Closed. Ark: Survival Evolved Official Servers

[Pipinghot]

7 hours ago, Mike585x said:

The smart way to go about it would be to add a subscription fee to keep playing on Official servers.

If it was as smart as you think, they would have done it. WildCard has faults, but being stupid is not one of them, they're very good at convincing people to give them money.

How many games can you think of that are still able to charge a monthly fee to play there game? Now how many games cannot do that and are forced to use other methods to try to make their money. Compare the answers to those two questions and you'll start to get an idea of how smart it would be.

[Mike585x]

44 minutes ago, Pipinghot said:

If it was as smart as you think, they would have done it. WildCard has faults, but being stupid is not one of them, they're very good at convincing people to give them money.

How many games can you think of that are still able to charge a monthly fee to play there game? Now how many games cannot do that and are forced to use other methods to try to make their money. Compare the answers to those two questions and you'll start to get an idea of how smart it would be.

Or, they just don't care enough, in which is more blatantly obvious.

[Pipinghot]

52 minutes ago, Mike585x said:

Or, they just don't care enough, in which is more blatantly obvious.

Again, WildCard is really good at getting money from people, that is the one thing they absolutely care enough about. You're talking about a game that has made somewhere between $1B-$2B, that's a lot of caring (about money).

And also again, compare the number of games that use monthly subscriptions to the number of games that don't. That answer will also tell you that it's not as smart as you think it is.

The answers don't change just because you dislike them.

[Mike585x]

10 hours ago, Pipinghot said:

Again, WildCard is really good at getting money from people, that is the one thing they absolutely care enough about. You're talking about a game that has made somewhere between $1B-$2B, that's a lot of caring (about money).

And also again, compare the number of games that use monthly subscriptions to the number of games that don't. That answer will also tell you that it's not as smart as you think it is.

The answers don't change just because you dislike them.

Stop arguing with me over irrelevant crap. It was just my opinion that it would have been a good idea (money is money) and many were willing to do it. What you think matters not. Only what the developers think, and you do not speak for them.

 

Edit: Also has nothing to do with "how many games do or don't", my post is about saving the damn official servers you knucklehead. Any idea is a good one in that aspect. Idgaf if you think you are some kind of celebrity, take it somewhere else. Thank you. Have a nice day.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Mike585x

[Pipinghot]

2 hours ago, Mike585x said:

Stop arguing with me over irrelevant crap.

You don't get to decide what's relevant, this is a public forum. If you don't want to argue then don't, no one is forcing you to reply.

2 hours ago, Mike585x said:

What you think matters not. Only what the developers think

Your own argument applies equally to you. what you think is smart doesn't matter. "Only what the developers think" is smart matters, "and you do not speak for them." Based on your own logic, you don't know what's smart because you're not one of the developers.

2 hours ago, Mike585x said:

and you do not speak for them.

I never said I did, you're making up a fake argument to argue against.

2 hours ago, Mike585x said:

Edit: Also has nothing to do with "how many games do or don't"

Of course it does. Looking at the game industry should help you understand that even though it feels like a good idea it might not really be one. If you don't understand the game industry, and you don't understand the different revenue models that are driving the industry, you have no idea what's a smart idea and what isn't.

2 hours ago, Mike585x said:

my post is about saving the damn official servers you knucklehead.

Which would be great, I support that goal completely, it would be great to see the Official servers for ASE to stay up. But that doesn't mean your idea would be able to make that goal happen. Wanting something to be true and having it actually be true are not the same thing. No matter how much you want it to be a smart idea that doesn't mean it is one.

I think it's a total scumbag move that they're taking down the ASE official servers. Even garbage companies like EA keep up official servers for older versions of game when they come out with a new version, but WildCard/Snail manages to treat their customers worse than EA does, which is quite and accomplishment in scumbaggery.

2 hours ago, Mike585x said:

Any idea is a good one in that aspect.

Except that it's not, especially if WildCard doesn't think its' a good one. As you pointed out, "What you think matters not. Only what the developers think".

2 hours ago, Mike585x said:

Idgaf if you think you are some kind of celebrity, take it somewhere else.

Never said I was. Another example of you making up an argument to argue against.

2 hours ago, Mike585x said:

Thank you. Have a nice day.

Your sincerity is overwhelming. Hugs to you too.

[Mike585x]

1 hour ago, Pipinghot said:

Snip

Cool story. Except you replied to me with all that nonsense. I stated my perspective and my opinion. If my voice is heard or not by to whom it matters, it's whatever.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Mike585x

[Pipinghot]

1 hour ago, Mike585x said:

Cool story.

I accept your apology.

[Mike585x]

22 minutes ago, Pipinghot said:

I accept your apology.

Apology for what? Speaking my mind? You won't get it. Let me guess, you want the last word? Too damn bad.

[ladymarina]

Mike and pipin you both have good points. Let's not have hostility come between trying to discuss wild card/snail games heinous actions.@Mike585x, @Pipinghot has been on my side since the beginning. They came to my defense when  I was being called names for no reason on here. Also agreeing with me somewhat on what WC/SG is  doing. Please don't call anyone knucklehead etc. I know it gets frustrating but people are supposed to be able to talk and voice their opinions on here without hostility.  Passive aggressiveness and hostility is all I've been dealing with since the beginning of posting about what has been going on. Which is really very very very sad. The argument should be trying to come together on this whole thing.Let's be cordial and have positivity throughout all this. 

[Mike585x]

"If it was as smart as you think, they would have done it." Was a bull crap copout answer, no matter how you look at it. I was simply saying it was a smart alternative, a way to save the servers (or an option for whomever wants), and I get an essay on how they are running their business or what other games are doing. Not every company chooses the smart routes, and some just flat out don't care. I've played many MMOs with worse companies to know. It was just an idea, not warranting smartass responses from people who think they are top of the world because their profile says they won some kind of top award. They could have just said "would be nice, but sadly no", instead of dismissing my entire post and boiling it down to that. I would have called them a lot worse. But I'll let it go.

Edit: TL;DR Many folks like myself are frustrated, trying to school them isn't going to fly. Sorry. Civility kind-of going out the window when we trade 8 years of work for a fancy tree and sleeping bag.

Edited June 5, 2023 by Mike585x

[Pipinghot]

19 hours ago, Mike585x said:

Apology for what? Speaking my mind? You won't get it. Let me guess, you want the last word? Too damn bad.

So when you post ideas that are easily debated it's 'Speaking your mind' but when other people disagree with you it's "nonsense".

it's a good thing you don't let your sense of entitlement run away with you.

[Pipinghot]

7 hours ago, Mike585x said:

"If it was as smart as you think, they would have done it." Was a bull crap copout answer, no matter how you look at it.

I'll tell you what, I'll concede that this looked like an aggressive answer and it's understandable that it made you hostile.

My response was bad and I'll own that, my apologies.

With that said, are you willing to have an open and honest conversation about whether it's a good idea or not, knowing that we might still disagree after talking, or are you only interested in talking to people who agree with you?

7 hours ago, Mike585x said:

Edit: TL;DR Many folks like myself are frustrated, trying to school them isn't going to fly. Sorry. Civility kind-of going out the window when we trade 8 years of work for a fancy tree and sleeping bag.

Agreed, me too. What WildCard is going is massive scumbaggery. But agreeing on one thing doesn't mean we'll agree on everything. WildCard is being terrible to their customers, but that doesn't automatically mean that the idea is a good one, those are two separate discussions.

[Noffek]

Everyone interprets their answers differently, but they all agree.  That WC/SG thinks "silence is golden" is probably not in that direction.  Answering us is one way, but participating in the ARK community is another.  They may be the creator of this community, but they do not actively participate in it, which also affects the players.  And since WC/SG don't care about players, the opposite can happen.

 

[Mike585x]

3 hours ago, Pipinghot said:

I'll tell you what, I'll concede that this looked like an aggressive answer and it's understandable that it made you hostile.

My response was bad and I'll own that, my apologies.

In that sense, I apologize too then.

 

3 hours ago, Pipinghot said:

With that said, are you willing to have an open and honest conversation about whether it's a good idea or not, knowing that we might still disagree after talking, or are you only interested in talking to people who agree with you?

Absolutely, but I wasn't really posting it to be discussed. What I am willing to do (as my original post suggested), is let them take my money to keep my server up, rather than giving my money to a 3rd party. Wishful thinking. Meant to be taken with a grain of salt, unless the developers themselves change their minds (unlikely, but I remain hopeful that they will throw us some type of bone before the end. Part of me hopes they were trying to "thin the herd" before possibly doing a legacy-type server merge and leaving a couple up in the end. Grimey, sure, but they did the same exact thing back then too).

Edited June 5, 2023 by Mike585x

[TigrisGera]

Good evening.

 

As we all know, ARK:SE will shut down official servers in less than three months. Part of the news regarding that issue (which of course many players didn't take lightly or kindly) was that there was going to be a chance for players on official servers at least to be able to download their saved data to single player.

My inquiries regarding that "plan" (as posted on Community Crunch 355 April 3rd on the "LIVE OPERATIONS" section):
 

1. How will be the save data established? Since which point in time?
2. Do we need to provide some kind of information regarding that data in order to be uploaded and then downloaded? As mentioned on the Community crunch post, you wrote something about "screenshots", but that's it.
3. Which are the requirements that have to be met in order to be selected for upload/download of data (Tribe ownership, tribe admin, etc)? As many of us players were tribe members (in my case, tribe admin on every single of my friend's tribes) I would like to know.
4. How can you guarantee players that the upload/download data will have everything saved previously and not sudden 225 tamed dinosaurs (losing mutations, colors, etc) as the "support team" never is able to reimburse a single dinosaur with at least one mutation?

Kind regards.

Edited June 6, 2023 by TigrisGera

[DirkInSA]

@TigrisGera IF the process works the same as in the past:

1. Nobody knows yet - that is well up in the air.
2. No the saves are likely to be public and open to anyone at all.
3. As per 2) - No special requirement.
4. The save comprises a zip or archive of the full save directory for that server instance along with the Map, tribe files and character files. There is no "manipulation" of data - it is a flat copy. As such anything you saw in the actual official game will appear in the "copy" when it is started up. To get this to work in single player, you will need to unzip this whole lot into the equivalent local save game directory for that map on your PC. This will clearly destroy your existing single player game. Once the save is unzipped / installed. You can start the game in single player, and then use admin commands to claim all of the kit that you had online. OR you can (before start-up) rename the file "yoursteamID.arkprofile" to be "LocalPlayer.arkprofile" and then start the map in single player, and be your "online" self in that map. OR you can dump this lot onto a server and start it up with the appropriate directory command (?AltSaveDirectoryName=xxxxx) - and then join that server as if it were your old official game.

This is clearly NOT the same as an in game "upload to transmitter". And I have not seen any indication anywhere that such a beacon upload process will be made available to "save" online stuff?

P.S. - If you are on console - "sorry for you" - the only option is to get this "save" into your own private server that allows console connects .......

Edited June 6, 2023 by DirkInSA

[TigrisGera]

21 hours ago, DirkInSA said:

@TigrisGera IF the process works the same as in the past:

1. Nobody knows yet - that is well up in the air.
2. No the saves are likely to be public and open to anyone at all.
3. As per 2) - No special requirement.
4. The save comprises a zip or archive of the full save directory for that server instance along with the Map, tribe files and character files. There is no "manipulation" of data - it is a flat copy. As such anything you saw in the actual official game will appear in the "copy" when it is started up. To get this to work in single player, you will need to unzip this whole lot into the equivalent local save game directory for that map on your PC. This will clearly destroy your existing single player game. Once the save is unzipped / installed. You can start the game in single player, and then use admin commands to claim all of the kit that you had online. OR you can (before start-up) rename the file "yoursteamID.arkprofile" to be "LocalPlayer.arkprofile" and then start the map in single player, and be your "online" self in that map. OR you can dump this lot onto a server and start it up with the appropriate directory command (?AltSaveDirectoryName=xxxxx) - and then join that server as if it were your old official game.

This is clearly NOT the same as an in game "upload to transmitter". And I have not seen any indication anywhere that such a beacon upload process will be made available to "save" online stuff?

P.S. - If you are on console - "sorry for you" - the only option is to get this "save" into your own private server that allows console connects .......

I truly hope they explain the process, read it entirely but couldn't understand some parts (as I'm not used to process, will be my first time attempting that).

And more importantly, that the save goes well (as you mentioned that big IF).

 

Thanks for the reply.

[SlowpokeinAction]

Hi Ark team,

I'd like to know how you're going to make up for the 7-20k hours of progress people will lose on your official PvE servers in August.

Really appreciated, how you dishonor those players who respected the rates and mechanics. Always complying to the hellish lag and rollbacks, deleting inventories and setting you back days.

Forcing us to redo missions on gen 1 and 2 by randomly deleting that progress while your highscores are still displayed on the ranking boards.

How can you say that is legitimate? Forcing people who played the game that long in an absolute legit way. I do understand it for pvp, but for PvE it's just a really hard punch straight in the nuts.

All of us official players should be getting a ps5 sponsored by you greedy honorless worms.

Love Dinos, hate snails.

Regards, one of your most loyal official players in the name of most hardcore players.

[GP]

Why would anyone be expecting official servers for a game to last forever?

[Pipinghot]

6 hours ago, SlowpokeinAction said:

I'd like to know how you're going to make up for the 7-20k hours of progress people will lose on your official PvE servers in August.

They're not. Maybe it's time to vote with your dollars and spend your money elsewhere.

[Frack]

7 hours ago, GP said:

Why would anyone be expecting official servers for a game to last forever?

maybe because the game is only changing engines , pick will still get thatch , hatchet meat, and raptors still will sneak on ya 

[Pipinghot]

8 hours ago, GP said:

Why would anyone be expecting official servers for a game to last forever?

Forever? No one. But for at least as long at EA does, and that's the very definition of setting the bar low. Only a trash company fails to meet the "EA standards of excellence".

Shutting down the servers immediately when releasing a different version of the game fails to meet the standard set by nearly the entire gaming industry.

[wildbill]

1 hour ago, Pipinghot said:

They're not. Maybe it's time to vote with your dollars and spend your money elsewhere.

Well you could copy the save file and spend your money running a dedicated server for everyone that had been playing on that official server. 😀

 

Hmm, oh wait, not a good investment. Now you are thinking a bit more like WC.

Edited June 8, 2023 by wildbill

[Pipinghot]

1 hour ago, wildbill said:

Well you could copy the save file and spend your money running a dedicated server for everyone that had been playing on that official server. 😀

I understand you were pretty much kidding, but there's another real issue waiting in the weeds here.

The above assumes that the multie-player version of ASE continues working after ASA is released. Even for private servers, we have to authenticate through WildCard+Steam A&A infrastructure, there's no guarantee that will continue to work after they stop official support for ASE.

My group is focusing on finishing our run through for this very reason. We're just about to finish Gen1 and are going to skip straight to Gen2. Then, and only then, we'll come back to Crystal Isles if multi-player is still available.

Edited June 8, 2023 by Pipinghot

[wildbill]

3 minutes ago, Pipinghot said:

I understand you were pretty much kidding, but there's another real issue waiting in the weeds here.

The above assumes that the multie-player version of ASE continues working after ASA is released. Even for private servers, we have to authenticate through WildCard+Steam A&A infrastructure, there's no guarantee that will continue to work after they stop official support for ASE.

Yes, just kidding.

I play other games besides ARK, so not so invested in it as some people in these forums, but I would also like to know just how long ASE is going to be available. I've posted here that I only play ARK with mods, and only a small subset of the thousands available. I don't see myself playing ASA until there is a selection of mods I want to play ARK with. I can't imagine that happening for at least a year after ASA is released. Until then, if I play ARK, it will be on ASE or maybe a very small amount on ASA just to try it out.

One does have to wonder if closing down the official servers is simply done for financial reasons, then what is to stop them from shutting down ASA also? With no new ASA DLCs, is there any profit to keeping it running? They are still selling it at the moment, but will it still sell when there are no official servers? If not, that could be the end of ASA.