Community Crunch 97 & ARK Steam Summer Sale!

Will be uploading the Ansel images a little later for download. My upload isn't not being the best right now . Thanks for sharing everything this week guys, spectacular as usual. Very impressive contest entries too!

I know I don't enter regulary just due to time but honestly I am starting to wonder if there is a point to entering Since my ideas don't seem up to the standard of others. Any suggestions for ways to get them better or what?? As I am starting to feel disheartened cause I can't enter regulary and it seems like what I am proud of and think is good enough isn't.

Any suggestions please @Jat on ways to improve my builds/what you look for in the builds so I have an idea if I need to make it better??

Thanks

Seriously though huge congrats to all the winners! Amazing builds/maps etc

I submitted a ticket about my character being bugged and I can't seem to be able to find any trace of my ticket, or previously resolved tickets, and I am unable to create a new request. Help plez?

43 minutes ago, Zergling963 said:

I know I don't enter regulary just due to time but honestly I am starting to wonder if there is a point to entering Since my ideas don't seem up to the standard of others. Any suggestions for ways to get them better or what??

I feel the same about the PGM contest as the last time I won was last year, despite trying almost every week but I still enjoy playing around with the settings and seeing what I can come up with.

But it's all for the fun of it I suppose if you don't enjoy entering, forget about it! You'll be all the happier for it.

I liked your entry as well as every other entry, great content as always.

25 minutes ago, FataL1ty said:

I feel the same about the PGM contest as the last time I won was last year, despite trying almost every week but I still enjoy playing around with the settings and seeing what I can come up with.

But it's all for the fun of it I suppose if you don't enjoy entering, forget about it! You'll be all the happier for it.

I liked your entry as well as every other entry, great content as always.

Thanks and I do enjoy entering just feel a little disheartened and sometimes real life gets in the way of me entering! But will keep attempting it I guess Thanks

Since the game is close to going full release will there be any more digests or is it just going to be only community crunches from here on out?

My tips to people that really want to get into building has always been this whenever I get asked or them wanting help:

Modded or unmodded-
-Painting! (take anything, and play around with paints) the result is almost always a nicer look, or at the very least you can highlight detail bits to make things stand out (black/colored railings and pillars, maybe slate colored flooring to make a clearer distinction from walls). Basically, use coloring to make as many components stand out and be easily identifiable. If you ever seen some of my steam before/after images, it is a world of difference (example: Pirate ship from 2015 (unmodded) the difference is night and day
Also, painting is the funnest component in my view.

-Lights: make stuff look as awesome as night, as in the day

-Pick a design loosely off something, direction really helps keep what you want something to be clean and organized.

-Detailed small bits. Could be some chairs, benches, canvases. maybe using some glass, etc. unmodded can use the X plants or crops

And lastly (and should be no mystery) - use of decorative mods (even just 2-3, they only take around 1GB or less). ARK got tons more optimized for memory just now, so it shouldn't be hard to run a few.

Other than that, it is just practice and keeping eyes open for inspirations, thinking of what you see and trying to picture it in ARK. 
Pretty much anything I see while gaming I constantly think "could I do that in ARK" and try to imagine it.

announce your wiping the server and my friends will buy the game. they don't want to buy a game that they can never even have a chance to be successful. its probably to late though, they just going to get destiny 2.

Grats to all the winners!!!

I look forward to this every week, wondering how they can get better, and always do!

5 hours ago, Zergling963 said:

I know I don't enter regulary just due to time but honestly I am starting to wonder if there is a point to entering Since my ideas don't seem up to the standard of others. Any suggestions for ways to get them better or what?? As I am starting to feel disheartened cause I can't enter regulary and it seems like what I am proud of and think is good enough isn't.

Any suggestions please @Jat on ways to improve my builds/what you look for in the builds so I have an idea if I need to make it better??

Thanks

Seriously though huge congrats to all the winners! Amazing builds/maps etc

Hi mate,

Just want to say, do not change anything when building as you seem to built what you want and what you like and that should be the focus of you entering, not just to win.

I would like a new rule which might help all players and entries: Just let one players win one or maybe even enter one competition a week. This will keep it fair and fun for everyone and will make it so that each week at least 6 players or fans of ARK can win something.

Just an idea for the devs

@runswithpencils OMG I love that you won, as I said before that is pure and amazing artistry you have there. Again amazing work

Wow thanks so much! So many awesome entries. It really is inspiring to see how people come up with different ideas looking at the same game. It's a great platform. Thanks for it, Wildcard! That Ice-Wyvern is spectacular! @runswithpencils 

That Mosa Rex drawing looks like the 90s American Godzilla 

2 hours ago, The Lime Inc. said:

Hi mate,

Just want to say, do not change anything when building as you seem to built what you want and what you like and that should be the focus of you entering, not just to win.

I would like a new rule which might help all players and entries: Just let one players win one or maybe even enter one competition a week. This will keep it fair and fun for everyone and will make it so that each week at least 6 players or fans of ARK can win something.

Just an idea for the devs

Thanks for this response and I agree with this idea! I would have been happy if I had lost fairly as you said but it does kinda seem rigged. It didn't even make the video into the fan feature and you probably know what it takes out of you to build, record and edit the darn thing. A lot of time that I feel was wasted cause it wasn't added to fan feature unlike the rest but maybe I missed some unknown deadline who knows.

 

I enjoy building etc but let's say it is disheartening when the same person wins multiple categories as you said it doesn't seem fair and seems rigged but thanks for your response

2 hours ago, The Lime Inc. said:

Hi mate,

Just want to say, do not change anything when building as you seem to built what you want and what you like and that should be the focus of you entering, not just to win.

I would like a new rule which might help all players and entries: Just let one players win one or maybe even enter one competition a week. This will keep it fair and fun for everyone and will make it so that each week at least 6 players or fans of ARK can win something.

Just an idea for the devs

I thinks this is a good idea too. One categorie by week seems more fair for me. 

Very nice crunch as always, thanks for showing my TARKrven =)

Can you PLEASE add for single player consoles a option to adjust the flyer nerf, to de-nerf it a little or a lot PLEASE!!! And add the fov, gloom quality, and the light shafts options in settings on console. Thank You 

P.S. I love this game SOOOO MUCH! 

Thank You wildcard for sticking with your game, and not giving up on us

Thank You!

Really amazing work from the Community =) Well done, everybody!!!

It's impossible to please everyone when picking a winner. That said, I like the idea people have suggested about only being able to win one category each week. I think this would open things up to more people entering because it would make winning way more achieveable.

I'm always surprised by some really nice photos that are in honourable mention as well! Given that this happens every week, it might be good to have an article from the judges giving a more in-depth run down of what they look for in each category and some personal favourites. That would make a great YouTube video, if you can find the time!

10 hours ago, Jat said:

Will be uploading the Ansel images a little later for download. My upload isn't not being the best right now . Thanks for sharing everything this week guys, spectacular as usual. Very impressive contest entries too!

All very nice I'm sure......

But, when I try to buy the collectors edition, I click the choose location, but STILL there is NO UK location......

I've googled it but we can't get it in England, c'mon guys what's happening? Sick of hearing excuses 

3 hours ago, F1nchyStryd3r said:

All very nice I'm sure......

But, when I try to buy the collectors edition, I click the choose location, but STILL there is NO UK location......

I've googled it but we can't get it in England, c'mon guys what's happening? Sick of hearing excuses 

That would be because we're still waiting for the UK retailer to finish setup. We're not retailers, we're developers - we work with others to get the game out there. Hopefully it'll be done soon! Chris should be posting when it's live as he handles getting it on playark.com

Feedback is noted regarding the contest, I have some of my own thoughts to certain things that I'd like to change too so I'll be talking to the guys about it sometime soon (once we're wrapped up with the 1.0 disc submission)! 

5 minutes ago, Jat said:

That would be because we're still waiting for the UK retailer to finish setup. We're not retailers, we're developers - we work with others to get the game out there. Hopefully it'll be done soon! Chris should be posting when it's live as he handles getting it on playark.com

Feedback is noted regarding the contest, I have some of my own thoughts to certain things that I'd like to change too so I'll be talking to the guys about it sometime soon (once we're wrapped up with the 1.0 disc submission)! 

Thanks m8 for getting back to me, plz plz plz don't forget about the UK! 

36 minutes ago, Jat said:

That would be because we're still waiting for the UK retailer to finish setup. We're not retailers, we're developers - we work with others to get the game out there. Hopefully it'll be done soon! Chris should be posting when it's live as he handles getting it on playark.com

Feedback is noted regarding the contest, I have some of my own thoughts to certain things that I'd like to change too so I'll be talking to the guys about it sometime soon (once we're wrapped up with the 1.0 disc submission)! 

Thanks @Jat Interested to see what happens :0

Meanwhile there's so much rubberbanding the game is unplayable. We're now five hours in the past just since this morning not including the rollbacks from yesterday. And it's a maturation event, doubt it gets extended even though only a day out of the last four days it was playable. Smh. Wish Ragnarok wasn't comming out till august so they could focus on fixing servers they already have first. Hard to get excited when you know only a couple hundred will be able to play the new map at a time out of thousands. Not to mention all the bugs that comes with new servers. 

Since we are having friendly opinions/feedback, I'll leave mine, heavily based on logical and rational thinking:

Contests should be about contents, not entrants. Names should be removed from submissions during voting and may the best content win.

If people put a lot of devotion in and do pictures, and videos or building, that is their own choice/right, and their efforts shouldn't be downgraded for it. If people just want to do 1 thing, that is their own choice too. Maybe some put 15 hours/week of effort in for just pictures, and some put more effort in, say 30 hours/week, to build/video and do pictures. No one said that that any certain person can't attempt the other categories as well. Of course, there is no guarantee where what may win.

Basically, efforts shouldn't be discarded if the content is epic enough, as by definition of a contest - what is judged as the best content should win.

I myself enjoy seeing extremely creative things that wouldn't be your "every day encounter" on the game, like the Harry Potter freeform image, or the Mario Kart track Valoule made. Stuff that really stands out and says "Wow", and unlike anything ever been seen before.

Counter Debates:
Main issue - You run into problems when one or more entrant is in the running to win more than 1 category - What if 2 people enter a video and a picture for example, and they are equally amazing and both worry of being winners, you arrive at a decision of who do you award 200$ to for video, and who gets the lesser 100$ for picture (despite both entries from both entrants being equal).**The is where the solution below comes into play to solve this

-Another point would be that a set of "regulars" have kept things alive weekly. Many have come and gone, or some enter once in a blue moon. This wouldn't be much of a contest when 2-3 people end up entering only, at least without possibly downgrading the content of the contest (Using an extreme example: would one really be want to see a 3x3 thatch building anyone could put together?)
-Winning content may end up being far less exciting by eliminating "specialty" content as I will call it, and you end up with "generic" content that is more along the lines of what you see daily, and not something truly unique (Real Life example:  Eiffel Tower is a unique piece of architecture vs a persons house which generic and doesn't stand out)
-If you chose to actively put restrictions on categorical entries, personally speaking all my focus would go into building and that category would get locked down.
-PGMs should not be included in any restrictions, unless the prize is changed to cash value

 

What you could do is custom amounts based on what you wish to allocate per week, per category - combine the first prize and runner up pools you were willing to award that week, and split them among the content that you deem worthy of "winner & runner up". Using the current prize values, say you are willing to pay out 400$ for arkitect in that given week. You decide 3 builds to be impressive, you split the value of 400 among 3. Same for pictures, do you find 3-4 pictures worthy of freeform? Perhaps the content was impressive enough that you want to dedicate 200$.
This would tie in with what others have said to some extent, and offer up more people "winning" something (the amounts would be less of course), but it keeps things balanced and fair for those who also put a lot of effort in, while giving something as well to others. You would end up with a mix of regulars, and infrequent entrants winning, therefore balancing the cycle and nature of the contest. Hopefully that makes sense!

As one of the few who has been around the longest, that could be the best solution without hurting your most loyal and consistent of entrants, and also give running chances towards newer entrants. It is a bit more of an elaborate solution, but with a well kept Spreadsheet, it shouldn't be hard to manage.

 

On 6/25/2017 at 3:55 AM, Zergling963 said:

11 hours ago, Zergling963 said:

Thanks @Jat Interested to see what happens :0

 

Yes I am to

 

3 hours ago, Wolf Angelus said:

Since we are having friendly opinions/feedback, I'll leave mine, heavily based on logical and rational thinking:

Contests should be about contents, not entrants. Names should be removed from submissions during voting and may the best content win.

If people put a lot of devotion in and do pictures, and videos or building, that is their own choice/right, and their efforts shouldn't be downgraded for it. If people just want to do 1 thing, that is their own choice too. Maybe some put 15 hours/week of effort in for just pictures, and some put more effort in, say 30 hours/week, to build/video and do pictures. No one said that that any certain person can't attempt the other categories as well. Of course, there is no guarantee where what may win.

Basically, efforts shouldn't be discarded if the content is epic enough, as by definition of a contest - what is judged as the best content should win.

I myself enjoy seeing extremely creative things that wouldn't be your "every day encounter" on the game, like the Harry Potter freeform image, or the Mario Kart track Valoule made. Stuff that really stands out and says "Wow", and unlike anything ever been seen before.

Counter Debates:
Main issue - You run into problems when one or more entrant is in the running to win more than 1 category - What if 2 people enter a video and a picture for example, and they are equally amazing and both worry of being winners, you arrive at a decision of who do you award 200$ to for video, and who gets the lesser 100$ for picture (despite both entries from both entrants being equal).**The is where the solution below comes into play to solve this

-Another point would be that a set of "regulars" have kept things alive weekly. Many have come and gone, or some enter once in a blue moon. This wouldn't be much of a contest when 2-3 people end up entering only, at least without possibly downgrading the content of the contest (Using an extreme example: would one really be want to see a 3x3 thatch building anyone could put together?)
-Winning content may end up being far less exciting by eliminating "specialty" content as I will call it, and you end up with "generic" content that is more along the lines of what you see daily, and not something truly unique (Real Life example:  Eiffel Tower is a unique piece of architecture vs a persons house which generic and doesn't stand out)
-If you chose to actively put restrictions on categorical entries, personally speaking all my focus would go into building and that category would get locked down.
-PGMs should not be included in any restrictions, unless the prize is changed to cash value

 

What you could do is custom amounts based on what you wish to allocate per week, per category - combine the first prize and runner up pools you were willing to award that week, and split them among the content that you deem worthy of "winner & runner up". Using the current prize values, say you are willing to pay out 400$ for arkitect in that given week. You decide 3 builds to be impressive, you split the value of 400 among 3. Same for pictures, do you find 3-4 pictures worthy of freeform? Perhaps the content was impressive enough that you want to dedicate 200$.
This would tie in with what others have said to some extent, and offer up more people "winning" something (the amounts would be less of course), but it keeps things balanced and fair for those who also put a lot of effort in, while giving something as well to others. You would end up with a mix of regulars, and infrequent entrants winning, therefore balancing the cycle and nature of the contest. Hopefully that makes sense!

As one of the few who has been around the longest, that could be the best solution without hurting your most loyal and consistent of entrants, and also give running chances towards newer entrants. It is a bit more of an elaborate solution, but with a well kept Spreadsheet, it shouldn't be hard to manage.

 

I am maybe the only one but I do take major offense to most things you say:

A gaming competition shouldn't be for regulars but for everyone and I myself do not mind a thatch hut winning if I see that someone puts his heart and soul in to vanilla game play and has managed to built his own thatch hut which he/she is proud of.

Why would only winning one category mean less exciting content, I think having 6 chances to win will even mean an increase in entries as chances increase and people get the feeling the stand a chance.

The next one really blew my mind. You are basically saying that if you get forced to only participate in one category you will first of all choose the one that wins most money (no surprise there as we do know you only play for the money) but then you basically say you will have so much time spend on that one cat that your content will be so good it will always win??? Are you serious?

And finally you want PGM to not be included, because you won this competition the most time of course and you want to keep entering outside of your other entries.

Your whole post seriously proves my point that we just need to have an overhaul like Jat suggested as well and have one winner winning one category each week, this competition should be brought back to the people who love the game, not people who love the money.