My List of PvE Official Pro's and Cons

[GreenRoc]

I play PvE only. I have happily played on Officials, until the cons outweighed the pros, which the thieving dino was the one that tipped the scales for me.

Why post this list here? Within the last two weeks (after I had decided to "quit" Officials, see italics at bottom of post) I mentioned on one of the official server chat that I was quitting. Someone asked "Why". I told them it was a huge list, and they were curious of this list, which I had written down, and typed this list into chat for them. Today I have decided (after reading a friend rant unhappily about being hit "again" by rock golem kiting, which is on my list too) to type this list into a post for anyone else who maybe curious.

I am aware many of the cons are "working as intended", but just because it is an intentional game mechanic doesn't mean I like it.
 

MY LIST OF CONS (in no particular order) :

1. 15 min warning until shutdown
2. approx shutdown 2+ hours after est time
3. dino steals your items
4. kiting is allowed
5. non-tribemembers can drag your unconscious body
6. non-tribemembers can turn on/off your generator, etc
7. tamed allo (and some other dinos) sink through floors
8. ticket response time over a week
9. people build on metal nodes + rare spawns
10. no /ignore feature
11. non-tribemembers steal eggs
12. non-tribemembers take drops
13. new players "beg"
14. non-tribemates can "claim" dinos after 8 days
15. tames "deleted" by server bugs/codes
16. players build walls around new player spawns
17. spam, nasty words, racism, hate speech, etc in chat
18. DC mid-flight
19. DDoS
20. Super-lag
21. inability to rekeybind group whistles (or it is not obvious/easy)
22. auto-demolished structures
23. 4-day timer on greenhouse pieces
24. tamed dino stances change without player input
25. getting stuck in tames when they look at you
26. more maybe added later

MY LIST OF PRO'S:

1. Meeting nice people
2. Eye candy
3. exploring
4. hoarding
5. taming dinos
6. harvesting
7. building
8. something to do

I had not written a list of Pro's, so those are just off the top of my head while typing this thread.

 

Additional thoughts and ramblings:

I have not quit Ark alltogether, just Officials. I have two private servers I rent from BluefangSolutions (private means no invites), as well as single player worlds. I manage them, and spawn stuff in if it is lost by intentional or unintentional game mechanics. Officials I used to play more than those private ones, but that is past tense. I am also a small streamer whom is known for streaming Ark, and people look forward to that, as do I.

The choice of quitting official servers was not easily or hastily made. It was long-thought out, and events before the thief dino released were pushing me ever so much closer to the scales being tipped. I make many decisions based on pros vs cons. When anything becomes more of a con than pros, it is not worth doing.

I wont stop going outside if I don't like the wind in my face, but I certainly wont keep standing outside in a hurricane.

I thought you said you quit, but I still see you on Officials? It has been a few weeks since I decided to "quit" official servers. I still go on officials for "cleanup", as I respect the server and the tribes that wouldn't want my junk lingering around. I have friends who I already gave most of my dinos and items to. A tribemate I have contact with via steam offered to take care of my favorite dinos in case I decide to come back (where pro's outweigh the cons again). As of right now, I still have structures to cleanup and dino/item moving left to do, so my presence on Official servers will be in my near future, until all this "cleanup" has been finished.

[Invig0rated]

Yes Kiting definitely sucks for the receiving end... but... it also helps lessen structures and dinos on the server.

Lord knows The Center with its massive bases has enough memory leak as is..

[RilyHaryToze]

13 minutes ago, Invig0rated said:

Yes Kiting definitely sucks for the receiving end... but... it also helps lessen structures and dinos on the server.

Lord knows The Center with its massive bases has enough memory leak as is..

Thing is the structures will go away on their own if the owner isn't playing anymore so kiting for that purpose really doesn't seem justified Imo. Sure could be a way to deal with griefers but that shouldn't be left in the players hands when It's so easily abused. There just isn't enough in place to deter or punish those who do grief. Large bases are going to be a thing until/unless WC changes their minds I'm not going to hold that or owning many dinos against a player since that's a pretty big attraction to the game.

[GreenRoc]

Editing my list today to add:

- Tamed dino stances change without player input.

This con I found again today, when I logged into an official (I am a sentimentalist and dont want to abandon my dinos, yet, to let some random adopt them. I will move them when I can muster the motivation and have time to move them into a friend's tribe)

In this tribe, I am the only member, and I am always aware when I miss-whistle (after the mistake I always go to all the dinos and changing stances after making that mistake) I know 100% sure, I did NOT leave a flier on Aggressive.... and she is my #1 fav ptero too, 100% imprinted. Why she was on aggressive, I have no idea, but I always have all my fliers on passive, never any other stance. I have heard other friends complain about the same thing, and have seen it before myself. This is not from that dino that puffs out the cloud, for if it was, all my other dinos would be in the same stance. Also, I have seen this bug several times before that cloud-puffing dino was released. This is nothing new, sadly. The con I have added to the list is generic enough to include the times when the cloud puffer does affect tamed dinos.

Also today, I found one of the tamed spinos inside the base, that was previously outside, but due to "sinking through floors" being similar to this con, I will refrain from adding this to the list, as it is close enough that I consider it the same con.

[Yamitri]

MY LIST OF CONS (in no particular order) :

1. 15 min warning until shutdown |  Nothing wrong with that, it freezes all timers and you end up right where you left off of..?
2. approx shutdown 2+ hours after est time | See above
3. dino steals your items |  Please elaborate
4. kiting is allowed | Of course kiting is allowed, but if your stuff is on passive it shouldnt aggro to your dinos if your base is protected.
5. non-tribemembers can drag your unconscious body | Now, this one is particular.. this just comes down to logging out in a safe spot.. if this happens, this is your fault. DCing not included.
6. non-tribemembers can turn on/off your generator, etc | Eh.. I'm on the fence about this, on one hand it is great for trolling, but for now just put your fuel away, or use wood. CHARCOAL!
7. tamed allo (and some other dinos) sink through floors | This one is just plain annoying.. try putting them in a pen on solid ground.. it doesnt happen then.
8. ticket response time over a week | I can neither confirm or deny such a statement, so i'll just have to agree with you.
9. people build on metal nodes + rare spawns | Griefers are everywhere, i know it sucks.. but in that sense.. if you find a node.. pillar away.
10. no /ignore feature | This is a staple and should always be available.
11. non-tribemembers steal eggs | If you're not on, they are not hurting you in any way. 12 minute decompose timer.. whats the issue?
12. non-tribemembers take drops | It's a race.. lol.. what are you expecting? If you need to do a secure trade.. use a chest. If talking about ark drops, may the odds be ever in your favor.
13. new players "beg" | All of them do in every game.. what else is new?
14. non-tribemates can "claim" dinos after 8 days | i'm not seeing an issue here..?
15. tames "deleted" by server bugs/codes | Well could be annoying, but ive never experienced it on my server/heard a complaint of it. this is new to me.
16. players build walls around new player spawns | Take this to wildcard, its considereed griefing.
17. spam, nasty words, racism, hate speech, etc in chat | I chalk it up to poopty people being on your server, same with the above.
18. DC mid-flight | This is always balls. Everyone hates this.
19. DDoS | Not under their control, bud.
20. Super-lag | just the number of people and an un-optimized build.. it sucks.. deal with it, or don't.. up to you.
21. inability to rekeybind group whistles (or it is not obvious/easy) | I also second the idea of an easier way to map all dinos to a group.
22. auto-demolished structures | Please elaborate
23. 4-day timer on greenhouse pieces | I will need to look at mine to confirm.
24. tamed dino stances change without player input | I don't think this happens, but i reserve an answer for now.
25. getting stuck in tames when they look at you | Quetzals are the devil.
26. more maybe added later

[Jostabeere]

@Yamitri Even though you're right in points about DDoS and others, and WC has no influence on them, they're still issues for Officials.

[Yamitri]

58 minutes ago, Jostabeere said:

@Yamitri Even though you're right in points about DDoS and others, and WC has no influence on them, they're still issues for Officials.

@JostabeerePerhaps, but its the price we pay for wanting to play with others.. its you and your friends vs the world.. if i could pay for a dedicated xbox server, i just might.. but alas.. that is not the case.

To be fair, i wouldn't have it any other way.

Sure, some things could be improved but from my standpoint.. the amount of bugs they've squashed compared to the currently available game breaking ones; I'd say they are making great progress and it only goes up from here.

[udo]

1. non-tribemates can "claim" dinos after 8 days-- this should be 11 days this way solo players can have holidays abroad  and not come to back to bases empty of dinos (this happened to me ) .
2. base was as it was left befreo i went away everything in boxes , fridges as it was left just, all dinos outside were gone  , i now keep dinos in giant barns , shouldnt have to to so i can on holiday but neccessary 

[Yamitri]

1 hour ago, udo said:

1. non-tribemates can "claim" dinos after 8 days-- this should be 11 days this way solo players can have holidays abroad  and not come to back to bases empty of dinos (this happened to me ) .
2. base was as it was left befreo i went away everything in boxes , fridges as it was left just, all dinos outside were gone  , i now keep dinos in giant barns , shouldnt have to to so i can on holiday but neccessary 

that would just mean that people could leave their dinos anywhere without worry.

[GreenRoc]

Update on my status of playing Ark:

Due to recent nerfs to fliers, and the latest nerfs to some land dinos, and the future of possible nerfs to more land animals, I am done. Meat feeding delay was the last straw for me. It's not much of a delay, but it screws up with how I (emphasis on me, my time, my enjoyment, my likes, etc) like to play Ark. The direction this game is headed is not in a direction I will enjoy, I'm throwing in the towel before it gets any worse.

I have deleted my desktop shortcut. I'll be handing my private server files over to one of my residents to continue hosting it.

----

Additional thoughts:

It was such a great and beautiful game, but I don't see myself playing this again, until 1) they add the configs to counter all of these added nerfs, or 2) allow us to play (and host private server) of older versions. Older versions were far more enjoyable than what it is now. I will mourn what I had once enjoyed, which no longer exists.

I have over 3k hours, three accounts that bought this game, and many days worth of streaming footage to watch and be nostalgic with. I had loved this game so much, never has a game caught my attention as much as this one has, becoming my favorite game, beating Minecraft, which was my favorite game before, that I had played for years before Ark, and still play today.

I just cant justify playing this game anymore. Thanks for the great game you had before Jen and Panda, but my time is done. Thank you for being awesome people, all the stuff you helped me out with, and for "Smiles", that Spino, I shall forever remember those moments!

I have gained so many friends via ark, many of whom I still talk to, and play other games with. Memories of this game shall live with me for the rest of my life, good memories, so many wonderful experiences.

This game for me has been an avenue for stress relief, relaxation, enjoyable eye candy, and helped me through some rough times in my life in the last few years I have played. Was it worth it to play it? Yes. Is it worth it to play it now? No. I do not regret playing this. I paid for three accounts to play it (me as my own tribemate, and being in several different tribes on one server). It was good. It was very good. I had fun.

Thank you Wildcard for this game, all of you wonderful artists and programmers that made it such a delight. I'm sad that the changes have driven me away. Oh well, poop happens.

Farewell o/

 

Edit with update: I decided to come back in May 2017, after watching some Twitch streamers play Ark, one was modded. I now have this game modded, and I dont see myself going back to vanilla... I dont like many of Wildcard's decisions, nor do I enjoy their core game, so I use mods and configs to alter their game into what I like to play.