Wednesday Who's Who - Strakkan

PINKY · 01-21-2008, 18:39

Entropia Forum first interviewed the avatar Per Strakkan Kollebolle in 2005. At the time he was telling us of how excited he was at breaking the 4k PED barrier with the newly discovered “Rich” deposit size and boasting an impressive 11 vast finds in the 3 years he had played “Project” Entropia. Now we revisit one of the most skilled miners on Calypso and see how times have changed…

Back in 2005, Mining was the profession of choice for today’s Who’s Who subject, “Oh yes! Mining will always be my main profession in EU.” says Strakkan excitedly, “Except from drilling a big Lyst claim, mining has nothing repetitive in it. Each run is unique!” Curious to know how over 5 years of one main profession affects you pro-standing, I ask what his current standing is, “I am at 72 in MINER” he replies. Ever the professional, I reply with something along the lines of "Holy Crap!"

So, how’s he done it? Well, back in the old days he was using an OreFinder OF-105, an Improved Excavator, MD-05 and a MatterDriller 04. “Unfortunately I sold my Improved Excavator in a weak moment and am currently using a OM105. I carry 4 OreFinders with OF105 as the central one still. For grounds carrying more rare ore types I use TK320 and 2 other midlevel finders just for those runs when nothing seems to work. I want to make sure I have all possible alternatives.” No, he’s not kidding… “I also use a lot of amps. Mainly 101-105 OreAmps and 102-106 MatterAmps. Sometimes I try a bigger Amp like 107 or 108 but I really look upon those as PED drainers due to the high mark-up.”

So, just how much mining you need to do to achive a professional standing of 72? In 2005 Strakkan was dropping an average of 500 bombs a day. So, is he still holding that average? "Most days yes. I had a period where I slowed down and almost stopped playing. I sold all my Uber gear including my Mod Mercenary and stepped back a bit. I was a bit tired of EU and had a lot around me IRL. I am back on the field now though with more moderate equipment but with same passion for mining!" So 500 bombs a run for well over 5 years? “Yes, I’m closing in on 1 million bombs for sure!”

It seems Strakkan favours Ore mining over Enmatter, “Yes, I prefer Ore mining because its faster (besides mining in areas with Lysterium). I mined ore from the start and it has gotten to be my main area even though I do drop some probes from time to time as well.”
I was curious to know how he shifted such large quantities of Enmatter and ores. “I use auction almost exclusively. I guess I contribute in a big way to the supposed loot pool with auction fees! I do this because I love mining and don’t like to hang around in cities waiting for buyers to come to town and sell stuff to get PEDs etc. Off course I help out if I can when someone asks for specific ores though.”

Back in 2005 a 4k Rich was Strakkan’s highest loot to date (excluding a 3.3k Neconu Provider with 3 Eon parts in it!), but what’s his highest loot now? “I recently found a very nice Belk claim which granted me a place on ATH list. Place #17 out of 25. Its 100 entries now so a bit easier to get in ” By very nice, he is of course talking about a 40k ATH. That’s 10 times the size of his best 2005 uber!

Eager to learn where such riches can be found, I ask for his favorite mining spot. “Currently, I mine Amethera exclusively. I normally alter between Amethera and Eudoria. I don’t mine on CND much as it seems a little too crowded and there is also too much shooting involved between the bombs. I love the big open spaces on Amethera as well.” Not quite as much information as I was hoping for, but then I wouldn’t be sharing it with you lot if I got more info anyway!

Keen to learn more, I ask about Amp usage, just when should I be using Amps? “Use amps carefully. Don’t blast away with the big ones just because you can. Timing in mining is everything, make sure that every bomb counts.”
“When you get to the level where you can start to use real expensive and good finders make sure you mine in a field where you at least have a chance to find something rare. Mining in a Lyst field with TK320 is kind of expensive. Same goes for Enmatter. Stay away from fields with Growth Molecules.”

For as long as I have lived in the Entropia Universe, there has always been a lot of speculation on whether skills contribute to profits in mining. As Strakkan has VERY high skills, I was curious to know if he profits on average, or makes a loss. “I know for a fact that I make slow but steady profit. I hope and believe that skills help in this, but experience helps a lot as well, mostly in mining the right Ores at the right time. Skills in mining used to have much more input on results though but in VU 7.6 MindArk changed a lot. You used to get more Ore per claim as your mining skills grew but after that VU, we all got the same amount. Instead more skilled miners are finding rarer ores with higher mark-ups. I often find this system very shaky but I’m trying to adapt instead of complain. There can be days and weeks now without a single hit of anything rare though so MA has some work to do! ”

So, moving on from mining tips, what does he get up to these days… Back in ’05 Strakkan was a member of the Project Asylum Corp society; once again, things have changed. “I left PAC about 7 months ago to join Golden Legion. I did it to try something new after 4 years in PAC and because I have gotten to know 2 members in Golden Legion quite well. Both Swedish just like me and extremely fun people. I really had regrets to leave PAC though, because its a very, very friendly society with great people in it. We remain friends still of course! These 2 friends from Golden and myself have now formed a hardcore mining society called RELICS. We live and breathe mining and future members should function in this way also. For the Swedish players I should add that one of the members is the guy playing Martinsson in the movies with Komissarie Wallander. Actually both members in RELICS beside me are actors.”

To close, I loved hearing Strakkan talk about what it was like before I had even heard of Entropia. I asked what his favorite memories of pre-2005 are, and what does he loves today. “I used to like it that the more skilled miner you were, the better result you would have. I can understand the change but I don’t like it. I also hope that Mindark will one day bring back underwater-mining and bomb marks on the ground! However, I love the new variety of finders. I also love the broad spectrum of Ore types… once MA makes them useful! ”

I look forward to our look back at 2008 in 2010, until then, thank you Strakkan, a true Uber in both skill and attitude!