Discussing Game Launch (not servers)

[Vrallox]

Following a mod's advice I've created a new topic and also stole his title suggestion from him.

So we're finally here. We did it. Us early access players have been launched along with the game we've been playing for so long. We launched ARK: Survival Evolved! Congrats all around to the players! We did it! Soak it in!

So what do we all think about the path that led us here? About the now full game? About the people of Wildcard and how they've treated us?

I'd share my opinion but that backfired last time so I'll wait until the ball gets rolling.

[Ulta]

Ark as a game has made leaps and bounds from it's day 1 release to the public. I remember when my 960 couldn't even squeeze out 20 fps in the wilds. Now I can get about 70 and will rarely run into a bug.

I am not giving my comment on WC for the most part, mostly because anything 'bad' they've done didn't affect me. I steered clear of officials and anything related to them. But overall I still must commend them for making it this far. ARK was impressive with how often it got patched, while most EA games I've seen and tried would barely get updated or just flat-out dropped. So stoked to finally see the game officially released and I'm so glad ARK exists. Gotta give credit where it's due. I'm glad WC made this game exist, even if some of their decisions seemed questionable.

When played in the way you wish it, ARK is one of the best things I've played in a loooong time though and that's what really matters to me. It had been years since a game hooked me like this one did.

[Rintrahhh]

Personally, the path has been awesome. It's been the most enjoyable, addictive and satisfying game I've ever played. Yes, there's been some ups and downs. One time my entire base and tames got wiped after an update and I was pissed but I rebuilt better than before.

As for WC and "how they've treated me", well they've provided me with hours and hours of fun and entertainment at a very cheap price.

[HalfSlabBacon]

Yeah people really got to let all the negativity go. Fact is, game is wicked fun & that's why we're all here. I love the game, it's come a long way, and I look forward to seeing how it improves with time.

[Snapshot]

This last couple of months have slowly been building up today and I feel as though this game grew into something most people can say they can thoroughly enjoy. This game has created a way I can really connect with my family and to be able to find and play with other people. I don't that I can say anything about WC because they have thrown us all around for things but most of the time I've been really glad with things WC has done. All in all i really love this game.

[powerstuck]

For my part, the GAME is good. There is no other games like it out there. So credit where it's due. It's not perfect, there are elements we all wish were there (wink s+ wink) but nothing is perfect so that is fine.

But Wildcard as company need some learning lessons. Communication is absolutely inefficient. I understand people use Twitter and Reddit, but WC doesn't own either of those. Stuff posted on twitter will appear anywhere from one hour to a few days later on their own website. In my opinion, that is just simply wrong. 

Decisions. Some of their decisions are controversial. Once again, you cannot please everyone so there will always be unhappy people. But controversial decisions need to be discussed by the team (I am not saying they are not) and then that decision should clearly be exposed and explained to THE CUSTOMER. And when I say clearly I mean not using some hyperboles and hidden words open to multiple meanings. 

They need to learn to stay true to their word. Example : 10% of bottom servers will be shutdown/re-purposed. Ends up being 33% (and up to 50% of one platform). Okay maybe their 10% was low. But would it have been hard to stick to 10%, then next month do another 10% and another month 10% until it reached the end of Legacy ?

At some point, we as customers will not trust anything this company says...and no matter how you look at it...it's going to be bad for the business.

[Irk]

Ark has been the only game where my dad, brother, uncle, friends, wife and myself were able to sink thousands of hours in to and have a great time doing so. Regardless of the bugs and glitches, coming home to my wife who was super proud of herself for taming something on her own, or seeing her light up when she learned about breeding, trumps all that frustration.

It was fun seeing seven people running around in underwear and cloth hats, frantically picking berries 'cause one of us finally downed our first trike. It was heartbreaking watching our first base that we poured days in to get demolished by some dudes on rex's. And it was hilarious trying to escape a trio on frogs that found it fun to knock out us newbies and fill our inventory full of dino poop.

We all slowly stopped playing. Though, now with Ark's actual release and the fact that there are new servers coming up, some of us are definitely excited to get back in and give it another whirl. Glitches, bugs, missing content, missed ETA's, etc.; none of that really compares to the fun I've had playing this game. They don't take away from the experience for me.

And if throughout it's EA phase, if none of that stuff really ruined the game for me, I'm definitely looking forward to what Ark has to offer now that it's officially released.

[Jtmorris]

Loving it. Love the game, love the progress, love the story, and to be honest, I don't mind bugs, restarting, or paid DLC before release. I appreciate the progress in the bug department (There's more that still needs to happen), and the ongoing content and commitment to development, as well as the ongoing listening and responding to the community feedback.

The communication has been a disaster.

And I would say that my biggest beef is not the bugs, but the illegible UI on a 37" 1080p TV. So annoying. But I can hope that a change will come eventually (I'm just surprised they released with this UI. It would be an immediate turn off for new players.)

What does this even say above the torch?

[Vrallox]

11 minutes ago, Jtmorris said:

Loving it. Love the game, love the progress, love the story, and to be honest, I don't mind bugs, restarting, or paid DLC before release. I appreciate the progress in the bug department (There's more that still needs to happen), and the ongoing content and commitment to development, as well as the ongoing listening and responding to the community feedback.

The communication has been a disaster.

And I would say that my biggest beef is not the bugs, but the illegible UI on a 37" 1080p TV. So annoying. But I can hope that a change will come eventually (I'm just surprised they released with this UI. It would be an immediate turn off for new players.)

What does this even say above the torch?

I'd say the blue on blue is rather pretty. You don't need to know what the words say. Just take in the beauty of the font, of how the UI looks, and marvel at what your eyes behold.

[Jtmorris]

8 minutes ago, Vrallox said:

I'd say the blue on blue is rather pretty. You don't need to know what the words say. Just take in the beauty of the font, of how the UI looks, and marvel at what your eyes behold.

Haha true!  Oh I love the blue color, but if you look at "the font", those are not letters! And trying to read the explorer notes! The text is smaller than the image. You need to be a foot away to decipher what the words are supposed to be. The story will have to wait for me until I can spend the time deciphering or the UI updates.

But until then, I will behold the beauty! lol  

[Forsaken47]

Congrats WildCard on releasing the full version! Oh wait.....let's take down all the servers for 11hrs, release the game, then after you download everything which takes 3+ hrs, we are going to make you wait an additional 5hrs. Have you guys ever heard of backwards planning? Looks like you have not! I'm so addicted to this game but you guys really need to get your sh** together. Hire some outside help because at this rate we are going to have multiple issues like server lag, Bluescreens, glitches, ddos'ers, dupers. Do you guys even play this game! I'm still going to play this game until no longer playable but you need to look into the actual glitches and issues instead of trying to add new content every 2 weeks? Enough said, this is still the most enjoyable game to date that I have played.

[Shadex]

I have been an early backer for longer than I can readily remember. Seeing the game come from where it was to here is nothing short of miraculous. Again, in a world where countless kickstart/EA games never even launch or do as gutted, half baked shadows of their original intentions, sincere kudos to WC for delivering a beautiful, engaging, solid title that continues to be fun long after the initial experience.

WC may be a new company that will learn in time not to make promises and to tag anything they say with, "as this is early access anything and everything could change prior to launch". But what I see is a collection of extremely talented individuals that I hope will continue to make star quality games as well as continue to develop this one. We are in a very different time now then when companies like EA and Blizzard got started. They didn't have the public in their face and scrutinizing every single thing they did throughout there development process. I will guarentee you they made mistakes but they did not have a million armchair developers screaming at them from behind anonimity over every little thing. WC will get better and if people would just take a step back and look at the amazing gift they have given us in ARK and its toolset maybe they could give them a little slack.

Sure, the game has issues and maybe they could have handled PR better. But this was an early access game and we all knew what we were getting into when we bought in. I personally am going to to continue to support WC and the development of ARK. I have learned a lot about them. I have also learned a lot about the community that plays this game and as a 20+ year vet of gaming and online gaming I can say it rivals League of Legends for the Crown of Caustic Vitriol. Not to say there are not diamonds in the rough but in general I am glad I decided not to play on official servers anymore. Since renting my own dedicated my large community has never been happier. They love the game, the mechanics, the depth and challenge. What they don't miss is the hate, the immaturity, and the selfishness that has destroyed the official experience and by and large spilled over into these forums.

So perhaps  a message can be learned from this reality. Look at the people that have been playing the game on single player, or on private dedicated servers and ask them what they think of the game and the company. I will bet you that they will have a very different opinion than those that are coloring their review not with the quality of the game they bought, but with the fact that WC decided to close down the open beta servers and give everyone a fresh start. Many people may decide not to return and that will be unfortunate. I know from my personal experience on official that if some of these massive alpha tribes that seem to find enjoyment is just stomping anything and everything until everyone leaves the server are lost it could mean a better first experience for anyone new just coming in.

Did they say they weren't going to wipe the servers, sure. Did they feel in the end that it was necessary and did it anyway, sure. Does it change the fact that they have made an amazing game that has already provided, by their own admission, hundreds and hundreds of hours of real enjoyment, you are damn right. So now every player here needs to make a choice. Remember that this is a game that we all love that  has obviously been built with an unparalleled  level of dedication and get back in there and write a new story, build a new base, make new friends. Or... we can be childish and selfish and stomp our feet and hold our breath until we can convince everyone around us that this company stinks and that they should fail simply because my pixels are gone.

Many an amazing game has failed not by design, but by community. If we all truly enjoy playing ARK than that is what should be our focus, regardless of whether we are at end game or standing naked on a beach. Remember, it is not about the destination, but the journey. Your next one awaits.

[Chunk1664]

So here we are sitting around waiting  for official and private severs to be opened and all we get from wildcard is nothing or lame excuses.

An absolutely brilliant game ruined by incompetent people

[RaiderofthelostARK]

Ima bet they "accidently" erased all console data on the servers... did anyone else foresee this as a possible outcome?

[duque]

From being a survival game to a raptoring game in PVE, where people wept in the forum because the wild dinos kill their dinos, without bothering to make a wall or put plants for defense or other things that the game provides, I have more than 4000 hours of game and I saw as a survival step to be a game for children of 5 years, where the only thing apart from raising is to feed the dinos

You can congratulate them for finally getting the game officially, but do not catalog it for survival, that would be an insult to games of that gender

[Ganelon]

My personal thoughts...

I payed for a game to have fun in. I have fun in this game.

I did not pay for PR. I love getting free stuff, but I am not entitled to it. So I don't care about their PR.

Official and Unofficial Servers are not mine. I do not pay for them. I do not own them. The owner's can do whatever they want. I don't care.

A server I rent, build, and run... that is my server. I own it for as long as I pay. I care about that server.

Anyone who disagrees with me is wrong. I don't care.

I am happy and most chill.

[Danouk]

I was hoping it would be different but no all you see are pillars and foundation everywhere. Will try to catch a new server just starting so I can do something if not I guess single player is an option.

[Arkasaurio]

My main cons have everything to do with servers so I'll leave them out!

Ark is an amazing game, and WC's achievement can't be understated. For all the things they've done that seemed so careless bordering on cruel at times, to bring a game like this to full launch is amazing, even with issues that persist and will crop up.

The most incredible thing to me is that once I was on, the server ran pretty much capped at 100/100 for 3.5 hours, and in that time 1 minor instance of rubber banding and no real slow downs (and I play on a potato). Being around for over a year, I'm so impressed by the performance on a completely full server. Granted, no one has massive bases, hundreds of dinos, tons of platforms, etc. yet to drag performance down, so only time will tell.

It also seems they got a little more liberal with terrain clipping which would be cool, but since that's not in the patch notes, maybe I just got lucky with my build.