Not so fast with your answer now. We're talking about virtual worlds here, where all things are relative.
VWN is reporting that Entropia Universe intends on potentially giving away whole planets to businesses, as long as those businesses can "add value to the universe as a whole" (in other words, bring in traffic and use I expect). So planet is something of a misnomer here. What MindArk deems a planet I believe is more like an asteroid in current Entropia practical parlance. We're not talking Mars, or even Ceres here, for real estate. However, there's nothing to say that given the mutable laws of virtual physics, that such asteroids can't grow themselves over time (or just open up heretofore inaccessible terrain) given the need and traffic.
That gulf of spacial separation will allow for different laws and function - I would expect - perhaps even different techo-themes, bringing to Entropia, customization ala Second Life's island sims. - I was wondering how Entropia was going to offer different environments given that their core design is built around a science fiction theme with an embedded gaming function, sort of. I would say this points the way.
So even if (insert company name)'s New Mars turns out to be someday as big or bigger in pixel depth as the real Mars would be in virtual terms - which will really be bigger, an Entropia planet or an island sim in Second Life, has yet to be determined. I'd say, for this moment, the island is bigger given that it has more use and with more potential to drive traffic (or at least media buzz), but that can certainly change. It's really up to you and I and everyone else to ultimately decide.
On other Entropia topics, I got an e-mail from the Entropia folks telling me to go in and spruce up my avatar, in anticipation of the Crytek-enabled graphic revamp. I haven't gotten around to it as yet and the sample pics didn't entice me much. However, I am very much looking forward to the rest of the makeover. This much hyped revamp has promised to make Entropia Universe one of the most graphically pleasing virtual worlds - simulating the experience of top-end games that use the same CryEngine2 game engine: such as Crysis. We'll have to wait and see. The entry-point for a game like Crysis might be fine when catering to a market of afficionados with top-end rigs. But when trying to pose a product for a world, much of whom insofar as game-like applications are concerned have less than stellar systems, could create an entry barrier. Not fulfilling that promise can undercut the pre-generated hype and anticipation buzz. I suspect they'll have a way to degrade gracefully, like most games do. But I'll be curious to get a sense of the experience range when they finally do launch the changes. And if the use proves practical, I don't suppose that Crytek has given exclusive license to Entropia but we'll see. I know at least one other MMO has licensed the engine and with this cash-and-carry potential, there's nothing to say that an Entropia rival with deep pockets can't just mimic and ultimately steal Entropia's graphic-enabled thunder.
I've always termed Entropia Universe a hybrid virtual world: part social world, part game. I think the folks at MindArk understand that one of the failings of Second Life is that it often lacks for activity function beyond the purely social (even more so with the closure of gambling) and would like to tap into the success of mainstream MMOs (everyone of course thinks of World of Warcraft, but even LOTRO, or City of Heroes, or EVE Online). But trying to be both things at once, I'm just not sure it works. I think it better to have distinction between the spaces but the ability to interlink and travel between them as the needs and fancy suits the particular user. And some users might exclusively prefer one over the other but can still function in the overall space. Otherwise, people can be put off, say, by the violence and conflict or trading function that governs the game activity or find the social function superfluous. I think Sony intends for their Home to be such a bridging construct and I suspect Microsoft has been considering similar uses.
This opening up of "planets" could be just the thing to help move Entropia Universe away from the science fiction gaming anchor and allow it the versatility to function in multiple activity zones. If more business or media "planets" open up, they could provide the social, possibly even educational and commercial, perspectives leaving the main original Entropia planet to explore its function shifting more exclusively to games without feeling it has left the social users abandoned or put upon by their more combative brethren.
VWN is reporting that Entropia Universe intends on potentially giving away whole planets to businesses, as long as those businesses can "add value to the universe as a whole" (in other words, bring in traffic and use I expect). So planet is something of a misnomer here. What MindArk deems a planet I believe is more like an asteroid in current Entropia practical parlance. We're not talking Mars, or even Ceres here, for real estate. However, there's nothing to say that given the mutable laws of virtual physics, that such asteroids can't grow themselves over time (or just open up heretofore inaccessible terrain) given the need and traffic.
That gulf of spacial separation will allow for different laws and function - I would expect - perhaps even different techo-themes, bringing to Entropia, customization ala Second Life's island sims. - I was wondering how Entropia was going to offer different environments given that their core design is built around a science fiction theme with an embedded gaming function, sort of. I would say this points the way.
So even if (insert company name)'s New Mars turns out to be someday as big or bigger in pixel depth as the real Mars would be in virtual terms - which will really be bigger, an Entropia planet or an island sim in Second Life, has yet to be determined. I'd say, for this moment, the island is bigger given that it has more use and with more potential to drive traffic (or at least media buzz), but that can certainly change. It's really up to you and I and everyone else to ultimately decide.
On other Entropia topics, I got an e-mail from the Entropia folks telling me to go in and spruce up my avatar, in anticipation of the Crytek-enabled graphic revamp. I haven't gotten around to it as yet and the sample pics didn't entice me much. However, I am very much looking forward to the rest of the makeover. This much hyped revamp has promised to make Entropia Universe one of the most graphically pleasing virtual worlds - simulating the experience of top-end games that use the same CryEngine2 game engine: such as Crysis. We'll have to wait and see. The entry-point for a game like Crysis might be fine when catering to a market of afficionados with top-end rigs. But when trying to pose a product for a world, much of whom insofar as game-like applications are concerned have less than stellar systems, could create an entry barrier. Not fulfilling that promise can undercut the pre-generated hype and anticipation buzz. I suspect they'll have a way to degrade gracefully, like most games do. But I'll be curious to get a sense of the experience range when they finally do launch the changes. And if the use proves practical, I don't suppose that Crytek has given exclusive license to Entropia but we'll see. I know at least one other MMO has licensed the engine and with this cash-and-carry potential, there's nothing to say that an Entropia rival with deep pockets can't just mimic and ultimately steal Entropia's graphic-enabled thunder.
I've always termed Entropia Universe a hybrid virtual world: part social world, part game. I think the folks at MindArk understand that one of the failings of Second Life is that it often lacks for activity function beyond the purely social (even more so with the closure of gambling) and would like to tap into the success of mainstream MMOs (everyone of course thinks of World of Warcraft, but even LOTRO, or City of Heroes, or EVE Online). But trying to be both things at once, I'm just not sure it works. I think it better to have distinction between the spaces but the ability to interlink and travel between them as the needs and fancy suits the particular user. And some users might exclusively prefer one over the other but can still function in the overall space. Otherwise, people can be put off, say, by the violence and conflict or trading function that governs the game activity or find the social function superfluous. I think Sony intends for their Home to be such a bridging construct and I suspect Microsoft has been considering similar uses.
This opening up of "planets" could be just the thing to help move Entropia Universe away from the science fiction gaming anchor and allow it the versatility to function in multiple activity zones. If more business or media "planets" open up, they could provide the social, possibly even educational and commercial, perspectives leaving the main original Entropia planet to explore its function shifting more exclusively to games without feeling it has left the social users abandoned or put upon by their more combative brethren.
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