Exploring outside craters and tunnels

[dave stone]

This is a message to the developers.

Why oh why have you stopped avatars from getting outside the craters and tunnels onto the surface.

The craters and tunnels are frankly boring but on the plateau i.e. the parts out side these it is amazing and I have mined almost every single square inch.

But this has been stopped by it seems the developers who want us to restrict ourselves in the craters and tunnels.

This has turned me off monria and unless the situation changes I cant see myself coming back.

Someone has created a fantastic "world" on the surface with no way of getting onto it now and my question is WHY.

Before i was mining plains, Canyon walls, craters and it seems that all the fun has been taken away and again I have to ask the question WHY.

Why are the developers trying to be killjoys ?

 

[DarkMoonEnigma]

First things first ... I moved your thread into the "Ask Me Anything" area of Ant's section.

Second ... for those who know us as a team, they will be the first to tell you that we never do anything to be "killjoys" ... and rather than making assumptions without knowing why the change occurred, it would be best to just ask your question and allow Ant to address your concerns.

Third ... and you may not be aware of this ... we are not a planet but rather a Moon, and much smaller than a planet. We don't have our own level designers or graphic artists and have to work with MindArk's team to get our work done. Therefore, there are times when things happen that we had no intention of happening, and they weren't deliberate. There may be sound reasons why this occurred, but I think this might be something that Ant needs to look into, because it was only recently discovered a few days back that we were unable to rise above the 450 meter level.

I have no doubt that Ant will respond to your post.

 

[Mario]

could be interesting to put some walkways over the craters, or perhaps something interesting like some way to climb up there on some sort of climbing wall you have to jump in specific locations to get up... sort of like the platformer instances on some other planets.

 

[Desert Chief Walker]

First things first ... I moved your thread into the "Ask Me Anything" area of Ant's section.

Second ... for those who know us as a team, they will be the first to tell you that we never do anything to be "killjoys" ... and rather than making assumptions without knowing why the change occurred, it would be best to just ask your question and allow Ant to address your concerns.

Third ... and you may not be aware of this ... we are not a planet but rather a Moon, and much smaller than a planet. We don't have our own level designers or graphic artists and have to work with MindArk's team to get our work done. Therefore, there are times when things happen that we had no intention of happening, and they weren't deliberate. There may be sound reasons why this occurred, but I think this might be something that Ant needs to look into, because it was only recently discovered a few days back that we were unable to rise above the 450 meter level.

I have no doubt that Ant will respond to your post.

Hi Dark Moon

Thanks for yor reply I have been exploring this area for at least 8 months and it is amazing.

Lot of other avatars say there is nothing to find, I have found enormous amount of lyst and orher ores.

The great thing is that you can explore the canyon sides and the ice field at the very top of the area yes there is an ice field.

I look forward to being allowed back into this area again to do some more exploring.

 

[Mario]

it was only recently discovered a few days back that we were unable to rise above the 450 meter level.

I have no doubt that Ant will respond to your post.

If that can't be fixed, perhaps you could have them lower the sea level itself so to speak so that the full landscape map, including the top is below 450 meter level? Not sure if that would make crater bottom inaccessible though?

 

[Eugenio Anhithe Wilde]

Thanks for the feedback.

Part of the reason why this has happened is because the surface was never intended to be accessible on Monria in the first place and it is supposed to be more of an 'indoor' location with the craters and caves etc. The reason it was possible was due to some issues with how areas are defined on Monria. One of the things that I've been prioritizing with the development work is to fix bugs and to improve Monria with a view to the future plans.

This means that there is work ongoing that is not always noticeable and sometimes quite subtle, some examples include:

• Improving creature spawns and their defined areas
• removing excess graphical elements for performance reasons
• limiting the number of light sources for performance reasons
• defining areas better so that level design has more control for future missions and development work.

Although not very exciting this kind of maintenance work is necessary and includes some very mundane but specific changes not in the list. This is part of what I've been alluding to in the 'laying the foundations' update. I've genuinely not wanted to remove any enjoyment from avatars but the blame is squarely on me because I am actively encouraging anyone working on Monria to take opportunities to improve the environment for the longer term future.

In this case what has happened is that some of the ways that areas are defined has been improved which means it is no longer possible to reach the surface of Monria. I will look into this though as the use of the terrain on Monria is one of the things I have been thinking about. This may not involve the surface as this will involve a deeper discussion about what Monria is supposed to encompass. It also needs to have a purpose and at the very least boundaries created and thought put into the reason it is possible to walk the surface and what form that takes in the future.

Anyway in summary I decided to invest money into some of this kind of work because I have a clearer understanding of why some of my development ideas were initially so difficult to implement. I'm genuinely not trying to be a killjoy and will have some conversations around the terrain on Monria to see what is possible but I am fixed on trying to go slower and to try to get things done in the correct manner.

Feel free to add suggestions on this topic as I read everything and would love some input.

Ant

 

[Crafty Canadian Nana]

I am looking forward to see how it grows over time.

 

[Desert Chief Walker]

Thanks for the feedback.

Part of the reason why this has happened is because the surface was never intended to be accessible on Monria in the first place and it is supposed to be more of an 'indoor' location with the craters and caves etc. The reason it was possible was due to some issues with how areas are defined on Monria. One of the things that I've been prioritizing with the development work is to fix bugs and to improve Monria with a view to the future plans.

This means that there is work ongoing that is not always noticeable and sometimes quite subtle, some examples include:

• Improving creature spawns and their defined areas
• removing excess graphical elements for performance reasons
• limiting the number of light sources for performance reasons
• defining areas better so that level design has more control for future missions and development work.

Although not very exciting this kind of maintenance work is necessary and includes some very mundane but specific changes not in the list. This is part of what I've been alluding to in the 'laying the foundations' update. I've genuinely not wanted to remove any enjoyment from avatars but the blame is squarely on me because I am actively encouraging anyone working on Monria to take opportunities to improve the environment for the longer term future.

In this case what has happened is that some of the ways that areas are defined has been improved which means it is no longer possible to reach the surface of Monria. I will look into this though as the use of the terrain on Monria is one of the things I have been thinking about. This may not involve the surface as this will involve a deeper discussion about what Monria is supposed to encompass. It also needs to have a purpose and at the very least boundaries created and thought put into the reason it is possible to walk the surface and what form that takes in the future.

Anyway in summary I decided to invest money into some of this kind of work because I have a clearer understanding of why some of my development ideas were initially so difficult to implement. I'm genuinely not trying to be a killjoy and will have some conversations around the terrain on Monria to see what is possible but I am fixed on trying to go slower and to try to get things done in the correct manner.

Feel free to add suggestions on this topic as I read everything and would love some input.

Ant

Hi Ant

Thanks for your reply.

Whoever has designed the area on top has gone to a huge effort and for this to be ignored is criminal as the exploration is fantastic and what a waste if we are never able to explore this again.

Again please ask them to reconsider the ability to explore outside the craters as this is very mush MORE interesting than just the tunnels and craters and has kept me exploring fore the best part of a year now and have been up there with some members of my society.

If you want Monria to gain in popularity this is just the kind of interest that must be made more of and publicise.

please please reconsider this action

yours chief

 

[Zarnia Foxtrot]

Hi Desert Chief. I'm glad you are an explorer...being a miner as a profession myself, I can appreciate that. I'm not really sure what you and your society did on the surface of Monria outside of the craters but I do know that personally, I spent 8 months mining the surface of Monria outside of the craters and the only ore and ematter there was lysterium and crude oil...NOTHING ELSE in resources.It seems that is consistent with areas that have not been developed yet for mining throughout EU. And on the surface of Monria outside of the craters and tunnels there are no mobs so there is nothing to hunt.

So given there is only lysterium and crude oil to mine and no mobs to hunt, what did you and your society actually do on the surface of Monria outside the craters and tunnels? It's not a PVP zone so you can't kill other players. I know when I have been up there, I had alot of ideas myself about that could be done to improve the area but I'm not the owner like Ant is nor MA who could actually do any significant changes to that area.

I will admit that I miss the Monria surface being available to mine crude when I needed to fill my vehicles or craft with oil but there is crude oil in other areas on Monria in the craters and tunnel caves. Or if we had an event and I needed to break from the crowd and just mine without distraction even if it was just lysterium or crude that I would find there.

So what did you and your society enjoy doing on the Monria surface? Just wondering so when it does open up again eventually, I might be able to do try the idea(s) out myself.

 

[Desert Chief Walker]

Hi Desert Chief. I'm glad you are an explorer...being a miner as a profession myself, I can appreciate that. I'm not really sure what you and your society did on the surface of Monria outside of the craters but I do know that personally, I spent 8 months mining the surface of Monria outside of the craters and the only ore and ematter there was lysterium and crude oil...NOTHING ELSE in resources.It seems that is consistent with areas that have not been developed yet for mining throughout EU. And on the surface of Monria outside of the craters and tunnels there are no mobs so there is nothing to hunt.

So given there is only lysterium and crude oil to mine and no mobs to hunt, what did you and your society actually do on the surface of Monria outside the craters and tunnels? It's not a PVP zone so you can't kill other players. I know when I have been up there, I had alot of ideas myself about that could be done to improve the area but I'm not the owner like Ant is nor MA who could actually do any significant changes to that area.

I will admit that I miss the Monria surface being available to mine crude when I needed to fill my vehicles or craft with oil but there is crude oil in other areas on Monria in the craters and tunnel caves. Or if we had an event and I needed to break from the crowd and just mine without distraction even if it was just lysterium or crude that I would find there.

So what did you and your society enjoy doing on the Monria surface? Just wondering so when it does open up again eventually, I might be able to do try the idea(s) out myself.

Hi zarnia

how much did you explore on the surface

I certainly came across loads of Lyst in fact I think I globalled 4-5 times on lyst but if you explore down the sides of the valleys and on the edges of craters and cliffs there are all the other ores to be found one of my biggest globals was on the side of a valley and it was narc.

The fact that there are no mobs ? why would I want them I am a miner through and through and if you are a miner this area is like a treasure trove.

Lyst in this area is prentiful and as a LVL 52 miner most finds were IX and upwards who would want to mine where the finds were this big all the time.

lyst may no be good for you but as far as skilling goes its great as it takes a long to extract and therefore gives you more skill points from what I have found.

But the main reason is I just liked the total exploring of areas where no one has been before fantastic there are ice fields to the north and underground passages on the surface as well as huge plains and fantastic craters.

there are cliffs and deep valleys and it is soooooo much more interesting than mining in the craters and underground passages.

If the surface becomes available again I will show you the highlights as there are many.

 

[Zarnia Foxtrot]

Hi Desert Chief. Thanks for getting back to me. I explored ALL the top flat surface/crests of Monria topside...that is why it took me 8 months and a good chunk of ped as part of a personal mine map for myself. It did not include the crater walls near the topside surface in that personal project...I figured I could get to them by walking from inside the craters upwards. There is (was) more than once way to walk up to the Monria surface from West and Main Crater so at that time, I figured that would be a project for another time..(lol..i was getting tired of seeing only Lyst and Crude). At the top of Main Crater near the surface I also had a large HOF of Iron in the ballpark of 800 ped. But again to just to clarify...it was not ON the Monria surface..it would be considered part of the top side wall Main Crater. which is difficult to reach by walking but not impossible. With the recent changes, I don't know how high someone can walk up the wall without being bounced back down.

I also got some occasional globals with Lyst and Crude up there but they are low MU ore/ematter so it was good if I just wanted to TT for ped..it wasn't much of a loss. I wouldn't agree for it to be called a treasure trove mainly because without any real MU on Lyst/Crude and without a variety of higher MU ores/ematters , there is nothing to cover the costs involved with mining there. Skilling comes from every use of the tools you use so as long as you are active daily, it doesn't really matter where as long as you start your own mining map of where are good places to mine in EU. For me, that would be preferably where I would know on my mining map where the larger finds /higher MU ores/ematters are. With Monria being outdoor mining, I had ALOT more misses than hits and not all of them were Ample (IX) or larger. Most were Ample sized with a few Considerable. Most were smaller than Ample.
There are some places like the Atlantis Archepelico on Caly that are just like the Monria surface..all Lyst and Crude with maybe a rare find (like I found ONCE in 2 years) of Blausarium size tiny..lol. Its just outdoor mining not indoor mining so there are more found claims smaller in size. Although the larger finds in general will increase your skill level, my own personal preference would be to mine for larger ores/ematters finds that have some MU so its worth it to cover the costs of mining with buying tools, their decay, probes/uni ammo and if you use a pet like a yog or corinthian kanin, their nutripet bars. If you are just looking to skill, mining Lyst or Crude only, it ends up being very expensive with no added MU to cover the costs of their mining unless you are amping which again is another added expense to getting a next to nothing MU ore/ematter. When I was mining there, it was for mapping purposes...lol.. MA does change up the landscape every couple of months the the map done back then wouldn't be accurate now anyways but it did show what I would find if I was to mine there regularly in general.

I know the area you mentioned with the cliffs and deep valleys. That was a cool area to mine..I never got any real mining finds there though but it looked like there should have been (as if that really makes any difference lol). I know Ant is planning all kinds of changes so maybe there will be alot of changes in the top surface landscape when it opens up again. It probably won't look the same. I personally do miss that area as an area to mine peacefully with no mobs distracting me...That can't be done anywhere now on Monria. I like hunting but when someone wants to focus on mining only, that is alot harder to do with all the mobs on Monria now.

So again, thanks for getting back to me. You are at a higher mining level than me so you probably did better with your mining. I'm just at the place where I need to mine with more awareness of cost/MU so exclusively focusing on just Lyst or Crude wouldn't work in the direction I'm going.

I had to retype some of this post. I didn't get alot of sleep this week and it's really starting to show..lol

 

[Desert Chief Walker]

Hi Ant

Thanks for your reply, does that mean that you are not able to reverse what has happened.

I enclose a screenshot from LBML showing the mining I have done on the area outside of the craters and pity but Monria holds no interest for me anymore if these areas cannot be accessed.

This was far more interesting mining and exploring than the craters or tunnels.

Are you able to confirm that this decision cannot be overturned and that we cannot get back onto the surface please

Thanks Desert chief

 

[Evil Kenc Devil]

Hi Ant

Thanks for your reply, does that mean that you are not able to reverse what has happened.

I enclose a screenshot from LBML showing the mining I have done on the area outside of the craters and pity but Monria holds no interest for me anymore if these areas cannot be accessed.

This was far more interesting mining and exploring than the craters or tunnels.

Are you able to confirm that this decision cannot be overturned and that we cannot get back onto the surface please

Thanks Desert chief

View attachment 7539

Wow, I'm so sad I had no option to explore these areas.... One of things I like in this game is exploring.. There are some really nice places in this universe, and it seems I missed on of those

 

[Eugenio Anhithe Wilde]

Hi @Desert Chief Walker

Thanks for the LBML screenshot. I'm currently in discussions around this. From MA's point of view access to the surface was never intended which is why it was fixed but I personally think there is a lot of value in opening up the surface again in some form. These things can go quite slowly which is why I try to plan so far ahead. At this stage it is not a definite no but I have no idea when or if it will be opened up again at this stage.

Sorry I can't give you a definite answer yet.

Thanks
Ant

 

[Evil Kenc Devil]

Hi @Desert Chief Walker

Thanks for the LBML screenshot. I'm currently in discussions around this. From MA's point of view access to the surface was never intended which is why it was fixed but I personally think there is a lot of value in opening up the surface again in some form. These things can go quite slowly which is why I try to plan so far ahead. At this stage it is not a definite no but I have no idea when or if it will be opened up again at this stage.

Sorry I can't give you a definite answer yet.

Thanks
Ant

I really would like that MA would consider opening those areas again fingers crossed

 

[Desert Chief Walker]

Hi @Desert Chief Walker

Thanks for the LBML screenshot. I'm currently in discussions around this. From MA's point of view access to the surface was never intended which is why it was fixed but I personally think there is a lot of value in opening up the surface again in some form. These things can go quite slowly which is why I try to plan so far ahead. At this stage it is not a definite no but I have no idea when or if it will be opened up again at this stage.

Sorry I can't give you a definite answer yet.

Thanks
Ant

Hi Ant

Thanks for the reply.

just to mention that I found the surface of Monria so interesting I could quite easily spend the remainder of my Entropian life there.

As soley a miner I do not need mobs but just exploring the area which took me 8 months was absolutey facinating and I knew I wasnt the only one there as there were articles left by others who were just as facinated.

i,m not asking for anything to change just to reverse the decision to allow us to gain access to the surface once again and I think after this discussion you will get more people interested in Monria I certainly will be spreading the word in my Soc.

Please try your best you will have my total loyalty on Monria if this happens

Thanks Desert Chief

 

[Desert Chief Walker]

I really would like that MA would consider opening those areas again fingers crossed

same here

 

[Desert Chief Walker]

Hi @Desert Chief Walker

Thanks for the LBML screenshot. I'm currently in discussions around this. From MA's point of view access to the surface was never intended which is why it was fixed but I personally think there is a lot of value in opening up the surface again in some form. These things can go quite slowly which is why I try to plan so far ahead. At this stage it is not a definite no but I have no idea when or if it will be opened up again at this stage.

Sorry I can't give you a definite answer yet.

Thanks
Ant

Hi Ant

Has anyrthing happened yet.
I am on Ark but my soul belongs on Monria on the surface
I miss the mining there and the feeling of freedom being allowed to roam at will
Please let me know if you are getting anywhere

Chief

 

[DarkMoonEnigma]

Hi Ant

Has anyrthing happened yet.
I am on Ark but my soul belongs on Monria on the surface
I miss the mining there and the feeling of freedom being allowed to roam at will
Please let me know if you are getting anywhere

Chief

Hi Chief ...

Ant will be away from Monria for another week, but I know he's been involved in working on our Summer release with MindArk. I don't know yet when that will be, but Ant mentioned that he is in agreement that there's value in opening up the surface again, but there is still no definite answer on when and if that will be happening.

I'm sure Ant will respond to your post when he returns.

 

[Desert Chief Walker]

Hi Chief ...

Ant will be away from Monria for another week, but I know he's been involved in working on our Summer release with MindArk. I don't know yet when that will be, but Ant mentioned that he is in agreement that there's value in opening up the surface again, but there is still no definite answer on when and if that will be happening.

I'm sure Ant will respond to your post when he returns.

Hi dark Moon

This is good news and look forward to returning back to Monria when the surface area is opened up again.

What is strange is that the "surface" is so detailed that someone has gone to huge lengths to make it that way so i find it crazy to just let it go to waste.

As you can see from the number of views this has created a lot of interest.

many thanks and good luck in your efforts