Q&A Answers (Aug-Sep 06)

[Frigid]

Originally Posted by Francine

Few things were precise with a plain yes or no.

The ones that were Yes or No often gave no indication of when or it's priority:

* Could we possibly see more main events happen faster in order to create a feel of a 'storyline' in game?

Yes.

(Sooo......when?)

*Am I going to die?

Yes.

(Again, I'd like a bit more detail )

[craw]

Originally Posted by Doer

Craw as has been pointed out by someone else in this thread, he said the average MA profit/player is $1, not that the average player pays $1/hr.

I beg to differ, the question asked specifically of Marco was:
"What is the average cost to play EU for an hour?"

Which Marco replied:

"MindArk's business plan states that we aim for a cost of 1 USD per hour."

This does NOT say "we aim to profit $1/hr".

Originally Posted by Doer

If you find yourself losing more than $1/hr it simply means you are hunting less economically/strategically/luckily than many people. While i can't say if my decay is paying MA at more than $1/hr (i use a laser amp that decays quite a bit), i definitely don't lose more than 10 peds an hour overall. When i go to crazy, bad-ass mob places i do, though.

Please don't read my post wrong. I often come out ahead. I'm talking about averages and I keep detailed records. I could hunt snabblesnots all day and it costs me peanuts, but how long can you hunt snabblesnots and remain interested in the game?

What are you hunting for 10 peds/hr? (see my formula in previous post)

Anyway, hopefully Marco will read my post and understand that this is a legitimate concern from a long time player.

[Doer]

Originally Posted by craw

I beg to differ, the question asked specifically of Marco was:
"What is the average cost to play EU for an hour?"

Which Marco replied:

"MindArk's business plan states that we aim for a cost of 1 USD per hour."

This does NOT say "we aim to profit $1/hr".

Ok i overlooked that, my bad.

Please don't read my post wrong. I often come out ahead. I'm talking about averages and I keep detailed records. I could hunt snabblesnots all day and it costs me peanuts, but how long can you hunt snabblesnots and remain interested in the game?

What are you hunting for 10 peds/hr? (see my formula in previous post)

Anyway, hopefully Marco will read my post and understand that this is a legitimate concern from a long time player.

It all depends on what floats your boat. Some people spend hours at the rig in OJs, making a game out of trying to get a grab of oil. Some find a challenge in not depositing and hunting snables if need be to "win" at their game. Some, unfortunately, find it rewarding to manipulate the market and reap the rewards or whirlwind depending on their success. I'm sure i'm not telling you anything you don't know, i'm just pointing out that there are many ways of "playing" EU that don't cost $1/hr.

As for me, as you suggest i can "grind" certain mobs all day and usually break even or better. My typical mode of hunting uses about 53 peds ammo/hr so it's pretty hard to lose 1/5 of that. When i pull out the big guns and go blazing around the countryside i can lose that much, but it's not an average overall for me, no. Thank goodness for those who are willing to put money down to do that, though. They let MA make what they want. The beauty of EU is you can play at the level you want, and pay accordingly. That's not to say i agree with the "randomness" of the way things work, but there are options and that's a Good Thing.

My final comment is that there are two distinct paradigms to depositing. In the first, upfront PEDs are used to buy efficiency that will amortize in cost the longer one plays. In the second, smaller but perpetual deposits sustain losses with cheaper, but less efficient equipment. How one chooses to use one's PEDs should be based on the intentions in the game and expected length of play; i know which paradigm fits my tendencies.

Edit: This is soooo OT. lol So bringing it back a bit...Marco, i think a roadmap at least for the technical side of development (new engines, fixes, etc) would help restore some faith in MA's ability to dream and deliver. That would not give any damaging information to competitors and would help us see that there is some kind of structure to what goes on here.

[TommyDaGreat]

Originally Posted by Amnesia

TRNG = True Random Number Generator

If they don't use one with a true random seed, then it can be exploited if you can predict their seed and know how the random number is used in a given process - such as generating a shuffled deck of cards or in this case determining if the system will pop out a HoF or drop a cool item.

Most TRNG are based on line noise. However there are some interesting quantum number generator cards out there. I've always been a little wary of the systems AMD and Sun Micro put forward to generate true random seeds from IC components.

I was close :P

But the meaning was the same. More randomness is needed. And when someone get a 1.2k argonaut uber followed up by a 200 ped argonaut, that doesn's seem very random to me. And then there are the no loot periods

[Joat]

Originally Posted by TommyDaGreat

I was close :P

But the meaning was the same. More randomness is needed. And when someone get a 1.2k argonaut uber followed up by a 200 ped argonaut, that doesn's seem very random to me. And then there are the no loot periods

People should keep detailed statistic over their progress in skills and
prof stands, then they shouldn't be suprised when they get bigger loots.
Or when they have bad periods, for that matter...

[Look]

Originally Posted by Amnesia

What kind of random number generator does Mind Ark use and how is it seeded?"

Lol, I really like your question. If you get know please PM me ;-)
+rep for this hahah

[Sassy]

If I understand everything. Marco said "We're going to see new stuff in the future but, nobody knows when. I can't tell you anything about the game or how it works because we don't do that. Please keep putting your money in the game and wait for eveything else." If this man lived in the USA he could run for office. He was great at saying nothing but, using alot of words to do it.

Thank You Marco for .......... we'll not sure but thanks.

[Eron TheCaptain]

Originally Posted by Sassy

If I understand everything. Marco said "We're going to see new stuff in the future but, nobody knows when. I can't tell you anything about the game or how it works because we don't do that. Please keep putting your money in the game and wait for eveything else." If this man lived in the USA he could run for office. He was great at saying nothing but, using alot of words to do it.

Thank You Marco for .......... we'll not sure but thanks.

i say we ship marco in to be the new white house press guy.

[Mathayus]

ok,so u deserve a +rep for this effort,i liked to see a couple answers,now just hope all this isn't to chill out us

[TommyDaGreat]

Originally Posted by Joat

People should keep detailed statistic over their progress in skills and
prof stands, then they shouldn't be suprised when they get bigger loots.
Or when they have bad periods, for that matter...

Nah. It's not that which disturbs me. The ups and downs works ok. I know how to break even or better. At least as long as I stay with M2100 + 106 amp. Been on three years without depositing you know :P

The thing I don't like is to see people get a few ubers in a row, whether it be 1.5k robot loots or 1k argo loots.

I have still not got an uber after 3 years (!!!!) in PE. And to be honest, it doesn't seem like I ever will either. Yes, I did loot a TP chip but that is not the same as it's 100% based on market value. What I lack is a TT uber. My friend got two 900 pedders in five days while hunting less than I have done when I hunted troxies for a week. I am not appreciated by MA, it seems