to future development plans, mainly to prevent undue disruption of the economy. However, considering the plethora of information channels now available to participants to stay up to date on official Entropia Universe and Planet Partner announcements (the Client Loader, Facebook, Entropia Buzz, information from which is also syndicated on many community and planet forums), MindArk has made a decision to be more active in sharing its future development plans with participants. And the sharing starts now! Below is a summary of some of the projects the MindArk design and development teams are currently focused on. In future communications we will give increasingly more detailed information on each of these projects, and announce additional projects as they become closer to implementation. ************************************ Client & Server Stability MindArk’s highest priority during the next several releases will be improving stability of the Entropia Universe client. Several of the most common causes of recent client crashes have been identified and our developers are hard at work on resolving those to improve the Entropia Universe experience for all participants. New Player Experience Ongoing improvements to the New Player Experience have been implemented with every platform and planet partner release so far this year. These efforts will continue to be a top priority during the rest of 2014 and into 2015 in order to maximise the marketing efforts of MindArk and the planet partners. Creature Control System Stage 1 - (Planned for June 2014 Release) You may already be aware of a new feature introduced not long ago which allows officials and planet partners to control various creatures during special events. This system will be extended to participants in the form of Creature Control Capsules, consumable items that will allow you to transform your avatar into a specific creature for a limited time. This fun feature will be made available exclusively through the loot system, and will be monitored closely to prevent abuse. View attachment 9474 View attachment 9475 View attachment 9476 Taming Stage 1 - (Planned for Autumn 2014 Release) Some of you will be happy to hear that we plan to (finally) reintroduce Taming to Entropia Universe. In the first stage the core functionality will be quite similar to the original taming system, with added improvements to usability and fun-factor. Initially, pets will be to able accompany your avatar in its Entropia Universe travels, with more pet abilities and features planned for later stages (see below). PVP Improvements - (Planned for Autumn 2014 Release) Various improvements to PVP combat have already been implemented this year and more are planned after the summer, including adjustments to the landgrab and fort systems. Taming Stage 2 - (Planned for Late 2014 / Early 2015 Release) In this stage it is planned to implement additional skill-based taming abilities which will expand the capabilities of tamed creatures beyond the pre-VU10 taming system. In addition, a limited number of stables will be made available that will fulfill various roles within the taming system such as stabling, feeding, expert training, trading and more. Creature Control System Stage 2 - (Planned for Winter 2014 Release) Through a new Battle Octagon interface, your avatar will be able to control various creatures and challenge other avatars to battle in special CCS octagons. With lots of options for attack and defense customisation, each battle promises to be unique and exciting, especially considering the possibility of creatures and robots from different planets engaging in reckless combat against one another! View attachment 9477 View attachment 9478 View attachment 9479 Taming Stage 3 - (Planned for Early 2015 Release) Battle Arenas will be introduced which will allow tamed creatures to battle one another. Each battle will be unique, with a wide range of offensive and defensive pet buffs and upgrades along with customisable attack and defense profiles. Web-Based Battle Arena - (Planned for Early 2015 Release) A web-based Battle Arena game is planned for early 2015. The game will be developed as a cross-platform solution available on the web and for mobile devices, and will have direct ties to the Entropia Universe taming* system. Players will have the opportunity to acquire, upgrade and customise their pets for battle against the pets of others. Entropia Universe participants will have the ability to acquire Battle Arena Deeds and share in the revenue and excitement of the Battle Arena action. 200,000 Battle Arena Deeds will be offered via the Entropia Universe in-game auction and upcoming webshop at 100 PED each. Revenues generated from the Battle Arena Deed offering will be used exclusively for Battle Arena development and marketing. More detailed information about the Battle Arena Deeds will be made available very soon. Affiliate System - (Planned for Early 2015 Release) Work is moving forward on the affiliate program mentioned in the State of the Universe Address 2014, though the expected release date has been revised to 2015 due to integration requirements with other planned projects. Citizenship & Political System - (Planned for Early 2015 Release) The announced political and housing system is still in the initial design and development stage. As with the taming system, we expect to roll out this system in several stages during 2015. Further information will be made available as each development milestone draws closer. Regards, David Simmonds CEO MindArk PE AB Originally posted here...
Woop! Never say Never, eh? View attachment 9471 Now we wait and see if the roadmap comes with a GPS. View attachment 9472
seriously there is nothing about upgrading the combat experience? Duck hunt is more exciting then standing in front of a mob and shoot shoot fap shoot shoot fap fap fap fap fap fap damn it why wont you fap and i'm dead. I'm extremely disappointed with this road map. All this road maps says to me is we are going to add pokemon to Entropia.
True, it's basically only announcing that they intend to release a lot of Pet PvP. But at least the people waiting for Taming all those years have something a bit more tangible to look forward to. That's kinda worth a slow clap, isn't it? View attachment 9473 The part that I wonder about is: "200,000 Battle Arena Deeds will be offered via the Entropia Universe in-game auction and upcoming webshop at 100 PED each. Revenues generated from the Battle Arena Deed offering will be used exclusively for Battle Arena development and marketing." Is that connected to this post?
Yay. I'm so excited. Information is nice and all, but what in that list will help bring my success rates in crafting back up to what they used to be? What about my claim sizes in mining. Decent hunting loots. My general return rate? Once upon a time I could deposit and cycle it a number of times and feel like I got my money's worth. Haven't felt that way in years. Unless this list will somehow improve the returns it's all just a waste of time to me. I miss having fun in EU. I can barely stand it anymore. It's no fun when money flows out at such high rates.
I'm almost totally uninterested in the planned changes. More PVP, pffft! It would of course be nice to have less crashes. But to be fair, it's well past time the tamers were shown some love. I just hope we can get current issues sorted out around the message centre and contacts list because that's where I am seeing impact on my business.
Taming is cool but I don't think I like the idea of pet PVP rings. Seems a bit distasteful to me. I'd much rather see new features being in the form of some exploration & resource gathering. Actually I'd like to see important things like item locks and of course the crafting economy improved first before any other new features, including taming. And of course space, which seems to have been dropped from the roadmap. ** Edit: space overhaul seems scheduled for 2015, according to David|Mindark on PCF:
I had the same feeling when I read about it but didn't say anything as I thought maybe I was being silly and over reacting. Nice to know it's not just me As for the Taming, after so many empty promises over the years I'm not getting excited until I download it and see it for myself actually in game and working!
Same here, though till Neil verbalised it, I hadn't been able to put my finger on what was bothering me about the announcement. In regards to the rest of it, I'm genuinely excited by the prospects of another returning system and expansion of other parts etc etc but like Nadie, I'll curb my excitement till I too see the download.
The part that bothers me most atm is the whole taking EU out of the "Platform" and integrating "Cellies" with things like the Arena to non EU playing people. Its hard enough for us to make it in game as it is let alone having to pay outsiders a part of our gaming dollars. This as well as this new trend of making "Deeds" for everything they do I think will be attracting unwanted government interference because they look at it as income and wont calculate the amount of loss in the games to compensate. Too much of shit like that will surely induce some form of regulation from out side the game.
<--- is looking in her Chrystalball..after becoming a part of the PVP battle arenas (deeds) they will implement Broker where you can bet on the fighters and ofc ...criminal suspects aka bet mafia will sneak in and try to manipulate the tamed mobs with salty Nutrio Bars , anti doping experts will be needed but hey ..when you are smart (and have the right haircut ) you become the "Don King " of the Universe and will be the Top Battle Promoter ever ......dang ...chrystalball broke over such nice foresights ....
While I agree with you, hunting needs the most work in terms of loot and such. In a way, it will likely go hand in hand with crafting but hunting is what stings the most.
Not sure if any of this has been mentioned before as I am still new to this game, I played very briefly back in 08. Not feeling the MOB vs MOB. I would love to see some exploration development via the planets oceans. Add in underwater vehicles (L), that can be crafted/ or bought (give a boost to crafting) with the ability to mine, via specialized equipment that will need to be crafted/or bought. I would then like to see the Space Station's fully opened up i.e. Shops, Apartments, Terminals etc. Offer the ability for those who would like to live/hang out up in space on a space station. Use the existing (Space Station Design). Have the space station get hit via small meteor/mob every now and then allowing a in-game message to be sent out calling on those looking to repair the Space Station. Just my thoughts!
The Problem with expanding the Space Stations is they dont have viable micro economies. You can only hunt and mine on FOMA CP and Monria which means all other space stations are merely transit hubs. Players wouldnt buy or sell stackables from a SS shop due to the risk of pirating. As stated else where in this post what is needed is a major space overhaul. It would also be nice to see the Smaller warp capable ships be able to land on planet hangars
There are SO MANY things they could do to make the stations real destinations. Simply adding a storage terminal to each station (separate) would increase the traffic at the stations. And change the stations back to the original style which was so much more interesting than the new, sterile industrial station. They could be delaying space development partly because they don't want to draw people away from the planets, which is a valid concern. However... there are a lot of players that only want to play in space who wouldn't play or start playing the game otherwise... and you don't necessarily need to take activity away from planets if you involve the planets directly, for example by requiring hunting, mining, crafting on planet in order to make the items required for space. Or you could have space missions that include stops on planet for decay-generating activities. And all players, even while in space still send back half of their decay to their planet of birth. Or it could be they've simply not been developing space is because it's a big project and they don't have the manpower to work on space and something else at the same time. There are hundreds of ideas on the forums about improving space; now might be a good time to do even more brainstorming, since MA won't be developing space until after taming.
as far as space stations go, Mindark should look at Star Wars the Old Republic for inspiration. http://swtor.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Space_stations
In which case they should split space up into the planetary regions and give the PP's control. This way it eliminates the conflict of interest. MA then only does development work.
I really like the idea, maybe the best one so far. Instead of having a big square space map you'd need to change it so that each planet has one space server, each with warp gates leading to all of the other sectors (warp gate use is free). That way the "location" of each planet in space is fair. MS and privateers could warp directly from any point to another, and wouldn't have to make the trip to and from the warp gates.
