The Game That Keeps Us Coming Back

[MayonnaisePlease]

This is entirely my opinion and based on my experiences playing this game.

 

i've got over 1k hours played on xbox and I absolutely love the game--until I start playing another one of my games, then it almost feels like vacation. This prompts me and so many others to take a break from this game.

 

Although, I can never quit. Quitting this game is beyond me, it's always been a few months of a break then i'll return and start anew. Maybe its the grindy system? Or how the game forces you to no-life it so you can genuinely enjoy it? It gets tiresome after awhile.

 

My break starts today~ Love this game to death but oh boy playing other games (looking at you overwatch) makes me breathe a huge sigh of relief.

 

anyone else do this?

[Silverdragon284]

Quite a bit actually, The no life-ing gets to you after a while.

[Shrekasaurus]

It's actually been the opposite for me. I've tried playing other games, but I can't get into them because they're not Ark. I'm just waiting for Monster Hunter Worlds to come out.

[dslick]

I am going to take my first break in ARK quite soon. Going to try Official release for about a week and see if I'm still interested. If not then welps, it was fun while it lasted and off to other things.

PVE is gets stale after you achieve your base dinos and base.

[Shadowless28]

1 minute ago, dslick said:

I am going to take my first break in ARK quite soon. Going to try Official release for about a week and see if I'm still interested. If not then welps, it was fun while it lasted and off to other things.

PVE is gets stale after you achieve your base dinos and base.

PvE got a bit stale for me also on official so i switched it up and started playing PvP.  Man talk about having to grind.  If you want some renewed interest in the game switch up the map or way you play.  It makes it like a whole new game.  

[dslick]

can't lie I found myself hopping on some PVP officials for a taste but I'm always met with some raptored up people. Dude made a huge prison just for newbs camping the spawn point, having a window with a sign post reading messed up things. 

I want to play with normal people, not psychos lol.

[phantomman01]

I've been on a break for about a couple of months. I do log in after an update though just to kind of check out the changes and to see if the games running smoother. I know I'll be back, I'm very excited to get the Ragnarok update on the consoles and can't wait to start fresh. It also helps out that the weathers been pretty nice here too, hate being stuck inside a lot!

[ThzNutz]

actually we are currently on a break if you can call it that lmao

playing dark and light..... trade one grind for another

have also started story mode of The Long Dark and want to give Saurian some time too, havent even had time to install Astroneer....

and have to feed 3 camps on 2 servers every 2 days still in Ark. way too much work there to let it go....not sure how i can ever quit really... or  im not sure?

 

[Critter]

Grind gets old. Taming gets old. Building gets old. Server politics gets old. Starting fresh gets old. Etc. 

Ive taken 3-4 breaks now, longest being 2 months. I come back though

 

Friends end up starting their own Unnoficial server that ends up having pops of 60+, then they get a cluster going, so I join. That's what's brought me back each time lol 

[electricblooz]

I rage quit the second time the Allo glitch wiped out my herd.  Came back about three months later when I heard they had figured out how to fix it and god-mode singleplayer felt stupid.

Almost rage quit a month later over the ignorant "timer-makes-your-dinos-go-poof" patch.  But, a couple of folks on the server gave me some good prices for replacing the dinos I lost so I stayed.

The concept of this game is so appealing, who doesn't want to tame dinos and build up a little kingdom from scratch?  Plus, unlike other sandbox games, the time commitment to reach end-game content means you really get your value out of it.  It just drives me nuts that there have been so many missteps and flat-out DILO? moments along the development path.  I <thinik> if they introduced some content that reduced the sense of isolation on singleplayer, I would never quit playing.  As it is, I play official so the Island does seem deserted but I don't think the MMO aspect of the game of long-term viable.

[Chewytowel]

I have pretty much lost interest in Ark.  I tried going back to pvp with a friend and that was boring.  The politics in alpha tribes gets lame, and the stupid grind and breeding so you can go raid other tribes as part of a megatribe looks very repetitive (and it turns the nice guys you enjoyed playing the game with into elitist asshats).  I'm glad I left the alpha I was in as it woke me up a bit as to how I didn't enjoy the game.  Tried doing some PVE but that is boring as well and annoying with bases everywhere and people crying about bases around their bases, and with the idiots who spam pillars everywhere to troll.  

Even brand new servers at this point will likely not appeal to me.  The only thing I am looking forward to is a new expansion that isn't just another biome with new dino's like Scorched Earth, but one that advances the story of the Arks.  If it is just another biome with new creatures I might still check it out, but I'm pretty sure I'm mostly done with this game at this point.  It just gets really really really old after awhile.  

[Lewiatan]

For me there is not purpose to play ARK in long run. What can I do? Rebuild the base again? Tame another Dinosaur? Grind materials over and over again? Do bosses fights which require even more grinding? How many times you can do that before it gets old.  There is nothing big that would encourage me playing nor interesting story, nor great points of interest. The game is designed in a way that all lower tier items become useless. It's better if lower tier items are still useful and it's worth using them when you're lvl 100.  ARK gameplay is vast as an ocean and deep as a puddle. I'm at the point "I join the server, reset timers, do a spin around the base and log off". I'm disspointed in what game has become. It could have been something much better than just generic survival game with crafting.

 

[bulldog1986]

I've been on a 1 year bender with only 3-4 days off ark thus far lol

[Zaviel]

I am this way for several games.  I am 3000+ hours into Guild Wars 2 and i take breaks like you said.  Currently 1000+ hours into Ark but Gw2 is getting an expansion soon.  I love both games, and will never quit either, but us as players should do what we enjoy.

The beautiful thing is that Ark gets so many updates that taking a few month break you might come back to a vastly different game.

[Zaviel]

1 hour ago, Lewiatan said:

For me there is not purpose to play ARK in long run. What can I do? Rebuild the base again? Tame another Dinosaur? Grind materials over and over again? Do bosses fights which require even more grinding? How many times you can do that before it gets old.  There is nothing big that would encourage me playing nor interesting story, nor great points of interest. The game is designed in a way that all lower tier items become useless. It's better if lower tier items are still useful and it's worth using them when you're lvl 100.  ARK gameplay is vast as an ocean and deep as a puddle. I'm at the point "I join the server, reset timers, do a spin around the base and log off". I'm disspointed in what game has become. It could have been something much better than just generic survival game with crafting.

 

You could say it is about the journey not the destination.  Games like Ark are more of a playground for the stories that you the player make.  Stories that you make yourself of doing cool/dangerous things or of the interactions between you and others.

Every Ark veteran has their own "war story."

[Jabnlab]

I've taken several breaks from ark since I got it, which was a few months before the swamp/snow biomes came out. Always rented my own private server for family and friends. Started with the island for several months, kind of ran out of things too do, so we took a break and played other things. Then we came back for the center, but got hooked on another game and took another break.

Came back early spring of this year and decided to try an unofficial pvp server, which we actually liked, then they wiped it 2 weeks in, which was no big deal because they promised they wouldnt wipe it again. But about 3 weeks later we log in to the character creation screen...yet another wipe. So we left that server and I rented an SE server, which was great, but after a few months the same biome and no ocean got old...which leads us to now.

We swapped SE for Ragnorok about a month ago and are loving it, all the dinos and biomes in one map (when complete) its what I've been waiting for in ark. To keep from getting bored too quick I've keep gathering and xp at official rates, and we split our time between Ark and a few other games (mainly Eve, Diablo 3, overwatch, and soon to be Destiny 2 :D) We actually plan on trying bosses this go around, and venturing into the water, which I've pretty much avoided since eels were added, lol

I see myself always playing Ark in some form, and I have enjoyed watching it all come together the last few years.

[Lewiatan]

14 hours ago, Zaviel said:

You could say it is about the journey not the destination.  Games like Ark are more of a playground for the stories that you the player make.  Stories that you make yourself of doing cool/dangerous things or of the interactions between you and others.

Every Ark veteran has their own "war story."

I see your point of view, in some games it works, but I don't think in ARK regurarly. There was only one moment in my playthrough on official pve server which you can count as "war story", when entire server tried to kill dodo rex. It happened only once. 

In my opinion counting on community only to fullfill the lack of interesting content is a wrong decision. WC relays on those interactions too much, which can backfire severly. You can get such awsome player driven moments in games such as Pubg, because it doses the tempo and tension brilliantly. In ARK tempo of the game is really slow, tamed dinosaurs which stand still and do nothing only power that feeling. For example most of player vs dino fight is considered to be intense and "war story"  but I find it frustrating, because dino always makes you stuck and its dps is ridiculous. (looking at dire wolf...)

The game still has to offer things I mentioned in my previous post that ARK lacks. In the end it's a generic survival game that is a jack of all trades and master of none. Too bad gameplay feels half polished when the premiere is in 10 days. I hope the feedback WC will get criticism and feedback from professional reviewers and new customers will make them introduce some core gameplay improvements. I grew tired of "make-up improvements". We'll see.