I finally spent a great deal of time hunting in hell, which, now currently as of this writing has a 2.5% tax rate! This is unprecedented! It has got to be the lowest rate anywhere in Entropia for mining and hunting.
I chatted with Neverdie and he said he wants to raise the taxes back to 5% at some point. I don't know when or if it will happen, but if you want to see taxes remain low in Hell, now is the chance to show him that having a low tax rate works!
Showing posts with label Hunting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hunting. Show all posts
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Friday, May 10, 2013
Team Loots different than Solo Loot?
I had meant to post this sooner, some of you may have seen this or read this elsewhere but likely didn't think anything of it. However, it is unusual for MA to admit to anything:
"Any attempts at abusing team mechanics or any other Entropia Universe systems or features in order to gain an unfair advantage over other participants will be grounds for disqualification from the event."
These words were found in the terms of the Feffox event. I read this as an admission by MA that teams are treated differently by the system than solo hunters. The ramifications of this are unknown, but given that I could only ever global or hof in a team but never solo (even if the others in the team are not hunting with me), proves that indeed teams loot differently (usually better) than solo hunters.
"Any attempts at abusing team mechanics or any other Entropia Universe systems or features in order to gain an unfair advantage over other participants will be grounds for disqualification from the event."
These words were found in the terms of the Feffox event. I read this as an admission by MA that teams are treated differently by the system than solo hunters. The ramifications of this are unknown, but given that I could only ever global or hof in a team but never solo (even if the others in the team are not hunting with me), proves that indeed teams loot differently (usually better) than solo hunters.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
PRESS RELEASE: Next Island Mutant Boar!!!
I am pleased to publish the first press release ever on my blog...
Location: Morion Outpost
Origin: First Wave geneticist Dr. Paul Kylon predicted -- quite accurately, as it turns out -- that robots like 1314-Mary and 2922-Fyodor would not be best suited to the tropical climate on Nesoi Makaron, and he proposed modified hyper intelligent papoo as assistants to the Elysian colonists. To this end, he and his assistant Bess Mackenzie genetically altered some of the papoo to create tamer, more intelligent, talking papoo. Sebastian, at the Papoo Village, is one example.
Pleased with their success, Kylon and Mackenzie next altered the local village boar, hoping to create a domesticated herd for easier hunting. Unfortunately, the DNA of these boar was just different enough from Earth's animals to create an unintended result. Instead of a docile, domesticated boar, they created a more aggressive version.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
ARCTIC Part 2: The Thing Conclusion... Tips
Well... After many hours I finally made it through The Thing quest, and got my arctic helicopter.
I am still not an expert with this quest despite how long it took me. Here are the following issues I ran into:
1. I cannot find any storage terminals in the Arctic. So, DO NOT LEAVE YOUR VEHICLES SPAWNED WHEN YOU LOG OF. They get returned to storage, and NOT to Rocktropia storage either! So I had lost my Arctic Truck to storage. Without it, you are going to have a hard time getting through all of the things gathered along the path to the exit point. It quite possibly may take a trouble ticket with MA to get your truck back if you lose it.
2. When you enter the refueling base, you basically keep to the right, and there is a large building, and a smaller building kind of close to the satellite receiver. Don't worry about fixing this satellite, theres no terminal on it. Instead, you have supply and repair terminals on the side of the buildings there. Inside the smaller building is a hole in the floor that you are to drop down and you will find underground tunnel with Things all over.
3. It does appear that your Armor works from Calypso. My shogun was doing an admirable job, but that could just be from my defensive skills who knows. Supposedly only the arctic armor should work, but who knows really. In any case, the Things are very tough despite being level 7. These aren't the 1 shot 1 kill level 7s of Rocktropia. It took about 20 shots with my breer M3A to kill one. The shotgun you get from the supply terminal is powerful, but it was a 50/50 if I died or not while killing one. And if you get more than one attacking you you are better off to run for it unless you are uber. So if you plan to do the thing, BRING SOME POWERFUL WEAPONS AND THE APPROPRIATE AMMO!
4. You must reach the escape point from underground. There is no way to complete the mission above ground, believe me, I tried. Upon escaping you are at the surface next to a base. You will receive further instructions by Radio, and then it just gives you your Helicopter and says thank you for playing, and more episodes coming in the future. So it does appear that they will be expanding the Arctic.
5. MINING IN THE ARCTIC: You cannot buy bombs there. BUT you can drop them! Though all I found so far is Lyst and Oil but I did use the crafting terminal in the refueling base, and ran a small profit on standard dampers with the mined Lyst and Oil. Just bring everything you think you need and maybe even some things you don't think you need.
If you are not wanting to spoil the spirit of The Thing, and juse use all Arctic gear, that's fine, and I can respect the ambition of that, but you might want to go with friends since it will be helpful to have a team in dealing with all the Things.
Please see Arctic Part 1 in case you missed it for tips on getting through the first half or so of the mission.
I am still not an expert with this quest despite how long it took me. Here are the following issues I ran into:
1. I cannot find any storage terminals in the Arctic. So, DO NOT LEAVE YOUR VEHICLES SPAWNED WHEN YOU LOG OF. They get returned to storage, and NOT to Rocktropia storage either! So I had lost my Arctic Truck to storage. Without it, you are going to have a hard time getting through all of the things gathered along the path to the exit point. It quite possibly may take a trouble ticket with MA to get your truck back if you lose it.
2. When you enter the refueling base, you basically keep to the right, and there is a large building, and a smaller building kind of close to the satellite receiver. Don't worry about fixing this satellite, theres no terminal on it. Instead, you have supply and repair terminals on the side of the buildings there. Inside the smaller building is a hole in the floor that you are to drop down and you will find underground tunnel with Things all over.
3. It does appear that your Armor works from Calypso. My shogun was doing an admirable job, but that could just be from my defensive skills who knows. Supposedly only the arctic armor should work, but who knows really. In any case, the Things are very tough despite being level 7. These aren't the 1 shot 1 kill level 7s of Rocktropia. It took about 20 shots with my breer M3A to kill one. The shotgun you get from the supply terminal is powerful, but it was a 50/50 if I died or not while killing one. And if you get more than one attacking you you are better off to run for it unless you are uber. So if you plan to do the thing, BRING SOME POWERFUL WEAPONS AND THE APPROPRIATE AMMO!
4. You must reach the escape point from underground. There is no way to complete the mission above ground, believe me, I tried. Upon escaping you are at the surface next to a base. You will receive further instructions by Radio, and then it just gives you your Helicopter and says thank you for playing, and more episodes coming in the future. So it does appear that they will be expanding the Arctic.
5. MINING IN THE ARCTIC: You cannot buy bombs there. BUT you can drop them! Though all I found so far is Lyst and Oil but I did use the crafting terminal in the refueling base, and ran a small profit on standard dampers with the mined Lyst and Oil. Just bring everything you think you need and maybe even some things you don't think you need.
If you are not wanting to spoil the spirit of The Thing, and juse use all Arctic gear, that's fine, and I can respect the ambition of that, but you might want to go with friends since it will be helpful to have a team in dealing with all the Things.
Please see Arctic Part 1 in case you missed it for tips on getting through the first half or so of the mission.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Chirpy Hofs... A Quick Note
I have seen chirpy globals and hofs on normal chirpies, not the mutant chirpies.
But I gotta set the record straight... The mutant chirpies will make an uber cry. Thousands of hitpoints in health and hundreds in damage. Sounds incredible, but true. And they do hof.
But the normal noob chirpies I have seen hof as well in the past.
But consider this:
The cost of killing a chirpy is roughly the same as crafting basic filters. So you spend 5 to 10 pecs killing a chirpy and about 5 pecs on a click of filters. So in all honesty, you have roughly the same chance at hoffing or globalling a chirpy as you would on filters... And just think how many thousands of filter clicks it takes to get that kind of reward...
But I gotta set the record straight... The mutant chirpies will make an uber cry. Thousands of hitpoints in health and hundreds in damage. Sounds incredible, but true. And they do hof.
But the normal noob chirpies I have seen hof as well in the past.
But consider this:
The cost of killing a chirpy is roughly the same as crafting basic filters. So you spend 5 to 10 pecs killing a chirpy and about 5 pecs on a click of filters. So in all honesty, you have roughly the same chance at hoffing or globalling a chirpy as you would on filters... And just think how many thousands of filter clicks it takes to get that kind of reward...
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Would you like to have a Mentor?
The new mentoring system seems to have a competitive edge to it now, so let me put my qualifications out to those of you reading my blog, and see if I can't drum up some disciples for myself. No sense letting the uber ubers get all the goodies when all they really care about is what fancy gift MA has in store for them. How would you like a mentor that really cares about your success?
As of now, I am level 24.5 in Prospecting, and nearly level 20 in BLP, and I think level 18 in Laser. Not uber by many standards, true...
But if you want someone that is there when you are, I am online at least 12 hours a day usually. I have learned the hard way where to mine and with what equipment to get best results. I know many of the details of crafting, to help you be successful going that route as well. Hunting, well... All one can do for hunting is wish in one hand and hope MA doesn't give you dung in the other.
I will always help you with anything you could ever need help with, except don't ask me for free peds lol... Though from time to time I will be happy to craft some armor for you or maybe a weapon.
If you like what you see in my blog, consider choosing me as your mentor. All you have to do is right click to get the menu in Entropia, and I think it is under System, where you can find the mentor directory. Just search for goldbaron357, I will most likely be the only result, but goldbaron goldbaron357 maximus is my full Entropia name.
As of now, I am level 24.5 in Prospecting, and nearly level 20 in BLP, and I think level 18 in Laser. Not uber by many standards, true...
But if you want someone that is there when you are, I am online at least 12 hours a day usually. I have learned the hard way where to mine and with what equipment to get best results. I know many of the details of crafting, to help you be successful going that route as well. Hunting, well... All one can do for hunting is wish in one hand and hope MA doesn't give you dung in the other.
I will always help you with anything you could ever need help with, except don't ask me for free peds lol... Though from time to time I will be happy to craft some armor for you or maybe a weapon.
If you like what you see in my blog, consider choosing me as your mentor. All you have to do is right click to get the menu in Entropia, and I think it is under System, where you can find the mentor directory. Just search for goldbaron357, I will most likely be the only result, but goldbaron goldbaron357 maximus is my full Entropia name.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Mining: Why I Think It Has Best Chance Of Globalling
Anyone really serious about wanting to get globals and hofs I think is best to stick to mining. Learn all you can about it. Always used a maxed finder and don't fall for that SIB crap. I have always skilled faster on a finder that's already maxed.
See... Hunting seems to require a HUGE amount of peds to be cycled before you can even think of a global. For instance... I have killed many thousands of mobs since starting 4 years ago. Only global I got was two years ago on a Drone Generation 1. I had hunted so much that both my Laser and BLP are nearly 3K, my rifle is around 3K... Seriously, that's a lot of peds spent hunting. Then I decided to start being serious about the Argo challenge. I got a global half way through my 1K mission. That means, it took me about 600 to 700 kills to even global, not counting what I blew killing other mobs. I spent nearly two full days hunting drones and minerbots. Since my global, I have killed over 1000 more argo with no global. I seriously doubt a hof is possible hunting. Check my entropia tracker page and have a good laugh. Seriously. Goldbaron Goldbaron357 Maximus.
Crafting tends to require high QR blueprints. If you are of moderate or low skill, you don't have a snowballs chance in hell of a global or a hof unless it is an expensive item to craft. And then its only because you lost so many peds you globalled. I am not knocking crafting, but its not something where you can do say, 5K clicks and guarantee a global.
Prospecting on the other hand... I will say surveying too, but in general the surveying claims are much smaller than an ore claim, because surveying costs half as much per drop to do... However, it is great to skill up your geology first before moving onto ores if you so choose, but now, with being able to mine for both at once, I'd say do both at once from the very start, that way your prospect and survey should remain about equal, and I highly suspect it is a hidden amping effect if you hit one and not the other.
But as long as you have sufficient number of bombs to drop... I would recommend at least 100 bombs to drop (That's 100 peds worth if ore, or 150 peds if both), but the more the better, and if one area not doing good, go to another area and increase the distance between drops. You will find a lot of times you can hit good size claims if you are down a bit and balance back out. Markup on ores is a huge deal, because most hunting loot is TT food, I mean, sure, you might get 100.1% on oils, but unless you sell directly to a crafter, you can't afford to pay auction fees to fill orders on some of that junk.
You are able to cycle a greater number of peds faster, with better average returns so long as you are wise about where you are searching and what finders you are using. I wouldn't worry about amps until you get a feel for where things are found, and what is a good reliable area for your skillset and equipment. Then after you find an area you are getting a good hit rate in, maybe consider amping... But I recommend one level of amp for every 10 levels of skill for best return. It would seem if you reach past this rule, returns will often jump off a cliff. I speak from many thousands of lost peds from doing so.
A global is 50 peds. You are dropping 1/50th a global when looking for ore. Most times you get a great return if not a profit. If you keep cycling your peds, you should quite easily find a global within a day or two of solid mining. I have hunted for 18 hours a day several days straight and not hit even one global. I have crafted a lot of clicks on things i used to global and hof a lot on, and nada. But mining, I was able to hit 5 globals in two days recently.
My mentor always said if you want to global or hof, MINE. Now I know why after 4 years of playing Entropia.
Speaking of mentoring, if MA finally does actually come out with the updates that are supposed to happen, and they do eventually bring back mentoring, I will be happy to take on some disciples and teach everything I know about mining and crafting. Just leave a comment here or email g o l d b a r o n 3 5 7 at g m a i l . c o m, just remove the spaces.
See... Hunting seems to require a HUGE amount of peds to be cycled before you can even think of a global. For instance... I have killed many thousands of mobs since starting 4 years ago. Only global I got was two years ago on a Drone Generation 1. I had hunted so much that both my Laser and BLP are nearly 3K, my rifle is around 3K... Seriously, that's a lot of peds spent hunting. Then I decided to start being serious about the Argo challenge. I got a global half way through my 1K mission. That means, it took me about 600 to 700 kills to even global, not counting what I blew killing other mobs. I spent nearly two full days hunting drones and minerbots. Since my global, I have killed over 1000 more argo with no global. I seriously doubt a hof is possible hunting. Check my entropia tracker page and have a good laugh. Seriously. Goldbaron Goldbaron357 Maximus.
Crafting tends to require high QR blueprints. If you are of moderate or low skill, you don't have a snowballs chance in hell of a global or a hof unless it is an expensive item to craft. And then its only because you lost so many peds you globalled. I am not knocking crafting, but its not something where you can do say, 5K clicks and guarantee a global.
Prospecting on the other hand... I will say surveying too, but in general the surveying claims are much smaller than an ore claim, because surveying costs half as much per drop to do... However, it is great to skill up your geology first before moving onto ores if you so choose, but now, with being able to mine for both at once, I'd say do both at once from the very start, that way your prospect and survey should remain about equal, and I highly suspect it is a hidden amping effect if you hit one and not the other.
But as long as you have sufficient number of bombs to drop... I would recommend at least 100 bombs to drop (That's 100 peds worth if ore, or 150 peds if both), but the more the better, and if one area not doing good, go to another area and increase the distance between drops. You will find a lot of times you can hit good size claims if you are down a bit and balance back out. Markup on ores is a huge deal, because most hunting loot is TT food, I mean, sure, you might get 100.1% on oils, but unless you sell directly to a crafter, you can't afford to pay auction fees to fill orders on some of that junk.
You are able to cycle a greater number of peds faster, with better average returns so long as you are wise about where you are searching and what finders you are using. I wouldn't worry about amps until you get a feel for where things are found, and what is a good reliable area for your skillset and equipment. Then after you find an area you are getting a good hit rate in, maybe consider amping... But I recommend one level of amp for every 10 levels of skill for best return. It would seem if you reach past this rule, returns will often jump off a cliff. I speak from many thousands of lost peds from doing so.
A global is 50 peds. You are dropping 1/50th a global when looking for ore. Most times you get a great return if not a profit. If you keep cycling your peds, you should quite easily find a global within a day or two of solid mining. I have hunted for 18 hours a day several days straight and not hit even one global. I have crafted a lot of clicks on things i used to global and hof a lot on, and nada. But mining, I was able to hit 5 globals in two days recently.
My mentor always said if you want to global or hof, MINE. Now I know why after 4 years of playing Entropia.
Speaking of mentoring, if MA finally does actually come out with the updates that are supposed to happen, and they do eventually bring back mentoring, I will be happy to take on some disciples and teach everything I know about mining and crafting. Just leave a comment here or email g o l d b a r o n 3 5 7 at g m a i l . c o m, just remove the spaces.
Monday, September 19, 2011
How To: Increasing Your Damage Skill Without Chipping In
Weapons technology seems to be one of the dominant skills that influence your damage abilities. Anatomy also affects your damage abilities too. But I have a bit of a problem with my skills. I have only ever used Laser or BLP, no melee and not a whole lot of explosive weaponry. So... My damage skills are 5 levels apart from hit skills in Laser, and 2 levels apart in BLP. It seems odd to have such a large gap...
But I used to hunt things I could kill without needing to fap. And not fapping means I am not gaining Anatomy. And not gaining Anatomy means my Damage skills are hurting. But if you don't want to be a medic or waste fap trying to skill up, then there is one more option.
If you are wanting to use Laser, craft some laser weapons such as the Jester D-1... You should be able to get a high QR blueprint from auction for around 50 to 80 peds usually, but only consider paying this amount if the QR is over 75 and there is no cheaper deal available. It makes a big difference in your crafting losses to have a high QR blueprint, trust me. D-1's are cheap to craft, only needing two Iron, Two Belkar, and One Melchi.
If you need to increase your BLP damage, craft some BLP weapons.
That's really the only ways I know of getting damage skill up. But Anatomy is decently cheap to chip if you decide to go that route.
Hope someone out there finds this useful.. I just post things I learn as I learn them and if I think someone else out there can use the info. Thanks for reading my blog, and check my other topics for anything you might have missed or needed to know!
But I used to hunt things I could kill without needing to fap. And not fapping means I am not gaining Anatomy. And not gaining Anatomy means my Damage skills are hurting. But if you don't want to be a medic or waste fap trying to skill up, then there is one more option.
If you are wanting to use Laser, craft some laser weapons such as the Jester D-1... You should be able to get a high QR blueprint from auction for around 50 to 80 peds usually, but only consider paying this amount if the QR is over 75 and there is no cheaper deal available. It makes a big difference in your crafting losses to have a high QR blueprint, trust me. D-1's are cheap to craft, only needing two Iron, Two Belkar, and One Melchi.
If you need to increase your BLP damage, craft some BLP weapons.
That's really the only ways I know of getting damage skill up. But Anatomy is decently cheap to chip if you decide to go that route.
Hope someone out there finds this useful.. I just post things I learn as I learn them and if I think someone else out there can use the info. Thanks for reading my blog, and check my other topics for anything you might have missed or needed to know!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Arguments That A Loot Pool Exists
No one really knows for sure if there IS a loot pool... But if you look at Entropia Tracker, the amounts of hofs and globals every day is up and down a bit from one day to the next, but it seems reflective of how much playing is done, i.e. how many Peds are being spent for the loot to come out of it. This is an issue that is perhaps hotly debated by some, I know I have had my debates... So I just want to put my opinion out there, everything I can observe and let you guys have at it.
First: If there were no loot pool, and if loots were truly random, then there should be times when there are MORE peds in circulation than what's been deposited and paid for. There is no indication of this happening. It appears the algorithm operates with a "house edge", that runs tend to get smaller, although the distribution of your wins seem to be random for sure. Everything designed into the game, decay for instance, is indicative of a sustainable system, therefore it is illogical for the system to be unsustainable.
Secondly: The people who craft amps all day on full condition sometimes get 5 or 6 globals/hofs in a row after somewhat long clicks with nothing. And the people who spent tremendous amount of peds mining, end up hitting mining global spam, and with or without amps, I've never been able to do this, if it were random loot values, I would have by now... But only the ubers can get quick successive globals/hofs, but the amount of peds theyve turned over is far greater, so it seems they get a bigger piece of the loot pool, but that's fair really.
Thirdly: If Mindark were allowing random loots, with no basis in how much they took in, why do most of our loot patterns seem to be usually a little below what we put in? Hmmmm? I've played for nearly four years without a Tower. My biggest hoff was 906 Peds I think it was??? I have also burned through about 20 OA 102's, 103's and 104's without any hof. This seems inordinately off from what should have happened, that's a lot of bombs not to have a hof that were amped. If the game were like Anarchy Online, I'd probably be a millionaire, hell, for a basic weapon it costs hundreds of thousands of credits even though the missions pay a paltry thousand or two here and there. There is no indication that there are loots based on anything other than what the system has taken in.
Fourthly: If loots WERE random without any basis in what you've spent, then we should be able to craft Basic Filters and ATH, but that don't happen. In fact, if you look at Basic Filters highest hofs on Entropia Tracker, it's around 500 peds... Hmmm, 5 pecs per click in TT value, 500 peds in loot... That is the highest ratio between cost/click and hof. As you go up the charts to more expensive items, you see lower multiples, but is my theory that say, 10,000 times the click cost is the maximum multiplier in crafting, I could be wrong, but there is no indication that I am at current times. So showing that what you can get is linked to what you spend, I think I've won half the argument.
Lastly: Even if there is no literal loot pool and things are determined on the fly, they have an algorithm that more than likely ensures no more is paid out than is taken in. They have a great system that they've put such a large investment into, that has been designed from the ground up for sustainability, at least I see sustainable design implemented everywhere. WHY on Earth would anyone want to run their business model in such a way as to discredit and not take advantage of the designs that exist in the game? The Auction House fees... Decay... Ammo, Bombs,... Trade Terminal sales... All they have to do to make money is to keep a percentage of these things and if they pay the rest out, who cares, all it has to do is be cycled a few more times and they will have a bigger share on it, some people will come out ahead, but more people will lose a few peds than will gain a few, in terms of TT... The real gains come from MarkUp. Always remember that. Without Markup, I fear no one would profit much.
First: If there were no loot pool, and if loots were truly random, then there should be times when there are MORE peds in circulation than what's been deposited and paid for. There is no indication of this happening. It appears the algorithm operates with a "house edge", that runs tend to get smaller, although the distribution of your wins seem to be random for sure. Everything designed into the game, decay for instance, is indicative of a sustainable system, therefore it is illogical for the system to be unsustainable.
Secondly: The people who craft amps all day on full condition sometimes get 5 or 6 globals/hofs in a row after somewhat long clicks with nothing. And the people who spent tremendous amount of peds mining, end up hitting mining global spam, and with or without amps, I've never been able to do this, if it were random loot values, I would have by now... But only the ubers can get quick successive globals/hofs, but the amount of peds theyve turned over is far greater, so it seems they get a bigger piece of the loot pool, but that's fair really.
Thirdly: If Mindark were allowing random loots, with no basis in how much they took in, why do most of our loot patterns seem to be usually a little below what we put in? Hmmmm? I've played for nearly four years without a Tower. My biggest hoff was 906 Peds I think it was??? I have also burned through about 20 OA 102's, 103's and 104's without any hof. This seems inordinately off from what should have happened, that's a lot of bombs not to have a hof that were amped. If the game were like Anarchy Online, I'd probably be a millionaire, hell, for a basic weapon it costs hundreds of thousands of credits even though the missions pay a paltry thousand or two here and there. There is no indication that there are loots based on anything other than what the system has taken in.
Fourthly: If loots WERE random without any basis in what you've spent, then we should be able to craft Basic Filters and ATH, but that don't happen. In fact, if you look at Basic Filters highest hofs on Entropia Tracker, it's around 500 peds... Hmmm, 5 pecs per click in TT value, 500 peds in loot... That is the highest ratio between cost/click and hof. As you go up the charts to more expensive items, you see lower multiples, but is my theory that say, 10,000 times the click cost is the maximum multiplier in crafting, I could be wrong, but there is no indication that I am at current times. So showing that what you can get is linked to what you spend, I think I've won half the argument.
Lastly: Even if there is no literal loot pool and things are determined on the fly, they have an algorithm that more than likely ensures no more is paid out than is taken in. They have a great system that they've put such a large investment into, that has been designed from the ground up for sustainability, at least I see sustainable design implemented everywhere. WHY on Earth would anyone want to run their business model in such a way as to discredit and not take advantage of the designs that exist in the game? The Auction House fees... Decay... Ammo, Bombs,... Trade Terminal sales... All they have to do to make money is to keep a percentage of these things and if they pay the rest out, who cares, all it has to do is be cycled a few more times and they will have a bigger share on it, some people will come out ahead, but more people will lose a few peds than will gain a few, in terms of TT... The real gains come from MarkUp. Always remember that. Without Markup, I fear no one would profit much.
Limited Armor vs Unlimited Armor
There is debate on which is better... Limited or Unlimited...
Experience and research has shown to me that the decay is much slower, a LOT slower on most limited armors versus equivalent unlimited armors. Notice the durability numbers... The lower the durability the faster it will decay. L armor has insanely high durability.
Sure, Unlimited can be repaired.... But is wearing your armor out four or five times faster any more efficient than paying a few hundred percent markup on a good armor and having it last forever? :-) And if you pick the right armors, you can actually get far more value and use than you would out of an unlimited armor.
People make the excuse "My armor might break in battle"... Hmmm... I've never had a piece of L armor long enough to wear it out! That's how durable the stuff is!!! But you just keep an eye on your condition, and when it gets close, purchase replacements.
L also has the benefit of keeping more peds in players pockets, versus just dumping the peds straight into the repair terminal and into MA's cybernetic oblivion, since we don't know WHAT their percentage goes to them and what percentage goes to the loot pool... And I maintain there IS a "loot pool" because if they awarded more loot than peds were spent in the game, then we would have uber inflation like all the free MMO's have because millions of game dollars is what you have in a POOR PERSONs account... You would have lots of people running around with lots of peds! Not true in EU! Sure, there are "millionaires" in Entropia... But not hundreds of thousands of them like in other games! :-) This is reflective of a sustainable system that X amount spent - Y amount equals the amount of Loot that goes into the loot pool, Y being MAs cut. Sure, I can;t prove it, but the evidence does not indicate an oversupply of peds!
See, buying L armor supports the crafters, who in turn buy from the miners and hunters. Sure, we can buy UL items, but if a crafter sells to one person, they won't sell the same piece of armor to them again unless it is sold by the owner and needs to be repurchased later, or is accidentally TTed. L armor will eventually wear out and then it is no longer in the game and a new one has to be produced.
I think if you pencil it all out, it will become obvious in most cases that the extra markup on L items is still more cost effective than buying a UL version and having to repair it, considering the faster decay rate.
But then there is the argument that the more peds you spend the faster, the bigger and better globals and hofs you get... This seems to be true, I mean, look at what people hit with OA 109,s but they are dropping 10 peds TT per bomb drop too.. I would assume it works with armor and ammo and weapons while hunting...
If you are trying to hunt economically, my experience is Limited is better. If you want something you can repair, and don't care about the decay, and expect it will improve your loots, then you will most likely want UL.
Experience and research has shown to me that the decay is much slower, a LOT slower on most limited armors versus equivalent unlimited armors. Notice the durability numbers... The lower the durability the faster it will decay. L armor has insanely high durability.
Sure, Unlimited can be repaired.... But is wearing your armor out four or five times faster any more efficient than paying a few hundred percent markup on a good armor and having it last forever? :-) And if you pick the right armors, you can actually get far more value and use than you would out of an unlimited armor.
People make the excuse "My armor might break in battle"... Hmmm... I've never had a piece of L armor long enough to wear it out! That's how durable the stuff is!!! But you just keep an eye on your condition, and when it gets close, purchase replacements.
L also has the benefit of keeping more peds in players pockets, versus just dumping the peds straight into the repair terminal and into MA's cybernetic oblivion, since we don't know WHAT their percentage goes to them and what percentage goes to the loot pool... And I maintain there IS a "loot pool" because if they awarded more loot than peds were spent in the game, then we would have uber inflation like all the free MMO's have because millions of game dollars is what you have in a POOR PERSONs account... You would have lots of people running around with lots of peds! Not true in EU! Sure, there are "millionaires" in Entropia... But not hundreds of thousands of them like in other games! :-) This is reflective of a sustainable system that X amount spent - Y amount equals the amount of Loot that goes into the loot pool, Y being MAs cut. Sure, I can;t prove it, but the evidence does not indicate an oversupply of peds!
See, buying L armor supports the crafters, who in turn buy from the miners and hunters. Sure, we can buy UL items, but if a crafter sells to one person, they won't sell the same piece of armor to them again unless it is sold by the owner and needs to be repurchased later, or is accidentally TTed. L armor will eventually wear out and then it is no longer in the game and a new one has to be produced.
I think if you pencil it all out, it will become obvious in most cases that the extra markup on L items is still more cost effective than buying a UL version and having to repair it, considering the faster decay rate.
But then there is the argument that the more peds you spend the faster, the bigger and better globals and hofs you get... This seems to be true, I mean, look at what people hit with OA 109,s but they are dropping 10 peds TT per bomb drop too.. I would assume it works with armor and ammo and weapons while hunting...
If you are trying to hunt economically, my experience is Limited is better. If you want something you can repair, and don't care about the decay, and expect it will improve your loots, then you will most likely want UL.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Perception: What I've Learned About The Skill
Perception has been a useful skill gain. It tells me something is nearby. It could be anything. But generally, most of my globals are accompanied by a Perception gain. Some people argue there is no connection. But it seems that Perception really means there is something that your avatar sees that is beyond your radar range... In many cases, I notice that if you keep going the direction you are going when you get the gain, you will sometimes see, or find, what your Perception gain was from. In many cases, it turns out there is another avatar just a little further than I can detect on Radar, which lends credibility to this.
But it isn't limited to stuff above ground. I surmise that it is as easily indicative of something on the ground, in the ground, maybe in the air, who knows. But it indicates to me there is some change up ahead that my Avatar perceives.
I guess the bottom line is, it tells us something, but it can be anything. Doesn't mean it is not useful, but you will have to play around with it and see what you observe. In my case, sometimes another person is up ahead, or someetimes the mining gets better, or sometimes it is a mob, other times a REALLY BIG MEAN MOB! So it is plausible it means something is there. There is just no knowing until you see it for yourself or find it.
But it isn't limited to stuff above ground. I surmise that it is as easily indicative of something on the ground, in the ground, maybe in the air, who knows. But it indicates to me there is some change up ahead that my Avatar perceives.
I guess the bottom line is, it tells us something, but it can be anything. Doesn't mean it is not useful, but you will have to play around with it and see what you observe. In my case, sometimes another person is up ahead, or someetimes the mining gets better, or sometimes it is a mob, other times a REALLY BIG MEAN MOB! So it is plausible it means something is there. There is just no knowing until you see it for yourself or find it.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Things I Would Do If I Started Over: Beginners Tips!
I often wondered what I would do if I had to start over from scratch. If I knew when I was a noob what I know now, what would be the important lessons learned? What things would I have done to avoid wasting peds? Well... The good news is, I have some answers that I feel sharing with you new players should help you out...
CRAFTING:
If I had it to do again, I would have started off with a 100 QR Blueprint... Seriously, it makes a HUGE difference. Try a run on a 100 QR bp, then do a run on a 1 QR bp and compare your results. You save a ton of peds by not having to skill up the blue print when you are at zero skills.
I would have probably started off with Basic Sheet Metal. The Metallurgy skill is a huge boost to mining. I think you will agree once you start obtaining this skill. Besides that, BSM has a HUGE demand, all those 101's that are always being crafted, take a LOT of it. Alicenies and Narcanisum alwasy have good markup usually, and that means BSM does too, and I find it is easy to turn a profit on BSM.
I would also have bought a few hundred points of skill in Engineering perhaps. Engineering is by far the most useful of the crafting skills, it is used in all crafting. Every little bit of skill you gain increases your average returns... It may only be slight increases, but after a while, you go from averaging four or five sheets of BSM per click to averaging eight to ten of them. At least this is what I have observed. Every bit of experience tells me that skills and bp QR affect your results.
If you are new, and prefer not to sweat, crafting basic filters isn't a bad deal because it is the cheapest thing in the game to craft.... 100 peds would let you buy nearly 2K clicks depending on what you pay in markup. 100 QR Basic Filters BP's usually can be found from 15 to 30 Peds usually. Sometimes I have seen them under 15 Peds.
MINING:
If I had it to do over again... I would have started with enmatters, skilled up my geology from surveying... After I hit say level 10 or so in Survey, I would probably begin my search for ores.
I would also not have trade terminaled the few odd stones I'd have every once in a while that I couldn't refine. Over time, I am sure I've lost hundreds of peds in markup from doing this... Believe it or not, a few pecs can add up to being the cause of your being broke!
HUNTING:
I have spent so much at hunting with so little loot out of it, I don't even WANT to comment on this category... But I for the sake of completeness...
I would have started out with an Isis CB5 (L)... They are cheap, last a long time despite being (L). They shoot faster than their Trade Terminal laser counterpart too. I favor BLP over laser any day.
I would not have gone hunting EXPECTING to get any loot, therefore not be disappointed when I didn't get any which was most of the time.
I would actually have not bothered with hunting... And instead put all those resources towards crafting and mining.
The mobs that I feel deserve the most effort and have had the best outlook as for loots, are as follows: Molisk, Argonauts, Exarasaurs (don't laugh, I have probably had more loot from these than anything else), and Drones... The Generation 1's are easy enough to kill, just have a moderately good weapon and a little armor. The mobs I would avoid? Feffoids, nothing has looted worse for me than a Feff. I consider Atrox and Atrax neither good nor bad... They either will loot or they wont.
MISCELLANEOUS:
-Do NOT lend ANYONE that you do not know in REAL LIFE anything of value, Unless you can afford to lose it.
-DO NOT fall for people saying they will give you skills if you provide empty implants. If you think they are serious and true, then ASK FOR COLLATERAL!
-Do NOT join someone's team hunt without looking the loot parameters first. It used to be very easy to be taken advantage of through unscrupulous loot settings.
-DO listen to local chats, eavesdropping sometimes can provide useful information.
LAST NOTES:
If you don't agree with what I've written, that is ok. These are things based on my own hindsight, experience and observation that I wish I would have known sooner. Everyone could write their own such list and have it read differently than everyone else. The point of this is to get everyone thinking, and if you are thinking, you will be more careful and hopefully more successful in the long run. If it helps you, great. If not, well, hopefully some of my other posts will :-)
CRAFTING:
If I had it to do again, I would have started off with a 100 QR Blueprint... Seriously, it makes a HUGE difference. Try a run on a 100 QR bp, then do a run on a 1 QR bp and compare your results. You save a ton of peds by not having to skill up the blue print when you are at zero skills.
I would have probably started off with Basic Sheet Metal. The Metallurgy skill is a huge boost to mining. I think you will agree once you start obtaining this skill. Besides that, BSM has a HUGE demand, all those 101's that are always being crafted, take a LOT of it. Alicenies and Narcanisum alwasy have good markup usually, and that means BSM does too, and I find it is easy to turn a profit on BSM.
I would also have bought a few hundred points of skill in Engineering perhaps. Engineering is by far the most useful of the crafting skills, it is used in all crafting. Every little bit of skill you gain increases your average returns... It may only be slight increases, but after a while, you go from averaging four or five sheets of BSM per click to averaging eight to ten of them. At least this is what I have observed. Every bit of experience tells me that skills and bp QR affect your results.
If you are new, and prefer not to sweat, crafting basic filters isn't a bad deal because it is the cheapest thing in the game to craft.... 100 peds would let you buy nearly 2K clicks depending on what you pay in markup. 100 QR Basic Filters BP's usually can be found from 15 to 30 Peds usually. Sometimes I have seen them under 15 Peds.
MINING:
If I had it to do over again... I would have started with enmatters, skilled up my geology from surveying... After I hit say level 10 or so in Survey, I would probably begin my search for ores.
I would also not have trade terminaled the few odd stones I'd have every once in a while that I couldn't refine. Over time, I am sure I've lost hundreds of peds in markup from doing this... Believe it or not, a few pecs can add up to being the cause of your being broke!
HUNTING:
I have spent so much at hunting with so little loot out of it, I don't even WANT to comment on this category... But I for the sake of completeness...
I would have started out with an Isis CB5 (L)... They are cheap, last a long time despite being (L). They shoot faster than their Trade Terminal laser counterpart too. I favor BLP over laser any day.
I would not have gone hunting EXPECTING to get any loot, therefore not be disappointed when I didn't get any which was most of the time.
I would actually have not bothered with hunting... And instead put all those resources towards crafting and mining.
The mobs that I feel deserve the most effort and have had the best outlook as for loots, are as follows: Molisk, Argonauts, Exarasaurs (don't laugh, I have probably had more loot from these than anything else), and Drones... The Generation 1's are easy enough to kill, just have a moderately good weapon and a little armor. The mobs I would avoid? Feffoids, nothing has looted worse for me than a Feff. I consider Atrox and Atrax neither good nor bad... They either will loot or they wont.
MISCELLANEOUS:
-Do NOT lend ANYONE that you do not know in REAL LIFE anything of value, Unless you can afford to lose it.
-DO NOT fall for people saying they will give you skills if you provide empty implants. If you think they are serious and true, then ASK FOR COLLATERAL!
-Do NOT join someone's team hunt without looking the loot parameters first. It used to be very easy to be taken advantage of through unscrupulous loot settings.
-DO listen to local chats, eavesdropping sometimes can provide useful information.
LAST NOTES:
If you don't agree with what I've written, that is ok. These are things based on my own hindsight, experience and observation that I wish I would have known sooner. Everyone could write their own such list and have it read differently than everyone else. The point of this is to get everyone thinking, and if you are thinking, you will be more careful and hopefully more successful in the long run. If it helps you, great. If not, well, hopefully some of my other posts will :-)
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
HELP: I've Played For Years Without a Global! Suggestions For Getting One!
It took me six months to get my first global. After that, they came in somewhat regularly. But that was crafting. Then my first mining global took FOREVER. It finally came. Then, you know? It took me about 3 years to get my first hunting global, and keep in mind, I have hunted so much that I have 2.5K in Rifle, Laser, and BLP from skilling... Not to mention what I have in Anatomy. But only one global on a Drone Gen 1. All my globals and hofs in hunting come while I am in a team... So much for solo recognition :( Look me up on http://www.entropiatracker.com/... Goldbaron Goldbaron357 Maximus... Notice my stats for mining and crafting? Then look at hunting. Pitiful ain't it?
HUNTING: If you don't care about whether or not you get the recognition and credit, find someone who isn't even hunting but doesn't mind you adding them to a team... Even if they are hunting, you can do what you want and not really make it a team hunt if they agree... By being in a team, your chances to global and hof go up exponentially. The theory I come to is this: Teams spend more in decay, more in ammo, plus the loots GENERALLY are split, therefore they must be larger on average. If you each do your own thing, you get your full share of what is in the mobs you kill. I know, why can't I get a solo global or hof? It is frustrating, and I will spend hundreds of peds trying to, but it just ain't happening. The one global I got musta been a glitch in the system.
MINING: I recommend you use say a Ziplex Z5 finder, MAYBE a Z10 at a place like Akmuul, or say New Switzerland. Run a few hundred bombs... See what kind of results you are getting, if you are doing ok, just keep running and the globals will come in. It's all about how many bombs you drop, and each area has certain ores, and each finder is better at finding those certain ores... So most miners do in fact have a finder for each different area they mine based on their experience. Now, it is observable that most towers I have seen screenies of, happened with an OF-105... As did my 906 ped or whatever it was hof on Gazzurdite... In fact, I still have faith that Treasure Island North is still a good chance at something great... Nice thing about TI is, it is the only place I am known to have found Cobalt, which has VERY nice markup usually. If you want to improve your returns, and your chance at a global/hof... I recommend using one level of amp for every 10 levels of prospecting or surveying skill depending on what you are doing. This is what an uber miner I know did, and he was always towering and hoffing all over the place. I notice if I use an amp that is bigger than a tenth of my skill, then my returns are cut in half on average.
Also, crafting metal components gave me metallurgy, after I gained significant amounts of it, my mining returns, and variety of ores found gone up. Now I regularly find stuff I never dreamed I would. Another rule of thumb, if you can't hit anything in 10 bombs, change locations!!! But also, I want to say that if you are amping, it would behoove you to amp all your drops and not just pick and choose. Why risk missing your first tower? And it's never failed to give me about the same return either way, percentage wise. And remember, with markups, it is easy sometimes to run a profit while mining, just pay attention to what the traders are actually giving you... And if you have enough of something, maybe auction is a good idea, but be competitive.. If you are too far out of the ballpark, you wont sell it and your peds will be tied up for a while.
CRAFTING: If you really are having a hard time globalling... My advice is this... Take something like Basic Sheet Metal... Get a decent QR blueprint... Try to do runs of at least 400 clicks, and you should average at LEAST 5 sheets per click... If your average is above that, you should be close to profit mode with markup. You will global if you do enough clicks. I have globalled a lot on BSM. And just the other day on a basic screws blueprint that I skilled from 1QR, I hit a 80 some ped I think global after hitting just under 40 QR. Iron should still be close to TT food, screws pretty much are TT food, like three items in the whole game require them, so yeah... But it is easy as it just needs Iron :-) Set the autoclick and give'er Hell! If you are DESPERATE to get a global... Try to get a 100QR blueprint, say with screws or bsm... RUN ON FULL CONDITION. After hundreds of clicks you should have some nice residue drops and globals too! But I only recommend full condition IF you have a 100QR blueprint. The losses at lower QR's are staggering, at least for me, though it does skill a blueprint up quicker than on Quantity.
SILENT GLOBALS: The name of the game is making peds... And lots of times, you will find that you have had a silent global, sure you only got a couple peds of Dunkel, but hey, you are talking about 50 peds right there! So you can get a smaller amount in TT, but the markup makes it add up right for you. I know, it's not the same as hearing the bells trumpets and whistles, but don't look Mindark in the mouth when it comes to loot :-)
I will post more advice on this, and other topics as fast as I can. I want to get my inventory of information to the point where I've answered every question and provided advice for everything. I may never get there, but I will have fun trying. Please subscribe if you would like to keep up to date on everything I post, or check back from time to time. Who knows, I might start running some contests before too long! And if you found this blog helpful, please feel free to share with your friends!
HUNTING: If you don't care about whether or not you get the recognition and credit, find someone who isn't even hunting but doesn't mind you adding them to a team... Even if they are hunting, you can do what you want and not really make it a team hunt if they agree... By being in a team, your chances to global and hof go up exponentially. The theory I come to is this: Teams spend more in decay, more in ammo, plus the loots GENERALLY are split, therefore they must be larger on average. If you each do your own thing, you get your full share of what is in the mobs you kill. I know, why can't I get a solo global or hof? It is frustrating, and I will spend hundreds of peds trying to, but it just ain't happening. The one global I got musta been a glitch in the system.
MINING: I recommend you use say a Ziplex Z5 finder, MAYBE a Z10 at a place like Akmuul, or say New Switzerland. Run a few hundred bombs... See what kind of results you are getting, if you are doing ok, just keep running and the globals will come in. It's all about how many bombs you drop, and each area has certain ores, and each finder is better at finding those certain ores... So most miners do in fact have a finder for each different area they mine based on their experience. Now, it is observable that most towers I have seen screenies of, happened with an OF-105... As did my 906 ped or whatever it was hof on Gazzurdite... In fact, I still have faith that Treasure Island North is still a good chance at something great... Nice thing about TI is, it is the only place I am known to have found Cobalt, which has VERY nice markup usually. If you want to improve your returns, and your chance at a global/hof... I recommend using one level of amp for every 10 levels of prospecting or surveying skill depending on what you are doing. This is what an uber miner I know did, and he was always towering and hoffing all over the place. I notice if I use an amp that is bigger than a tenth of my skill, then my returns are cut in half on average.
Also, crafting metal components gave me metallurgy, after I gained significant amounts of it, my mining returns, and variety of ores found gone up. Now I regularly find stuff I never dreamed I would. Another rule of thumb, if you can't hit anything in 10 bombs, change locations!!! But also, I want to say that if you are amping, it would behoove you to amp all your drops and not just pick and choose. Why risk missing your first tower? And it's never failed to give me about the same return either way, percentage wise. And remember, with markups, it is easy sometimes to run a profit while mining, just pay attention to what the traders are actually giving you... And if you have enough of something, maybe auction is a good idea, but be competitive.. If you are too far out of the ballpark, you wont sell it and your peds will be tied up for a while.
CRAFTING: If you really are having a hard time globalling... My advice is this... Take something like Basic Sheet Metal... Get a decent QR blueprint... Try to do runs of at least 400 clicks, and you should average at LEAST 5 sheets per click... If your average is above that, you should be close to profit mode with markup. You will global if you do enough clicks. I have globalled a lot on BSM. And just the other day on a basic screws blueprint that I skilled from 1QR, I hit a 80 some ped I think global after hitting just under 40 QR. Iron should still be close to TT food, screws pretty much are TT food, like three items in the whole game require them, so yeah... But it is easy as it just needs Iron :-) Set the autoclick and give'er Hell! If you are DESPERATE to get a global... Try to get a 100QR blueprint, say with screws or bsm... RUN ON FULL CONDITION. After hundreds of clicks you should have some nice residue drops and globals too! But I only recommend full condition IF you have a 100QR blueprint. The losses at lower QR's are staggering, at least for me, though it does skill a blueprint up quicker than on Quantity.
SILENT GLOBALS: The name of the game is making peds... And lots of times, you will find that you have had a silent global, sure you only got a couple peds of Dunkel, but hey, you are talking about 50 peds right there! So you can get a smaller amount in TT, but the markup makes it add up right for you. I know, it's not the same as hearing the bells trumpets and whistles, but don't look Mindark in the mouth when it comes to loot :-)
I will post more advice on this, and other topics as fast as I can. I want to get my inventory of information to the point where I've answered every question and provided advice for everything. I may never get there, but I will have fun trying. Please subscribe if you would like to keep up to date on everything I post, or check back from time to time. Who knows, I might start running some contests before too long! And if you found this blog helpful, please feel free to share with your friends!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Welcome to my Entropia blog!
There are a lot of people wondering where the best places to mine what are, or what items they should craft, what skills to focus on... I am here to help. I have been an Entropian since summer of 2007... Hard to believe my avatar will be four years old :( Time goes by so very fast.
I have done a lot, I have tried a lot. I have experimented with theories. I have studied statistics. I have successfully been in profit mode numerous time... But like all of us do, I get greedy from time to time and want to go big or go home... I have not hit it big on there yet.
I am not perhaps widely known in EU yet, as fame has not reached me. However, I have done some trading part time as well... And if you must know, my identity in EU is Goldbaron Goldbaron357 Maximus. Goldbaron is a nickname I've always used since I am a real life gold prospector... Yes, I have caught the gold fever, and one of the main attractions to Entropia is the fact it is a real cash economy, and one that I can mine all year round in regardless of the weather, though it is nothing like actually being out there and finding real gold! My gold prospecting blog if it interests you is located at http://goldbaron.blogspot.com/.
I plan to post anywhere from two to four times a week, depending on what material I have to bring to your attention. I don't want to go for quantity, I just want to have quality. Information that you can depend on.
As for hunting on Planet Calypso, my advice is, DONT. I have several thousand peds worth of crafting and mining globals and hofs, but despite hitting levels in the 20's for weaponry from hunting, I have but one global hunting and it was only a 50 some pedder. As compared to a level XX gazzurdite on TI North a couple years ago, which gave me 904 peds in TT value. That is my biggest hit to date. Don't let my small numbers fool you though. I would rather hit constant profits than to hit a few big finds in between big losses.
Over the next couple days expect new posts from me, in an effort to get this blog underway, and attract some readers.
I have done a lot, I have tried a lot. I have experimented with theories. I have studied statistics. I have successfully been in profit mode numerous time... But like all of us do, I get greedy from time to time and want to go big or go home... I have not hit it big on there yet.
I am not perhaps widely known in EU yet, as fame has not reached me. However, I have done some trading part time as well... And if you must know, my identity in EU is Goldbaron Goldbaron357 Maximus. Goldbaron is a nickname I've always used since I am a real life gold prospector... Yes, I have caught the gold fever, and one of the main attractions to Entropia is the fact it is a real cash economy, and one that I can mine all year round in regardless of the weather, though it is nothing like actually being out there and finding real gold! My gold prospecting blog if it interests you is located at http://goldbaron.blogspot.com/.
I plan to post anywhere from two to four times a week, depending on what material I have to bring to your attention. I don't want to go for quantity, I just want to have quality. Information that you can depend on.
As for hunting on Planet Calypso, my advice is, DONT. I have several thousand peds worth of crafting and mining globals and hofs, but despite hitting levels in the 20's for weaponry from hunting, I have but one global hunting and it was only a 50 some pedder. As compared to a level XX gazzurdite on TI North a couple years ago, which gave me 904 peds in TT value. That is my biggest hit to date. Don't let my small numbers fool you though. I would rather hit constant profits than to hit a few big finds in between big losses.
Over the next couple days expect new posts from me, in an effort to get this blog underway, and attract some readers.
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