Turning Crafting into a Calculated Risk

I've just discovered that Entropia Tracker allows you to check ubers on all the various items and mobs. You can set the threshold to 1,000 ped to 10,000 ped if you want. When you run the report, it tells you the recent ubers over that amount you've chosen for that item, how many days and hours since the last one went, how many peds of globals/hofs turned over since then on that item, and how long it has currently been since the last uber.

There is no way to say for certain that ANYTHING is overdue.. However, it would be foolish to say on any given item that an Uber will NEVER hit... Therefore, the next most logical conclusion is to say, the longer the amount of time and the more peds cycled on an item without an Uber, the closer it is getting to the time an Uber will hit!

I guess what I am saying is, if more peds have been cycled and more time elapsed than is normal for an uber on that item for that amount, then, in all likelihood, it is overdue. But many factors play into who is going to get it when it hits. What is your blueprint QR... What are your skills. How many people are crafting it right now. And part of it is simply being on the right crafting machine at the right time.

Now, it is a documented fact, that I know someone who ATH'd on a crafting machine that virtually a whole soc was using to craft on because it was a good machine. Since it paid out that ATH, very few people that I know of who use that machine have had a good crafting run on it since. This doesn't prove anything, to be sure... But... Every server has a hot and cold cycle. Not all places in EU are hot at the same time, not all are cold either. I had dropped like 30 NRF's on TI, then moved to Shinook and first drop gave me a 50 ped alferix. Well, the conclusion is simple. TI's loot was on a take cycle, and Shinook was paying out, and the server seen an imbalance and crapped out my global.

I really do believe you have to be in the right place at the right time doing the right things at the right time to stand a chance of getting an uber. This gives it the appearance of being accidental when it does finally happen, because it is only by chance that you will be doing all the right things at the one magical moment.

So... I just wanted to share the excitement over a new possibly useful tool I found, and perhaps a new way at figuring out what to craft, since that is a common question I am faced with.

And yes... EVEN BASIC FILTERS HAVE HAD FOUR DIGIT HOFS. Just as surely as I have witnessed non-mutant chirpies having four digits too.

January 2012: Review of the Planets

Well.. I got to thinking about the various planets and how a person might decide just one to start on. Without having already played, who's to know which planet is best for you? So, I thought I would write a general post covering each of the planets and what they have to offer. I am trying to be as objective and unbiased as possible. I have no vested interest in Calypso, Rocktropia, or Arkadia. I am not their investor, or otherwise affiliated with them. I don't even own Calypso Land Deeds. I am however a qualified and experienced Speech and Interview judge, so I am used to judging what I see in a fair manner.

Calypso:
Features: The flagship planet of the Entropia Universe. Has the strongest most developed economy, the largest population. In general, most of the professions do well here. However, I have decided to rank the planets according to what they seem geared best for.
Crafting: 10/10 (Widest access to materials, and markets for your crafted goods.)
Hunting: 9/10 (Largest variety of mobs, from noob to uber, but item drop rates suck)
Mining: 8/10 (Could be better, could be worse, but is perhaps the most balanced, and has best market for selling your ores and enmatters.)
Quests: 2/10 (Unless you do the 10K Bronze, the quest rewards suck)
Noob Friendly: 5/10 (It is hard to start as a noob here, you can't own the oil rig, sweat prices are depressed, the quests don't give you anything but nova and blazar fragments unless you spend a lot doing them. In short, deposit, or die of boredom.)

ROCKtropia:
Features: Rock and Roll themed planet. Large variety of easy mobs for beginners. Large variety of uber mobs for ubers. Ores and Enmatters that are specific only to this planet. Large array of rewarding and fairly easy quests. Is home to HELL and Artic.
Crafting: 5/10 (Many materials hard to come by for doing larger runs. Poor market for reselling your crafted goods unless you own a shop or stand in lagoon advertising all day, seems a lot of people here don't know how to use the Auction house.)
Hunting: 9/10 (Noob mobs are SUPER easy, some of the tough mobs are super easy too, but some of the tough mobs are uber tough. Why I give it 9/10 is hunting loot markups, large variety of super easy to super tough mobs, and in general, I get literally 5 to 10 times the items I've ever looted on Calypso.)
Mining: 8/10 (I only give it 8 because of lack of sustainable demand for mined resources. It can be quite a challenge selling your ores fast. I wanted to give it a 10 because deposits are shallow and easily hit with shallow finders, and THERE IS NO COST TO GO TO HELL unlike trying to get to F.O.M.A.)
Quests: 10/10 (Some of the mission chains are still in their infancy, however, of the ones in existence, there is actually TT value on the rewards! You don't get novas and blazars... You get high markup goodies! The Thing gives you 50 pec TT helicopter and 50 pec TT truck, and couple peds in weapons faps and ammo! RT quests give you gold coin worth 5K% to 25K% MU (5 peds to 25 peds per K), Rocktropia Records (10 to the pec) And items that help you gain other quests, like police badge and radio which together are worth like 20 peds mu. When I first arrived, it took me a week to do all the beginner quests to familiarize myself with the place before I even really did any ped spending!)
Noob Friendly: 10/10 (The people here are VERY friendly and helpful. The quests are SUPER easy for non depositing noobs especially the Artic The Thing quest, and a lot of the beginning mobs drop good loot for being one shot opalo mobs. Sweating might be tougher, but sweat is about a ped or two per K higher than on Caly)

Arkadia:
Features: Well... In my opinion, they are a LONG ways from reaching my satisfaction. They have FAILED thus far to bring out Treasure Hunting. They had claimed I believe last August to have it implemented, but NOPE. And this is what everyone was waiting for!
Crafting: 7/10 (I only put it at 7 because many of the prints require a huge number of different ingredients making it a nightmare to try and click them, However the Auction seems to be a slight bit stronger here for selling crafted items than on Rocktropia.)
Hunting: 5/10 (Well... I figure 5 was low enough, it is a failing grade. You have to be pretty uber to hunt even the low level mobs any more... And the loot is astonishingly crappy. It's not just my own experience, but failing treasure hunting, I know several people who refuse to go back to Arkadia until everything is as promised. I have no idea what they expect you to hunt here as a total noob. The Tiarak are about the only mob I can kill.)
Mining: 6/10 (It started out great mining here to be quite honest. But hit rates are way down now, if I wanted 1 in 10 bombs to hit, I'd go to Hell where sure, 1 in 10 is a very good ratio when you are talking X's and higher! Also, there isn't the best market for trying to sell your ores either, and I havn't seen enough traders when I've needed them.)
Quests: ?/10 (I don't think I have even found a mission broker here but I haven't looked for them either, so I can't really comment on this part of it.)
Noob Friendly: 5/10 (I just don't see the great opportunities that Rocktropia, or even Calypso have to offer. Lacking totally noob mobs for the noobs, I have no choice but to give it a low rating. I may be wrong, I am not an Ark expert, but this is what I see.)

Next Island:
I have only been to Next Island once, and never returned. It is definitely more noob friendly than Arkadia and maybe even Calypso, but there's nothing really spectacular here as far as I am concerned. I really am not in a position to make any comments regarding the game play here since for me it's nearly a year since I was there. I like to think it's came a long ways since they began. I am told though that Ancient Greece is good for cheap Melee skills! At the time I was there, loots were on par with Calypso for Mining, Hunting, wasn't maybe as good, but I am sure that's all changed.

As things improve or get worse over time, I will come back from time to time and update this listing for your benefit. This is mainly intended as a quick guide for you to look at your needs and wants, and possibly help you decide where you want to concentrate your energies. I mean, it's obvious. If all you want to do is craft, start on Calypso. This is just made as a tool that offers a second opinion where one is desired.  If the management of these properties that I have reviewed do not like my scores, then they should read and take heed... If Ark will ever introduce Treasure Hunting, I will probably give them 10/10! I mean seriously folks! Treasure hunting! A new concept, yet they are dragging their feet... It just doesn't make sense to me. They have a veritable gold mine within their grasp, but slowly the golden goose is dying and wasting away. Soon, Ark might be a ghost town. Rocktropia has a lot of work left to be done, but at least they are putting quality into it. Calypso, is booming and needs room to expand,  but this is why we need to get the other planets economies roaring to life, so that people have viable alternatives to go to. 

I wish you all luck, and if you are choosing which planet to begin on, give it some careful thought :-) And you don't have to just take my advice for it.
 

AUCTION HOUSE: Clarification on Placing and Filling Orders

The weak economies of Arkadia and Rocktropia are in dire need of supply and demand. Yes, the supply is there, but it does not do any good for the crafters if the materials and ores are all trade terminaled. But, it is a huge risk to post large amounts of listings and ores, and have to wait for them to sell when you want to keep playing but have no peds. So my goal here, is to encourage you crafters to place orders for the materials you need... It tells the people selling their materials that ok, I have a market for it. In order for crafting to be viable, we must convince people not to TT any of the materials we need, or we really can't craft. Those of you who do thousands of click runs on calypso... You have the benefit of a steady flow of ores from the huge economy, and from the asteroid, and all other destinations. Calypso is the lifeblood of EU. But I want to see all the other planets become viable as well.


So... In order to place an order... You must click the orders tab. Then, you must click on the "available" tab. In order to find the item you wish to order (no L items may be ordered), you must go through the list one page or 10 pages at a time, and select your item. Then, you may place an order for it, it costs 1 ped per day of the listing regardless of quantity or peds ordered of that item. You set the maximum markup you will pay, and the WHOLE amount for that order will be deducted from your ped card.


If you order 100 narcanisum at 125%... And someone sells 90 ingots at 120%, the 5% difference is refunded to your ped card at the time you purchase those ingots. You have the option of leaving the remaining amount of the order up, or you may take it down early to obtain the rest of the funds that are still reserved for it.

Please bear in mind, it is not economically feasible for people to fill orders below 105%, the exceptions are for residues in large quantities. However, refined oil, the refiner decay alone brings the cost of this to 105%, so a note here: NEVER fill orders for oil for less than 105% unless you like throwing away peds! I've learned this from doing!


And a reminder...


TO FILL orders...


Click the orders tab. You may search if there is a lot of listings, or browse... Or sort by markup... When you find an order you wish to fill... Your listing MUST have the same quantity or less, and be AT that markup or under in order for the order to fill (buy out price). If you do NOT meet these requirements, the order will not fill.


Orders can change from hour to hour, minute to minute, day to day. What isn't ordered now, may command a huge price tomorrow because someone wants to do an emergency crafting run on something.

Recent Land Deed ROI and Observations

Land deeds I am told have hit 6 peds this last week in dividends. However, I wanted to report that during Merry Mayhem the dividends plummeted I am told to as little as 50 pecs, at which point some people got upset and sold out... Logic might suggest Merry Mayhem would be more profitable than normal times, however... Being limited to what, 30 hours of gameplay or something like that... All I know is I would have maxed it out in less than two days, is why I never do Merry Mayhem...

See.. Only the people who have a lot of peds will take part in Merry Mayhem. And by limiting the hours participants can play, that limits how many peds will be spent, and taken in by MindArk. Most of the players not bound by the time limitations are people busy sweating or otherwise low budget players. The breadwinners are forced to ration their play time by the contest rules, so it does not surprise me that the dividends sank to an incredible low.

Of course, after Merry Mayhem, we seen the ROI's return to normal 5 ped range. And, now, we see some growth. It is quite possible as Entropia becomes more popular, that we will see 10 ped dividends before the year is out.

However... EVEN at 50 pecs per share... That's 5 cents on $100 per week... You still are beating the savings account interest paid by banks. Not to mention when you consider what the ROI on a normal payout is, 50 cents or 60 cents a week. Savings accounts MAYBE pay half a percent per year. Think about it. If I had $100,000 in a savings account, I sure as hell wouldn't let the banks use it and pay me pitiful interest rates. I'd make the first priority to own

Sweating and Synchronization Mindforce Chips

It just occurred to me I should post about the subject of sweating and the use of Synchronization chips. The estimated cost to continuously give yourself the concentration boost, is around half a ped per hour. Assuming 3 peds per K of sweat, that is about 175 to 200 extra sweat per hour you must collect JUST to break even and see any benefit.

So, before I go any further, let's talk about what the Synchronization chip does. When you are hit with the effect from this mindforce chip, for 5 minutes you gain increased concentration and focus, so that when mobs hit you, your concentration isn't broken and your sweating is successful. As opposed to getting interrupted every time you are hit. But it consumes mindforce to do this.

Traditionally, most people sweat a very large mob in large groups, say at Neas. This negates the need for any concentration buffs, since only one person in the group is under attack at any given moment, and everyone else is able to sweat uninterrupted. But for the lone sweater, every time you are hit, you lose concentration, and your sweat attempt is wasted.

So... If you sweat in large groups, the synchronization chip is a waste. But... If you sweat by yourself, I can see the benefits of having it. Every click that starts pulling sweat, succeeds regardless of being hit or not. But if you are being hit, it takes much longer for the sweat cycle to finish. It is quite possible that you might not even get enough extra sweat from the successes to pay for the mindforce for this chip.

But I can tell you straight up... If you take advantage of group sweating, you are only throwing away your peds if you use the synchronization chips.

New Planets, New Frontiers, New Opportunities

It was recounted to me a couple years ago how many of what we would now call "Ubers", the ones running around with 5 and 6 digits of markup on their weapons armor and other tools... Made their pile of Peds simply by having started early on, in the beginning of Entropia. It is unknown how many people are included in this group, but I often wonder when I see screenshots of hofs with astronomical ped balances... How'd they do it? Simple... A lot of what USED to be just every day cheap items, became scarce but highly desireable when the Entropia Universe took off and became more and more populated. There was a... Boom in markups and demand for things, especially weapons. I am told some players capitalized on this drastic rise in prices that occured many years ago already.

It was probably 2009 when I was told of this.  The source of the information came from a player who himself had done this, taken advantage of common things becoming uncommon and valuable. It is quite possible that same person may actually read this and maybe not remember having talked to me about it... But I want to open everyones eyes to the future. NOW is the furthest back in time we will ever be. How's that for something to ponder?

Right now we are seeing infant worlds, much how Calypso started out to be sure... Except there is a huge difference. Calypso did not have other planets already successful from which to spinoff and use as a foundation. Rocktropia, Arkadia, Next Island... All are able to lean on Calypso, a well established economy and solid player base. There is no way that any planet will fail so long as this strong foundation remains. However, there is still great opportunity.

Over the years, many tools, weapons, have been changed, or eliminated. Some things quit dropping. And some of those items are worth a great fortune in peds to the lucky few who own them.We do not know what Rocktropia weapons or tools will become rare or valuable... Certainly, it will do so to a lesser extent than was seen in the earlier days of Entropia... But nothing is 100% right at the beginning. Take a look at your favorite television series. Compare say, seasons one and two, to seasons five or seven... Don't you notice something? The components making up that show begin to grow together and flow more smoothly, while at the beginning, no one knew for sure what direction things would take. If you compare the early days of Entropia to now... You can definitely see the point I am making here. Things have came together smoothly for Calypso. But now, we embark on the other planets journeys. It will take a few years, but they will get them ironed out.

Right now, yes, there is a lot of loot out there that has no use at present. Hopefully this will be fixed. But learn the lesson that has already been observed... Android Gears were dropping by the piles, but there was no use for them so they were TTd. Now their drop rate is so low that they command a 6200% markup on orders. The same thing can happen with other components that are dropping.

But what I am really writing about now is this: Look to the future. Based on what you know... What items do you feel are going to be valuable and needed perhaps by yourself or someone else? What weapons are cheap now but have the potential of going up a lot? I know L weapons make it a moot point... Being L, they are no longer items so much as they are commodities. A half condition Isis CB5 (L) at 250% is no different from a full condition Isis CB5 (L) at 200%. It's a commodity. It comes down to X gun is only worth about Y markup. Unlimited items and tools and weapons is where there is a lot of room for profits. For instance... No one in their right mind would hunt with a L weapon that costs 10K% MU. But... A UL weapon that is +5K peds... + 100K peds... If it is worth it to the person that has the money, and they want it bad enough, they can keep it as long as it suits them.

The message I am trying to put out to all of you is this:

You will probably not see ridiculous price increases especially in light of the bad economy and also with more planets, there being more competition between "brands", and what may be expensive from one planet's product line, the equivalent may be much cheaper from another planet, and people will always compare.  But there will still be a few items of which only a few will ever exist, and these, if you can get them early enough, and hang on to them, there is profit to be had.

But when looking at items, always bear in mind that all as it is now, shall not forever remain. Those items you refused to hold onto might be a small gold mine some day like those Android Gears... Or... Maybe that 800% ore will turn to TT food as has happened before too. But at TT prices, one can only go up!

Also... I speak this last paragraph from my own experience... If you are doing so badly that you find yourself TTing things you wouldnt have dreamt of TTing... It's too late and your luck is too bad for that few peds to save you. Rather, you should find other sources of peds, that those items will be of more value to you later than now.

ROCKTROPIA: Things You Should Never TT

It is a challenge to be a crafter on Rocktropia. There is inadequate supply of materials unless at great expense because few people are using the auction house, and shopkeepers are not keeping enough supply of common necessities or their prices are so ridiculous you cannot do business with them. Further, a lot of you are TTing high markup loot because you can't find buyers...

Here's a list of things that you SHOULD NOT TT but rather list on AH or fill orders with because no only do you need the peds, but crafters need the items!

Silver Party Flasks - Average MU around 150 to 250%.
Silver Shakers - Average Orders 150 to 200%
Vixen Android Gears - Very low supply very high demand, Average MU 6K% on orders.
ROCKtropia Gold Coins - Valued at 10 pecs for 100, MU is around 5K to 10K% (10 peds per K)
Rocktropia Records - 10 pecs per hundred as well, MU has been 500%, and is needed for Creative Juice.
ORES... You should never TT any ores in high demand, such as Gazzurdite and Alternative. Traders are somewhat common and anywhere there is a large group of people at least ask if they need any of your ores, someone I am sure will buy. I know it is going to take time to develop the economy on Rocktropia, but it will thrive soon enough.

IF YOU HAVE TRANSPORTATION TO CALY THAT IS SAFE:

You should stockpile Basic Target Assessment Units, they drop by the bushel on Rocktropia, and command a great markup on Calypso, usually a lot of orders for them on AH too.

Mindforce chips are also perhaps something worth taking back to caly. I never get them to drop for me on Caly, but here on RT, I get several a day without fail no matter how small a hunting run I do.

Regardless of what you have, you should always check orders on auction house especially if it something you are wanting to TT. The only way things will boom is if people can get the materials they need and put few extra peds into your pocket as well.

LINK ADDED: Titans-Of-Space.Com

At the right you will find a link to www.titans-of-space.com, which is the home page for John Black Knight's transport service and mothership. He is a former soc member that I've known for years now, and if you need a good person to deal with he's highly recommended.

I have no real motive for posting this other than he has been extremely helpful when dealing with potential customers, and anything of Quality in EU will get my endorsement. Even 100 QR blueprints LOL.

If you lose track of this post, the link to the site can be found on the right of the blog at the top of the toolbar next to my entropia abacus link.

Contaminated Zone: How I Avoided Being Looted

When you venture into the CZ, you are taking on a great risk and responsibility. Yes, many VERY large towers have hit in the CZ. Many rare ores including Himi are mined there as well. With the advent of vehicles, it is possible for those looters who are on fast computers and connections to see you almost before you see them, to be honest, and you may very well be dead before they render on your screen.

If you have an underpowered system I do not recommend going into the CZ. However.. I will explain how I have saved myself countless Peds, and perhaps is one reason why at least last I checked, the radar in CZ were disabled, though who knows, maybe they are working again.

You must always watch for other players. Assume all are hostile, becuase if you are like me, anyone can outgun me. Therefore, we must out think them. Your anti toxic shot is a mere 5.8 peds or something like that... Basically 5 peds.

Well.. When you carry hundreds or thousands of peds of ore on you, what choice do you have, if you cannot fight then what else is there? I learned long ago to ALWAYS carry a rocket launcher or a grenade launcher powerful enough to take myself out in a couple of shots. Just aim at the ground as close to yourself as you can, and fire. With any luck, you will kill yourself before the green dot does and you will retain your ores and matters, though there is the small issue of

ROCKTROPIA: Loot and Opportunity

There are a lot of materials in very high demand but very low supply... Auction house is full of high markup listings... 6000% MU for Vixen Gears... 500% MU for rocktropia records... 180% for Silver Shakers...

A lot of things that I loot I hold onto because it will be far too costly to get them the day when I ned them. But out of desparation for peds... I've listed maybe 15 peds TT of loot i've saved... Well... With MU I am looking at about 70 or 80 peds!

The big items drop more frequently on Rocktropia than on Calypso in my opinion. But the little things like components and materials don't loot so much. But on calypso... I've hunted a whole week and never had a loot over 10 peds. On Rocktropia, I have at least one 25 or 35 ped loot a day, and mostly all are easy mobs, at least if you stick below level 15.

The droprates on items may be changd, who knows...  But prices are up, so if you can take advantage of this, it would be wise to do so.

ADVICE: One Opportunity You Should Never Pass Up

Every once in a while, you will see someone about to TT their ores and enmatters, and offer to let people buy it for TT. I've seen it more often than you would think possible. Usually oil, lyst, force nexus, etc. Sometime melchi and iron.  Basically anything they dont feel like messing with selling on AH.

NEVER pass up an opportunity to buy anything for TT value whether you need it or not. It is just as good as having peds, and it might be you can resell or fill orders for a little more than you paid.

And something a lot of you might not realize is the harsh reality of trading. If a trader does not feel he can profit off of what you are selling, such as perhaps lyst or oil, then it is most likely he will pay you TT if you have other ores and matters in the trade. If it is just lyst or oil, you can expect they will offer a few pecs extra, because then it's obvious and you just as well could have TTed the lot.

A very patient person, can easily sell Lyst on AH for 115% and up. The most I could reliably sell for was 133%. Sure, it took a day or two to move a few K ingots, but when you get markup on TT food, it makes a HUGE difference in your returns.

If you buy something at TT... The worst that can happen is you get your peds back from recycling it... But someone always needs something and will pay a little extra to get it rather than try to loot for themselves. I've tried looting parts I've needed, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper to buy for a little extra than burn the peds hunting for it.

Don't pass any bargains up, and profits won't pass you up.

ROCKTROPIA: Mining Advice

First... I am going to reconfirm what I already posted about the arctic:

All I can hit there is Oil and Lysterium, but there is such a high density of it all over the place that I'd say if you need lyst or oil, is safe to go there and drop a few probes! And there is a crafting terminal on the great big building next to the one with the hole in the floor that you drop down to hunt Things. I only say this because Lyst and Oil makes Standard Dampers and Basic Filters, and I have had great results crafting in the Arctic.

Second...

I average 1 hit for every 10 drops in Hell. And the smallest claim I get for Ore is a IX, and smallest for EnMatter is VII. I am working on bringing you a comprehensive list of ores in each Hell Mine, as well as the mobs in each one and what their levels are. The hofs and globals seem to be very deep here, with my 105 I was able to hit a blausariam global at about 1100M depth, and my depth enhancers only took me down to 600m. So I got lucky I think.

And Last:

Rocktropia ores and enmatters are incredibly shallow. All my big claims on the surface are between 200 and 600m. So while the Demonic Dector is a Hell blueprint, it doesn't work for crap in Hell, I surmise it might work good on enmatters there, but certainly not so great on ores. On the surface however, yes. You are going to do well with it, and it is pretty easy to craft requiring only Lysterium and Alternative.

But I Surmise that the Z5 and Z10 finders will work great, as will the 103's and 104's. I would love to try an F-211 or a eMine... With what I've seen so far, an F-211 might produce some awesome results! But this is mere speculation.

If you want some great areas with what seems to be high density of Alternative, I will reveal a couple of my choice locations: East of City of Dreams... The stadium construction site... And East and South of Mulholland Way TP.

I have hit Frigulite, Garcen, and Blues at the Construction site... I have hit Melchi and Lytarian along with the Alternative and Lysterium and Blues over by Mulholland. I have even hit Dianthus east of CoD.

FURTHER NOTES:

If you can't hit within the first 3 bombs, go to another area if you aren't seeing skill gains. If seeing skill gains, try a few more and then move if nothing.

If you are getting double and triple skill gains with a single drop, it means you are at the right depth for hitting what is there. 90% of the time I will usually global if I get double and triple gains, on the same finder that I got those gains.

Beware that the game is dynamic, which means everything is a variable and the system changes to fit those variables. I.E. It can't know where we will be mining or what we will be spending, but it can know where to put loot and what to put there for loot. I am beginning to understand more about how the claims spawn. There are certain mobs for instance, that won't respawn unless you kill all of them. Once the last one is killed, then they respawn. Since programmers like to recycle code to save production costs and time, I like to think of Mobs as claims but we don't know if they have loot or not. It is forseeable that before an area will spawn new ore deposits, all existing ones must be hit, or else it will automatically respawn and redistribute them every night during whats known as Lagoclock, since unless you are in a dome, it is unlikely every claim in a given area will be hit.

And if you are having bad luck mining still.. One more place I recommend trying is near London Blockade.

Also, Some days I hit better with combo drops, others, just doing ore or just doing enmatter. If you are doing something and it isn't working, change, and you will get different results, not necessarily better or worse, but different.

Hope this bit of information helps and will tide you over until I can provide something a bit more substantial..

There is quite a bit of info that I have not shared with you and will not until I feel the time is appropriate. A lot of what I have I am still verifying and doing more research.

If any of you wish to contact me or add me to your friends list, feel free to use the Player Register I posted about earlier inside the Entropia Universe and search for Goldbaron Goldbaron357 Maximus. I will be glad to chat with my readers when I am online. I'd like to hear what you think and it would be great if you tell me anything you want to see me to add to this blog. It can be tough writing, because some days you just don't have any ideas, and others, like today, you are clacking away at full speed on a keyboard trying to write everything before you go insane and forget it all!

Entropia Friends List Bug: Solution?

I noticed I would add a bunch of people to my friends list but it wouldnt show up on my list. I would then log back in and see a bunch of people on that weren't there before. Then I realized that the people I add will show up after I log off and log back in!

I don't know if it will work for each and every friend added to the list, and I don't know if it will work for every person. But this is how it works for me.

I know a lot of people have been complaining and asking if this can be fixed, so I figure I better put it up here and let everyone know. I am hoping they don't release a patch soon, because I enjoy playing and every time they release a patch, I have to find someone with high speed internet so I can update. Dialup SUCKS.

How To Find Anyone Not On Your Friends List!

I was just looking through the menu seeing what kind of fancy things I could do that I hadn't noticed before... And the age old question of "How do I chat with someone or add someone to my friends list if I don't know where they are at?"  Has finally been answered!

There is a "Player Register" accessible by right clicking, system, and player register. From there you type in all or part of the players name and all the results will show up, and shows if they are online or offline and there is a button that you can click to add them as friends!

That's all there is to it!

ROCKTROPIA: No Way Out Prison: WARNING

My friend had decided to take a flight to Zomhattan. His computer crashed while he was right over the Island. He had no idea what the island was but he wanted to take a look. Well, he crashed on the island, and when he logged back in, he was in prison.

Seemingly the only way out was to complete the quests, which required clearing the ones he was almost done with that cost an immense amount of time and peds to get that far, so he was very frustrated. We figured he was stuck for good, not wanting to give up his progress on the other quests.

BUT THE GOOD NEWS:

Yes! YOU CAN ESCAPE FROM PRISON

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?221595-how-to-get-out-of-prison-on-Rocktropia

The instructions provided in the above forum post worked like a charm!

Rocktropia: Motorhead Keg (RT Version of Oil Rig)

Yes, I can confirm now that there is a Rocktropian version of the Oil Rig... However, since it is relatively low stakes as of late, there are no armed conflicts and blazing tank guns here. However, if you are satisfied with picking up a few pecs here and a few pecs there, it might be an interesting visit for you to make to the Keg.

I do want to point out that the zone is PVP, but non lootable PVP. And you revive far away IF someone were to kill you. But seriously, if they take even one shot at you it costs them a few minutes of keg collecting to pay for the ammo they just wasted.

Do Kegs have use? I'd say some blueprints have used them because there is some 60 peds having been sold in the history of Rocktropia at a MU of about 600%. Of course there is no weekly or daily MU, perhaps even monthly either. So they clearly aren't as of yet in high demand. But that might change in a year or two.

The Kegs weigh 1 kilogram a piece, and TT value is 1 pec. They are dropped every few minutes by the Keg in stacks of 1 or 2. The stacks may get bigger as people start spending more peds fighting for them. Is only my speculation but I surmise the more peds spent in the Keg zone, the bigger the keg stacks will be and the more that will be spawned. Only time will tell if I am correct.

I am only posting this for the sake of completeness in my blog. Most of you would rather deposit 10 bucks and have 100 peds to run around doing stuff with, I mean, it would take a long long time of running around picking up these kegs to get 100 peds :P

I suppose I am addicted to picking them up simply because the Oil rig has been denied to me so many years, I've never, not even pre vu 10 have picked up any oil even once. The Keg seems to be fair game for everyone, and it is a good feeling to finally get a turn at something like this. But if you are broke and can't deposit, it is still faster than sweating :-)

The Keg can be found at 126460, 92245.. these coords are right along side the Keg, so yeah... Good luck and have fun!

TEAMS: Being In A Team = More Globals

This is something I wanted to cover quickly. I cannot explain it totally, but presumably the system is more favorable in giving loot to teams than individuals, since groups tend to burn peds faster than individuals, a logical deduction.

But it baffles me that I have had dozens of hunting globals and hofs, yet only two were solo. I can't for the life of me rack up any solo hunting hofs or globals. The two I had almost certainly were accidents.

Today, I globalled 56 peds on a mulholland boy level 3 or 4 mob. My team was active still and the friend I was in team with was offline, and it would seem as long as they are still in your team list online or not, you can still loot your kills.

Generally, I don't hunt with anyone else, even if I am teamed with them. I am off doing my own thing, as are they. I still set the loot to damage stack share just in case they do run into me and help kill something. I get all my loot from what I kill that globals or hofs.  So I will set up a team JUST FOR THE PURPOSE of getting better loot. I know I will global in a team but that I most likely won't solo. And this irritates the hell out of me. No pun intended lol.

SO if your hunting is complete crap like mine, give a team a try, find someone you know who is willing just to be on your team even if they aren't hunting.

ROCKTROPIA: My Observations

I have spent quite a bit of time on Rocktropia now... And I am very pleased with it there. There are a lot more quests, and the quests are more rewarding than those on Calypso. Instead of Nova and Blazars, they give you things that actually have TT value, or things that lead to more valuable quests. And the quests themselves are not impossible, though it seems getting some of them to trigger is just about impossible.

Things to remember when doing quests:
If you must find an item for a character, lots of times it must be looted.
If you accidentally cancel a quest, some of them are almost impossible to get back because of how the system is structured.
The quests are location specific. If you get a Quest in city of dreams to kill trolls, killing trolls near say the Hyperplex won't count for your totals.

This is going to be a lot of just general information... More specific things coming soon such as what mines in hell have what ores and matters for instance.

The mobs are looting better and more often than I have seen personally on Calypso... It would seem that Rocktropia is geared more towards building a satisfied following of players than fleecing the flock and treating them like gamblers as Calypso tends to do... So safe to say I feel Rocktropia is under better management. I want to also note, that when Neverdie still owned the asteroid, my loots were never crappy. I mean, I would always hit say 5 or 10 claims in a hundred bombs. After Foma took over, I was lucky to hit one in 200 amped or not. And its not surprising now that I am getting good loots in Hell and RT. I might permanently move to rocktropia, who knows... But one things for sure, the mobs sure look a hell of a lot better :D

What I don't like about mining on Rocktropia is, just a small amount of Rocktropia ores is an immense amount of weight, so the only solution to mining for extended periods of time, is simply to build up your strength using Melee weapons so you can carry more.

When visiting Hunt The Thing, or the Arctic as it is known... You can mine, but bombs can't be bought there if memory serves correctly... So you will have to bring some with you. Only stuff I've hit there is Oil and Lyst, though when you get to the refueling base where you engage The Things, there is a construction terminal next to the supply shed on the bigger building. My crafting has been lucky there in the arctic.

Also, I want to point out, that the shotgun from the Arctic is very cheap and effective against the Rocktropia mobs, mostly. But for the bigger mobs, you want a bigger shotgun!

I am going to call it good for now, but I will be bringing you a great deal of new information that is specific to various issues within the coming days. Happy 2012 to all of you!