Help: where to start?

andyman54 · 02-02-2012, 15:24

Hello all i am new to the Entropia universe and am looking to make extra cash on the side with this game.(i know you dont make much with sweating) Anyways i was curious what planet do i go to? i dont want to make the wrong decision and go to the wrong planet for sweating.
Thanks
Andy

also where is the sweating tool that i am supposed to start out with? i can not seem to find it... Im having a hard time getting adjusted to the UI in this game not like typical mmos.

Neil Stockton · 02-03-2012, 04:10

Welcome, Andyman. I'm an Arkadian Advisor, and though I spend a lot of my time on other planets as well, I am probably a bit biased towards starting on Arkadia.

I think the new player experience on Arkadia is currently the best in EU. See Larkin's video walk-thru (spoiler alert!) We also have designated advisers in-game to whom you can always go for answers and help. The beginner mobs on Arkadia have better loot than the equivalent mobs on Calypso, because of the high MU on Carabok hides. So that gives the new player more hunting for his money, and they're also great for gaining hunting skills.

The best sweating location is on Calypso at Limnadian District. But sweating is a pretty tedious job and I would say the majority of players don't sweat after the first week in game, so I wouldn't make my decision based on sweating. I believe you technically make more money by turning off your computer and saving electricity than you do by sweating

Sweating is, however, a useful way to pass the time while getting evade and mindforce skills, and I believe you're going to get faster evade skill gains from the Carabok on Arkadia than other mobs, because of their attack rate.

What you should also be aware of is that it's not possible to make a "significant" amount of RL money in Entropia unless you're able and willing to invest thousands of dollars into an in-game business, typically trading. The people who "make RL money" hunting or crafting have either played from the beginning and have all the uber tools and skills or have deposited insane amounts of RL money to buy skills. Hunting, mining, and crafting should all be viewed as "spending", not "earning". Treat EU as a game, not as a RL job and you won't be disappointed.

That said, it IS quite possible to have an in-game business that makes enough peds for you to play and progress in the game, it just takes a bit of initiative, creativity, business smarts, patience, dedication, self-control... in other words, a bit like success in RL.

FlorencioNineWind · 02-03-2012, 14:53

Welcome to the game Andyman

I am a freeplayer/sweater and have been since I started. Arkadia's new player tutorial experience is currently the best in the universe and you will get more evade skill gains sweating the carabok than you will sweating mobs on Calypso.

However, Arkadia only has 10% of the economy power that Calypso has so it will be very difficult for you to sell your sweat and other items. Currently Calypso has the largest player base and therefore the lagest economy. This is mainly because Calypso is the oldest planet.

You will also get sweat easier and faster on Calypso because the mobs are weaker and if you are lucky enough to find an "efficient" sweat group then things will get really easy.

If you want to read up on the dynamic history of EU which includes the history of the sweat market then take a look at my history book:
http://www.voc.entropiasociety.info/...ewtopic.php?60

All that being said; what Neil said about making money in the game is completely true. If you choose to be a free player then you will never stop sweating. It is also very difficult to make much money from sweating because sweat is currently almost useless. Therefore Demand is down and supply is up so price is down. These days you can't even hardly make enough ped from sweating to keep playing the game, but I'm still here so we know that it is possible

If you treat the game like a game then you will have alot of fun. EU is currently one of the best games out there and has the most potential of any game that I have ever seen. However, if you desire to make money from the game then you will be disappointed. While it is possible to "make" money in this game and even possible to make enough to withdraw, it is very difficult to do so. In order to actually "make" money you need to invest alot of real life money first. Those who make the most money ingame are traders. Buying for low and selling for high. There are actually a few people who make a living from playing this game, but very few people actually attain this ability.

I hope this information was helpful and I am always happy to help were I can

Neil Stockton · 02-03-2012, 22:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlorencioNineWind

However, Arkadia only has 10% of the economy power that Calypso has so it will be very difficult for you to sell your sweat and other items. Currently Calypso has the largest player base and therefore the lagest economy. This is mainly because Calypso is the oldest planet.

I agree with everything in your post except that I would no longer say it's "very difficult" to sell stuff on Arkadia. That was true around 5 or 6 months ago when Arkadia was newer and less populated, and when there were no MUs on hides and oils and no consistent ore buyers. Some things are certainly "more difficult" to sell on Ark than on Caly, but these days there are usually traders and crafters in the quarry, asking for items. And the auction is quite active. There may be certain items that have no market, but they're not very many. Items may take a few more days to sell on auction because of the lower population, but that also means you have less sellers to compete with, and most everything does sell eventually, as long as it's priced reasonably. Right now the only items you will loot from the noob mobs are TT items, and unfortunately those have no MU. But then again all the noob mob hides have excellent MU, so it balances out (except for oro, which is one step up from noob anyway).

Also, Andyman, understand that you can always travel from one planet to another to find the one you like. And if you're patient, you can probably even hitch a free ride when someone else is going your way. I encourage you to explore all the planets and see what each has to offer.

FlorencioNineWind · 02-04-2012, 16:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil Stockton

I agree with everything in your post except that I would no longer say it's "very difficult" to sell stuff on Arkadia. That was true around 5 or 6 months ago when Arkadia was newer and less populated, and when there were no MUs on hides and oils and no consistent ore buyers. Some things are certainly "more difficult" to sell on Ark than on Caly, but these days there are usually traders and crafters in the quarry, asking for items. And the auction is quite active. There may be certain items that have no market, but they're not very many. Items may take a few more days to sell on auction because of the lower population, but that also means you have less sellers to compete with, and most everything does sell eventually, as long as it's priced reasonably. Right now the only items you will loot from the noob mobs are TT items, and unfortunately those have no MU. But then again all the noob mob hides have excellent MU, so it balances out (except for oro, which is one step up from noob anyway).

I've been on the planet for about a week now. Currently the planet is in a "high season" due to lots of people wanting to get at the new arrival missions. Based upon the laws of probability you can guess that there are at least twice as many people on the planet now than normal and there still arn't very many people

I'm a sweater and therefore make no PED because there is no-one to buy my sweat. During my week on Arkadia I have spent 95% of my time sweating at the quarry. While I have seen many people selling things there (including a few new arrivals wanting to sell sweat) I have seen almost nobody buying these items and vice versa when people are wanting to buy nobody is selling what they want. This is even worse for sweat as I see many people sweating and trying to sell their sweat but nobody is buying it. There is no substitute for personal freeplayer/sweat gatherer experience especially when that sweater spends many many hours playing each day.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil Stockton

Also, Andyman, understand that you can always travel from one planet to another to find the one you like. And if you're patient, you can probably even hitch a free ride when someone else is going your way. I encourage you to explore all the planets and see what each has to offer.

Oh absolutely. I also encourage everyone to travel the universe and explore all the wonderful planets because each planet is special in its own way. Sleipnirs and thrusters are even fairly cheap these days so even sweaters can save up enough to travel through space in about a month or so. I myself have gotten every single TP in the known universe

Well, except for the under-water one on NI. That thing is covered with sharks

Neil Stockton · 02-04-2012, 20:07

That's true, if sweat is the only thing you're interested in, go to Caly. I was referring to other kinds of loot... ores, hunting loot, and crafted items like Ark guns. It's not too hard to sell that stuff on Ark.

I know some feel differently, but sweating just doesn't really float my boat. It was fun to do when I was new, but after about 2k I was ready to move on to something more interesting. Sweat seems like a dying commodity to me... there's only a very small market for it, with welding wire and mind essence and maybe a few other odd items that use sweat. At first, I thought the hussk might increase the sweat demand, but people need to start seeing exciting loot from that before they'll do the mission regularly. I wouldn't be surprised if most sweat on Caly just gets passed around endlessly between traders, some making a profit, some taking a loss. It just seems to me there are faster and more interesting ways to make money in EU than sweating.

Ed Ward · 02-04-2012, 20:30

Not an easy question, but here's a point of view you may find usefull:

The better planet to start depends on the budget you will allow yourself to deposit per month. There is no best planet to begin with, it all depends your peds cash flow, so best is to try a bit each planet and settle where you're the most comfortable with.

FlorencioNineWind · 02-04-2012, 22:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil Stockton

That's true, if sweat is the only thing you're interested in, go to Caly. I was referring to other kinds of loot... ores, hunting loot, and crafted items like Ark guns. It's not too hard to sell that stuff on Ark.

If you didn't notice, I was also referring to other loots such as ores, hunting loot, and crafted items. The main sweating area is right next to Celeste Quarry (main trading area) so It's not that hard to keep tabs on the trading going on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil Stockton

I know some feel differently, but sweating just doesn't really float my boat. It was fun to do when I was new, but after about 2k I was ready to move on to something more interesting. Sweat seems like a dying commodity to me... there's only a very small market for it, with welding wire and mind essence and maybe a few other odd items that use sweat. At first, I thought the hussk might increase the sweat demand, but people need to start seeing exciting loot from that before they'll do the mission regularly. I wouldn't be surprised if most sweat on Caly just gets passed around endlessly between traders, some making a profit, some taking a loss. It just seems to me there are faster and more interesting ways to make money in EU than sweating.

Yes, sweat is a dying commodity which makes me kinda sad. I can't deposit because I have no real life money to deposit so I have to sweat. I think that every sweater would stop sweating and do something else if he/she could. Afterall, sweating was only intended to be done by new arrivals.