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Can I pay?


Crymric

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Can I pay?

Hi!

The performance of the servers is a joke right now. I'm not an expert, I don't know where is the problem. But I suspect your budget isn't that great right now. (And I bet Atlas isn't bring much money.)  

If this is the case, just make an optional subscription with some benefits. Like +5% XP, one saddle and something skin, maybe a new chibi, anything small. I would gladly pay if it's helps to make a more stable and reliable Ark experience. I'm not sure how my Survivors would be as "stupid" as me to pay, but I'm certain there are some. ?

Yes, I want to play on the official servers. No, I dont want to rent a server or go to an unofficial server. I just want to keep crawl on the officials.

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Why we need to pay more (Game + DLC's) for Wildcard do their job? 

We pay, they give us support, thats it. For people like you, is that many companies abuse.

Sorry, but we already paid for the game and for the support service and for them to ensure us a bug-free game where is possible. Im ok with the lag and other minor bugs, i was lucky avoiding the main bugs and problems that a lot of people complain about, but don't bring to Ark those "Pay to Win" or "Pay to Progress" mechanics, thinking that this is the solution for Ark problems.

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I'd be down for a subscription ONLY if it was for new official servers that were not connected to the current official clusters. It may seem bizarre to people that play single player or that play on unofficial servers, but the appeal for official servers is a large community and a persistent economy, plus a sense of the developer/publisher having a vested interest in maintaining that "official" community. The litmus test for ARK is its official server health, and right now its not exactly healthy for reasons that are apparent but not acknowledged by Wildcard.

One advantage of having a subscription tier with its own server cluster is that Wildcard could create an admin position to monitor these servers and crack down on exploiters aggressively. A subscription would raise the cost for ARKs version of "wow gold" sellers enough to make it unprofitable for them, even if they could conceal their activity from an admin and avoid player reports. With a subscription tier, players themselves would have a much bigger stake in seeing that dupers and cheaters get banned, and the many a$$hats that frequent the non-DLC maps on official would be less apt to troll global chat for obvious reasons in a subscription cluster.

The only downside I can foresee is if there weren't enough people subbing, leading to the servers getting shut down. The thing is, that is what happens to the official servers over time when people aren't buying the expansions, and new players aren't buying the base game at full price. People who have xbox game pass for windows 10 already get the base game free, so they don't really count unless they're buying expansions, and a lot of new players get ARK at a deep discount during a Steam sale. Subscriptions generally don't have discounts, and are a much more stable revenue stream. Some don't understand the value and sense of stability that comes from knowing a developer is well funded, and that's fine, this isn't for you.

As for the current buy-to-play tier of official we have now - we aren't getting much support anyway, and the server performance is great on some, unplayable on others, and very little direct feedback is available for players to address the myriad of issues with the core game, let alone the chat trolls and exploiters. Basically we're getting what we paid for right now, and a subscription tier done properly on a fresh cluster of high quality servers would get rid of a lot of problems for people that are willing to pay for it. It wouldn't leave the current official servers in the dust, as we're already treated like we don't matter for the most part anyway. Some would complain anyhow, but their sense of entitlement is unfounded imo. Wildcard really isn't obligated to even keep official going, and if barebones is all their budget allows for, thats all were ever going to get. Plus time is money, and the amount of wasted time on official dealing with bugs really adds up. nothing is free.

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3 hours ago, canojuancho said:

Why we need to pay more (Game + DLC's) for Wildcard do their job? 

We pay, they give us support, thats it. For people like you, is that many companies abuse.

Sorry, but we already paid for the game and for the support service and for them to ensure us a bug-free game where is possible. Im ok with the lag and other minor bugs, i was lucky avoiding the main bugs and problems that a lot of people complain about, but don't bring to Ark those "Pay to Win" or "Pay to Progress" mechanics, thinking that this is the solution for Ark problems.

Let's be honest, Wildcard bit off more than they can chew with this game.  They sold a good chunk of their original game copies at a reduced "preview" cost which for me was $20 instead of the standard $60.  On top of that, instead of releasing the game and expecting you to support your own server environments, they maintain(ish...) and support(ish...) active servers for you to play on while also producing events and attempting to balance and maintain the game itself.  I don't support micro-transactions and nickle-and-diming consumers, but charging a subscription for maintained servers actually seems fair considering their cost in services and manpower.  Without the pay-to-win xp boost and crap first suggested of course...

The problem is though, that if they start charging a subscription to access official servers it puts a lot more responsibility on them to support those servers with less downtime and increased enforcement.

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3 hours ago, canojuancho said:

Why we need to pay more (Game + DLC's) for Wildcard do their job? 

We pay, they give us support, thats it. For people like you, is that many companies abuse.

Sorry, but we already paid for the game and for the support service and for them to ensure us a bug-free game where is possible. Im ok with the lag and other minor bugs, i was lucky avoiding the main bugs and problems that a lot of people complain about, but don't bring to Ark those "Pay to Win" or "Pay to Progress" mechanics, thinking that this is the solution for Ark problems.

Because they have many servers to upkeep in every month. And looks like they can't. You bought the game once, only once, but the server rents are always ticking. It's strange too, Ark is an MMO without any sustainable income. No ingame shop, no sub theres nothing. Every game with own servers need some constant income. I hope they dont make a shop, but  I can agree with an subscription model without any Pay to Progress elements. Or just something minor like the 5-10% extra XP.

2 hours ago, Aushegun said:

Wildcard wants to get rid of Official servers, not add more.

they would prefer all UN official servers.

It's came to my mind too. I'm just hoping its just paranoia. :D

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3 hours ago, Swordguy said:

I'd be down for a subscription ONLY if it was for new official servers that were not connected to the current official clusters. It may seem bizarre to people that play single player or that play on unofficial servers, but the appeal for official servers is a large community and a persistent economy, plus a sense of the developer/publisher having a vested interest in maintaining that "official" community. The litmus test for ARK is its official server health, and right now its not exactly healthy for reasons that are apparent but not acknowledged by Wildcard.

One advantage of having a subscription tier with its own server cluster is that Wildcard could create an admin position to monitor these servers and crack down on exploiters aggressively. A subscription would raise the cost for ARKs version of "wow gold" sellers enough to make it unprofitable for them, even if they could conceal their activity from an admin and avoid player reports. With a subscription tier, players themselves would have a much bigger stake in seeing that dupers and cheaters get banned, and the many a$$hats that frequent the non-DLC maps on official would be less apt to troll global chat for obvious reasons in a subscription cluster.

The only downside I can foresee is if there weren't enough people subbing, leading to the servers getting shut down. The thing is, that is what happens to the official servers over time when people aren't buying the expansions, and new players aren't buying the base game at full price. People who have xbox game pass for windows 10 already get the base game free, so they don't really count unless they're buying expansions, and a lot of new players get ARK at a deep discount during a Steam sale. Subscriptions generally don't have discounts, and are a much more stable revenue stream. Some don't understand the value and sense of stability that comes from knowing a developer is well funded, and that's fine, this isn't for you.

As for the current buy-to-play tier of official we have now - we aren't getting much support anyway, and the server performance is great on some, unplayable on others, and very little direct feedback is available for players to address the myriad of issues with the core game, let alone the chat trolls and exploiters. Basically we're getting what we paid for right now, and a subscription tier done properly on a fresh cluster of high quality servers would get rid of a lot of problems for people that are willing to pay for it. It wouldn't leave the current official servers in the dust, as we're already treated like we don't matter for the most part anyway. Some would complain anyhow, but their sense of entitlement is unfounded imo. Wildcard really isn't obligated to even keep official going, and if barebones is all their budget allows for, thats all were ever going to get. Plus time is money, and the amount of wasted time on official dealing with bugs really adds up. nothing is free.

I really like this idea. You should try to get Ceds attention

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It's worth noting that, while not publicly disclosed, it is assumed that Microsoft pays Wildcard for the ability to include Ark in GamePass.  So just because people play on Game Pass does not mean Wildcard isn't getting paid.  This is probably similar to Netflix paying for the rights to stream the content they have.

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3 hours ago, PertySlick said:

The problem is though, that if they start charging a subscription to access official servers it puts a lot more responsibility on them to support those servers with less downtime and increased enforcement.

Very true. It might be too big a risk for them to take given all the unknowns, and I suppose it would also cut into the profits of server providers. Who knows, they may have some kind of non-competition clause in whatever deal they have with Nitrado. 

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12 hours ago, canojuancho said:

Why we need to pay more (Game + DLC's) for Wildcard do their job? 

We pay, they give us support, thats it. For people like you, is that many companies abuse.

Sorry, but we already paid for the game and for the support service and for them to ensure us a bug-free game where is possible. Im ok with the lag and other minor bugs, i was lucky avoiding the main bugs and problems that a lot of people complain about, but don't bring to Ark those "Pay to Win" or "Pay to Progress" mechanics, thinking that this is the solution for Ark problems.

Thats how all mmo’s operated before. And some still do. WoW costs money to purchase and subscription on top for example.

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10 hours ago, PertySlick said:

Let's be honest, Wildcard bit off more than they can chew with this game.  They sold a good chunk of their original game copies at a reduced "preview" cost which for me was $20 instead of the standard $60.  On top of that, instead of releasing the game and expecting you to support your own server environments, they maintain(ish...) and support(ish...) active servers for you to play on while also producing events and attempting to balance and maintain the game itself.  I don't support micro-transactions and nickle-and-diming consumers, but charging a subscription for maintained servers actually seems fair considering their cost in services and manpower.  Without the pay-to-win xp boost and crap first suggested of course...

The problem is though, that if they start charging a subscription to access official servers it puts a lot more responsibility on them to support those servers with less downtime and increased enforcement.

 

I will pay double for ARK if hey fix major bugs, double that again if their servers are stable, and double that yet again if they managed to get rid of all the RMT and exploiters...……

Even it means I need to pay more, I think subscription is a good idea. Perhaps they can remove the purchase option for permanent access for base game and DLCs, then for the ones who already bought permanent access, they can give them a founder's discount.

For example: (subscription fee= (original fee)*(1 -0.1*(number of DLCs purchased)-0.2*(if permanent access to base game is purchased)) 

They can also charge less from players who do not play on official (and free of charge for who have "founder's discount" and do not play on official)

 

I don't know if it will affect RMT and exploiter directly, but this will definitely reduce amount of zombie tribes and give WC more cash to (hopefully) improve the game

 

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For player with permanent access already but do not want to pay for subscription, they could also allow transcription from official to legacy and make legacy the free cluster. This will be a good news to legacy people too because it satisfy legacy people's need for more people and reduce probability of legacy wipe. Beyond that, legacy will also get the benefit of better software updates.

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1 hour ago, nameless said:

 

I will pay double for ARK if hey fix major bugs, double that again if their servers are stable, and double that yet again if they managed to get rid of all the RMT and exploiters...……

Even it means I need to pay more, I think subscription is a good idea. Perhaps they can remove the purchase option for permanent access for base game and DLCs, then for the ones who already bought permanent access, they can give them a founder's discount.

For example: (subscription fee= (original fee)*(1 -0.1*(number of DLCs purchased)-0.2*(if permanent access to base game is purchased)) 

They can also charge less from players who do not play on official (and free of charge for who have "founder's discount" and do not play on official)

 

I don't know if it will affect RMT and exploiter directly, but this will definitely reduce amount of zombie tribes and give WC more cash to (hopefully) improve the game

 

I wouldn't be on board for subscription based access to the game itself.  But I would support a subscription fee for the use of public servers.  And I, like you, would gladly support Wildcard if bugs and stabilizations were more of a priority as well as communication.  I love the game and would happily buy Genesis if they could maintain what has already been released.  But they cannot and yet still focus on new content.  So I opted out this time.

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29 minutes ago, PertySlick said:

I wouldn't be on board for subscription based access to the game itself.  But I would support a subscription fee for the use of public servers.  And I, like you, would gladly support Wildcard if bugs and stabilizations were more of a priority as well as communication.  I love the game and would happily buy Genesis if they could maintain what has already been released.  But they cannot and yet still focus on new content.  So I opted out this time.

Agreed, I guess they can make Permanent access to game and legacy server work as a life time premium membership on subscribed server.

Such like:

A player will have permanent access to single player and legacy/unofficial if they bought base game, they will also have access to the dlc map they bought. But should that player play on subscribed official server, they can pay a reduced fee (reduction scales with the amount they have paid for base game/dlc). 

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16 hours ago, canojuancho said:

Sorry, but we already paid for the game and for the support service and for them to ensure us a bug-free game where is possible.

No, you paid for the game. Period. When you buy the game, no where do they state an entitlement to servers. They are there. But they don't have to be. The game can be a played without official servers. No where do they promise you a bug free game where possible. 

You may feel entitled. The reality is that you are not. 

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8 hours ago, nameless said:

For player with permanent access already but do not want to pay for subscription, they could also allow transcription from official to legacy and make legacy the free cluster. This will be a good news to legacy people too because it satisfy legacy people's need for more people and reduce probability of legacy wipe. Beyond that, legacy will also get the benefit of better software updates.

This is very true. The improvements that would come to subscription servers (like bug fixes) would also benefit non-subscribing players, which is how technology improvements tend to work in the real world as well.

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6 hours ago, DeHammer said:

No, you paid for the game. Period. When you buy the game, no where do they state an entitlement to servers. They are there. But they don't have to be. The game can be a played without official servers. No where do they promise you a bug free game where possible. 

You may feel entitled. The reality is that you are not. 

Absolutely right. And I may add that they even could take all servers offline without further announcements. They could if they wanted to. 

We paid for a Game. Not for servers or more servers or Server Service. Thats the bottom line. Sad but true.

Wildcard poops on the community in many ways and does not give a Single raptor about us. Only if they want. They even poop on the Switch and simply ignore those poor gamers with a rotten raptored up Version. 

I do agree with so many thing concerning this sad company. But there is no point in saying "keep those servers running you MFers"

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All your points of view are valid, but don't keep saying that we ONLY paid for the game, because, i don't know you but when i bought ARK in 2015,  in the description, it didn't say just the Single Player Mode, but also said MMO, so, we didn't just paid for the game, but also paid for the SERVICE to play online and the support is linked to that service, i emphasized that i'm not a hater of Wildcard, i enjoy this game SO MUCH and i'm happy, i don't regret about lag or some other minor bugs, i was disliking the idea to force people in paying more if they want a better support or better solutions for the majors bugs that a lot of people complain about.

It's like playing CSGO (when had price), rainbow, destiny, the division, starwars BF, Insurgency, 7days to die, DayZ, Conan Exiles and more game just in single player and need to play aditional price for playing online or for having servers without lag and connection problems, sorry guys, i can't understand that logic.

 

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Subscription access: the solution to all problems?

Look at the forum nowadays, this is what I saw:

        “Our servers are disconnecting us every 10 minutes!” 

        “My dinos and character are ARKed!”

        “Genesis now!”

        “I sent video proof of exploiters and RMTers, why are they still here in my server !?”

        “People are duping mechs in PvP!”

        “There are pillars and huge bases everywhere in PvE and the owner only refreshed it once every 2 weeks!” (zombie tribes)

        “The enforcers doesnt care about me being ARKed, but acted against me because of weaponized reports!”

 


I think a subscription based official cluster can solve all these problems.


A look at the problems:

Some facts i have gathered:

        At least a considerable portion of the official servers are definitely abnormal ever since christmas

        I have checked ARK public ban list. People who i have reported to be RMTers are not in it. (Report made with video  record of ingame chat of players giving their shop’s link, and the link is leading to a website with dinos labeled with real money)

        Developers focus a lot on genesis, and yet delayed it for months.

A hypothesis of what i think is going on right now:

        The DEVs are running out of cash, hosting official servers cost money, hiring enforcers costs money, hiring programmers to FIX ARK need money. Yet without new DLC, the money they have earned from base game and previous DLCs are running out. To make ARK survive this winter, they have no choice but to work their heads off for new contents; and at the meantime, they also reduced the expense by downgrading the servers and hiring less enforcers.

        Enforcers are outnumbered by exploiters/RMTers/insiders (can i just call them ERI from now?) ten to one, not to mention hundreds of reports for pillars, ARKed players, and server malfunctions. They have to make decisions very quickly (which is seen by many hard-playing players as a sign of irresponsibility for their hard-earned properties in game). That is why their reputation isnt exactly good.

        Due to the reasons above, players are (obviously) suffering from bad servers, bad optimizations, bad ERIs, in general, bad experience. Watching their beloved dinos AKRed, their beloved bases wiped by ERIs (in PvP and PvE!!!), and their beloved servers filled by zombie tribes wont be a good experience……….. This will cause players to leave ARK, complai, or refund ARK, all of which reduce sales and exaggerates DEVs’ fund shortage. (Vicious cycle)

        Now something makes it even worse, it is a theory that i think is highly a probable explanation for persistence for ERIs

        And what about the player who left? Their used accounts can be traded and sold to other players at a cheaper price than ARK’s official price. Nothing wrong in itself (but once again, less money for the DEVs). The problem is these accounts can be resold over and over again, until it becomes very cheap so that the ERIs can get another account after they are banned for nearly no price. This effectively allowed them to negate most attempts to ban them. (After that, enforcers outnumbered, duping cause unfair PvP and lagging PvE, players leave…… vicious cycle again)


 

Now that all the problems is a single big problem, how does a subscription system solve it?

 

What does the system look like:

        Access:

        An official cluster that requires seasonally payment to log on, and a legacy cluster that does not require seasonally payment. Supports are offered on official but not legacy (as it is now). Monthly payment reduces as player buys base game and more DLCs. DLCs are not required to access the maps on official but are required on legacy/single/private games.

        Game mechanics:

        All items/characters/ dinos on official can be SINGLE DIRECTIONALLY transferred to legacy. 

        Beginner servers can be accessed with either season pass or base game.

        All items/characters/ dinos on beginner's can be SINGLE DIRECTIONALLY transferred to official or legacy. 

 

Why can it help?

        It gives DEVs more funds.It gives subscribed players better supports. It gives subscribed and unsubscribed players better servers. It gives all players better server programming and client optimizations. It gives ERIs a hard time getting new accounts.

 

Why can it give subscribed players better supports?

        As DEVs have more cash to hire enforcers. Enforcers will have more time to look into each issue and make better judgements. Besides, players are paying DEVs and DEVs are paying them, they will need to act out of consideration of players now. Zombie tribes will also reduce since payment is required for them to stay.

 

Why can it give  subscribed and unsubscribed players better servers and all players better server programming and client optimizations?

        As DEVs have more cash to run better servers, more programmers are hired to fix issues, and numbers of ERIs reduce, server performance increases. Even unofficial/single players can benefit from improved codings. 

Legacy player will also benefit. Since official players may one day decide to transfer to legacy, they will watch out for the rights of legacy players, and since official players pay DEVs, DEVs will also watch out for the rights of legacy players.

 

Why can it give ERIs a hard time getting new accounts?

        When the accounts are resold over and over again, season pass expires. These recycled accounts can not be used to access official servers.

 

The system tries to end vicious cycle:

        As there are less ERIs duping, server performance increases. As there are less ERIs insiding, people can trust each other more and from tribes, less bases will be built for single persons and people can feel safer cryoing their dinos. Reduction in structures and creatures brings increment in server performance. Less players are ARKed after code improvement, enforcers can focus on less reports…….. It goes on and on……..

 

Now, do you believe it will ever work?

 

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I believe the biggest flaw with this proposal is that what you both propose the paid servers will be like is a utopia that won't happen. I don't see the devs being able to keep up with the cheaters and dupers and griefers and whatnot, which means in the end we'll be left with people that just complain even harder because they paid and the servers are still bad. Possibly, they could get better servers with reduced lag, but I'm doubtful about that, even. And I can just picture the outrage of non paying players because their servers are second rate.

In the end, I doubt that enough people will pay to sponsor the amount of support you're asking for, but I might be wrong.

I do applaud you for trying to be constructive of solving a problem. Thank you for that ?

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