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How do I ONLY make money, not spend it?

Last time I tried it, in 2005, I was homeless, so I was searching 6 ways from sunday anywhere online to make money. (I sold on ebay, but it didn't earn me enough to get an apartment deposit.)

 

So one day, I tried this game, known back then as Project Entropia. (Is MindArk still owning it?)

 

I found making money to be incredibly difficult back in those times. Also, I read that it takes 90 days for earned money to get to the player's account.

I'll be optimistic and ASSUME that it took 90 days because of thin bandwidth, and slower processing.

But now, thanks to Moore's Law, bandwidth should be thicker, and computers should be able to process far faster than ever before. So, how long do the funds take to reach a player's account now?

 

I couldn't partake in Martial Arts at the time. I wanted a profession that didn't require weapons because I didn't want to keep buying weapons for real cash. Are we able to have Martial Arts now?

 

Also, what new ways are there to make money in the game without spending it first?

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Comments

  • PhryPhry Member LegendaryPosts: 11,004

    No...image

     

     

    short simple answer.

  • EgaoNoGenkiEgaoNoGenki Member Posts: 397

    Originally posted by Phry

    No...image

     

     

    short simple answer.

    *epic facepalm*

    Why the heck not??

    It's been a whopping 72 months. Why couldn't the devs dev a way to make moneymaking easier?

    Also, an unanswered question: Does it Still take 90 days to transfer earnings to the player's bank account? If not, how long now? If so, what the heck is so difficult about improving it? Why doesn't Moore's Law apply there?

  • EgaoNoGenkiEgaoNoGenki Member Posts: 397

    Well?

     

    Once again, why not? I thought newer, easier ways to make money would be innovated in the 5 years since.

  • SpiiderSpiider Member RarePosts: 1,135

    If everyone made  money in an easy way then MA would be bancrupt. Hence "No".

    No fate but what we make, so make me a ham sandwich please.

  • YamotaYamota Member UncommonPosts: 6,593

    Originally posted by shultz

    Originally posted by Phry

    No...image

     

     

    short simple answer.

    *epic facepalm*

    Why the heck not??

    It's been a whopping 72 months. Why couldn't the devs dev a way to make moneymaking easier?

    Also, an unanswered question: Does it Still take 90 days to transfer earnings to the player's bank account? If not, how long now? If so, what the heck is so difficult about improving it? Why doesn't Moore's Law apply there?

    Because it is not in the devs interest to make money easy in this game. It is heavily dependant on you as a player spending real money in the game. And Moores law does not apply  in this game because law of profitability and greed overrides it.

    In other words, whatever reason they have for it taking 90 days, it is not technical.

  • EgaoNoGenkiEgaoNoGenki Member Posts: 397

    Originally posted by Yamota

    Originally posted by shultz


    Originally posted by Phry

    No...image

     

     

    short simple answer.

    *epic facepalm*

    Why the heck not??

    It's been a whopping 72 months. Why couldn't the devs dev a way to make moneymaking easier?

    Also, an unanswered question: Does it Still take 90 days to transfer earnings to the player's bank account? If not, how long now? If so, what the heck is so difficult about improving it? Why doesn't Moore's Law apply there?

    Because it is not in the devs interest to make money easy in this game. It is heavily dependant on you as a player spending real money in the game. And Moores law does not apply  in this game because law of profitability and greed overrides it.

    In other words, whatever reason they have for it taking 90 days, it is not technical.

    Well then in what MMOs will we have an easier time making money than Entropia Universe?

  • pupurunpupurun Member UncommonPosts: 561

    Originally posted by shultz

    Originally posted by Yamota


    Originally posted by shultz


    Originally posted by Phry

    No...image

     

     

    short simple answer.

    *epic facepalm*

    Why the heck not??

    It's been a whopping 72 months. Why couldn't the devs dev a way to make moneymaking easier?

    Also, an unanswered question: Does it Still take 90 days to transfer earnings to the player's bank account? If not, how long now? If so, what the heck is so difficult about improving it? Why doesn't Moore's Law apply there?

    Because it is not in the devs interest to make money easy in this game. It is heavily dependant on you as a player spending real money in the game. And Moores law does not apply  in this game because law of profitability and greed overrides it.

    In other words, whatever reason they have for it taking 90 days, it is not technical.

    Well then in what MMOs will we have an easier time making money than Entropia Universe?

    OMG this guys is seriously looking for a profitable mmo....Man do you really believe that there is/will be a game that makes you have fun AND make you money at the same time?? Grow up, really....

  • LoktofeitLoktofeit Member RarePosts: 14,247

    Originally posted by shultz

    Well?

     

    Once again, why not? I thought newer, easier ways to make money would be innovated in the 5 years since.

    If that was a design goal for developers then there probably would be. However, there currently is no value to most developers to create such systems as those playing to make money are usually negatively impacting the gameplay of those playing to have fun.

    There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
    "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre

  • ReizlaReizla Member RarePosts: 4,092

    I've dumped a $30 in Entropia and hoping to make some money in it. The first $15 is to get your gear (armour, weapon and gathering resources) and get started. Then you need to buy consumables (ammo and gathering consumables) before you can actually get out there...

    Well, then for hunting... Your gear (armour & weapons) will require maintenance & repairs. Unless you get some REAL GOOD drops, the drops you get are not worth to mention, and selling them off is not enough to make your reparis and buy new ammo :(

    Mining then..? Hell no! I did that as well. Sensor probes (the consumable parts of your hear) are awefully expensive compared to the mining results. Of all mining I've done there (found a 10-20 spots in total), I've had only one 'real good' spot, and when I depleted that one I had enough to actually repay my mining gear & consumables. All 'regular spots' are just plain bogus to keep you happy and the real good spots are deep inside dino territory, and you need a whole group to stay alive there (Lost World comes to mind actually).

    Lets try crafting (dropped my last in-game money there). Bought some tailoring stuff, starter recepes, only to find out that the mats I needed dropped from the same dino's as the spots where the good mining spots are. I tried to find the mats I needed on the auction house, and thought them to be over-expensive for what I was able to make. So a waste of money there as well.

    Lets just face it: Entropia looks stunning (CryEngine 2 is used). But to actually play it's just a huge money sink - an even bigegr money sink than most F2P games out there where you can Pay2Win in PvP (and that's saying something IMO). And if you want to actually make money in the game, you need to team up with one of the larger corps out there or get all your friends to play & spend lots of money in the game before things start to become profitable...

    Oh yeah, you can 'play for free' in Entropia... But all you can to do then collect sweat from the monsters just outside the starter area and hope someone is crazy enough to buy 1000 bottles of sweat for just a couple of credits. It'll take you about 6 hours to collect those 1000 bottles and then an other 2 hours to find a buyer :-D

  • YamotaYamota Member UncommonPosts: 6,593

    Yeah, I never understood why people are playing this game. Either they know a way to make money, that others done, or they have more money than they need so they decide to dump it into a video game.

    I mean, Im not saying that video games should not cost money, but the amounts I am hearing about being neccessary to spend to have some fun in this game is just plain ridicilous.

  • LoktofeitLoktofeit Member RarePosts: 14,247

    Originally posted by Yamota

    Yeah, I never understood why people are playing this game. Either they know a way to make money, that others done, or they have more money than they need so they decide to dump it into a video game.

    I mean, Im not saying that video games should not cost money, but the amounts I am hearing about being neccessary to spend to have some fun in this game is just plain ridicilous.

    It seems even more absurd than that, as almost every one of the positive posts about the game say the same thing over and over.

     

    It's not

    "Created an account, started playing and had a blast farming sweat in the newbie zone the past couple of days. This is really fun!"

    but

    "Was farming sweat in the newbie zone for days. Tried hunting but it was expensive... then I got a rare drop and I could finally get stuff so I played some more and spent some more money. This game is only for those who want a challenge."

    THIS thread is a classic example of that.  The question was to "write about your experience and let the others know what YOU THINK about this game" and each response went straight back to the money, often justifying the amount spent.

     

    It would be really refreshing to see people post that they enjoyed the game because of the gameplay and not because ssomeone spent money on them or because they finally got an expensive drop so they finally had money.

    There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
    "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre

  • AzzatakyAzzataky Member UncommonPosts: 208

    I just started the game (is it Planet Calypso these days, right? :D). Can anyone tell me some advice how to make my first PED currency in game? Or any noob guide link?

    Played: Lineage 2,Guild Wars 1 and 2, Age of Conan, Ragnarok Online, LOTRO, World of Warcraft, League of Legends, EvE online
    Tried: KAL Online, Face of Mankind, ROSE online
    Playing: CS:GO

  • VrikaVrika Member LegendaryPosts: 7,888

    Azzataky: It's been some time since I played, but back then best guide I found was:  http://rp.apachenet.de/downloads/planet_calypso_guide.pdf

     
  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 43,498

    Believing you can make money playing this game is sort of like believeing you can make money gambling in a casino.  While its true a rare few may figure out a way to profit through intelligence or luck, the majority of the players pay into the system.

    One thing you can be sure of, if anyone has figured out a great system for making money in Entropa, it likely would become diluted if too many people did it (same is true in EVE btw) so the best ideas will be closely guarded secrets that are rarely shared.

    Best way to make money in an MMORPG?  Become a gold farmer/seller or level characters for cash, seems to be a lot of money in that industry.  Making money in game, outside of 2nd Life not sure I've ever really heard of folks making decent cash.

    "True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde 

    "I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant

    Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm

    Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

    Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™

    "This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon






  • zabTHzabTH Member UncommonPosts: 35

    Nope, no real way to profit in Entropia Universe unless you invest hundreds of hours doing a mindless task known as sweating, or you start to invest.

    To be honest - people continually call this game out for being really bad as it's all about real money, but the truth is it's got some interesting and unique game systems. Resource gathering is fun, hunting is fun, and crafting is even well thought out, but the fact remains - without any significant investment the only way you'll see some profit is if you get very, very, very lucky.

    Entropia  has a community ran forum that's filled with guides, reviews and diaries. This community is probably one of the best aspects of the game as from here, you can find societies that really are helpful, and perhaps - find the 'secret sauce' that everyone is looking for in order to enjoy.

    For me, I actually used to enjoy entropia universe quite a lot - it felt a bit mindless at times, but you know - it's no worse than any slot machine, and it's certainly a great deal more interactive. However, after they started selling off planets and what not, I quit. Having a Michael Jackson themed planet is just a bit too insane.

  • pupurunpupurun Member UncommonPosts: 561

    Actually ENTROPIA is a very well polished and interesting mmo! Graphics look great , combat is enjoyable and crafting is quite ok....There are tons of activities and there is also a lot to RP with. I would gladly  play it as a subscription game if this WAS NOT a gambling game!

  • ftAnPucr9ftAnPucr9 Member Posts: 26

    Long ago me also was thinking maybe I could make money with this game, thats why I started to play it. I saw all gold farming in other games and yeah finally a legal way to make cash on this. I thought it was just to spend time to get loot and get profit when other people buy it, but I found out it did not work like that.

    But I have not lost money either. As miner I spent a few hundred dollars into it and have got it all back with a few bigger loots which also had a value of around hundred dollar each. I guess its about the money you put into it you will get it back sooner or later. So the game is not a money sink compared to other games that require monthly fees. If complaining about the costs its like saying low stakes poker is so boring so I go play high stakes and then complain if its a big loss. It's relative and you can get unlucky.

    After a while I think I played the game just for the hope of getting one of those big loots on several thousand dollars but that was probably wrong expectations. Certainly the system is that you can't get huge loots if you don't play on a high level which means first putting in thousands of dollars in the right equipment and skills. A newbee just wont get an all time high loot by shooting noob mobs called Snables, correct me if Im wrong?

    People say, making money by playing a game is stupid. I think why not, the gaming industry is huge and growing, it just have to be a good product so people put real value in it and therefore spend money on services made by other gamers. Im waiting for the day Blizzard creates a game that have its real economy "legal".

  • EU_RAZEREU_RAZER Member Posts: 85

    it is easy, if there was an easy methode for making money in this game we would all be doing it and MA would have gone bankrupth for a second time not long after the first time :).

    Yes some people make money, but 99% of us pay to play the game or make just enough to play for free.

  • BrianshoBriansho Member UncommonPosts: 3,586

    Some interesting questions but this is one game where there is no extensive wiki on how to even have moderate progression with your character. I keep seeing posts pop up all over the internet about new player guides being updated but there is never really any new information. It's all extremely severely basic, you might as well right a guide to help you make your character walk around and do emotes. Here are some questions that come to mind when I think about this game.

    Are there people in-game you could befriend that will explain how to at least get some moderate progress without wasting too much money(not counting "theories" people come up with, although I commend them for trying to figure things out basically with blindfold on)

    Are there people in the game playing as random characters that work for the company who are sometimes boosting the economy, like the Fed printing money, to keep players interested and keep them playing/depositing.

    Don't be terrorized! You're more likely to die of a car accident, drowning, fire, or murder! More people die every year from prescription drugs than terrorism LOL!

  • TorschenTorschen Member Posts: 78

    Originally posted by Yamota

    Yeah, I never understood why people are playing this game. Either they know a way to make money, that others done, or they have more money than they need so they decide to dump it into a video game.

    I mean, Im not saying that video games should not cost money, but the amounts I am hearing about being neccessary to spend to have some fun in this game is just plain ridicilous.

    It is for some people like me.. I used to have (short time, fortunately) interest in slot machines, and it was always a pleasure when I did hit nice hand. EU is a bit similar, the main difference (besides much better looking world :p) being that the waiting times are longer but the possible reward can be tremendously high priced. And as a plus you will get 3rd person view of you with the lovely golden smoke around you and trumpets applauding :) And you know its REAL money, not some fake you use in most mmorpgs. Believe me, there is no feeling like that, and really for those moments I still keep playing EU, just like so many.

    But, coming back to thread starters question: answer is no. Plain and simple. Luck factor is always in the play, you cannot plan only getting money, not using. There is trading and reselling, which IS a sure way making money, but it is imho so slow and boring that I personally just cant start doing it.

    About the cost of playing: no it is not necessary to spend massive amounts of money to have fun in EU. Regular payment like in WoW for example is enough.. but you absolutely MUST understand the tools you are using and requirements of the profession you plan to tackle. This is not a casual game, really can't think many that are farther from 'casual'. And that is another reason this is not for everyone. One really must love to study some statistics and fractions of percent in tool economy.

    So, if you are personality like that, you can have fun in EU with low cost. I belong to that group.

    Second group is people who just happen to have the means to burn money and do not care, they buy the bigger guns and to hell with the economical way of playing. They are the second tier of players, and they indeed do deposit a lot. And they do have fun too.

    Third group are the investors, who really put in some serious money. I mean like many 10k's of USD, even 100k's. That then is a completely different table (talking in casino terms).

    Too long answer. The point being, it depends on your personality, the amount of money you are willing to risk, and the amount of time you can sacrifice, which level of playing is good, and fun for you. If you think about it and see there is no tier you can play in and are comfortable with, by all means stay away.

  • ikarrianikarrian Member Posts: 122

    Decided to give EU a new shot, been 5-6 years since i tried it last time. Had a great suprise when i got in there... Play in 1920 and great video support, Althou i noticed after running with x4 AA, V-sync, High setting on everything. That my GPU was running warm. So turned down AA and V-sync and heat went down. But cant say i enjoyed the game more with AA and V-sync, then without it.

    First thing you meet is quite deep character creation. Then you get to decide wich planet you want to be on. This choise can not be undone, unless you find someone to give you a ride in pvp-space for quiet som ped. And risk ur stuff/get blown up, To reach another planet. I myself chosed Arkadia the new planet, because i felt i would be more part of building up the market etc. Then just some new among all other newbs on calypso for example, wich is the high-pop planet.

    I Spent first 2 days sweating, Possibly 15 hours of game time. + while you sweating you gain some basic skills, that will save ur arse later on. Evasion,athletics,combat reflexes are some of them. Then i was lucky enough to find a buyer of my sweat, Who payed above "normal" calypso price, wich is a robbery for a new guy. 2ped or so per 1k. i sold 3k sweat and got 15ped. Then i bought the basic newb mining computer - (finder), a drill to extract the stuff with once you found a spot with resources to drill, and some probes. I had no hopes whatsoever to be one of those lucky bast-rd newbs to get a "hall of fame" drop wich is 50ped or so up to 10-15k ped worth of stuff. That rumours say some newbs had. But anyway...

    Took myself out in the wild. Ran around like a headless chicken with a computer in my hands and did probe scans on the ground, 110meter inbetween (55meter radius area scan) so dont want to overlap. Wanted to scan as much unscanned area as possible. After few probes i managed to find my first find (cheered of joy) even if the value only were like 1.2 ped. wich dident even pay for the 20 probes i used for a Ore scan, 10 probes use for enmatter (oils,liquids,powders etc)

    After about 10 hours +/- some hour. i had to call it because the last 2 runs i wernt lucky enough to find ores worth enough to keep me going. (sell the ores to trade terminal(NPC) to buy new probes etc. Most of the time i managed to go +. But as i said earlier, the last few runs went bad and i was back where i started few days later. BUT, i got something with me... skills from it, that will make the next mining crusade go easier, with hopefully better luck to find that "sweet" spot.

    Avoiding monsters and exploring the world + gaining the skills and learning about the mining was hella fun! havent had that much fun since the days i played Ultima Online, back in the -90's. And also mining for ur survival was the best part... every time the computer started to "peep" that i found a mineral vein, my heart started to pump twice as fast. In hopes to find that high value spot.

    Might seem boring and tedious, but you can always choose what you like to do. And you can always try both. Or you invest and desposit money into game, and start to trade. Buy & sell.

    After this i decided to deposit some money into game. around 500 ped (50$) i will get a decent load of probes to scan with, and higher chanses to find more valuable veins as i've already got my geology / survey skills up a bit.

    Last words: Give it a try, its free to d/l. try what i did and see if you got the patiance and luck. And for godsake, dont start play in hopes to get rich out of a PC game...Then you need to rethink and look elsewhere.

  • SalengerSalenger Member UncommonPosts: 554

    To play this game just to make money would be frustrating as hell, i just started playing again and im in awe, the world is stunning (im on Calypso) and its the best sandbox game on the market imo, sure people say its a money sink, but thats if your trying to to make money from it, ive been play 2-3 hrs every other day for a month or so and im still having fun, lots of exploration to take up, missions help, and farming the low end mobs helps.  

    Frankly i do not see how sandbox fans dont speak more of this game, especially since they have implemented space ships and ship combat etc, i was amazed when i saw the first ship land near my newbie area.  This si not a game for kids though, but more for adults who love sandbox.

    I have not spent a penny btw and i have enough PED to keep going, i would suggest getting a melee weapon to start, and sell the loot you get from the low tier mobs for PED, throughout the durability of one GS you can make 10 PED np from selling mats, and its much less mind numbing than sweating, or just do both :).

  • narfinarfi Member UncommonPosts: 178

    Originally posted by ikarrian

    .....

    After about 10 hours +/- some hour. i had to call it because the last 2 runs i wernt lucky enough to find ores worth enough to keep me going. (sell the ores to trade terminal(NPC) to buy new probes etc. Most of the time i managed to go +. But as i said earlier, the last few runs went bad and i was back where i started few days later. BUT, i got something with me... skills from it, that will make the next mining crusade go easier, with hopefully better luck to find that "sweet" spot.

    .....

    A word of advice for you,

    This game is all about the economics of items and resources. You can do well or bad at any given time, but in the long run you will loose if you only sell what you get to the Trade Terminal (NPC)

    You should sell your ores and enmatters to traders or in auction if you can. Arkadia is still young and the markets are a bit weaker than calypso, but you can study what resources sell well and which ones dont and try to target them for sale.  It will make your ped last a LOT longer.

    Last words: Give it a try, its free to d/l. try what i did and see if you got the patiance and luck. And for godsake, dont start play in hopes to get rich out of a PC game...Then you need to rethink and look elsewhere.

    Very good closing words there. It is free,(as free as you want it to be anyways) it is fun, and you wont get rich.(unless you are very stupidly lucky)

     

    Play smart and deposit what you would on a subscription game each month and you will see your avatar grow over the years in an experience that is very rewarding.

     

    narfi

  • TreephrogTreephrog Member Posts: 17

    Originally posted by shultz

    Last time I tried it, in 2005, I was homeless, so I was searching 6 ways from sunday anywhere online to make money. (I sold on ebay, but it didn't earn me enough to get an apartment deposit.)

     Playing freely in EU, with no starting funds, you will incur more of an electricity bill than the income will cover.

    So one day, I tried this game, known back then as Project Entropia. (Is MindArk still owning it?)

    Yes. 

    I found making money to be incredibly difficult back in those times. Also, I read that it takes 90 days for earned money to get to the player's account.

    I'll be optimistic and ASSUME that it took 90 days because of thin bandwidth, and slower processing.

    The assumption that the delay is due to technical constraints is false.

    But now, thanks to Moore's Law, bandwidth should be thicker, and computers should be able to process far faster than ever before. So, how long do the funds take to reach a player's account now?

     

    I couldn't partake in Martial Arts at the time. I wanted a profession that didn't require weapons because I didn't want to keep buying weapons for real cash. Are we able to have Martial Arts now?

    There is no hunting profession that you don't use weapons. Since loot is awarded based on the amount you spend (the commonly agreed upon basic loot theory of 90% average return over time), if you spend nothing you get nothing in return. The closest thing to maritial arts is melee weapons.

     

    Also, what new ways are there to make money in the game without spending it first?

    There are no "new" ways. Just the same old ways, sweating and walking to pick up rocks and fruit.

  • nyxiumnyxium Member UncommonPosts: 1,345

    Second Life, camping for linden dollars or get an sl job like fortune telling, bar work, etc.  then sell the linden dollars on the LindeX exchange. That's the only legal way I know of making money regular in a virtual world. Not much money, but some. I just wish SL wasn't such a bandwidth hog.

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