I tried Second Life a year ago and I wasn’t really sure what it was before. It was more like a 3D chat system than a game.

What is Second Life?

According to the site: Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by a total of 6,985,668 people from around the globe. […continue reading Second Life, try it!]

Ah, Entropia Universe… marketed as a Virtual Universe with a Real Cash Economy and rightly so. Non-depositors, like myself, will have a very hard time getting started forcing them to quit or make a deposit.

Title: Entropia Universe
Site: www.entropiauniverse.com
Publisher/Developer: MindArk
Access: Free 2 Play

Entropia Universe is marketed like a real universe that is backed by a real cash economy. It means that in-game money (PED) you gain can be withdrawn at a conversion rate of 1 USD = 10 PED (Project Entropia Dollar) and vice versa. You can also deposit real cash and use the converted PED in your virtual life in the Entropia Universe.

Graphics and Sounds

The graphics of Entropia Universe is very good. Even at lower 16 bit settings the visuals remain good to look at. The character models could be better but they are not bad. The game’s GUI isn’t cluttered and has a huge window that will allow you to see the surrounding area better. Virtual world has great terrains and the surrounding environment are well textured giving it some realism.

I haven’t heard all the sounds effects and background music in Entropia Universe but I already have one sound that annoys me very much and that’s the voodoo like chant you’ll hear when you are concentrating for some mindforce.

Gameplay

The best way to get started in Entropia Universe is by depositing some funds to your account. You can convert that to PED and use the money to buy starter kits like a first-aid kit but depositing is not required. In fact, you can play the game without depositing ever since there are no Item Malls. Everything you’ll need is in the game. Anyways, in Entropia Universe, the goal is to exist, to survive, to strive and to become self-sufficient.

Depositors can immediately use the money they deposited to get them started. They can hunt, mine, tame or craft. All of these activities require some amount of PED but players can treat their deposit as an investment because once they are settled in the profession they selected they will eventually gain profit from it (that is if they’re good at managing their investment).

Non-depositors will have to work harder to get started. They can either gather vibrant sweat, collect fruits and dungs and grab oil from the oil field. They can sell these items to other players to earn the PED they need to get started. You see, in Entropia Universe, you start with nothing and you can’t do anything except for the three things that were mentioned above.

There are various things a player can do in Entropia Universe. They can open shops, buy land or real estate, advertise, do auctions, etc. It’s up to you to decide.

By the way, dying in Entropia Universe has no penalty. You can die as many times you want without losing anything. Isn’t that great!

Lag and Community

As far as community goes, Entropia Universe has one of the best community. I’ve met many players, both old and new, who willingly help others. Well, they don’t give out PED but they’ll help you understand how the game works, they’ll answer questions and even show you around. Don’t get me wrong, there are also some bad apples but fortunately the good out weighs the bad in Entropia.

Like in many massively multiplayer worlds, there will be some form of lag in crowded areas but since you’ll be outside most of the time then it will not be much of a problem.

Price

Entropia Universe is free to play and free to download. I don’t think you can go cheaper than that.

Fun Factor

What makes Entropia Universe fun is the challenge of making your character self-sufficient but many non-depositors get frustrated easy.

Overall Entropia Universe is good and is worth a try it has enough unique features that sets it apart from traditional mmorpgs. Getting started maybe hard but you’ll learn the basic mechanics of the game and gain some important skills like Evade while gathering vibrant sweat.

Rating: 8/10

Dungeon Runners is a free to download and free to play online RPG published by NCSoft (publisher of City of Heroes/Villains, Lineage 1 and 2, GuildWars Series, Auto Assault, Tabula Rasa and other titles). Unlike NCSoft’s other titles, Dungeon Runners can be played absolutely FREE.

Title: Dungeon Runners
Site: www.dungeonrunners.com
Publisher: NCSoft
Access: Free 2 Play | Paid Membership

What is Dungeon Runners?

Dungeon Runners is not like your typical MMORPG. For one, it doesn’t have a persistent world where everybody can roam around instead every area in Dungeon Runners is instanced (except maybe Townston). If you have played GuildWars then you’ll know exactly what I mean. For those who have not played GuildWars then instancing means that you’ll have your very own private copy of the map/dungeon you are entering. Once you goes through that portal out of town, you will be in your own map/area/dungeon. No one can enter it except you unless of course you are in a group then everyone in your group will share the same instance of a map/area/dungeon.

Dungeon Runners is, in it’s simplest form, an online RPG. Just like single player RPGs, you create a character, explore the world around you, do various quest and kill hundreds of creatures but in Dungeon Runners, you don’t have to explore and kill monsters alone. Form a group with other players and head out together. You’ll experience lots of action and loads of fun.

Graphics & Sound

Dungeon Runners’ graphics isn’t extra ordinary but it isn’t that bad too. The character models look kinda stiff but I guess I’m just used to seeing Asian/Anime style character models. The colors are a little bright for me and I think that the game has a cartoon feel to it.

One thing I can’t understand about Dungeon Runners is that my machine is having a hard time running it in higher graphics mode. I can run GuildWars and City of Villains with almost no problem in higher graphic settings but with Dungeon Runners the animation just chops badly. I don’t know if there is something wrong with the game or with my machine. Anyway, the game still looks good at lower graphic settings.

The selection in character creation is very limited so there won’t be much variations from other player created characters but it is not overwhelming like Second Life’s character creation so you’ll be able to get in to the game quickly.

Dungeon Runners’ opening music very nice. It has that old medieval feel to it. The sound effects kinda reminded me of GuildWars. The NPC voiceovers are kinda cool too.

Gameplay

Dungeon Runners’ gameplay is quite simple. You take a quest, get out of town and enter a dungeon, kill monsters, complete your mission, report back to the NPC after completion. You develop your character by allocating status points every time you level up. Further development can be achieved through the various (although similar looking) items that monsters drop when killed. Looting won’t be a problem since the dungeon is exclusive to you or to your group only and dropped items are pre-assigned to its owner, just like in GuildWars.

In Dungeon Runners, you can choose to play a Fighter, a Mage and a Ranger. Each type has its pros and cons but I prefer to fight in close combat hence I chose to play a fighter. You’ll be equipped with basic armor and weapon and it’s up to you to improve on that. Don’t worry, it’s not that hard and you’ll get all the items you’ll ever need as you play.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any form of PVP in Dungeon Runner and the official site did not mention anything about it. So, it’s safe to assume that there won’t be any PVP in Dungeon Runners (for now at least).

Lag and Community

I did mention that I’m experiencing some weird animation chops with Dungeon Runner but besides that there is still some amount of lag in game. I’ve experienced a few “death by lag” incidents. This happens when everything stops and after a few seconds everything move but your dead already.

There seems to be an active community composed of not so many players. The world chat is always active. You’ll find a lot of chit-chat going on.

Price and Customer Service

The great thing about NCSoft is that they provide great customer service and there customer support team responds quickly to inquiries. This is based on my personal experience back when I was still playing City of Villains.

Dungeon Runners’ price can’t be beat! Why? Because it’s FREE TO DOWNLOAD and PLAY although there is an option to become a paying subscriber or member. Paying members get tons of goodies like strong items, storage, stackable potions, etc.

Fun Factor

Overall, Dungeon Runner is fun to play. Casual and hardcore gamers will surely find it enjoyable as it is. You can play it for free or you can become a member and take your gaming experience a notch higher.

If you want to experience or just try out Dungeon Runners then just post a comment with your e-mail and I will send an invite to you! Come on try it!

Rating: 7/10