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QUESTION: Why do you choose Official?


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I would play official again. Been on it for 2 years. But I got screwed over twice. First time was with the redwood update. I was a solo alpha tribe and lost everything, even though I was outside the barrier. Second time was when a tribemate recruited a low-life punk for some reason and he destroyed and killed nearly everything we had over night. Sadly for official there is no support in these things. I gave up after that second wipe. Great thing about official though is that you have no worries about the server going away, but you cannot do anything about the jerks you are forced to play with.

I now run my own server, Dungeons and Dinosaurs, on Xbox. I want a server with settings I would enjoy, because no one wants to stay up all weekend to raise a dozen Rexs at once because it was a bonus weekend. It is challenging yet casual, and I have been successfully running it for over 2 months (recently went rental). My player base is very dedicated and admire the support I give not only them but also to the server. They understand that I will keep the server up so long as they keep playing, and they have the satisfaction that I will be there for them if something happens (recently a Quetzal got stuck in a glitched rock and I admined it free). I wanted to make a server I would want to play on, and that is why Unofficial can be preferred to Official.

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I'm noticing a bit of a trend here - "I got wiped/had a hard time on Official servers, so now I play Unofficial".

This just goes to show that it's very much true that Officials are home to the best players, the cream of the crop, the best of the best. This makes sense too when you think about it. Officials servers are hard and unforgiving places. Only the strong survive and the weak run off to Unofficials where they can behind layers of rules and biased admins.

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6 minutes ago, ForzaProiettile said:

I'm noticing a bit of a trend here - "I got wiped/had a hard time on Official servers, so now I play Unofficial".

This just goes to show that it's very much true that Officials are home to the best players, the cream of the crop, the best of the best. This makes sense too when you think about it. Officials servers are hard and unforgiving places. Only the strong survive and the weak run off to Unofficials where they can behind layers of rules and biased admins.

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Guest DJRone89
1 hour ago, ForzaProiettile said:

I'm noticing a bit of a trend here - "I got wiped/had a hard time on Official servers, so now I play Unofficial".

This just goes to show that it's very much true that Officials are home to the best players, the cream of the crop, the best of the best. This makes sense too when you think about it. Officials servers are hard and unforgiving places. Only the strong survive and the weak run off to Unofficials where they can behind layers of rules and biased admins.

Why offer an unofficial experience at all?

I play unofficial because I like the freedom of all the settings, I can play the game how I like, and I’m not limited to spending hours and hours doing tedious tasks.

Freedom does not mean weakness. People play differently because of what they want out of the game. The whole “If you don’t play the way I do then you are trash” attitude shows me it is you that is weak because you can’t see past your own bias.

Edit: I played official and enjoyed every moment. Had I not taken the break when I did, I probably would have stayed longer. I returned as an unofficial player and went on to host.

I always recommend new players to official first and to make up there own mind. Only if they choose to quit, do I offer unofficial as an alternative.

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19 hours ago, Palenor said:

Cause if it is not on Official, it does not count. 

Unofficial is easy mode.

Official is where it counts, you versus the rest of all ark players on official, not just the dozen or so others on the unofficial server.

Not all unofficial servers are easy mode. Some are made with official rates for people that want to play Official but with less lag.

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I play official for the incredible amount of politics, uncertainty, danger and challenge. Across the many servers you have access to are a wide variety of tribes and alliances and people. Many times your best weapon/defense on official is who you know, talking with your enemy, making deals. Unofficial is like candyland compared to official. If you want to play the most challenging form of ark, its pvp official.

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18 minutes ago, HoganRyan01 said:

Not all unofficial servers are easy mode. Some are made with official rates for people that want to play Official but with less lag.

Its not the rates. Unofficial people are ones who cant handle getting wiped or don't have the time. I'm fairly certain that the skill/knowledge level of unofficial players is far lower than the official crowd. This is because most of us on official have been wiped many times. We learn from our weaknesses and build stronger the next time in every situation, pvp or base defense or what have you.

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Guest DJRone89
47 minutes ago, TheBanditKing said:

Its not the rates. Unofficial people are ones who cant handle getting wiped or don't have the time. I'm fairly certain that the skill/knowledge level of unofficial players is far lower than the official crowd. This is because most of us on official have been wiped many times. We learn from our weaknesses and build stronger the next time in every situation, pvp or base defense or what have you.

Here we go with that “your trash if you don’t play official” attitude again. Playing official is not the only way to play this game and to say that unofficial players lack the same skills is a pretty skewed and biased statement.

Time sync does not equal skill.

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  • Volunteer Moderator

Let's get back on topic. 

If you have a reason why you play official, that is related to you, then post it.  Let's not turn this into another pointless official vs unofficial vs single-player vs whatever 'debate'.  If there was only one way to play this game, then that is what Wildcard would sell.

Also, if someone's preferred play-style is different from yours, that does not make them better or worse than you.  And, if you need to base your opinion on insulting others and unsupported generalities, then maybe it is not really that strong or valid; and sounds more like baiting (which I would suggest others to ignore).

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I play both unofficial and official. The cluster of unofficial servers I play on offer elements that official doesn't and vice versa. Where people play depends on preference and/or experience with either server types. A lot of people are chased off of unofficial and its disappointing that people keep coming to the same conclusion about unofficial servers, claiming admin abuse or unfair banning. Rumours can stop people from playing unofficial. There are good unofficial servers out there that are sometimes hard to find. Perhaps we should start a ranking system for them? If there isn't one already. Separate the reliable from the unreliable. 

When it comes to official, its more the social aspect that draws people in. There are a whole lot more people on official who are at different stages in the game. Its like shopping... People joining the servers have a pick of available tribes doing different things that perhaps they feel like they can be a part of. Some people may not like starting from scratch and so they join up with others. While you can do that on unofficial, its less limited on official due to low member counts on the unofficial servers. 

Some people join unofficial in the hopes to become an admin themselves if they play long enough on that server. Others are content to just get the admin handouts. It may be that people looking to play unofficial are really looking for a server with no rules where they can do whatever they want under corrupt management. 

These are just a few suggestions. 

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Guest DJRone89
19 minutes ago, DomeBlue said:

I play both unofficial and official. The cluster of unofficial servers I play on offer elements that official doesn't and vice versa. Where people play depends on preference and/or experience with either server types. A lot of people are chased off of unofficial and its disappointing that people keep coming to the same conclusion about unofficial servers, claiming admin abuse or unfair banning. Rumours can stop people from playing unofficial. There are good unofficial servers out there that are sometimes hard to find. Perhaps we should start a ranking system for them? If there isn't one already. Separate the reliable from the unreliable. 

When it comes to official, its more the social aspect that draws people in. There are a whole lot more people on official who are at different stages in the game. Its like shopping... People joining the servers have a pick of available tribes doing different things that perhaps they feel like they can be a part of. Some people may not like starting from scratch and so they join up with others. While you can do that on unofficial, its less limited on official due to low member counts on the unofficial servers. 

Some people join unofficial in the hopes to become an admin themselves if they play long enough on that server. Others are content to just get the admin handouts. It may be that people looking to play unofficial are really looking for a server with no rules where they can do whatever they want under corrupt management. 

These are just a few suggestions. 

This is a great summary.

It’s the community you surround yourself with which determines how you want to play. The official scene is very expansive and cannot be replicated on unofficials, but both experiences take a long time before you find your true home.

Officials are great but I don’t regret my decision to no longer play on them because what I want from the game changed.

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I play on both (and in single player at times)

Official it's more about the other people and figuring out how to live alongside them. (In the spaces not being taken or protected) It's also handy for trading, even if the servers are capped, there are ways to get what you need. I sigh a lot when people are told the server is capped and they should try another, because I know that taming/breeding isn't everything in Ark. Several times I have leveled up into the 60's with nothing but an abandoned raft on a shoreline or an Argent bought from one of the server breeders.

Unofficial and single player, it's more about the core game mechanics. The building, collecting and supply lines for things you need. With my older computer, there are times I prefer this because I can just turn on infinitestats/god/leavemealone and focus on making something visually interesting or super efficient.

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15 hours ago, TheBanditKing said:

I play official for the incredible amount of politics, uncertainty, danger and challenge. Across the many servers you have access to are a wide variety of tribes and alliances and people. Many times your best weapon/defense on official is who you know, talking with your enemy, making deals. Unofficial is like candyland compared to official. If you want to play the most challenging form of ark, its pvp official.

Its true offical PVP is all about Diplomatic BUT somtimes the Diplomatic fail and there is no Gamer Honor anymore what means PPLS use every Bug/Glitch/Unbalance they can find to destory you even if you have a Pact.  Played 2 near 3 Years on offical PVP but i must say its not the Time worth you have to Invest. You have to grind 10000 of Hours for the Fact that others that dont play Fair (Dupe Items, Underground Raid and so on) can you wipe so easy even if you been a very good Diplomat...

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13 hours ago, DomeBlue said:

When it comes to official, its more the social aspect that draws people in. There are a whole lot more people on official who are at different stages in the game. Its like shopping...

This is exactly what would pull me back to official if it werent for the tame cap and pillar forest issues.

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I started out in single player to learn the basics. I then jumped over to PvP official and joined a couple of people and learned a bit more. We got wiped by the alpha tribe and I had a go at extinction PvE. When that server ended I joined up with a person I met there and we teamed up on PvE official, hopped over to scorched earth for a while. When I got bored of that I went to PvP unofficial, got wiped by some guys with a tamed alpha rex on my 2nd day. I hopped over to a fresh cross ark pvp server in which my tribe became the alpha for a time and then we got stabbed in the back by our alliance member teaming with a Chinese tribe from the center on the cross ark. I got super salty and took a break. I came back and got on a PvE ragnarok server that went legacy shortly after joining. I then went to a new PvE ragnarok server when they released and that is where I've been since. I did get on a PvP ragnarok server and played for about a day, had a small base started with a couple starter tames but when I reclogged the next day saw all my work had been rolled back to about an hour after I joined the server but I haven't been back there since. Right now I split time on my ragnarok server and another ragnarok server that my friend hosts, mostly to test what is needed to complete the boss fights on official because the tame/breeding rates on his server are insanely fast so popping out 20 new rex with good stats only takes a few hours instead of a few months.

Of all the servers and modes I have played, I have enjoyed each for different reasons and have learned from my experiences with each. They are all fun to play but I prefer PvE mostly because it isn't like work, having to constantly farm to maintain your defences. I can take a couple days off when I am getting burned out from too much grinding and my base will still be there when I get back.

My one and only gripe with the game is how long it takes to breed things. I don't even mind so much that it takes a long time but rather I can't put my dinos down for a nap and get some sleep myself. I have to basically no life it and wake up every 3-4 hours to give attention to my dino if I want a good imprint. I'd rather freeze the growth and imprint timers to get a good night sleep and then wake my baby dino up in the morning to continue maturing.

Edit: I just realized that in my rambling response nowhere did I offer any hint as to why I choose official.

I choose official because I don't like when server admins abuse their power. I also prefer the larger community to play with and trade with. It's much easier to get the dino stats to breed with when you have so many people taming things.

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On 11/22/2017 at 7:03 AM, ForzaProiettile said:

Advantages of Official PVP Servers:

  • No admins
    • I've played on 5 unofficial servers and each one of them my group has ended being banned or having our base admin deleted. You just can't trust admins, they will do whatever they want if they feel it benefits their server. If your doing 'too much' PVP on their "PVP" server and as a result players are crying and threatening to leave they will just ban you to fix the problem.
    • Admin cheating is also a huge issue. I've had all my base's door unlocked, pincodes removed from vaults, enemy tribe given "freebees". I've also had one case where the admin tribe was using aimbots. Their server mysteriously had BattleEye disabled and I soon discovered why that was...
  • No rules
    • There are a lot of Unofficial servers with really stupid poorly thought out rules such as:
      • No killing passive dinos when raiding (what happens if you choose to store your best loot on them)
      • Don't excessively damage a base when raiding (can't be properly defined)
      • Can't raid same tribe within 2 weeks
      • No KOS
      • You must take screenshots/record your raid or risk being banned
      • You must ask the tribe you want to raid if they agree to it
      • You can't build within 300m of another base (how do you measure that??)
  • Reliable
    • You know when you play on Official that the server is not going to be reset or shutdown on a whim by some admin
  • Player count
    • There are thousands of players to encounter and fight
  • Multiple Servers
    • You can transfer to hundreds of other servers and do battle
  • Higher Skill Level
    • If you want to be a good ARK player PVP Official is the best way to learn. Yes its tough, yes it hard and yes it can be painful but tough loves is what breeds good warriors. A lot of the players that play on Unofficial servers used to play on Official servers. Then they got wiped and couldn't handle it. So now they are on some unofficial with carebear rules. That is the reality.
  • Sensible Rates
    • There are a lot of Unofficial servers with ridiculous gathering rates: 5X up to 100X or even higher. These rates run contrary to good gameplay and do nothing but create hyper inflation. Everything becomes worthless. You raid a base and find 100 rockets in the vault? No big deal because you just made 500 rockets in the last 5minutes.
    • The increased rates also lead to much more lag on server. Everyone even the solo player ends up having a giant laggy bases crammed full of the largest dinos.

this

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3 minutes ago, johnm81 said:

Software wise? And the other factors like cost machine space bandwidth tech knowledge support ect... All the resources a company has and most private owners dont....

That's not actually a factor in the whole argument.
Sure, wildcard might be able to offer you 100 linked servers in a single cluster and allow you to potentially hop between them, but are you really going to do so?
Which is the point I was trying to make.

There's unofficial clusters out here, offering several maps linked together.
Based on your playstyle, the community you're part of etc this is sufficient.
Which means you can find it on both unofficial and official.

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One reason people choose official is because they know what they are getting. Unofficial server is like a box of chocolate u never know what u gonna get etc etc. Im sure there are some really great unofficial servers that offer everything anyone would want, but which is it? Am i suppose to spend days trying to find it. I dont think so. 

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Just now, Woodsman said:

One reason people choose official is because they know what they are getting. Unofficial server is like a box of chocolate u never know what u gonna get etc etc. Im sure there are some really great unofficial servers that offer everything anyone would want, but which is it? Am i suppose to spend days trying to find it. I dont think so. 

No, you simply need to join the best one!
Mine is like dark chocolate. Obviously the best one around.
We don't have any nuts or other things inside, we're going for pure Arkness.

In all seriousness, the same applies to officials as well.
I mean sure they will not be shut down on a whim  *cough legacy *cough*
And there's not people abusing their admin powers *cough* spawned giga *cough*
But there's also really bad Officials to play on as well.

but yeah, chances are lower on official.
Doesn't take away there's amazing unofficial out there :D

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