Generation X ~ The new arrivals

[Lykke]

Her name is Baalat, Baalat LaDiosa Phoenician, to be more precise, and I met her at the Sweat Camp just north of Port Atlantis. We were chatting briefly when she suddenly ran towards the lake, jumped in and started paddling out to the middle...

The sun was shining hot and not to be rude I ran after her, jumped into the water and swam into her direction. "Sorry", she laughed. "But I have to hurry if I don't want to be killed". "Aahhh", I thought - "The logic in the mind of a newbie".

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Neas Place was crowded as always when this guy was standing with his sweat tool, looking a little lost - even though his stance was firm and proud - perhaps he was feeling like one among many... But he is far from lost! His name is Roni, Geronimo Roni Last.

"Neas place is busy, but at least it's not snowing", he tells me with a sigh. "The snow lol... I have always difficulties finding my cursor when it snows", he continues and his face lights up with a big grin...

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A handsome stranger, Joseis Whitewolf Eien, master of sweat! He is very much into details and tells me about accuracy, ambitions and how he hopefully will be able to make it in game just by sweating.

"It took me 2 days to figure out how to use the auto tool when sweating", he tells me with a wicked smile. "I just hope the prices goes up", he finishes and I can tell by the look in his eyes that he wishes there was something like a sweat HOF, because he would definitely be the one trying to get one of those.

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Three newbies in the Universe, three different backgrounds and three different sets of experiences! But how did it all begin?

"I'm reading computer sites on a regular basis", Roni tells me, "and one day I stumbled upon an article about Buzz Erik Lightyear and his buying of the virtual spacestation. So I googled for Entropia Universe and Wiki to find out about this virtual planet".

Whitewolf add: "I also saw the news of Buzz on one of the gaming sites I frequent and decided to check it out, I was surprised by the amount of options that the game had and decided to try it out".

"Hmmm". Baalat looks as if she was thinking, "The short version is, I got bored of my previous MMORPG after 6 years of playing it (mostly due to bad support by the publisher, Mu Online by Webzen). In there I was a kinda of 'crafter-trader' with a very good reputation. So i started looking for a good game with market and crafting possibilities. After some google and reading a good article for 'virtual economy' at Wikipedia I found Planet Calypso and Eve Online".

All three of us looked at her thinking it wasn't that short of a version after all.

Baalat is a real life Engineer from Venezuela aged around 30. What amazed her most in-game when she first joined the Universe was the Graphics. "Woah, nice graphic" was her first thought, and since she believes she is bad with guns and pvp, Entropia and the opprtunities presented in it seemed perfect for her.

"I did not know anyone, not even a mosquito, when I joined game". She looks at me and smiles. "But now I'm a proud member of Skillin' Villains". She continues: "They have an infinite patience to answer my noobie questions. Very friendly people, always joking, and not much drama in the chat "

Whitewolf is 18 and was extremely confused when first entering the game. "Whatever help that was offered was ignored in a attempt to avoid being taken advantage by the usual troop of douchebags that take advantage of beginners' hard work", he explains with a serious look, "I wandered for a while until I learned how to sweat".

Whitewolf didnt find it too obvious what to start with, "I found out by listening to others' questions. The more common the answers, the more likely the answer is the truth. Of course I made a lot of mistakes until I had found a good group of people to ask questions to".

Roni in real life is a 41 year old Teamleader at (the) Dutch Bloodbank in the Netherlands. As a casual gamer and a bit of old-school sci-fi lover (particularly Asimov and, Frank Herbert), he got interested in how Calypso would "feel" and look like. And he found that to be very easy because it is free to enter and play.

"I was very impressed by the size of the maps, the entourage and the music", Roni explains. "I'm used to 'open world' games, but I hadnt expected it to be so big. Another thing that struck me was that I felt that I had to put some effort in it to be able to play and I like that".

Which is interesting, because the Universe has been expanding a lot the last couple of years, and with the new planets it will grow even bigger!

Baalat suddenly breaks into laughter. "Well this one is funny; I was one of the many people who were 'born' at Treasure Island Castle, which was kinda confusing since all the guides (which I read about before logging in for the first time) said that you would be born at a nice welcome port with real guides. So the first thing I did when I entered the game was to log off again to read forums and guides once more ".

Whitewolf tells me, that he did not use the in-game guides, but he is still in the process of reading several tutorials. "I am happy people take the time to make them", he says. "Now I can see myself looking back in a few months on those tutorials knowing I have accurate information. The only thing I miss is information about scammers and other miscellaneous information such as decay and several up-to-date tactics for hunting and runners". Once again his face turns serious while he looks as if he needs a couple of minutes to double-check the amount of sweat he gathered.

Roni got help from the guide written by Alice. "It is a fine guide which leads you through the Entropia Universe step by step. So it was a great help to me and I do not believe I miss any information - or not yet, anyway . I was thinking of trying out the service offered by Entropian Tour Agency for the TPs, but I could not figure out how it worked. But that was on my 1st day".

"I love the guides, too! They are very helpful", Baalat says and smiles, "I did sometimes miss something out when I asked, but they are always open for a more detailed explanation". Baalat continues: " I also joined the ETA runs. They are always fun and sometimes they even have free clothes to hand out at the end The people helping out are awesome and I can really recommend it".

"I also recommend all newbies to be taking a tour", Whitewolf says, "It's helpful to get as many TPs as possible and I would suggest others to take the tour as soon as they have the opportunity to join them".

~ To be continued in next post ~

[T79x]

Great work
Welcome and GL new arrivals

[Roni]

I have a pretty bad name memory

I did? I can't remember helping any newcomer out of a tightspot unless its in merps
which i usually do alone

but once there was a funny group of people, seemed like 2 hunters and 3 stuck newbies coming to radar and 2 came back later, one seems to have been killed
and i made the way a bit clearer and defended the newbie later on
maybe that was him?

either way, gl

Hi Alice,

Seems nothing wrong with your memory. It was exactly that "event"

Roni

[Raven_Li]

Enjoyed the read I have yet to make my way back to swamp camp..it's been a very long while since I've given away things to newcomers I remember when I first joined EU...I ran past Simon the guide (at those old guide booths) and wondered what my green glowing hands were doing Ran around...made my way to swamp camp eventually and didn't talk to anyone for a good week or so I personally never had a mentor....but I read all the forums and information about EU before I started to play. I do however suggest new people to get a really good mentor these days from longstanding members with good reputations.

[Ozi]

I really enjoyed reading about the newer player experience of EU. Plenty has changed since I was new to the game, but I still remember the sense of wonder, it was such an exciting time.

I'd love to see regular interviews of new players.

[Thanatos]

Nice article - would be interesting to see what newbies think of the new mission system and if it helps or hinders...

Looking forward to the update in a couple of months