Gamespot Article on EntropiaUniverse, Interview with Marco Behrmann

[Bertha Bot]

GC '07: Entropia Universe
We meet with the minds behind MindArk and discuss what's next with their free MMO game.

By Brian Ekberg, GameSpot
Posted Aug 24, 2007 3:20 pm PT

LEIPZIG, Germany--Though massively multiplayer online game players have been long since blurred the line between real and virtual economies in games like Everquest and World of Warcraft, Mindark's long-running and free-to-play MMO Entropia Universe has embraced the idea of exchanging real money for the virtual kind. We had a chance to visit the MindArk booth at the 2007 Games Convention to speak with CIO Marco Behrmann about the game, originally released in 2003, and the complexities of dealing with a traditional economy in a virtual world.

At first glance, Entropia looks like a mix between Anarchy Online and Second Life. The sci-fi setting revolves around in a world in the process of being colonized by its second wave of inhabitants, after the first wave was wiped out by a horde of nefarious robots. Players have the ability to create, buy, and sell merchandise and items in the game, using what looks to be a flexible skill system that includes everything from creating items, armor, and weapons, to your proficiency with a variety of different weapon types found in the game.

Using your various skills will improve your proficiency at those skills, allowing you better access to higher-end raw materials and, more importantly, more money. If you're a miner, for example, as your skills rise, your ability to harvest increasingly rare minerals will increase. Because those minerals are highly coveted in the game's economy, you're able to sell your mined raw materials, or indeed hire yourself out as a mining contractor to those looking for your specialized skills.


Read the reast of the article:
Original Article

[Supajosh]

'rather stale visuals' think thats a bit harsh hahah , great review though lets hope it brings some more people in

[Rookie]

Behrmann said .....'that a contract system is inevitable for the game, allowing multiple players to agree upon what they can contribute to a financial undertaking, and what their slice of the pie will be once the investment blooms.'


would like to hear more on this ....

Rookie ...

[aridash]

i do hope the contract system comes soon. that will be a far more significant development for a "real" economy than anything to date.

[Lighthead]

New awas from GameSpot pics... maybe something else new

[Radio]

They're not new pictures, they're really old pictures.