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  • Community Crunch 356: ARK Roadmap Update, Rhyniognatha Concept, and More!

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    We appreciate your patience as we digested the feedback and consulted with our partners to revise our upcoming plans. As always, we’re very grateful to have such a passionate player base, and we hear and understand your concerns. We've decided to make some changes and provide additional information as to why we’re taking this approach, so please bear with us as we address some points. 

     

    Price Point and Bundle
     

    First things first, we are scrapping the ARK Respawned Bundle. Our intention behind this was to provide a package where you essentially got two products for the price of one. In hindsight, not the best move. Our bad; we recognize how combining ARK Survival Ascended with ARK 2 and requiring further DLC upgrades wasn’t optimal, especially since you wouldn’t be able to judge ARK 2 as no gameplay or content would be available yet.

    Here are our new plans:

    ARK: Survival Ascended will now be a standalone package released on every platform (PC Windows/Steam, Xbox Series S/X, and PlayStation 5) at $59.99. The package will include the following pieces of content built-in (not sold separately), with each remastered and altered for the next-generation:
     

    • The Island (Released at Launch)
    • Survival of the Fittest: The Island & Scorched Earth map variants (Released at Launch)
    • Scorched Earth (Released at Launch)
    • Aberration (Released by Q4 2023)
    • Extinction (Released by Q1 2024)
    • Genesis Part 1 (Released by Q1 2024)
    • Genesis Part 2 (Released by Q2 2024)
    • All the community-created maps are also to be released over time in 2024 (Fjordur, Ragnarok, The Center, Lost Island, Valguero, Crystal Isles)

     

    No longer a backward-compatible free update?
     

    Initially, when we had first considered doing an Unreal 5 upgrade, we planned just to port the Switch version of the game and undo the ‘graphical’ limitations required for that hardware. We weren’t going to maximize the potential of the new technology, we weren’t going to introduce new gameplay changes, and we weren’t going to make critical design changes that would have had an impact on existing save data. 
     

    After carefully considering what would be the best outcome for those who enjoy ARK: Survival Evolved and would want to continue to enjoy it in the years to come, we decided that our initial plan would not be sufficient. We want to provide you with an evergreen classic ARK experience, one that can continue to grow over time on a cleaned-up code base, making use of the new technological advancements not only in the industry but also in what we are working on with ARK 2.
     

    We weren’t trying to mislead you with earlier comments; our plans and overall intentions changed. So you're probably asking, why don’t we make these upgrades to the original ARK: Survival Evolved (ASE)? Frankly, it would not be viable. Many of the changes we’re making in ARK: Survival Ascended will touch a lot of aspects of the game; it’ll invalidate save data, some mods may not be functional, some things may not play the same way as they did before, and we didn’t want to change that experience for those who prefer it or are unable to upgrade.
     

    This also impacted our decision to sunset the ASE Official Network offline on August 31st, shortly before the ASA launch. Despite ASE Officials representing the minority of players on ARK, it’s an invested and passionate group with attachments to their bases, tames, and characters, and seeing that go away can’t be easy. While we know it’s not the same, we hope making the saves available for unofficial use helps diminish the loss. Our reasoning behind the decision is that those servers are essentially based on old technology and require significant development resources and time for our teams to operate & maintain. In some cases, the issues aren’t as easily solvable without an overall upgrade. Additionally, we know that those resources could be better utilized on fundamentally new technology to further enhance the overall game experience for all players.
     

    ASE will still be available to play for those who choose to; that includes multiplayer through unofficial/player-hosted sessions, the endless amount of mods on the Steam workshop, and all the game content as you currently know it. All of that is going to remain, but after 8 years of development, we have to make the difficult decision of sunsetting ASE and the Official Network in order to provide that truly long-term and evergreen version of the game through ARK: Survival Ascended.

    We’ll be sending off ASE with one final content update for our 8th anniversary this June, releasing the fan-elected creature: Rhyniognatha! (Keep an eye out next week for its Dossier)

     

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    We plan to support ARK: Survival Ascended with new features (including at launch), content drops, creatures, items, structures, and DLC. Our roadmap covered some of those planned changes, and we said there would be more, and here’s another preview:
     

    • Dynamic navigation mesh and creature pathfinding overhaul (AI pathfinding)
    • Photo Mode
    • Nvidia DLSS
    • Dino/Baby Management QOL
    • Wild Babies
    • Snap point improvements (new snaps, logic improvements)
    • Character creation & customization improvements
    • Cross-platform Multiplayer & Full Blueprint Modding (I know we mentioned this before, but we’re serious, it’s happening on PC and Consoles at launch, and we’ve got it working internally with Overwolf technology – this dramatically changes the nature of the console experience).

     

    And this list is not exhaustive. We’re hoping to get even more done, and the only reason we aren’t covering all of those details right now is that we’re still working on them. It’s taking a significant amount of resources and time at the studio, and we don’t want to commit to other particular features unless we’re sure we can get them in for launch. And yeah, we may miss our deadline on certain aspects, but they’ll come in over time as we continue to support this next generation of ARK.
     

    At the end of the day, these are just words and, frankly, may not mean so much. That’s okay; we understand what will really convince you is seeing screenshots and a gameplay trailer, and you will in time. We know there are going to be more questions, and we’ll be sharing more details over time. We’re not quite ready to pull back the curtains just yet, so we hope you’ll hang in there with us, Survivors. It’ll be worth the wait!
     

    Studio Wildcard
     


     

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    Let’s kick off the first piece of major new content for ARK: Survival Ascended - a fan-voted real-world creature that will launch on Day 1
     

    Please note that this creature will be released for Scorched Earth, so make sure your real-world submissions are in theme with that map! We’ll also be adding an additional real-world creature for each subsequent canonical expansion pack map release on ARK: Survival Ascended.
     

    Check out the Creature Submission Guidelines for more information on the submission process and hop over to the Creature Submission Forum to see the current entries. The entry period will end at 1PM Pacific on April 21st, so don't wait - get your ideas in.  We are looking forward to seeing your ideas come to life!

     


     

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    Survivors on all platforms will be receiving a special Easter EVO Event! During this event, 25% of wild creature spawns will be replaced with the colors from the event list.  It will be active until Monday, the 24th of April.  All Official Servers across each platform will be undergoing this evolutionary change which includes:
     

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    • 4/07 - 4/24

     

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    *Note that these bonuses are multiplicative of the game's standard 1x rates.

    • Official Servers: 3x XP, Harvesting, Taming, and Breeding (imprint, maturation, hatch/gestation), 0.5x Mating Interval, 1.5x Hexagon Bonus
    • Small Tribe Servers: 4.5x XP, 4.5x Harvesting, 4.5x Taming, and 4x Breeding (imprint, maturation, hatch/gestation), 0.5x Mating Interval, 1.5x Hexagon Bonus
    • ARKPocalypse: 5x XP, 5x Harvesting, 5x Taming, and 5x Breeding (imprint, maturation, hatch/gestation), 0.5x Mating Interval, 1.5x Hexagon Bonus
    • Classic: 6x XP, 6x Harvesting, 6x Taming, and 5x Breeding (imprint, maturation, hatch/gestation), 0.5x Mating Interval
       

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    25% of creatures will currently get the pax colorset below:

    • Red
    • Blue
    • Green
    • Yellow
    • Cyan
    • Magenta
    • Light Green
    • Light Orange
    • Light Yellow
    • Light Red
    • Black
    • Dark Red
    • Dino Light Red
    • Dino Dark Red
    • Dino Light Blue
    • Dino Dark Blue
    • Dino Light Purple
    • Dino Dark Purple
    • DragonGreen3
    • WyvernPurple0
    • WyvernPurple1
    • WyvernBlue0
    • WyvernBlue1
    • Dino Medium Blue
    • Dino Deep Blue
    • NearWhite
    • DarkTurquoise
    • MediumTurquoise
    • Turquoise
    • LightCement
    • LightPink
    • DeepPink
    • DarkViolet
    • DarkMagenta
    • MediumAutumn
    • Vermillion
    • Coral
    • Orange
    • Peach
    • ActualBlack
    • MidnightBlue
    • LemonLime
    • Mint
    • DarkLavender
    • MediumLavender
    • Lavender
    • DarkTeal
    • MediumTeal
    • Teal
    • PowderBlue
    • Glacial
    • Custard
    • Cream

     


     

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    Conquest servers are being re-introduced for a new season by Snail Games.  To kick things off, our current Classic PvP season will end, and servers will be wiped shortly before the new Conquest begins on April 25th.  Classic PvP servers will wipe on April 25th, 5pm Pacific Time.

    Check out our prior Community Crunch for the full details!

     


     

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    Fan Art Gallery | Screenshot Gallery | Artist Feedback Form

     

     

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    Creator: NaturalCauzes

    Primal Fear is an Ark mod filled with terrifying creatures, majestic unicorns, and exploding dodos. NaturalCauzes has 100 days to beat Pikkons Revenge!
     

     

    Creator: pterafier

    Pterafier shows you the different ways to tame the creatures you see around you. In this helpful and captivating guide, he will help you to understand advanced crafting using mortar and pestle, tranq arrows, narcotics, saddles, passive taming, and more.
     

     

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    The concept of a fiery place by @VELUKO1
     

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    Untitled by @MayaPatch89
     

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    Megalo in the night by Sai
     

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    Space Mosas by N4STYR4BBiT
     

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    Pteranodon handmade art doll by sayvaris
     

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    Reaper Riders by Azany
     

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    New tricks by terrortantrum
     

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    The Island cave exploration by @maMe_buDo
     

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    "You won't take this new world, but I will grant you rest, Edmund" by @BlockBeam101
     

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    Me and Cubed Ice flying over Valguero by u/MelonLord97
     

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    Inspired by Hogwarts by @ARKitects_Ark
     

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    Have an Eggcellent Easter!

    Studio Wildcard


    Twitter: twitter.com/survivetheark
    Discord: discord.com/invite/playark
    Reddit: reddit.com/r/playark
    Instagram: instagram.com/survivetheark
    Twitch: twitch.tv/survivetheark
    Steam: steamcommunity.com/app/346110
    Youtube: youtube.com/survivetheark
    Facebook: facebook.com/survivetheark
    Official Wiki: ark.wiki.gg


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    Rhyniognatha was epic! knowing the control options was a plus xD

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    Creo que se vería mejor si fuera un poco más grande.

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    its amazing how many people cant read, cant do math, and cant think at all. First of ark came out 8 YEARS AGO, everyones has been begging for some kind of remaster since only a few years ago and we are finnally getting it. Of cause everyones entitalled to theyre own opinions and wild card has been horrible for community service all this time, but this is something we have been wanting for ages, we should all just be happy for finnaly getting it. ive been playing ark since it came out and i still remember playing for ours with my brother because we loved it so much. ive introduced many of my friend to this game and weve all watched it grow and expand together and i hate seeing those times come to an end but i look forward to playing ASA and ASE 2 with those same friend and making more new memories with them.

    first of all i cant speak for the official servers or the general tek upgrades as i'm a single player or i play on third party servers with friends, but from what i can see everyone here is getting pissed cause theyre losing theyre ''eight years of progress'', but they are obviously missing te fact that ofcause the servers would end eventually and its come time o say goodbye to those beloved memories and create new ones in this remastered game.

    secondly, none of u reptarers can do basic math for the reptaring life of u. originnally youd pay $50 for ASA and ASE 2 plus another $40 for both DlC packs. obviously the bundle of both games would be cheaper than just one on its own (like it is for every reptaring game ever) and the price for ASA is relatively inline with other releases of a similar kind. also u are getting the original $40 addon packed in with the new $60 price. the original ark is like $50 and then u also had to buy all the story arks for $30 bucks each, and this is still cheaper than the survivors edition (or whatever its called) with everything in it. so if u think of it as the original ark ur getting something like a $20 price decrease plus it has new graphics.

    for my third point. y''all gotta read the god damn article before typing ur messages, because aswell as being a general upgrade for ark they are also adding a ton of new features to enhance the orignal experience and creat new experiences alongside them. it astounds me how often this community (regardless of wildcards poor managment) miss the actual point of half the poop they release. time after time we will get new content, and the community will always pick and choose some of the minor negatives and ignore all the positives. some of these changes may be more drastic than those of the past but that is too be expected when ur releasing basically an entirely fresh game from the ground up (excluding im assuming basic code taken from ASE).

    and once again to touch on you lot crying about the loss of ur PVP servers, from the limited time ive spent on offical, it is rampant with cheeting player, players who exploit game mechanics to ruin the time for others(e.g. spamming pillars everywhere) and the countless dead servers filled with abandoned bases making it almmost imposible to find a decent server (this doesnt even mention the servers with giant tribes that ruin any early game experiences). now these may not be issues for those who have been playing on these servers for that amount of time, but it makes anyone that feels like trying out these servers immediately turn of the game from bordom. again ive spent very little time on these servers so my grypes may be due to my own ignorance, but that is still the experience of what i assume are most new offical players.

    ASE is coming to the end of its life and its time we say goodbye to this beloved game for which we have spent large portions of our lives making memories with friends. the only reason these experience hold any meaning is because we all new it would oneday come to an. its we look to all of our favourite game future, and think of the wonderour ne memoreies we will make going forward.

    ark has been my favourite game for years since i first started playing it, and although i have periods when i get tired of it and stop playing, i always find myself seeing a video from syntac or some news of new ark content release and kickstarting that same obsession that i found myself in all those years ago. and personally i cant wait to see where this expansion take us in the future

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