Crystal Palace shares, New Mission System, and more...

I should be bringing you updates more regularly here... I very much am grateful for all of you who take the time to visit my blog. Much of what has long since been posted is now obsolete just due to the fact there were so many massive overhauls to so much of the game; but I leave it all posted in the hopes that it will bear witness to what was a glorious golden age of Entropia years gone by.

That said, we seen a lot of BAD changes the last several years. I am pleased to report I am now seeing POSITIVE changes. What am I talking about? Well ok, then... I know you are thinking "positive changes? in Entropia??! What's this guy on!?" But seriously, yes there are some positive changes.

NEW MISSION SYSTEM: From what I see, EVERY mob now offers missions and rewards; you will have to likely track down the button from the action library and add it to your keyboard or GUI yourself. A lot of good mobs suffered from lack of hunting missions. Now, even the miner bots have missions! I just wish they had some loot again like the old days. You can let the rewards pile up, just have to hit claim as many times as your rank increased for that mob, and pick from a wide variety of rewards. Might be a good opportunity to push for that new level that you always wanted, or fill up your lower skills so you can catch up on what you are lacking in.

What is so good about this system? For those of you who were around a while before the new system came online; you probably have a ton of unfinished iron and bronze challenges. Well, this is one thing they did right: while you are trying to climb the ranks of the new mission system, your progress still counts for the old missions too. But I am told once you complete the old mission and finish it, that's it, its done. But you effectively will end up with double the rewards for the same amount of grinding. I know, some people don't like change, but, I am sure you were complaining about something before it got changed, so, at least now you will either be happy or more upset! But at least it isn't the same old thing.

CRYSTAL PALACE SHARES: I absolutely do NOT like Mindark deciding to roll out the new shares system to sell the shares in Crystal Palace, which I am told all 500K shares sold out within days of the update; when the old system still had tens of thousands of Ark Moon Deeds going unsold. I did send suggestions to MA, and I don't know if they helped, but I see that the robot pets are awarded for buying deed packs. I don't know how many AMD's we have left to sell before we can trade, and I wouldn't put it past MA to hold just ONE deed out just to keep us from being able to trade them on the AH... Well after having so many for so long now, you kind of worry about that kind of thing happening. Waiting, and waiting, and waiting. The moon has a lot of potential; but I think loot needs better balancing, no ones going to bother making the trip if they already know its going to be a money sink. There needs to be better rewards for risk. Low or no multipliers doesn't cut it.

We can now buy and sell these shares in Crystal Palace by right clicking on the PED card and clicking on the shares system, and then highlight the necessary tab and the entry for Crystal Palace and click buy, and you are free to buy however many you can afford of what is available. Last time I looked, they were purchasable for around 19.7 peds each. For those who like a little trivia, with 500K shares, valued at almost $2 each, that makes the fair market value of Crystal Palace around $1 million dollars. As long as something doesn't go wrong at CERN and wipe Sweden off the planet, we are ok, right?

I do not know what they pay out but they gotta be better than AMD's... Not that I want to knock the AMD's... Please folks, hurry up and buy them so we can trade them already. You can dollar-cost-average them after the prices crash on the free market. Seriously though... I think the Moon will have a bright future, just, that's the problem. We need it to happen sooner than later.

MARKUPS AND TRADING: There are some interesting things going on with the markups on certain items. I won't specifically mention anything, but there is indeed hope that things are improving based on what I am seeing.

SURVIVABILITY: My biggest problem the last couple years has been no matter what I looted or how much markup I got out of it, it was impossible to survive no matter what I did or didn't do. I have this week, survived hunting and amped mining on 500 peds. Yes, for almost a whole week I've played on 500 peds. Before, I'd be lucky if that lasted a couple hours. So I get the feeling some rebalancing is being done, and I feel like things are going back to being a little more equitable. Afterall, if we can't survive to enjoy playing, why bother even to deposit? Just maybe they have figured this out. But, yes, Crafting does seem rather busted still.

MISCELLANEOUS: There may be a lot of things I am not aware of that I should be aware of, but I do not frequent the forums. The forums are full of smug elitists who think the world revolves around them and I just don't have time for that. At least here I am reporting what I directly observe and experience.

Good luck, and I will probably have more to post soon!

The differences between Globals, Hofs, and ATH's

I suppose, this is a simple subject, but for those new here, it is a valid question. Since I want to be as thorough and complete as possible in my blogging, I figure I should make a quick post explaining these differences. As always, feel free to browse my blog archive for any valuable information you might use. I promise not to delete old posts. I will update them if there are errors or new information that has came to light, but I will not delete anything. Even if something is obsolete, I suppose I will leave it for the sake of having a working history. I mean, I still have questions about a lot of things in the older versions that don't apply now.

Ok... Enough rambling.

A global is any single loot over 50 peds. It is rarely a single item giving you the global (except in mining), but rather, hunting, it can be eye oil or animal muscle oil, or both, or it could be a 50 ped weapon or a fap! But anything over 50 peds is a global. How they figured 50 peds I'll never know, but it seems to be a key threshold. Those of you who have never globalled have probably missed it by a few peds.

A HOF is simply getting a global that is larger than the 100th largest global in the last 24 hours.

An ATH is an All Time High, that not only is a HOF, but is large enough that it actually beat out one of the top 100 previously highest loots for that profession in Entropia's history!

So... With that sad... I must mention the recent 217+K Ped #1 ATH Mining that was hit recently by Elle eSoul Beast, details of it are of course found on the Calypso Forums. It is the single largest loot in all of EU.

Well... Let me stop here before you say "But what about that Rugaritz tower"... Well... All of the above is computed by the TT value. NOT marked up value. In all probabilities, that fluke of a Ruga tower that was hit for some 19K peds I think it was, with markup, HAD to have been the single largest loot in EU. I could be wrong... But then it brings to mind also the Atrox egg that someone looted and Neverdie owned for a while, I dunno who owns it now, and I have never heard anything about it in a long time... Who knows when it will hatch... Maybe it already has, I haven't spent a lot of time on the forums... But see... That is all MARKUP... It means it does not come from MindArk's pocket, it comes from another player's pocket.

If ONLY TT value existed... Without a doubt Entropia would be a negative expectation game. Everyone would eventually be broke and need to deposit, good luck streaks not withstanding... But designing in the skills, and the markup, no longer is it a game of pure chance. The art of trading and negotiating comes into play. The needing to know where to go with what finders to hit what ore. What each ore is worth on the open market. Is it rare or common is a question that makes a whole world of difference.

So just because you didn't global or HOF doesn't mean you didn't strike it rich.

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.

Mining Basics Part 4: Selling Your Ores

This seems like a logical fourth part to my recent series of posts outlining the basics for all the noobs who are coming into Entropia on a daily basis. I am seeing incredible amounts of new people every time I log in. It takes me weeks sometimes to run into another avatar I've seen before. Seriously!

If you look at the totals on Entropia Tracker, say my mining rank is like 700 out of 3000 or something... And you think wow... 3000 people is that all thats here? But then you realize... That's only people who have hoffed and globalled in the last 30 days that are counted. It took me 6 months to get my first global. Then it took another 6, and after that it dropped to 3, and then I started hitting some kind of a global at least once a month... Until now, where I have globalled virtually every day I've played. So just think of how many people there really are playing that are not counted in the globals and hofs.

Anywho... I am a bit off topic here, but that's ok. This is going to be short and quick.

Markup is crucial to your success in any profession. It is the difference between winning and losing. Mindark is not going to guarantee you will win on every run you do. However, what gives you the opportunity to is markup because markup is directly out of other peoples pockets unlike the TT value of items.

There are several things to consider.

1. Rarity and % markup.
2. How many peds worth of each resource you have.
3. Auction fees.
4. Trader prices.
5. Is it worth more refined or unrefined (This may sound dumb, but I will explain why it is valid)
6. Do I fill orders, or do I just list an auction with a buyout?


So lets start with number one...

If a resource is selling for less than 110%, you are generally going to have a hard time pushing it on the auction unless you know what you are doing, and it is going to take a fairly large stack of the stuff to make it worth doing. For instance...

Oil had orders at 104%. I thought ok, I will try refining my 80 ped oil global and sell it to orders. What I didn't expect was, my refiner broke at least two times, so that cost me 4 peds right there. Then there is a matter of the auction fee of nearly a ped or so. My markup was less than 5 peds. I literally didn't gain anything by doing this.

However, it has a lot to do with what is the value per unit. See, refining decay is based on how many units you are refining. It is costlier to refine Crude Oil than say, Angelic flakes or Dianthus... Ped for ped that is. It wasn't worth bothering to refine the oil and fill orders. But I could have 80 peds worth of say, Alicenies and refined it and sold it on an order of 104% and actually made a few pecs.

Depending on the markup it can be cheaper to actually TT the stuff. But on all items you think are TT food, at the very least talk to a trader to see if you can get ANY markup for.

BUT REMEMBER: If you take something like Dunkel... Assume 5K% markup. A trader MUST automatically deduct around 1500 points off that markup and offer you between 3500% and 4000%. Because even with 3500%, the auction fees would take all the profit and then some. And if you think it is easy to sell something so rare, especially when it's not refined, you can try it. If its extremely high markup and rare, so few people even use it that it would be a risk counting on the fact someone using it would actually see your listing and buy it... It's safer in my opinion to sell it as fast as you can as long as the offer is reasonable. Reasonable, in my book, is markup minus auction fees on rare items. On common ores and matters, the standard few percent discount is reasonable.

#2:  If you have 10 peds of lysterium thats worth say, 105%... You are only talking 50 pecs markup. You wont make money with orders. Potentially, you could list a 9.99 ped lot of Lysterium ingots (333) of them for say, 120% and they will sell becuase lots of crafters will pay a little extra for smaller quantities. But you risk also that you might not sell it and lose the auction fees. So you have two options: Hold your ore til you have about 50 to 100 peds worth, or find a trader. Small markups will make a difference, but only on large TT values.

#3: Auction fees are progressive. The more value the item has, and the higher the markup, the faster the increase in auction fee as you up the price. However something you should know is... The auction fee to list what, 200 peds of Cobalt is like 6 peds or something... But to sell say, 900 peds on auction the fee is only like 12 peds. So after a while, economies of scale kick in and the more you can list at once the cheaper it actually gets for you to list. If you were to list four lots of 200, you would be paying nearly 25 peds in fees, versus saving and filling that 900 ped order. The numbers are just approximations from memory, not accurate... But the principle is what I am trying to explain. It will always be CHEAPER to sell the biggest lot that you can sell at one time,

Fees are good though. Why? Because it prevents people from using the auction as a warehouse like so many online games tend to do. If there were no fees, people would simple list everything at astronomical prices and never have to worry about storage for their stuff again. It might not be a big deal now, but back in the day when there was no storage on the asteroid, it would have been considered a major exploit.

Also, it prevents people from flooding the markets or otherwise manipulating them by buying up all the cheaper listings and relisting at much higher prices. The fees force people to list at prices they reasonably expect will find buyers.

I do notice the more I spend in AH fees, the better quality of loot I get... But I have no concrete proof, only observation from my own situation. But just keep your eyes peeled to see if it's making any difference for you or not. There is a lot we may never know about the game.

4: The reason traders are justified in making profit is simple. Most people do not have more than a few peds in any given stack of ore or resources. If you mine with less than a couple hundred peds, you are going to have a varied inventory when you get done. You will be forced to either tt lots too small to put on auction, or find a trader.

Now, when a trader buys from you, he has to consider how the market is. Are prices heading upward, or downward. Is it in high demand or is it not being used much. Whats the current price.

See... The advantage of a trader is this: If you cant list the stuff you have yourself, you either have to wait til you have more, TT it, or sell to the trader. Would you rather have five piles each of 2 peds of 120% ores and trade terminal them, or go to a trader who would give you say 115% for the ores. It is your choice. You can either lose 2 peds in markup by TTing, or you can go to the trader and let him make a few pecs, and lose only half a ped.

In turn, the trader accumulates the ores til he has sufficient amounts to peddle on the auction house or direct to crafters.Traders however, if they are smart, will take a sufficient cut on the ores so that when they have amassed their piles, that they will still make some money after figuring in the fees and etc.

However, if you have piles of ingots worth over 20 peds, and markup is over say 115% or 120%, by all means sell them yourself, in most cases you will get more than a trader will offer. It's just reality. But the exception to this rule... If it is an Ore that doesn;t move fast... Cobalt is very tempermental. If I list it as the lowest auction buyout, someone always undercuts me. But orders are sometimes 10 points below the lowest auction price. The solution? See what a trader will offer you. If Cobalt is 120% on orders and buyouts are no lower than 130, rather than risk being undercut, you might get a trader to give you 125%.

#5: Yes, I have to cover this... Becuase there are separate categories for unrefined and refined ores and enmatters, differences in the market value arise. In the case of chalmon/devils tail... I once sold 20 peds or so TT value, to orders for 560%. I went and checked the devils tail orders... Devil's tail was ordered at 620%. I would have made more money selling it unrefined. So when you have VERY high markup stuff... ALWAYS check the refined and unrefined orders BEFORE you refine it... You can always refine it later, but you can NOT unrefine an ore!

#6; Filling orders vs. Selling on Auction...

Scenario 1: Your ore's lowest buyout is at 120%. The orders are paying 119%. It is best to fill the order. Because even if you do list for say 123%, it might not sell, and for the 4 points difference, i'd rather have my money now. Also a gap like that generally means the price is going to be dropping so is best to be done with it than stuck with an overmarked up listing.

Scenario 2: Orders are at 120%, but lowest buyout is 130%. This is what I have experienced with Cobalt on a somewhat regular basis. Because the cobalt is virtually impossible to move without filling orders for me, I would opt to take it to a trader or fill the orders. Any other ore though, I would just do a listing at slightly under the lowest buyout if I needed the peds right now. If I wasn't in a hurry, I would find the lowest price listing around the size lot I had, and list just a little bit below that. People are going to always pay a little higher markup for smaller lots of resources.

Scenario 3: Make note of what the lowest auction buyout is, and then ask a trader, if there are no orders. If the trader offers you an amount somewhat close to that figure, do the math and see how much of a difference it is and if it is acceptable, take the trade. Otherwise, see Scenario 2.

I hope this helps clarify some situations and help you understand some of the dynamics at work in the market place. I will go through and clarify and rewrite this over time... Maybe add better examples and make it simpler to understand... But in the mean time, good luck!

Speculation on Entropia Universe Returns

Fact: MindArk's standard response regarding any payback issue or loot streak issues says that total returns are based on a PERCENTAGE.

So, since this is an important question everyone tends to ask at some point, I thought I would offer my own opinion as to the subject.

First, every indication is that the system does NOT pay out more Peds than it takes in. The system is obviously sustainable, and no company in their right mind would put that at risk. Many real life friends have obtained their payouts without problem other than waiting several weeks to several months for it to finally arrive. However, I do want to point out some people that haven't been paid have likely given Mindark a reason not to pay them such as violation of terms and conditions. There HAVE been exploits. There may still be some exploits. But the thing of it is... Exploits destroy the value that makes this game worth playing. It is a theft against each and every one of us that play.

Second, I believe the percentage paid out is based on the total spent into the system. Most of what everyone puts in, comes out somewhere along the line. The main edge they would have would be in keeping a portion of the repairs and decay, as well as auction fees, but who knows what percentage of each bomb or gunshot goes to MA directly. However, granted that even an absolute noob can tower on their first day unamped, which has happened, not often though, indicates that you do not have to pay in more than you loot.

But what I feel takes place is this: Every ped and pec spent is tracked. Every transaction you make. Loots are only figured in TT returns. But the higher markup items you use, the higher markup your loot tends to be, such as finding Rugaritz or Dunkel with the VRX2000 finder. But the thing is, the percentage kept by MA is easily compensated for by markup. Markup is extra value which derives from supply and demand. There is a limited amount of money fighting for a limited amount of resources and items. Markup is essentially what has come out of other people's pockets. But it ensures that everyone stands a good chance at either break even or profit.

IF you had to rely only on TT returns, you notice quickly that you almost NEVER run a surplus. You might have 1 in 10 mining runs that give you more in TT value than you spent. However, 7 of those 10 runs may bring you profit with markup.

I also want to stress that skills do affect returns as well. As a level 1 or level 5 prospector, I almost exclusively mined lysterium, oil, belkar, blausariam... As I ranked up, I gradually seen shifts from the low value ores to higher value ores such as narcanisum and niksarium, and later, kanerium became a regular find. Also, I have noticed as my skills go up, the frequencies, and average sizes of my hofs and globals have gone up.

I am not saying you can't hit good ores with low skills. I'm just saying you are going to hit fewer than if you had more skill. At level 28 prospector, I almost never hit Lysterium, and only occasionally hit Belkar and Blausariam.

So while they are paying out a percentage of what they take in, I wholly believe they use skills to control the distribution of that percentage. Certain finders are better at finding certain ores. But it takes certain skills to use certain finders. But also, another variable comes into play. It does matter where you are. You can mine all you want on those islands south of Port Atlantis and never hit anything but Lysterium and Oil. But... That's not to say you wont have ANY compensation for your troubles since you do still stand a chance of finding say, angel scales or hansidian, but TT value is low, and so your reward is simply dependent on what others are willing to pay for the stuff. But it works out, because chances are to use a 3K% markup ingredient to craft, the item it goes into is worth a great deal of markup as well, so the crafter can easily recoup his investment, and it is ultimately the final customer footing the bill for the materials that went into making the item.

There are a lot of complex principles at work here in Entropia... I hope I've been able to shine some light and open some minds as to this complexity. Think and play smarter, and more economical, and you will be rewarded as I have. But if you treat it like a casino, expect the same results. There are days no matter how much you spend you simply can't buy a global or a hof, I am proof of that. But if I play cautiously, and I am not expecting the big hits, they do happen! I certainly did not expect my XXI cobalt that I hit for 1322 peds, my largest loot in game and first four digit hof.

Good luck!!!

ADVICE: Take Advantage of Low Markups!!!

A lot of blueprints can be very expensive to skill up. Armor is especially costly to skill in. If you have something you want to skill in but don't want to pay high markups, just keep track of what materials you need and check their prices over time. I have seen Alice drop from 150% to TT food. Narc from 170% down to 120%. Cobalt as high as 170% down to 130%.

If most of the components you need for a blueprint drop significantly, there is no better time to craft it than when it is most affordable. That way, when the prices go back up, you have your skills without the expense you would have had. The system does pretty good usually at compensating in terms of TT losses, but Markup is what you can expect to lose. It's the cost of doing what you are doing. I am not saying that the system cannot compensate you in terms of the relative markup, but it sort of has a built in mechanism for that. Say if you have narc at 140% and Alice at 120%, BSM tends to sell for 160 to 170%. The markets on Entropia are no different than any other. They will always tend towards equilibrium. If it costs more to make a good, that good is going to be worth more, generally.

I see dozens of resources that are "on sale" because they have dropped so low in markup. Cash Cows of the old days... Turned to TT food.

Good luck and happy hoffing!

ADVICE: To TT or not to TT

There are times when you simply cannot profitably sell something for a markup if it is too low. Take Oil for example. It had a common markup of about 104% on orders or less, and if you competitively list it, you are lucky to even sell it at 105%. But, I was trying to fill an order once... My refiner broke a lot trying to refine a couple hundred peds of crude oil. By the time I was done, the orders were not high enough to cover the refiner decay and the listing fee. In short... TTing my oil was more profitable than auctioning it off.

Generally, I consider anything below 105% to be TT food, unless I have a trader that will buy it from me, or someone in my society can use it. If it is someone in the Society, I generally will sell it to them for TT value, it helps them out, and they will gladly help you out in the future too.

You have to look at it this way too: If you have something at say, 103%, and you are holding it and holding it trying to gather enough to sell... Finally you have thousands of peds worth, or maybe hundreds, and you sell it for your little bit of markup... If you don't feel foolish, you ought to when I tell you... You had no doubtedly deposited so you had more peds to play with because all your peds were tied up in loot, correct? Well... You effectively lost half a percent if you sold your tt food at 103% to a trader, or even on auction. How? Because there is approximately a 3.65% fee deducted from your peds when you deposit to cover the credit card transaction.

So, it is cheaper just to TT the low markup stuff if it means having to deposit.

If you are fortunate enough to have a large ped roll, then never mind me... It is wiser to get any extra you can out of what you have. Feel free to read my posts regarding survivability to find out more on why this makes a big difference.

It is mysterious to me how the auction fees work in Entropia. Some items is possible to fill orders at 102% on auction and still have some slight gain. Other items, you can't pay the auction fee with anything less than 105%... You just have to look closely at what you are selling and what all the costs involved are, otherwise you will find not all opportunities are ge drd le s.
Always remember a loss is a loss no matter how small.

I generally do not recommend TTing anything over 105%... Exceptions are for things that either sell slowly or not at all. If there is no demand, you can't expect to sell it for any markup.

Under 105%, is TT food.

Crafting With Residue: When You Should and Shouldn't

It seems silly that people buy so much residue, and it was only for a short while that I wondered why. I thought about it and realized the key to what makes it so useful, and profitable.

Components do not have condition and therefore residue does not affect them, though the effect of putting residue in the ingredients window is unclear. EU is DYNAMIC. Any slight change in one place results in a change somewhere else. Kind of like real life. Suppose all those trees that Stradivarius made his fine instruments out of burned up in a forest fire before he could make his famous and world renowned instruments... The wood had special properties from how it grew that allowed perfect acoustics... History, would have been altered in a huge way. Anything you do will have an impact, even if it is unnoticeable. So to answer the question of does residue affect component crafting results, you must consult quantum physics.

Unlimited Items: It is not wise to use residue in crafting UL items. This is because it is CHEAPER to craft them either on full condition, or on full quantity and just repair them to full condition for their TT value needed in repairs than to spend 105% or 110% on residue to craft with in the first place!

LIMITED ITEMS: Here is where the money is. But you don't want to use it for low markup limiteds... If you are paying 105% or 110% for residue but your L item sells for 105% or 110%, you aren't gaining anything. On the other hand if you have a 50 ped item that sells for say, 150%, and you buy your residue at 105%, you are making 145% profit on your residue for the condition difference of your successful craft. Say your successful click is worth 5 Peds without residue. You would have only gotten 7.50 peds... And lets also assume it cost you 4 peds per click to make. You add 45 peds to the next click worth of residue. Your item you made on full quantity, comes out full condition thanks to the residue. You now have spent 49 peds to make a 50 ped item that you will sell for 75 Peds. That 45 peds in residue turned into what, about 67 or 68 Peds netting you around a 20 ped profit on your 45 peds of residue!

Imagine what happens when you have a very rare L item you can craft that has markups of 400% or even 1000%.... If you aren't seeing dollar signs, you should be! This is the one time you can turn near TT food into the same markup as the item you craft!!! Think about it!

BUT PLEASE NOTE: It would seem you can only use enmatter residue in items that are crafted with enmatters, and ore residue in items that require ores to make. And etc. So don't buy a bunch of residue you can't actually craft with! :-)

Good luck!!!