DigitalAbduction.com Pre-Release Interview

DigitalAbduction.com Releases April 19^th

I have had the opportunity to interact with the avatar Digital Abduction Manager a few times since he appeared on Rocktropia.  I recently found out that the company behind the avatar will be launching their website at about the same time as Rocktropia 2.0. (Estimated release April 19^th) Because there is so much mystery around them about what they really do on Rocktropia they agreed to do a short interview with me.

Much the same as my interaction with lots of players, I met DA through my trading hobby.  I sold him weapons and Dragon Armor Plates and bought different loots and minerals from him.  I knew he was interested in the promotion of Rocktropia because he had me buy lots of Rookie gear and bring it to him from Calypso which he then gave out to new players.  He has also sponsored prizes for some of the events I have run.

Over the months I have learned that they are an organization working towards promoting Music Artists through virtual worlds. One of their first steps towards this was bringing Juelz Santana to Rocktropia.  You will recognize the name on several guns on Rocktropa. (Juelz MIC-Killa SG(1), SG2(L), sg3(L) and Juelz MIC-Killa SG-ULTRA(L)) DA manages a couple of land areas that are assigned to the artists coming into the game.

DA is well liked on Rocktropia and seems to be doing great things for the new players and for the game itself.  There is some controversy however and some people from Calypso are not so warm towards this new entity in the game.

Let’s ask some questions.

1.       What is the name of your new website, and what will it be about?

Digital Abduction: Our website is www.digitalabduction.com and will be officially launching on 4/19/2011.  We will have two different sections on our website that cater to both gamers and musicians.  For musicians, we will be providing them with access to unique platforms to expand their visibility.  For gamers, we will be providing a socially active and dynamic website to expand their in game experience as well as to offer new and exciting events.

2.       Who is the intended target audience for your new site?

Digital Abduction: Gamers, music artists and music lovers.  

3.       What Musicians are you currently working with, and are there any others you are looking towards in the near future?

Digital Abduction: Currently we are working with Juelz Santana (artist) and Nuclear Blast (label).  We are currently working on bringing in more exciting artists from all genres of music.

4.       I know you are active on Rocktropia, are there any other games or virtual worlds that your company is involved with in a similar capacity?

Digital Abduction: At this time we are working on expanding the platforms that we are to be involved with.  We are not at liberty at this current time to disclose which games/virtual worlds/platforms that we are in negotiations with.

5.       How do you interact with Neverdie Studios to accomplish your work of getting the different Artists involved with the game?

Digital Abduction: As an independent company and third party provider to Neverdie Studio’s, we make introductions between ND Studios and the artist or label.  At that point, it will be up to ND Studios and the artist/label if they are to engage with another.  Digital Abduction helps transition selected artists/labels into the game by providing in game support, real-world marketing, asset management, music management, and in game event structuring.

6.       I realize it’s a touchy subject because of some controversy, but to what capacity are you allowed to play on Rocktropia and what are your plans for game play and interaction with the participants?

Digital Abduction: We are subject to the same rules that every other participant is.  It is important for us to immerse ourselves within Rocktropia to build stronger relationships with the in-game community, provide new, exciting and higher paying events as well as to increase the population to Rocktropia and maintain the retention of these players. 

7.       I have heard people complain that there is too much rap music played on Rocktropia, what are your thoughts on that?

Digital Abduction: We believe that with our assistance coupled with the organic growth of the planet, new music from all genres will be heard in different destinations throughout the planet.

8.       What events are you currently running on Rocktropia and what events do you have planned for the near future?

Digital Abduction: Within the last month, we have given away more than 10,000 PEDS in events and purchasing sweat at a premium to newcomers.  We plan on holding free events, events that take into consideration skill level, events that blend a number of attributes, and events that involve giveaways.  We are also working on preparing some of the biggest events to hit the Entropia Universe in conjunction with real-world sponsors.

9.       Is there anything else you would like to share concerning your Organization or the website you are launching next week?

Digital Abduction: We are excited to launch our website and there are many more sections to come.  We fast tracked our launch to couple with Rocktropia’s 2.0 update, therefore, the site is not 100% Complete.  We are currently working on a series of new player guides as well as a live chat feature to help assist and answer new player questions and Rocktropia deployment.  We will be giving updates regularly via our website to introduce new features and opportunities.

I could have keep asking questions, but agreed to keep this one short. After digitalabduction.com is up for a week or so I will understand more about what they are doing. At that time they have agreed to do a more in depth interview with me.

Rocktropia 2.0 is hopefully coming in tonight’s VU. Everyone on Rocktropia is very excited about what new things will come. It is rumored to be a 1 gig download and I am on a slow connection, so I am hoping that digitalabduction.com is online by then so I have something lot browse while I wait for the update. (they did say the 19th though, so probably just wishful thinking on my part :/ )



Good Luck everyone and I will see you on the other side of the VU



Narfi

PS. Race you to the best new UL weapon drop on Rocktropia :P

Rocktropia Prison

A great video showing the new "No Way Out Maximum Security Prison" on Rocktropia that I found produced by SoftHart from Skillin Villans.

The Forums

"The Forums" (my first attempt at MSpaint art)

Click on the pictures to see them full size, I couldn't make them bigger here without breaking the layout of the blog.


There seems to be a lot of fighting between players from different planets recently. None of the sides seem to really be backed by any real proof, but are instead focused on disproving the other sides beliefs.

Sad really, since we all play the same game.

Old Wive's Tales

Two things I have been told since starting the game have been;

1.  Loot will always be very bad after getting an Uber loot or even a significantly good loot.
2.  Loot is always bad in the hours before a VU.

I have always had my personal doubts about the first one, but if you hear something often enough you will start to believe it.
The second one is one that I have believed in and even commented about in a previous post in this blog.

Some things happened in my personal hunting this week that made me stop and think about these two theories as well as go back and look at my past to see what the reality of it is.


My best loot to date by far was the Hispidus I got last summer.

Hispidus

Young

16380 PED

Monday, July 12, 2010 03:04

After I got that I stood around Twin Peaks for a week or so in shock. I Sold off the oils received and started trying to figure out how to put a price on the Stingury dagger that was in it as well.

My friend Skeezer had been trying to get me to visit him on Rocktropia and now that I had the cash I decided it was a good time to do it. I spent a few more days gathering up supplies and buying things I would try and sell there as well and then TPed up.

Skeezer showed me around to some of the TPs and then the next day I started gathering more on my own.  I found a tp with dragons on it and started shooting one just to see if I could kill it or not. I died a good half dozen times but ended up killing it.

My first 3 dragons killed gave me a global and a HOF.

Lemmy Dragon

Young

135 PED

Thursday, July 22, 2010 03:01

Lemmy Dragon

Young

696 PED

Thursday, July 22, 2010 05:22

If it wasn't for the Hispidus 10 days earlier then this HOF would have been my largest hunting loot to date, and this was with <500 ped cycled between them.

This started a new era in my EU carrier. I went from eco drone hunter to MU seeking swirly junkie.  I managed to maintain the same 85-90% return rates vs the TT but as one of the only consistent dragon hunters MU was alot more favorable for me than any hunting I had done on Calypso.  I traded as much as I could to cover costs of travel between planets and to supplement my monthly deposits.

This last weekend I got my second Uber (mostly oils this time)

Joplin Dragon

Young

2260 PED

Sunday, March 13, 2011 21:59

Following this I did 4 hunting runs over the next couple of days of which 2 resulted in no globals. On average a dragon hunt for me with no globals results in a 200ped loss vs ammo/gun/amp decay. The other 2 runs were still slight losses, but about what I would consider a normal low average return.

	Joplin Dragon	Mature	98 PED	Tuesday, March 15, 2011 06:08
	Joplin Dragon	Young	115 PED	Monday, March 14, 2011 07:24

Then came night before a VU where I have told myself time and time again is a period when I should not hunt and instead only trade or socialize.  I wasn't feeling social though, and had extra ped on my card from the Uber a few days before, so I hunted anyways and Just a couple hours before the severs went down I had a great run!

	Joplin Dragon	Mature	164 PED	Wednesday, March 16, 2011 06:04
	Joplin Dragon	Old	334 PED	Wednesday, March 16, 2011 05:49
	Joplin Dragon	Old	69 PED	Wednesday, March 16, 2011 05:09

2 Globals and a HOF in one run isn't unheard of, or even that unusual on mobs of this size. You need runs like this to bring your 60ish% runs averages up to an acceptable level.

What really made me stop and think though, is that there were two reasons why my loot should have been significantly bad that night and yet I had what I would consider a very good night hunting.

We look for patterns in a random system, and we see what we look for.  What should we do though when something doesn't fit into the pattern?  Is it a fluke, or is the pattern wrong? Or maybe the pattern doesn't even exist. After all we don't exist, it is just a 'virtual' Universe.

After looking back over my own personal data and reconsidering the 2 "Old Wives Tales"

1.  Loot will always be very bad after getting an Uber loot or even a significantly good loot.
2.  Loot is always bad in the hours before a VU.

I need to re-think or re-solidify my beliefs in how I should approach things in the future. After all "A Failure to Plan, is A Plan to Fail."

As for the first one, I seriously think that an uber loot will have little to no affect on your future or near future loots. What may affect this is a person may make poorer or less educated decisions immediately after receiving more cash than they are accustomed to which would result in a reduced return rate in most activities.

I think it may still be wise to avoid heavy spending activities right before a VU, but understand that this is likely just to appease superstition and has no real proof against it since I have observed both good and bad loot right before expected server shutdowns.

Good luck and have fun,

narfi

Bonus Note: When using (L) plates it is a good idea to keep an eye on the TT value and swap them around between the armor parts as they decay. For example the harness and attached plate will decay faster than the gloves. (alternatively keep a few extra plates ready to swap out when one completely breaks)

VU11.7.1 Hype or Fail?

This VU brought a lot of controversy to Rocktropia, and to all of the major Entropia related forums.  I had been looking forward to this VU as it was announced to be the release of new characters (more mobs,) missions, and more blueprints.  We got all of that and more.

The new content.
New Characters: Not only were there lots of new mobs but also the local flavor of characters who are the equivalent of mission brokers.  New mobs that I have seen included different names of guys around the same areas as the vixens and seem to be the male equivalents of the vixens. The most humerus one being the "Forum Troll" which is obviously a stab at the people who have been unchecked in their attacks on Neverdie, NDS, and the choices they have made for their planet.  Basing mobs on current in game (or game surrounding forums) is kind of a cool idea in my opinion. There are also sharks around the bamf land areas and possibly more, I haven't fully explored it yet.  There was also a special maturity of alot of the mobs named Legends or Kings which were super high hp and low dmg versions of the normal mobs. Apparently once killed the Legends didn't re-spawn so whoever found them first got to kill them.  The one dragon was reported to have had a million hp which is pretty crazy.

The Missions: Seem to have been pretty well laid out, and although I haven't had time to do all of them have really liked the story line and set up with them so far.  Interesting to note is that one of the first missions rewards you with a cell phone which is required to use any of the teleports on Rocktropia.  This really made City of Dreams a bottle neck of people arriving, and although I think it is a fun and good idea, it really pissed off a lot of "ubers" who came up to hunt and didn't want to mess around with "noob" missions.

New Blueprints: Really a disappointment so far for me personally. The first day of the VU no one looted any Rocktropia Records which were needed to even click the new print received in the mission.  I was told that a couple of mobs were dropping them and  have tried hunting them but received none in loot so far.  Hopefully they will become more common and I am waiting for that before I hunt or purchase them to craft. (well ill probably still hunt :P )

The Controversy:
Old school crafted scanners, fap-90s and a LOT of low level armor including the rare pieces needed to finish a lot of the low level unfinished sets started dropping with the new VU.

As soon as the ubers from Calypso found out about it, they showed up in force.  City of Dreams was crazy that day, so many people my computer was having trouble keeping up. (I really need to get a new one)

The armor and faps don't seem to have upset as many people, but the scanners have really caused a riot.
The ES500 scanners were selling for around 7kped a few weeks ago, last I checked auction they were around 1k and dropping fast.  Obviously this will upset people who have invested in them before.
From what I understand though they have gotten upset at the wrong people. They blame Neverdie for putting the scanners in the loot to "screw over" the Calypso investors.  It has been stated time and time again though that Neverdie Studios is only the graphics studio and that they can suggest stats for new items to Mind Ark, but that Mind Ark has the final word on everything as well as loot balancing.  Obviously this was an issue with loot balancing, so I really don't understand why people are angry with ND or Rocktropia when similar things have happened on Calypso in the past.

The other item people were upset about was the JUELZ ultra gun that was looted with very high damage per second and very low skill requirements. (profession lvl 3 required to use)

Again I don't really understand why they are upset when there are similar guns on Calypso which haven't affected the economy at all. The anti-material rifles on calypso are one example of such guns already in existence.  The truth of the matter is that MA wouldn't let guns like that drop frequently enough to affect anything. It turns out that the gun was looted from a special maturity of Mob that doesn't re-spawn once killed.  So basically right now we have a couple of those limited(L) guns in the game, and people on the Calypso Forum are acting like they are the end of hunting as we know it. Honestly though, it appears that the guns would last less than an hour of hunting, and with the markup they will demand would be very unpractical to hunt with.  They will be a novelty or PK only weapon that someone will overpay for because of its stats. Grats to the looters I say.

It will be interesting to see how many people will stick around after the rush. I know of several people I have talked to that have mentioned they might stick around a while because the planet was nicer than they expected. 

When it gets quiet I will do the missions and enjoy them. Until then I am mining and crafting Dragon Plates for our visitors.

Good Luck Everyone, and Have Fun

narfi