10.1: MA Delivered the Goods, but was it really Good?

Well it's October 6th, and this morning when I started up my Entropia Universe Game, There was an Update sitting on my desktop. It was the long awaited VU 10.1 and in fact after downloading it, I decided to give my Teleporter Chip a Run for it's Money.

Now the current way things run you don't have to equip your Implant on yourself, but you do have to have both Mind Essence (ME) and your Teleporter chip on you as well.

Just power up the chip, wait till it powers up, and then use the tool to select where you want to jump. Once you've picked where you want to go (It's a Little Blue dot) you hit Teleport, and Boom you're there (Of course there's always the chance you might "Miss your Target". and end up landing somewhere where you don't like it. (Like in a Mob setting)

But there's a downside to Teleporting and that is you 'burn' Mind Essence, and the way Mind Essence is in short supply, the cost is gonna kill you. (At last report, Mind Essence is now 240% over TT Value for just the Day Markup, which means a 1000 Mind Essence (with a TT Value of 10 PED) is worth 24 PED On the open market with some of these folks asking as much as 280% (28 PED). I even saw some on auction for 300%.. That's 30 PED For just 1000 Mind Essence (About 111 Jumps with the Teleporter chip I have.

But in the end Did Mindark/FPC Deliver the Goods? Well this is just the first installment of Version 10.1 and there's a lot to go for VU10.1 to be worth the effort..

So did they bring in the goods? Kind of..But there's still a lot of room for Improvement

Ben Coyote (Aka "The Blind Sniper)

Woot! Another Global! (152 PED) Plus an SGA Item!

Well it seems that every time I've turned around something good is finally happening to me.

Well Saturday Night was to me just another night to play Entropia Universe, and in my evening I was helping a Fellow Socmate Initiate get another 9 TP's so he could be 9 TP's closer to getting promoted.

So I said, Sure why not, and we started our run out at Cape Cornith, a nice little place that is full of atrox, daikiba, imutatrox, ginib, and of course Cornundacauda.

Well during the first leg of the run from Cape Cornith to Honuri TP, we ran into a batch of Cornundacauda, or "Cornies" as I like to call them. So we're out on the Beach around the Cornith Beach houses and I spotted a Cornundacauda Guardian, perhaps a big one..

Now for a Skilled person like myself, These creatures are a walk in the part. For what it was worth, tonight's kill was really special on two fronts.

For first of all killing that Cornundacauda I got a global that was worth 152 PED.. My largest Solo Kill to date.

But what was more surprising was in fact in the loot itself, namely a Corsican Enblade 1, SGA Edition, (So yep I finally got a "Second Golden Age" Item that was at least worth 15 PED, but the rest of the loot was enough to give me a 152 PED Solo Kill.

But what is more intriguing is that for my first four Globals each kill has been equal to or larger than the previous ones.

Here's how it breaks down

90 PED Atrax Mature (x2)
106 PED Argonaut Young
152 PED Cornundacauda Guardian.

There's a pattern starting to form here, and in fact I think it's a lot to do with my skill rather than with blind luck..

But tonight was yet another notch in the belt. But what a haul this time.. An SGA Item.. Woot!

But what's next for me? A 200 PED Hof? Or maybe a 200 PED Global.. but the next Global is just anywhere from a few days to a few months from now.

And I'll be waiting for it to happen.. which mob will it be next time?

Oh well that Cornundacauda didn't see it coming..

But chalk one more up for

Ben Coyote (Aka "The Blind Sniper)

10.1- The Next Step starts in 3 days.

It's October 3rd in the Entropia Universe, and so far MA/FPC has been rather silent about the upcoming Version Update 10.1. But according to sources it's due to hit about 6 October (This Tuesday)

What will 10.1 entail? Well according to sources 10.1 will have the return of the 'Teleporter" Chips at least, so that folks can get around the planet faster by using Mindforce and their Teleporter chips.

But the question is will MA/FPC Deliver 'On Time'

My guess is going to be a resounding 'no' they won't deliver on Time..

But then I could be wrong, as MA/FPC has already done 14 minor updates in the span of just two months, or one minor update every 4-5 days.

And I'm guessing also that when 10.1 comes out then there will be a lot of content coming out with it. Including the afforementined 'Mindforce'

but then there's going to be an interesting thing happen. Where are the folks going to find "The Mind Essence to power these mindforce Chips? After all Ive yet to see Force Nexus and Sweat out there on the market, so it's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out

But stay tuned.. the first release is in just 3 days.

Ben Coyote (Aka 'The Blind Sniper')

Scotty, I Need More POWER! (Or at least a better computer!)

Well it seems that maybe in the next week or so I'll be out of game for at least a couple of days (at least) as my friend is getting his computer upgraded.. The Good news is that I'll probably get his old parts to upgrade my own computer which means I'll probably have a good enough system to play Entropia Universe.

The Bad News? Well I'll have to reload the entire Client Software from the Entropia Universe Website.

The Good News again? Thank God I got Cable connectivity.. and fast too.

The Bad news again, It'll probably take me about an hour to upload the entire client program and all the updates..

But the Good News will be that I'll be starting off with a whole fresh set up.. complete with enough memory to keep me going for quite a while (until something happens)

So in the end, the Good News Outweighs the bad, and in the end, I'll have some spectacular Graphics with probably High Settings being the norm..

But we shall see After all this new Power project may begin as early as tomorrow.. So I guess I'll be rather busy.

Will keep you posted.

Ben Coyote (Aka "The Blind Sniper")

October 1st.. Here we go again.

Well it's the end of the month, and again I've met my expectations as I've still got cash on my PED Card to play with.. of course with October coming up a few new decisions come into play

First off my armor.. It's Shogun, and while it's not a bad armor to have (Especially with 5B's or 6A's on) some of my friends are suggesting I move up to Ghost Armor.. which costs about double the price of Shogun to repair, and has about 30 % more protection (including electrical and acid attacks)

But will I decide to go "Ghost?" Or should this guy keep his Shogun?

Then there's weapons.. I'm qualified for a Taurus AL15 Laser rifle and I probably could use one, but the 210 PED price tag has been keeping me from getting one. Plus I've started to enjoy the usue of a 50 PED Breer M3a (I always keep 3 on me at all times) so even though the newer more expensive gun would be able to allow me to hunt atrox (The Biggest game on Entropia Universe) I feel that maybe my 210 PED would be better used for 4 Breer M3a's and I could go hunt argonauts hoping for another global.

And that's not counting the ammo burn.. I usually for keeps keep at least 10,000 rounds of ammo on me (So it's a difference between getting 800 shots versus 2500..)

so the question that comes up for October is.. What do I buy? What don't I buy? and above all what to do this month?

After all with Mindforce tentatively set for October 6th, it's anyone's guess if I'll be using a TP chip or not before the end of the month is out.

So then .. here's the thing.. You got a limited budget of just 675 PED to spend.. the question..

What do you buy?

I'll leave this one up for the Peanut Gallery

Ben Coyote (Aka "The Blind Sniper")

The 4,738 PED HoF.....Six Months later.

Now for those of you who are new to the game, you may be wondering what a HoF is.. It's short for "Hall of Fame" and each day the board always changes for those who are out hunting, mining or crafting. But today marks a very special day for me. As it's been exactly six months since I and a player who had been in the game only 8 days got a very special surprise for the both of us.

The Story

Now I'm a nice guy in game.. Perhaps one of the nicest guys around, and it was one day while I was hanging with my soc at the time (The Dark Angels) that I got a PM from this newcomber (or Noob) who was trying to get to Atlas Haven, Perhaps the crossroads of the Entropia Universe.

How could I refuse? I asked the newcomer how far he had gotten and he told me Fort Fury.. I definitely suited up in my Shogun armor and grabbed some ammo, and was off on my jaunt to Fort Fury (Via TP). Once there I found the newcomer standing by the TP and after the formalities, we decided to head off into the wilderness to hunt down TP's so he would have them on his list.

Now my first mistake was leading this guy around because I was 'legally blind' in Real life.. but the newcomer avidly followed me and we picked up TP's Fort Medusa, Atlas South, Tethys Creek and Finally Atlas Haven and Atlas Haven North Sure he died at least three times, but every time I was there tending to his wounds and cheering him up.

So finally we get to Atlas Island North, the End of the TP Run, and for being such a nice guy, I said, "Look, I've got Extra PED to Burn I'll buy you an Opalo (The starter laser rifle for all new comers) and 350 rounds of ammo. He graciously accepted my offer.

So we start hunting the north side of the island chocked full of snablesnots, and exaosaurs, and the loots weren't dropping that good..

So I turned to the newcomer and said, "I know of this spot where the hunting isn't half bad, and it's on the south side of Atlas Haven at first he was skeptical but I assured him that we could take on anything MA/FPC threw at us. So we headed to the south side of the island.

We got to my "Favorite" hunting spot and after about 2 good loots, I spied the granddaddy of all Daikibas, a Provider class Daikiba" I turned to the Newcomber and said, "Want to take this guy?" He agreed and off we went after that beast.

Now I was toting an Isis CB5, and the noob had his trusty Opalo but was low on Ammo. I had an extra 500 medium weapon cells and gave it to him..

Then we attacked.

It was a tough fight, but as we killed the mob, all of a sudden the "Swirlies" went up and I was proud of myself.. For this had been what I thought was my 7th Team Global for that month..

But it wasn't until a few seconds had passed and my Soc Leader, Omega Dan Prime asked me a question.

"Ben," he said, "Are you the "TP Run to Atlas?" I sheepishly replied, "Yeah it was us, we just globalled on a Daikiba Provider.."

"No Ben," Dan shot back, "you didn't global, you 'HoFfed'

"What?" was my reply "A Hof?"

"Scroll up" Dan calmly said.

I scrolled up and was surprised to see that "Team TP Run to Atlas had Killed a creature (Daikiba Provider) with a value of 4,738 PED.

My first response was.. "WTF? we HoFfed for THAT MUCH?"

So I sheepishly turned to the newcomer and said, "Son, You best be setting down for this,"

"I'm sitting down," was his reply.

I then said, "We Just Hoffed"..

His reply: "What's a HoF?"

My Reply: "Do you want to Sweat?"

His reply: I 'sweat' for my money,

My Reply: "Son, You won't have to Sweat Anymore.. at least not for a while."

I then explained to him that Half of the Loot went to him.. and when I told him that it was for 2,369 PED (which is half of the loot), his reaction was that of utter shock.

"That's Mine?

"Uh-huh, We both made out like bandies didn't we son?'

Conclusion

Well Now it's six months later, and I still look back at that Hof.. I even got a screenshot of the HOF Board.. and there it was.. #1 for the day.

Now as I look back on this event six months ago, I think to myself, "How in the hell did this happen?"

but what did I do with my earning?

I reinvested it into armor plates for my shogun armor.. A set of 5B's and 6A's and since then I've never looked back

But the thing is that I still talk to the Newcomer.. Since our HoF we've become good friends, and even though he's in a different society than mine, (Which is Temporal Destinies), We still go out hunting from time to time.

My only other thought is this..

Thanks MA/FPC, for making my gaming a little more fun.

And that my friends is the rest of the story...

Benjiman Ben Coyote aka "The Blind Sniper"

Still Looking for a HoF but a Global leaves me happy.

Well It's been a few days and I've been busy torn between moving a friend, and gaming and last night it was time to get some gaming in. So off I went to Entropia Universe to see what I could hunt.

Of course a fellow society mate (Soc Mate) and I decided that it would be interesting to hunt perhaps a tough "Mob" for even a rookie to kill, namely The Argonaut, or what I like to Call "Sasquatch on Steroids"

Of course the fun was the killing of young and Adult Argonauts, something that isn't hard to kill if you're skilled enough..

I was busy working on one argo when another one (A young argo) ran up on me, and started to attack.. of course after dispatching the first one, the young was an easy kill, but what a Kill it was..

The Loot? An Isis CB19- Worth 55 PED plus two Paladin Face Masks (Full TT Value of about 30 PED) and about 150 iron stone, worth about 21 PED..for a grand total of 106 PED..(or about $10.60 USD). My largest 'solo' global to date.

Now it's not that I'm not happy about getting a global.. I'm grateful that this large global landed in my lap. But when I look over my records I've had 16 globals and one "Hall of Fame" (HoF) but only 3 of these have been solo.. the rest have been in team format.. My largest loot was over 2,300 PED (about 230 USD) on A daikiba provider.

But that was in team.. I've been waiting for a 'HoF' that I can call my own. No one to share it with.

So the HoF is elusive, but then I'll take whatever I can get..

And with the fewer players in game now, a Global or Hof seems likely.. as the 106 PED Global showed last night.. So is a Hof in the works? Let's hope so.

But right now, It's just another notch in my belt.

Bring on the next one... I'll be ready for it..

and who knows.. maybe it'll be a HOF yet..

but until then, I'll just keep hunting.

Benjiman Ben Coyote (Entropia Universe)

Entropia Universe.. After 'the Impact'.

Alright It's been a while since I've posted, but since my last post I've been busy
"in game" on a game called "Entropia Universe". by Mindark/First Planet Corporation (MA/FPC). And for the last 19 months running I've been playing in game on and off on a daily basis.. That is until August 17th, 2009.

What Happened? Well according to the storyline, the 'robots' decided to do something drastic, and dropped a "War Titan" down onto the planet of Calypso (The Game World), and in the ensuing impact, things changed, both geographically as well as climatologically.

But in Reality the real story is that MindArk/First Planet Corporation had decided to update it's Gaming engine with CryEngine 2 (CE2) and thus was born into reality a new game altogether.

Do I like Cryengine 2? While the graphics are stunning, and there's now a day and night cycle which lasts 4 real hours in game (3 'real' hours daylight, 1 'real' hour night), the gameplay is still far from stellar.. After all this is a whole new game engine that has been released after "The Impact"

But do I like the game? While it does have it's nuances, CryEngine 2 has a lot to offer but so far the whiners are outpacing the likers..

Does this mean that it was a bad decision? Possibly. But still there's a lot left to do by the programmers and with the first Minor Update (Version 10.1) Due out on 6 October 2009, it will be interesting to see if Mindark/ First Planet Corporation can pull off a coup d'etat or if they are blowing air through a sousa phone.

But I'm one of the "Wait and See" kind of players.. After all, if folks leave the game in droves, this means I might have a shot at getting a global, a hof, or even dare I say an All Time High..

But that's a big 'if' at the moment. For like the game, the rules are constantly in flux, and the programming while solid is a bit buggy.

But in the end will I leave? Probably not.. After all there's a lot of room for Improvement and Mindark / First Planet Corporation does have the potential, if they play their cards right.

Let's hope they're not bluffing. Else this could be the most Successful failure on the planet..

But for right now, stay tooned.

Benjiman Ben Coyote (Entropia Universe)