After One Month of Playing

[Kerham]

Originally Posted by Sarah Hawkwood

Gluepot is right here and not only she would quit EU. Many players would follow, not replacable without serious marketing campaingn which would cost MA lots of cash.

How should I draw this?

MindArk needs real money -> real money come exclusively from depositors (ah and advertisments lol) -> depositors drop in more money than a monthly subscription

A subscription would be good because wouldn't exist freeloaders (for lack of a better term), and the pressure on depositors would be smaller.

I deposited 7,5k$ in 3 years. That means > 200$ monthly. Where in all world you saw a mmo with such subscription? Nobody forced me to deposit that, ofc but if suckers like me wouldn't have deposited, then wouldn't exist money for withdrawals, you know?

Depositing keeps EU running, not the "free to play" aspect.

EU can very well have say a trial period like most of other mmos so newcomers can get a taste of the game.

Of all causes in the universe, a subscription would be the last to make EU collapse.

[Trux]

Originally Posted by Kerham

Threadstarter is one of the most smart newbies I saw on EF for a long time.

so true, i wanted to say the same..



lilmoo. you seem to be an experienced online-gamer, and all of your thoughts seem correct to me.
anyway, once you stay a little longer in EU you will understand that EU is something like the 'other alternative' in the MMO-jungle. it's unique and its system is unique too. it may have a lot of downsides, but the uniquness alone seems to be enough to keep a tiny share of all gamers here.. the EU-ppl.
we are the freaks of online-gamers. ppl who play classic games lough at us. usually we don't even know why we are here ourselves, but we know we will stay.

GL in this game, if you are looking for a challenge, EU offers it.
which kind of challenge? you choose yourself!

HOF HOF!!

trux

[Lerxst]

Monthly subscriptions? bye bye...

The fact that I don't have to deposit is part of the reason why I play. I cycle a lot of ped a day through the system regardless if I am a "freeloader" or a depositor. If the game as it is now wasn't working MA would have waxed it a long time ago. People are allowed to find free stuff and sweat for a reason. People with ped, depositor or not, create decay. Sure deposits keep the economy going but the big picture is about MA keeping as many people as they can using stuff up.

[Miles]

EU is different from games.

If you want a monthly fee, you are free to pay one already.

If you want a monthly fee-based game (where everyone pays a fee), you have plenty of other options.

And no, MA does not expect people to stick around for 6-12 months - that is the average for MMORPG's. EU players tend to stay longer than average (likely because of the RCE). I think you missed the gist of that quote from Marco, (and he does not own the game, he just works for MA).

It seems like what you are looking for is "fairness", and in all honesty you have come to the wrong place. EU, like RL is not fair. If you think you need to "compete" against ubers, you are thinking game-think. Fair is a place you take the kids.

EU is not a competition to won, or a race to the top. It is a world to inhabit; to live in and work in and play in, but it is not a game. Some have more, some have less. People come, some stay, some stay a very long time. Many leave, some right away, other at different stages along the way. Some go and return. To be balanced, EU needs a mix of players, from top to bottom, and there need to be more on the bottom than the top. As players come and go this balance is maintained. If everyone could easily be uber, uber would be meaningless and EU might as well be WOW.

Also keep in mind that MA plans for EU to last for decades. For that to viable, progress must slow down. It also means that those of us here to today, including the OP, will be far ahead those that come years after us (if we stay).

Yes, someday I may too may be uber - but by then there will be uber-dubers. Oh well



Miles

[BruteForce]

Originally Posted by Miles

EU is different from games.

If you want a monthly fee, you are free to pay one already.

If you want a monthly fee-based game (where every pays a fee), you have plenty of other options.

And no, MA does not expect people to stick around for 6-12 months - that is the average for MMORPG's. EU players tend to stay longer than average (likely because of the RCE). I think you missed the gist of that quote from Marco, (and he does not own the game, he just works for MA).

It seems like what you are looking for is "fairness", and in all honesty you have come to the wrong place. EU, like RL is not fair. If you think you need to "compete" against ubers, you are thinking game-think. Fair is a place you take the kids.

EU is not a competition to won, or a race to the top. It is a world to inhabit; to live in and work in and play in, but it is not a game. Some have more, some have less. People come, some stay, some stay a very long time. Many leave, some right away, other at different stages along the way. Some go and return. To be balanced, EU needs a mix of players, from top to bottom, and there need to be more on the bottom than the top. As players come and go this balance is maintained. If everyone could easily be uber, uber would be meaningless and EU might as well be WOW.

Also keep in mind that MA plans for EU to last for decades. For that to viable, progress must slow down. It also means that those of us here to today, including the OP, will be far ahead those that come years after us (if we stay).

Yes, someday I may too may be uber - but by then there will be uber-dubers. Oh well



Miles

Couldnt have said it better myself + rep (no NEW taxes) - or fees

[Gluepot]

Originally Posted by Kerham

MindArk needs real money -> real money come exclusively from depositors (ah and advertisments lol) -> depositors drop in more money than a monthly subscription

Non-depositors give money to MindArk as well.
I am a hair stylist, every bit of hairgel, hair spray, hair coloring set, etc. goes right into MindArk's pocket. It was looted by some hunter, and purchased by me, and then I basically flushed it down the toilet when I used it to cut somebody's hair.
Considering I use about 5-10 ped TT of materials per haircut, just imagine how much money MindArk makes off of all the haircuts given in the game....
MindArk profits not only off of depositors, but off of the non-depositors who spend money ingame as well.
I never once deposited, but my armor still decays. My FAP still decays. My weapon still decays. It is fed into MindArk profit.

[Leandro Kun]

So you would like a monthly fee introduced, depositing to be stopped but still want the option of withdrawing ped?

Why would MA agree to that? To reach the current turnover they would have to charge a high monthly fee and reduce loots. Many players would not be happy and leave.

Who buys there gear? In fact how do you buy anything? The monthly fee gets changed into peds? What happens when you've spent them, i suppose you can sweat for the next 2 weeks until the direct debit kicks in and you have your monthly quota of peds again.

Sure, you could setup an option where you could supplement your peds by depositing, but then nothing changes.

I really cant see how this idea could ever be actioned without completely changing the game EU is. Its not as simple as saying i want to play EU, but want a monthly fee.

[Staffas]

As gluepot says and is a proof of, it is possible to enjoy EU for free without depositing, the depositing players will pay for these people too (as you say Gluepot, you make a profit with haircuts, but the so called lootpool does not recieve anything from your hard work (both up to this point and after).
To be a non depositor you have to be smarter and take your time with everything.

This was all going to come back to why I prefer EU the way it is instead of a subscribtion fee.....

ok lets start again.

I have plaied loads of other MMOG (like OP) but it is the same there as it is here, there are already highly skilled players and I will have a hard time to catch up with them (unless you start att he same time, and then I fail on the lack of time and fall behind anyway).
To be successfull in pretty much anny MMOG you have to be a high lvl player so that you can go on the cool quests or similar.

EU is very different here.
You can be a totaly new player and still do most of what the game has to offer (well to some extent) and as this is a RCE it all comes back to cash/ped.
I think that most agrea with me hear that success in EU is about breaking even or making a profit.
This is posible for entropians at most lvls, not only the Ubers.
As stated earlier in this thread, just because someone is an uber does not nessesarily mean that the make a profit hunting (I go with hunting here since it is what I know best ingame), you can do it on any lvl.
The difference is amount of time to make a sertain amount of peds. (I am guessing alittle here).

There are several non depositors in EU, both resently started and oldtimers. A subscribtion base would be a slap in the face on theese players that worked hard on getting to this point were they are today.

I am a depositor, and my shorttirm goal is not to make money out of EU, but to have fun. EU alowes me to have more fun than other MMOG just because of the lack of monthly fee. I can shoose how much and when I want to deposit, if I feel rich one month I might deposit alot and buy a cool uneco gun and go out hunting big mobs, and if I feel like taking a month off from EU I can do this too without that it cost me anything.

hmmm, I have rambled on about a lot of things now, lets try to come to some points:

*1. EU is not like any other MMOG
*2. Reaching top lvl in EU is not the most important part of EU
*3. In EU it is not possible to reach the highest lvl (if there is one) in 1 year like in most MMOG
*4. EU CAN be plaid with any amount of cash, even totaly free
*5. EU is trying to reach out for a new market, while most MMOG aim for the same people (young people with loads of time), and also conect to that market.
*6. If a montly fee was introduced and the posibility to deposit was taken away, it would just be another MMOG, it would not be an RCE anymore, and most of the existing playerbase would leave.

OP, give EU some time, try to not play EU like you would any other MMOG, learn about how everthing works in an RCE like EU and you will have a great time here.

Keep EU unique.

(my longest post on EF )

[zero wolve kool]

What i like about this game is the many comments posted by fellow entropians on this thread...

smoerble has an extremely good point that totally relates to me, i have a rl job, and family commitments dont allow me to do 16-20 hours of play per day... So if I want to get ahead paying extra is perfect.

Another example is the problem Im having at the moment, I moved from Victoria to New South Wales it took me 5 months to have internet connected to my new residence, 5 months worth of subscription fees when i didnt even play the game... no thanks

Now that I have my internet connection finally up and running my "you beaut" video card pooped it self and it will be another 4-6 weeks before i get a replacement thats 6 months of subscription fees when i was never in the game.

In my opinion this game is fair for both depositors and non depositors, if you dont have money, you spend "time" if you dont have "time" you spend money.

And to be honest i trully dont beleive ubers are protected, or that a noob will never reach uber status, money talks and sweat... well sweat is used for ME


Anyways

Good luck, have fun and stay away from my cross hairs...

[Genoma]

Maybe a ditto, maybe a different way to say the same thing. I still consider myself a noob, as there is much in EU I have yet to experience, and I've only been playing for half a year.

The fact is that MindArk has come up with a very successful formula, and many people enjoy the experience immensely, and all are free to follow their own path. EU is much like RL, and as such is as close to fair as any MMO will get, I imagine. I have a real life, and money to spend to cut down the time it took me to get to current skill and in-game wealth. I wouldn't play WOW if they paid me. I have no desire to put my 5-10 hours a week of game play up against someone who eats, breathes, and sleeps in-game. Not to mention those who would violate the spirit of the experience by using bots or cheats to skill up.

The beauty and genius of EU is the cash economy, without it, I and many others, I suspect, would have never started, or invested in this (maybe foolish, but richly entertaining) endeavor.