Community Crunch 356: ARK Roadmap Update, Rhyniognatha Concept, and More!

[StudioWildcard]

 

We appreciate your patience as we digested the feedback and consulted with our partners to revise our upcoming plans. As always, we’re very grateful to have such a passionate player base, and we hear and understand your concerns. We've decided to make some changes and provide additional information as to why we’re taking this approach, so please bear with us as we address some points. 

 

Price Point and Bundle
 

First things first, we are scrapping the ARK Respawned Bundle. Our intention behind this was to provide a package where you essentially got two products for the price of one. In hindsight, not the best move. Our bad; we recognize how combining ARK Survival Ascended with ARK 2 and requiring further DLC upgrades wasn’t optimal, especially since you wouldn’t be able to judge ARK 2 as no gameplay or content would be available yet.

Here are our new plans:

ARK: Survival Ascended will now be a standalone package released on every platform (PC Windows/Steam, Xbox Series S/X, and PlayStation 5) at $59.99. The package will include the following pieces of content built-in (not sold separately), with each remastered and altered for the next-generation:
 

• The Island (Released at Launch)
• Survival of the Fittest: The Island & Scorched Earth map variants (Released at Launch)
• Scorched Earth (Released at Launch)
• Aberration (Released by Q4 2023)
• Extinction (Released by Q1 2024)
• Genesis Part 1 (Released by Q1 2024)
• Genesis Part 2 (Released by Q2 2024)
• All the community-created maps are also to be released over time in 2024 (Fjordur, Ragnarok, The Center, Lost Island, Valguero, Crystal Isles)

 

No longer a backward-compatible free update?
 

Initially, when we had first considered doing an Unreal 5 upgrade, we planned just to port the Switch version of the game and undo the ‘graphical’ limitations required for that hardware. We weren’t going to maximize the potential of the new technology, we weren’t going to introduce new gameplay changes, and we weren’t going to make critical design changes that would have had an impact on existing save data. 
 

After carefully considering what would be the best outcome for those who enjoy ARK: Survival Evolved and would want to continue to enjoy it in the years to come, we decided that our initial plan would not be sufficient. We want to provide you with an evergreen classic ARK experience, one that can continue to grow over time on a cleaned-up code base, making use of the new technological advancements not only in the industry but also in what we are working on with ARK 2.
 

We weren’t trying to mislead you with earlier comments; our plans and overall intentions changed. So you're probably asking, why don’t we make these upgrades to the original ARK: Survival Evolved (ASE)? Frankly, it would not be viable. Many of the changes we’re making in ARK: Survival Ascended will touch a lot of aspects of the game; it’ll invalidate save data, some mods may not be functional, some things may not play the same way as they did before, and we didn’t want to change that experience for those who prefer it or are unable to upgrade.
 

This also impacted our decision to sunset the ASE Official Network offline on August 31st, shortly before the ASA launch. Despite ASE Officials representing the minority of players on ARK, it’s an invested and passionate group with attachments to their bases, tames, and characters, and seeing that go away can’t be easy. While we know it’s not the same, we hope making the saves available for unofficial use helps diminish the loss. Our reasoning behind the decision is that those servers are essentially based on old technology and require significant development resources and time for our teams to operate & maintain. In some cases, the issues aren’t as easily solvable without an overall upgrade. Additionally, we know that those resources could be better utilized on fundamentally new technology to further enhance the overall game experience for all players.
 

ASE will still be available to play for those who choose to; that includes multiplayer through unofficial/player-hosted sessions, the endless amount of mods on the Steam workshop, and all the game content as you currently know it. All of that is going to remain, but after 8 years of development, we have to make the difficult decision of sunsetting ASE and the Official Network in order to provide that truly long-term and evergreen version of the game through ARK: Survival Ascended.

We’ll be sending off ASE with one final content update for our 8th anniversary this June, releasing the fan-elected creature: Rhyniognatha! (Keep an eye out next week for its Dossier)

 

 

We plan to support ARK: Survival Ascended with new features (including at launch), content drops, creatures, items, structures, and DLC. Our roadmap covered some of those planned changes, and we said there would be more, and here’s another preview:
 

• Dynamic navigation mesh and creature pathfinding overhaul (AI pathfinding)
• Photo Mode
• Nvidia DLSS
• Dino/Baby Management QOL
• Wild Babies
• Snap point improvements (new snaps, logic improvements)
• Character creation & customization improvements
• Cross-platform Multiplayer & Full Blueprint Modding (I know we mentioned this before, but we’re serious, it’s happening on PC and Consoles at launch, and we’ve got it working internally with Overwolf technology – this dramatically changes the nature of the console experience).

 

And this list is not exhaustive. We’re hoping to get even more done, and the only reason we aren’t covering all of those details right now is that we’re still working on them. It’s taking a significant amount of resources and time at the studio, and we don’t want to commit to other particular features unless we’re sure we can get them in for launch. And yeah, we may miss our deadline on certain aspects, but they’ll come in over time as we continue to support this next generation of ARK.
 

At the end of the day, these are just words and, frankly, may not mean so much. That’s okay; we understand what will really convince you is seeing screenshots and a gameplay trailer, and you will in time. We know there are going to be more questions, and we’ll be sharing more details over time. We’re not quite ready to pull back the curtains just yet, so we hope you’ll hang in there with us, Survivors. It’ll be worth the wait!
 

Studio Wildcard
 

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Let’s kick off the first piece of major new content for ARK: Survival Ascended - a fan-voted real-world creature that will launch on Day 1. 
 

Please note that this creature will be released for Scorched Earth, so make sure your real-world submissions are in theme with that map! We’ll also be adding an additional real-world creature for each subsequent canonical expansion pack map release on ARK: Survival Ascended.
 

Check out the Creature Submission Guidelines for more information on the submission process and hop over to the Creature Submission Forum to see the current entries. The entry period will end at 1PM Pacific on April 21st, so don't wait - get your ideas in.  We are looking forward to seeing your ideas come to life!

 

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Survivors on all platforms will be receiving a special Easter EVO Event! During this event, 25% of wild creature spawns will be replaced with the colors from the event list.  It will be active until Monday, the 24th of April.  All Official Servers across each platform will be undergoing this evolutionary change which includes:
 

• 4/07 - 4/24

 

*Note that these bonuses are multiplicative of the game's standard 1x rates.

• Official Servers: 3x XP, Harvesting, Taming, and Breeding (imprint, maturation, hatch/gestation), 0.5x Mating Interval, 1.5x Hexagon Bonus
• Small Tribe Servers: 4.5x XP, 4.5x Harvesting, 4.5x Taming, and 4x Breeding (imprint, maturation, hatch/gestation), 0.5x Mating Interval, 1.5x Hexagon Bonus
• ARKPocalypse: 5x XP, 5x Harvesting, 5x Taming, and 5x Breeding (imprint, maturation, hatch/gestation), 0.5x Mating Interval, 1.5x Hexagon Bonus
• Classic: 6x XP, 6x Harvesting, 6x Taming, and 5x Breeding (imprint, maturation, hatch/gestation), 0.5x Mating Interval
   

25% of creatures will currently get the pax colorset below:

• Red
• Blue
• Green
• Yellow
• Cyan
• Magenta
• Light Green
• Light Orange
• Light Yellow
• Light Red
• Black
• Dark Red
• Dino Light Red
• Dino Dark Red
• Dino Light Blue
• Dino Dark Blue
• Dino Light Purple
• Dino Dark Purple
• DragonGreen3
• WyvernPurple0
• WyvernPurple1
• WyvernBlue0
• WyvernBlue1
• Dino Medium Blue
• Dino Deep Blue
• NearWhite
• DarkTurquoise
• MediumTurquoise
• Turquoise
• LightCement
• LightPink
• DeepPink
• DarkViolet
• DarkMagenta
• MediumAutumn
• Vermillion
• Coral
• Orange
• Peach
• ActualBlack
• MidnightBlue
• LemonLime
• Mint
• DarkLavender
• MediumLavender
• Lavender
• DarkTeal
• MediumTeal
• Teal
• PowderBlue
• Glacial
• Custard
• Cream

 

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Conquest servers are being re-introduced for a new season by Snail Games.  To kick things off, our current Classic PvP season will end, and servers will be wiped shortly before the new Conquest begins on April 25th.  Classic PvP servers will wipe on April 25th, 5pm Pacific Time.

Check out our prior Community Crunch for the full details!

 

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Fan Art Gallery | Screenshot Gallery | Artist Feedback Form

 

 

Creator: NaturalCauzes

Primal Fear is an Ark mod filled with terrifying creatures, majestic unicorns, and exploding dodos. NaturalCauzes has 100 days to beat Pikkons Revenge!
 

 

Creator: pterafier

Pterafier shows you the different ways to tame the creatures you see around you. In this helpful and captivating guide, he will help you to understand advanced crafting using mortar and pestle, tranq arrows, narcotics, saddles, passive taming, and more.
 

 

 

The concept of a fiery place by @VELUKO1
 

Untitled by @MayaPatch89
 

Megalo in the night by Sai
 

Space Mosas by N4STYR4BBiT
 

Pteranodon handmade art doll by sayvaris
 

Reaper Riders by Azany
 

New tricks by terrortantrum
 

 

 

The Island cave exploration by @maMe_buDo
 

"You won't take this new world, but I will grant you rest, Edmund" by @BlockBeam101
 

Me and Cubed Ice flying over Valguero by u/MelonLord97
 

Inspired by Hogwarts by @ARKitects_Ark
 

 

Have an Eggcellent Easter!

Studio Wildcard

Twitter: twitter.com/survivetheark
Discord: discord.com/invite/playark
Reddit: reddit.com/r/playark
Instagram: instagram.com/survivetheark
Twitch: twitch.tv/survivetheark
Steam: steamcommunity.com/app/346110
Youtube: youtube.com/survivetheark
Facebook: facebook.com/survivetheark
Official Wiki: ark.wiki.gg

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[darkradeon]

Lmao, you don't get it: price is the last and minor issue. Getting paid for work is legit thing (if price is legit too!). The main issues are others.

 

Official shutdown

Total official shutdown is like forcing users to buy the game, despite ASE still selling good and getting new players activation daily.
This also kills owners of old gen consoles that cannot even download and keep the server saves.
You NEVER cared about server status: never a server review after 2019 with the partial shutdown of legacy. You opened always new servers even for unplayed maps. And now you are telling those resources are all needed for a game that still doesn't exists even on preorder and that will face 1-2 maps only at begin? This is a mockery.

FIX: Keep Official alive until it is played. Do a server review, do it seriously, say what server have to close for being un-played, allowing people to move giving a decent amount of time. Do this review every 6-9-12 months until really those servers are all unpopulated and you decide to shutdown ASE. And please note that a lot of official players quitted now for your previous disastrous community crunch.

 

Overwolf

Overwolf is a piece of crapware slowing down system, eating resources. Paid mods will kill unofficial with players having to pay both slots and mods. Instead, mod.io initial choice was far better choice.

FIX: Toss off overwolf and go back to mod.io.

 

Multiplatform

Multiplatform is just a sex toy for monkey streamers to get more viewers: it will only add tons of issues about cheating, account login issues, patch deployment issues (pc vs consoles certification process). This also put a dark shadows against unofficial and dedicated server runtimes: microsoft and sony don't like non-nda users dealing with their account and login platforms. You tried it with SOTF and didn't work (pad vs mouse&keyboard).

FIX: Toss off multiplatform. It didn’t work with SOTF (mouse vs keyboard) and brings only deployment issues. Nobody really cares nor asked about this. Or if you really wanna do it, don't put it as default choice and on official servers.

 

Your behaviour toward community

You totally lack of any real sign of respect towards your community: lies, mocking, total silence hoping people will forget
Now you say you changed again idea about your future econmical income? All these are proofs you aren't serious on your work and intentions.
You are even able to sincerely ask sorry for those that will lose years of supporting your game. All this "we al learning" agile poop paradigm is just the iceberg peak of your total fail on this.
ARK Survival Evolved is sold as an mmo, at least on Steam. In a mmo there are 2 really important aspect a developer must consider: servers review and community respect. For 7 years you clearly totally showed you do not care about these 2 things.

FIX: Ask sorry. Really and sincerely. And stop using players as beta tester. Provide beta releases and servers for that.

 

Edited April 13, 2023 by darkradeon

[darkradeon]

You added another negative point:

NVIDIA DLSS.

I will explain for those not understanding this point: DLSS is NVIDIA proprietary and only NVIDIA hardware compatible upscaler. You think you are OK because you got an RTX graphics card? Beware that depending on the version they choose it may not work well or not work at all.

There is instead the AMD solution, called FRS that in the current last version FSR 2.2 is in pair with DLSS quality and performance and it works on all GPUs despite the hardware capabilities. There is also a FSR3 version in the work but tat's another matter. DLSS also doesn't work on consoles (AMD hardware).

FIX: Ditch DLSS or provide also an alternative to DLSS for those not able to run it (FSR 2.2/3 ?)

 

BONUS
Get a better publisher. Nasdaq is talking clearly. Why bonus? ARK assets will interest surely more publishers. Getting one worse than snail is hard, if you get a good one (Valve?) you and we will earn a lot.

 

BONUS 2

Release the source code of ASE on github. Consider this an act of love for your game and for your community. Let professional and amateur fix the game. People will learn a lot from you and you may get also code snippets solutions for actual ASA and ARK2 development. For non-developer/programmers: this doesn’t mean ASE should become open source/GNU gpl or else, in fact Unreal Engine already have a similar model.

Edited April 8, 2023 by darkradeon

[RealNomad]

Il make this very simple. If ASA goes through overwolf, I will not be buying it. 

 

 

Also I hope you are going to support FidelityFX as well. Im sure you are no doubt aware the stupid games Nvidia is playing with their product pricing and lack of VRAM.  Many people are being pushed to AMD and Intel.

Edited April 8, 2023 by RealNomad

[Vesdied]

I'm glad WC saw that packaging ARK2 and the new ue5 into the same thing was a mistake, still a bit upset that it isn't free, but I guess you could say it's another DLC, with the new dinos coming. Kinda hope they come to ARK1, as I can't afford that new version right now. The rhyniognatha looks absolutely amazing though, can't wait for the dossier.

[Freiya]

This is still very frustrating that your still closing down Official ASE servers. Why close all??? Why not let us pay you monthly to keep certain servers up somehow for those of us who want to keep enjoying official with the community we already have. With the bases we have, characters, bases, dinosaurs.

[Birdskull]

Didn't think they could deliver a bigger slap in the face but they sure as hell did. Wow. I had a lot of respect for this company. 

Edited April 8, 2023 by Birdskull

[Birdskull]

7 minutes ago, darkradeon said:

lmao you don't get it, price is the last and minor issue.

No no, they definitely understood the frustration. This is them doubling down. People thought the price was because of the inclusion of ARK2. That's not the case and they are making that very apparent. 
They've removed the inclusion of ARK 2 and increased the price anyways. It's a big middle finger they're trying to pass off as a favor to us. 

[DosisX2]

Sounds good, but please say that there is something like turrets and PvP in Ark 2 too. Please dont change Ark 2 too much, the game is good at it is and I love PvP, dont destroy it. ❤️

[IFF]

"we notice you don't like paying for things that will come out in 2025 so decided that you will still pay the same price but without the Ark 2"

Big brain move Wildcard

[rainbowBRITE90]

Screw Snail Games.

Edited April 8, 2023 by rainbowBRITE90

[Kizmiaz]

the price still might be an issue to some but at least you don't pay for a pig on a poke.
 

but:

Do you really think that the small improvements that might come with ASA justify to ditch up to 8 years of playing in exchange for a start from scratch and even pay for it ?

there still is quite some ppl out there who play on your mostly neglected official servers and you basically kick them in the teeth.

what really needs an overhaul isn't ARK:SE but the overall WIldcard attitude towards the player base and the support it gave you over the years despite your attitude

Edited April 8, 2023 by Kizmiaz

[alanichimaru]

you guys don't get it at all. if you wanna listen to your player base then listen to this 

 

https://petitions.eko.org/petitions/save-ark-official-servers?source=rawlink&utm_source=rawlink&share=48ba756b-054a-4d72-b7d6-c2233f9aab4e&fbclid=IwAR3ysnu-xXsQxsIPuvwT0ALvYobX6K0Gw9nzMbSFVLk66A60TiYGco8UlFc

 

over 5k of your players want to save the official servers. the other issue also isn't the price, its the fact that one of your CEOs said one thing and ya'll are now backpedaling on it. without even addressing what was said. 

 

also address the sunsetting, what do ya'll mean by sunsetting? are our dinos and bases going to remain in single player and unoffical? is our chars just gonna transfer over. what about tribes? will only the owner of the tribe get the save and bases and dinos? address these please before moving forward with the sunsetting.

[crazyhobo]

rofl so now you will pay instead of 50 they will now charge you 60 and 70 for ark 2 XD they doubled down on the cash grab

[Theismarius]

If all submissions are real world creature I hope that the new DLC at least adds a new sci-fy/alien/fantasy creature.

[Joebl0w13]

My only question: can console players opt-out of cross platform playing with PC cheaters?

Edited April 8, 2023 by Joebl0w13

[Frathoc]

Twas a booboo.

Survivors on all platforms will be receiving a special Easter EVO Event! During this event, 25% of wild creature spawns will be replaced with the colors from the event list.  It will be active until Monday, the 3rd of April.  All Official Servers across each platform will be undergoing this evolutionary change which includes:

[RealNomad]

7 minutes ago, IFF said:

"we notice you don't like paying for things that will come out in 2025 so decided that you will still pay the same price but without the Ark 2"

Big brain move Wildcard

Galaxy brain indeed. Now they get 60 for ASA and then later another 70 for Ark 2.. I can not believe the level of arrogance I am seeing here.  It almost feels punitive in a way. 

Edited April 8, 2023 by RealNomad

[Morikar]

Quote

 

Very incredible to see Wildcard. You've been listening to the community a lot more than usual these past 2 years. Very proud of all of you. I greatly look forward to what is to come in Ark Ascended. Take all the time you need. If ASA must be delayed I know it would be for the greater good. I know you guys have it in you. I couldn't be happier to hear that the servers are going to die. The game has been screaming kill me for years now. It needs to lay to rest.

Edited April 8, 2023 by Morikar
Forgot additional information.

[GaiusMarcellusNerva]

The greater transparency is appreciated but you're deliberately missing the point: the amount you're asking for ASA is not the issue, the fact that there is a price at all, is. Players that own ASE should get ASA for free. We have already paid for the game once, just because you've decided to rename the much necessary update does not give you the right to charge for it again.

[PaleoGamer]

Still no migration plan? I have "only" about 1200 hours invested on SE - but there are people with tens of thousands of hours, and a good part of them breeding!

 

Why not a "one way, single time" migration? Even if the bases were left behind (snap points been upgraded and all), the tames (and gear) surely could be imported. A one time, one way, format filter for tames/gear shouldn't be that hard.

[ladyteruki]

It's a start. Say more things like that, more often.

[Cyberra]

ASA is still paywalled behind a new console. A console I, and many others, cannot afford. We are being locked out of the upgrades by that. How is that fair?

 

Since you're ending the game anyway, how about making the Gen2 missions optional like on Gen1 so we can run the boss when and how we want instead of being forced to grind through the missions while having our progress reset by bugs you never fixed.

 

Will we get to keep our characters, too? I've put a lot of work into my official character.

[Luizza]

Blah de blah, blah - DINO BABIES - blah de blah., blah.

I'm sure I'll digest and have a good whinge about the rest over the next few days, but WILD DINO BABIES.

Edited April 8, 2023 by Luizza

[Allanballan]

11 minutes ago, Birdskull said:

No no, they definitely got it. This is them doubling down. People thought the price was because of the inclusion of ARK2. That's not the case and they are making that very apparent. 
They've removed the inclusion of ARK 2 and increased the price anyways. It's a big middle finger they're trying to pass off as a favor to us. 

How is your math man. This deal is better overall as all the DLCs is included for the price. No remaster has ever been free. All other companies charge so why should Studio Wildcard not? I could not care less about the price tbh because I love this game and would pay 500$ if they had asked.