Project Entropia: Scam

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[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.

106 thoughts on “Project Entropia: Scam”

  1. I downloaded the game and started. i was asked to board the spaceship. but don’t know why it is hanging. i have less config.512 mb ram(showing only 509) and no graphics card(but that should bother only graphics and not the game speed.)256 kbps net. are these things sufficient?

  3. I just created an account on PE, and have been reading while I wait for the DL to finish. I read about heaps of people losing money, mostly from their own mistakes. Well I plan to NEVER deposite any money into the game, only collect. I can play for a fair while, and I will sweat for ages, and if it gets boring then i can just stop playing. Done, no money lost, probably money gained, and hours of fun had in the mean time. I normally put in a few hours every couple of nights on CS:S, but I think I will enjoy the game, just because I have the possibility of making money for nothing, while having fun.

  4. I have read all you say about PE. I have played for almost 4 weeks now without deposit anything. I have been hunting in teams with people with better skills than me. (Skills is how good you are at something, the better skill the better payback) On this hunts I have earned a lot of PEDs and for that I have bought myself better equipment so now when I hunt I’m allways on the plus side. One thing i find is that when people get better they often start to hunt bigger animals. I only hunt big ones together with others, when I am with my self I go for easier animals. In that way I always earn in the end. It looks like it works so that the lesser hits required for the kill of an animal the better payback(loot) you get. With better skill or equipment you make more damage. It’s lika an automatic Dungeon&Dragons game. Everytime you try to do anything there is an advanced formula that calculates the posibilites for you. Better strength, better weapon, better skill etc = higher chance to get something back from the game. In the beginning when aquiring Sweat from animals (one way to make money for free) I only got like 2-3 now, with a skill up to 95/200 I almost everytime gets like 20-25. So in the beginning to make one PED I had to get Sweat like 50-100 times to earn 1 PED, now it’s only 5-10 times since some attempts fail or the animal is “dry”.
    My opinion is that you can earn without a deposit.

  5. What i don’t like about PE is the way looting system is. Basically, so called ‘ubers’ that get hofs/globals all the time gets paid by OUR money and the frustrating part of it is most of the time people hunting and mining gets no return at all so that it could generate enough losses of OURS to fund the big HOF/ATH(All Time High) that is coming. Of course ‘ubers’ they should get that sort of money because of the amount of money and time they have spent in the game but still.. they are getting rewarded by MindArk with our money while we are spending a hard time trying to get some. Thats how the looting system works i guess. Ofcourse you can earn without depositing, but its a long journey sweating and most people would either quit or deposit some money.
    Anyhow, whoever wants to teamhunt with me contact me at rocsean@hotmail.com =D

    P.S My account was made dec 2003 and ive been playing on and off but ive never gotten any loot(weapon,armors etc) that is worth money other than peds from globals/hofs =). Team hunting is much better imho since you spend lesser ammo and get higher chance of getting HoF . Got 7 globals in a day once while team hunting =). Mining was good for me since ive got a few significant finds (200ped+) but i’ve also risked quite alot of money to mine in CNDspacestation(Club NeverDie) since you seldom get claims and some mining runs, you get none( This is due to claims being bigger in space).

  6. I stumbled on PE. No idea that BIG deals with real money were made, never heard about any of that sort of thing. But I have played a lot of MMORPG and was intrigued by the whole free/free thing. After all how good could it really be?? So with a high speed internet I spent a very long hour and half getting the game. Started it up, struggled through the character creation screen, which didnt seem all that friendly, and began the experience.

    I entered the game in the orange on orange newbie suit – so now what?? No directions, no glowing paths. Just a blurb about sweating animals. Just what the heck was that all about anyway. So I sweated and died for a couple hours. OK I died a lot more than I sweated. I have sweat and now what?? I did what ALL gamers do. Search the internet to find out what was written on the game. And I read and read. Back in try some more.

    I’ve spent a week in the game. It is just like any other MMORPG. You start at the bottom, you spend a lot of time getting your skills up, so you can start working on getting more skills up.. Is sweating boring? Oh my it is terrible. That is if you dont spend the time talking to others who are there doing the same thing. You meet a lot of nice people – from all over the world. It helps pass the time and you make new friends. And those who have been in the game longer know more. Talk with them. EVERYONE worth a PEC will be glad to answer a simple question or two.

    So after one week where am I at in the game? A newb. I got a weapon, a rifle, and some ammo. I bought a used piece of armor so I could stay alive longer. And I went hunting. I got a little bit of change here and there. And I also got some loot, as a result my set of armor is almost complete now. I have gone through thousands of rounds of ammo. And yea, I still sweat. My hunting skills are still terrible. So I sweat enough to buy more ammo and hunt some more. But, I am having a load of fun. The graphics are incredible, the gameplay is wonderful and the people are friendly.

    If you have never played a MMORPG before, you are going to have trouble. And you are not going to get rich. ANY of the MMORPG you can spend a fortune on quickly. There are sites that will sell you all the game money you want for US dollars for any of the games out there like this. And you can in turn sell these sites what you get in these games. The difference with this game is that MA has set the price for the game dollar to real dollar and not someone else. If you want to make money in the game, you are going to have to WORK for it. Yea, there are a few lucky stiffs who get the HOF and some big hits. But the average person works very hard and a lot of hours to get what they have.

    I am going to try the game for 30 days. If I continue to like it I may, or may not, deposit the price of a game in my account. And if I deposit $15 bucks a month it is no different than any other game I have played like this. I play for fun. I play for the challenge.

    And to Vash.. what game were you playing?? After one week I know for certain it wasnt PE. And if you want me to believe you, as a newb, took on a very experienced PvP sniper – well you make me smile. Even if you had the hundreds of US dollars to buy the equipment – you didnt have the skills to use them. You just didnt have the time to build them up that far. And as for a duel in an arena and running.. and dodging laser fire … for 40 minutes — it’s the wrong planet Neo.

    To those who play for fun and to make new friends I hope to see you in game sometime. You’ll find me sweating the beasts on the wing of the spaceship just outside CP – at least for some time yet.

  7. its just a big poker game man .
    and they let kids as young as 13 play the game sounds illegal to me .

  8. Easy:
    1. great game, amazing graphics, options, never ending row of creatures, weapons, guns and the lotery element that u MIGHT get lucky
    2. Games are made by people who get payed. So in the long run players pay those fees. Cant put it more simple
    3. u decide how much u deposit and how u use it, ne adult and set limits and targets, dont whine liek a child loosing his marbles
    4. wanna make money? : get a job, have a kick ass time? try PE

    greetz CBB

  9. I have been playing PE for approximatly 4 months and really really do enjoy the game play from the day you enter and choose your body to arriving in an orange suit.

    Why do I enjoy it because for £35 a month I own my own place have nice furnature can kill mini dino’s with relative ease can hit a few globals up at cnd on the mining front and can even make some scopes and lazers.

    yes to get globals in crafting will cost you a fortune but then look how much you pay for sky tv / mobile phone contracts. I have just ditched my mobile contraft and gone pay as you go ! why there are no decent new phones out and I can have an appartment for £30 or £70 @ cnd .

    I would say that I have depositied £50 a month , have relative good armour and wepons but now have skills over 1000 in everyhting that i do ( EXCEPT CRAFTING ). It is highly addictive and a great way to meat people around the globe ;)

    I make my self laugh everymonth when i see a que of people in a software shopping buying a plastation game for £50 – now i thinkn owning a qosmio laptop and playing pe is the best , what other game do i need ;) .

    there are loads of people that will help you out and give you armour , if i get armour worth 2ped i give it away as i belive the trade for free gives me good luck – last time i did it i hit a 120 ped global.

    Sally – Sally Sal Bridges in game ;)

  10. Wow this is a really long thread of comments :) almost a forum in its own right well I am just going to add a link to a blog that I started to put Entropia pictures on most so far are of the space resort, but many more should follow so for some screen shot action of entropia and some of the things available take a look :)

    http://www.pementor.co.uk/blog/

  12. I wanted to chime here on the topic.

    I played PE practically non-stop during any free time I had from December 2004 until December 2005, I really enjoyed my time in PE but agree with some others that it has a very “Casino”-like feel to it..and as such I decided to leave the game recently after taking a 5 months break.

    It IS a good game, and has some huge potential – but mostly for Mindark. They will make money on this product the more the market it and introduce new things. The addition of RL designers and artists selling stuff in-game is a really great move on MA’s part and the artists of course. They will make some really nice cash there for forging a relationship with MA that resulted in the construction of a whole new city just for this venture. Sadly it’s not something the common player can hope to obtain, so the rich will well…get richer. :)

    In any case I sold out my entire avatar and turned assuming I can find a buyer for my PEDs (6486 peds to be exact) I’ll turn a profit over my investments into the game over the year I played…in fact I’ll double my money.

    *IF* anyone wants to actually BUY y Project Entropia Dollars (6486 of them) via Paypal please feel free to contact me at addictedtoeve@hotmail.com and we can discuss arrangements.

    Take care.

  13. I thought PE exchanged PEDs into real$$ with a withdrawl – why would you need a buyer?

  14. Of course you can sell in game for tt+ and transfer the ped to usd to your cc but it takes time, more easy is to sell your whole avatar with al teh skills in it and al the belonging stuff.
    Great game, im palying for 4 weeks now and now ive to deposit no more (total 70 usd deposit)

  15. I have now played PE for 3 month and I’m still on plus side. i think this is cause of me changing route severall times in the game. The ones who just do the sama day after day will probaly end up spending a lot. One thing that I didn’t like in the beginning of my game play was that there where almost no help files. I had to search the net and ask people for almost everything I would like to do. It took me ages to discover basic things like buying the right type of ammo to my gun. To prevent this for others I have made a lot of helpfiles that will help others in the same situation as me self. Other good resourses ar the entropia forum, peacution etc.
    I agree with the casino feeling but I think most of the players will keep on an average level of income from the loot pool. I have deposit $60 to the game. The last 4 time I’ve been living from a HOF I made and I still haven’t used more than 25% of it, so if I play my cards wice I will have many gaming hours for my $60 and hopefully get a new HOF before my PEDs run out.

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