Entropia Universe through Zaps eyes

Entropia Universe takes place in the future and is an mmorpg with a real cash economy. Entropia has been the real ground breaker in real cash economy games and has inspired a lot of other games to persuit this. Unlike some other mmorpg´s in Entropia Universe all players are on same servers so players are not geographicly divided but everyone sees the same world.

Zap who has been living in Entropia Universe for over 4 years tells now about the world, activities and life he leads.

Long term scifi- adventure

Entropia Universe formerly known as Project Entropia was first developed as early as 1997 and the first public version was released in the early 2003 so its not really a new game. The name change took place in 2006 because the game developers felt that it wasent a project anymore.

Entropia Universe consists of planet called Calypso with 2 continents on it; Eudoria and Amethera. The planet has an asteroid on its orbit; Club Neverdie ,named after its owner. And also a space station called Crystal Palace.

I have been playing/living in Entropia Universe for over 4 years now. In the beginning, back then, I was looking for a free mmropg and stumbled on Entropia. I have also tried other mmorpg´s along the way but just havent found anything better. Entropia really cant even be compared to anything else because of its complexity.

A free game -where money flows

Entropia is a free mmorpg, internet based roleplay game. You can download the game for free, you can also join the game and play for free.There isent any monthly fees either. But in the game real money is used. Money can be deposited in the game and the currency deposited is US dollar.

The role of real money makes the game interesting. The game currency PED can be used to buy items and servises. 10 ped equals to 1 US dollar. Money can be transferred into the game as well as out. Although playing Entropia Universe is possible without any deposits to the game account too.

Since real money is used an interesting question is; is it possible to make money in the game? Simple answer is yes. Although atleast in the beginning making money can be really slow and hard ecpesially if you are not willing to deposit at all. An income equivalent to a salery will be hard to achieve but its not impossible either. Some players have managed to do it but always with conciderable capital.

A game for adults

Entropia is an adult world. 80% of players is between ages from 20 to 40. Players under 18 is only about 10% so are players over 40. So age distripution is guite different from other mmorpg´s, perhaps because of the nature of the game.

Perseverance is the basic requirement for anyone playing Entropia because of the complexity of the game. Its not enough for a player to simply learn the basic controls and knows how to use tools and weapons. Oh no – player must also know which tool or weapon is equivivalent to his/hers skills and which weapon to use on different hunts and which tool to use where.

MindArk doesn’t really give any instructions to how to play the game. Everything must be learned by either mistake or by the experience of other players. There is a very strong sence of community in the game propably because of the age distripution

I´m also giving something back to the community by upholding a web page called "Zap´s Loot Table", which you can find at http://www.entropia-loot.com. There are also dozens other web pages offering different kinds of servises to Entropia players.

Sofar over 650 000 accounts have been registered to Entropia Universe. MindArk hasent released the information of how many of these are currently active though. MindArk provides regular version updating to the game. About 4-6 updates per year. So both the game as well as MindArk evolve along with its players.

The updates are not mere bug patches but actually offer new content to the game. Players also have a channel to interact with MindArk. For example earlier Entropia was only possible to play in full screen mode. A reguest from the community to also able playing in window mode lead to open disgussion on the game forums and polling. And the next version update provided the possibility to play window mode too. Ability to make a difference in the development of this game is one of the reasons that makes it interesting even for those who have been playing since the beginning.

How to join?

Journey to Entropia starts with registering, downloading about 1GB of client software, installing it, starting the program and creating your avatar. Its wise to spend some time creating your avatar so you don’t need to see a barber or a plasticsurgen for your first task.

The appearance of your avatar can be chosen from a wide range of variety. Height, body shape, face, skin color, eye color, hair color and style are just few of the variables thus making the combinations almost limitles.

Then you will arrive to the surface of Calypso. Completely n00b, ped-card empty and lacking almost any practical skills. Only thing to do… explore.

At first the controls of the game and the entire world can seem confusing. Luckily in Entropia asking is free and it will take you a long way as long as you remember to be polite.

You can easily get started with a cost of a new game bought from a store, 40-50 $. This will give you about 400-500 ped to buy you good newbie tools, weapons and ammunition. If you spend your money wisely it will last you a long time.

For non-depositing start.. go sweating. Collecting sweat from mobs with only power of thought might sound strange and frakly it is, but sweat has a vital part. Mixing sweat and mined resource Force Nexus makes Mind Essense (ME) which is used as a fuel to mindforce tools. The consumption is constant and raising a small capital with sweating is easy enough.

In the long run sweating alone might get boring. Most lightly you will start a profession instead of collecting sweat forever. There are players in Entropia who havent desosited at all and relying on their resourcefulness and greativity have made it all the way to land ownership.