Jump to content

WHY do people keep quitting ARK only to play again later?


Weaselly

Recommended Posts

So I have quit ARK....again....for the 4th time in the last two-ish years.

It seems like a reoccurring theme in ARK that I play for 1-4 weeks (grinding hard at least 4-8 hours on most days) but end up leaving and taking a 6 months to a year off?

I play on unofficial pvp servers fyi because I enjoy playing as a solo tribe and being a pain to other tribes with lots of small hidden bases and lots of explosives :D

Some even 'hire' me as a bounty hunter to kill certain tribe members or attack satellite bases. Funny enough most contracts come from tribes that are allied with the tribe I am attacking so they can take the farming spot or base location etc without coming off as the aggressors.

Anyway, now that you know my play style, I still wonder why I always quit within a month of playing. I think I have compiled a list why I and maybe others quit as well only to play again later.

1. Takes up too much time/game is in real time - grinding resources, upkeep of dinos, base, defenses etc

2. Glitches, lag, rubberbanding, disconnects - all of which usually lead to a death and loss of good gear and items.

3. Getting raided - once in awhile one of my bases will get discovered and you can't stop 2-5 tribe members that want to kill your base, especially offline. (seeing a base that took 2-6 hours to make to only get destroyed within likely 3 mins can suck, as well as losing 2-4 hours of gathered resources and items)

4. Sleep schedule gets destroyed IRL - this is a personal thing but I have caught myself playing til 4am. I would be tired at 2am but I had to the spend the extra 2 hours to make sure that my bases were secure, turrets had enough ammo, generator had enough gas, dinos were hidden/in pens, made sure I had lots of idle items going (making metal, cp etc) This goes hand in hand with #1 but since the is in real time, you feel obligated to login a lot to make sure all your poop is still there.

5. Eventually gets stale/stagnate - I have caught myself getting bored at times spending 20% of time upkeeping, 30% gathering, 20% traveling to/from places and only 30% enjoying the game. Things that used to be fun aren't anymore such as taming dinos (just adds upkeep time and traveling back to your base with it can take hours), pvping can get stale since most bases have 1000 auto turrets, and you eventually end up spending your time doing a lot of...nothing.

6. You realize none of it matters/you wasted a lot of time - eventually the game gets stale and you spend more time flying around looking for SOMETHING to do/interact with that is different. All it takes is one base wipe, one glitch or DC, one death to undo hours upon hours of play time and then you think "Why tf am I still playing this? Putting in tons of hours only to be undone in mere seconds." All it takes is that one death or raid for you to then close the game, and proceed to uninstall it.

I love this game, I do but for these reason and more, I just can't bring myself to play it long term at all.

Why do you guys stop and start playing this game again and again?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can relate to this sooo much! Was grinding all holiday playing up to 12 HOURS a day only to have it destroyed in minutes! sad right? Anyways I too have had the game almost 2 years but I seem to play 2 weeks get raided, get salty, quit, come back 4 weeks later and the process goes on and on and on. i really agree with it takes up too much time and raptors up your sleep routine, the game begins to feel like a chore after a while and I see myself only playing the game on long holidays as I dont have time on the school weeks. The thing that puts me off the game is the abusive alphas and not having a chance to get started up, I usually play with 2 to 3 friends but its still so difficult to progress when the alphas keep raiding and destroying your base effortlessly. Ive recently considered Pve but Im still deciding as I really do love Pvp. I seem to be questioning the same thing you are but right now all I can say is, if you want the hours to not be taken away as easy consider making youre own server or do Pve if your the creative type like me. If your love for Pvp is too strong I suggest getting in a big tribe or playing with friends. other than that mate there really isnt much you can do, it really is a beautiful yet terrible game at the same time. Hopefully this somewhat helped. - Lauren

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Many people have this issue, about 50% of the people I talk to in game say the same thing.

I have tried PvE for a bit but didn't like it. That was over a year ago but I feel like the only things to do in PvE is base building, taming, and insane upkeep since some of the bases I saw were huge.

I like the thrill of pvp, being attacked and attacking others, stalking, helping out smaller tribes, looting satellite bases of large tribes. I think PvE would be a little too safe, I recently joined a freshly wiped PvP Ragnarok server and that was fun. Lots of people skirmishing, cut throat, but no one had c4 or explosives yet to completely level bases. That was fun for about a day until you run into people with more time than you.

At that point they just better equipped in every way and my hideout was raided.

Its kinda pick your poison for me:

PvE - Little to no threats, more focus on base building, dino taming and creative stuff - this would get boring/hallow for me quickly but safer and hours of work wouldn't get undone.

PvP - Fast paced at times, skill and strategy play a big role, more fun but also more cutthroat - I have always enjoyed the PvP of most games but this one is just as brutal, as it is fun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 minutes ago, Weaselly said:

Many people have this issue, about 50% of the people I talk to in game say the same thing.

I have tried PvE for a bit but didn't like it. That was over a year ago but I feel like the only things to do in PvE is base building, taming, and insane upkeep since some of the bases I saw were huge.

I like the thrill of pvp, being attacked and attacking others, stalking, helping out smaller tribes, looting satellite bases of large tribes. I think PvE would be a little too safe, I recently joined a freshly wiped PvP Ragnarok server and that was fun. Lots of people skirmishing, cut throat, but no one had c4 or explosives yet to completely level bases. That was fun for about a day until you run into people with more time than you.

At that point they just better equipped in every way and my hideout was raided.

Its kinda pick your poison for me:

PvE - Little to no threats, more focus on base building, dino taming and creative stuff - this would get boring/hallow for me quickly but safer and hours of work wouldn't get undone.

PvP - Fast paced at times, skill and strategy play a big role, more fun but also more cutthroat - I have always enjoyed the PvP of most games but this one is just as brutal, as it is fun.

Problem is with PVP though, what some people call PVP, I call obnoxious bullying and trolling. A guy builds a small base and it gets wrecked by some DireWolf with a rock elemental isn't defending themselves, it's showing that they're absolute [I'm gonna get banned]s because of the greater internet raptorwad theory.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I usually only target bigger tribes or if someone attacks me first. Also if I see a base with auto turrets, I call that fair game since that person has the ability to defend themselves even offline.

But sadly yes, bullying and trolling is a thing in PvP servers. That is the nature of this game, unless you join a server that recently wiped with a group of friends, you will always be behind and be a target of someone stronger.

That's why the only way I can keep up is building various bases (in swamps with tons of tree cover, inside poorly clipped waterfalls that isn't technically underwater etc) until I can afford to make rifles/c4/riot gear/auto turrets etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, Weaselly said:

Many people have this issue, about 50% of the people I talk to in game say the same thing.

I have tried PvE for a bit but didn't like it. That was over a year ago but I feel like the only things to do in PvE is base building, taming, and insane upkeep since some of the bases I saw were huge.

I like the thrill of pvp, being attacked and attacking others, stalking, helping out smaller tribes, looting satellite bases of large tribes. I think PvE would be a little too safe, I recently joined a freshly wiped PvP Ragnarok server and that was fun. Lots of people skirmishing, cut throat, but no one had c4 or explosives yet to completely level bases. That was fun for about a day until you run into people with more time than you.

At that point they just better equipped in every way and my hideout was raided.

Its kinda pick your poison for me:

PvE - Little to no threats, more focus on base building, dino taming and creative stuff - this would get boring/hallow for me quickly but safer and hours of work wouldn't get undone.

PvP - Fast paced at times, skill and strategy play a big role, more fun but also more cutthroat - I have always enjoyed the PvP of most games but this one is just as brutal, as it is fun.

 

I think we really need a new game mode to satisfy the desire for PvP without the boredom factor kicking in !       What I desire is a mode like Survival of the Fittest (players respawn however), but it's played on full sized maps either in an isolated cluster or on an isolated single map.  Have 3 tribes (max number of people per tribe "23" on any map at any one time) These 3 tribes fight it out to achieve whatever the objectives are set to for the server. (examples, First to Ascend - First to gain all the artifacts and place them in their team colour obelisk, ect)  Once the objectives are met, the winner is declared and the servers are reset keeping the game fresh    --- This game mode would allow people to come and go, better for those who are bored easilly... So casual gamers could join in and PvP, No lifers, Trolls whatever it doesn't matter as each team would have their share of each demographic. Another advantage to this style of game play is there are clear defined goals to win - The question "why" am I doing all this grind?, comes up far too often for the lack of direction and purpose.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We leave cause of bordem, trolls, game breaking updates and bugs and lack of communication from the devs. We come back because with each update we think something will change, it will be better then last time. We think the game will look better, perform better, the lag and crashing will be gone but time and time again we are saddened by the fact nothing has changed so we leave again and in the end we come back because hey... raptoring dinosaurs man.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 15/01/2018 at 2:37 AM, Hughes said:

We leave cause of bordem, trolls, game breaking updates and bugs and lack of communication from the devs. We come back because with each update we think something will change, it will be better then last time. We think the game will look better, perform better, the lag and crashing will be gone but time and time again we are saddened by the fact nothing has changed so we leave again and in the end we come back because hey... raptoring dinosaurs man.

Sadly true my dude 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have felt this way before, I got back into it before aberration came out. 

With recent playing I've been noticing how much easier and less stressful it is to upkeep a base on ORP(offline raid protection) server. 

With orp you don't have to worry about building giant rooms to close your dinos in, you dont have to make sure every turret has 1200 bullets or anything, if your genny runs out of gas, just refill it next time your on,and in pretty sure crops dont even use water, the list goes on but it seems a lot less upkeep that is required to keep your stuff. 

It still needs some exploits fixed, but i recommend you try a server with orp1 on it if you haven't yet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 14/01/2018 at 9:08 PM, Weaselly said:

So I have quit ARK....again....for the 4th time in the last two-ish years.

It seems like a reoccurring theme in ARK that I play for 1-4 weeks (grinding hard at least 4-8 hours on most days) but end up leaving and taking a 6 months to a year off?

I play on unofficial pvp servers fyi because I enjoy playing as a solo tribe and being a pain to other tribes with lots of small hidden bases and lots of explosives :D

Some even 'hire' me as a bounty hunter to kill certain tribe members or attack satellite bases. Funny enough most contracts come from tribes that are allied with the tribe I am attacking so they can take the farming spot or base location etc without coming off as the aggressors.

Anyway, now that you know my play style, I still wonder why I always quit within a month of playing. I think I have compiled a list why I and maybe others quit as well only to play again later.

1. Takes up too much time/game is in real time - grinding resources, upkeep of dinos, base, defenses etc

2. Glitches, lag, rubberbanding, disconnects - all of which usually lead to a death and loss of good gear and items.

3. Getting raided - once in awhile one of my bases will get discovered and you can't stop 2-5 tribe members that want to kill your base, especially offline. (seeing a base that took 2-6 hours to make to only get destroyed within likely 3 mins can suck, as well as losing 2-4 hours of gathered resources and items)

4. Sleep schedule gets destroyed IRL - this is a personal thing but I have caught myself playing til 4am. I would be tired at 2am but I had to the spend the extra 2 hours to make sure that my bases were secure, turrets had enough ammo, generator had enough gas, dinos were hidden/in pens, made sure I had lots of idle items going (making metal, cp etc) This goes hand in hand with #1 but since the is in real time, you feel obligated to login a lot to make sure all your poop is still there.

5. Eventually gets stale/stagnate - I have caught myself getting bored at times spending 20% of time upkeeping, 30% gathering, 20% traveling to/from places and only 30% enjoying the game. Things that used to be fun aren't anymore such as taming dinos (just adds upkeep time and traveling back to your base with it can take hours), pvping can get stale since most bases have 1000 auto turrets, and you eventually end up spending your time doing a lot of...nothing.

6. You realize none of it matters/you wasted a lot of time - eventually the game gets stale and you spend more time flying around looking for SOMETHING to do/interact with that is different. All it takes is one base wipe, one glitch or DC, one death to undo hours upon hours of play time and then you think "Why tf am I still playing this? Putting in tons of hours only to be undone in mere seconds." All it takes is that one death or raid for you to then close the game, and proceed to uninstall it.

I love this game, I do but for these reason and more, I just can't bring myself to play it long term at all.

Why do you guys stop and start playing this game again and again?

Unofficial players are like beach Bobs for official ones :)

Its kinda like playing Sims :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Singleplayer here. I came back the previous times because the game really and truely was a blast at first. Sure the AI is really stupid at times but for the most part doing battle with prehistoric creatures can be thrilling. I kept coming back the previous times because I geniunely hoped WC would at least give me the option to no longer deal with the changes that made me like this game less. I believed they might because they have already given us so many other ways to customize to my liking.Unfortnately it doesn't seem like they will and the the spark has died in this game for me. Plus honestly there for a while I had some money troubles and couldn't afford the new games I actually wanted and Ark happened to be the game I was least sick of lol.

All good though. There's plenty of other games out there that are actually worth continuosly supporting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 15/01/2018 at 2:37 AM, Hughes said:

We leave cause of bordem, trolls, game breaking updates and bugs and lack of communication from the devs. We come back because with each update we think something will change, it will be better then last time. We think the game will look better, perform better, the lag and crashing will be gone but time and time again we are saddened by the fact nothing has changed so we leave again and in the end we come back because hey... raptoring dinosaurs man.

THIS ^^^ ARK IN A NUTSHELL 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm currently on a hiatus for a few reasons -

  • I have other games to play and Ark was preventing me from doing so (I can only play a few hours a night).
  • The bigger I got, the more time I had to spend on grinding and upkeep rather than doing anything fun.
  • Server caps
  • Other people lagging up the server with their 100x100 cube stone bases.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I stop playing ark for a little bit or have a play through a different game its never long before I get those ark urges and come back :) Its just one of those games, lots of freedom and things to do. Can get a bit hectic with feeding and base upkeep, but I narrowed down my tames and things I actually needed and used and its allot easier now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1/14/2018 at 3:08 PM, Weaselly said:

 

2. Glitches, lag, rubberbanding, disconnects - all of which usually lead to a death and loss of good gear and items.

4. Sleep schedule gets destroyed IRL - this is a personal thing but I have caught myself playing til 4am. I would be tired at 2am but I had to the spend the extra 2 hours to make sure that my bases were secure, turrets had enough ammo, generator had enough gas, dinos were hidden/in pens, made sure I had lots of idle items going (making metal, cp etc) This goes hand in hand with #1 but since the is in real time, you feel obligated to login a lot to make sure all your poop is still there.

these are the two main reasons i stop... so i play mostly pvp. I played game constantly day and night when it came out on xbox. back then i was playing on officials. spent so much time playing..i was part of one of the main alpha tribes(which was boring) no one tries to raid, you are never missing anything(we were 10 people on the tribe) eventually fun fadded. i stopped playing for about 5 - 6 months, then i go back try some unofficials. havent been on officials since(except for no tames servers) i tried pve during week. pvp weekend. that worked for me for a while until i got bored (solo) then i went to other full pvp servers (solo again) for months then quit since it gets boring. I mainly quit cause i hated guns mixed with dinosaurs. I then found out Role Play servers existed. Tried those for a while. it was so much fun. Another whole side to ark you will never experience unless you try RP. then ark started to glicth and kick me out causing me to die to much so i quit ark for a while.

came back when primitive servers were added  (loved them so much) played for about 3 months there and found out caves and bosses were a thing. i was so "focused" into the PVP i never acutally investigated the caves, also since i was always solo.  I went to caves and got the artifacts. then i battled bosses which was fun. then I got really into building nice. I had no idea you could build amazing buildings like GG Fiz and many other youtubers. So i focused on that. I built really nice structures on PVP. focused on that for months! and uptodate i still watch building videos(not how to add 4 metal walls but how to build nice stables, coliseums etc)

Now well ark has so much new stuff added to it There is so much to do on ark. Aberration is amazing new map with some good creatures in it. Love the crabs. my favorite tame of all time is the crabs. they can throw creatures or characters! its fun.. anyway. Ive been wiped multiple times literally wiped down to only having my foundations left.. but since i wasnt playing officials it didnt bother me that much, Gather rate was highish. took me about 4 or 5 hours to get my stuff back.

Ark has done it well.. but its like any other game. You need a break from it to gain interest in it later on. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...