Entropia Universe is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in the far future, where dangers, wonders and opportunities lie behind every corner. The game world is divided into multiple planets that the players can visit, each with their own theme:
- Planet Calypso - this is the original planet that Project Entropia started with back in 2003. It has a sci-fi theme where the humans are in the early stages of colonizing an alien world. Upstart cities, outposts and forts dot a surface rich in minerals and wildlife. Meanwhile, a powerful faction of robots is seeking to undermine the settlers’ efforts and take over the planet for themselves.
- ROCKtropia - this music/Hollywood-themed planet has been hit by a vicious virus that makes the dead rise from their graves. The streets of Zomhattan are now infested with zombies and thugs seeking to capitalize on the helpless people. Besides horror-themed locations and monsters, there have been several instances of merging media franchises: in the Arctic region, players can do a series of missions called Hunt the THING, inspired by The Thing movies, as well as chase and kill a recently reanimated King Kong as part of an organized event.
- Next Island - a resort planet that was designed by scientists on Earth as a kind of serene utopia. The colonization is relegated to a group of robots guided by a handful of humans. The project goes awry, however, as most of the first wave of colonists lose contact with the robots. Next Island is not as focused on combat as the other planets; it also offers the opportunity to time travel to Ancient Greece.
- Planet Arkadia - a distress signal launched by a mysterious alien race reached Earth. The scientists of our planet deciphered the message and found out that they called themselves the Arkadians and were being wiped out by the Oratan. Humanity organized a rescue mission, but once they reached the planet, they found only ruins. This world is focused on treasure hunting—the dilapidated structures of this once great civilization hide rare artifacts and wealth beyond imagination. In the background there’s a battle raging between the Imperial Federal Navy and the descendants of the Oratan, who seek to drive the newly arrived off the planet.
- Planet Cyrene - a world torn by different factions, such as the native Zekkonians and Turrelions, or the Imperium and the rebel Acacia Rebirth Corps. There is an ancient Roman and tribalistic theme mixed with sci-fi here. Players can choose to help a specific faction, while also facing the xenophobic feelings of others. At the time of release it was unique for its PvP arenas.
- Monria - a Cthulhu Mythos-inspired planet.
- Planet Toulan - a desert planet with an Arabian theme going on. After being destroyed in a nuclear war 600 years ago, it’s now being steadily recolonized by the Insians, the original inhabitants of this world.
All the planets share the same game mechanics, with only slight variations. Besides a skill tree, there is also a profession system in place. Both can be used to gauge how efficient players are at what they are doing. A skill is improved by doing an activity related to it, for example the Rifle skill goes up when two-handed ranged weapons are used in combat, the Evade skill depends strictly on how many times the player avatar is hit by monsters in melee, while Mining is improved by extracting resources from the ground. Professions are, to put it simply, the sum of all skills tied to it, however certain skills can influence a profession more than the others. Once a set amount of skill points is reached, the player gets a better rank; being better at a profession is also shown via ranks and levels. There is no level cap in this game, but even so it’s impossible to reach a 100% success rate.
There are several ways to spend time and make money in Entropia Universe. The main ones are:
- Hunting - killing mobs using ranged or melee weapons. There is a chance that these monsters or robots will drop loot. Multiple players can form teams in order to confront high-level mobs.
- Mining - the players use a finder to detect deposits in the ground. Every use depletes a specific amount of survey probes, depending on the finder. Once a deposit is found, it’s possible to extract it using an excavator. There are two main types of resources: ores and enmatter. Both can be refined into different types of materials. On planet Arkadia players can also find treasure besides the usual resources.
- Sweating - gathering sweat from nearby creatures. This requires the equipping of VSE Mk1 and pointing it at a monster; robots and mutants don’t generate sweat.
- Walking - stones, fruits and dung can be spotted if the player avatar moves slowly. The only thing left to do then is to pick them from the ground.
- Manufacturing or crafting - this is done via a construction bench, but first a blueprint of the final item is needed, and then the required material components as well. Players can obtain materials from the other activities in the game. The crafting process doesn’t always end up with a success—a complete failure expends the materials and leaves the players with nothing.
- Trading - this can be done either face to face, or via the auction house, however listing an item in the latter requires a fee.
- Missions - the equivalent of quests in most MMORPGs, sometimes the rewards for completing them are ammo or items, others give skill points, some of them may have nothing to offer.
Although free to download and use, Entropia uses an economy system where players can convert real-world money into the virtual PED (Project Entropia Dollars) for use ingame. This also applies the other way: as you can also make money in the game which can be converted back to real-world credits. Exploiting this is restricted by a decay factor present in all items, but also by the randomness which affects all activities in the game, making the loot dropped by monsters or the deposits mined, for example, always inconsistent. Some damaged items can’t be repaired, and those that can are fixed only for a fee at a repair terminal or by other players. Other significant expenses include buying ammo, new items, materials, etc. The only activities that are free to do are gathering sweat, for which the VSE Mk1 suffers no decay, and walking, but the products of these (sweat, fruits, dung, stones) can’t be sold to the Trade Terminals (or back to the game so to speak), only to other players, which teoretically creates an economy inside the economy.
People with spaceships can travel between the planets of Entropia Universe, and they can also take passengers to their destinations, however every player starts on a planet of choice and is unable to freely visit the other worlds at the beginning, unless of course they are willing to part with some PEDs.
