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Unofficial population HORRIBLE


TREATS503

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1 hour ago, Nuggie said:

@sphere

No, I have never played unofficial.

 

If you're trying to promote your server and win me over to it give it your best shot. Rather than whining about how you've spent such and such for hardware-xyz maybe give a sale's pitch about how your server/cluster is a better experience than playing official. Right now all I've seen is a salty reply that slightly puts me off.

As a forewarning: I've been playing Prim+ official for the last year. Our far east streamer friends have come through twice to make money off destroying my progress (they semi-succeeded in the money part [we got their stream shut down for a few weeks by their communist government not liking the names of our parasaurs], and failed on setting us back to naked people punching trees on the beach).

I'm a tough nut to crack, but I'm willing to stick with it through thick and thin once I've committed.

Let's see what you've got, mister.

This topic is about the unofficial population, so why are you here? All you’ve added is “admin abuse” yet you’ve confirmed you’ve never played. Unless you have something to add to help OP, stick to the topic.

It still amazes me how much official players hate on unofficials but not the other way around. The unofficial community just want to play the game.

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@SaltMonkey

I gave my opinion about why -I- think unofficial servers have a population problem. I think that Freelancerknux and Sphere reacting the way they did is because they've heard that response so many time it frustrates them. Which has made them jaded and quick to discount it. Maybe I'm wrong on that. But their frustration doesn't make the opinion wrong or invalid. If I have that opinion, with an outside-looking-in "untainted" perspective , at least a few others do also.

D1nk raised a good point and suggestion towards the OP's point.

I suggested to sphere an avenue to go down on how to solve the problem the OP asked about. He opted to discard it.

 If I am not sticking rigidly enough to the OP enough for you I am sorry. However, I dont think I am outside the ballpark.

I would like to see an unofficial server scene like D1nk described succeed as my brothers quit due to the cheating from the far eastern friends that occasionally visit. So my presence isn't unwarranted, I have at least a little skin in the game.

Does that help clear my stance up a bit?

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I hate to generalize Salty, but that's actually a pretty good way to break things down.  A large number of die hard "Official Only" players have that mindset because their main motivation to play is either to measure their Epeen, or because they think Unofficial is "cheating" somehow.  Well, some have more nefarious reasons but they are a small enough portion that they aren't worth mentioning.  Unofficial players, on the other hand, are primarily motivated by a desire to be creative, form communities, and to simply have fun.  Unofficial lacks that twitch inducing hypercompetitiveness that defines Official PVE and PVP servers.  In the end, to each their own... neither way of playing is "right" or "wrong", it's just a different set of priorities that are in play.

Sphere I think hit the nail on the head in regards to promoting Unofficial servers.  Namely advertising is everything (as long as your product is good, or in this case as long as your server is fun and fair).  There are sections here on the forums that can be helpful, but to be honest the biggest draw I can think of is to have a YouTuber or Twitch Streamer play on your server.  Whether that happens to be you or one of your regular players is irrelevant as long has the server is promoted and encouragement to play on that server is regularly mentioned in the video's/streams.  Look at any of the YouTubers/Streamers that host servers that require a minimal monthly stipend via Patreon to join.  Despite a minimal fee being involved (often $5 per month) their servers are very well populated.  Mostly because folks like the idea that their builds and such might end up in a video, but also because they can see exactly how the server is run before they decide if they want to join it.  Of course, if the YouTuber/Streamer has charisma that's helpful as well.

I just bring this up as these servers are some of the most successful servers I can think of, and it might be something that is doable by some of you.  Perhaps if you have considered making videos or know someone who does that might be tempted to play on your server and promote it then this might prove to be a way forward.  Truthfully even a YouTuber that is a little on the shy side can generate a surprising number of people stopping by to take a look.

Just something to consider that might help populate your servers and enrich the ARK community as a whole at the same time.

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16 minutes ago, Nuggie said:

I gave my opinion about why -I- think unofficial servers have a population problem. I think that Freelancerknux and Sphere reacting the way they did is because they've heard that response so many time it frustrates them. Which has made them jaded and quick to discount it. Maybe I'm wrong on that. But their frustration doesn't make the opinion wrong or invalid. If I have that opinion, with an outside-looking-in "untainted" perspective , at least a few others do also.

A valid opinion, but there is a reason why we tend to remove posts that focus on claims of "Admin Abuse" here on the forums.  Very rarely is there any truth to them.  Nobody needs to read a tirade attacking someone when the truth of the matter is the poster is angry because they got caught breaking the server rules.

Don't get me wrong, Admin abuse does happen of course, but those servers tend not to last very long.  It seems that most folks won't make the effort to keep a server up and running if nobody wants to play on it.  And since rates tend to be accelerated on Unofficial servers (to cater to folks with full time work schedules) people are much less bothered at the thought of starting over elsewhere if necessary.

In fact, many Unofficial server communities vote to wipe the server on a fairly regular (or at least not too infrequent) basis, so as to introduce a different set of mods to explore or to try a different map.  Again, this is because starting over is much quicker and simpler, allowing more time to be devoted to simply having fun.

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On 1/11/2019 at 7:56 PM, TREATS503 said:

Has anyone had success improving their unofficial server numbers? The servers are empty most times of the day. How many recurring players do you have on your dedicated server or server you play on? 

If i know good 40000+ unofficial server active but the players not too much :( One time i have one sever with 20+ active player but you need little bit luck and the good modded/stats server

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Not everyone is looking for high population unofficial communities.

 

There are nearly an infinite number of settings/mod choices for unofficial servers. Some players are very picky and will not play servers without a specific setting or mod.

 

I personally have found it better to choice good community over setting/mod preferences. You cannot beat a fun welcoming community with good onwer/admin organization and a discord. Even if it's small population.

 

But I have grown too busy in real life to play on unofficial servers, needing to take weeks away from gaming for work. So I have moved on to a personal LAN server that I start and stop to play at my own pace.

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Perhaps there is one more difference between Official and unoffical servers that should be considered, TIME.

Ark Offical Servers demand a very LARGE amount of your time, so I would imagine there would also be a large turnover on those servers with the exception of large tribes.

People will try the game find they just don't have the time required to play on an official server and move on to an unoffical server that is more tuned toward casual play.

The unofficial servers would have a lower online population but perhaps a higher total population. 

And if the unofficial server was more tuned to a casual gamer it could have a negative effect on those that can spend a lot of time in game as they would effectively get to end game much quicker.

So it all comes which group of players you wish to have on your server, and be prepared to deal with Issues when the 2 different groups meet cause they tend not to mix well.

 

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if you want a decently populated server just go into the server list on Xbox one and type in "brothers" it should pop up with a cluster of 7 or 8 servers i think. i know its a lot tho.dinos get up to about 200. takes about 2-5 meat to tame. 50* harvest. be warned tho manas and velos are allowed. oh and offline raid protection 15 miutes after you log off. orp is disabled on saterday at 12:00AM and starts up again monday at 12:00AM

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On 1/12/2019 at 11:45 PM, FreelancerKnux said:

See this is the biggest issue, people love to pull "admin abuse" for zero reason.

There are plenty of videos on youtube showcasing admin abuse on unofficial and they have gotten millions viewers, so it's not "for no reason". Admin abuse on unofficial servers is a reality.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ark+unofficial+admin+abuse

I never said ALL admins are stupid little nerd kids, but there is absolutely no way to know beforehand if you're going to deal with a good or bad admin. Nobody in their right mind would want to invest hundreds hours in a game, without being 100% sure they won't get wiped on a whim by a kid-admin. And since there's no way to be 100%... you do the math.

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21 minutes ago, dodogal said:

There are plenty of videos on youtube showcasing admin abuse on unofficial and they have gotten millions viewers, so it's not "for no reason". Admin abuse on unofficial servers is a reality.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ark+unofficial+admin+abuse

I never said ALL admins are stupid little nerd kids, but there is absolutely no way to know beforehand if you're going to deal with a good or bad admin. Nobody in their right mind would want to invest hundreds hours in a game, without being 100% sure they won't get wiped on a whim by a kid-admin. And since there's no way to be 100%... you do the math.

Yet still people do take your "risk" guess your theory is wrong.

 

Also I never said there wasn't real cases of admin abuse just that people will use it as an excuse with zero evidence supporting it. You still see it on the officials with people claiming zero reason dev wipes or that one humorous post accusing GMs of spawning wilds in their pen. The problem is however when people just spread the worthless advice of avoid unofficials cause you will just encounter admin abuse.

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37 minutes ago, dodogal said:

There are plenty of videos on youtube showcasing admin abuse on unofficial and they have gotten millions viewers, so it's not "for no reason". Admin abuse on unofficial servers is a reality.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ark+unofficial+admin+abuse

I never said ALL admins are stupid little nerd kids, but there is absolutely no way to know beforehand if you're going to deal with a good or bad admin. Nobody in their right mind would want to invest hundreds hours in a game, without being 100% sure they won't get wiped on a whim by a kid-admin. And since there's no way to be 100%... you do the math.

The vocal minority spreads negativity much quicker than positivity. But again, this isn’t a battle of official vs unofficials like you seem to think. So carry on with your propaganda, deterring official players from joining so they can continue getting meshed, and cheated against because “muh validity”.

Unofficial players will continue playing unofficial servers so the the unofficial server population hasn’t changed, its just about how to draw people to your server over everyone else.

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12 minutes ago, SaltyMonkey said:

You quoted me for something the other person said. I’ve been hosting since 2016 lol

Hmm, weird. I've selected the text in his post and clicked on the "Quote Selection" popup. Something funky with the site, been slow for the past hour or so. ?‍♂️

EDIT: Oh, I must have selected his text in the quote of your previous post which detected you as being the poster; my fault. :)

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5 hours ago, dodogal said:

And since there's no way to be 100%... you do the math.

If you live by this philosophy, then you would never do anything since you wouldn't be 100% sure. 

 

Official servers aren't guaranteed to last forever. Plus there have been lots of questionable admin actions. But really it's more like admin neglect with the turn around time on tickets.

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I have hosted 2 ARK servers in my time, 1 on Abberation & now 1 on Ragarnok. About 2 years or so overall.

I wouldn't say there is a good way to get players to join, i've found being patient & putting a GOOD server name is KEY. After all this is the main thing players will look at & judge by. Maybe even skip the "Boosted" stats & keep it 2x rates for longer game progression.

People will Always come and go. But as a admin keep the server at it's best by cleaning unused/decaying bases & dinos. Run small little events to keep people entertained. Be active (Not always) in the chat.

Also, a good way to get people to join your server fast on Xbox is creating a group on ARK Survial in the 'Create a group' tab when clicking on the game. Although found people tend to leave quickly by doing this. But you can get over 10 people join at a time.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/16/2019 at 9:59 AM, SaltyMonkey said:

@dodogal for someone who has never hosted their own server, let alone play unofficial, how do you suggest unofficial hosts get other unofficial players to join their server?

IMO unofficial servers is just to play coop with friends, and cheat a little once in a while

Playing against someone who is basically GM is plain nonsense

Some people may do it because they're clueless, but once they are victim of inevitable abuse they learn and stop it forever

So to answer your question, there is no way to get players to join unofficial except if they're clueless, sorry

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2 hours ago, dodogal said:

IMO unofficial servers is just to play coop with friends, and cheat a little once in a while

Playing against someone who is basically GM is plain nonsense

Some people may do it because they're clueless, but once they are victim of inevitable abuse they learn and stop it forever

So to answer your question, there is no way to get players to join unofficial except if they're clueless, sorry

Did you paint recently? I suggest opening a window

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3 hours ago, dodogal said:

IMO unofficial servers is just to play coop with friends, and cheat a little once in a while

Playing against someone who is basically GM is plain nonsense

Some people may do it because they're clueless, but once they are victim of inevitable abuse they learn and stop it forever

So to answer your question, there is no way to get players to join unofficial except if they're clueless, sorry

You must be a troll. Did you know that Wildcard sponsors modders?

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17 minutes ago, dodogal said:

You disagree because you're basically a cheater who can't find any victim to abuse.

Sorry but anybody who isn't completely green and stupid knows better than playing against a GM.

If you played unofficial ever then maybe your opinion would matter however since you don't you will find it means nothing.  

 

Also most unofficial have changed settings so you will find there is no need or want to cheat seeing as the game is already running at the level the owner wishes it.

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This is a understatement I has looking for a NA island server I went in visited around 20 servers I saw so many HUGE BASES and they where so close to each other even bases in Giga spawn areas lol and seen so much pillars and trash everywhere and there are around 100 rexs and other dino at all OB for tribes doing the Boss fights ARK needs to let us use our  tek transmitter to do the boss fights to clear the blue,red,green OB

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