Filed under: Entropia Universe

Go out and steal oil in Planet Calypso's 10.1 update

by Seraphina Brennan Oct 9th 2009 at 6:30PM

Filed under: At a glance, Sci-fi, Entropia Universe, Economy, Game mechanics, Patches, PvP

In a move to make our virtual lives eerily more like our real ones, the First Planet Company has re-opened the oil pumping station on Planet Calypso with patch 10.1, offering all players the chance to make a quick profit by grabbing oil from the pump -- if you can make it out alive, of course.

The pumping station is not only in the middle of the wasteland, but it's also surrounded by angry NPCs (the wastelanders) and it's right in the middle of an open PvP area. Sure, you can make a tidy profit by grabbing oil from the station, but you have to be efficient and sneaky about it. Otherwise, you'll just end up with a bullet in your back and your blood mixed with the oil.

The second golden age now occuring in Planet Calypso

by Seraphina Brennan Aug 27th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: At a glance, Sci-fi, Entropia Universe, Events, in-game, Patches, Free-to-play

CryEngine 2 is pretty. Really pretty. So pretty, in fact, that we added a rainbow to the above picture, just to amplify the already intense pretty with more pretty. Ronnie James Dio would be proud of us today.

But, if you haven't guessed, Planet Calypso is back online and is proudly sporting their new graphics engine with glee. Did you know that this is the first time the night ever passed over Calypso, as they never had a day/night cycle before? Now you know.

Also, as promised, today marks the opening of The Second Golden Age of Calypso event along with the upload of version 10.5. During this event, special rare items will be dropped throughout the world. These items will only be available for this event, so if you're an avid player of Planet Calypso or were looking to give the free-to-play game a try, now would be a pretty good time to do it.

However, you don't have to rush if you don't want to. The Second Golden Age will continue all the way until Christmas, so that gives you a good four months of event time to rack up all of those special goodies.

[Thanks, Dargon!]

Planet Calypso, formerly Entropia Universe, converts to CryEngine 2

by Seraphina Brennan Aug 15th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Entropia Universe, Business models, Economy, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, Launches, MMO industry, Patches, Server downtime, News items, Virtual worlds

In just two days, Planet Calypso, formerly Project Entropia and Entropia Universe, will be shutting down for a major patch of epic proportions. The game will be undergoing a graphical refit, moving from their old graphics engine to the new CryEngine 2 -- the same engine that powers Crysis and upcoming virtual world Blue Mars. Old and busted, meet the new hotness.

The new version of the client, version 10, is now available for download before this whole conversion process takes place. The servers will be shut down on Sunday night/Monday morning at midnight UTC as version 10 is deployed to the servers. The servers will be unavailable for a few days, as the First Planet Company does a full diagnostic on the servers to make sure everything is good to go.

Behind the Curtain: Playing in the sandbox

by Craig Withers Apr 18th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Entropia Universe, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Second Life, Behind the Curtain, Virtual worlds

I was feeling lost for a little while there. My mojo wasn't working, the Force was not strong with me, etc. I'm back in the swing of things now, however. I tried to break my habit, and move on to pastures new with Lord of the Rings Online, but it seems that I'm a one-game kind of guy, and I ended up back at World of Warcraft.

Before I settled back in to routine however, I did do some exploring and thinking. Listening to my colleague's advice, I spent some time with MMOs that I otherwise wouldn't have bothered with. I even dipped my toes into the waters of Second Life.

I've tooled around in Second Life more than once, trying to get a good handle on it. Try as I might though, it never seems to gel with me, never seems to click. That's probably more down to me than any identifiable fault with the game. That said, any game which, if I recall correctly, used to offer a furry as an option at character creation automatically scores low in my book.

That was a joke, hold off on the flames please.

Entropia Universe to operate real-world bank with virtual world presence

by James Egan Mar 23rd 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Entropia Universe, Economy, New titles, Virtual worlds

Most of our virtual world coverage at Massively is focused on Second Life, but we're still keeping an eye on what's happening beyond the walls of Linden Lab. One significant development revealed this past week is that Entropia Universe will be the first virtual world to have a bank that's actually backed and regulated by a real-world government, called Mind Bank AB.

We received word on this from MindArk's PR: "The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen) has granted a license to conduct banking activities to virtual universe developer MindArk PE AB's wholly owned subsidiary Mind Bank AB. The unique step of integrating MindArk's virtual universe Entropia Universe with the real world will allow Mind Bank AB to function as a central bank for all virtual worlds within the Entropia Universe."

Behind the Curtain: Just when I thought I was out

by Craig Withers Mar 7th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Entropia Universe, Lord of the Rings Online, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Star Wars Galaxies, Behind the Curtain

It's funny the things that can suck you right back in, just when you thought you were out.

I've been feeling pretty burned out with World of Warcraft over the last couple of weeks, and I wasn't enjoying the feeling at all. There was a brief interlude where the Argent Tournament piqued my curiosity, so I grabbed the PTR downloader to give that a try. That lasted all of about an hour, when I realised just how long it would take me to download the files. I'm not sure if I should blame BT for my frequently crappy connection speed, or Blizzard because they can't seem to create a decent downloader. It doesn't matter really, as I can QQ about both equally.

Then it hit me – burn out didn't need to be a bad thing. In a shocking turn of events, I decided to actually listen to our readers' advice, and spend some time with other MMO, and maybe try a change of pace.

New MMO announced from the Entropia Universe platform: Planet Calypso

by Shawn Schuster Jan 8th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Entropia Universe, Business models, MMO industry, New titles, Virtual worlds

It seems Entropia Universe has fully embraced the "world building" aspect of its virtual space. Evolving from a virtual world to a virtual world development platform, MindArk has announced the creation of a new subsidiary named First Planet, which will operate, develop and market a new MMO entitled Planet Calypso. Since this MMO will be created through Entropia's guidance and tools, it will be built on the Entropia Universe platform and be considered one of EU's planets.

The scope of First Planet won't stop at Planet Calypso, though. It has been created to "solely focus on platform development suitable for a wide range of industries interested in utilizing the opportunities of the 3D internet." Other upcoming planets include Creative Kingdom, China Recreative Dreamland, Next Island and See. Find out more information on the press release and MindArk's plans with their upcoming platforms at Worlds in Motion or the Entropia Universe website.

Chance, skill and the law

by Tateru Nino Sep 16th 2008 at 11:30AM

Filed under: Entropia Universe, Economy, News items, Opinion, Second Life, Politics, Legal, Virtual worlds

Ladies and gentlemen, we'd like you to give a big hand to the US Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, which is back with us once again as a special, and rather unexpected guest. You see, while the UIGEA initially kicked around in 2006, the actual regulations that will implement it are just about to kick off.

Today, the House Financial Services Committee will be holding an emergency mark-up of some of this legislation. Why is it an emergency? Well, because while the whole thing is technically about 'gambling', the wording of the UIGEA isn't at all clear about what it actually is making unlawful, and when it comes to legislation and regulations, the words are everything. Words that are getting decided today.

While you might already be under the impression that the UIGEA was already active, the fact is that businesses have just been jumping the gun and attempting to regulate based on some rather fuzzy wording what they might not be permitted to do.

Online games of chance? Well, sure. What about online games of skill? That's where you use your knowledge and abilities to make a profit in an online activity. That's where we get to the sticking point, because virtual environment economies may yet fall into that yawning abyss between words.

Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

News From the Wider MMO World: September 9, 2008

by Akela Talamasca Sep 9th 2008 at 12:00PM

Filed under: At a glance, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Entropia Universe, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Virtual worlds, MMORTS, Kids

The MMO genre is more than World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, and Warhammer Online. Here's what's going on in the rest of the world.

Nanoverse Online lets you experience life an a micro scale
Duplex Systems has announced its second MMO, Nanoverse Online, which takes place in a world "unique physics". While their website show photos of insects, the description of gameplay delineates more of a mechanically-oriented playerbase. "It is not the visual power that counts, but compelling and exciting gameplay," says Marko Dieckmann, Managing Director, Duplex Systems. "Nanoverse Online will bring the fun back to MMOs, a genre full of cliches, copied over and over again." There is no official release date for Nanoverse Online, but screenshots are expected to hit their website soon.

NDOORS partners with Nexon to bring Atlantica Online to Japan
Nexon Japan has recently signed a publishing agreement with NDOORS to let Japanese players into the turn-based strategy world of Atlantica Online. "We are fortunate and thrilled that Atlantica's unique action and fun can be shared and enjoyed by many players throughout the world," said Cho Sung Won, NDOORS' CEO. With a player base of over one million users, Atlantica Online stands poised to make a huge showing with its new global presence.

Linden trademark for credit cards

by Tateru Nino Aug 22nd 2008 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Entropia Universe, Economy, News items, Second Life, Virtual worlds

Linden Lab has been granted another trademark on their hand-and-eye logo. This time for a credit card. Specifically, trademark registration 3378449 covers "Online financial services, namely, offering a fictional-dollar-denominated credit card to charge online purchases".

Of course, 'fictional-dollar-denominated' would mean Second Life Linden Dollars (L$). Exactly what sort of card this might be is uncertain. You may recall that in 2006, MindArk released an ATM card for Project Entropia (now called Entropia Universe) allowing access to Project Entropia Dollars (PED) and supported by the Versatel cash-card network.

There's no indication whether Linden Lab is (or was) planning a physical card, or some sort of non-physical card, how it would be backed or where it might be honored.

Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

One Shots: Overlooking New Switzerland

by Krystalle Voecks Aug 20th 2008 at 2:05PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Entropia Universe, Free-to-play, One Shots

For today's One Shots, we're bringing you a treat. This is a screenshot from a virtual universe we don't see very often at all, but is absolutely gorgeous. What title is this, you might ask? It's Entropia Universe, developed and published by MindArk. While the graphics are somewhat stylized, nobody can dispute that they're not lovely to look at. What else can we tell you? Well, according to Mike S. who sent this screenshot in, this is prior to the upgraded CryEngine2 graphics -- so it looks even better now, if you can imagine that! With lovely graphics, a free-to-play model, and the ability to cash out items you find into real-world funds, we're surprised we don't see this title more often.

Do you have a screenshot from a world we haven't seen recently? Would you like to brag on your favorite game or world? We'd love to see your screenshots. All you have to do is email them to us here at oneshots AT massively.com along with a note telling us a bit about what's going on in the screenshot, your name and the name of the game. Then relax and enjoy the limelight!

Gallery: One Shots

Entropia Universe bidding war leads to $12,000 payout for newbie

by Seraphina Brennan Jun 5th 2008 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Entropia Universe, Events, in-game, News items, Virtual worlds

How would you like to wake up and find that you made $12,000 overnight? Seems like a dream, doesn't it? How would you like to have that $12,000 come from a single drop you found one day while farming in your favorite MMO? Now it seems even more like a dream.

But this is the reality for Timon "Stuka" Miles, a relatively new player to Entropia Universe, the game where the fictional currency is linked to real world money, akin to Second Life. Stuka's fortune stems from a piece of DNA from the extinct "Letomie" monster -- an item that can resurrect the creature if all of it's DNA fragments are found inside of the game. After a brief placement on the Entropia Universe forums, Stuka moved the auction to the official in-game auction house where it attracted the attention of Zachurm "Deathifier" Emegen, owner of the 26,000 real world dollar Treasure Island, and Jon "NEVERDIE" Jacobs, owner of the 100,000 real world dollar space station.

Entropia Universe Ambassador interview: Why play EU?

by Shawn Schuster Jun 1st 2008 at 3:30PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Entropia Universe, Business models, Economy, Game mechanics, Interviews, Opinion, Free-to-play, Virtual worlds

So what is it about Entropia Universe that has kept players hooked for five years now? What sets it apart from the other virtual worlds or MMOs out there? Well, according to one of EU's Ambassadors, Buzz Erik Lightyear, the game is about much more than simply playing a game. It's about playing a game that actually gives something back. "I'm not paying to play. I'm profiting from playing," he says.

This real-world money system is not unique to EU, as it's seen in other virtual worlds, such as Second Life. In most other online games, the exchange of in-game currency for real-world currency is against the terms of service. But EU is seen as more of a venture into the MMO space than Second Life, using skills, crafting and auction houses as you would in something like WoW or LotRO. In addition to this, EU is updated monthly, with word of new planets on the horizon and the new CryEngine2 platform being introduced soon.

Entropia Universe learns three new languages

by Samuel Axon May 31st 2008 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Entropia Universe, MMO industry, News items, Virtual worlds

Microtransaction-based Entropia Universe is set to expand into new markets, as developer/publisher MindArk has announced the completion of translations of the Entropia client into three new languages -- German, French, and Spanish. Previously, the virtual world was only accessible to English-speakers.

The translations were performed by a company called Lionbridge. MindArk rep Frank Campbell said his company made the move to increase market penetration, address users' needs, and increase the company's credibility.

Entropia is a Sci-Fi-themed virtual world. It's an unusual combination of MMO-style combat and crafting, and Second Life-esque e-commerce. MindArk suggests to potential users that they can make money -- or even a living -- within the virtual world. Unsurprisingly, though, a substantial investment of real funds and time is required to become competitive.

ION 08: Virtual worlds for the masses

by Kyle Horner May 14th 2008 at 9:30AM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Entropia Universe, Events, real-world, Second Life, Virtual worlds, Massively Event Coverage, Gaia Online

What's a virtual world? Why do we even call them virtual worlds when we could easily call them digital worlds, or just simply, worlds? This was just one of the many interesting topics discussed at ION 08 this year in a panel entitled, "Redefining Virtual Worlds for Mass Markert Consumption" which is quite the mouthful. So lets put things in a more understandable -- and far more interesting -- perspective.

Whether you're talking about Club Penguin, Gaia Online or Second Life the truth of the mater is that these "worlds" are here to stay and they all share similarities -- social interaction. Not only are they here to stay, but they've only just begun to grow as a market. Which is why this panel was all the more interesting. The panel includes Erik Bethke (GoPets Ltd), John K. Bates (Mindark/Entropia Universe), Craig Sherman (Gaia Online), Rob Lanphier (Linden Lab/Second Life) and was moderated by David Elchoness (Association of Virtual Worlds).

Gallery: ION 08: Game Conference gallery