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new items Purchasable Decorative and Skin Packages


SapphireSam7

Suggestion

Purchasable Decorative and Skin Packages

Hello Everyone,
Though I have heard it before, I could not find a specific suggestion that fits this thought. Parts of it, yes, but not the whole.

Essentially – I would like to suggest that Decorative and Skin packages be added to the game as purchasable packaged content. My reasons are below;

  •  Many want them, but console players cannot have them. There have been many different suggestions related to the addition of decorative added since the new suggestion forum has been added, and I think it is time the ideas are noticed and given the attention they deserve.
  • It is a new form of funding that would not break the gameplay of the game. If the mods add only items to build, decorate, and re-skin their effects on the overall flow of the gameplay would be minimal. And as they would be attached to the users accounts, you would have to purchase them to be able to use them, so each person who wanted to could, but at a cost. Unlike now where only PC players have the ability through mods. The engrams could be treated like the HLNA device and would be linked to the individuals account.
  • New items that wildcard will not have to create, only implement. They seem to have so much to work on, between game breaking issues, crashes, join failures, and the delayed start up dates of about every map they have put out. Having other “teams” (mod creators or modding groups) create mods to the Wildcard standard to minimize crashing when implement, would cut down on their work to have the items added, allow the work the Modder’s do be worth more, and give players another option as to how they play the game.
  • It would not change the game to pay-to-win, but rather pay-to-decorate. Which means it would be optional for the purchaser. Those who care about it could put in the money for it and those that don’t, won’t. So if you can afford it and want it, great – but if you can’t, you can still play.
  • New Items to decorate/play with. Frankly speaking, it has been a long time since console players have received anything new to build with. And by new, I mean new texture and material – not new size or shape as brought to us with the homestead update. Besides a few platforms and a rather unfriendly Tek bridge, we haven’t received anything new to build with since Scorched Earth with adobe. Which means that while we have been able to explore new maps, tame a few creatures, and learn a couple of new engrams – we have been building with essentially the same materials since Scorched Earth. I think something new is well overdue.

There are other reasons as well, but those are the thoughts to come to mind. And it isn’t as though there isn’t already a starting point for them to choose from. Below are a few that could easily be used as examples;

  • Eco’s Empires – Babylonian
  • Eco’s Empires – Inca
  • Eco’s Empires – Khmer
  • Eco’s Empires – Romans
  • Eco’s Primordial Décor
  • Eco’s Primordial Saddles
  • Eco’s Aberration Décor
  • Eco’s Stable Structures and Décor
  • EcoTrees
  • Eco in Wonderland
  • Eco’s RP Décor
  • Eco’s Scorched Earth Décor
  • Eco’s Tek Décor
  • Eco’s Shoppe Décor
  • Eco’s Terrariums
  • Eco’s Garden Décor
  • Eco’s Camping Décor
  • Eco’s Extinction Foliage
  • GlassMetal
  • Castle, Keeps, & Forts – either as an entire package or one split into build types
  • Stairs Mod with Rounded Walls
  • Pillars Plus
  • Stackable Foundation
  • Lumber Building – Pulled from Primitive Plus
  • Brick Building – Pulled from Primitive Plus

These are just a few mods, or are parts of mods (or gameplay) that could be built into Packages. For example, Eco’s Empires – Inca, could essentially be an entire package. For a price, say $5.00 (just an example), your character would either auto learn, or have the opportunity to learn with the purchase of engram points, items from the package while playing in game. And as they would follow your user, they would go with you regardless of the character. So no matter which character you may be playing that day, you would have access to the engrams in that set.

Doing so would be a way for us to have access to mods – but at the same time not. We wouldn’t have the ability to get them all, nor would we have the ability to get them quickly. However if it were an option for Modder’s to create something that could be used beyond PC gameplay that would help fund both their projects and for Wildcard to fund themselves, I can’t see a true downside.

Now, it could be argued that it would not be needed – true, you can play the game without the items. It could be argued that the time to create them would take away from game fixes and new Wildcard content, and that too, would be true. However, it is also a way for them to earn more money to hire more people to fix the items that are broken and a way for them to bring in more content that people are familiar with that they would love to play with.

So just like any other suggestion, there are upsides and downsides. There will be those that like the suggestion, and those that hate it. However at the end of the day, it is merely a suggestion that I believe has more upsides than down and one that while may be fun to discuss, probably doesn’t have a high chance of being implemented.

Yet I still believe it is worth being said. And that said, thanks for reading – I can’t wait to hear what you may have to say. 

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Yes, the maps are laggy. Some of them have specific locations that almost guarantee a crash for xbox players. I code, admin, and play on a crossplay PVE cluster, and have experience the lag and have done what I can to avoid whatever we can through the coding on the maps. Which, until the more recent holiday updates - they were doing pretty well. Once we found the areas to avoid, we have experience minimal lag and crashing.  We aren't a massive group though - and that did help a bit. 

And yes, it seems everything WC has added recently has caused some major issues with the game. Most specifically - updates since last October. With each update there were things that seem to fall apart.

It isn't the perfect game. However I still maintain it is a game with a lot of potential. And it is because of that potential that I am trying to hold out for the day that ideas such as this may be possible. 

I don't think that each package, be it decorative or otherwise, could be flawlessly added into the game as is. There is no way. However some of that could be avoided with some beta testing - or by holding out until the game is a bit more stable to include it. (that in itself may be a dream - Ark as a stable game...) 

Worst case, the suggestion is nothing more than a discussion topic. Best cast, it is implemented at some point. And somewhere in between - it is something considered for an Ark 2, should it ever come to pass. 

Thank you for your thoughts @BigRed1227!

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On 1/23/2020 at 2:43 AM, SapphireSam7 said:

Personally, Ark is the cheapest game I play - by far.  Considering the cost of the game itself and the hours I have put into in comparison to others. The cost is minimal. And I run and pay for a cluster on top of the cost of the game - and the cost breakdown remains true.  So if a package came up to purchase one of eco's decoratives set's came up for sale, I would probably go for it. The $5.00 was an example, and even then, far cheaper than most would pay for a Sims add on set in some cases. If they could warrant a cheaper price, then by all means, I would still go for it. 

And for the skins already available ingame, personally I am a fan of very few. I have earned them all time and time again, and with each added skin they tend to take a step further and further away from "survival" in my opinion. For a while I actually held out hope for the holiday items, but for the most part - they aren't a complete suit, and those they have are far more festive that realistic. So while fun to wear for a short while, I mostly don't use them for long. 

Quiet honestly though, I would prefer not to have to purchase them packages to be able to get new things. However the types of new things they keep adding having very little to do with building items and decoratives. A few here and there, but for the most part, they have remained the same for quite some time. It is one of the reason I have opened a Primitive Plus map for a month or two every once in a while, they have more to build with and decorate with. And if I thought at all they would start adding more, I would have gone the route many had with the suggestions, and simply asked for a bunch of new stuff simply because I want something new.

However, since that does not seem to be their gameplan, I went with this route. As purchasable content they could possibly generate some more funds to support the content as opposed to simply asking for it. It seemed to make more sense in my mind. 

I do appreciate the perspective though. I understand where you are coming from and many probably see it as you do. 

 

True about what you get out of it compared to cost- I've gotten thousands more hours out of ARK than any other game myself, and feel every bit I spent on it has been completely worthwhile. And combined with the dlc, it's the most expensive game I own. But consider, not everyone sees it as as good value as it is to us. On top of that, considering how there are also several DLC, all with fair prices of their own (which, I should mention, I do feel is very much worth the price for the amount of content and have no qualms buying them as such); and then adding more transactions on top of that, it does start to feel a bit.. exploity. DLC maps, I completely get. I feel they're enough content that it feels justified to be a separate price. But something so small as decorations? That's when it starts to seem a bit more 'cash-grabby'. Because we'd have to pay extra, in a somewhat expensive game (looking at pure cost, rather than value, since value is subjective), as well as multiple DLC all of which, while not exactly expensive, aren't cheap; just to decorate our house? I just don't think there's enough content to justify it being sold separately to just updating the game with that content. 

As for the skins in-game, completely agree with you there. I want full suits!! While it's kinda fun mixing and matching the skins (Aberrant helmet and sword with corrupted body!), there's only, what, 3 'serious' body pieces? Homo deus, Corrupted, and Avatar? So I would LOVE to have new skins to use. My point was mainly though about the method of acquiry, how I'm glad that they decided to give us skins based on achievements rather than, well, additional costs.

Your last point being mainly that you feel it looks more appealing though? I see that, and that is a fair point. While I still dislike the idea of monetising something so small for the reasons aforementioned, I do see the thought behind suggesting it as such.

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15 hours ago, Aylana314159 said:

Not sure WC can just take mods and sell them.

 

Most people don't want cash shops.

 

Plus all content would have to ge added to the base game, increasing its size.

I am pretty sure that WildCard cannot just take mods and sell them. However the could hold a contest for those that would like to be used as packaged mods or advertise that they are looking into mods or modders specifically, who may want to apply to create the packages or build/adjust their mods to fit them to a standard. 

And yes, microtransactions and cash shops are not usually the way most want a game to run. I too would not want this to be a pay-to-win or a pay-to-play game. I like it as is, but as a console player - I can no longer say I love it as I once did. I would prefer to have more content. More to play with, build with, and design with. And to get more, you typically have to pay for more. Which is why it would be completely optional. The game wouldn't change beyond having more to do with. Allow console players to have the option to play with a portion of what PC gets to every day, just with a slight cost that would hopefully cover the cost to get it added in the first place. 

As for the size, that may be the case, and would certainly be something to look into when the packages are created and reviewed. Perhaps as a stipulation to the process. 

Good points to be sure. 

12 hours ago, TheEclipseee said:

I'm a PC player, so while this wouldn't really affect me-  I don't think many people will want to have to spend extra just for some decorations. I know I wouldn't. I think it'd be great to add more decorations, definitely- but I don't think adding them as additional costs on top of an already expensive game is the way to go about it. Personally, I'm grateful that all the skins we currently have are tied to achievements, notes and bosses, rather than having to buy them for extra. So I feel like adding decorations should be just, added to the base game in some way, if they are added.

Personally, Ark is the cheapest game I play - by far.  Considering the cost of the game itself and the hours I have put into in comparison to others. The cost is minimal. And I run and pay for a cluster on top of the cost of the game - and the cost breakdown remains true.  So if a package came up to purchase one of eco's decoratives set's came up for sale, I would probably go for it. The $5.00 was an example, and even then, far cheaper than most would pay for a Sims add on set in some cases. If they could warrant a cheaper price, then by all means, I would still go for it. 

And for the skins already available ingame, personally I am a fan of very few. I have earned them all time and time again, and with each added skin they tend to take a step further and further away from "survival" in my opinion. For a while I actually held out hope for the holiday items, but for the most part - they aren't a complete suit, and those they have are far more festive that realistic. So while fun to wear for a short while, I mostly don't use them for long. 

Quiet honestly though, I would prefer not to have to purchase them packages to be able to get new things. However the types of new things they keep adding having very little to do with building items and decoratives. A few here and there, but for the most part, they have remained the same for quite some time. It is one of the reason I have opened a Primitive Plus map for a month or two every once in a while, they have more to build with and decorate with. And if I thought at all they would start adding more, I would have gone the route many had with the suggestions, and simply asked for a bunch of new stuff simply because I want something new.

However, since that does not seem to be their gameplan, I went with this route. As purchasable content they could possibly generate some more funds to support the content as opposed to simply asking for it. It seemed to make more sense in my mind. 

I do appreciate the perspective though. I understand where you are coming from and many probably see it as you do. 

 

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2 hours ago, SapphireSam7 said:

As for the size, that may be the case, and would certainly be something to look into when the packages are created and reviewed. Perhaps as a stipulation to the process. 

The files would have to be added to the base game or there would be decorations not everyone could see.

 

I think cash shop are the opposite direction from where Ark should be going. Now getting Ark mobile (different game and developers) ported to console could be interesting, it has a cash shop and lots more decor stuff.

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Okay, so, as a console gamer, I'd love to get some new skins, Reskins or new patterns on existing structures dinos or what have you. That being said, the console version, even with running an xbox 1X , a lot of the maps are laggy AF. Ragnarok is called LAGNAROK for a reason. If there are more than 12 -15 players on a map, forget it. Render issues, ping issues, d/c issues already persist without skins. Sometimes I log in and get triangulated dinos and that's with a 1X and a small business connection. My internet isnt the issue. 

I do see your point as it would be a small revenue stream for WC but dont think that it wouldn't come without a ton of hiccups.  Wc isnt the best at updating or fixing problems.  There are still issues from legacy that persist 4 years later and 0 fixes. 

Remember this: when it comes to WC, new content = broken game

However,  I like your idea!

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I'm a PC player, so while this wouldn't really affect me-  I don't think many people will want to have to spend extra just for some decorations. I know I wouldn't. I think it'd be great to add more decorations, definitely- but I don't think adding them as additional costs on top of an already expensive game is the way to go about it. Personally, I'm grateful that all the skins we currently have are tied to achievements, notes and bosses, rather than having to buy them for extra. So I feel like adding decorations should be just, added to the base game in some way, if they are added.

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