Greetings Colonists,
Today we want to share with you an update talking about the upcoming changes to the onboarding experience - namely the area currently known as Thule.
All shown images are in-development areas that are subject to change and not finalised.
A New Zone - Welcome to Setesh
Our current starting zone, Thule, physically makes up a very small area that funnels new players through a very linear and closed environment. We want players to feel like they experience the large open world that Entropia really is.
To that end, let us introduce the new starting zone: Setesh. This new area is nearly an entire server area, with different biomes, dynamic events, hunting arenas - and our new starting city hub of Port Cabrakan.
Our core mission chain in Setesh will take new players through the various biomes, locations and points of interest as part of the experience - with smaller side missions and hunting areas for those who wish to spend more time in the area.
When players first touch down, they will be entering Port Cabrakan - our hub for Setesh. Cabrakan has been created to feel fresh, alive and full of character which sets a new standard for how areas in the rest of the game can look in the future.
Existing players will also be able to travel to Setesh anytime without the previous requirements that Thule had.
Enhanced Systems
As part of this release, we have also developed a number of improvements and new capabilities that we will be showcasing in Setesh, with the aim to roll these capabilities out to other areas in the game at a later point.
Living NPCs
One thing that has been lacking from Entropia Universe are living, moving NPCs. With this release we will for the first time have NPCs that traverse the world on their own just like players. They have schedules, behaviours and lives to live. Not only does this make the world feel more alive, but also opens up new possibilities in the future for new kinds of events, missions and interactions.
Dynamic Hand-in Missions
We have also been working hard on our Dynamic Mission System - and with this upcoming release will feature hand-in quests for the first time. This will give players the opportunity to exchange loot from their hunting activities in return for a chance at something more valuable. It is even possible now to chain multiple dynamic hand-in missions together.
A World in Motion
In addition to our moving NPCs, we have also made a number of other graphical improvements:
•
Animated signs and billboards
•
Improved animated objects, such as flags blowing in the wind and functioning elevators
•
Rendered interiors - peer into buildings to see inside
New Everything
This new zone isn’t just a copy and paste of the old Thule items and missions, we’ve fundamentally redesigned the experience from the ground up. Some of the many changes that will be included are listed below:
•
Brand new weapons and weapon varieties
•
New players get their hands on Pistols, Rifles and Swords - gaining more powerful versions as they go through the experience
•
Brand new starter vehicle: The Wasp
•
Starter Armor Set
•
“Micro-Economy” allowing new players to play longer for less
•
New Creatures and Maturities
•
New Dynamic Events for new players to work together on
•
New “Universe Chat” and the ability to opt-out of Rookie and Universe Chat
•
Many Quality of Life changes
•
New mission chain and side missions
•
New tutorials
New Drone Model
Putting it all together
This upcoming release and follow-up releases go hand in hand with our other efforts to make starting in Entropia Universe easier and better than ever. Earlier this summer we released the first phase of our new Starter Packs, which was a tremendous success in making Entropia more affordable and rewarding for new players.
This upcoming release will build on that, further improving retention.
Additionally, we have recently and will continue to run frequent and more varied events - incorporating all professions into fun, engaging and interesting events that we hope will not only engage our existing players and give them something to look forward to, but also capture the imagination and excitement of new players too. We don't want events to just be Mayhem - we want something fun to look forward to all the time.
We also have more planned additions to the web shop coming soon, including profession focused Starter Kits, and other items too.
Continuous Improvement
After the initial planned release, we plan to continue fleshing out, patching and improving the experience on Setesh based on various analytics and feedback gathered from players to refine and perfect this new experience. We also plan to release a new and improved version of the character creator and revise the existing newcomer content on Calypso.
As Setesh is also a much larger zone than Thule - it offers the perfect opportunity to flesh out the content available in the area with more missions and activities in future releases.
We will remain committed post-release to build on the work we have done so far.
Today we want to share with you an update talking about the upcoming changes to the onboarding experience - namely the area currently known as Thule.
All shown images are in-development areas that are subject to change and not finalised.
A New Zone - Welcome to Setesh
Our current starting zone, Thule, physically makes up a very small area that funnels new players through a very linear and closed environment. We want players to feel like they experience the large open world that Entropia really is.
To that end, let us introduce the new starting zone: Setesh. This new area is nearly an entire server area, with different biomes, dynamic events, hunting arenas - and our new starting city hub of Port Cabrakan.
Our core mission chain in Setesh will take new players through the various biomes, locations and points of interest as part of the experience - with smaller side missions and hunting areas for those who wish to spend more time in the area.
When players first touch down, they will be entering Port Cabrakan - our hub for Setesh. Cabrakan has been created to feel fresh, alive and full of character which sets a new standard for how areas in the rest of the game can look in the future.
Existing players will also be able to travel to Setesh anytime without the previous requirements that Thule had.
Enhanced Systems
As part of this release, we have also developed a number of improvements and new capabilities that we will be showcasing in Setesh, with the aim to roll these capabilities out to other areas in the game at a later point.
Living NPCs
One thing that has been lacking from Entropia Universe are living, moving NPCs. With this release we will for the first time have NPCs that traverse the world on their own just like players. They have schedules, behaviours and lives to live. Not only does this make the world feel more alive, but also opens up new possibilities in the future for new kinds of events, missions and interactions.
Dynamic Hand-in Missions
We have also been working hard on our Dynamic Mission System - and with this upcoming release will feature hand-in quests for the first time. This will give players the opportunity to exchange loot from their hunting activities in return for a chance at something more valuable. It is even possible now to chain multiple dynamic hand-in missions together.
A World in Motion
In addition to our moving NPCs, we have also made a number of other graphical improvements:
•
Animated signs and billboards
•
Improved animated objects, such as flags blowing in the wind and functioning elevators
•
Rendered interiors - peer into buildings to see inside
New Everything
This new zone isn’t just a copy and paste of the old Thule items and missions, we’ve fundamentally redesigned the experience from the ground up. Some of the many changes that will be included are listed below:
•
Brand new weapons and weapon varieties
•
New players get their hands on Pistols, Rifles and Swords - gaining more powerful versions as they go through the experience
•
Brand new starter vehicle: The Wasp
•
Starter Armor Set
•
“Micro-Economy” allowing new players to play longer for less
•
New Creatures and Maturities
•
New Dynamic Events for new players to work together on
•
New “Universe Chat” and the ability to opt-out of Rookie and Universe Chat
•
Many Quality of Life changes
•
New mission chain and side missions
•
New tutorials
New Drone Model
Putting it all together
This upcoming release and follow-up releases go hand in hand with our other efforts to make starting in Entropia Universe easier and better than ever. Earlier this summer we released the first phase of our new Starter Packs, which was a tremendous success in making Entropia more affordable and rewarding for new players.
This upcoming release will build on that, further improving retention.
Additionally, we have recently and will continue to run frequent and more varied events - incorporating all professions into fun, engaging and interesting events that we hope will not only engage our existing players and give them something to look forward to, but also capture the imagination and excitement of new players too. We don't want events to just be Mayhem - we want something fun to look forward to all the time.
We also have more planned additions to the web shop coming soon, including profession focused Starter Kits, and other items too.
Continuous Improvement
After the initial planned release, we plan to continue fleshing out, patching and improving the experience on Setesh based on various analytics and feedback gathered from players to refine and perfect this new experience. We also plan to release a new and improved version of the character creator and revise the existing newcomer content on Calypso.
As Setesh is also a much larger zone than Thule - it offers the perfect opportunity to flesh out the content available in the area with more missions and activities in future releases.
We will remain committed post-release to build on the work we have done so far.
