Posts Tagged ‘Entropia Universe’

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?264812-You-do-not-own-an-estate-you-buy-nor-the-contents-in-it!&p=3284297&viewfull=1#post3284297 – apparently if the old holder of an estate leaves an untradeable item in the place, they can come back later after they trade the place and raid it of any stuff you put in it after you claim it in Entropia Universe at this point in time. This is a HUGE problem potentially since it might be leading to the the theft of tons of virtual items by robber barrons holding apartment deeds. Hopefully Mindark will fix this problem.

Estates in Entropia Universe have a very, very long history of not working correctly. At some point in time I may post some links to various discussions of these many problems throughout the history of Entropia Universe. It is things like this that make us question if Mindark is living up to it’s promise that both Planet Partners and the participants on the planets should always feel safe in their endeavors in Entropia Universe.

email excerpt:

The content of this letter is not to be considered a legally binding document. The Swedish Gambling Authority has investigated the “Loot” system in Entropia Universe in journal number 13Li3786. The investigation was closed on the 30 of October 2013.

The Swedish gambling market is regulated by The Swedish lottery act (1994:1000). The general rule is that lotteries must not be arranged except by permit (Section 9, Lotteries Act). Permits may in principle only be granted to non-profit making associations whose activities are for the public benefit (Section 15, Lotteries Act), it is thus not sufficient for a permit to be granted that the proceeds of the lottery are applied for charitable purposes.

There are two possibilities for The Swedish Gambling Authority to act in cases of suspicion of crime, one is to submit to the suspect with a penalty (Vite) the second one is to notify the police. To submit the suspect with penalty it is required to that the offense has been committed within Swedish jurisdiction, this means a server is located in Sweden or the person or company that offers the lottery lives in Sweden.
It also requires an exact moment when the crime has been committed. It is, therefore, necessary to secure documentation of a Swedish player who lives in Sweden when he or her wins “Loots” in order to prove that the location of the criminal act is within the Swedish jurisdiction and that the legal person responsible for lottery is Swedish. The Swedish Gambling Authority would likely need to dedicate an employee on full-time to play in Entropia Universe before the possibility of gaining loots in Entropia Universe. It has to been proved that the actual legal person which is responsible for lottery is Swedish, in this case, MindArk and that it is not arranged by a foreign subsidiary to MindArk. This would require a thorough investigation concerning MindArks corporate structures.

Anyone may make a police report at suspicion of a criminal offense. It is likely to assume that the circumstance needs to be proven up to the level which is mentioned above in order for the Swedish court to decide on a punishment on a suspected crime. The Swedish Gambling Authority has come to the conclusion that current circumstances isn´t sufficient evidence to make a police report, if you wish to make a police report, please notice attached contact details below

Circumstances of the case Entropia Universe has been put forward for head of department in the case of how the matter should be handled. Head of operational department which is responsible for the prioritization and allocation of resources, has decided that The Swedish Gambling Authority currently does not have the opportunity to further investigate the matter with reference to the extensive resource case would take.

Polismyndigheten i Västra Götaland
Box 429
401 26 Göteborg
Sweden

Kind Regards
Josefin Jansson

LOTTERIINSPEKTIONEN

Trust Scams in Entropia Universe are scams that involve placing ‘trust’ in another person’s avatar through the ‘lending’ of peds (project entropia dollars), or items that have a ped value or market value in peds (Note that in Entropia Universe the PED is tied to the US Dollar in a 10:1 ratio, so PEDs have real world value) trusting that the other avatar will give you back the peds or item or something equivalent in the future. The scam part of this is when that other avatar does not give you back anything or gives you back something that is worth less, or less desirable than what you ‘trusted’ that they were going to give you. Trust scams exist in Entropia Universe since some participants want to partner with others in game for joint ventures, but there is no valid way for joint ownership of items to exist in game except through special systems such as shared deed system used in Calypso Land Deeds, Arkadia Underground Deeds, etc.

According to Mindark Support Mindark cannot do anything about trust scams since they see all trades in game as valid, even if they are trust scams.


Internet Archive Link

Below are a few examples of trust scams that have been revealed in community forums and websites over the years:


8/19/2014 0x0f Trust Scam Thread on PCF

Internet Archive Link

Ernestas/Cherry Lady/Justifier/Monica/Goldy?
I’ve heard it through the grapevine that ErnestJ, Cherry Lady, Justifier, Monica and Goldy may be one in the same individual and that that individual may be performing various scams in Entropia Universe including but not limited to ‘trust scams’??? I myself do not have first hand knowledge of these scams, only second hand knowledge that I’ve heard via PMs, and regularly reading forums and other websites related to Entropia Universe over the years… Below appear to be some of the relevant links to information on this rumor…
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?196542-A-newbie-story-behind-a-scam&p=2545742&viewfull=1#post2545742
Description/Summary:
Parlog’s 9/2/2010 posting on Planetcalypsoforum (PCF) about Monica aka J.J.J. (Justifier)
Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?234950-Dreadnought-shooting-down-friendly-ship&p=3028397&viewfull=1#post3028397
Description/Summary:
In Post #5 of Planetcalypsoforum thread Dreadnought shooting down friendly ship Goldy admits to shooting down the mothersip that the thread is about.
Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?234950-Dreadnought-shooting-down-friendly-ship&p=3034795&viewfull=1#post3034795
Description/Summary:
In Post #373 of the PCF thread Dreadnought shooting down friendly ship ErnestJ admits to being Goldy by stating:

I did not allow anyone to publish my photos. So I guess it is a violation of forum rules…

Internet Archive Link

http://web.archive.org/web/20100916040237/http://93.190.89.160/cherry.php
Description/Summary:
Internet Archive Copy of the now dead webpage that once existed at http://93.190.89.160/cherry.php that is entitled The whole story about Cherry Lady / Justifier / Monica
Internet Archive Link

 

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?267603-taxi-goblin-goldy&p=3311355&viewfull=1#post3311355
Description/Summary:
“taxi goblin goldy” thread on PCF dated 11/13/2014 in which EMW accuses Gaius Julia Caesar and Little Cookie Girl of being two of Taxi Goblin Goldy’s alts.
Internet Archive Link

 

According to a reliable source this individual’s scammer’s Entropia Avatar names and names on various forums and social networks such as youtube, Skype, facebook, etc. appears to have potentially been the following names the past:

Justifier Justifier Justifier
Monica
Cherry Cherry Lady
Chery Lady
Candy Sugar Girl
Monica Belluci
lynx lynx lynx
maryo taxi gold
Taxi Goblin Goldy
goblin.goldy1
VanLot Ernestj Cinzano
Ernestas Ernestj Jevsejevas
maxas_veza
ernestjev
Ernislovas
and possibly born2be1st

and that mothership pilots that were associated with this individual’s mothership before goldy sold his/her ship may have been:

Cute Monika Blond and Super Troll Hater

Description/Summary:
In post #68 of Planetcalypsoforum Thread EU and MacBook Monica reveals his/her Skype name as maxas_veza
Internet Archive Link

http://youtu.be/E1r8n6U98cM?list=UUkC8Vjwr6Atv711_GYpulbw
Description/Summary:
Youtube Video uploaded by ernestjev
Internet Archive Link

http://www.hackforums.net/printthread.php?tid=132455
Description/Summary:
Hack forum discussion on keyloggers by Ernislovas
Internet Archive Link
/
http://www.hackforums.net/printthread.php?tid=494523
Description/Summary:
Hack forum post by Ernislovas revealing skype and gmail account info. Skype name is maxa_veza
Internet Archive Link

Please do NOT use info here to cyberbully this individual as it appears possible that the hackforum account info is tied to a hacked account so gmail and skype info revealed there may be incorrect… See http://allyouarefree.blogspot.com/2013/08/free-hackforumnet-user-id-password-list_31.html for more info (found link on accident via google search)

http://web.archive.org/web/20130204052428/http://warp.ms/
Description/Summary:
Internet Archive Link to http://warp.ms/ that indicates contact info as

For more information please contact Taxi Goblin Goldy, in game, or through Skype at : goblin.goldy1
and if for any reason you cannot contact him through these channels, contact : Chad Wizardo Gareau, in game. If he is not online try contacting him via Skype : chad.gareau

Internet Archive Link


http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?231632-Incorrect-Assmption-on-my-part-!&p=2991879&viewfull=1#post2991879

Description/Summary:
9/3/2012 Thread entitled Incorrect Assmption on my part !by Sakuba on PCF outlining the attack of the EFA Ship Bismarck by Pirate Ernestj
Internet Archive Link to page 1
Internet Archive Link to page 4

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?155643-Black-Hawk-s-quot-15-Experiment-quot-By-Cherry-Cherry-Lady&p=1949545&viewfull=1#post1949545

Description/Summary:
Black Hawk’s “15$ Experiment” – By Cherry Cherry Lady on PCF
Internet Archive Link

Below is a list of various articles, Interviews, Q&A Sessions, Dev Notes, and a number of different Developer Comments as well as community commentary on various things related to Entropia Universe over the years. The goal here is primarily to preserve a bit of Entropia Universe’s history as much of that is being torn down over time as older websites disappear, get taken over by new management and urls change, etc. I will try to add internet archive links to each article as articles are added (when possible) to this list so that copies of the articles are available in the Internet Archives ‘way back machine’ in case the original articles get moved, deleted, etc.

8/18/2014 update on banks by Mcormick on Entropiaplanets Forum – entertaining yet somewhat sad history lessons
Internet Archive Link

July 27, 2012 thread on PlanetCalypsoForum entitled !!SCAM!!: http://www.entropiauniverse.net84.net/
Internet Archive Link
Notes: Thread discusses a scam in Entropia Universe in which a scammer was naming themselves with avatar names similar to “Entropiia Supoort Universe” or “Entropiia Supoort Universe” and sending out links in chats to phishing websites

Entropia Universe Interviews: MindArk Interview By Arno Laurman on January 30, 2012 at http://www.mmorpg.com/
Internet Archive Link

June 5, 2011 Apology to the Community by Mr Nukem Quayjay for allowing a list posted on The Patriot’s website to be publicly viewable.
Internet Archive Link
Notes: The Black and Red List were originally created by the NBK group of societies and one of the leaders of the NBK gave the lists to Nukem to use, who then put it on his own society’s website. I believe that one of the lists was a list of avatars that NBK leadership had created as a ‘Kill on Sight’ list and that the other list was a list of avatars to not trade with for various reasons such as accusations of scamming, hurting the feelings of NBK leaders in various ways, etc. I believe that both lists and any list created based off of those lists were used to harass, control, and intimidate people in Entropia Universe in multiple ways, which might be seen as a violation of either the terms of use or eula. I believe that the ‘kill on sight’ lists were not just used to create weapon targets on PVP zones, but were also used in non-PVP zones to create targets for mob-training. It is unknown if these or any similar lists exist today since most such lists are kept on password protected society forums, etc. However, it is likely that such lists that are used to harass and abuse members of the community do still exist today in various forms. It is sad that such cyberbullying exists. We, as a community should do something to stop this type of ongoing problem. Mindark as the developer of Entropia Universe, should also do something to stop this cyberbullying that is happening on their servers, especially since it is part of Mindark’s mission to ensure that “Both Planet Partners and the participants on the planets should always feel safe in their endeavors in Entropia Universe.”

04/15/2011 thread Nostalgia thread: Once upon a time in Entropia…… explores what Entropia used to be like…
Internet Archive Link

December 16, 2010 Thread on PlanetCalypsoforum entitled Why is this allowed? which is a long winded thread that ended up being over 50 pages discussing Neverdie Studio’s use of what appeared to be ‘insider information’
Internet Archive Link

September 25, 2010 Apology to the Community by Mark Rufen Power for being Calypto’s Hired Hitman in game
Internet Archive Link

June 16, 2010 Comment by Marco on Planetcalypsoforum
Internet Archive Link
Notes: Infamous Quote from Marco Behrmann, “Understandably there are some questions raised due to the annual report. Unfortunately I cannot comment on the FPC part – yet. What I can say is that the future for FPC and Planet Calypso is looking brighter than ever.” This was an extremely ironic quote since FPC was history not long after this quote was made.

June 2010 Comment by Marco on PlanetCalypsoForum about no loot frequency
Internet Archive Link
Notes: The comment seems to indicate that Mindark has the ambition to reduce no loots even more in the future.

April 25, 2010 thread on Planetcalypsoforum by Mandu entitled Should NEVERDIE be banned?
Internet Archive Link

December 2009 posting by Marco on Planetcalypsoforum
Internet Archive Link
Notes: This Posting contains one of the famous quotes from Marco Behrmann

And it still stands – all avatars’ are equal.

November 14, 2009 Posting on PlanetCalypsoForum by Justin from Mindark
Internet Archive Link
Notes: This posting was a promise from Justin at Mindark that Mindark was aware of issues with booths that happened when version update 10 occurred and that Mindark was working on relocating them to pre version 9.4 positions. This posting also stated “There will be an upgrade to the booths in the near future.” The relocation did not work well since most buildings in game were turned around from where they were prior to version 10, and some were put in to awful positions where some estates were not even able to be viewed since the ground level was above the estates in the basements of some apartment buildings. The promised “upgrade” never happened… The “upgrade” wasn’t really an upgrade… it was an offer to “buy” an upgrade in item count on estates, and those that did buy in to that upgrade, which cost something like 2k ped did not see their estates upgraded for many months, if at all. If they would have increased item slot numbers freely, it would have been far more of an upgrade that seems to have been promised in Justin’s post.

January 30, 2009 Posting by Marco on PlanetCalypsoForum
Internet Archive Link
Notes: This posting from Marco at Mindark indicates that First Planet Company (FPC) did not plan to open up a Planet Calypso Forum run by FPC as Mindark believed that the forum should be handled by the community itself. This is interesting because planetcalypsoforum.com was originally created as a copy of the database of the forum that originally existed at entropiaforum.com when FPC/Mindark did intend to buy the database and forum from the individual in the community that currently runs both Entropiaforum and Planetcalypsoforum. Apparently that sale deal never went through since that individual appears to still own the forums today in 2014.

http://www.gamesradar.com/planet-cyrene-2/ 2009 Article on Entropia with focus on Planet Cyrene at gamesradar.com
Internet Archive Link

2009 “A Minute with Marco” by Skam
Internet Archive Link
Note: Discussion Includes mention of Factories

2009 post by Marco at http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?174048-Major-tier-upgrade-process&p=2219565&viewfull=1#post2219565
Internet Archive Link
Note: Marco’s mention of an “Upgrade Replicator”

Post on PlanetCalypsoforum by Justin from Mindark
Internet Archive Link
Notes: Promise from Justin at Mindark that “There will be only 15 sets of POE armor rewarded in this event.”

2008 Q&A with Marco Behrmann
Internet Archive Link
Notes: Mentions Beer and Fishing being added to Entropia… Also, ironically mentions that Marco hates Grinding x amount of mobs for rewards type missions. At a later date after that Q&A that exact type of mission/quest system is implemented in game on a massive scale.

2007 Article About CRD – http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?we_cat=3&art_id=45765&sid=13861345&con_type=1&d_str=20070601&fc=8
NOTES: the original article has been deleted from existence, and there is no archive of it in the internet archive’s way back machine. However, A copy of it exists on Axe Murderer’s Blog.
Internet Archive of Axe Murderer’s Blog Copy of the Article
Notes: This was an article about CRD – Cyber Recreation Development Corp., which was to be a Planet Partner in Entropia Universe. That partnership fell through and never actually happened. The article indicates that there were extremely large goals with the project, which probably were not really obtainable, which may be part of the reason the CRD planet never saw the light of day. Part of the article stated:

CRD chief executive David Liu predicted that the virtual worlds will generate approximately 10,000 jobs in the mainland.
“An important aspect for this project is also the positive effects on our environment that we foresee,” Liu said. “People will actually be able to work from home inside Entropia Universe, as many people do today, even from rural areas, thereby decreasing the amount of pollution generated by travel.”

2007 (updated 2009) Interview with Marco Behmann by Cody “Micajah” Bye on tentonhammer.com
Internet Archive Link
Notes: The article states:

So how many players are actually playing Entropia Universe? According to Marco, there are 625,000 registered accounts for EU at Mindark, which is not a number to take lightly. Couple that with an average payment of $23 per month for active players, and you have quite a large chunk of change.

December 14, 2006 Posting at New World Notes – Exploring Ideas with the Explorers of Worldsby Gwyneth Llewelyn
Internet Archive
Notes: Most of this article deals with Second Life, but one part of it says

Marco Behrmann, of Entropia Universe, is planning to set up a private island inside SL to use it as a vehicle of advertising of his own MMORPG. The boundaries are beginning to get thinner and thinner.

2005 Q&A with Marco Behrmann by Richard Cox on mmorpg.com
Internet Archive Link
Note: Famous Quote from Marco Behrmann, ” We are very reluctant to change the stats for any item in the virtual universe, as such measures would bring instability to the ingame market, which is just plain bad. We are a business and our main priority is to have pleased customers for the long haul. Anything else is just plain stupid.”

http://www.playmmo.com/forum/showthread.php?p=88717 – November 23, 2005 – Marco’s posting about PROJECT ENTROPIA VERSION UPDATE 7.8
Internet Archive Link
Notes: Dead Link now, but Internet Archive still exists. This version update implemented taming the first time.

http://www.playmmo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6099 – Very Early Interview with Mindark Representative.
Notes: Dead Link Now, and there is no internet archive of the above web page. However, at one point in time when the page existed part of it said:

6-a: Ventures into space will come in 2005. We hope to bring real time space ship combat with robot ships and other space living entities. Asteroid mining will also be a part of it. I envision a major star ship with a crew of 100 people all manning various functions of the ship, like engineering, guns, torpedos, strategic command, shields, power distribution, hull repairs, etc, allwoing for major epic battles in the sky.

These were big ideas for back then. Some of that vision has come to life now that space exists and ships with multiple crew members can pilot them, even if the crew does not contain 100 avatars simultaneously logged in on motherships yet.

http://www.playmmo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8005 – 2005 Z&A Session Q 38 – Auctions & Systems down
Internet Archive Link
Notes: Dead Link Now. However, Internet Archive Link works. This was a discussion about how that auction clock was tied to the real clock, even when the server was down, but that Mindark was talking about setting the auction timer to be linked to server uptime instead.

http://www.playmmo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8266 – 2005 Q&A Session: Q- 41 – Rare armor Sets and Missing parts
Internet Archive Link
Notes: Dead Link now. However, Internet Archive Link is active. This was a Forum Posting by Marco Behrmann that states, “Various items are more common at various times. All items can be found in PE, at any time,” in response to a question about rare items being able to be looted.

March 29, 2005 Gamespot article: MindArk threatens MS with suit over raid
Internet Archive Link
Notes:This article talks about the BSA Raid charges being dropped and that Mindark is still considering a countersuit against Microsoft and the BSA.

EntropiaPlanet’s Wiki Copy of June 26, 2002 Press Release from Mindark
Internet Archive Link
Notes: This was Mindark’s ‘official response’ about a raid on Mindark by the BSA Software Alliance that was done because the BSA believed that Mindark may have been using pirated software. A part of this press release states:

Benny Iggland, chairman of the supervisory board of MindArk AB says in a comment: “MindArk is prepared to sue Microsoft and the other companies for damages caused by their action. Proceedings from this process, which will certainly reach a substantial number of millions of United States Dollars, will be placed in the virtual universe of Project Entropia as a number of gigantic treasures that anyone entering the Universe of Project Entropia may find and grab.“

http://www.planetcalypso.com/planet-calypso/the-story-of-calypso/

Trapping in the Entropia Universe MMORPG is the act of causing a mob to be put in to a state where it cannot excessively harm the avatar that is hunting it, while allowing the avatar that is hunting it to kill and loot the body of the trapped mob.

Trapping can be done a number of different ways, such as using certain parts of the terrain to cause the mob to become immobile and then killing the mob with a ranged weapon while the mob cannot harm the avatar hunting it as the mob cannot reach the avatar, or jumping in and out of flying vehicles which mobs cannot damage while hunting, etc.

Trapping is something that has existed in Entropia Universe in various forms since Entropia began. Mindark, the developer behind the Entropia Universe platform, has taken a number of different tactics over the years to stop trapping such as causing mobs to become ‘unreachable’ in certain circumstances. However, this is an ongoing and uphill battle since trapping still exists today.

Below I plan to create a list of links to various forums and websites where the topic of trapping exploits have been brought up as a topic of conversation, much as I have started to do with the alt avatar use list and the Kill Stealing List.

These lists are being created for historic purposes to outline for the Entropia Universe Community of Participants and general population outside of Entropia Universe how long these Exploit/Cheating problems have existed, and how widespread they have been. These lists also exist to give any Developers behind the Entropia Universe Platform at Mindark, or Planet Partner Developers running the Planets in Entropia Universe an idea of exactly how people are cheating or exploiting in game so that they can take actions in the future to keep that type of activity from happening.

Link:
Description/Summary:
Internet Archive Link

Link:
Description/Summary:
Internet Archive Link

Link:
Description/Summary:
Internet Archive Link

In Entropia Universe Hunting and Looting what you hunt is one of the main 3 professions tied to loot pools. The other main “professions” are mining and crafting.

In order to hunt a creature (MOB) in Entropia Universe you must have a weapon, use the weapon on the creature you want to kill enough to get its health level down to zero. After that you have a certain amount of time to loot the dead creatures body before it disappears. When you loot the body you will either receive what the creature was carrying, or get a system message that the creature was not carrying any loot.

The way that Hunting currently works is that any avatar can cause damage to any mob at any time if they have a weapon that has enough Trade Terminal (TT) value left on it that it can be decayed. At the current time most hunting equipment in game can be decayed down to 3% of its maximum value before the item in question needs to be repaired (Previously some Skill Increase Bonus (SIB) Unlimited items only decayed to 50%, but Mindark changed that so that those items now decay down to 3% before needing repair). Unlimited items can repaired at a Repair Terminal with PEDs (Project Entropia Dollars) or PECs (Project Entropia Cents) depending on what the maximim TT value of the item in question is and how much it will cost to repair it as you can repair most items only part of the way instead of all of the way, even though they may not necessarily function as well at lower TT values according to some theories. There are 100 PECs in every PED, and 10 PEDs is equivalent roughly to 1 US Dollar so when items are decayed in hunting REAL MONEY is being spent. The monetary values on items’ TT Values are put in to the game when participants of Entropia Universe deposit money in to the system via one of several types of deposit methods such as Credit Cards, Paypal, etc.

In order to ‘claim’ the loot of a mob as your own in such a way that other avatars cannot loot the mob you killed you currently need to damage the MOB by at least 50% of the MOB’s Health, or at least do enough damage that is closer to 50% of the health than others have done before it died if multiple avatars are trying to kill the same mob (some Mobs that have high amounts of health take a long time to kill, especially large event Mobs such as EOMON which have thousands of health points that have to be destroyed before they are killed). If you only do 49% damage or less and someone else does more damage than you did to the MOB before it died, the other avatar that damaged the mob may be able to claim the mob’s loot instead of you. The act of doing damage to mobs that other avatars are hunting in order to outdo the other avatar on damage so that you can claim the MOBs loot is called “Kill Stealing” because in involves killing the mob with more damage than the other avatar and then stealing the dead MOB’s loot.

There have been many Kill Steals done throughout the history of Entropia Universe, both big and small. Big Events such as the yearly Migration Season that brings out the EOMON is one type of Event in which that type of activity happens a lot. Because of that, threads in forums and websites complaining about kill stealing happen almost like clockwork when big events enter the game.

In a recent post by Hardwrath on Entropiaplanets and Planetcalypsoforum, in which Hardwrath points out an example of Kill Stealing that occurred on a MOB he was hunting that was looted by Saoirse, Hardwrath suggests that the newly implemented in game friend list and chat system be used to send offline messages to all members of a society, or at least the society leaders, that Kill Stealers are in so that the individual in question may be kicked out of the society.

In that post Hardwrath points out that “When you take advantage of game mechanics in order to gain/save financially at the expense of other players, it is in fact an exploit.” Whether Mindark agrees or disagrees with that opinion, the way that the hunting system is currently set up allows Kill Stealing to happen quite regularly.

It could be argued that asking members of a society to take actions to kick a member of their society out of the society is a form of harassment that causes grief to other participants, which is potentially a violation of the Terms of Use for Entropia Universe.

c. You cannot interfere with any other Participants ability to use and enjoy the Entropia Universe.

I do agree with Hardwrath that Kill Stealing is a bit of an annoyance in game, however, as things are currently set up there appears to be not much that can be done about it because the system is provided “as is”.

NO FURTHER WARRANTY. THE ENTROPIA UNIVERSE IS PROVIDED TO YOU “AS IS”. THE ENTROPIA UNIVERSE IS NOT WARRANTED BY MINDARK TO BE UNINTERUPTED, COMPLETE, ACCURATE OR ERROR OR BUG FREE.

Since Kill Stealing is potentially a form of cheating or exploit, I have added a new category under the Cheating and Exploiting parent category and will use a future post to showcase various places online that this long-standing issue has been brought up by the Entropia Universe Community, much as I am doing with the ALT Avatar examples, so that the community, general population, and any of the developers reading this blog may be able to find the past examples quickly, realize that this is an ongoing issue, and take action to deal with this problem in the future…

Since Mindark has allowed Kill Stealing to exist in game for many, many years, the fact that nothing has been done to keep it from happening causes us to question if Mindark is upholding it’s promise that, “Both Planet Partners and the participants on the planets should always feel safe in their endeavors in Entropia Universe.”

Below is a list of various links to web pages, forum threads, and other online locations that contain (or contained in the past) either admissions or accusations of alt avatar use or shared ‘mule’ avatar use in Entropia Universe. The list also contains a few links related to the issue of Mindark and Planet Partners use of avatars in Entropia Universe, which is seen by some as giving certain avatars an unfair advantage through the use of insider information. Internet Archive Links, screen prints, or youtube video copies of some of the linked pages are listed below in case the original linked page potentially could be deleted or altered at some point in time removing existence of the original admission or accusation.

Please note that this is a ‘living document’ and may be edited in the future as new admissions or accusations are located in forums, websites, and other online places, or as older examples are archived with screen prints, etc.

Ernestas/Cherry Lady/Justifier/Monica/Goldy?
Please refer to the TRUST SCAMS post for info on this individual.

Starhopper/DA Manager/pigBodine
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?211169-NEVERDIE-and-his-influence-in-people-trust-and-game&p=2735112&viewfull=1#post2735112
Description/Summary:
5/6/2011 Accusation by ~CHOPPER~ in post #78 of Page 8 of the thread NEVERDIE and his influence in people trust and game that pigBodine was Starhopper.
Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?215835-Digital-Manager-Abduction-RT-LAs&p=2795811&viewfull=1#post2795811
Description/Summary:
Post #96 by ~CHOPPER~ in the PCF thread Digital Manager Abduction RT LAs that states:

First he was Starhopper.
Then he was DMA.
I wonder who his next Ava is going to be..

Watch out folks…watch out.

Internet Archive Link

Planetcalypsoforum thread about DA Manager using stall deeds to trade things in a secretive manner using deeds that should never have been traded
Internet Archive Link

Entropia Related Blog Post about DA Manager

Simply Electronics Ltd

Planet Partner Participating (and using alts) – Neverdie
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?203235-Why-is-this-allowed&p=2632594&viewfull=1#post2632594
Description/Summary:
December 26, 2010 thread on Planetcalypsoforum entitled Why is this allowed? which discusses the possible use of ‘insider information’ by Neverdie Studios to loot a new item in game that had not been introduced yet. The first post has a screen print of –III Tenacity III– globaling with the discovery of shark head, and a screen print of that avatar’s society which indicates that the avatar in question is a member of Neverdie Studio. The thread ended up being over 50 pages before it was closed by mods.
Internet Archive Link of First Page of thread

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?17073-Island-Girl-in-auction-again&p=191677&viewfull=1#post191677
Description/Summary:
February 12, 2006 thread on PCF discussing Tina Island Girl Leiu’s use of auction in game. This avatar was Neverdie’s girlfriend avatar, who had died in real life just over a year prior to the time of this auction sighting, and for whom Neverdie created Memorial Island in Entropia Universe.
Internet Archive Link of thread
Internet Archive Link of Screenprint of auction
Internet Archive Link of Biography of Tina Lieu by NEVERDIE on entropiadirectory.com

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?50278-Island-Girl-goes-quot-To-the-Club-quot&p=595369&viewfull=1#post595369
Description/Summary:
January 3, 2007 thread by Neverdie on Planetcalypsoforum (PCF) that states:

Tina “Island Girl” Leiu, the avatar of my late fiance Tina Leiu, logged off for the last time in the VIP Dance floor of Club NEVERDIE… A fitting exit given that Tina provided the vocals for Spankox’s worldwide smash hit Dance anthem “To the Club”

I have enjoyed in the last 2 years keeping Island Girl active, it always felt like a way to cheat death, however even Death finds a way to catch up with you in Virtual Reality as I have been formally notified that it is deemed that my continued use of Island Girls avatar is in Violation of Mindarks’ prohibition of the use of Multiple Avatars and the transference of an Avatar to another Person.

I respect the purpose behind Mindarks policies, I know I would not like to see this Avatar fall into the Wrong hands and so off she goes… To the big Club in the Sky… Club NEVERDIE.

Internet Archive Link

https://twitter.com/nevereverdie
Description/Summary:
Neverdie’s Twitter Feed originally mentioned 2/13/2010 at http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?180141-Twittering-idiot!&p=2307034&viewfull=1#post2307034. This feed, at least at one point in time, was (may still be?) connected to Neverdie’s avatar in Entropia Universe, and shows his various accomplishments and globals. While this is not proof of ‘alt’ use, it is proof that Neverdie’s avatar, which is now a Planet Partner, appears to still be participating in Entropia Universe, impacting the real cash economy, even if in a minimal way.

On 12/29/2010, Neverdie’s Forum stated the following the link: http://www.neverdie.com/neverdie-studios/4273-planet-partner-avatars-prohibited.html (Note: link no longer works since forum website has been updated to remove this message, and unfortunately no internet archive copy was made prior to that change):

12-29-2010 04:57 AM
Avatar NEVERDIE
Society NEVERDIE
It has been brought to my attention that the Planet Partner Agreement strictly Prohibits Planet Owners or planet Partner Employees from Playing Entropia universe with private Avatars…

IF Mindark Choose to make public the specifics of this agreement, then that is up to them.

In general though What that means as far as I understand it regarding ROCKtropia and NEVERDIE Studios is that all of our Private Avatars must cease to engage in all End User Game Play activities, excluding perhaps logging in to manage pre-exisiting assets, until such time that employment is terminated.

All Official (Non Private) NDS or ROCktropia Avatars will be subject to Severe restrictions. (Management, Demo, Guide, Test, Roleplay Avatars, etc)

Further Clarification will be provided here if appropriate or necessary.

Since that link no longer exists, it is likely that the ‘further clarification’ will never be provided there.

Mindark Participating – CEO Conner
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?1152-CEO-Connor&p=15894&viewfull=1#post15894
Description/Summary:
April 5, 2005 Thread on Planetcalypsoforum in which Emilia Aceveda asks:

1 question only…

Why on earth was MA CEO Witchblade Connor out hunting today and got herself a nice global?????

I thought that MA Official Avatars that are “PUMPED” up with TONS of skills where not aloud to hunt and interfere with economy in PE?????

Correct me if i am wrong…
I saw very many reactions to this ingame when happened…

Internet Archive Link

Microsoft Store

Akoz/Qetesh
http://www.forum.spu-gaming.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1699
Description/Summary:
March 2013 thread on SPU (Smart Professionals United) Society forum about the Moon Estate. In the post dated Sun 03 Mar, 2013 4:24 pm Kosh writes:

Nothing personal with Akoz, but he has a shady history:

1) He got a temporary ban for abusing the auction 101 bug – an item on auction could get no more than 101 bids, so by bidding against yourself 101 times with 1 ped increments you could get items for cheap without anyone having the option to overbid you.

2) Around that time Qetesh emerged and became the owner of all Akoz’s land areas. Seemed like it was a way to keep his assets if his first Avatar gets banned. Since then he has been publicly using both avatars to conduct business even though multiple accounts are formally not allowed.

* He still has my respect for the insane killing spree ATH with his axe 😀 … I just wouldn’t go into any business adventures with someone who operates on the borderline of the game rules.

I agree that there should be in-game options for co-ownership. The CLD system is basically a step in this direction.

Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?190117-Double-Standard&p=2455584&viewfull=1#post2455584
Description/Summary:
June 6, 2010 posting by Daniel Steps on Planetcalypsoforum accusing Akoz and Qetesh of being alt avatars being used by the same individual. Safara, a moderator of the forum, posts in post number 3:

There are many many people with multiple avatars. All created for many many reasons.
Yes, we all know that the MA says they should not. But no-one at MA can prove anything. As for Akoz and Qetesh, old news and probably done to protect assets etc.
What is your point?

There is also discussion on this page of the in-game banks having alt avatars ‘own’ them instead of the individuals behind the avatars that ‘won’ the bank deeds in an auction.
Internet Archive Link

http://www.entropiaplanets.com/threads/qeteshakoz.4065/
Description/Summary:
Discussion on Entropiaplanets forum about Akoz and Qetesh being the same avatar.
Internet Archive Link

http://www.entropiaforum.com/forum/planet-calypso-news/198777-congratulations-new-estate-owners.html#post2568795
Description/Summary:
January 5, 2011 Congratulations thread on Entropiaforum to Qetesh for winning the Medusa Head estate. In this thread Larkin posts:

Congrats Qetesh/Akoz.

Internet Archive Link

Black Mean Girl
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?208128-Possible-Scammer-Alert!!!!-BEWARE!!!!!&p=2694533&viewfull=1#post2694533
Description/Summary:
March 6, 2011 accusation of alt avatar use and ‘armor upgrade scam’ being done by Black Mean Girl posted by Saoirse on Planetcalypsoforum. In the second page of this thread Parlog mentions a similar type of scam being done by an avatar named Candy sugar girl.
Internet Archive Link to page one
Internet Archive Link to Page 2
Screenprint taken before accused avatar name was removed
Internet Archive copy of the Screenprint

Wirlo
http://eutalk.wordpress.com/tag/wirlo-wirlo-wirlete/
Description/Summary:
March 2013 eutalk blog accusation that Wirlo and several other avatars are a use of alts
Youtube Video of the Linked Page
Internet Archive Link

Downrange Killshot
http://www.entropiaplanets.com/threads/earn-an-honest-ped-sweating-rigging-and-entropia-partners.9138/page-2
Description/Summary:
June, 2013 Up Downrange Killshot admission of having to ‘recreate’ an avatar. Note that he does admit that he asked Mindark to delete his old accounts, which is a good thing.
Internet Archive Link

The Fixer
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?60910-Second-Avatar-Question&p=730075&viewfull=1#post730075
Description/Summary:
March 24, 2007 posting by The Fixer on Planetcalypsoforum that states:

As far as I know it´s not allowed !!
I have 3 avatars here at my home, but one belongs to my daughter (17) and the other one is my son (15).
And as long as they are under 18 they have no rights to do any trades in EU without my OK and that’s is also according to the laws in Sweden.
So in that case multiple accounts from one and the same IP is OK, however they also have different mails on the accounts.

I could also refer you to an on going discussion about it here http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60908 😀

Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?60908-Seen-a-lot-of-topics-quot-is-this-fair-quot&p=730031&viewfull=1#post730031
Description/Summary:
March 23, 2007 posting on PCF by The Fixer that states:

Seen a lot of topics ” is this fair ”
And I have been thinking

I know that some shops share the same avatar to run the shop.. hmm is that fair ??? up to 3 or 4 pps share that avatar to run the shops…is that fair

In that case I would say …nooo and it violates the Eula and it should not be allowed, and it´s a so called uber soc running the shop…is that fair ??

I know one so called uber soc running one hangar with extra avatars, they use them only for the purpose to be able to fly the ships on demand and they don’t have to move their own avas for the flight.
Hmmm is that fair

Bottom line ..you know all this ..you don’t need screens for it, it´s all in MA´s logs .
And if you have reduced flight tickets, reduced prices om clothes armors but you have not used the offers…would you report it …fair not fair ??

Who is the looser ??..you…me…all of us ??

How far would you go ??? when is it not fair anymore ???

Internet Archive Link

GameStop, Inc.

Dynamic CareBear/Viperstrike/Lavawalker
http://www.entropiaplanets.com/threads/fred-rosenthal-aka-bridge-silverfox-investor-aka-fighterace-silverfox-wingcommander.8730/#post-70077
Description/Summary:
July 2014 post by DCB-Trading-Co on Entropiaplanets that indicates that his avatar names were

Firesparkz Sparkz Lavawalker
Shadowsniper Viper Viperstrike
and present day: Dynamic DCB-Trading-Co Carebear

and that

Each to their own, though I would not call at least 2+ years of participation and/or break between alts Sparkz > Viper > DCB to be defined as regularly. Then again what is irregular to one maybe regular to another

Correct procedure is once you indefinitely close an account through MindArk support you must create a new one to start participating again in Entropia Universe; I followed form in closing forum accounts where applicable once a new avatar ingame was created.

So Firesparkz Sparkz Lavawalker and Shadowsniper Viper Viperstrike should be closed accounts even if some systems in Entropia Universe, such as outdated friends lists, outdated society terminals, etc. may say otherwise, as they tend to do with some closed avatar accounts since Mindark appears to want to inflate artificially it’s count on avatars in use in the virtual universe. I believe Dynamic DCB-Trading-Co Carebear is taking the right path that many using more than one avatar over the years may not be when they keep multiple avatars open and active.
Internet Archive Link

http://www.entropiaplanets.com/threads/entropia-amd-gaming-evolved-64-bit-update.11564/#post-69443
Description/Summary:
June 2014 Admission on Entropiaplanets Forum by Dynamic DCB-Trading-Co CareBear to previously using alts/other avatars named Shadowsniper Viperstrike, Fire Sparkz Lavawalker, and a subtle hint at possibly using other avatars in the future as well. The thread states:

Yes, Viperstrike is a closed account ingame and on forums with reference to Entropia due to it being used in other games of interest. I did not withdraw, I trashed and gave away ~ 4K+ USD worth of PED/Items and skill. But at the end of the day, it mattered little. It is only money after all. Not happiness in what you are doing.

Whether or not any of that is true or not can only be verified by Mindark and/or Dynamic DCB-Trading-Co Carebear. I don’t personally think that this guy is a scammer, especially since he gave away quite a few peds related to an initiative he wanted to start with a planet partner. He seems to be a pretty likeable guy based on the what I’ve read from him on forums and in game, but the fact that he is using alts regularly and Mindark is allowing that type of thing to happen with his actions (and the actions of others doing similarly) seems to go against Mindark’s promise that “Both Planet Partners and the participants on the planets should always feel safe in their endeavors in Entropia Universe.”
Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?230832-Huge-investor-promises-to-revamp-the-dynamics-of-Entropia-Universe-loot-returns&p=2983432&viewfull=1#post2983432
Description/Summary:
August 15, 2012 posting by Shadowsniper Viper on Planetcalypsoforum admitting to previously using an alt/other avatar named Fire Sparkz Lavawalker.
Internet Archive Link

Planet Partner Participating – MS9 (Mindstar 9/ Dark Moon Enigma/ Monria Fleet Manager)
Internet Archive of https://web.archive.org/web/20130804165710/http://mindstarmedia.com/arkadia-articles/arkadias-new-player-experience-re-designed/
Description/Summary:
http://mindstarmedia.com/arkadia-articles/arkadias-new-player-experience-re-designed/ is a June 22, 2013 post on MS9’s blog that has been redone so that it does not appear as it originally did, so the Internet Archive for it is the only way to view the original document.In the original document MS9 outlined her use of an alt temp avatar to experience Arkadia as a “new player” with Dave Dobson’s approval.

While I don’t think there is anything ‘wrong’ with this use of secondary avatars for testing things out, it just goes to show you how much the planet partners don’t care about allowing multiple avatars to exist in this ‘real cash economy’ where each avatar in game is supposed to be a unique individual with a unique player behind them.

When Planet Partners just willy nilly allow reporters to create secondary avatars like this it really gives a bad example to the community at large that this type of thing is perfectly ok and acceptable. After all if the higher ups can do it, why can’t I too?!?… so multiple avatars appear to be all over the game. I hear rumors that some folks even set up multiple avatars at spots like the beer garden and oil rigs on multiple planets so that they can just farm away at the freebies. It’s sad but seems to be somewhat true. Of course only the planet partners and/or Mindark can verify this with IP tracking, but since that is not something they seem to care about, nothing ever gets done about the situation, and it just continues to get worse over time as more planets are opened up, giving more alt avatars more playgrounds to play in as they errode the virtual economy.
Internet Archive Link

http://www.entropiaplanets.com/threads/they-walk-amongst-us.11222/
Description/Summary:
January 13, 2014 posting on EntropiaPlanets by MS9 about the types of Alt Avatars that Mindark allows. Of particular interest is MS9’s admission that she allowed her alt avatar to graduate. That is particular interesting because when an avatar graduates in Entropia Universe the mentor of the graduate is given a a somewhat ‘rare’ item at the time of the graduation. In a game based on a ‘real cash economy’ that is tied to the US Dollar in a 10:1 ratio, this type of activity by Planet Partners appears to be something that is giving certain Mentor Avatars a bit of an unfair advantage vs other avatars in game who don’t have Planet Partner avatars under their discipleship.
Internet Archive Link

Via an accidental in game chat admission related to a recent (2017) Monrian forum posting it was discovered that the individual behind the avatar “Monria Fleet Manager” is the same individual running “Dark Moon Enigma” which is Mindstar’s 9 ‘official Planet Avatar’s for Monria… so She’s using one avatar to move around on the Monrian mothership from planet to planet while DME stays put on Monria in the mean time I suspect.

2017-05-14 19:56:47 [TO : Monria Fleet Manager] out of curiosity, does your mothership do vip warps, and if so what's the cost?
2017-05-14 19:57:07 [FROM: Monria Fleet Manager] I responded to your post at the forum
2017-05-14 19:57:17 [TO : Monria Fleet Manager] ok. will check there. 🙂
2017-05-14 19:57:18 [FROM: Monria Fleet Manager] well, DME did
2017-05-14 19:57:43 [TO : Monria Fleet Manager] (*wink*)

Hardwrath
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?263058-Tinfoil-Copter-Hat&p=3268373&viewfull=1#post3268373
Description/Summary:
June 29, 2014 Post on Planetcalypsoforum where Hardwrath discusses his use of alts including Max HardWrath Mayhem (his main avatar), Hard-X-Wrath (an alt avatar that was used to run a second society), and The Dice Man (an alt that he used with Mindark to do what sounds like a form of entrapment on another avatar). Hardwrath claims that when he used alt avatars Mindark was ok with that type of use of alts per eula and tos. However, all documentation that I have seen from Mindark from that timeframe indicates otherwise.
Internet Archive Link

http://www.entropiaplanets.com/threads/scammer-alert-gtf.383/
Description/Summary:
November 16, 2009 posting by Hardwrath on Entropiaplanets about GTF being a scammer. In this thread Hardwrath states:

The person asked me to meet them in game which I did with my roommate’s avatar.

I think but am not sure that this roomate’s avatar may have been “The Dice Man” listed above.
Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?52103-NBK-Guard-Rogue-General&p=618013&viewfull=1#post618013
Description/Summary:
January 18, 2007 Thread in which Hardwrath accuses Black Magic Woman of being a threat to the NBK
even though she was leading it at the time. In this thread Hardwrath admits to sharing an alt/mule type account and gold card with Brendon Slick Gould. Brendon Slick Gould is still an active participant avatar at the present time, which occasionally logs in, as is Max HardWrath Mayhem.

Hardwrath claims that his use of alts was within the terms of service and eula, and that Mindark was aware of all of these uses, and that Mindark allowed everyone to have alts back when he originally was using alts. However, I have yet to see any documented proof that Mindark was ok with anyone using alts and sharing gold cards. Most support ticket responses that I personally have seen and that others have posted on forums and various websites over the years indicates quite the opposite stance, and that Mindark wants everyone only using one avatar,even way back in 2005.

I do not think Hardwrath used alts to scam via auctions etc. However, I do believe he used strong arm tactics in Societies through his use of alts, which should be just as much of a violation of eula and terms of service as any monetary scamming.Additionally, there was one point in time when he had borrowed a lot of peds (I’m not sure on exact details but I think it was close to 20k Ped worth if I remember correctly) from various avatars to trade with and then logged out for over a year or so with those peds still sitting on his pedcard claiming that his laptop was broken and that he had lost a job in real life during the time he did not login. He did ultimately come back and pay back the majority of those borrowed peds to most involved in that trust scam. That particular scam did not involve the use of alts, but it does call in to question his morality in my book since he was able to log in to some forums during the time that he supposedly had no laptop.

Sadly, and unfortunately, In one support ticket on this very topic Mindark admitted that it can’t really do much about about any alt avatars created prior to 2008. The support ticket reads:

Hi,
Thank you for your inquiry and please accept my apologies for the delay in my reply. I would like to thank you also for your link, but, unfortunately we have not bee able to confirm in our logs that the accont has been shared in previous years as the oldest logon logs from our participants are from 2008. However, please rest assured that appropriate action will be taken.

We are committed to make Entropia Universe an enjoyable experience for all and we thank you for helping us reach that goal.
Kind regards,
Tezla | Planet Calypso Support.

Before I got that support response, I got the following horrible one, which seems to indicate that Mindark’s support team is really fairly clueless when it comes to dealing with scams and alt account use going on in their servers, even when all details about such activities are reported to them with clear details outlined:

Hi,
Thank you very much for the detailed information. However, we are unsure of what exactly do you want us to do with it. Please let us know if there’s something we can do to help you.
Kind regards,
Entropia Universe Support

If Mindark can’t keep something as simple as login details in its database for a few years to keep scammers away that are using multiple alts and shared mule accounts, it makes me question how serious they are about their promise that “Both Planet Partners and the participants on the planets should always feel safe in their endeavors in Entropia Universe.”
Internet Archive Link

Below two Youtube links are archived versions of society threads on pcf that have been deleted or altered since the time that they were originally created and the videos were recorded.
http://youtu.be/EeYx1Vta_GY – Hardwrath’s Pause thread
http://youtu.be/PCTh05Gt4dY – results thread that was a response to the pause thread. Lots of the ‘real’ truths about Hardwrath’s multiple avatar appear to be in there (discussion of running multiple societies with different avatars in a heavy handed manner back in 2005 or so)

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?212743-Is-your-avatar-s-name-on-this-list-(Apology)&highlight=patriots – Patriot’s List Apology Thread.
This is related somewhat to Hardwrath because the Patriots list was originally a copy of the NBK list during the time that Hardwrath was the leader of the NBK (running those alt avatars). I believe that one of the lists was a “do not trade with this guy” type of list and the other one was a Kill on Site type of list that was used to harass various individuals in game via killing them any time they were found by NBK or Patriots upper leadership in a pvp zone or by running mob trains on them in non-pvp zones, etc. I don’t know if those hit lists still exist or not, but it’s likely that they do?… Running mob trains continuously on others in game that were gathered together to have ‘parties’ is definitely a form of harassment that is likely against the terms of use. It is sad that Mindark allows this type of cyberbullying to regularly occur on their servers.

GTF (God that Failed)
http://www.entropiaplanets.com/threads/scammer-alert-gtf.383/
Description/Summary:
2009 Warning about GTF by Hardwrath. In this thread Hardwrath states:

Here is a list of known avatars he has used. If anyone has any information about other avatar(s) he has used please come forward with the information that you have.

God That Failed
Stipe GTF Kamenjarin
Stipe Zvizdan Kamenjarin
Nice ass Chick
Doctor Jessica Jovansic
Ugly But Fat
Evil GTF Santana
Ivan Baddo TheBloody (spelling?)
Sarah Divine Jacobs

Here are some Entropia Forum accounts that GTF has used:

GTF
Overkill
xxxDisturbedxxx
Nice Ass Chick

Internet Archive Link

GameStop, Inc.

Shared Mule: Synergy SynerGen Genesis
href=”http://synergencorp.com/policies/synergen-society-fund/
Description/Summary:
This now non-existent page used to discuss a shared mule account that Synergen society used. Part of the Site used to say the following:

1. Statement of Purpose. This fund will be maintained for the common good of the members of SynerGen. The fund will acquire and hold virtual assets for the use and benefit of society members. The fund will not engage in business enterprises except as authorized in this document.

2. Governance. The members of the Expedition Advisor tier will serve as the Board of Trustees of this fund and will establish policies for the operation of the fund. The Board of Trustees may appoint one or more managers and may delegate authority to the managers.

3. Eligibility to Participate. All members of SynerGen in the Senior Traveler tier and above may fully participate in this fund. The Board of Trustees may allow for limited participation by society Travelers.

4. Custody of Fund Assets. The avatar known as “Synergy SynerGen Genesis” will hold all fund assets. Access to the “Synergy SynerGen Genesis” account will be given only to members of the Board of Trustees and managers authorized by the Board of Trustees.

5. Contributions to the Fund.

a. Everyone is welcome to make unrestricted contributions to the fund. Unrestricted contributions may be in the form of PEDs or virtual assets.
b. A donor may specify that a contribution be used for a specific purpose. For example, a donor may specify that a robot beacon be used for a society beacon run.
c. A member of the society may lend an asset to the fund. For example, a member may lend an estate, set of armor, weapon, blueprint or other asset to the fund for a given period of time. In such event the member assumes the risk of loss of the asset. The fund and its

Board of Trustees will not be liable in the event the asset is lost because of the default or misconduct of a society member or for any other reason beyond the control of the Board of Trustees.

6. Use of Fund Assets. The Board of Trustees may use the assets of the fund for the following purposes. This list is non-exclusive.

a. Assets of the fund may be loaned to members of SynerGen for agreed periods of time. The period of time may be limited for assets in popular demand. The member will repair all decay to the assets resulting from the member’s use. For limited assets that cannot be repaired the member will reimburse the fund for decay plus markup on the decay. Monthly auction average will be used to calculate decay.

The member may not transfer the asset to any other avatar without the prior consent of the fund manager or the Board of Trustees.

b. Funds permitting, each Traveler may be provided with a welcome kit consisting of armor, weapon, ammunition and FAP.

c. Assets of the fund may be used for society team activities such as team hunts. If the fund provides ammunition for a team hunt, all loot dropped during the team hunt will be donated to the fund as an unrestricted contribution. In such event, team members will not be required to reimburse the fund for the ammunition. If the team obtains a global or HOF the Board of Trustees will reward the team with 10% of the value of any global and 25% of the value of any HOF.

d. Assets of the fund may be used for special activities and events. An example of a special activity would be a society hunt where the society provides the ammunition and the participants keep all loot.

7. Conducting Business. This fund is a benefit fund and will not engage in any business activity. The following activities will not be

prohibited by this restriction:
a. Lending assets to society members and receiving compensation for the use or depreciation of the assets.
b. Purchase of assets that promote the purpose of the fund.
c. Sale of assets that do not promote the purpose of the fund.
d. Purchase of investment shares in the SynerGen Enterprise Fund.
8. MindArk EULA. This fund will operate in full compliance with the MindArk End User License Agreement.

9. Modification of this Document. This document may be amended from time to time by the Board of Trustees. All members of the society will be given notice and reasonable opportunity to comment on any proposed amendment. Notice will be not less than three days. Notice will be given by email and posting on the society web site.

10. Termination of the Society or the Fund. Upon the termination of the society or of this fund, the board of trustees will distribute the assets of the fund in a fair and equitable manner.

There was no screen print or internet archive of this particular site done unfortunately.

Community Advisor Program
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?199935-Community-Adviser-Program&p=2590427&viewfull=1#post2590427
Description/Summary:
October 25, 2010 thread on Planetcalypsoforum about the Community Advisor Program. This was a temporary program that existed in 2010 that allowed certain individuals in the community to participate as community advisers through the use of alt avatars that existed only in the “Calypso Gateway,” an entry point for new avatars. This program was eventually discontinued. It is my belief that even though the program was a good idea, it is probably a good thing that it was discontinued since it seemed to give the masses the idea that it is ok to have more than one avatar since the community advisers had them.
Internet Archive Link

Wal-Mart.com USA, LLC

Suggestions from the Community about how to Combat the problem of Alt Avatar Use and Shared Mule Accounts:
http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?192781-Multiple-planets-multiple-avatars&p=2494257&viewfull=1#post2494257
Description/Summary:
July 9, 2010 thread on PCF by Queen Sky Genesis that there be multiple avatars allowed for all, but no way for avatars to travel between planets. The suggestion states:

Multiple planets, multiple avatars?
Think about it, it’s not a really bad idea imo. For every planet you get a complete new avatar.

Everybody starts out as a noob again. No ubers, we all have to skill up from zero again. You can have new professions and other gameplay elements.

Planet creators have more freedom when it comes to how the planet ‘works’.

There would be no traveling fee, but every planet has its own avatars.

Ofc there are some drawbacks. But I think if you could play with your avatars at the same time it could work for us all.

Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?191733-EU-marriage-and-babies!&p=2480122&viewfull=1#post2480122
Description/Summary:
6/26/2010 posting by George Ace Skywalker on PCF suggesting that perhaps there should be the ability for avatars to get ‘married’ and have babies in Entropia Universe. The suggestion states:

The baby avatar could be controlled both by the two avatars. This would allow a legitimate way of owning a secondary avatar so the normal decent players that don’t cheat can compete with “cheaters” in this game who may have a secondary avatar.

Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?186683-Should-NEVERDIE-be-banned&p=2405744&viewfull=1#post2405744
Description/Summary:
April 25, 2010 Posting by Mandu on PCF asking if Neverdie should be banned. This post reads:

Should NEVERDIE be banned?
I’d like to preface this post by saying that I am about 300ml into a bottle of scotch

I was dreaming tonight about how cool it would be to own/operate a planet. All the awesome ideas I have, being able to get rich, having some inside knowledge about the mechanics of EU….. then I stopped and thought ” I don’t want a planet if it means I can’t play anymore. Surely I wouldn’t be allowed to play if I had knowledge before hand of what would drop what on my planet. I could manipulate the economy of my entire planet. Even if my Mandu avatar were not the one playing.

It wasn’t long before my thoughts moved to NEVERDIE. Jon has been closely involved in the development of 2 planets (some would argue 3). Should he be allowed to participate in the mechanics of this game?

At what point are you too involved in the universe to participate. I’ve heard that MindArk employees are required to play, but cannot deposit or withdraw. That makes sense. But what must you do to be an employee. File Taxes? Empty Garbages? Create two planets?

Anyway… thought I would ask the community. Should people so close to the core of the game be allowed to interact with the mechanics of it?

Edit:
Thought I should add; I have nothing against ND, nor do I begrudge him making money here. I just thought a debate should be had about when a person is too close to the core of the game to play it.

Edit 2:
After having read the replies here, and in the sober light of Monday, I would like to rephrase slightly my question:

When does the potential damage to EU become so great, a person must remove themselves, or be removed.

I don’t really believe that ND has or will cheat. But just imagine:
On launch day, Jon is showing a reporter around Next Island. A mob attacks the reporter, and ND courteously kills it, and hits an ATH loot with 3 UL items, one of which is unique. Imagine the outrage!!

Pretty unlikely, sure. But what if. Same as with the contest example in one of the earlier replies. It is less about the possibility of cheating, but the perception of it.

I am sure there is a way for ND to continue his business ventures in EU, and to remove this type of possibility. Give him an Official avatar like Marco’s maybe.

ND is just one very high profile example of the types of situations that MA should be making very sure don’t destroy the reputation of EU at a time that is likely to be the beginning of a new future for it.

Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?184649-Shouldn-t-2nd-Avatars-be-hunted-and-banned&p=2374520&viewfull=1#post2374520
Description/Summary:
April 3, 2010 suggestion on PCF by Garrett MrEarth Clark that states:

Shouldn’t 2nd Avatars be hunted and banned?
Just to spin off the other topic which is a poll about whether its obvious or not….

Personally I think having a 2nd avatar should be tracked my MA and removed…. there are many people who abuse it…. obviously if you craft/mine/hunt with second avatar thats ok since your putting back into the system and it doesn’t matter which avatar you use…. but for those who abuse the extra auction slots and the abuses you can do with multiple trading areas and all other sorts of things that can be abused…. shouldn’t MA step it up to try and stop em?

I know its hard to prove since it could be another family member… but shouldn’t it be obvious when both avatars aren’t active at the same time? Or their activity is maybe handicapped by the fact you cant play two at the same properly….

Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?182547-Should-FPC-MA-change-society-terminals-so-that-they-kick-out-avatars-that-no-longer-exist&p=2342423&viewfull=1#post2342423
Description/Summary:
March 10, 2010 thread on PCF by Maria Mastermesh suggesting that Mindark change the society terminals so that they kick out and do not list avatars that no longer exist in the virtual universe. This thread is related to the Hardwrath Alt Avatar Use listed above since one of Hardwrath’s alts was still showing as ‘founder’ in the society terminal of the society that that alt avatar created. The posting reads:

Should FPC|MA change society terminals so that it kicks out avatars that no longer exist? If an avatar is banned, or removed from the game due to inactivity for a very long period of time, should the society terminal automatically remove the avatar in question from the society list and/or disband the entire society once the avatar in question is removed from the game if the avatar in question was the society founder? The society could still be put back together by existing members if they chose to recreate it, with a new society created date, etc… just not leave the old founder listed if the old founder no longer exists…

To me it seems rather silly to leave the banned or inactive avatars that no longer exist in the society terminal, especially since it’s falsely advertising that the individual in question that no longer exists still exists and/or gives some older societies that have been around a long time some sort of “bragging rights” about how long they’ve been around that they should not be entitled too really… since their leader is no longer there… It’s sort of similar to the problem I have with estate terminals leaving the old estate owners listed as the current owner until the new owner decides to actually claim the place, if they ever do decide to claim it at all… It’s sort of falsely advertising that this great and mighty society founder person is still around… when they just might not be really…

Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?11719-Identifying-multiple-avatars&p=138702&viewfull=1#post138702
Description/Summary:
December 15, 2005 Thread by Finbar Fin McCullouch on PlanetCalypsoForum that states:

Identifying multiple avatars
Most of the problems about scams seem to involve multiple avatars. Banning them would be a problem where more than one person in a home wanted to play, but we dont need to ban them anyway.
If MA fitted every multiple avatar with an asterisk at the end of the in-game visible name (eg Fin*) it would be obvious to other players at once that they were dealing with a multiple avatar.
They could then decide, for example, whether they wanted to trade or not. Simple for mentors to explain to new players too.
Worth a try?

Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?89844-Should-MA-Allow-Avatars-to-be-sold&p=1070488&viewfull=1#post1070488
Description/Summary:
November 25, 2007 Thread on Planetcalypsoforum (PCF) by P-J suggesting that Mindark should allow the community to sell avatars to one another in order to recoup investment costs.
Internet Archive Link

Related Links:
http://www.entropiaplatform.com/entropia-platform/technology/database-logging/

Database Accuracy

Operations of Virtual Worlds and Online Games generate enormous amounts of data. For example, in Entropia Universe millions of activities are logged every hour. As for the economy, all economic transactions in Entropia Universe are monitored and possible to track down to one 1 000 000th of one USD. Since all activities in Entropia Universe are based on the same tracking principle as the economic transactions, all activities an avatar takes part in can be tracked with the same accuracy.

Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?264437-Multiple-Accounts-Scammer-Alert&p=3280719&viewfull=1#post3280719
Description/Summary:
8/9/2014 accusation by ken.ji of alt avatar scamming by someone in “The Screming Eagles” society
Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?253448-could-you-please-give-my-weapon-back&p=3175143&viewfull=1#post3175143
Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?264335-Other-people-playing-account&p=3279658&viewfull=1#post3279658
Internet Archive Link

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?264265-Alternative-Accounts-!!&p=3278975&viewfull=1#post3278975
Internet Archive Link before mod removed names

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?28664-Multiple-avatars/page4&p=329895#post329895
Description/Summary:
June 20, 2006 posting by Marco Behrman on Planetcalypsoforum (may have been Entropiaforum at the time as the database from ef was moved to pcf?) that was a response to ViagraFalls’s question, “I recall someone telling me there has been a thread where quote by MA was made or quoted saying secondary avatars are officially allowed. Can anyone confirm this, or point me to the thread in question? Thanks.”
Marco’s response states:

One avatar per real person. Else you risk your account(s).

Internet Archive Link

A somewhat whimsical April 26, 2006 Thread on PCF asking people how many avatars they have

June 27, 2006 thread on PCF asking about how folks with multiple avatars transfer items back and forth from one avatar to the other

May 5, 2006 thread on PCF by PkmX asking for clarification on if you can use two avatars or not.

November 3, 2006 thread on PCF by 7ELEVEN asking if using a second avatar is against the EULA since he was considering creating an alt.

July 1, 2006 thread on PCF by DarkMatter that states:

EULA and multiple avatars
I recently received an email from MA regarding the fact that I had an avatar about 2-3 years ago that I stopped using. In fact I sent them notice to delete the avatar. The email I received was to the effect that this avatar had not been purged and they were giving me the chance to resurrect it. I submitted a support request on it, to verify that this was in fact from them. They responded that this was a differerent avatar, not my current one, BUT, they then included this statement.

“Please note that running more than one account active at the same time is against the End User License Agreement (EULA). ”

I guess that answers everyones questions about having multiple avatars once and for all. MA support actually stated something clearly.

Internet Archive Link

March 23, 2007 posting on PCF by Sneaky Sneaky B’star asking about the use of second avatars as it appeared to him that Mindark previously allowed one avatar per email account and now was saying only one avatar is allowed per person.

February 13, 2009 posting by nandoanalog on Planetcalypsoforum asking, “Would you make multiple accounts if MA paid you 1.5 ped for each account you made?” Some of the reply posts in this thread imply that Mindark is inflating the number of participants that it counts as active by possibly paying certain individuals to create alt avatars. I do not believe that that accusation is true. However, I am posting this link here because it is somewhat related to the issue of alt accounts as it appears that that opinion is out there, and Mindark’s developers should be aware of that opinion so that they can do something to combat it if it really is not true.

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?156010-Hardcore-Avatars&p=1954662&viewfull=1#post1954662 – July 6, 2009 posting on PCF discussing the idea of ‘Hardcore’ avatars as a suggestion for the future, i.e. avatars that don’t revive, but are only used once and die once.

Games at CDUniverse.com

I’ve added a link to the Content of the Oblivion on the sidebar for quick and easy reference.

The ‘new home’ (well not so new now in 2014, but relatively new since it’s only a couple of years old now – it was originally ‘new’ in 2012 when this was originally posted before the 2014 reorganization of this blog) for the Content of the Oblivion for Entropia is at http://content-of-oblivion.blogspot.de/

Info on why it’s been moved to the above link can be found over at http://www.entropiaplanets.com/threads/content-of-oblivion-the-blog.8465/ and at http://www.entropiaplanets.com/threads/worlds-longest-beta-test.8454/#post-54736. Kudos to Mccormick for keeping it up even though the forum mods at PlanetCalypso Forum tried to stop him when it existed only over there.

Entropia really is the world’s longest running beta test ever to exist considering how many bugs, exploits, etc. that exist and come every new version update…

This posting is being listed under historical articles categories and under the Tools category for the blog because I feel that the Content of the Oblivion is a huge Tool for the entire community to remember the past and the promises made, which were subsequently forgotten or ignored for various reasons. Time will tell if that long and growing list of Content that has hit oblivion will continue to grow or if the buck stops here now that Mindark has a new CEO.

For those of you that are not familiar with McCormick’s work, I suggest you check out this little playlist that I created a while back showcasing most of his previous youtube videos related to Entropia Universe:

http://www.ejc.net/magazine/article/the_truth_about_marika_lie_or_gesamtkunstwerk/

http://www.mobilelifecentre.org/sites/default/files/SOM-DIGRA-Final.pdf

http://dspace.mah.se/bitstream/handle/2043/12240/Denward%20muep.pdf?sequence=2

http://truthaboutmarika.wordpress.com/tag/martin-ericsson/

ARGs Around the World – Part 2

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?86192-Summery-of-The-Notes-(facts-cracks-and-theories)&p=1026734&viewfull=1#post1026734

http://transmediacrosstheworld.blogspot.com/2012/03/truth-about-marika-total-fiction.html

After the broadcast, Sverige Television ordered a study on this show and asked Swedish people if they thought Marika’s story really happened or not.

29% were aware it was a fiction
30% were thinking they were involved in a true inquiry and were searching clues on the web, thinking it would help the police.
24% claimed it was real
17% were not able to make the difference between what was true and what wasn’t.

Yes, this seems incredible. This is the problem with this kind of concept : when you play with people and their credulity, then can get angry and feel fooled…

https://truthaboutmarika.wordpress.com/2011/12/11/pretend-that-it-is-real/

Britta Svensson, columnist of Swedish paper Expressen, in her October 29th, 2007 column, wrote ‟This “scandal” seems to be part of the drama in which SVT in a way that has never happened before trying to fool viewers by relaxing the boundary between fiction and reality. It’s completely idiotic. People disappear without a trace is a reality that news programs sometimes need to report on. To then pretend that it is true that SAPO (Swedish security service) silences the truth about the 20,000 missing Swedes is purely irresponsible.’’

http://www.entropiaforum.com/forum/ask-mindark/204800-entropia-universe-support-please.html#post2592002
Internet Archive copy of the http://www.entropiaforum.com/forum/ask-mindark/204800-entropia-universe-support-please.html#post2592002

http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?236249-EU-support-Please&p=3043237&viewfull=1#post3043237

Internet Archive of https://web.archive.org/web/20140711174925/http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?236249-EU-support-Please&p=3043237&viewfull=1

Way to go in making participants “feel safe in their endeavors” in Entropia Universe Mindark.

Excerpt from an email that I received from Rafael Espinosa de los Monteros Iglesias, CEO of Pyxel Arts, on June 8, 2011:

“Our employees are playing (and some have played for a long time) in Entropia Universe. We believe it’s important for any planet partner to do so, to check and understand other planets and players’

The above quote was in response to an email I sent to him asking if planet partners, or their employees were allowed to participate in Entropia Universe with their own personal avatars…

This is very revealing since Planet Partners determine what items are in the various loot pools…

http://www.neverdie.com/neverdie-studio-news/6817-may-20011-q.html

19. Once and for all who determines items that drop in RT/NI loot is it MA or NDS (For example if you wanted to add A-3 punisher MKII to drop from Forum trolls is it you guys or MA who would add this)

We determine which Mobs drop which items, that is essential for game design, we don’t control how or when, so we can’t predict when something will drop

That sort of ‘insider knowledge’ could be very useful to individuals that work for planet partners using their own avatar to gain a bit of an unfair advantage vs the non-planet partner participants inside of the virtual universe…

——————
Since neverdie’s changed his web forum… copy of the Q&A is over at
http://narfi-willem.blogspot.com/2011/05/may-2011-q-from-neverdie.html