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PS4 - Single Player - Ragnorok This weekend I binged big time on ARK (over 30 hours), I transferred over to the Rag map. For the last few weeks prior I had been exclusively on Scorched, but I wanted a change, and I wanted to try and get an Ice Wyvern egg. My original base on this map is in Viking Bay, built next to the huge skeleton. As some already know, expansion at this location is tough due to many "unable to place" locations in that area. Plus I wanted a more central to the map location for home base. So after a bit of scouting, I decided that the two flat buttes near the large bridge was the place for me. After carrying over a Doed and Anklo for resources, I quickly installed a couple Behemoth gates, that allowed me to create a natural pen area between the buttes. I then built a ramp that allows me to get up to the top of the larger of the buttes from the pen. After building the ramp, I realized I need a better wood gathering method, so I took my Quetzal and found and tamed a 135 Mammoth. Got a bit scary while it was down, as a large pack of wolves got very close, but the Quetz and it's knockback, managed to kill them before they could get the Mammoth. Then I notice that a 150 Stego is walking near my new pen, and I kite it inside, and now I have a new berry picker. However while the Stego was out, I took my Ptera around for a looksie, and I notice a 150 and 145 pair of Argies, mixing it up with some other dinos. So as soon as I start tranqing them, a whole flock of other Argies show up, and I soon lost track of who was whom. Turns out I knocked out the wrong birds. So I kept the 100 level, and killed the 45. Then used the 100 to kill everything but the two Argies I wanted to begin with. Sadly the 150 Argy was so hurt from fighting the other dinos, that my newly beacon found ASC crossbow killed him by accident. But I did get the 145 back to my new Butte base. I started grinding out a small rock started building, when I hear the stomping of a large dino. Turns out is was a mate boosted pair of Rexs. both low level, and after kiting them to a safe cliff, I tranq'd them up and tamed to use as guard dogs until I can get my new base secure. Next I flew back to the Viking Bay base to swap my Argy for my best Ptera, and took off to the murder snow in the hope of finding some Ice Wyvern eggs. Well, an hour later, I was near the Rag Wyvern trench, and still hadn't seen a Ice Wyver, so I decided to try for a regular Wyvern. Into the scar I flew, and amazingly I spot 3 eggs right off the back. All Poison however (my least favorite dragon). Regardless, I managed to get in and out safely three times, and came away with a 180, 155 and 50 Poison eggs. Amazingly, the toughest one was the 50, as it's mama was pissed to say the least, and she messed up my Ptera, but we made it out of there alive. While resting and recovering near the stream and foot bridge by the Wyvern scar, I decided that I should create a additional base not far from the scar, so I can farm Wyvern Milk and eggs. I decided on building a base at the bottom of one of the rock claws that sticks high out of the ground. So I made some trips to bring the Anky and Doed to this location and started grinding out a base. Tamed a bronto that was always in my way, and used him as a mule while gathering wood, thatch and berries. Then as I was returning to the new base, I see a trio of Allos. As per usual, 2 of the 3 are stuck inside each other. So I return to base, grab the Quetz, and tame up all three. (two 95, and a 80) Then things got kind of weird, and for some reason I spent like the next 12 hours doing nothing but taming every Allo over 100 I could find. I've always liked them, but apparently Allos are my Meth, because I couldn't stop after just the initial 3. Finally after amassing 9 more allos (100, 100, 135, 135, 135, 135, 145, 145, 145) I realized that Allos aren't going to build the base for me. Back to grinding, and thanks to lots of nearby stone, I built up a nice place pretty quickly. I then ventured back into the Wyvern scar, and found no more eggs. So I flew out of the area, and spent a couple hours working on my Butte base. Got a little farm going, and after finding a couple Dung Beetles, got some Species X to protect the base until I can enclose it. Then I made my way back to the Wyvern base, but once again heading thru the Murder snow route, hoping to find a Ice egg. After another 30 minutes of nothing, I got frustrated and googled Ice Wyvern nest locations. Found a list on steam forum, and took off with my GPS. First spot I try, I find a 50 egg, and the Ice Wyvern is nowhere to be seen. So that was easy! Coninue to the next spot, and kept coming up with zilch until I am looking for the final nest. Flying in circle, I cannot find the nest or a place that looks like it would hold a nest. Then the next thing I know, I see a damage pop up on my Ptera, and we are stuck in the air. Seems that the local Ice Wyvern found me first. So I start dodging and weaving low and thru the trees, hoping to lose the Wyvern. Finally I look back, and I notice that the Wyvern is now engaged with some other dinos. Watching for a second, I scope the Wyvern .... a 180 level! Well now I know I have to find the egg. So I cautiously fly back to the area, and this time coming from a different angle I easily see the Wyvern nest. Swoop down, grab the egg, and beat a hasty retreat out of the there! Once again, it appears the Wyvern never noticed, as I never saw it chasing me. Whew! I stop by the Wyvern base, and create a Preserving bin for the eggs. (plus the poison eggs that were still sitting in the Bronto). Feeling that luck was on my side, and perhap even being greedy, I head out to the scar, and once again nothing, no new eggs or nests. So being the Single Player that I am, I do a DestroyWildDinos command and start farming metal as I wait for new spawns. A few hours and 2 Lives later, I have acquired a 188 Fire, a 155 Fire and a 160 Lightening egg, along with some low levels eggs that I kept, but will probably never hatch. Of course having a 1/2 dozen of 150+ Wyvern eggs is great, but without milk it is kind of pointless. BUt for some reason, I just could not get myself in the mood to grind out and build a Wyvern trap. So the eggs continued to sit in the preserving bin, while I flew around the map. I took some time to explore the new desert area, and even after searching the entire thing, found zero Gigas or death worms. (Do the death worms spawn on Ragnorok?) I did fly into the biome near the volcano area, and spotted a level 20 Meglania. Having never tamed one, I figured, why not start out with a low level first. Amazing after just a few shots, it goes down. I throw some prime meat in it, and start gathering some nearby wood to fly back with in the Argy. Well that was a mistake, because I swear about 30 seconds after knocking that lizard out, it wakes up, gives me ARK Aids, and my Argy kills it just as am about to die. So yeah, that sucked. finally after doing some Googling, I decide that I really don't need a Meglania that bad. Also I noticed while in the Volcano area, that Rock Golems were there too. I never noticed them in that Biome before. Is that new, or was I just ignorant before? Finally after a very long hour weekend and both Monday and Tuesday nights after work, I have two new 1/2 finished bases, and about 14 Wyvern eggs. Oh yeah, I did admin spawn in some Abberration Bulbpugs, neon goats and Glowbirds. I like having them for the night lighting around the bases. I was going to go transfer the ones I tamed when I played abberration, but remembering that I never saw a Obelisk on Abb, I realized it would be a waste of time; plus I really hated playing Abberration map. So thank you Single Player for that work around! Oh yeah, I also had a really weird thing happen. While flying over the Snow mountain near Viking Bay, I see a Quetz spawn in. Since mine was only a 70+ level after taming, I am always looking for a better one. Well this one is a Level 130 female! So I fly to my Viking Bay base (I have 4 tamed 140-150 level rexs there) and cook up some Kibble. Then I go and grab my existing Quetz and her platform saddle and off we go Quetz hunting. 15 minutes later, she drops in a perfectly safe area at the base of cliff. OF course while starving her, I get attacked by a pack of Pegos, that I manage to kill and with their hides and some nearby trees, I surround the Quetz with Spikes. After what seemed like forever, I am leading the two Quetz back to the base, and as I fly over the exact same spot that I had first spotted my newly tamed 130 female, another Quetz spawns in. I glass it over, and it is a 130 male!! What the heck? So of course, I had to get the male, so I could have a boosted pair. Well the male did not make it easy, and he nearly got me killed as he flew dangerously close to the Wyvern Scar that already had a 155 Poison dragon circling nearby. In fact at one point I thought the Wyvern had locked onto us, but thankfully it attacked a Ptera flying near me, just as I got the Quetz to turn back towards my base. After nearly 20 minutes, the Quetzal fives down into the woods near a cliff not far from the snow biome. I dive down too, and briefly lose sight when my Quetz gets hung up in a tree. Upon clearing the tree obstacle, I realize that my target has disappeared! I then spent the next 10 -15 minutes looking all over the area for this 130 male. Finally, I give up, and as I fly back towards my base, I fly directly over the spot where I lost sight of the Quetzal. That's when I notice it is glitched into the side of the mountain, not 10 feet from where I lost sight of it. There is no way I missed it before, so I can only assume that it was completely in the mountain earlier, and then came back out when I passed back over? Regardless, I lower my Quetzal onto the top of the male, and with him trapped, I finally knock him out. A while later, I now have a pair of 194 post tame Quetzals! The male didn't have good weight stats, but great HP and good melee, and the female had fantastic weight stats, and good stamina. So when I get time to build a pen to breed them, I will work towards some nice Quetz babies. Did you read this whole manifesto to the end? If you did, then here is a treat for you. My favorite ice cream is Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia, with Half Baked a close 2nd. My favorite beverage is BAI Coconut and Lime, and I was given the nickname Random Guy in college after singing Prince's When Doves Cry in falsetto in the on campus bistro. Why did I do that? No reason, but it embarrassed my best friend tremendously, which of course made me laugh. So there you go folks, come for the ARK story, and leave with some totally useless personal trivia. Carry on...............

It's not "highly speculative theorizing", we have scientific proof of feathered dinosaurs, especially in the raptor lineages. Heck, at one point some sceintists thought raptors to be secondarily flightless birds, though they were in minority. We have a fossil record of feathered dinosaurs, and even a feathered dinosaur tail in amber. We have such detailed feather fossils, that we actually know what color Microraptors, and a few other dinos, were.