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Mr.Mind

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  1. I'm writing a book about EL

    Awesome! The only thing I am missing right now that might be useful to add would be a sort of "birth of EL" back story on how the game started, and a map of Serdia and Irillion that has each individual region labeled. Otherwise, I am pretty sure I can grab the forum posts I need. I have not decided how many screenshots I will use. Personally, I never buy ebooks, so I plan on making a printed version available. I have not yet looked for a publisher, and I can easily self publish if everyone says no. I probably won't make any money from it, but I don't really care about that.
  2. I'm writing a book about EL

    So, I've seen that EL needs/wants some advertising. What if it was free and written by me? EL may not be as popular as it was when I played, and it may not interest me as much as it once did, but it is the most fun I have ever had while playing a video game, and I plan on telling anyone who wants to listen. So I'm going to finish my book about EL. The reason behind all of this isn't just because I want to show off RICH. I want to explain how video games can be used to teach and to inspire. My own experience with EL just happens to be a wonderful demonstration on how it is possible. I can describe what happened (hopefully in an interesting way), and what I learned through the process. Then, I can prove how everything that I saw and did in EL translated directly into the real world. I did find some interesting things about economics, and I hope that what I discovered is clearly explained through the use of a story, but that is only a smaller part of a larger goal. The real purpose is to defend video games (especially MMOs) as places where people are free to explore and make mistakes without any real world consequences. Places where people can get relevant real world experience that would never be available in any other way. And of course, also show how powerfully this experience can reinforce other methods of teaching. The story is mostly finished, but there are a few things I would like to use for enhancing the picture - perhaps a few screen shots, maybe a map, and probably some forum posts - and I would like Entropy's blessing. I can make a compelling case without any of these extras, and I probably don't need permission for all of it, but I want to be fair and open. If this book is well done, then it will definitely attract new people to the game. The overall message is very positive. I've benefited enormously from the game, and I think this might give something back. By the way, who would actually be interested in reading it when it's done?
  3. My EL Character Will Soon be 10 Years Old

    How about a decent donation? In fact my examples are being used to demonstrate how video games aren't all bad. Except I probably spent an unhealthy amount of time playing EL, especially in the summer. I'll never donate any money though. I think I have better uses for it.
  4. My EL Character Will Soon be 10 Years Old

    Someday I will re-write everything (because honestly, it's not well written) and try to get it published as a book. Right now I have other projects that need fewer revisions and I need more time/money.
  5. My EL Character Will Soon be 10 Years Old

    It might be a few years before the story is finished because I have other projects closer to being publishable quality (and I need more money). I can't post the paper because I didn't bother publishing it in a journal and I want to keep that option open the future. I would also like to keep myself anonymous in EL as long as possible.
  6. Eternal-Lands first look

    I think this graph correlates pretty well with EL's popularity. First impressions have a lot to do with it. EL is a game that requires more patience than the average MMO players have... http://www.google.com/trends?q=Eternal+Lands
  7. Why you don't make money in EL

    ROFL enemies over a chat in forums......that would be sooooooo petty. It has happened before.
  8. Why you don't make money in EL

    I didn't say that I haven't been around. I just haven't actually played for awhile. If you will re-read the topic, you will see that I was commenting on past conditions, not necessarily current. What I found interesting is that, over time, the main complaints about the game keep coming up every few months, and the argument for those complaints has remained exactly the same: if you sell ingredients for an item you will get more money than selling the item itself. That does lead me to wonder - has the fundamental structure of the game changed? If the same complaints are being made, then it seems likely that there has been no significant changes (minor fixes perhaps), but you are right, there is no way to tell without playing. However, the focus here is not the specifics of what item is better to make or what is EL's economy like, ect., but just a thought on how to make the decision whether to focus on going for money or going for xp, or whether you can have the best of both at the same time. I'm not demanding that people take my ideas seriously (other producers rarely do), but simply asking people to consider the fact that there are different ways of looking at it, and it is quite obvious that the request is extremely uncomfortable. This is about the process of decision-making within the economy, not the status of the economy.
  9. Why you don't make money in EL

    For the same reason that people play the game. It is entertaining.
  10. Why you don't make money in EL

    Yes, that's right. And yes, that's also right. I haven't played this game for years. At this point I'm merely an impartial observer.
  11. Why you don't make money in EL

    Clearly you're not wrong - you are getting sales. But that doesn't necessarily make me wrong. What we're talking about here is simply a different level of demand. In danger of getting too technical, I will keep this simple. If you want more sales, lower the price (my strategy) or try to influence the demand to reach your price (nathanstenzel's idea). It is much easier to lower the price than to convince people that your higher price is somehow better, especially when there are two identical items (as in EL, nobody makes higher quality health essenes than anyone else). You have to find reasons for charging a higher price other than one being inherently better than another, because they are all the same. What I have been trying to explain here is that even though everyone makes identical items, the quality of the same type of items as a whole is not set by the players. So, while I am willing to admit that players do have some control over it, they are bound within a general range of prices based upon one item group's quality in relation to other items, NPC prices, usefulness, ect. Players who believe they have control over those features are deceiving themselves and they need to quit whining about it. And I think everyone already knew that I like to push buttons. I have to see what they all do. [EDIT] For a summary of what I just said, read my signature.
  12. Why you don't make money in EL

    I'm sorry, but that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of. Just because something won't change does not mean it does not matter. To clarify: complaints about it do not matter. I sense hints of unabashed idealism. A fair, unemotional evaluation of the economic situation would allow you to see that players' attempts to control the situation are guaranteed to fail (as they always have), particularly when every aspect of the economy is under a central command. Directing your attitude towards "fair" pricing is misguided and futile when you clearly do not have the power or the voice to change it. It does nothing but bring about endless debates over relatively insignificant details where any conclusions (good or bad) are nearly guaranteed to be ignored (entropy will do what he wants, not what you tell him to do). Please tell me why, other than as an intellectual exercise, does it matter when you have no power or voice to change the outcome? And, if there is any reasonable explanation, why there is such an emotional charge over the issue?
  13. Why you don't make money in EL

    We, as players, are in no position to change that, which makes this discussion irrelevant. You may want to take that issue to someone who is in a position to change it, which would probably also be pointless if they are inept, corrupt, or some combination of the two. We don't make money in EL doing what we want to do, and it doesn't matter because that won't change.
  14. Why you don't make money in EL

    Including "fun" in the equation, which can't be reliably measured, still wouldn't change the basic idea, which is don't do it if it isn't worth doing. However, since this game is a level-grind, you would expect each skill to get less fun over time until you've exhausted your enthusiasm for every skill (I'm sure everyone has a different level limit in each skill). Then it is no longer worth playing the game at all. That isn't necessarily Entropy's fault, because every level-grind game is like that. It's just a basic observation.
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