Changes to Pillar Structure Decay!

[Exay]

13 minutes ago, Iamkemical said:

 

Exay, do your pillar walls have ceiling tiles connecting the pillars?  if you do your good if not add them.  I had pillars for a wall on SE and they are all gone, but i have seen that if you had something connecting the pillars you are ok.  

I did connect the pillars in my water pen above the surface with stone wall foundations because it looks nice, but dont know if that protects them with those changes coming. For my Base thats not possible because of the Terrain. I could snap a ceiling on every pillar, but that would look weird and probably the metal nodes and dino spawns around my base would suffer. Thats a pic inside my water pen, u can see how deep it is and how many pillars i had to use. It would be devastating to loose that.

[Espri]

Hmm the more I read this the more repetitive it seems to get....

Well here is a TLDR version for anyone popping in around now (It's still long); 

The new pillar nerf will make lone pillars decay in 12 hours or less (there is some who say it's only single pillars that get the new decay timer while others say it includes double stacked, or even lone foundations).

There are people on both sides of this; the new players who have no where to build and legit want to play (not just greif or troll) and those who already have built pillars to protect resorce and dino areas (not being greedy just making it available for everyone)

Pillars are essential in PvE games to prevent people from building on resorce spawns. Problem is they can also be used to block new players to said server from finding land of their own. This creates a problem which was made very apparent in the 'limited' number of new Ragnarock map servers, where new players can't build anywhere (or just a lack of land to build a decent size base on) and ultimately blocking out a large portion of the player base from playing the new servers, on official servers .

So the quick fix from the devs is to make pillars decay quickly to prevent unnecessary land claims.

This makes a new issue where players dont want to lose said land and create fondations (which prevent dino and resorce spawns). Iy also effects those who had pilars in resorce and dino spawns to prevent players from building on said areas to keep them from being blocked.

In addition it opend the flood gates of all trolls and griefers to build every where and destroy the servers spawning areas one by one making alot of areas (and servers) unplayable due to lack of resorces and dinos...

 

So there you go. In a nut shell for those who dont understand whats going on and why this nerf has such a split player base both for and against it.

 

 

[Drinkinthepink]

1 hour ago, Espri said:

Hmm the more I read this the more repetitive it seems to get....

Well here is a TLDR version for anyone popping in around now (It's still long); 

The new pillar nerf will make lone pillars decay in 12 hours or less (there is some who say it's only single pillars that get the new decay timer while others say it includes double stacked, or even lone foundations).

There are people on both sides of this; the new players who have no where to build and legit want to play (not just greif or troll) and those who already have built pillars to protect resorce and dino areas (not being greedy just making it available for everyone)

Pillars are essential in PvE games to prevent people from building on resorce spawns. Problem is they can also be used to block new players to said server from finding land of their own. This creates a problem which was made very apparent in the 'limited' number of new Ragnarock map servers, where new players can't build anywhere (or just a lack of land to build a decent size base on) and ultimately blocking out a large portion of the player base from playing the new servers, on official servers .

So the quick fix from the devs is to make pillars decay quickly to prevent unnecessary land claims.

This makes a new issue where players dont want to lose said land and create fondations (which prevent dino and resorce spawns). Iy also effects those who had pilars in resorce and dino spawns to prevent players from building on said areas to keep them from being blocked.

In addition it opend the flood gates of all trolls and griefers to build every where and destroy the servers spawning areas one by one making alot of areas (and servers) unplayable due to lack of resorces and dinos...

 

So there you go. In a nut shell for those who dont understand whats going on and why this nerf has such a split player base both for and against it.

 

 

You are forgetting about the PVPers... we have no problems, if someone blocks metal, just craft c4 and blow it up, or tame a titan and clear all of the structures.

pve'ers, tend to be the softer 'tamer/breeder' type of player, who seem to be afraid of pvp. If you are decent at farming/building, you don't need a lot to succeed in a pvp environment. You just have to grind hard enough to get into metal with a few turrets, trade for an anky/quetz... 2 people can do it in a weekend. Flier nerf was good and well needed. The pillar issue I didn't even know was an issue until I saw a few pictures of barren ceilingpillared wasteland... it must be so painful to pve, my suggestion to anyone struggling would to be grab a tryhard friend and try pvp. (If you do, it is advisable to try talking to an alpha on a server before commuting, as some alphas are/arenot friendly)

[BudLite]

On 6/16/2017 at 5:39 PM, Legislator said:

I have to admit that I'm really shocked about some tribe's behaviour on PVE servers. I've been on official PVE 423 for 2 years now and while we experienced some sausageheads the majority of all players was very nice.

Now ... this pillar thing is bothering me. It is bad for sure if tribes block areas for no reason. On PVE 423 the ressources are saved from reckless players. The big tribes cooperate and help new players. Now it is a pain to maintain a coordinated way to keep ressources safe without blocking them. So from my point of view it was very, very, very bad move of Wildcard to push the new decay pillar timer so quickly into the game.

Wouldn't it be easier for wild card to simply prevent building on or near a Dino Spawn?

 

[Rotix]

14 hours ago, szabiferi said:

It affects only pillars, does not matter how many on them on each other. SIngle or double or 40 pillars on top of each other. 

Foundations were not ever mentioned and they are not affected. 

I can confirm that single foundations DO have a 12H decay timer. I placed several single foundations not connected and they despawned in a day.

[BudLite]

On 6/13/2017 at 11:06 PM, Jat said:

Hey guys,

Lone Pillars that are connected to non-spawn blocking structures will be destroyed on Official Servers after 12 hours.Decay time is otherwise unaffected for all other types of structures. Our intent is for players who claim land to make use of the land, and not just hold it. We'll be monitoring this change to see whether it has an effect on pillar claiming and make changes as necessary. This change is only on our Official Servers, but Unofficial Servers will soon gain the functionality to make this change.

Thanks,

Jat

When for Dedicated Xbox official?

[Scrymgarr]

3 hours ago, BudLite said:

Wouldn't it be easier for wild card to simply prevent building on or near a Dino Spawn?

 

Thats pretty much anywhere though.....so no building anywhere?

 

[methylphenidathydrochlorid]

4 hours ago, Drinkinthepink said:

You are forgetting about the PVPers... we have no problems, if someone blocks metal, just craft c4 and blow it up, or tame a titan and clear all of the structures.

pve'ers, tend to be the softer 'tamer/breeder' type of player, who seem to be afraid of pvp. If you are decent at farming/building, you don't need a lot to succeed in a pvp environment. You just have to grind hard enough to get into metal with a few turrets, trade for an anky/quetz... 2 people can do it in a weekend. Flier nerf was good and well needed. The pillar issue I didn't even know was an issue until I saw a few pictures of barren ceilingpillared wasteland... it must be so painful to pve, my suggestion to anyone struggling would to be grab a tryhard friend and try pvp. (If you do, it is advisable to try talking to an alpha on a server before commuting, as some alphas are/arenot friendly)

Where can we breed our full rainbow dino color lines?

Where can we build our giant pyramids, city-like bases, public taming huts, artistical buildings that fit almost perfectly into landscape (just a few examples)

Where is the huge trading economy on pvp? (i guess they trade on pvp too, but the risk of being crushed by bandits isnt given on pve)

Where do long term PVE players get their awesome, beautifully painted bases back on PVP?

How do PVE players convince all their in game mates and friends to switch to PVP, abandoning all the progress theyve ever made?

How do you play PVP in a way where you have full creative freedom, not just regarding buildings, but also other aspects (like how to travel, having adventures with other players, doing events for the players etc.)

As you can see, your scope of "solving a problem" in this case is EXTREMELY narrow. The narrow the scope, the more gets ignored. What you effectively ignored in your suggestion is, that people will end up with a way to play ark that will be very unconvinient for them regarding their taste. You also have no idea, how many ppl in this thread already TRIED pvp and switch to/back to PVE because PVP isnt just for them.

 

In my case for example, i can show you 1500 hours of pure PVP in DayZ recorded while streaming it on Twitch. Another 1000h of Reign of Kings pure hardcore PVP (including skipping sleep almost entirely for 2 weeks in a row!) and many more PVP action i was and am doing in my gaming life (Escape From Tarkov currently for example). So no... im in no way afraid of PVP. I am also no weak person or player. The PVP mode in ark is just so unbalanced, and is limiting your way of playing so much, that it is not worth for me to play it. I used to play SOTF for an ark PVP experience too. This is because i have a job, i have a relationship, i have a pet to care for and other things to do. I like to play with others, but more in a alliance styled way, i like to have "my very own place i am the king of" -> my base on my main server, without anyone else in the tribe. Ark is a lonngterm oriented game, i see no way to fit my playstyle i like to play withing the survival sandbox of ark into the PVP mode of it at the current state of game balancing, im sorry.

You are assuming way too much just by a given game mode the people are playing.

[Rotix]

4 hours ago, Drinkinthepink said:

You are forgetting about the PVPers... we have no problems, if someone blocks metal, just craft c4 and blow it up, or tame a titan and clear all of the structures.

pve'ers, tend to be the softer 'tamer/breeder' type of player, who seem to be afraid of pvp. If you are decent at farming/building, you don't need a lot to succeed in a pvp environment. You just have to grind hard enough to get into metal with a few turrets, trade for an anky/quetz... 2 people can do it in a weekend. Flier nerf was good and well needed. The pillar issue I didn't even know was an issue until I saw a few pictures of barren ceilingpillared wasteland... it must be so painful to pve, my suggestion to anyone struggling would to be grab a tryhard friend and try pvp. (If you do, it is advisable to try talking to an alpha on a server before commuting, as some alphas are/arenot friendly)

I disagree with your statement that people who play PVE are "softer" and "afraid" of pvp. I played PVP for over a year. It can be very draining and time consuming. I decided to switch over to PVE to take a more relaxed approach to the game due to real life taking up more of my time. If you're decent at farming/building you don't need a lot to succeed in pvp? That doesn't make sense. You need to put a lot of time to get anywhere in Ark. Then when you do get to that said point, you log in to see all of your tames and structures have been destroyed. Putting in more time just to rebuild to have the same thing happen over and over. I tip my hat to those who continue to play PVP, it is not for the faint of heart. I'm sure others have taken a break from that mode as well to play PVE.

[szabiferi]

9 hours ago, Rotix said:

I can confirm that single foundations DO have a 12H decay timer. I placed several single foundations not connected and they despawned in a day.

This is really a joke, WC can't communicate and/or doesnt know what they are actually doing...

[methylphenidathydrochlorid]

@Rotix

Relaxed? How you dare to play relaxed? How WEAK are you? I guess youre afraid to go into some action after you did't manage to get alpha in 1 year? Git gut my friend.

[/irony]

[Fealthion]

PVE players aren't scared or soft - just bored of the crap, teenage angst, no rl validation idiots, and one upmanship that comes from PVP. I have no intention spending nigh on a day taming something only for someone to come along and kill it while I'm offline and I doubt I'm the only one. They could have made this whole game PVE with PVP 'arena's' and nobody would have batted an eyelid. Dont want to PVP?, dont go there - simple really.

 

However thats off point - back on the subject... for reference pillar with fence foundation seems to be solid and affects local spawns less than the pillar/ceiling combo and I suspect there are a variety of different additions that also work (I've seen players experimenting with ladders). Those people trying to keep the spawns intact will as ever adapt. Those new players who cant be bothered to ask the existing player base before littering the place with foundations will continue to be prevented from building - (Before someone loses their head, I do NOT mean all powerful tribes doling out land as the mood takes them). With a couple of friendly interactions in chat most (maybe not all) tribes will assist newbies.

When I say assist, there are normally facilities open to use and basic tools, armour, weapons, and for non-morons land - No they will not hand you a rex and a quetz just because you joined the server... learn to play - thats the fun bit!

 

[Musketeer]

@Jat

 

So Wildcard... How long this nonsense with the pillar timers is going to continue? You failed. Time to fix your mess.

We would like to protect our bases and resources.

Not my base in the background. You basically create a character on every server you go to and  with help of one person (who follow you to every server) with expendable flyer(s) and tonnes of metal foundations can go to every server, borrow the flyer and grief everybody, place then around and inside people's bases.. then move onto another.. and another.. Yes they will eventually get auto-demolished after 2 weeks.. But what a result for a griefer anyway.

 

[Sumane]

i think the only solution is no build zones. I was unlucky enough to have people corner me when i started building on official, and not im stuck in a 7x7 square... its not fun

 

[Espri]

15 hours ago, Drinkinthepink said:

You are forgetting about the PVPers... we have no problems, if someone blocks metal, just craft c4 and blow it up, or tame a titan and clear all of the structures.

pve'ers, tend to be the softer 'tamer/breeder' type of player, who seem to be afraid of pvp. If you are decent at farming/building, you don't need a lot to succeed in a pvp environment. You just have to grind hard enough to get into metal with a few turrets, trade for an anky/quetz... 2 people can do it in a weekend. Flier nerf was good and well needed. The pillar issue I didn't even know was an issue until I saw a few pictures of barren ceilingpillared wasteland... it must be so painful to pve, my suggestion to anyone struggling would to be grab a tryhard friend and try pvp. (If you do, it is advisable to try talking to an alpha on a server before commuting, as some alphas are/arenot friendly)

Didn't forget them ^^ but for them the issue isn't as sever as it is for those of us who want/like to play on PvE servers.

Although i feel it is more of an acquired taste to play PvP as theres alot more stress involved, you do have to be a bit more on point when playing in these servers as anyone can be an enemy. And like you said there are alpha tribes that dont really like new players or are just down right unfriendly to anyone they don't know. Some even make it a point to hunt and trap new players to the server just cause they can. (Which was a big issue back in the day and still is but not as much anymore)

However to call PvE players "soft" or "afraid" of PvP stuff is a bit conceted don't you think? Just because people enjoy to play a mode where it encourages community building and allows strangers to have no worries and be friendly towards one another, dosn t make them soft or weak. Im sure you didn't mean it that way but it came off as such.

There's also the more relevant fact that not everyone has the time to dedicate themselves to the game as others do. ARK in itself takes quite a bit of time and effort to do anything more so if your playing solo or trying to find a tribe to play with. Just the grind alone to level Up to get engrams worth using can be rather tiresome even with all of the extra exp bounus stuff they offer every week. Not having to worry about other players and tribes (who have unlocked and crafted better items than you have) is something that is well welcomed for those of us that just play it casually. PvE is more for players that don't have the time to create an empire in a day, it's more difficult as you have to respect the buildings of others so you can't just build anywhere you want, but it's better for players that just want to enjoy the game (in all its buggy glory) with some people that could end up being awesome friends and tribmates.

 

Anyway the point is that its more difficult to play on PvE with the pillar nerf due to trolls and griefers, who exploit the mechanics and make its harder or impossible to play. Not that they aren't effecting PvP servers as well, but as you said you can just craft some stuff and destroy the structure. However you can't destroy structures that aren't yours in PvE. its just simply a larger and more prevailing issue to those of us who do chose to play PvE.

[Drinkinthepink]

1 hour ago, Espri said:

Didn't forget them ^^ but for them the issue isn't as sever as it is for those of us who want/like to play on PvE servers.

Although i feel it is more of an acquired taste to play PvP as theres alot more stress involved, you do have to be a bit more on point when playing in these servers as anyone can be an enemy. And like you said there are alpha tribes that dont really like new players or are just down right unfriendly to anyone they don't know. Some even make it a point to hunt and trap new players to the server just cause they can. (Which was a big issue back in the day and still is but not as much anymore)

However to call PvE players "soft" or "afraid" of PvP stuff is a bit conceted don't you think? Just because people enjoy to play a mode where it encourages community building and allows strangers to have no worries and be friendly towards one another, dosn t make them soft or weak. Im sure you didn't mean it that way but it came off as such.

There's also the more relevant fact that not everyone has the time to dedicate themselves to the game as others do. ARK in itself takes quite a bit of time and effort to do anything more so if your playing solo or trying to find a tribe to play with. Just the grind alone to level Up to get engrams worth using can be rather tiresome even with all of the extra exp bounus stuff they offer every week. Not having to worry about other players and tribes (who have unlocked and crafted better items than you have) is something that is well welcomed for those of us that just play it casually. PvE is more for players that don't have the time to create an empire in a day, it's more difficult as you have to respect the buildings of others so you can't just build anywhere you want, but it's better for players that just want to enjoy the game (in all its buggy glory) with some people that could end up being awesome friends and tribmates.

 

Anyway the point is that its more difficult to play on PvE with the pillar nerf due to trolls and griefers, who exploit the mechanics and make its harder or impossible to play. Not that they aren't effecting PvP servers as well, but as you said you can just craft some stuff and destroy the structure. However you can't destroy structures that aren't yours in PvE. its just simply a larger and more prevailing issue to those of us who do chose to play PvE.

I apologize, I didn't mean to be disrespectful with my poor choice of words. My intention was not to imply that all pve'ers are soft/weak but rather to suggest that a softer/weaker player might choose pve over pvp; The main intent was to suggest to those players in particular, who may be unable to find land with which to start building in pve, that the pvp servers do not have the same land issues and are a viable alternative. Bearing in mind that pvp servers do however, as you mentioned, have their own type of griefers. Personally, If I didn't have the time for a pvp server and wanted to have fun and relax, I would surely be playing solo player.

I appreciate the calm manner of your writing as well as the clear legitimate points you make. Thank you for not being as hostile as the persons who previously quoted me.

[Volcano637]

That's good to see the anger has died down with the pillar issue. Everything will be ok

[AshRid]

38 minutes ago, Volcano637 said:

That's good to see the anger has died down with the pillar issue. Everything will be ok

I don't think that's the case at all. I suspect it's more that having tried to engage WC in a dialogue and been ignored they see the futility in further discussion

While this may be exactly what WC wanted (ignore them long enough and they'll accept the change) its a downward slope to a disenfranchised player base (as a potential scenario imagine the fallout from the No Mans Sky release but _before_ it went retail.....)

[Volcano637]

16 minutes ago, AshRid said:

I don't think that's the case at all. I suspect it's more that having tried to engage WC in a dialogue and been ignored they see the futility in further discussion

While this may be exactly what WC wanted (ignore them long enough and they'll accept the change) its a downward slope to a disenfranchised player base (as a potential scenario imagine the fallout from the No Mans Sky release but _before_ it went retail.....)

You could be very right. However, I do think atleast for some there was an initial shock that slowly died down. I am sure there are a lot of mad people still but things are changing very rapidly, there isn't really time to back track right now. Just like the flyer nerf, there is just no time to back track right now. I think they could make some changes later put when you are going at a fast pace you just gotta get it done and then you can worry about the fine tuning towards the end

[Rotix]

The only issue I have is that WC said only pillars with non spawn blocking structures would be affected. They left out that single foundations would follow the same rules.

[Squid812]

Does he meant to say lone pillars that are NOT attached to spawn blocking objects? Or am I misunderstanding this?

[tribeofguy]

on xbox 1 i better start building 2 foundation houses all over my land?

[Rotix]

1 hour ago, Squid812 said:

Does he meant to say lone pillars that are NOT attached to spawn blocking objects? Or am I misunderstanding this?

Pillars without a ceiling or foundation attached will have a 12H decay timer. if you have 3 pillars stacked, it is to my understanding that they also share the 12H decay timer. 

 

3 minutes ago, tribeofguy said:

on xbox 1 i better start building 2 foundation houses all over my land?

 

Pillars + ceilings are the most cost effective and seems to be the most popular method now. If you use foundations, make sure they are in pairs. 

[Nim]

34 minutes ago, Rotix said:

Pillars without a ceiling or foundation attached will have a 12H decay timer. if you have 3 pillars stacked, it is to my understanding that they also share the 12H decay timer. 

 

 

Pillars + ceilings are the most cost effective and seems to be the most popular method now. If you use foundations, make sure they are in pairs. 

A fence foundation with a pillar snapped to it works. A pillar with a ladder on it works. Both methods allow dino and resource spawns and have the regular timer. By far these two methods are the most popular, anyone still using a ceiling on a pillar either doesn't know or doesn't care.

[Rotix]

7 minutes ago, Nim said:

A fence foundation with a pillar snapped to it works. A pillar with a ladder on it works. Both methods allow dino and resource spawns and have the regular timer. By far these two methods are the most popular, anyone still using a ceiling on a pillar either doesn't know or doesn't care.

The change is still new, as we're all still learning, it's not about a lack of caring. That's good to know though about fence foundations. As for the ceilings on pillars, it is the most popular method on my server. I'll look into this method and try it out.