$60 for Ark? Will it be worth it?

[OnePotatoChip]

5 hours ago, lammaer555 said:

I partially disagree with you... for an extent you are right, if game A gives you 15 hours of entertainment whil game B gives 100 hours of the SAME excitement, then you are OK. 

BUT

Game hours are NOT necessary mean entertainment and the quality of entertainment also afactor. Like take a 3 hour boring movie vs a 1.5 hour of exciting movie...

In case of Ark this is getting a bigger and bigger problem, because the devs implement more and more timesinks in a futile attempt to make ark more challenging... (they took the wrong way, they added timesinks, not challenge)

Recent prime example is the generator... reduced oil extraction rate with doubled gasoline consumption.. that means I need to spend 3-4 times more on gasoline creation and refuel than before. With your logic that means the game got better price/hour ratio, while the only thing they did just added a timesink what is not enjoyable at all. 

Same story with bossing, more items to collect before you can kick off the boss arena...

Or with the spoiling, more food runs needed than before....

Or with the stasis food fix.... more feeding time....

 

I agree with you also to an extent. Enjoyment isn't the same for everyone. That three hour movie you found boring might as well be a thriller for someone else. Quality is subjective. There are many people who's goals in the game don't require massive timesinks. Not everyone wants metal skyscrapers or two dozen of every animal in the game. Some don't care about the Bosses or Tek and some play Primitive/+. Then there are also those who don't think of the timesink as a necessarily bad thing (I'm not necessarily one). They enjoy putting in the time and seeing what they've acquired grow steadily and steadily. By all means, make your case, but let's not assume it's everyone's case. 

[JSacra]

9 minutes ago, CyanicEmber said:

That /is/ why they have been down for days. At least that would be my guess. Server maintenance just isn't as much of a priority ATM.

Yeh, having a good portion of your customers upset, losing new customers, being dragged through the mud in publications and bad reviews on steam... addressing that is not as high of a priority as getting that disc out. The good news is they have community reps drop in here every 18-24 hours and say they are looking at it, but then they say they are busy with other things. I wonder which is true? Are they in fact looking at it as they have said? How can that be if it is as you say and they are busy with cert? Which is true?

 

The fact that they cannot spare 5 minutes from their schedule to keep us updated is what makes the majority of us upset.

[seXikanac]

I wouldn't pay 60$ for Ark. Game have great idea, but it's poorly executed and official game play is way imballanced

[Masurao]

That really depends. The most simplistic answer that I can give is that the past worth was indeed rather high and right up in that ball park. It came with its BS, but that was outweighed by how much enjoyment and individual purpose I'd achieved from it. The current worth..? I've tried to walk out of my front door and rubber banded in my front yard 10x before the official server kicked me out. It let me back in eventually and I went on a decent supply run, made the gas, then sat for a moment before the server rolled back to place me smack dab in the middle of the ocean on the dolphin I was using over 35 minutes ago to where I'm already being destroyed by 10 Plesis, then I just gave up on it. I just wait, considering I've been incapable of getting basic supplies for gasoline to power any turrets for the past few weeks, so its anyone lucky enough to be active on the server to just waltz in and take what they want - if they already haven't. Thats about how it sums up my opinion of worth.

 

That aside, I feel as though the game is pretty bad for newer players as opposed to the older, higher-level players who can fend off or just outrun these new dinos that either want something from you, or just flat out hate you for being near them. I started another character on a no-tame server to just see what was up with it, only to have a Therizino rubberband from a fair distance away to right off to the side of me and aggro, and my tiny legs just couldn't get me out of danger because it turns out those things are actually pretty fast.. I came under the realization that my lvl 5 legs couldn't even book it in a hasty panic to escape - only to fail - as opposed to my lvl 79 jogging merrily along to keep them at bay.

 

The thought occurred to me: "This is what newer players have to deal with now..? Oh hell.."  That wasn't even one of the dinos I was talking about.  I had to put server instability as another reason, although that would be theoretically much more easily fixed(apparently not, though). As of lately, official servers are like fighting and escaping dinos with the ability to flash step or something of the sort.

[Dracul]

21 hours ago, ranger1presents said:

Hmmm, lets see what my money will get in other games today.

Ohhh, nice sale over in World of Tanks.

Was $103, now on sale for 82.99.

Includes:

• VIII AMX M4 mle. 49 Liberté (Tank)
• Garage Slot;
• Gold: 3,000;

• Credits: 2,000,000;
• Premium Account: 30;
• Vertical Stabilizer Mk 2;

• Enhanced Gun Laying Drive;
• Medium-Caliber Tank Gun Rammer;
• 20×MISSIONS: X5 XP FOR A VICTORY on Liberte.

So for my $83 I get 1 tank and a slot to keep it in, some gold and etc. to spend on special ammo and skins, some consumables and 30 days of premium game play.  A WHOLE TANK and AMMO!!! WoooHooo!!!

WOT is a decent game, but it seriously puts your $60 for ARK into perspective.  $60 buys you 1 or 2 vehicles in a game with hundreds to choose from.  I'm not saying it's not worth it if you enjoy the game, but it puts into perspective just how much your $60 gets you in ARK.

 

That is a poor example, you might as well referenced Mechwarrior Online's notorious "$500 gold mechs" from a few years back.  In WoT's case people fork up absurd amounts of cash for a pay-to-win/pay-for-advantage cause they have a dirty underhanded pay scheme and thats not something anyone should compare a game to while trying to justify something like a pricetag or DLC.

 

But seriously, if wildcard starts selling $500 gold dino skins im gonna riot.

(I would pay like, $10 for a zombie plesio/tek tuso skin)

[SumDuud]

Yes, even in the broken state that it is in and especially if Scorched Earth is included (I own it so I haven't looked, is it?) with that price tag.  This is better than just about any console game that I can think of and those all release at that price point and provide much less playability.

[Ranger1]

Quote

That is a poor example, you might as well referenced Mechwarrior Online's notorious "$500 gold mechs" from a few years back.  In WoT's case people fork up absurd amounts of cash for a pay-to-win/pay-for-advantage cause they have a dirty underhanded pay scheme and thats not something anyone should compare a game to while trying to justify something like a pricetag or DLC.

 

 

WoT is a AAA game thats been around for a very long time.  It serves as an excellent example of just how much you are actually getting for your $60 in other titles by comparison.

WOT is also not a stand alone example, not by a long shot.  There are dozens and dozens (understatement) of popular games on the market where $60 would be considered incidental compared to what you shell out for upgrades, vehicles, skins, etc. on a monthly basis.

I suppose another example would be EVE Online.  I maintain 1 full account via a monthly subscription fee of $15, and a couple of accounts that I pay for with proceeds earned in game from that main account.

In 4 months that subscription fee adds up to $60. 

I've had that subscription for 13 years... do the math on that one!  LOL, and you should have seen the state EVE was in comparatively when it was first released.

The point is that in this day and age, paying $60 for a game you enjoy... particularly if it has a large amount of replay value... isn't out of the ordinary.

[ehuhoser]

The amount of time I put in on PC, and Console, even at all my wipes, all my so called seasons of modded I've changed, the different ways to play thanks to mods etc, I can say, that 60 for the longevity is still a good price for that much content, however........however....as a new player one would also see that WC still needs to smooth a bunch of things out if as a new player, one would compare other great titles to this game and their online experience.  They might not be as forgiving as well just because they would be noobs in this game and there are still a lot of griefers and jerks/trolls that would find their happiness in ruining the experience of others before they had a chance.  Thus at that state many noobs would not stick with the game to find that 60 was worth it.

I would also expect that for that kind of money that WC should help noobs more to know that what map they play on first would affect them in the long run, ie not being able to ascend to gain the full experience first or they need to update those other maps to give the same experience if not WC has the responsibility to help them know the paths they need for online multiplayer experience.

For consoles as well, xbox one x will help with the experience and I know I plan on buying for this game specifically to aid in the experience I had with PC builds.  My hope is that I can achieve that.  Again well worth for me knowing what I know, and the cost I've paid to help support and test things already makes it that much sweeter.

[WolfeUK]

Im glad they have already put the price up, all those who thought they could wait till a day before release to get it cheaper, the price drop was for EA players willing to beta test their product, im glad you all got caught out and now have to pay full price, serves you right!

[AndrewLB]

22 hours ago, Mctoozle said:

Only the angry kids think Ark is "extremely buggy" and not worth 60$. Somehow, they think they can influence the games development and price through exaggeration.

If a server you were playing on crashed every 20-60 minutes, each time with a 20 minute rollback, for over three weeks (since v259), how would you feel about it?  Because that's exactly how all the PC PVE ragnarok servers are doing for yes... 3 weeks+. If you think that's exaggeration, I'd like to personally invite you to come play on NA-PVE-Ragnarok15

[GaleTheWhale]

I'll white knight this game until the end of time, I just wish WildCard didn't make me feel guilty when I do it.
My stance on the price raising is that people who bought into Early Access where buying an unfinished game that may never actually see full release *cough*stompingland*cough*. Most, if not all, EA games raise their price upon full release.

Ark is a great game and it is definitely worth 60 usd, however it is not worth 60 usd right now. The game is way too poorly optimized and buggy to be worth the new price. They never should have put a date on full release, and they should have pushed that date further out when they realized they wouldn't be able to make the deadline. Once the game is stable, I would say buy it, without a doubt. Right now if you have not bought the game and have been wanting to, wait a few months and see where the stability and optimization of the game is. You'll just get more frustrated and annoyed with the god awful freezes, stutters, lags, and crashes than actually having fun.

[LinuxGyver]

The grief is about server lags, or server abuses, but all MMO games got thoses problems, it's more internet network peaks loads and teenages behavior. But take the singleplayer mode on a map like The Center, and you got it, a real AAA game, as good as last Tomb Raider (if not better), you can go ultra-settings wih a GTX940, no lags, just great game. 
 

[IamTANK]

On 7/18/2017 at 1:13 AM, Jtmorris said:

How many hours until it's worth $60?

How many hours of fun gameplay would you say you would need before you admit that a game is worth $60?

I think of it this way I would easily spend $30 taking my wife to the movies. If we bought popcorn and pop it would be another $15 on top of that. For two hours of entertainment people say that's worth it. For $60 I could watch four to six hours of movies.

I purchased Ark at a fraction of retail cost (as I'm sure most here did). We bought it in an unfinished state and I've put in hundreds of hours. It's been so much fun. On release, if someone pays $60, they will play for hundreds of hours too, have a ton of fun, be super frustrated with bugs, but keep on playing. I'm sure that most will get their money's worth.

But what do you think? Lots of you have said it's not worth $60. How many hours of fun do you need from a game until you would say it passes for you? 

that all depends on individual perspectives. items and services have a different value to different people. just because i feel something is worth the price tag for me doesn't mean it will be worth it for the next guy. i boils down to numerous factors such as : individual financial situation, personal level of enjoyment, and abundance of other options and their respective costs and level of enjoyment you get from them.

[Analizer]

my wife decided to play with me and the price for ark is now $60? NO WAY am I paying that plus another $20 to play on scortched earth. WOW For $60 bucks we better get all the maps and DLC for free. I have NEVER payed this much for a game that isnt ready to be released. The game isnt THAT good YET. NOT EVEN a pre-order discount?

[AveryStiffBacon]

I paid 120$ for that dodo of a bundle of infinate warfare and remake of cod 4 i wish i could take that money and instead buy 2 of this game.  1 too play and the other as an investment for more content.  If you compare this game to others there is no question on the content value.  I mean any COD game is 30x worse then this in content and connection (unless your host).  

[Currahee]

I wouldn't pay $60 for any game, the most I've paid is $47.50 and that was $2.50 over what I'd previously set as my limit.

 

But knowing what ARK is ... I would pay more than $60 for it.

[arkark]

With more than 5700 hours ingame I wouldn't pay nor recommend friends paying 60€ for the game. 15€ is ok, maybe 20-25€ when not on sales. 60€ is for finished game, and Ark, among other things, crash too much at the client and server side.

 

[AveryStiffBacon]

3 hours ago, arkark said:

With more than 5700 hours ingame I wouldn't pay nor recommend friends paying 60€ for the game. 15€ is ok, maybe 20-25€ when not on sales. 60€ is for finished game, and Ark, among other things, crash too much at the client and server side.

 

Lol, so you have played for 2/3 of a year straight and still think ALL that play time is worth 15€  hahahhahahahahhahahahhahhahahha

apparently you have never played any other games befor.  Whether it be micropayments or monthly fees THAT much time spent playing is usually a money pit where most spend 100's of $$$ to enjoy and play the game.   Unless your telling me you spent that entire time hating what you were doing for what i can imagine as playing every day 7-8 hours a day for 2 years straight.  Cause thats what the math says at 5700 hours and the game being out for about 2 years.

(hahahahhaahaaaa......)

[AGB15]

Usually if I'm able to put in a 10 hour shift

[arkark]

7 hours ago, AveryStiffBacon said:

Lol, so you have played for 2/3 of a year straight and still think ALL that play time is worth 15€  hahahhahahahahhahahahhahhahahha

apparently you have never played any other games befor.  Whether it be micropayments or monthly fees THAT much time spent playing is usually a money pit where most spend 100's of $$$ to enjoy and play the game.   Unless your telling me you spent that entire time hating what you were doing for what i can imagine as playing every day 7-8 hours a day for 2 years straight.  Cause thats what the math says at 5700 hours and the game being out for about 2 years.

(hahahahhaahaaaa......)

I dont play games with micropayments. Also what you say about me never player any other games before, lmao, just check my steam profile see how much games I have. I've also have some games in battle.net and in the EA/Ubisoft stores, I also had some game consoles since the atari 2600 until ps2, then I switched to PC. Before I had a CPC 464.

The game I've expended the most is probably WoW, due to monthly fee, but its quality and support completely worth it. You have a problem, open a ticket ingame and in minutes you have it resolved.

Ark is too much different in that aspect, tickets take months and most of the time the answer is sorry we can do nothing. It devaluates the price. Also, Ark is too much frustration, you disconnect or crash and lost all and no one assist you.

You see the game bosses, they are not well done given the limitations of the dinos. Look at megaphitecus. I would like things like sending a dino attack as a tank (attacking from the from) or as a dps (attack from the back) so one could customise more where to put the points when leveling. That not gonna happend. Its sad but most of the ppl that killed bosses did that stucking them, cause there was/is no other method. Just take a look at youtube and see why ppl has stopped uploading bossfights in the lasts weeks, and the few that are are from consoles, or to show a wipe. Not fun.

Now all my 5700 hours of progression are going to the bin, because of that decission of puttin my char in servers called legacy that are full of dupers and that sooner or later will dissapear. I just prefer let my dinos die and go play another thing. I dont like being catalogued as a cheater.

Ark had one good thing that keeps you connected, helping friends. But apart from that I dont feel there are other reasons to stay or recommend atm.

[Analizer]

Worth it? I watch people buy cars and houses that arent worth it. But they are willing to pay for it's over priced cost. Doesnt matter, it will sell anyway. They will also put a disclaimer on it to say not responsible for gameplay and your not liking it. In the current state IMO NO not worth it. The lag issues are NOT resolved and the words "working on it" means no solution yet but we are brain storming with fingers crossed. 

Today I chased a raptor around for 15 minutes waiting for a shot. Lag. then more lag. then some more. and more after that. Finally the raptor lost agro when I lost it in the lag fest and it wasnt moving. Finally I tranqed it. Then left it to rot because I had to get back to base for a storm. 

Time is something I have little of, the games instability doesnt help. 

Im sure if I played it on PC it would be fine. On console I can tell you first hand it is not fun letting lag and DC getting you killed and loss of dinos. I dont know how anyone can say they love a game that is constantly rubberbanding you, killing you with lag,  lag giving the dinos a huge advantage in close quarters combat, getting dropped while flying and dying, Flying off a high cliff or building to your death with a rubberbanding. I get mad when I screw up, but when the game is killing you more from lag then the threat of dinosaurs, there is a problem.

ADD $20 for Scortched Dirt too? Are they gonna double down on that one too?

I know that they are going to probably keep adding maps and content and dinos, so in the future many would say YES it WILL be worth it. 

I would agree with that. BUT fix it FIRST. Then charge it up. 

FIX IT FIRST.

[Jtmorris]

Some great thoughts here:

So what would need to change for it to be worth $60 to you (if it's not already)? 

What needs to be fixed or polished still? What content would you need to see? 

[Lhatslc]

It makes no since to upgrade the sky, water, Dino skins.. etc when the graphics of the game can not handle it. Just adds to the lag problem.  It is so bad now 1/2 the time the game is not playable. Get your priorities straight. Fix the lag, game freezing  and server discs 

[Pakku]

Its not about the time you spend playing it, its about the quality of the product and ARK in its current state is not worth $60

[LarudeSandstorm]

In my general opinion, it is insane for people to be upset over the price raise. While 60$ is alot of money, it's the standard price for a completed game, Wildcard raised the price in anticipation for Ark's release from EA. They have every right to do so, It's their game and it's their decision. As a huge fan of this game, I fully support every decision they make.