1st Impressions not great

[StoicWorm]

Well

After having the game a week I decided to log on and see what the game was like, logged in to LostIsland server 1720, spawned in the top right of the map on a fantastic little island that was perfect was it not for the spam of 2 foundations plastered all over it.

Clearly could not build here so was on my way, found another spot same people this time 2 triangle foundations plastered all over the area with NO other buildings in sight.

Moved on again 3rd spot, pillars with ladders all over, after about an hour trying to find an area I had had enough and placed a ticket and logged out.

Great way to encourage new players to play a game.

[Larkfields]

Find a friendly unofficial server and get to know the people there.
The game is much more fun when you can join in with like-minded people.

 

[GrumpyBear]

Just basic logic at this point.  IF the map is not brand new, then every spot the game spawns people at - will be filled up.   

 

People claim space for lots of reasons, there's no one reason why an entire area is claimed.  New players won't think about the rare spawns that a certain area might have, or rare resources.  THey just build over them, ruin the areas and make everyone else unhappy... Or some people claim and come back to build on the weekend....some people claim because they are greedy....some people don't really want a next door neighbor and so they put up buffer zones around their bases(i empathize with this logic, too many people use existing bases area of influence to make building their bases easier - less mobs attacking them while they build vs building all alone in a wild area, making the existing base owner have to travel farther for resources).....some are breaking rules and selling it on facebook groups.   There's no one reason for it, and to a new player it all looks the same.

 

The spots that aren't full will take some searching.  A better tactic might be to level up and get to the point of making a raft and or taming a ptera.  THen you can explore more and use some of the foundations you have made to stake a claim somewhere.  I look around on most the maps i exist on and could find places to build still.  Especially now that there is way less people on these days.  My extinction map is almost completely empty in the desert area.

[StoicWorm]

38 minutes ago, Larkfields said:

Find a friendly unofficial server and get to know the people there.
The game is much more fun when you can join in with like-minded people.

 

How do you access unofficial servers?

[StoicWorm]

35 minutes ago, GrumpyBear said:

Just basic logic at this point.  IF the map is not brand new, then every spot the game spawns people at - will be filled up.   

 

People claim space for lots of reasons, there's no one reason why an entire area is claimed.  New players won't think about the rare spawns that a certain area might have, or rare resources.  THey just build over them, ruin the areas and make everyone else unhappy... Or some people claim and come back to build on the weekend....some people claim because they are greedy....some people don't really want a next door neighbor and so they put up buffer zones around their bases(i empathize with this logic, too many people use existing bases area of influence to make building their bases easier - less mobs attacking them while they build vs building all alone in a wild area, making the existing base owner have to travel farther for resources).....some are breaking rules and selling it on facebook groups.   There's no one reason for it, and to a new player it all looks the same.

 

The spots that aren't full will take some searching.  A better tactic might be to level up and get to the point of making a raft and or taming a ptera.  THen you can explore more and use some of the foundations you have made to stake a claim somewhere.  I look around on most the maps i exist on and could find places to build still.  Especially now that there is way less people on these days.  My extinction map is almost completely empty in the desert area.

The island I spawned on was a sandy beach with a rock in the middle, unless I missed something maybe your right, maybe there is a reason for it, however some areas there were nothing but flat areas with nothing not even a tree, I like the raft idea so Im going to build this and make a small base and work up from that.

[GrumpyBear]

1 hour ago, StoicWorm said:

The island I spawned on was a sandy beach with a rock in the middle, unless I missed something maybe your right, maybe there is a reason for it, however some areas there were nothing but flat areas with nothing not even a tree, I like the raft idea so Im going to build this and make a small base and work up from that.

Once you are on there longer it will be easier to see what is reasonable and isn't.   THere is not much they will do with land claiming.  It would take a real good report and a really egregious land grab with no base anywhere to get them to remove structures.   ANd without anyone complaining and taking really good pictures that include as much information as possible to give the GM's something to look at, then nothing changes.   The gm's won't go out and proactively take on problem users, they will almost always wait for reports from players.

[Larkfields]

19 hours ago, StoicWorm said:

How do you access unofficial servers?

Press the "JOIN ARK" button then select "UNOFFICIAL" from the session filter.
You can choose PVE or PVP from the "GAME MODE"

[Penguin73]

On 4/24/2022 at 3:37 PM, StoicWorm said:

The island I spawned on was a sandy beach with a rock in the middle, unless I missed something maybe your right, maybe there is a reason for it, however some areas there were nothing but flat areas with nothing not even a tree, I like the raft idea so Im going to build this and make a small base and work up from that.

Day 1 can definitely be a shocker.  Don't give up.  The further inland you can get the more open space you will find (generally). But until you are ready to tackle the dangers of moving inland, the raft concept is my favorite way to start most maps. Just remember to keep your raft in shallow water as danger lurks in the deep too.

[wizard03]

On 4/24/2022 at 5:35 PM, StoicWorm said:

Well After having the game a week I decided to log on and see what the game was like, logged in to LostIsland server 1720, spawned in the top right of the map on a fantastic little island that was perfect was it not for the spam of 2 foundations plastered all over it. Clearly could not build here so was on my way, found another spot same people this time 2 triangle foundations plastered all over the area with NO other buildings in sight. Moved on again 3rd spot, pillars with ladders all over, after about an hour trying to find an area I had had enough and placed a ticket and logged out. Great way to encourage new players to play a game.

Yeah, online game play really does not feel like a "true" survival game, hope an actual developer see's this for ark 2.

My best advice is to try and play single player. It gives you the real feel of a survival game where your on you own against the rest of the world. Not like a major group of people have already spoiled everything for you and now its you vs the world, and some tek crazed clowns.

And single player mode is difficult to figure out, you have to go to host/local at the main menu, then pick your settings and then pick the map, and start single player session. Again, I hope a dev see's this for ark 2
Now as for settings, you can mess with them if you want, but honestly as a new player, you may want to stick with the default settings at first. This will give you some time to actually play in game and figure out if you actually want to change anything. just make sure single player settings are checked, map location is checked, and if your hardcore about your first jump in, max difficulty to get some high level dino's to spawn in as well.

 

If you absolutely want to play online because of friends or something, you may look into getting your own server running. A cheap PC with a lot of ram can do the trick easily, but you will have to pick the right version you want.....consoles and PC can play together with the Microsoft version, but no mods. Steam is not cross platform friendly, but is much more stable and has mods.
The good news is that if you run your own server, you don't need much to work on. An average CPU, graphics card isn't important, 500gb drive to hold the game {SSD or NvME is better}, but ram is more important. The minimum required spec is 8GB, however 16 is recommended. Id suspect 32 would be best.
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Honestly tho, single player offline is still a lot of fun, still quite challenging, and if your looking for a you vs world experience, its probably the best way to go. Good luck!

[Pipinghot]

On 4/24/2022 at 5:35 PM, StoicWorm said:

Well

After having the game a week I decided to log on and see what the game was like, logged in to LostIsland server 1720, spawned in the top right of the map on a fantastic little island that was perfect was it not for the spam of 2 foundations plastered all over it.

Clearly could not build here so was on my way, found another spot same people this time 2 triangle foundations plastered all over the area with NO other buildings in sight.

Moved on again 3rd spot, pillars with ladders all over, after about an hour trying to find an area I had had enough and placed a ticket and logged out.

Great way to encourage new players to play a game.

Everyone here has felt your pain, it can be a real shock to log into a game like ARK for the first time.

For what it's worth, if you play other games of this same type - games flagged as "survival" games that involve building your way to success - you're going to have a similar experience in all of them (unless the game is dying or terribly unpopular). You have to keep in mind that this game doesn't have monthly subscriptions or microtransactions to keep the cash flow coming in for the Official servers, and that means that Official servers in all of the games like ARK are going to feel somewhat over-populated and competitive to a new player. The alternative is to log into a PvP server where there is plenty of clear land, but people constantly kill you and destroy all of your stuff that took you time to collect and build.

I'm not telling you that you're supposed to enjoy ARK, or anything silly like that. Even if you spend time getting to know the game you still might not like it. It's just that you're not going to be able to figure out whether you like it until you give yourself some time to learn more about how the game works.

This is a big game, a deep game, with lots of stuff to learn and do, and the starting learning curve can be a big rough. Something that might help is to play it in single-player for a little while. That will give you completely empty map, no one getting in your way, full of everything the game has to offer, so you can be completely focused on learning what you like and dislike about the game, and maybe after that go back to a public server to add the social element to what you've already learned.

Or, if you're someone who only wants to play the game with other people around, then you need to get used to the idea that parts of the map get claimed when people build on them, and as a new person you're going ot have to do some exploring to find a location that works for you.

Good luck and happy ARK'ing.

[wizard03]

20 hours ago, Pipinghot said:

Or, if you're someone who only wants to play the game with other people around, then you need to get used to the idea that parts of the map get claimed when people build on them, and as a new person you're going ot have to do some exploring to find a location that works for you.

Solid advice right there. While I was able to get online, this is how I had to play it when I found that the spot I wanted to build in was already taken. I adapted, moved to a different location, no one was anywhere near there, so I was able to build there as my own. Had a pretty sweet set up, and I was actually happy that the previous location was already taken as it seemed they was just spewing bullets at the non stop of respawning creatures. Most of which seemed to be alphas. o.o

[Griffin998]

I'm not sure about how servers work, but I agree with @wizard03. Single player is a lot of fun. If I had to guess, a private server with just you and a handful of friends all in one tribe would work superb as well. I play local most of the time with a buddy (PVE, it's a lot of fun). Playing alone is lots of fun as well, but having a buddy can make that rough learning curve at the start just a little smoother. You can team up on tames, or especially difficult to get rid of dinos. It's not nearly as grindy either. Anyway, hope you enjoy the game more, and happy ARKing!

[Frael]

On 4/24/2022 at 10:35 PM, StoicWorm said:

After having the game a week I decided to log on and see what the game was like, logged in to LostIsland server 1720, spawned in the top right of the map on a fantastic little island that was perfect was it not for the spam of 2 foundations plastered all over it.

It wasn't perfect though, it was a spawn point and likely that's the reason it was pillared. If you built a base there it would have just become a newbie trap.

[harryben145]

Dragon is my best animal that is not alive currently. That's why I bought dragon  stylish juice wrld hoodies and I am enj0ying as well.