Jstall Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Former Player Thinking of Returning Hey all, I was pretty into Ark awhile back, put 1700 hours on it on an offical PVP server. I stopped playing shortly after Scorched Earth came out (bought it, didn't even go check it out though). Our server was constantly being bombarded by hackers using exploits which really made me frustrated, like I don't mind PVP in a PVP game but cheaters just suck. At the time I quit we had a solid well equipped alliance and were able to hold them off but the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. So my questions are - has this improved at all? Are there still large scale raids with people using hacks and exploits on official PVP servers? Also I noticed the game has "offline raid protection" servers. While i really enjoyed the intense full PVP experience I did find it to be a huge time drain.. like on my life. I imagine many of you can relate ? . So my other question for you guys is how do you find the offline raiding protection mode works? is it a viable alternative to someone who likes pvp but doesn't want to spend 12+ hours a day shoring up defenses and being crazy and paranoid all the time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yekrucifixion187 Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 Hacks and meshing are still prevalent. ORP servers have the issue of alt accounts building defenses that can only be attacked when the person logs in to refresh the structures. It's an issue. Your best bet is to find an unofficial that suits your time and paranoia level. There are several that have been running for years but you'll always have someone with more time that can get you on any server you try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForzaProiettile Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 14 hours ago, Jstall said: Former Player Thinking of Returning Hey all, I was pretty into Ark awhile back, put 1700 hours on it on an offical PVP server. I stopped playing shortly after Scorched Earth came out (bought it, didn't even go check it out though). Our server was constantly being bombarded by hackers using exploits which really made me frustrated, like I don't mind PVP in a PVP game but cheaters just suck. At the time I quit we had a solid well equipped alliance and were able to hold them off but the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. So my questions are - has this improved at all? Are there still large scale raids with people using hacks and exploits on official PVP servers? Also I noticed the game has "offline raid protection" servers. While i really enjoyed the intense full PVP experience I did find it to be a huge time drain.. like on my life. I imagine many of you can relate ? . So my other question for you guys is how do you find the offline raiding protection mode works? is it a viable alternative to someone who likes pvp but doesn't want to spend 12+ hours a day shoring up defenses and being crazy and paranoid all the time? There are still issues with exploits and cheats yes but not as bad as it once was at least in terms of blatant aimbots. The main issue with the game atm besides meshing is general balance. There have been a tonne off content additions especially dinos but a lot of the new ones supersede the old ones. Also the DLCs and futuristic creatures and TEK aren't everyone's cup of tea. A lot of folks liked the game back it was still mostly a dinosaur game which was back around the time when you were playing. Scorched Earth as map and DLC was by far the worst one. It's a useless map for farming and general gameplay because of the heatwaves, its only good for obtaining Rock Golems/Wyverns and sulphur. Definitely was poorly designed out by the devs with no thoughts given to why players choose to play on it vs other maps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoboNation Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 And so returns the prodigal son, he was lost but now is found. If you decide to return then welcome back man :). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thyme Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 I’ve had the best experience with unofficial ORP servers. You can play at your own leisure without worrying about the exploits/hacks of official. Unofficial servers are often less populated and often have other problems like being pay to win/corrupt admins. Just gotta search for what fits you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMP Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 1 hour ago, Thyme said: I’ve had the best experience with unofficial ORP servers. You can play at your own leisure without worrying about the exploits/hacks of official. Unofficial servers are often less populated and often have other problems like being pay to win/corrupt admins. Just gotta search for what fits you Somewhat agree. For one, ORP coddles the weak and should be removed IMO. Also, I've played on probably 8 different unofficials in the last 2 years and never once experienced problems with admins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thyme Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 3 hours ago, SMP said: Somewhat agree. For one, ORP coddles the weak and should be removed IMO. Also, I've played on probably 8 different unofficials in the last 2 years and never once experienced problems with admins. ORP is great for casual pvp players who only play maybe a couple hours on weekends, or those who just dont enjoy offline raids (they're honestly much less fun and defiantly easier than online) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowkyuubi Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 ORP was primarily put in place because people were dragging wild dinos into people's bases on PVE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMP Posted October 2, 2019 Share Posted October 2, 2019 ORP is a participation trophy. Want your stuff to be safe when you're not on, but don't want to take the time or effort to provide that safety yourself? No problem, ORP has you covered. It also offers the additional bonus of making me look at some quitter's abandoned piece of crap base for 12 days until I can finally raze it to the ground and make room for a new player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForzaProiettile Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 4 hours ago, SMP said: Somewhat agree. For one, ORP coddles the weak and should be removed IMO. Also, I've played on probably 8 different unofficials in the last 2 years and never once experienced problems with admins. Well if you have played on 8 servers and had no issues with the admins it means either the servers were fairly dead or you weren't doing much PVP. The minute you start winning on these servers and the other players/tribes start grumbling that you are winning too much that's when strange things start to happen. A wild Giga will suddenly spawn in your dino pen, an enemy tribe you just obliterated will have rebuilt their base overnight, some of your doors might suddenly become unlocked... I've experienced the last 2 phenomena and heard of others experiencing the first. Basically unofficial servers operate on the unofficial idea that no tribe should become dominant because its bad for the server population. Many admins are more then prepared to see that rings true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForzaProiettile Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 1 hour ago, Thyme said: ORP is great for casual pvp players who only play maybe a couple hours on weekends, or those who just dont enjoy offline raids (they're honestly much less fun and defiantly easier than online) ORP servers are broken in terms of gameplay. Its very easy to exploit the ORP so that you can never be raided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thyme Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 31 minutes ago, ForzaProiettile said: ORP servers are broken in terms of gameplay. Its very easy to exploit the ORP so that you can never be raided. Most unofficial servers are better at wiping exploiters of the ORP, but the official ORP servers are an absolute joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sigin Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 Current game state for returnees Hello, I have few questions about current official network server status and hopefully some advice of what to do next. Last week, I returned to ark after 2 years of not playing, together with friend, who didnt play for around year. We were looking for some low profile pvp as 2 man tribe, but we got wiped on two servers almost instantly. First we played on classic cluster Island, because we thought we would have better chance there, without traveling alpha tribes and without TEK, which in our opinion just ruined the game completely. We had small base hidden in forest near south-east iron mountain, but after 2 days we got raided and next day, we understand from chat, that local 20+ man alpha tribe is raiding newcomer bases, so we decided, that this is no place for us, as our base already got raided once and was exposed, so we went looking for new server. Our second stop was SmallTribes Island map, we again built small base hidden in forest closer to volcano and started to farm again. In less than 24 hours, we got completely zeroed by someone with MEK, we got our base ruined, all our stuff taken and those few gather dinos we got were killed. So my question is, if there is any way for small tribe to actually grow to point, where their base is able to survive first troll that finds it? Is there any tactic that works? Some specific map, specific locations, specific playstyle, etc? I know that first answer will be to "hide your stuff in stashes", but we would probably quit game before getting somewhere, because we would have to build new farming base every single day and get raided every single day. Our goal isnt to be some kind of "small alpha", we just aim to point ,where we could have safe-ish base, to do some pvp and pve, basically enjoying game all around. We want to get to point, where we would have at least some remote chance to defend ourselves, and when we would get raided, we could say that at least we tried and raider didnt have it completely free. But at this point, where we get completely zeroed by first noob with MEK, just because he can do it risk-free, this seems unrealistic. Are all official pvp servers this "cancerous", or did we just had bad luck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cucharon Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 So, now Ark is basically exactly like it was one year ago? Undermesh raids, bugs, lag, etc. are still a thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarn Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 I would suggest you try out the Cross Ark no tek 6 cluster. Its official pvp but no tek gear is a real equalizer. Still mega tribes and pvp but you can participate without a huge time sink. Can you get off lined sure. Just stay small and hide ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMP Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 4 hours ago, Cucharon said: So, now Ark is basically exactly like it was one year ago? Undermesh raids, bugs, lag, etc. are still a thing? Yup, still the same miserable experience you remember. Better to go play that other sandbox game where you can tame and breed creatures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDonn Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 On 10/9/2019 at 2:56 AM, Sigin said: Current game state for returnees Hello, I have few questions about current official network server status and hopefully some advice of what to do next. Last week, I returned to ark after 2 years of not playing, together with friend, who didnt play for around year. We were looking for some low profile pvp as 2 man tribe, but we got wiped on two servers almost instantly. Are all official pvp servers this "cancerous", or did we just had bad luck? That is pretty much the playerbase of Official, even from my limited experience on Official PvP. If you have tons of time to commit and get lucky, you can build up solo. Understand, I'm not saying it's impossible and could never happen, but for the average PvP player (definitely me), it isn't really possible. You will be found, and you will be wiped. It's really less of a thing of "you pose a threat to our tribe" and more of a thing of "i like the general feel of raiding, so i raid for the sake of blowing poop up and killing tames because i rightfully can." You are either an underfoot dupe-figure for a larger tribe, or you are small/medium-time and get constantly wiped. I'm sure outliers exist, more talented people who can stand up on their own or in a 2-man tribe, but FOR THE MOST PART, the playerbase are those two groups: The "alpha" tribe people (who aren't really alphas, they just are strong and kill everything), and everyone else that constantly gets raided and wiped. Please don't get hung up on my usage of the word "alpha." A long time ago (circa 2016) in ARK specifically an Alpha tribe was one that looked after the server in a sense. Sometimes you did have to get permission for things (building, tames, etc), but they didn't just wipe for the sake of wiping and owning a server. Nowadays its all about that generic feeling of raiding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covenantgrunt Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 3 hours ago, Zarn said: I would suggest you try out the Cross Ark no tek 6 cluster. Its official pvp but no tek gear is a real equalizer. Still mega tribes and pvp but you can participate without a huge time sink. Can you get off lined sure. Just stay small and hide ... You pique my interest. What are the dino stats like over there ? Do people have 2K melee theriz and 130K HP racers like officials ? what are the megas, alphas, betas and general political scene like ? Is cave bases the meta like on main officials ? Crossarks fascinate me. There is so little information on them. Hope you can provide some answers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cucharon Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 On 11/6/2019 at 7:29 PM, SMP said: Yup, still the same miserable experience you remember. Better to go play that other sandbox game where you can tame and breed creatures. Any reocmendation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMP Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 3 hours ago, Cucharon said: Any reocmendation? For another game? I was being facetious. AFAIK, there is no game that lets you tame and breed critters like Ark does, and admit it or not, it's what drew most of us to the game in the first place. My real recommendation would be to find an unofficial cluster server with a decent population and accept Ark for what it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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