Those Who Adapt to Change Survive | Update 8

[DarkMoonEnigma]

THOSE WHO ADAPT TO CHANGE SURVIVE

Friday | September 30, 2016

As I walk barefoot in the shifting sands of the Moon craters, I am inspired by my reflective thoughts of just how changing our experiences have been over the past 10 months. There was no question that we had a vision in place, and immediately began working on a development road map for Monria.

We had no specific expectations other than we were prepared to adapt and change as needed, and ready to embrace the results as we progressed. We have been pleasantly surprised with an ever-growing community that continues to support our efforts, and generously makes contributions toward evolving Monria.

More exciting changes are coming, and some of our most dedicated and supportive community members will be offered opportunities to get more involved. Our goal of having a partnership with a growing community has been in place from the beginning, and the progress has been steady.

Crater sands are shifting even more, and continued change is inevitable. The question is, who will be a part of those changes, and what are we bringing to Monria to elevate your Moon experiences. Obviously, that information will be revealed over time, and some of it sooner than later.

In the meantime, let's review community changes since my last progress update.

Official Monria Mentors Program​

In my previous progress update I mentioned that we were continuing to fine-tune our programs for better efficiency, and we are now in the process of making some changes. Individuals who have served as official Monria Mentors and who are no longer able to continue giving reasonable time engaged in Monria mentoring are being offered a place with our team of Monria Team Ambassadors so that they can be involved with fun activities as their time permits. These individuals have offered their commitment to support our efforts in building our community, and we want to honor that commitment by keeping them involved at their convenience.

Therefore, over the next several days or so, you will see a change in the official Monria Mentors list. This program is still closed to adding more official Monria Mentors at this time.

Monria Team Ambassadors​

In addition to transitioning a few of our official Monria Mentors to the MTA team, we will be actively looking to increase this team. These individuals will not only be involved as an event support team, but will also work with RosaRaines who manages the Monria Mentors Program, The Mentor Games and field trips. Activities will be increasing both with events and the Mentors Program, and the MTAs will have an opportunity to assist.

The MTAs are afforded benefits under the Community Initiatives Program (CIP) which includes free travel during our Friday and Sunday travel schedules, and other benefits.

The list of Monria Team Ambassadors will also be changing.

Monria New Arrival Tutorials (MNAT)​

The MNAT Tutorials are still coming along slow but sure, and another, completely unexpected MNAT Tutorial came out of a post that Anhithe made in a community member's fan fiction thread. The new tutorial that is jam-packed with beneficial information is MNAT Tutorial # 5 | Wise Advice from Monria's Owner.

I like how these tutorials are building, and how beneficial they are to more than just our Monrian-born.

Monria Space Travel Program​

This program continues to improve in its efficiency under the leadership of @Eric Shade Avenged and the Monria Pilot and Support Crew. We have added @Noz and @Lamilla Lami Masterson as Pilots.

@Leodolfr Leon Stronghorse continues to effectively manage the Yamato Repair Skilling Program, and our support crew has been steadily growing. The repair skilling runs are generally right after our travel schedules on Fridays and Sundays. The announcement is made in both the Monria and Yamato chat channels.

If you're interested in joining these crazy-chat repair skilling runs, you can sign-up here.

Other Monria News​

The Monria community and guests were involved in a 5-week Round Robin Tournament that ended in an unusual and unique Winners Circle Event. The tournament involved Wednesday Trials with prizes given on the hour and half hour for 1st Globals, and 24 hour Saturday Assualts with increased spawns for both. We have decided to make this 5-week Round Robin Tournament and Winners Circle an annual event.

A huge thank you goes to @OberonNightSeer for creating the amazing aerial obstacle course that everyone had to run in the Winners Circle for the best time. A walk-through video is available here to see what this obstacle course was all about, along with other details of the event.

During the course of the Winners Circle event, a new Monria rock star group was formed. Rather than trying to explain this, it's best to just see for yourself here.

What's in the Pipeline​

We are always planning ahead for events and activities to keep our community engaged, and we are in the planning stages of both our Halloween event on Oct 29th, and our 1 year anniversary event on Nov 26th.

However, there are notable things that will happen in between, so stay tuned.

You know I had to do that because I like keeping the community in suspense. :clap

And speaking of community, thank you very much for being supportive. We really do appreciate you.

​

 

[Kendra]

That's a lovely update DM

You're work with the community is amazing, you always manage to go beyond what we can imagine.

You break boundaries with your secret weapon (thanks @OberonNightSeer )

Your tireless devotion to the moon and its lunatics is greatly appreciated.

You are the heart of the moon.



You rock:djparty we love you DM

 

[DarkMoonEnigma]

Thank you Kendra, that means a lot.

Our Moon community is everything to me, and I will do what's possible to keep their best interest first and foremost in all I do, but let me make one thing clear.

If I didn't have the support, trust and freedom to engage the community as I do and WILL do with all that's in the pipeline, or didn't have a partnership in this venture that not only entertains, but implements and supports my ideas (crazy or otherwise), I would be a bit hard-pressed to unleash my inner creative passion.

I know it's been almost a year since we took over the Moon, but the path we have traveled, and the experiences we have had, tells me that we are still in our infancy despite what we have been able to accomplish so far.

I'm looking forward to shifting the sand in the craters and leaving giant footsteps.

Monria Team support has been beyond anything I ever expected, but our growing community has been a huge surprise with their involvement and support too.

Thank you Monria Team and our awesome community.

There's so much more to give, and I'm feeling some randomness coming on.

 

[sluggo]

I like Monria and I really like what the owner is doing here. I don't like what the mentor program has become, it's more of a poaching event like the people who sit at the caly noob span and PM them before their toon can even render saying PICK ME PICK ME!! Throwing a handfull of 'free stuff' at people, in the long run is really not helping them when the people who are supposed to have all the knowledge, really don't. I really can't tell anymore how many people have contacted me in PM's asking a bunch of questions, that their 'official' mentors really should have been able to answer for them, but didn't / couldn't. I help them anyways, I don't need a 'title' to do that, nor do I need a contest point.

I also am not fond of the attitude one will get when it is mentioned that there are other planets out there to explore. It reminds me of that scene in the movie Misery and the guy locked in the closet. How DARE you not give 1000 percent of your attention to ME. Yes of course it's better if people spend their ped here, but lets be honest, it's Monria, there isn't a ton of stuff to do here yet. Monria is not going to compete against Caly or Ark for participation EVER. Ant gets that, some of his staff don't it seems. I think its more important that Monria takes care of the people born here no matter WHERE they go, rather than castigate them if they DARE go elsewhere. WELCOME them to explore other planets, you still get the residual from their profits / deposits, and make sure they know how EASY it is to come back home.

Mining for example, I hate letting people loose here who want to learn how to mine. Monria is HORRIBLE for noob mining, ANY inside place is. Id rather bring them to Caly or Ark and set them down, Celeste Quarry would be my first choice, then explain mining to them, and let them actually have a chance of getting hits greater than one out of every 8 to 20 drops. You want to excite people, you want them to say oh WOW, I can DO THIS!!. Inside mining is not that feeling. I know plenty of miners who will be happy to let a noob shit 100 ped of probes, hoping they can run a few hours later and reclaim it. It's not right. Teach them how to spot patterns, how to mine properly, how to cut losses, THEN bring them back to Monria, explain to them, this is 'advanced level / bigger spender' mining here. You can win big and lose big here, do you want to go for it?

What I DO like about Monria is the events. Monria's owner is doing a bunch of stuff to actually make it fun here. I honestly can't say that other planets are doing the same thing. They may have their once or twice a year scheduled event but much more often than not, those events are aimed towards the higher level / bigger spender player. This is not so on Monria. I have seen events here that honestly have made it pretty even chance for anyone really to win a nice prize. Monria has also had some very unique events as well. Im not talking the mindless hang out in an apartment events, but the St. Patty's parade for example. You don't see that kind of creativity much elsewhere, and it really makes Monria shine.

I also like that the owner of Monria gets into chat and actually interacts with the members like a real, other person just like you and I. He does it in a 'real person' way too. It's not like he makes an appearance, and everyone is supposed to grovel and suck his ass and hope he acknowledges your existence, though some still do that anyways It shows that he's leveled in the real world, and isn't one of those who think he's gods gift to gaming or marketing or whatever. That goes a long way.

I also like the free travel thing and that it's not just to drag you here to spend, but to use whenever you need to the areas it services. I like the daily crafting thing, and to tie these in, when people learn they can use the travel to come here to do their crafting, which they may need to do anyways, it's a win / win for all.

What I also like VERY much, is that the owner is honest with us. He tells us what is planned, what is going on, and the status. They also tell us road blocks and what probably is not going to happen. I have been places where you are fed a bunch of lies and BS, that gets old and is NOT appreciated. You want to kill a moon / planet.. start lying to it's players and feeding them BS. It's coming, any day now, just keep feeding us ped. yah right, we heard that shit a year ago and nothing has changed. Along with this, what I really like is the owner is asking the players, what do YOU want? Normally it's along the lines of, this is what we are going to do, you have no input, but here, they want your input and actually take it to heart. This alone makes people feel like they are invested here and are actually a part of the evolution of the place. That too, counts for a lot.

Overall, I think you are doing a great job. There are a few areas that could use some improvement, but there is plenty of time, and Monria I believe is here for the long haul. We understand that MA is coin operated, and that coins don't grow on trees, and that Moon Improvements will take time.

The only other advice I can offer is, let me get a 300K + ped ATH here ok? Monria will get it's cut of that and you will be well on your way towards the next improvement Hell, if I win that big I might even be able to buy it outright for you.

thank you for reading.
Sluggo

 

[RosaRaine Buns]

Great update DME. Monria is a wonderful place and I love Monria . The community is down right amazings2. Where else can you go to apartment partys and have a blast. You dont need to be spending ped all the time to have fun. I know alot of players that have alot of fun at these partys and have asked when the next one is. It is so nice to kick back , dance and get a good chat going:groupdance. It is not a "MINDLESS" event. addle

The mentors program is going great. The mentors are doing a great job with the new players. I have had all good input from the disciples. The new players LOVE that they get a starter kit. I have handed several kits out and they are so thankful to get them. Thank you Ant for taking the time to make the new player starter kits. Also a big thank you to the community for helping with the new players. Not one person in game can say they know it all (if they say or act like they do they are CRAZY ). We all chip in and help one another out. That is what is so wonderful about this community.

I am also putting together a field trip to Ark with the mentors and disciples.( :shockoh snap did i say we are going to another planet ) . Just finishing up on a few touches on the trip and will make a post about it. So keep your eyes open for the post.

 

[Superraine raine r456]

Great update really looking forward to the great future ahead for Monria. The comunity Keeps Growing every day and more and more Awesome ppl Join in on our lunacy exciting times ahead .:clapI Love Monria and The Comunity Just pure Awesomness. s2

Sluggo, our mentor program is Nothing like anything that happens on Caly or any other place for that matter. There is NO Pressure OR Bribing Or Bugging of Any kind towards new players . There never was. There r even a few monria borns that arnt ready for a mentor yet on the moon and no one is pressuring them at all and they're still helped just like they would be if they were in discipleship. Not Sure where you're getting your info from but ALL NEW Monria Born are informed so they can make the choice for themselves what to do . I Sure wish I had this program umteen years ago when i started . And as for Questions . Are things gonna be missed from time to time Sure it happens. Nobodys perfect.And Nobody knows it all. we're all Human after all . And appreciate you answering questions to new players that may have not asked the questions with their mentor yet or havent gotten to those points yet . But I Can assure U and Anyone else reading this that our Disciples graduate with a shit ton of knowledge armed arsenal to combat entropia as a whole:ninja. and i know most if not all us mentors teach in a way thats geared toward individuality. cause u cant train everyone the same. But everyone ends up with the arsenal of knowledge. As well as Creating new Bonds that form new freindships .SO Us being compared to thule stalkers- You're not even anywhere close to the same ball park there. :shock

As For knowledge. Did you know that when you mine on monria with a rookie finder u can still get lots of small hits sometimes profiting. as well as Gaining more skill than u would if you were using the same rookie finder on non indoor rules zone. inturn getting ppl skilled to use even a f104 faster than they would by going to caly or ark. And is an inexpensive way to get to the f104 oe even f105. I have tested this out myself . so there acually is a benafit to starting out mining on monria.

OK DME whens the next Apartment party were overdue :groupdances2:bronco

 

[sluggo]

Given how fast one can advance from 'able to use' and 'mastering' a finder at the lower levels, having someone climb the entire 101, 102 to 105 route is kind of wasteful on the MU on the finders, unless they can sell it back for what they bought it at MU wise.

Are you sure you learn faster with the rookie finder? Just because it says you gained XXX skill faster does not mean you are learning faster, the amount of the XXX may be smaller. Everything here is pretty much ped driven, well you know that, and if there was a finder that worked better for whatever reason, everyone would know of it. Do you have any numbers to show this, Id be interested to see them. Are you gaining more skills with the R finder due to the instrument OR because you are dumping more drops per hour? Just because you can drop more on the planet / moon in x time does not necessarily equate out to learning more. If one were to mine properly, ie not overlap, then yes, you technically could learn 'faster' on monria because you can drop them at a faster rate but in the end it's still pretty much cycle X ped to get Y skills. One could also stand still and just drop drop drop too but that wouldn't be any fun.

sluggo

 

[Superraine raine r456]

No paper work needed really. Ill detail alittle better here. Although this really isnt the post for all this maybe Dme can move it then to more appropriate place.

I experiment alot and have for many many years. With all kimds of things. This is one of those findings.
I have a rookie terra master finder the old time UL one. If i go to caly and use that finder and watch my skill gains on my progress bars. Then switch to a 101 and use that. I get the same amount of skill gain per skill hit. Even though the f 101 uses 10 times the ped per drop. Now mind you both being maxed out no Sib . Now come up to monria repeat runs and watch . Skill gains slitghty more not much but a little bit more per skill hit. And also notice that using the rookie finder that skill tends to hit more often for me than it does with 101. Also tend to have much lower return % with 101 on monria than i have with rookie finder. To me its a win win for rookie finder and aslo being a ton cheaper to skill with as well. Till u get to the 105.

But at same token here and im gonna play devils advocate with my own words. Experimentation has also provided findings that players tend to have certain equipment that just clicks well for them. Like rosa and her Towering f104 unamped numerous times

 

[sluggo]

That's the thing, they say there are no personal loot pools but folks have a ton of cough cough 'proof' to prove other wise. They say that equipment is not 'tuned' to people yet as you just said, rosa is a very lucky person, or maybe her item is just lucky. Only MA really knows this and they sure as heck are not going to tell us!

But playing DA again, you said it hits for 'you' more often, just like rosa's 104 seems to hit more for 'her'. Using your same logic it may not work the same way for me, for example. The rookie finder I always thought were a bit better in the long run. The minimum you can get is ONE piece of ore. If it's gold ore it's a ped. A normal drop hitting with a normal finder, a normal find is small gold at typically a V which is 3 ped. Gold can be found at times in the range of a rook finder, so if you get your minimum ONE piece, you are still ahead on that one. Now, does MA even this out by making your next two lyst finds shitty? Who knows. Then again, that's a small cycle. It may seem the Rook is better but if you run it for 5k drops is it really? Just like crafting with a small print, you need thousands of cycles to really see the bigger pattern.

sluggo

 

[Eugenio Anhithe Wilde]

I like Monria and I really like what the owner is doing here. I don't like what the mentor program has become, it's more of a poaching event like the people who sit at the caly noob span and PM them before their toon can even render saying PICK ME PICK ME!! Throwing a handfull of 'free stuff' at people, in the long run is really not helping them when the people who are supposed to have all the knowledge, really don't. I really can't tell anymore how many people have contacted me in PM's asking a bunch of questions, that their 'official' mentors really should have been able to answer for them, but didn't / couldn't. I help them anyways, I don't need a 'title' to do that, nor do I need a contest point.

I also am not fond of the attitude one will get when it is mentioned that there are other planets out there to explore. It reminds me of that scene in the movie Misery and the guy locked in the closet. How DARE you not give 1000 percent of your attention to ME. Yes of course it's better if people spend their ped here, but lets be honest, it's Monria, there isn't a ton of stuff to do here yet. Monria is not going to compete against Caly or Ark for participation EVER. Ant gets that, some of his staff don't it seems. I think its more important that Monria takes care of the people born here no matter WHERE they go, rather than castigate them if they DARE go elsewhere. WELCOME them to explore other planets, you still get the residual from their profits / deposits, and make sure they know how EASY it is to come back home.

Mining for example, I hate letting people loose here who want to learn how to mine. Monria is HORRIBLE for noob mining, ANY inside place is. Id rather bring them to Caly or Ark and set them down, Celeste Quarry would be my first choice, then explain mining to them, and let them actually have a chance of getting hits greater than one out of every 8 to 20 drops. You want to excite people, you want them to say oh WOW, I can DO THIS!!. Inside mining is not that feeling. I know plenty of miners who will be happy to let a noob shit 100 ped of probes, hoping they can run a few hours later and reclaim it. It's not right. Teach them how to spot patterns, how to mine properly, how to cut losses, THEN bring them back to Monria, explain to them, this is 'advanced level / bigger spender' mining here. You can win big and lose big here, do you want to go for it?

What I DO like about Monria is the events. Monria's owner is doing a bunch of stuff to actually make it fun here. I honestly can't say that other planets are doing the same thing. They may have their once or twice a year scheduled event but much more often than not, those events are aimed towards the higher level / bigger spender player. This is not so on Monria. I have seen events here that honestly have made it pretty even chance for anyone really to win a nice prize. Monria has also had some very unique events as well. Im not talking the mindless hang out in an apartment events, but the St. Patty's parade for example. You don't see that kind of creativity much elsewhere, and it really makes Monria shine.

I also like that the owner of Monria gets into chat and actually interacts with the members like a real, other person just like you and I. He does it in a 'real person' way too. It's not like he makes an appearance, and everyone is supposed to grovel and suck his ass and hope he acknowledges your existence, though some still do that anyways It shows that he's leveled in the real world, and isn't one of those who think he's gods gift to gaming or marketing or whatever. That goes a long way.

I also like the free travel thing and that it's not just to drag you here to spend, but to use whenever you need to the areas it services. I like the daily crafting thing, and to tie these in, when people learn they can use the travel to come here to do their crafting, which they may need to do anyways, it's a win / win for all.

What I also like VERY much, is that the owner is honest with us. He tells us what is planned, what is going on, and the status. They also tell us road blocks and what probably is not going to happen. I have been places where you are fed a bunch of lies and BS, that gets old and is NOT appreciated. You want to kill a moon / planet.. start lying to it's players and feeding them BS. It's coming, any day now, just keep feeding us ped. yah right, we heard that shit a year ago and nothing has changed. Along with this, what I really like is the owner is asking the players, what do YOU want? Normally it's along the lines of, this is what we are going to do, you have no input, but here, they want your input and actually take it to heart. This alone makes people feel like they are invested here and are actually a part of the evolution of the place. That too, counts for a lot.

Overall, I think you are doing a great job. There are a few areas that could use some improvement, but there is plenty of time, and Monria I believe is here for the long haul. We understand that MA is coin operated, and that coins don't grow on trees, and that Moon Improvements will take time.

The only other advice I can offer is, let me get a 300K + ped ATH here ok? Monria will get it's cut of that and you will be well on your way towards the next improvement Hell, if I win that big I might even be able to buy it outright for you.

thank you for reading.
Sluggo

Hi @sluggo I'm glad you appreciate my honesty and I try to be honest as best I can, so honestly I think your criticism of the Mentorship Program is not fair. It's not a nameless initiative but individual players who have and are using their game time to ultimately help me and to help Monria. Most of DM's role is a thankless one but one that myself and my family are really appreciative of, everything good about Monria is being realized through her dedication. The Mentorship program is a work in progress but one that I'm very happy with, Rosa has been a god send and has been doing a fantastic job to support us.

I've been studying the data with regard to new players and one thing that is true on Monria and across Entropia is that the number of new sign ups that deposit within their first few months is fractional and the number of players that stick around and login multiple times is also tiny. This means it is critical that we can help people at the beginning of the game (as it is rendering ;)). We've all seen players that are standing afk not sure what to do and the Mentors spend a lot of time finding new players and talking to them, introducing them in Monria Chat, making sure they sign up for the free flight program and giving them some free stuff. The free stuff is important to me because I want new players to interact with the community and team hunt (another thing that the Mentors do with their own time). Sure I would love if everyone on log in got this automatically but I have to work with what I have. We also fund the purchase of Sweat because again most people won't deposit until they have played for a few months. I want people to make an informed decision so am happy to contribute to that because I would rather have people leaving saying Monria is a great place but wasn't for me rather than leaving without even experiencing it.

We're also not trying to lock people on Monria, one of the first things Mentors do is to encourage people to sign up for the free flight program and we've done field trips in the past and will again in the future. It's been a challenge with the time available for Mentors but we will continue to do this. One thing we do try to do is to reach out to Monrian Borns quickly and have Monria feel like their home. I believe what we do as a community here is great for new players, we do a lot to try to make it fun for all levels of players by making events accessible and engaging in activities that are cheap or free. The Monrian community makes the Moon a great place to be regardless of your ped balance and I want to have a connection with new players and the official Mentors are a great way for me to have that. We get a lot of direct feedback both good and bad and this is what we use to decide where to go with the program because it really is for the new players and not what we think the new players need.

I tend to agree on mining being difficult on Monria for a new player as you need a fairly decent number of drops to do well in indoor mining. Anyone who's camped CND with a rookie finder will know this. This is why I've steered us more toward hunting with new players and the kits. Saying that I've also had feedback from new players that have done well. I even ran some tests by giving my daughter a rookie finder and some probes to do enmatter mining, ran it a number of times and she did so well I took a break from mining (she was level 3 or 4 surverying)!

There's a lot of helpful people on the Moon who are always welcoming to new players and give great advice, we all have our own opinions and sometimes I see other opinions that perhaps I don't agree with. This doesn't give me a divine right to call people out and I think the Mentors do a great job and for the right intentions. They don't sign people up to win some prize, I just like to do what I can in small ways to reward and encourage people who are supporting us.

There's room to improve everything we do and we are always looking at ways to do this but I think everyone is doing a great job and the overall new player experience is a million miles from what I experienced when I started.

Great update btw @Dark Moon Enigma

Ant

 

[sluggo]

I understand that player retention is key and is also, generally fractional. Also, yes, most that stick around, tend to deposit after being here a little while, deciding they like it and that no, selling sweat is not going to get them where they want to be as fast as they want to be. The rookie finder, ive stated that yes those can really be a boon sometimes. Mining on Monria tends to go in waves too FWIW. If you catch the wave you can do good, if not, well... Even then, your daughter had one good run, what about if she ran ten in a row? Yes someone can have a good run here, but even you must admit, with inside rules, the odds are really stacked against someone to do really well unless they dump a few hundred ped. Most noobs are not that well financed.

You say the mentor thing is not a contest, but a month or two ago, it literally was. I know it was a 'test' to reward the hard working mentors but it got 'presented' in a fashion that, oh you only have one? Can't you get two more by the end of the week ... type thing... and when you have individuals who are not in the game much themselves, telling you that you need to spend more time gathering students.. well... to me it seemed that the intentions may have strayed. Now couple this with the notion that some mentors really don't know much about the game, it just makes one think that getting people is a good thing, but there should be a QA aspect in there as well and not just, oh he / she PM's me, and is friendly, lets make them a mentor. Some mentors are best with one maybe two students at a time, others think they can handle 20 at a time and honestly give these people the attention they deserve. I think it'd be best not to put number requirements, or even 'suggestions' as to how many people a person should be mentoring. I currently have 3 active students and really am not looking to take on any more. My schedule is still kind of goofy and I don't want to get to a point where I can't give my students the help they need, and saying oh just ask in chat, is nice once in a while, but as your general MO is not cool for a Mentor to be doing because they have 20 students they can't handle.

You are correct in that this community is amazing. People are always offering to help others about here and there, and not just noobs, but anyone really. You don't see that much on other planets. The events are generally fun too, and once we get the 'event stand' or whatever it is working, I think you will see a lot more spontaneous events from our wonderful community, as they will really be able to just plug and play from what I understand how that works. I know I have some ideas for some impromptu things Id like to do just for the heck of it.

Divine right to call people out? Not at all, if you see something you don't agree with you should mention it, just like you did with me right here. If people are afraid to speak because of this chronic fear of somehow 'offending' someone, then nothing will ever get solved because everyone will be ignoring the big pink elephant in the room. Just because someone mentions something they don't like or think can be done better is not calling someone out really, were not snowflakes, and anyone who owns / runs / is customer service for a business really should have thick skin... unless your business is callous removal

Anyways, it's getting late, Ill let this slide under the tent for the time being.
Take care
sluggo

 

[RosaRaine Buns]

Sluggo can you show me in writing where it says that a mentor needs to have X amount of disciples? I must have really missed that one. Are you talking about the mentor that gets the 5 disciples? Because if i remember there was no end date. When you say that our mentors dont know much about the game and they should not be mentors. That is wrong, our mentors know alot about the game. No one can say that they know everything about the game. If they do then they are plain out crazy and nuts. What you have to remember is your not in the mentor private forum no more because you have opted out so you dont know what goes on when it comes to the mentor programs now. So with this pink elephant in the room , i dont see it. Wish i did , i would love to see a pink elephant.

 

[Ahrotahn]

I'm a noob by most standards. I also understand a good amount about the game because I had a good mentor and I also am a bit into numbers/being economical (strategic & operations management). For me, I had played MMOs for 10 years give or take, starting with Star Wars Galaxies and Vanilla WoW. I tried EU a while back but hated that I had to click the button to sweat 10000 times, so I quit. I came back around the start of this year and found the UI was more friendly, but there was so much outdated info out there about starting planets that I started on Caly (which I would not recommend for anything other than lots of missions).

So here I am, I was willing to pay to play, had a tough time understanding what the hell was going on, had to learn about entropiedia, learned that started weapons were (at the time) not necessarily starter friendly. I quickly moved to Ark, got the starter pack without the MF stuff, and had MUCH more fun. Had I known that Monria was as new player friendly with such a good community, I would have started here. I think the mentor incentives and free starter packs (allow new players to figure out what the hell to do with an experienced person quickly) are the best tool to convert free players to paying players.

We all know the community is great, all I would hope is that the mentorship on Monria doesn't become a secret clique where players like me that would like to mentor later on can never break into it simply because we aren't part of the "in crowd" on the planet.

Thanks for all the discussion guys, it's great, and I love being here now that I have found it!

 

[DarkMoonEnigma]

I wanted to wait a day or so before responding, but now I think it's time to give some clarity to a few things so that this whole topic doesn't derail any further with false impressions or perceptions that give way to potential misunderstanding.

First, there is no secret clique, nor will there ever be one. Right from the beginning, we wanted to give members of our community opportunities, but we were quick to make some decisions that taught us lessons about our decision making. Also from the beginning, we said that we are building the community from the ground up and not actively advertising to take players away from other planets or locations. This meant a focus on our Monrian-born.

As such, we developed programs that offered benefits not only to our Monrian-born, but also to those who got involved with our programs and made a conscious commitment to support what our vision and goals are for Monria. No other location in the universe offers what we do on the Moon with regard to these programs, nor gives their community members any of the opportunities that we do with regard to their new players.

Here's the thing, we aren't going to be for everyone, but we are absolutely genuine in what we want to achieve for the Moon and our community, and over the past 10 months have invested a great deal of time, effort and funding to accomplish the goals we have set out for ourselves and the community. We've learned some hard lessons, but we have the mindset to adapt and change as needed so that we can stay on course with our road map.

We continue to fine-tune our programs so that they will work efficiently not only for what our needs are, but also for what will work for the community, as well as for those who willingly give of their time to support our efforts. It hasn't worked for some, but it continues to work brilliantly for others, and it is these individuals that we are incredibly indebted to not only for their partnership and service, but also for their creative contributions that help refine our programs even further.

Monria is a business, so it's only logical that we would focus on our Monrian-born and develop programs that would help support their initial experiences on the Moon, but also give them opportunities to explore the rest of the universe. This is where our field trips come into play. However, we've learned through trial and error that it's best to have a solid base of operation with regard to our Mentors Program so that Mentors and their Disciples can both benefit from the field trips.

It only makes sense that we would want an official Monria Mentor to mentor our Monrian-born to give them the benefits and advantages from our programs. We have developed the MNAT Tutorials that we are adding more to over time, and that give our new players basic information to help them make their own decisions as to what direction they want to go. We give them a hunting starter kit only because we learned that trying to indoctrinate them into the inside mining on the Moon wasn't the ideal environment for mining experiences, so our Mentors have explained options.

We want to extend the play time of our Monrian-born, which is why we give them a hunting starter kit of a weapon, initial ammo, and a heal kit, along with giving them solid information either through their official Monria Mentor, the MNAT Tutorials, or through an amazing community of UN-official Moon Ambassadors who are always incredibly helpful with answering questions and guiding those who want to learn. For this we are grateful and appreciative.

With regard to further clarification of the official Monria Mentors program ...

• how we have chosen our official Monria Mentors has changed over time, and ..
• it was with great thought prior to making a decision ... however, we didn't always get it right
• we worked in partnership with those who joined us to develop what would work best, but ...
• we learned some valuable lessons along the way -- adapting and changing is key
• some are gone, and some have stayed to continue supporting changes toward better efficiency
• we invited others to join this effort, and we have been pleasantly surprised by the level of involvement by some
• some are patient and have put forth the effort to keep an eye out for our Monrian-born, and some are not
• the level of Monrian-born spawning on the Moon has its variables, but there are always marketing campaigns
• we don't hold our Monrian-born hostage, but give them an initial understanding to make their own decisions
• the Monria Team supports and funds these efforts, just as we do with all of our programs
• being an official Monria Mentor requires a reasonable amount of time to develop a team of Disciples
• I say "team" because it all plays into The Mentor Games and opportunities to win prizes
• the Mentor Games are also in a state of refinement so that they will be more exciting and beneficial
• we have never required a certain number of Disciples for any of our Mentors
• Kendra actually initiated a contest to make creating a team fun, and offered 500 ped for the first to get 5
• the choices have always been up to the Mentors whether they want to engage or not, however ...
• when we have Mentors not actively engaged and spending more time elsewhere, then changes need to be made
• there is no set amount of time that a Mentor be on the Moon, but at least a reasonable amount of time engaged
• there is a private Mentors forum where they only have to list their Disciples, but with good reason ...
• it lets the rest of the Mentors know who to look out for if a Mentor is away from the Moon for any reason, and ...
• to make sure that they are able to continue with their experiences based on recent changes
• we have dealt with complaints about a couple of past Mentors, but overall, our Mentors are doing a great job

We will expand and continue to refine our official Monria Mentors program, as we will all of our programs, but we are very pleased with the teams that we have in place at the moment who are doing an exceptional job. There will be other opportunities for community members who over time have shown their support and dedication through many of their own contributions. As we move forward, development will present and promote new directions for Monria, and it will be those who believe in what we are doing with Monria, and have faith that the Moon's future is in good hands who will benefit the most, and who will become a solid part of our growing and amazing community.

So what's MY story? ...

• I love Entropia Universe, always have for 11+ years associated with this game
• I just didn't agree at times over the years with how it was delivered, and ..
• despite my intense involvement from a media perspective, and working with Planet Partners and MA officials ...
• I expressed a voice in unison with other players that we weren't treated as respectfully as we should have been
• I was always constructive, but always spoke my mind, and don't regret any of it
• and just for the record -- the Monria Team has an excellent relationship with MindArk
• Here's where I am today ...
• my position with the Monria Team is an offiicial position, and a job, a real job, and one I get paid for, so ...
• I have responsibilities and obligations in this position that keep me quite busy
• I don't always have an opportunity to get into the game but make every effort to do so at least once a day
• the Monria Team is a true partnership, where we discuss possibilities and work on development together
• my position comes with great support and freedom to bring to our community more than I ever could before
• community is first and foremost with us and the most important element that factors into everything we do
• Community Manager in no way encompasses all that I do as part of the Monria Team, but works for now
• if I'm not so present, it's because I have more than just the community to focus on
• I have a great deal of behind-the-scenes projects that keep me engaged, but it's all for the community
• as CFO (Chief Fun Officer -- a title Ant gave me), it allows me to explore my creative side beyond expectation
• the goal is to build a more socially engaged community, and there are a variety of ways to do this
• we are working on these ways and getting superb help from the community because I can't clone myself, and ...
• I need to still work on freeing more time for the writing, and move into our back story and evolving storyline
• many members of our community will become a part of our evolving history as well
• I'm building out a Monria media website, and this will play into our marketing campaigns, but ...
• will also be a benefit to community members and their developing enterprises to gain them more exposure
• when the media site is ready to launch, we will also launch our Monria radio station
• I work with our program teams to make sure that they are taken care of and we support them properly, and ...
• this means putting people in place to help manage these programs to again free me up for other things
• so far, we have fantastic individuals working with us, and their efforts truly benefit the community
• Bottom-Line
• I give 100% toward what I can contribute to help make your experiences on Monria worth your time
• in addition to what Anhithe gives me in support of events and overall community operations, I deposit, because ...
• I want to be able to do more, and I have, by randomly helping our Monrian-born so they can participate more
• I randomly host crazy and spontaneous events to create fun and give unexpected rewards
• during the 5-week Monria Round Robin Tournament, all prizes given during the Wednesday Trials came from me
• ... except for a couple of donations from community members that added extras
• they were decent valued prizes on the hour and half-hour for 6 hours -- that's 12 prizes in all, but ...
• I added 20 ped ammo stacks to each Herman ARK-0 given out to give people an opportunity to hunt more
• I also added 20 ped prizes at the 15 and 45 min mark to make it more exciting - E8ty2nd contributed to this as well
• the majority of my time spent in the game when I can get there is fielding PMs to answer questions
• I spend time in Monria chat to engage with the community, and support their needs in whatever way I can
• I also work with those who help to manage some of our programs
• I spend a great deal of time with event planning and working out the details with staff and community members
• I take on the role of Monria Fleet Manager every Friday and Sunday to support a fantastic Yamato crew
• I manage the forum as an Admin and facilitate the needs of our members, along with field PMs there too, and ...
• I actually have a real life that requires some of my time as well ...
• I take care of my 91 year old Mother that while in good health, suffers from short-term memory loss
• this was due to a mini-stroke in Aug 2014 and makes it incredibly challenging when ...
• she doesn't remember things even 5 minutes later, so you can imagine perhaps how difficult day-to-day is

I wanted to give you at least a bit of an idea of all that I am involved with, along with hopefully an understanding that what I do personally, as well as with the Monria Team, is all for the community because it's just that important to me. We have an exciting road map for Monria, and over time, MA will be implementing our creative ideas that will bring more fun and engagement to the Moon community. Players will either jump on board the Monria Train, or not, and that's ok, because we are more interested in a community that supports what our vision is and works in partnership with us.

We won't be for everyone, but we will always do our best to be for you.

I give deep thanks and appreciation to those who have supported my personal efforts so far, it means a lot.

 

[Ahrotahn]

I wanted to wait a day or so before responding, but now I think it's time to give some clarity to a few things so that this whole topic doesn't derail any further with false impressions or perceptions that give way to potential misunderstanding.

First, there is no secret clique, nor will there ever be one. Right from the beginning, we wanted to give members of our community opportunities, but we were quick to make some decisions that taught us lessons about our decision making. Also from the beginning, we said that we are building the community from the ground up and not actively advertising to take players away from other planets or locations. This meant a focus on our Monrian-born.

As such, we developed programs that offered benefits not only to our Monrian-born, but also to those who got involved with our programs and made a conscious commitment to support what our vision and goals are for Monria. No other location in the universe offers what we do on the Moon with regard to these programs, nor gives their community members any of the opportunities that we do with regard to their new players.

Here's the thing, we aren't going to be for everyone, but we are absolutely genuine in what we want to achieve for the Moon and our community, and over the past 9+ months have invested a great deal of time, effort and funding to accomplish the goals we have set out for ourselves and the community. We've learned some hard lessons, but we have the mindset to adapt and change as needed so that we can stay on course with our road map.

We continue to fine-tune our programs so that they will work efficiently not only for what our needs are, but also for what will work for the community, as well as for those who willingly give of their time to support our efforts. It hasn't worked for some, but it continues to work brilliantly for others, and it is these individuals that we are incredibly indebted to not only for their partnership and service, but also for their creative contributions that help refine our programs even further.

Monria is a business, so it's only logical that we would focus on our Monrian-born and develop programs that would help support their initial experiences on the Moon, but also give them opportunities to explore the rest of the universe. This is where our field trips come into play. However, we've learned through trial and error that it's best to have a solid base of operation with regard to our Mentors Program so that Mentors and their Disciples can both benefit from the field trips.

It only makes sense that we would want an official Monria Mentor to mentor our Monrian-born to give them the benefits and advantages from our programs. We have developed the MNAT Tutorials that we are adding more to over time, and that give our new players basic information to help them make their own decisions as to what direction they want to go. We give them a hunting starter kit only because we learned that trying to indoctrinate them into the inside mining on the Moon wasn't the ideal environment for mining experiences, so our Mentors have explained options.

We want to extend the play time of our Monrian-born, which is why we give them a hunting starter kit of a weapon, initial ammo, and a heal kit, along with giving them solid information either through their official Monria Mentor, the MNAT Tutorials, or through an amazing community of UN-official Moon Ambassadors who are always incredibly helpful with answering questions and guiding those who want to learn. For this we are grateful and appreciative.

With regard to further clarification of the official Monria Mentors program ...

• how we have chosen our official Monria Mentors has changed over time, and ..
• it was with great thought prior to making a decision ... however, we didn't always get it right
• we worked in partnership with those who joined us to develop what would work best, but ...
• we learned some valuable lessons along the way -- adapting and changing is key
• some are gone, and some have stayed to continue supporting changes toward better efficiency
• we invited others to join this effort, and we have been pleasantly surprised by the level of involvement by some
• some are patient and have put forth the effort to keep an eye out for our Monrian-born, and some are not
• the level of Monrian-born spawning on the Moon has its variables, but there are always marketing campaigns
• we don't hold our Monrian-born hostage, but give them an initial understanding to make their own decisions
• the Monria Team supports and funds these efforts, just as we do with all of our programs
• being an official Monria Mentor requires a reasonable amount of time to develop a team of Disciples
• I say "team" because it all plays into The Mentor Games and opportunities to win prizes
• the Mentor Games are also in a state of refinement so that they will be more exciting and beneficial
• we have never required a certain number of Disciples for any of our Mentors
• Kendra actually initiated a contest to make creating a team fun, and offered 500 ped for the first to get 5
• the choices have always been up to the Mentors whether they want to engage or not, however ...
• when we have Mentors not actively engaged and spending more time elsewhere, then changes need to be made
• there is no set amount of time that a Mentor be on the Moon, but at least a reasonable amount of time engaged
• there is a private Mentors forum where they only have to list their Disciples, but with good reason ...
• it lets the rest of the Mentors know who to look out for if a Mentor is away from the Moon for any reason, and ...
• to make sure that they are able to continue with their experiences based on recent changes
• we have dealt with complaints about a couple of past Mentors, but overall, our Mentors are doing a great job

We will expand and continue to refine our official Monria Mentors program, as we will all of our programs, but we are very pleased with the teams that we have in place at the moment who are doing an exceptional job. There will be other opportunities for community members who over time have shown their support and dedication through many of their own contributions. As we move forward, development will present and promote new directions for Monria, and it will be those who believe in what we are doing with Monria, and have faith that the Moon's future is in good hands who will benefit the most, and who will become a solid part of our growing and amazing community.

So what's MY story? ...

• I love Entropia Universe, always have for 11+ years associated with this game
• I just didn't agree at times over the years with how it was delivered, and ..
• despite my intense involvement from a media perspective, and working with Planet Partners and MA officials ...
• I expressed a voice in unison with other players that we weren't treated as respectfully as we should have been
• I was always constructive, but always spoke my mind, and don't regret any of it
• and just for the record -- the Monria Team has an excellent relationship with MindArk
• Here's where I am today ...
• my position with the Monria Team is an offiicial position, and a job, a real job, and one I get paid for, so ...
• I have responsibilities and obligations in this position that keep me quite busy
• I don't always have an opportunity to get into the game but make every effort to do so at least once a day
• the Monria Team is a true partnership, where we discuss possibilities and work on development together
• my position comes with great support and freedom to bring to our community more than I ever could before
• community is first and foremost with us and the most important element that factors into everything we do
• Community Manager in no way encompasses all that I do as part of the Monria Team, but works for now
• if I'm not so present, it's because I have more than just the community to focus on
• I have a great deal of behind-the-scenes projects that keep me engaged, but it's all for the community
• as CFO (Chief Fun Officer -- a title Ant gave me), it allows me to explore my creative side beyond expectation
• the goal is to build a more socially engaged community, and there are a variety of ways to do this
• we are working on these ways and getting superb help from the community because I can't clone myself, and ...
• I need to still work on freeing more time for the writing, and move into our back story and evolving storyline
• many members of our community will become a part of our evolving history as well
• I'm building out a Monria media website, and this will play into our marketing campaigns, but ...
• will also be a benefit to community members and their developing enterprises to gain them more exposure
• when the media site is ready to launch, we will also launch our Monria radio station
• I work with our program teams to make sure that they are taken care of and we support them properly, and ...
• this means putting people in place to help manage these programs to again free me up for other things
• so far, we have fantastic individuals working with us, and their efforts truly benefit the community
• Bottom-Line
• I give 100% toward what I can contribute to help make your experiences on Monria worth your time
• in addition to what Anhithe gives me in support of events and overall community operations, I deposit, because ...
• I want to be able to do more, and I have, by randomly helping our Monrian-born so they can participate more
• I randomly host crazy and spontaneous events to create fun and give unexpected rewards
• during the 5-week Monria Round Robin Tournament, all prizes given during the Wednesday Trials came from me
• ... except for a couple of donations from community members that added extras
• they were decent valued prizes on the hour and half-hour for 6 hours -- that's 12 prizes in all, but ...
• I added 20 ped ammo stacks to each Herman ARK-0 given out to give people an opportunity to hunt more
• I also added 20 ped prizes at the 15 and 45 min mark to make it more exciting
• the majority of my time spent in the game when I can get there is fielding PMs to answer questions
• I spend time in Monria chat to engage with the community, and support their needs in whatever way I can
• I also work with those who help to manage some of our programs
• I spend a great deal of time with event planning and working out the details with staff and community members
• I take on the role of Monria Fleet Manager every Friday and Sunday to support a fantastic Yamato crew
• I manage the forum as an Admin and facilitate the needs of our members, along with field PMs there too, and ...
• I actually have a real life that requires some of my time as well ...
• I take care of my 91 year old Mother that while in good health, suffers from short-term memory loss
• this was due to a mini-stroke in Aug 2014 and makes it incredibly challenging when ...
• she doesn't remember things even 5 minutes later, so you can imagine perhaps how difficult day-to-day is

I wanted to give you at least a bit of an idea of all that I am involved with, along with hopefully an understanding that what I do personally, as well as with the Monria Team, is all for the community because it's just that important to me. We have an exciting road map for Monria, and over time, MA will be implementing our creative ideas that will bring more fun and engagement to the Moon community. Players will either jump on board the Monria Train, or not, and that's ok, because we are more interested in a community that supports what our vision is and works in partnership with us.

We won't be for everyone, but we will always do our best to be for you.

I give deep thanks and appreciation to those who have supported my personal efforts so far, it means a lot.

You do a great job. Thank you for all the Monria staff as well as experienced players do on a daily basis. I think its a pretty fair statement that Monria has a lower population than Arkadia, but I feel far more connected here than I ever did there simply because people make the effort here.

Also thank you guys for being so communicative. I personally believe you are 100% correct that keeping the community involved and informed keeps a more stable and viable community (aka more income) from people sticking around. I personally have never cycled more PED in the game than I have here. Even though the economy is slower, I have more fun on a moon where I feel like the ownership team actually listens to and cares about its community.

 

[DarkMoonEnigma]

You do a great job. Thank you for all the Monria staff as well as experienced players do on a daily basis. I think its a pretty fair statement that Monria has a lower population than Arkadia, but I feel far more connected here than I ever did there simply because people make the effort here.

Also thank you guys for being so communicative. I personally believe you are 100% correct that keeping the community involved and informed keeps a more stable and viable community (aka more income) from people sticking around. I personally have never cycled more PED in the game than I have here. Even though the economy is slower, I have more fun on a moon where I feel like the ownership team actually listens to and cares about its community.

Thank you for that Ahrotahn, it's always nice to hear what it is about Monria that brings people here, but also what their experiences are. We have an amazing community, and we do our best to keep people engaged. Our content didn't make the VU yesterday because it wasn't quite ready, but we're hoping that it will be in the Patch next week. If so, then it will be the beginning of some fun and interesting times.

We have some specific plans in place and looking forward to it. :clap

We have a wonderful road map, and Ant works tirelessly with MindArk behind the scenes to get our ideas implemented, which they very much like. It's just a matter of timing. It's a good time to be on the Moon.

 

[sluggo]

Quick question. Since we are doing a story line here, and going for a suspension of reality here to immerse people into the alternate reality of Monria.

Monria does not have any weather, how do the sands shift?

sluggo

 

[Eugenio Anhithe Wilde]

Quick question. Since we are doing a story line here, and going for a suspension of reality here to immerse people into the alternate reality of Monria.

Monria does not have any weather, how do the sands shift?

sluggo

If we can be a Moon without orbiting a planet I'm sure we can shift some sand ;)

 

[DarkMoonEnigma]

Quick question. Since we are doing a story line here, and going for a suspension of reality here to immerse people into the alternate reality of Monria.

Monria does not have any weather, how do the sands shift?

sluggo

It's called --> creative license, poetic license, artistic license <-- and a writer's literary choice to weave the fabric of a story within the bounds of imagination, and sometimes even beyond. It's used to create a specific effect and evoke a visual that lends itself to setting a scene. Fictional writers employ words that invite readers to open their minds to possibilities.

If you haven't noticed, this has happened a lot with the Kipling Chronicles that will soon transition into Monria's back story, and then into our official storyline that will evolve Monria's history.

We may not have weather, but the digital shifting sands of Monria will have a place in its evolving history.

As a sidenote --> the phrase shifting sands has been used metaphorically as a descriptor for a very long time.

​

L. Frank Baum took us across the Shifting Sands and right down a Yellow Brick Road.

Sluggo, do you not read fiction?

 

[sluggo]

I read fiction a lot, and the difference between a great author and just another starving artist are in the details. Just ask Stephen King as an example of a great author. Creativity is one thing, using someone elses style is another. Just ask Millie Vanillie Given the vibrancy and darkness of the moon, I just wasn't expecting cliches'. My bad.

sluggo