[Update: October 2010]
I recently started playing the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Project Entropia (PE) and I want to share my experience with anyone who is researching the game or its creator, MindArk, especially as regards the inevitable labeling of PE as a “scam.”
I’m not affiliated with MindArk in any way. I discovered PE while browsing blogs. Someone had linked to a bbc.com article about the sale of a space station for $100,000US. In reaction to this article, I downloaded the free game and began to play.
WHAT IS PROJECT ENTROPIA?
Project Entropia is a virtual universe with a real cash economy. It is set on the distant colony of Calypso, the first habitable planet mankind has ever found. The players take the roles of colonizers that strive to build a new world together, under the threat from various enemies that wants [sic] to destroy the colony.
What does this mean?
It means that Project Entropia is a large multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). The normal way such games operate is by purchasing the client software in a store and then pay a subscription fee every 30 days, while the internal game economy is just that—a game economy.Project Entropia does the opposite! The client software is free to download over the Internet and there are no subscription fee associated whatsoever. The real cash economy means that the internal Project Entropia economy is linked to the real world economy, by using a currency called the Project Entropia Dollar (PED), which have a fixed exchange rate to the US Dollar (10 PED equals 1 USD).
You as a player use PED to acquire virtual land and equipment in Project Entropia to invest in your avatar???s (Player representation in the virtual universe) growth and abilities. A unique aspect of Project Entropia is that a player may elect to transfer PED back into real life currency, thereby enabling them to earn real money while playing an online computer game.
Project Entropia website
I immediately learned that one can get “free money” while very new in the game by gathering and bottling the sweat from live, hostile animals and selling the bottles to other players. This method is tedious and the payout is pennies per hour of gameplay. I played this way for several days to see if the frequent skill rank advancements meant I would start getting more sweat per hour, but I got bored and decided it would be worth the price of a mainstream game just to find out if PE was any fun.
I sent about $22 via paypal to a German outfit for 200 PED (Project Entropia Dollars). Notice that the transaction wasn’t free. Withdrawals aren’t free, either: you pay 1.5% of the amount, minimum 100PED ($10US). With this 200PED I bought a weapon and began to hunt the animals that were so reluctant to give of their sweat. I also bought some armor to cover up the ugly orange jumpsuit that is the only possession of a new recruit.
I soon learned that hunting is a costly occupation at this early stage in the game. My income didn’t meet the cost of ammo. On top of that, the weapon needed costly repairs.
Game fees
Players in PE do not pay any fixed game fee or monthly subscription fee in order to play the game. Players costs are the equipment and objects that they collect as they play and which wear out with use. The players must regularly upgrade their possessions via special automated service stations to retain full capacity.
For example, a hunting weapon wears in relation to the number of shots discharged. The wear level is indicated via status information on the screen and can also be noticed by reduced performance in the object. The normal service fee for an active player lies between 0.5 and 1.5 USD per hour played.
MindArk.com: About PE
That’s what I’ve been paying to play this game, give or take a dollar. Compared to World of Warcraft, an MMORPG that cost me $50 for the software and $15 per month of unlimited gameplay, it’s an expensive game for the average player. Did anyone really expect to download a free game, play it for free and get paid to do it? I hope not. I never read any promise from MindArk to that effect.
There is no shortage of enticement, however. Throughout the game, messages scroll in one corner of the screen to inform me that so-and-so killed/mined/manufactured something “at a value of XX PED!” These are enticing numbers indeed. I am hunting “Atrox Young” (a mini t-rex of sorts) and getting 0-5PED per kill, still losing money due to equipment degredation. I see a message, “X-Y-Z killed an Atrox Young at a value of 84 PED!” so I keep hunting despite the poor returns.
Is MindArk doing something illegal? I doubt they are and I doubt it ever will be illegal to create an online economy such as this. The players are certainly playing at a premium price, unless one deems himself unworthy of any occupation higher than Professional Sweat Gatherer.
Are they stealing from me? No, I’m paying for a unique experience. I had an item disappear from my inventory once but it returned when I logged in the next time. I doubt I’ll spend $26,500US to buy an island like this guy did. Although I did read somewhere that he has already recouped the investment by collecting taxes and selling deeds.
Is it possible to make money in PE? Sure, people do, especially the traders. There are online “companies” composed of participants with the sole purpose of buying low and selling high. They don’t use weapons or armor, but their expensive clothes wear out over time just to make things fair. Traders are too proud to wear the orange jumpsuit.
Is Project Entropia a scam? That depends on your idea of a scam. The purpose of the game is to make MindArk money while providing gamers with entertainment. There’s nothing untoward about that. The rules are clear but the formulas are not. I knew that items were subject to entropy (Project Entropia, get it?) before I ever spent a dime on the game. I did not know that it’s impossible to go out there and kill enough monsters to pay for the damage done to my sword every time I swing it, but that lesson only cost me $3.
I am still playing Project Entropia, still exploring and enjoying the virtual universe of Calypso, still dulling my laser sword and still paying for it all. I do this because my hopes to make money in PE were dashed and supplanted by a better reason to play a game: fun.
Hey now, what’s this? Somebody in an orange jumpsuit wants me to buy his hard-earned sweat. That’s a good price, too. I bet I can make a buck here before the night is done. 
Update: October 2010
That trade with the newbie earned me a few pennies of profit, less than the cost of the clothes that wore out during the transaction. I quit playing and deleted my account in 2006. I found other, less costly games less stressful and more fun. However, this article has gathered new visitors and comments ever since. The story remains the same: some people feel cheated, others consider the game a fairly priced entertainment, and a tiny minority claim personal prosperity. I’m curious how the game experience has advanced in years since I last looked. Maybe I’ll give it another few bucks to find out.
It’s interesting that you say
“Did anyone really expect to download a free game, play it for free and get paid to do it? I hope not.”.
After a recomendation from a friend at uni I started playing an online game called second life. The game is free, and it also has an economy that trades with the US dollar. Anyhow they have all these casinos that you can play slot machines for free but the pay out is very small, so I spent ages just clicking on a bunch of them. Anyhow I got $33.40US in my paypal account after doing that for a while and trading it with ige.com. Slow way to make money, but I had nothing much to do at the time.
After that I stopped playing it, because I didn’t think much of the gameplay… I could never see the logic in giving me free money tho’…
A few hours after I wrote this, I got my first hunting HOF (Hall Of Fame) kill at a value of almost 500PED. That’s $50 for clicking my mouse to fire an imaginary weapon at an imaginary animal. Hours later, I located a mineral deposit worth about 130PED, or $10. I’ve put exactly $60 into this game and those two prizes paid it back. With all of the other hunting and mining rewards I have received, I’m already ahead on this game.
There are plenty of people who come and go without dropping a cent into the PE economy. There are also those who spend their money and never earn it back, for whatever reasons, and their money helps fuel the game. And then there are those who buy beachfront property and stock their homes with furniture and keepsakes. Thousands of USD worth of keepsakes.
I have been playing PE for about a year now and really enjoy it, I think that most of us playing PE have considered this question and compared MA to a casino. I have had a couple of HOF’s which mean I am about even with the amount I have deposited and had back through loot and trading.
PE is an emersive world and although you really have to pay to play, I feel that this is ok as I only pay when I can afford it (unlike other MMORPG’s that have monthly subscriptions)
The community is vibrant and I suggest that anyone looking at playing PE should visit
http://www.entropiaforum.com
http://www.entropia-pioneers.com
as these have many guides to help you along and help prevent you from being scammed out of hard earned PEDs(your ingame currency).
I havent taken any money out of the game yet and dont know if I will or not if I decide to leave the game I can sell of my possesions and take away a contribution to what I put into the game (again unlike other MMORPG’s). It appears (and this is entirely my opinion) that to make any money in PE you have to invest heavily and spend wisely, owning land or trading can be profitable but you have to work hard at it.
for instance fruit an ingrediant that can be found in PE on the ground for free was being sold for 1pec per frut (100pec =1ped=$0.10) after the latest update fruit prices soared to 10 pec each thats a hell of a profit for people who bought over 3000 fruit.
I also play second life which I had to pay $10 (one off fee) and enjoy this as an online game yes its possible to make small amounts of money I play only really to muck about in there ( there are no limits to what you can do) there is no clearly defined way to play and this can become tedious, but enough of my opionion back to PE
I started playing PE recently, and like a lot of new players the only reason i heard about the game was the websites and news about the Space Station purchase.
I admit curiousity got the better of me and I installed the game, ran around a bit and some kind soul created a wormhole for me when i was stuck to get me out (I had no armour or weapon). It was also at this place I met a good friend I have had ingame since.
At this point (after giving up on the sweating idea) I deposited some money to try the game out, I did this through paynova as I didn’t realise my debit card worked. I deposited $20 whioch I used to buy (stupidly) some tt armour and weapons. The money quickly ran out (within the day, hunting – repairs and ammo) and I decided to leave it a bit and try and find out more about the game before depositing.
I had a look on entropia forum and got some great tips and decided to try some mining (hunting at same time when something was in my way) and deposited another $20. I went off mining and got what is known as a global (your name goes up on the chat around the virtual world saying you either killed something worth X, found something worth X, made something worth X) of an oil deposit (4400 barrels, 155 ped on the market at the time) and was very happy, this amount went straight back in for more mining equipment and off I went again.
Nothing more was found, only ever small pockets of resources, so I decided to also try ore mining at same time. This just ate the money up. Soon and before I knew it, I had spent $120 in just under 3 weeks, just for hunting and mining and trying pretty unsuccessfully I might add, some crafting.
So my opinion of the game?
1) It’s very very very expensive, in order for you to play the game as it was meant to be played (hunting, mining and crafting) then you need lots of money and not expect anything in return apart from a few hours enjoyment (try online poker, $10 will last you all night)
2) The marketing hype surrounding this game is unbelievable, it should be investigated who is winning this money and if they really are, I begin to have doubts and this company is not regulated, it should be, it is as far as I can see a gambling game, nothing more.
3) Don’t think you can make money in this game, I say it’s near on impossible unless you have been playing for years and deposited a LOT of money (everyone getting the big loots are long term players, not seen any “noobs”do it yet)
4) Regulation? Did I mention this already? Let me do it again, this game needs REGULATED!!!!.
5) Even if you DO make money, it takes 20 seconds to deposit and 90 BUSINESS DAYS to withdraw!!!! Hmm, why’s that then MA?
6) My best advice to you? Don’t play it, it’s highly addictive and has every trait of gambling, you try and recoup your losses, the old gambling mentality is strewn throughout this game.
Thats my thoughts, but good on Mindark, they have a great business, I for one got sucked in!!!
Just read through the thoughts here on this page, very interesting – i was dissapointed when it showed up that it was going to take 17 hours to download, i read through these comments and i dont know if i will anymore.. interesting how gambling gets ahold of you, i played a game motorcity online a few years ago then i found myself wanting to bet on anything outside of the game too!
I’ve been playin PE for a little over a month now.. like most other here i heard about it from the huge $100k sale of land that got wide coverage.
Started off like everyone in an orange jumpsuit looking like i’d just escaped from a US jail.. sweating animals and getting killed a lot!!! (you don’t loose anything by the way)
yes this got very boring very quickly so i spoke to a few folks in game and got me some armour and a rifle and went off hunting.. yeah there was no huge returns but as a “noob” hunting lowly animals i didn’t expect to see my name in lights.. anyhow.. stuck with it and slowly started hunting bigger animals gettind a few PED here and there… but still loosing cash.. only this week after 5 weeks hunting and a fair bit of cash did i get my first 2 globals (combined total of 180ped) still no where near making a profit.
but i guess this is the key point.. i wasn’t playing it to make money.. over the weeks i’d become obsessed with getting my avatar’s level as high as i can.. noticing hits doing more damage and more accurate… then i realised that this game has possibly the best game play for this style of game i’ve ever known..
people have said above about loosing money through mining and crafting.. both of which are the most skill dependant in the game (from what i’ve gathered) you need the experience to make your first shiney gun, or find that truck load of gold (and a bit of luck). so you should expect (sensibly) to loose in the begining but you will notice as skills build up you make/find more and more till one day, yes after working your ass off and putting in a few PED no doubt, it’s your name scrolling up there.
also the skills you gain through anythign you do in PE, from sweating to hunting, can also be sold.. this is another asset that’s not been mentioned. Anyone who’s played for any time and has built up a skill set in one area can upload there skills onto a GSI and sell them at auction for what i consider quite tidy profits. so all that ammo you burnt wasn’t a complete waste when your aim skill sells for 500ped.
if you want to make money online, like a few people have said before, go gamble you could be the next poker millionaire.. if you want a game which will no doubt take hours of your life and as much/little money as you are comfortable with then PE is as good as you will find.
Hi I have played PE for 5 months or more now , and I have to say that I agree completely with technocat especially about regulation……I have put some money in and capped sweat but have found the making money aspect to be unwarranted hype. Make no mistake this is a rich mans game IF you want to see the finer aspects like space etc. I also feel that many gamblers wont speak about there losses so much and on top of the many hof messages this does create the illusion that one can make money in the game. If someone can deposit £10 in PE and after 1 years play, taking into consideration cost for decay etc. come out making a small profit then I salute you but quite frankly I have yet to see anyone make a profit or even break even overall on this game.
Ive Read everyones comments, and all have great points… but here’s my opinion:
I started playing PE about 3 weeks ago…. and loving it. I understand how it can get addicting and you just want to get the better items,weapons,gear when you look at the more experienced players running around with there 1,000USD guns. I recently talked to a person in PE when he got my attention coming in through the teleport with his BIG gun upgraded to the max with lasers and the whole package of armor and clothes. I asked him how much that gun he has is worth… I was amazed. His Gun was worth yet alone (1,700PED=$170USD) Thats just for the gun, and I didnt even want to ask him about all his Gear and everything else he had. I was jelous at the time but also couldnt believe how much people like him can spend in a imaginary, virtual world. He told me he spends Thousand a month. Thats something I will never do. But back to my experience…
When I started playing, just like everyone else I was a noob. After getting pretty good at sweat gathering, I got kind of bored. So I was really anxious to get better gear, weapons, and tools. Right when that happened, I saw on the global a guy advertising, ” Learn the exciting proffession of mining, make money while doing it”. So I ran to him, joined his society and started mining. By the way, he is a crafter (learning) but really good, he has his skills up and sells his products. He sold me some mining equipment a little better then the Trade Terminal and the same retail price which was considerably cheap. So before buying the tools and gun(from auction) I deposited $10USD Using my Debit Card through there login screen, which was instant. I immediatly went on in the game and spent all of my money right away on the tools, a good weapon, ammo, and armor. I was left with a few peds. After mining that night, I was excited and loved mining. I got a good amount of claims and was happy for the night.
Throughout the next couple days, with the claims that I mined and sold through trades, I have made all my $10USD back and on top of that I recently HIT one of my biggest claims yet, worth 170PED($17USD). I found 15,000 of OIL. And Sold it back at the city Instantly… Its amazing how the economy works in this game. Ever since my deposit, i have not lost a cent and actually making a few bucks here and there. This game actually takes some brain and skills to play. In the beggining yeah its hard and frustrating but after a while if you dont blow all your money on the Trade Terminal Items like the other person posted above… Thats not a really smart thing to do. You have to take your time and be patient with this game. But overall once your skills improve in your profession, its best to stay at what your doing, its hard to gain skill in all professions. Just stick to one, go at a steady pace. Dont deposit a whole bunch of money and spend it as fast as you can. Take your time and do research on it. I have found many websites where i learned most of my knowledge to this game. And Im still mining at my 4th week, and yes i do get good luck and bad luck but it always evens out or even gain…
I hope my post was understanding, and helpful. Please feel free to comment on my opinion…
Thanks,
Sergey
PE Avatar Name: Sergey “KFX” Karpov
I think Project Entropia represents an interesting form of online gambling. You have to remember that it is online gambling and satisfies criteria for this…
- Enjoyment is gained through use
- Majority of participants lose in the long term so that MindArk (The House) makes money
- Minority of players are successful which attracts other participants
If you are considering playing Project Entropia, please remember:
The House Always Wins
Oh yea, by the way… After writing the post above, I went on to play Project Entropia, after playing for several hours I hit my first global. I hit a mining claim of Blausarium Stone worth 900PED=($90.00USD). I was in shock. All my society friends congratulated me, and i spent the next 3 hours extracting the stone from the ground. And remember, I only started playing Project Entropia 3 Weeks ago, and only deposited $10USD, now Im playing with 900PED, but am gonna spend it wisely. Anyways, I enjoy this game and recommened to people who dont just want to go through the game as fast as they can and spend bunch of money, cause then you will have negative feeling towards the game. Its not like other games where the point is to complete all the missions and beat the game. This is a whole other world, where u need to make a living. And if so, make money, or do anything you want to do in that world…
Sincerely,
Moscowpride
PE Avatar Name: Sergey “KFX” Karpov – Look for me running around with my new gun and Armor… hehe
i played this game for 4 weeks.
when i started i kept getting sweet till i had about 10 PED (10usd) and i bought some minin gear. First attempt to find ore was in the middle of the city, i heard alot of people say i was very stupid. I turned of the computer for the rest of the day.
Next day i tried to mine on some places and found oil worth 50 PED. I was very happy and invested everything in new mines. My society leader was proud and gave me some cool clothes. “now i am not a complete n00b anymore” i thoud and i bragged about my 50 PED to the new people.
I kept mining but after getting only small amounts of money i decided to sell my expensive clothes for 30 PED. I bought new mines for this because i was allmost out of money. I hardly found anything, so i solled all my mining gear i didnt really needed to get some minerals.
Now 2 weeks later i have waisted all my money with mining, dont got any gear left and im walking in my orange suit again. back to sweeting for me:(
I just started playing PE yesterday while home sick from work. I was severely tempted to take another sick day just to keep playing but my wife gave me that look about 1am and I finally went to bed. Initially, this game is a massive time-suck that will keep you entertained for hours gathering sweat and hauling ass back to the turrets to keep yourself from getting killed. My payout for the first day – 4.14 PED gathering sweat. I have to wonder (since I haven’t seen it mentioned) if “gathering sweat” is the PE equivalent to a “sweat shop” since they both pay about the same. Still, it’s a novel approach to entry-level character development.
My plan is to not spend any real funds on the game for at least one week, and then I’ll limit myself to $10 a week for a month (the cost of a decent game which I finish in a month or so anyway). After that month I’ll decide if I want to keep playing or if it’s time to get WoW. Is it a ripoff? Maybe. We’ll find out.
I did see Sergey ‘KFX’Karpov playing online last night, so it’s good to see that he’s still posting opinions and still playing the game. The new armor is very nice hehe…. If anyone sees a n00b chick named Ramsheegan running around like a fool, stop by and say hi to me.
Meh, I downloaded it and i’m still trying to find out why i cant get past the screen that says something about body regeneration… but from what i’ve heard, if you have money to burn, play this game, you’ll get more money if you use it right.
I have been playing PE for over a month now and have invested around $60.00. I figure I spend that in a month on junk so what’s the big deal. And I have also noticed that as my skills as a hunter improve I am investing less and less so I hope to be self-sufficiant in the next month. I am defiantly going to stick with hunting for a while I can’t imagine mining or crafting to boring for me;-)
Hmmm…. I think I hate blogging, anyway…
TIME=MONEY
Which one do you need and wich one do you have? Also, usually some items increase in value in time, and this is because the expansion of the economy, so if you keep your shorts on, in one year’s time some other guy will have a harder time than you to become like you.
Nobody noticed the skill part, they give bonuses in different activities and sometimes, by combining 2 activities from trading, hunting, mining, crafting, can be profitable. Or if you like auctions and such, you can look all day long at lists of bids and use the general rule: buy cheap, sell at a higher price. So, again, Time = Money.
Have fun!