I am Slacker. My plan in EU is to have fun in every way I can, and quit once there is no more fun to be had. I rarely last more than 2 months in a new MMO, we'll see how it goes I'll share my observations here, hopefully you will find them fun too. Feedback is welcome, humor is a plus. Cheers to Lovefall, who's post has inspired this one. *** The "plan" (subject to change): - I am not here to achieve anything, or prove anything to anybody (including myself). Patience is a good thing, but I'll save it for RL. - Hunting: yes. I'll try to swunt different creatures, trying to find a least-cost way to shoot stuff. I'll also try to sort the pile of junk on my desk while I am at it. - Exploring: definitely yes. Gotta find all the teleports, note huntable mobs around them, and admire the scenery. Yeah I know there is no material gain, but it is fun. Maybe I will find another QR code - Mining: not likely - I do not like waiting for luck to happen. - Crafting: No - too much money and time involved. And I have plenty of DIY things to do around my house - Depositing: yes, but only when I run out of free things to do, and only $20 per month. B/c that's what other MMO's charge. *** Character creation. Short, fat, pale, old. A stereotypical MMO veteran IRL. B/c a world of Barbies and Kens is boring. *** Tutorial mission - All female NPC's have large breasts. Stereotypical game developers. I wonder how small can you make the breasts in character creation. - Turrets at firebases are always pointed at me, tracking my every move. Unnerving. Also, I bet other players see the same thing, so it must be done client-side. - First MMO to give new player a free vehicle. Took a while to figure out how to fuel it. Still do not know how to check fuel level without removing it from the pod. - They give me a gun, and tell to explore the wildlife outside. But there are no mobs. When I finally find some turkeys (Nusul?), they take quarter of my HP with a single hit. - Mining mission send you to an island full of cute baby seals (named Panda for some reason), who attach and kill you. Not sure if there was some environmental message there, but now I hate both baby seals and pandas. - There are grown seals in the water. But I remember reading that water is safe. Should test it when I get a chance. *** IFN Recruitment mission - Great fun getting to the firebases, watching the scenery, climbing impassable mountains, discovering other outposts along the way. I just hope the pod does not run out of fuel. - Got a mission to kill Manure bugs, with choice of either males or females. Did 50% of each, just so nobody can accuse me of any bias. - Many firebases have academies next to them, with their own tutorial missions. Gotta try to score more free stuff from them. Got a second sword already. - Is that firebase Implacatable, or Implaceable? There is a typo in mission description. - Courageous Firebase academy has a cave next to it. Gotta explore it later. - Found the Teladon teleport. Pod took 20 damage in a single hit, but it is worth it. - Got mission to kill 100 Orphan Prospectors. I wonder if I can sweat them too. *** Firebase academy tutorial mission - Another free sword is cool. Too bad it decays after 3 kills. - Learned that decay on unlimited armor decreases protection. Good to know, especially since TT armors are limited, and it is a bad idea to wear armor for a newb. - The mining trainer tells me to buy my own gear, and deposit money to do it. Same with the IFN dude. I can see why they had to make a new tutorial. *** Scenery - Certain trees are glowing at night. Very very pretty, especially when looking at a forest of them from a nearby hill. - Damn Carabok are blending in with the grass. Was that intentional? - Quarry area looks like Scandinavia (the home of MA) - hills, rocks, birches. But glowing trees are outright alien. Was there some terraforming going on? Gotta read the backstory. - Found some pillars in the desert, possibly Arkadian. Took another 20 damage to pod, from a riptor. Gotta buy a flying vehicle once I deposit.
Hunting log #1. L4 Puny Carabok at Quarry *10, using starter laser rifle -0.65 weapon decay -0.27 ammo +0.20 sweat (at 2.0 per k) +0.08 animal oil +0.04 ammo (UA and BLP) Total: -0.60; Cost per kill 0.09, loot per kill 0.012 (before sweat) A disaster of course, but I hear TT weapons will decay slower and do more dagame per shot #2. L4 Puny Carabok at an academy *10, using starter BLP pistol -0.34 weapon decay -0.02 ammo +0.20 sweat +0.22 other loot, mostly from Muscle Oil and Cara pelts Total: +0.06, cost per kill 0.036, loot per kill 0.022 (before sweat) Obviously a lot more eco, mainly due to lower decay and ammo use. Also, much better loot, either due to luck or lack of other hunters. #3. L2 Oratan Prospectors *20, using starter BLP pistol -0.76 weapon decay -0.16 ammo +0.26 loot: Animal Oil, Hides, Muscle oil Total: -0.66, cost/kill=0.046, loot/kill=0.013 (and no sweat) Loot much worse due to no sweat, also higher cost per kill, even though they seem to take same 10 shots to kill on average. #4 L4 Puny Caraboks *10, some academy, using various starter weapons -0.39 weapon decay -0.02 ammo +0.20 sweat +0.11 loot Total: -0.10, cost/kill=0.041, loot per kill 0.011 (before sweat)
Wish you a lot of fun in your adventures; trying to just have fun and enjoy the game is a great way to play the games. Not my style, true, but is something I can totally love at people. What is amazing at EU (and pretty much any other sandbox) is that there are a lot of things you can do, but none you have to - everyone can play the game in a different way and still have tons of fun doing it. - TT weapons decay waaaay slower than starter ones; also they do more than 1 damage per hit. - Caraboks you can find and inside most academies; not much, but enough for 2-3 people swunting them; also really safe and peaceful. - You can only sweat animals; oratans are not.
If you travel to a more obscure academy you can normally hunt alone, Carabok also seam to respawn very quickly so you shouldn't run out.
Update: All Weapons down to 20% of value, or less. Not sure I can kill another 10 mobs with a single weapon. Other assets are 1.14PED in cash, and less than 1 PED in loot. So can't buy another gun without depositing. So we can't sweat Oratan b/c "they are not animals"? But how come they drop animal loot (hides, oil, etc.)? And didn't storyline say they are little more than animals? And speaking of storyline, why do all the scientists focus on Arkadian technology instead of figuring out how & where Oratan reproduce? Oratans did kill Arkadians with their advanced technology, so surely they are more of threat? Tried walking. Find like 1 item per hour. Although the sight of a lone guy pacing through the desert is very serene. Got the quest to find Archeological interns. Now I have a reason to find all the teleports. But NPC dot on radar makes it too easy, their hiding places would be a lot more fun to find otherwise. But landscape is getting repetitive, and I cannot outrun most mobs. Might wait until I get a Sleipnir. Found quite a few ruins, and finally Aaskas (or whatever that place is called). Glad I read the storyline before it. "Found" the Underground, or rather realized all of its teleports are already on my map. Looks pretty. Mob spawn next to teleporter are fun; I wonder if you can teleport away when under attack. I cannot find it out - they kill me in 1 hit. The planet looks very empty - I rarely see people outside the outposts. Are all miners clustered in some small area?
Welcome to Arkadia first of all Your plan.... Is spot on I think but dont be so fast to write off mining just yet,it can be one of the better ways to make a little profit and selling the ores can set up a nice network for selling all your goods. Agree on the crafting-avoid it unless you are willing to put in the right amount of research and peds needed to do it properly. If you do decide to depo-$20 will give you a good start and by that time you should have more of an idea what to spend it on. I like reading your observations so far.I wish I could see the game through new eyes,The days you first discover something are very memorable days. And yes go to every single NPC you can find and get as many missions going as you can.Never knock back a freebie Just a couple corrections though....... The little seals are called Pandi not Panda (we dont club Panda thats just barbaric,pandi on the other hand...annoying little feckers.) Also they are called Oratan Prospectors not orphan prospectors although they probably both deserve hunting down and shooting. Sounds like your on the right track so have at it and enjoy
From the movie "Lord of War", regarding a suggestion that the correct word is 'warlord': "Thank you, but I like it my way"
GL on your endeavors. If you need any help, I can craft few starter weapons, and gladly would trade for sweat. Just an advice, don't stick only on laser weapons, have both types laser and blp so you can level them equally and in a future have no level restriction
Welcome, I hope you enjoy your time on Arkadia (though ideally it will last longer than two months). You probably have found out already, but just in case: -Still do not know how to check fuel level without removing it from the pod. The Item Info of the vehicle shows the TT value of the oil in the tank. - There are grown seals in the water. But I remember reading that water is safe. Should test it when I get a chance. Mobs drown in water, so it's a good way to try to escape them, if there is no turret nearby. There are few exceptions on Ark: as far as I know the only swimming mobs are Pandi and Jori (sort of jumbo goldfish). Though flying mobs are not really deterred by liquid. - Damn Carabok are blending in with the grass. Was that intentional? You can tinker with the Advanced Graphic settings to get rid of the grass, so you can see those green cats easier. And as an added bonus you can spot stuff on the ground quicker too. - Took another 20 damage to pod, from a riptor. Gotta buy a flying vehicle once I deposit. Vehicles can take S.I. and TT value damage. The S.I. (Structural Integrity) can be repaired with a RK-5 repair tool and W.W. (Welding wire). There are many players who are skilling repair, and would repair your vehicle for free. I.e. spawn at a busy place and ask in local chat if anyone is willing to help you out. Don't toss a vehicle until the TT value is too low (3%): there have been many Pods dumped in the TT before their time. Oh, and TP chips are disabled in the AU. It's nice to read your observations, it makes for a fun read. If you have questions, just wanne say hi, or want to trade: channels you can join for that are #arkadia and #arktrade. Or look any of us up in the Player Register. GL & HF! Nara Yuki Xara.
Update Finally got to the Archeological Intern in the snow region. Took a while, but it was fun: - Found three teleports: a dig, a land area, and a Firebase with two teleports (so I guess it is four new TP's) - Found a mining spot. or maybe just got lucky. Gotta go use up the last of the tutorial's probes. - Got a rock and two fruit, just from random stops along the way. - Discovered (the hard way) how Lootable PVP areas work. At least nobody looted me. - Found fish mobs. But I hear you cannot use a fishing rod on them. Also, I wonder if laser weapons work underwater. - Found one cool thing about the fog - it makes walking into a mountain a welcome surprise. That icy firebase with two teleports has an Artillery Coordinator standing around in his underwear. Makes me feel a bit better about running around bare-chested (b/c armor decays, and yellow is lame). Also, the underwear dude standing knee deep in the snow and all the cannons remind me of the 12th Valhallan Artillery Regiment of the Imperial Guard, but that is a whole different story. All tutorial weapons have decayed to zero. At least I have a second blade from Academy tutorial. Will post total assets when I am done with that (and mining probes) Just realized that unlike most of the free tutorial gear, mining probes can be sold for PED. But I am gonna use them - got a potential spot, and successful mining hit covers the cost of the probe. So yeah, it is gambling, but my plan is to have fun, not save every PEC. Found that Young mobs are a lot tougher than Puny, even at the same L4. I guess the Halix mission will have to wait. But, it seems that this game favors grinding easy mobs over taking on tougher ones. Got the pod finally busted, by the Korwil. Turns out they run faster than the pod. And I was like half a km from a teleport. Damn fog. But, contrary to no-free-lunch theme of this game, I got it fixed for free, by some nice people at Quarry. Also, a Smuggler was just killing everybody at the Quarry. A mob that spawn-camps. Where is the world going?
Taking stock. I have finally run out of TT on tutorial weapons and out of mining probes, so time to take stock, and see how much a free player can make. So here are my assets that could be sold (which excludes most of 1.13 PED on card, from selling loot and some mined materials 0.61 in looted items 0.46 in mined items (could have been more if I didn't look for ores) 0.36 in ammo (excluding UA) 0.14 in oil Total= 2.70 Which is less than the cheapest TT weapon (laser pistol at 3.00) But I could have had more money: - I could have sold mining probes leftover from tutorial. I think it gives 50 probes and asks for 10 survey attempts, leaving player with 40*0.05=2.00 PED - I could have sold the oil instead of using it in the pod. I believe you start with 0.50 worth of it, adding 0.36 to the total above - I did not use my FAP much. I heard people pay for FAP'ing So, a free player can at least make enough money to buy a TT weapon before the tutorial weapons wear out. That is good to know Also, note that the total does not include sweat or fruits. Which brings me to the next point: Depositing postponed: I sold my fruit, got 2.00PED more, and am a happy owner of Herman CAP-TT(L), with a decent stash of ammo (and money to buy more of it).
Glad to see your experiment continues! It's awesome you are having such fun exploring Arkadia and playing the game your way! Once I'm done Skilling on the Normandie I will be back on Arkadia, if you'd like to join us for a Free Melee Skill Run, let me know. I turn Loot to Captain and give everyone in the Team a 9.00 PED Manta from the TT, so you wouldn't get any loot but you'd have the Manta to hack away with for 9.00 PED of Free Skill Gains and zero cost to yourself. We like to Hunt Halix, but if your HP is still to low for that Carabok or Gallard are fine as well. If we have average luck, I'll get about 90% back from the hunt. If we get more than 100% back then I usually give out 'Rewards' with the Profits.
