Ark is a tremendously fun game in it's current incarnation. However I can't help but feel, as im sure an overwhelming number of players do, that there is something intangible missing from the core pvp/pve gameplay of ark.
I think this boils down to what in programming language we would call the user story; sit the client down and have them describe to you what they want the program to do when they use it. Now in a video game this is a bit tricky because it's mixed with what we might call capturing imagination; what did you think ark might be like from the story, lore, arkwork ect.
One of the biggest gaps is the experience with offline raiding and the expectation placed in the players mind about how the island would FEEL with other players as layed down in the in-game journals. There is talk of 1. "a fishing village". 2. "A sea-based tribe that tames mantas". 3. "A solo adventurer who uses an equus".
1. Well, there are no player made fishing villages. My user story would go something like this; there are various biomes around the map, and players can build their bases in any of these different biomes, which offer different weather, animals, environmental challenges and quirks (blizzard in the north, disease in the swamps). Players in those biomes would have easy access to resource of that biome, but not to resources of other biomes. Trades between players might be a thing. And somehow the game encourages players to become adept and specialized in certain biomes, creating something akin to a "class" found in a rpg. The wizard has a certain set of skills the bring to the table, different but complimentary to the fighter.
2. There is no reason a tribe would be only sea-based and specialized in mantas. In my imagination as captured by the game, surfboarding on a very fast manta would feel cool. Jumping out of the water to make leaping attacks against boats would also be cool. But we all no this isn't really in the game. For my user story I would like to see; players at any given time are encouraged to specialize in a biome, although they can move to a different biome at any time if they get wiped or just want to see another part of the game. Players attacking their home biome should have disadvantage related to the environment; tames not well suited to that place. The would need to rely more on technology to attack, such as rafts, and give the players in the home biome something to attack and shoot at fairly.
3. There's not much to say about the Equus. It's misrepresented in the dossier as something a solo adventurer would use. It's only real use is as more of a ranch-hand to be used in conjunction with the doed to make lots of clay easier. It's too slow to outrun most predators, gets stuck on rocks easy, has a terrible turning & handling radius when running, had no primary attack and it's secondary attack depletes stamina too quickly. Just re-write the dossier to match it's intended use. However I will as that this part captured my imagination; on SE, a sort of farming operation where yard animals such as the doed and equus work together to acquire resources. It was my actual in-game experience. However the fact that my horse can be killed in mere seconds by raiders, along with all my other tames, really puts me off. I felt like it was actually not too bad to be losing & replacing tames when the resource rate was 2x during the thanksgiving and xmas season, and would recommend that be the default going forward. If tames are disposable, and used acquired for a purpose, it makes more sense.
4. I have tried building "noah ark"; get 2 of every tame in a "gotta collect em all" sort of way. It's not fun. It make far more sense that you focus on tames and aquire a set of 3 or 4 types that work well in a biome and compliment each other. Then focus the pvp in sets vs sets.
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Zoopshab
Ark is a tremendously fun game in it's current incarnation. However I can't help but feel, as im sure an overwhelming number of players do, that there is something intangible missing from the core pvp/pve gameplay of ark.
I think this boils down to what in programming language we would call the user story; sit the client down and have them describe to you what they want the program to do when they use it. Now in a video game this is a bit tricky because it's mixed with what we might call capturing imagination; what did you think ark might be like from the story, lore, arkwork ect.
One of the biggest gaps is the experience with offline raiding and the expectation placed in the players mind about how the island would FEEL with other players as layed down in the in-game journals. There is talk of 1. "a fishing village". 2. "A sea-based tribe that tames mantas". 3. "A solo adventurer who uses an equus".
1. Well, there are no player made fishing villages. My user story would go something like this; there are various biomes around the map, and players can build their bases in any of these different biomes, which offer different weather, animals, environmental challenges and quirks (blizzard in the north, disease in the swamps). Players in those biomes would have easy access to resource of that biome, but not to resources of other biomes. Trades between players might be a thing. And somehow the game encourages players to become adept and specialized in certain biomes, creating something akin to a "class" found in a rpg. The wizard has a certain set of skills the bring to the table, different but complimentary to the fighter.
2. There is no reason a tribe would be only sea-based and specialized in mantas. In my imagination as captured by the game, surfboarding on a very fast manta would feel cool. Jumping out of the water to make leaping attacks against boats would also be cool. But we all no this isn't really in the game. For my user story I would like to see; players at any given time are encouraged to specialize in a biome, although they can move to a different biome at any time if they get wiped or just want to see another part of the game. Players attacking their home biome should have disadvantage related to the environment; tames not well suited to that place. The would need to rely more on technology to attack, such as rafts, and give the players in the home biome something to attack and shoot at fairly.
3. There's not much to say about the Equus. It's misrepresented in the dossier as something a solo adventurer would use. It's only real use is as more of a ranch-hand to be used in conjunction with the doed to make lots of clay easier. It's too slow to outrun most predators, gets stuck on rocks easy, has a terrible turning & handling radius when running, had no primary attack and it's secondary attack depletes stamina too quickly. Just re-write the dossier to match it's intended use. However I will as that this part captured my imagination; on SE, a sort of farming operation where yard animals such as the doed and equus work together to acquire resources. It was my actual in-game experience. However the fact that my horse can be killed in mere seconds by raiders, along with all my other tames, really puts me off. I felt like it was actually not too bad to be losing & replacing tames when the resource rate was 2x during the thanksgiving and xmas season, and would recommend that be the default going forward. If tames are disposable, and used acquired for a purpose, it makes more sense.
4. I have tried building "noah ark"; get 2 of every tame in a "gotta collect em all" sort of way. It's not fun. It make far more sense that you focus on tames and aquire a set of 3 or 4 types that work well in a biome and compliment each other. Then focus the pvp in sets vs sets.
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