Treasure Hunt #1: 19th February – 5th March

Today I’ll start the first event. The event will last 2 weeks (or until someone finds the treasure).

It’s absolutely free. NO COSTS, NO REGISTRATION! Everyone can simply join and search for the treasure. Once you found it, submit a screenshot at

Before you start, make sure to read the FAQ and the Rules.

The event

I’ve hidden a small treasure somewhere on Eudoria. It’s TT value isn’t high, in order to prevent from people profiting who aren’t participating. Once you found this treasure, you have to make a screenshot which shows your avatar, the item on the ground, current time and position (P-Key in-game) as well as your name visible and your skills window sorted by points so we can verify that you’re qualified for the event. Don’t for get to add the current event password/key-phrase

Important: Make sure to use the current event password/key-phrase when submitting your screenshots! The event password/key-phrase will change regularly, so make sure you’ll check out often enough to see if there are new hints and/or event password/key-phrase.

The wining pot will be 10 PED for now, this may grow up if the events become more popular and the payout rate is 100%. Every time, a new hint is released where to find the treasure, the payout rate will be reduced by 25%.

The Hints

Hint #1

The treasure is located somewhere inside the red area. The current event’s

 

Hint #2

Well it’s more like extra information, as i realized that “Animal Oil” is often placed by players and made “stucked” so it can’t be picked up. I will only use items for the treasure hunt event which can be picked up again. The main reason is that after a few events there would be many old “treasures” left and I’m no fan of trashing up the world.

Well, the actual treasure i have hidden somewhere in the red area are 2 Lysterium ingots!

I also decided to increase the winning pot to 20.00 PED as 10.00 PED seemed a bit low for the beginning and the duration of the event.

Hint #3

As the participation seems somewhat low, I’ll give out the next hint.

Hint #4

One additional hint: It’s near or inside an structure (vehicle, building, wreckage etc.)

Hint #5

Update: Today the second time the treasure was picked up, but no submission came. I replaced it. If anyone comes with an better idea on how to handle this without random people picking it up (and without “locking” it), drop me an email at

For the introduction events (and the low winning pot) there won’t be any payout penalties for hints. How ever, in later events with higher winning pots, penalties may be applied.

Donators/Sponsors

Currently there are no Donators/Sponsors

Winning pot

The current winning pot consists of:

• Advertisement/My own Money: 20.00 PED
• Donations: 0.00 PED
• Sponsors: 0.00 PED
• Total: 20.00 PED
• Payout: 20.00 PED (100%)

How does it work?

It’s very simple, really! You just need to walk through the given area and search for it. Once you think you found it, make a screenshot with the necessary information visible in the screen shot (check out the Rules before starting!) and set it to

Important: Be sure to have 2 things in the subject-line of the mail “Entropia Treasure Hunt” and the current event’s password.
Example: If the current event’s password is “beginner”, the email subject has to be “Entropia Treasure Hunt – beginner”.

The current password can be found on the right side in the navigation!!!

You can basically submit as much screenshots as you want, however to many may disqualify you, especially if we notice that you’re trying to cheat (i.e. faked or edited screenshots). Screenshots have to be in JPEG or PNG format, BITMAPS won’t be accepted!!!

Also, you don’t have to look for all the time. You can just normally go out and hunt or do mining and if you find accidently find it, submit the picture.

If you have any questions, ask it either in the comments or send a mail to

Hope many people will participate and if you’re in-game business owner who wants to sponsor one of the future events, send an email to the address above.

Happy treasure hunting!

Rules

1. Participation

Participation is only allowed for

§1 Entropia participants (called players) who haven’t graduation in Entropia yet (called newcomers)

§2 and players who haven’t met a certain skill level in their graduation relevant skills

Graduation Skill	Newcomer	Max. allowed
Coloring	1900	3000
Concentration	1900	3000
Engineering	1900	3000
First Aid	1900	3000
Handgun	1900	3000
Longblade	1900	3000
Make Clothes	1900	3000
Power Fist	1900	3000
Prospecting	600	1200
Rifle	2000	3000
Shortblades	1900	3000
Surveying	600	1200

§3 if you’re not a an known (big) reseller, estate broker or land owner. The reason for excluding this group of players from participation is, because we see no need for giving out prices to people who are already wealthy enough in-game and want help the “normal” and low-level people with some money

§4 Participation is absolutely FREE! There are no hidden fees or charges!

§5 No registration is required

2. Qualification

§1 Submissions

In order to determinate the winner, you’ll need to submit a screenshot to prove that you’ve found the hidden treasure. However, there are some rules on submitting screenshots and if you don’t meet them, you will be disqualified. So make sure, the following information are visible:

• You character should be visible!
• The treasure should be visible and targeted on the ground, so we can validate that you’ve found the the correct item
• The exact position should be visible in the chat window (you display the position by pressing the P-Key in-game)
• The exact time should be visible in the chat (you can display it by pressing C-Key in-game)
• Your Full Name needs to be visible in either the UI near the radar or by displaying the “Avatar Info” Window. Without full name, it’s impossible to exactly identify the winner
• Minimap should be visible on the screenshot too
• An event password or key phrase needs to be visible in the screenshot. Either in chat window itself or in the chat box (where you enter the the text, but before sending it, if you fear that there are players around who could hear you ;))
• And last but not least: Your Avatar Skills window, sorted by points have to be visible!
• Only Screenshots in jpg, jpeg2000 and png formats are allowed! NO BITMAP (*.BMP) OR TARGA (*.TGA) SUBMISSIONS!
• Make sure to post your avatars full name and society in the mail too, so it will make it for us easier to identify you, if some information are missing in the screenshot (i.e. your name isn’t fully displayed in the screenshot etc.)

The number of submission isn’t limited, however we reserve the right to disqualify certain player if they send in to many submissions within a certain time, to prevent cheating etc.

§2 Disqualification

If one of the points above is not met, we may disqualify you from the event. If you get disqualified or not will be decided in a case-by-case situation and depending what kind of information are missing. For example, if the time is missing but other things are ok, you may be still qualify for the event.

You may also be disqualified if one of the cases below is true

• Editing Screenshots: Basically it’s not allowed to edit Screenshots with a few exceptions, to protect players privacy
  1. You may hide your current account balance (the one next to the radar) by overlapping the amount with a small black box in your favorite image editor.
  
  Or if you don’t have an image editor, extract the PEDs from your card and place it in your inventory before making the screenshot
  2. You may hide your party window, if you’re in a party. This includes the HP bars/names of all party members as well as the group name
  3. You may not hide your friend list. Instead, close the friend list before you take the screenshot
  4. If you’re having a private discussion with friends (in-game private message system), you may hide the discussion only if the discussion was important and you can’t close the window, otherwise prefer closing window before taking the screenshot
• Number of submissions: Basically you’re free to send as many submissions as you want. However, if we decide that you’re sending to many within a short period of time, we reserve the right to temporary or permanently ban you from this and further events or if you’re sending huge e-Mails (i.e. with TGA or BMP formats) or if you send edited/faked pictures in an attempt to cheat. In most cases you will be warned before
• If you don’t met the requirements listed under “Qualifications”, for example your skills is to high or you’re missing some vital information
  

3. Event rules

§1 Duration of the event

The event will usually last 1-2 weeks. If the treasure wasn’t found within this this time, the event will be restarted. The pot will be taken over from last event and in most cases also be increased as well. Once started, you will be able to participate 24 hours per day until the event ends.

§2 Start of the event

The regular events will be starting at Thursday/Friday evening, so the players will have the first weekend after event start to search for the treasure. We decided that this is the fairest solution for people who have a job.

However, there may be cases, where the event will be started on non-regular days, for example a premature event occurs and the treasure hunt needs to be restarted.

§3 Premature events

The event may ends prematurely, if one of the follow events occur:

• A player who found the treasure was disqualified (i.e. his skill is to high, or he made fatal errors in the submission, making it impossible to identify him)
• Someone who is not participating in the treasure hunt found that item. In this case we may either restart the event, drop an replacement item on the same position or choose a new position

§4 Winning conditions

The winner is determinated by the first-comes-fist-services principle. First person to find and submit a screenshot showing the treasure (See Qualification rules above) and is qualified for the event wins. In order to win, it’s important to have the right password or key-phrase visible in the screenshot.

§5 Event password/key-phrase

In order to qualify for the event, you’ll need to provide a given password or key phrase in your chat and mail subject in order to validate it.

The event password/key phrase will change regularly during the event, so make sure to regularly check out the event website.

The password/key-phrase has some important roles in the event. First it’s to help validating the screenshots. It can also mark certain stages of the event (i.e. after the event was restarted due to any of the premature events above) or when additional tips are given where to find the treasure

§6 Tips & Hints

From time to time, we’ll give some hints if we see that the participation is low or people have problems finding the treasure. Every time a tip/hint is given, the payout amount will be reduced by 25%.

In other words, there will be max. 4 Hints at any given time (100%, 75%, 50%, 25%) before the event ends. The money which isn’t paid out, won’t be lost! It will be added to the next events winning pot!

Example: After the 3rd Tip, the winning payout is 50%. If the winning pot is 100 PED, this means 50 PED will be the winning price. The other 50 PED will be used for the next event additionally to the normal winning pot.

Sponsoring

§1 Who can sponsor the event

Basically everyone could act as sponsor. Sponsors will be mentioned in the current events post. If a sponsor owns an business, shop or offers an in-game he can also submit a short description of his business as well as a link and banner (if available) to his homepage.

§2 Participation

Sponsors aren’t allowed to participate in the current event, they are sponsoring. However, if they don’t act as sponsor in the next event, they are allowed to participate, if they meet the Participation Rules listed above.

§4 Donations

Donators may donate PEDs and items to the event. Their names will be added to the Donators list of the current event, if they wish to be added. The difference to sponsors however is, Donators are allowed to participate if they meet the Participation conditions above

§5 Winning Pot Contribution

• Donations: 75% of all donations will be contributed to the winning pot
• Sponsoring: 50% of all sponsoring will be contributed to the winning pot
• Advertisement: 50% of all advertisement income, will be contributed to the winning pot (this is basically my money I’m putting into this project and make the prices more attractive)
• In-game items: Sponsored and donated items will calculated by
• their TT value, if the Markup is less than 200% (on stackable items) or TT+50 (on non-stackable items)
  
  Example:
  An crafter sponsors an OreAmp OA-102 (L). TT Value is 100.00 PED, Markup 115% (115 PED). It’s lower than 200% so we use the TT value:
  100.00 PED, 75.00 PED will be contributed to the winning pool. Since it’s an item, 25.00 PED will be taken out and the AMP will be placed in.
  
• 75% of their markup value if their value > 200% or TT+50
  
  Example:
  A weapon with a Market Value of TT+100 PED, TT Value 50 PED. That’s 150 total. 75% of this is 112.50 PED. This value will be taken. Now 75%/50% of this will go into the winning pool, in other words: 84.37 PED. The difference will be taken out (if there are enough PEDs in the winning pool. If there isn’t enough PEDs in the pool, the remaining pets will be taken.

§6 Payouts

The payouts will usually occur 1-2 days after the event ends. We will contact the winner and set a date for the meeting.

FAQ – Entropia Universe Treasure Hunt

General Questions

What is Entropia Universe Treasure Hunt?

Entropia Universe Treasure Hunt will be events organized by myself, Odessa. The goal is to bring a bit fun into the game and also to help newcomers with some prices to win.

Participation

Who will be able to participate?

In the beginning phase, only newcomers and low level people will be allowed to participate to make it fair, as they are the ones who could benefit most from the winning prices

How do you define low level people?

Good question. It’s hard to draw a line, as Entropia Universe isn’t your typical MMO where you have fixed levels. Basically, low level in Entropia takes to factors into account

• Skill/Profession levels
• Equipment/Wealth of the said player

That being said, wealthy people or people with very high skills, will be disqualified for the moment. Note that this may change in future, if the project becomes more successful.

And how do you define newcomers?

Newcomers will be defined the same way, MindArk decided for the Mentor system. In other words: If a player is below the mark for the one profession, he’s a newcomer.

• Coloring: 1900
• Concentration: 1900
• Engineering: 1900
• First Aid: 1900
• Handgun: 1900
• Longblade: 1900
• Make Clothes: 1900
• Power Fist: 1900
• Prospecting: 600
• Rifle: 2000
• Shortblades: 1900
• Surveying: 600

Is there any fee to participate?

Nope. No FEES, absolutely FREE!

Do I have to register somewhere to participate?

Nope, no registration is required

How do you determinate who wins?

First one to find the treasure and send a screenshot wins.

Event

How does the treasure hunt works?

I’ll drop an item somewhere in the Entropia Universe (it will on Calypso, there won’t be events on The Club Neverdie, so that everyone can participate). Then the event will be started. I will or not (not decided yet to be honest) announce what item i dropped and maybe give a rough idea where it is (it won’t be too accurate). Then the participants have to go out and seek it.

If you think you have found it, make a screenshot with yourself, the item (visible on the ground), the your position (pressing P-Key in-game), the current time (pressing C-Key in-game) and your Highest Professional Standings visible.

Wow, that’s much stuff I need to provide!

Well, right. But it’s necessary in order to prove that you’ve found it and that you’re qualified for the win and to keep it fair to the participants.

What item will we need to search for?

It will be different every time the event starts in order to prevent people from trying to cheat and also to make it easier to distinguish the submitted Screenshot from old submissions.

What will the rewards be?

Currently, only monetary rewards are planed. In other words Project Entropia Dollars (PEDs). Late we’ll maybe expand it to items like resources, armors and weapons!

Who is going to pay out the winnings?

At the beginning, I’ll be paying it out of my pockets. However, wining prices won’t be that high at the beginning.

Later it’s planed to increase the winning pots by

• Donations from other players
• Sponsoring – Entropia Business owners can apply as sponsors and a link to their homepage (if they have any) and short description of their business will be added to the event mentioning that they’re being sponsors for a small fee
• I’ll be investing a part of my advertise income into the winning pot, to make it more attractive by having higher winning pots

Will there be certain factors which determinates the high of the winning pot?

Yes. As stated above, it will depend on the donation, sponsoring and my income from advertisement. Basically the more people participate and visit this page, the more it will be probable that the winning pot will be high.

Also another factor comes into the play. If an event phase ends without any winner, the current winning pot will be taken over to the new event plus the new prices from the sources above.

So it’s really free?

Yes, it is.

When will the event start and how long will it last?

We haven’t determinated a the time span and starting dates. However we’re thinking about starting it every Thursday and let the event last for 1 or 2 weeks, before it will end automatically.

What happens if no one finds the hidden treasure?

Well, after the time is up and no one has found the treasure, the event will be ended and the treasure will be placed in another place.

What happens if someone other picks up the item, who is not participating the event?

We will check regularly if the placed item is still there. If not we’ll end the event and restart it again.

We’re also considering to replacing the item, but this has the risk that the person who looted that item before will come back to loot it again

I live in the USA which has much different time zone than Entropia? Can i still participate?

Yes! The treasure hunt event is not bound to any specific times. Once it starts, you can participate 24 hours per day until the event ends

How can I support Entropia Universe Treasure Hunt?

One way how everyone could support is, is by disabling your banner and popup blocker, as part of the winning pots will come from advertisement. Making the advertisements visible, will help to increase the pot.

Another way to support us, is to recommend us to your Entropia Universe friends! The more people visit and participate, the bigger the winning pots can be.

You can also donate or become sponsor (read Rules for more information)

How do i contact you/where to submit the screenshot?

If you want to donate, become sponsor or have questions according the treasure hunt, send a mail to

Submission screenshots can be sent to

If you for any reason send screenshots to the first email address it will be deleted immediately and not being counted. Only submissions to the special email address created for the event will count!

new I’ve found an item, but can’t pick it up. Could this be the treasure?

Short answer: No. Long answer:

• I’ve decided that all treasures could be picked up. This way the founder can pick it up and make sure, that no other can do an submission and claims it for his own.
• On the other side, it’s good for the environment too. It could take 1000 of years until two stucked get dissipated!
• And last but not least reason: It helps to reduce confusion in future events

 

I hope this answered most of the questions. If you still have questions, post it in the comments and I’ll try to answer it or add it to the FAQ.

Welcome to Entropia Universe Treasure Hunt!

Welcome!

I’ve started Entropia Universe Treasure Hunt goal to bring some diversion in your Entropia Universe life with some in-game events and help newcomers with a bit of money!

In the beginning, the treasure hunts will be mainly directed towards newcomers and low leveled players (read: people who aren’t too wealthy yet and could need the prices). We may consider to expand this in future, depending how well the project will succeed.

There won’t be any limitation (expect the above one) and basically everyone can participate and it’s absolutely FREE! NO FEES, NO REGISTRATION required to participate!

Soon I’ll publish a post with an FAQ and the rules.

Contact Us

If you have some questions, want to become a sponsor or just donate some items or money for the next event, feel free to drop a mail to

Important: Do NOT send submissions to the email address above! If you want to submit a screenshot, use the email address below which was specially created for the treasure hunting events!

Screenshot submissions can be sent to

You can also leave a comment to the currently running event.