Entropia Universe Will Disappear and Come Back With BitTorrent
Written by enigmax on August 15, 2009Billed as “the first virtual universe with a real cash economy” Entropia Universe, one of the most successful massively multiplayer online role-playing games around, will go offline in two days time. When it returns with its Version Update 10.0 and updated CryEngine2 engine, users will be able to get it with BitTorrent.
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (better known as MMORPGs) are online worlds where huge numbers of players can interact. The genre is extremely popular with the most popular game being World of Warcraft – it has a colossal 11.5+ million subscribers.
Another successful MMORPG is Entropia Universe. Designed by Swedish company MindArk, the game’s software is completely free of charge and there are no subscription fees. Instead, the game employs a type of micropayment system whereby the player can use real world money to buy in-game currency known as PED – Project Entropia Dollars. The neat part is that items purchased within the game have a real-life monetary value, since PEDs can be withdrawn from the game and changed back into real-life money.
Currently operating on Version 9.4, the entire Entropia Universe will be shut down at 00:00 UTC on Monday August 17th in preparation for Version 10 of the client which will follow a few days later.
However, for publisher MindArk the bandwidth implications for its 800,000 plus subscribers grabbing an update are significant – the Version 10 update is a whopping 4gig in size but as regular readers of TorrentFreak will be aware, it’s a cost that can be hugely reduced with everyone’s favorite swarming technology.
From last night the brand new version of the client (utilizing Crytec’s CryEngine2) was made available for pre-launch download via the Planet Calypso site – and for the first time, using BitTorrent of course.
BitTorrent use is becoming increasingly popular with MMORPGs like World of Warcraft, Project Powder, Fiesta Online and GodsWar which all use the protocol to save on bandwidth costs.
Users wanting to grab the update can do so here. If you’re new to BitTorrent and want to learn how it all works before you take the plunge, here are some handy TorrentFreak guides to get you started.
Previously: uTorrent Still on Top, BitComet’s Market Share Plummets
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29 Responses
at last a legal / popular use for bit torrent
800,000? This could be an all time record for nodes on a torrent.
Woopy doo. Entropia is, in essence, a large slot machine. push one button and you might get 1/100 of a cent for free. push another, and money you put in might be doubled or lost. And if you put in more than the yearly wage of the average american, you can exploit the machine to give you a decent, constant profit.
@Vez, No doubt wow holds the record for that, unless they use multiple torrents and don’t tell people to keep the tracker’s load down. I believe their China player base is around 5million players.
You are a biatch Entropia. You know we hate torrents.
Is it bad if I’ve never heard of this game before now? That said, I don’t play RPGs much.
@Vez & @Chris: One or two Lost season finales have beat 500 000, just while I was online. I have little doubt the 800 000 mark has already been broken, and not by another game…
2nd life also has a real cash economy and grand espada is also close to this one in file size the trouble with mmo’s are is that they are so easily hacked mmosite.com lists pretty much every mmo game there is from downloaded games to browser based. a online game with a real life economy isnt nothing new. all though putting the unreal engine in one cant be to bad
You spelled Crytek wrong in the article its crytek not crytec
Is it bad if I’ve never heard of this game before now? That said, I don’t play RPGs much.
http://www.carforall.net
>items purchased within the game have a real-life monetary value, since PEDs can be withdrawn from the game and changed back into real-life money.
Holy shit, I need to play this.
wow how gay can you get enigmax removing and moderating comments that dont even say anything bad against anyone lame lame lame lame lame….i know why it was removed because i dont suck the piratebays cock
same as second life. crap!
Wait… how hard is it to get 10 PEDs…
1 Aug 15, 2009 at 15:26 by you
at last a legal / popular use for bit torrent
Ever heard of World of Warcraft? The update system uses Bittorrent. Ever heard of Dystopia (an HL2 mod)? There are torrents for downloading the mod, just like many other mods. Get out of your hole and observe the world around you.
World Of Warcraft uses bittorrent with a http source for one of their updates…
the one i downloaded when i tried it once and hated the game Guild Wars was so much better til they banned me
lol wow uses bitorrent for a small update. so fucking what!. update thats it.
You got to love MMoRPG – maysign up anf give it a go.
Nice to see big corp cutting cost buy using our bandwidth…
http://www.epictorrents.com
@12 (rxmmDX):
As far as I know, the exchange rate is $1 USD for 10 PED (Guinness World Records, 2006).
Hi,
My name is David Simmonds from Mindark PE AB the company behind Entropia Universe.
Firstly I would like to say we are very happy to be able to offer our customers the chance to download from BitTorrent.
I will answer a few comments in this thread but if you would like to read more about Mindark and Entropia Universe please visit our web pages.
Entropia Universe is the first real cash economy with a fixed rate to the USD, its free to download with no subscriptions, you can deposit and withdraw real money. Mindark has be granted by the Swedish Financial inspectors a real would bank licence, this gives our customers confidence their deposited money is safe in a real bank with all the guarantees that come with it. Our security for the EU and our customers money is higher than most banks!
You can experience Entropia Universe for free, even earn real money! but just like real life you need to deposit if you want to skip the more mundane tasks and get to the fun straight away!
If you expect to have an easy life in Entropia Universe your wrong, just like real life you have to plan and take the right choices to succeed! shooting you guns in air like a wild west film might seem a fun thing to do but dont complain about loosing money .-). play smart!
With the new graphic upgrades and major corporations building their own planets the Entropia Universe is the place to watch(and be)
–
How many people do play this game? Just wondering.
@1, 15, 16, 17
Just to set things right: Blizzard has been using bittorrent technology for a (long) while now. Their WoW updates have been using torrents for years – including big ones with several GB in size.
Their new Battle.net accounts allow you to add all your Blizzard games to your account with the corresponding serials – you can subsequently download any of your games by bittorrent, just like the WoW updates; no more CD required.
And yes, I’m pretty sure they are holding the record when it comes to biggest swarm with their latest big WoW update. Seeing how they use their own implementation/client, it’s hard to monitor, though.
Cheers.
The above message allegedly written by David Simmonds is riddled with spelling mistakes, and obviously was written by a kid masquerading as a MinArk employee (the company that makes Entropia Universe). Please be assured the person who wrote that message is most definitely not a MindArk employee.
This is a good game which I play, which should be judged apart. The learning curve is difficult, but its the perfect game for the smarter batch in this world. It’s possible to play for free; it’s possible to play for 20 bucks a month; and it’s possible to play for 1000 dollars a month. It all boils down to what you do and buy in game, and how you play. Give this game a shot, and stick with it. Don’t get sucked into the same ritualistic patterns of Wow, of the same old boring quest, and the same flat monthly fee which allows everyone to be equal. One thing in Entropia is for sure, and that, because of it’s model, everyone isn’t equal!
@ Jasper van Weerd
The more hard core player base is something like 10k people. The amount that log on every month or so might be upwards the 30k mark.
“since PEDs can be withdrawn from the game and changed back into real-life money.”
I ran across this game on a torrent site and looked up some info on it. Although the story is nice, it seems that paying out for most people is not happening…
Still curious what they can do with the CryEngine2 on a MMORPG ;).
The above statement from someone claiming to be from Mindark could actually well be. They are not native english speakers so that could explain a number of the spelling and grammer mistakes.
I also play the game and agree with the rough figures posted saying approx 10k hard core players and I’d say possibly more than 30k more like 40-50k players that log in at least once per month.
It is not a game like most other MMORPG’s. If you wish to play without putting money in then it can be very difficult to make money just like in real life. I find that kind of gameplay rewarding, however, and I’ve never deposited at all. I do know some people that have deposted thousands of dollars worth of money and spent a lot of it. It all depends on you as a person and how you view the game and how well you handle your money. The average person wanting to play it as a game should expect to be spending money not earning it and budget accordingly.
“Although the story is nice, it seems that paying out for most people is not happening…”
The story is nice.
You get payed out when u ask to be payed out.
You are very badly informed.
Been playing Entropia for about 5 years now, on and off. I quit after a couple of years and went back with some large deposits off credit card. Not managed more than 9 months in any other mmorg.
Had to reply to 25. I’ve made two big withdrawals from Entropia. The total of the two is proabably arround $10k, both concluded within 12 weeks of request.
Entropia is what it is: a source of entertainment for most, a cash cow for some, and a gambling addiction for others.
Words of caution are all over the internet. Anyone who blames the game for their horrendous loses are out of their minds. You choose to depo, you choose to risk.
That’s my word of warning. Play smart and choose smart, and definitely check it out. It looks like it will be beautiful! Can’t wait to log back in.
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