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yeah this is my biggest issue with wildcard's "solution" of hosting your own. Look, I've been a guild leader, ran gaming groups, currently manage a home and the wonderful glorified herd of cats in it, and have professional experience in making sure groups of people stay operational. I also know the physical costs of dedicated hosting because sometimes dedicated hosting is a part of that. And let me say the following, with what money and with what free labor do all these people think that everyone on official just HAS LYING AROUND TO START AN UNOFFICIAL CLUSTER? You know what the costs are? costs vary from number of max people, to framework, to how many maps you want to host. If you have only one map and 10 people, you could be looking at under 160$ a year. hooray! great, that's ONE map and only TEN people, that's barely a boss run and only if everyone is on at the time. plus unless you code in some server benefits for donation (extra time and cost for hosting/cobbling together the page and payment systems), you're footing that bill yourself. So now take that basic figure, and multiply it by the number of maps ark currently has, that's 12, plus any popular custom maps you want to throw in. So do basic math and multiply 160 by 12 and... 1920$, that's approximately the cost to host a cluster of 12 maps, each one with a max player count of ten people per map, for only one year. Let me say that again, one-thousand, nine-hundred, and twenty dollars, per year, with you having to administer and debug your own errors, as a "solution" to replicate the official server experience. WELL HECK EVERYONE, WE SOLVED IT, WE SOLVED THE PROBLEM, EVERYONE JUST NEEDS TO DUMP A LITTLE UNDER TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS A YEAR AND A BUNCH OF POSSIBLY UNTRAINED, UNPAID ADMIN WORK INTO PRIVATE HOSTING. (man i wonder why so many unofficial servers close in under a year? Oh wait.) Like this is why people on official are upset. We don't want to run our own servers, if we did, we would already be running them. it's not like where I have a great idea for a map, open up the editor, then close it two hours later because the tool is unintuitive. We know the path to running a server, just we don't either have the time or the money to do so.

Okay, it's gonna be hard for me to believe this isn't a bot.

Sounds like a broke boy problem ngl, it's been almost 2 1/2 years since new gen was released now I get if ya didn't buy em when they first came out due to all the bs (luckily I got 1) but if you've yet to upgrade then that's a you problem. It's not a paywall it's how it works, there's other games where they're made for next gen and not old gen since old gen isn't capable so stop complaining and either you can buy a nextgen or not and just stay on oldgen, I know I'll be buying ASA since it's not just a remaster but basically a whole new game

I know that it may not have been right to ask why they are still so upset. Only when I myself can not understand something, then I ask. It can be that I overlook an important point, which would have brought me understanding for their situation. I was given an answer, but for me these are still only unsuitable reasons to continue to rant. I myself have lost a lot in Ark. I have also been faced with decisions about whether to continue playing. It took me over two years to find my game speed. I have often lost a lot. My heart bled and I cried. For days. But starting over can also be a wonderful thing. You experience things again and notice things you've long forgotten. I myself continue to enjoy Ark and the more perfectly I can tailor the settings to myself, the more I enjoy the game as long as I can. Nothing lasts forever. I wish everyone a nice day Gabi

Buddy its been 2 and a half years, if you haven't got one yet that isn't wildcards problem, you're lucky that devs have been supporting last gen for this long.

Dude, just give up. The entitled ones are only complaining for attention at this point, best to ignore them. Don't feed the trolls and the like. You're not wrong by any stretch but we're 4 weeks in and the complainers aren't losing steam. Had they ever bothered to take any of us seriously, they would have left this forum LONG before now. But they haven't so its a pretty strong tell that they don't mean word they say on the topic of "'Not going to buy ASA or ARK 2" or "Wild Card Bad, Garble Garble Garble!". Don't engadge with them, because they aren't interested in being reasonable.

3 months until official servers close now and you just give us some lame picture of a loot drop? Lmao servers already empty, loads of bases decaying… only few fanboys still left now and won’t be long before you screw them over too

I'm trying to conserve my bases, but my interest in Ark is dying. I'm supposed to pay a lot of money for ASA, only one card is revealed for all players.... We are your idiots who are then supposed to test everything and finally have to wait another year to get all the DLC that I bought!! ! You guys are joking, you treat us worse like a dog I put its food on the closet!!! I will look for another game that is cheaper and the com is important to the developers!!!! I'm frustrated like all the other players who have been loyal to you for years.

So, you killed a game in 4 months and you are still talking about "concepts" of the new version? also still no warning ingame nor in stores about official shutdown! Just put the game code on github and let professional and amateur volunteers fix your game, starting with The Island unfixed bugs like bloom over-exposure, invisible trees and wrong gamma after guardian fights, black screen on ascension cinematic, broken dermis, missing input mapping in some creatures (gamepad vs mouse&keyboard), cryofridge pods bug, base falling before decay times, lack of proper world-save backup system on single player, broken (not working at all) film grain post processing, lack of ally tribe key remapping, achievement not unlocking properly with epic, dedicated epic crossark broken if host is "Windows Server" (yes, "Server" editions of Windows and egs crossplay don't work) , re-adding events code (Switch did it!) etc, fixing writings on signs and billbord for different languages (literally unable to read, and not talking about [][]), proper unicode chat.

This happens all the time every day in life. Plans change, decisions change.

But it would be even cooler if a future map would be populated only by creatures voted by the community .... improbable but dreaming is allowed.

Yep, old gen is dead at this point. Evetually EVERYONE who wants to play the newer games is going to have to get the next gen consoles in order to keep playing. If people have an issue with that, then that's on them not developers. This is getting ridiculous, I get these users are entitled as sin but COME ON! UE5 would be restricted as hell on old consoles, there would almost be no point in upgrading if WC stayed on old gen... But no, they are all just going to kick scream and cry just because "It's too Expensive!!!!" and the concept of savings and sales are just too complex for them to comprehend. Nintendo recently had a deal which priced the Switch at SEVEN USD! Not $70, not $700, not $7000, JUST SEVEN DOLLARS!!! A child could make that in allowance EASY, or god forbid mowing a lawn for money! either way that deal was WAY cheaper than a Series X/S or a PS5, AND a Switch could easily run ASA. But will they take such an oppertunity? Nope, because ASA also costs money and as stated before, Sales and saving money just isn't an option to them.

heres something really clever @dienstbier actually has an opinion not just some abusive 'entitled' rubbish in which you spout in every post now AND its reasonable - I also agree with them, but to try and tell people to 'leave, stop whining' about a topic has adverse effects most of which you have triggered.

aye that was posted from 'bad info' and after looking at twitter b4 sleeping it seemed it wasnt true - and I was too tired to relog back on and edit so fixed it now lol, why the heck didnt they put that description on the OP instead of making the community guess and snipe at each other?

That's right they get money that way too. So why cant they save one server per map? In the videos before Snail games took over and bought them they had over 10 million dollars in revenue. Where did all that go. Does not anyone see how so many other game companies, bloggers etc. are calling them out and telling us it's a complete rip off .... 😞

That is actually a screenshot taken of the asset from within UE5. It is not artwork. This was confirmed by Jesse.

i feel u, i have a few story maps too

People are always making new stuff. If paid mods arent a thing people will still create mods and share them with the community. As soon as money becomes involved though it will all go to poop. The revenue split is really atrocious too. If the goal is to pay creators for their work then Wildcard and snail should pay them not us. ARK doesnt belong to us. It's their IP, and mods add value to that IP. Why should we be the ones to pay for that added value? They are the ones making an issue out of it as well.

Excuse me I am not whining at all thank you very much. Did you read any of my past posts 🙄. Having servers are expensive. Very expensive for a (yearly) (buggy) etc.... (NITRADO) servers. Not worth it. With the inflation and bills I can't afford that anyways. Oh I could easily move to another unofficial server right hmm? Spend all my time and energy all over again right ? then guess what happens the server dies just vanishes (not coming back. Cause that what's happened to me several times. Before I switched to official servers. No I think not. Uh and thats why I was waiting for ark 2. I don't mind buying Ark 2 .Not a rehashed glorified VERSION OF A GAME I ALREADY HAVE for the price of a new game. They can do whatever they want with ASA I don't care. It's funny as well how other game companies,bloggers etc are saying they are ripping us as the ark community off. They have been outed by everyone.Also go take a look at the Microsoft store you can still buy ark. Shouldn't they stop people from buying it yet it still sits there for people to buy why. Hmm ask yourself that. IF YOU LOOKED AT MY OTHER POSTS YOU WOULD SEE WHY IM SO Upset ABOUT THIS. HOW CAN WE EVEN TRUST THEM. WC and Snail games LIED SEVERAL TIMES. Look at the YouTube videos on my other posts. Everyone has to make a living DEAR not just companies. But as a a company while you waste your millions of dollars in games that failed and flopped horribly and lose investors because of lies you told. What else we can we, do lie to the loyal customers. I payed 80 dollars for a game I won't be able to play. I made FREINDS, TAMED DINOS MADE BUILDINGS ETC. Because they want to get rid of all Official servers. So we are not whining we are are concerned what's really going to happen? They haven't reassured anybody of anything. we literally only have a few months left and no word of any or how this going to go down. What happens if we loose everything from a glitch ? The game has so many glitches they never even fixed. Go take a look at my other forums last posts you will see why. Also they said it was going to be free reminder 🙄. SMH

I still can't believe they'll be able to manage development of TWO games at the same time. The one that we have been seeing the concept art only after 2 years of development and the remaster that they're working on + extra DLC in 2024 for it. They did not even bother to explain how they're planning to achieve this. No way they can deliver it in acceptable quality because that's just Indie studio that got overwhelmed by game's popularity. I fully expect the deja vu of ARK: Surival Evolved lunch in Early Access in 2015.

So nothing about the scam that you’re about to release in a few months? Then there’s nothing of substance in this article.

You do not HAVE to buy the game! If your console/PC doesn't support UE5, then keep playing ASE. If you have that you don't have to invest a penny. So far you had fun with it but why should that change? We have played for years with problems in the game and ASA will not be bug-free. Where is the problem to play on an unofficial server, or to open one yourself? (There were already offers to pay for official servers). So I really don't understand your problem right now. (Savegames should then be made available) Maybe you could explain it to me factually, without whining. And when it comes to money. Well WC is a company that wants to earn money and it employs workers who also want to be paid. If so much work goes into redesigning a game, why shouldn't they get paid for it? Who among you would voluntarily go to work for free? And for players like me, who will probably NOT be able to play ASA, there is still ASE and who knows, maybe there will be something more than many think. At least I keep my fingers crossed for it.

Yes agreed I can't afford a new console and why are we paying 60 it should be cheaper. No matter what to your saying is improved WC and SG. They still ignoring us.

Will they do the same advising players in main menu and on stores about official shutdown? XD At lest be honest with all those new people starting playing and not aware of this. Most players totally avoid social platforms, official website forums and steam "news".

You won't see gameplay until a few weeks before the game releases. That's how Wildcard do it.

Just because I have a different opinion than you I am not a bot. I myself feared that we will not hear anything more about Asa in the next few weeks. That's why I'm glad about the picture. And because many see it ONLY as a lootdrop, it is for me a sign that they not only put the graphics on UE5, but really work a lot on Ark again, change models and put a LOT of time and energy into it. While I don't know much about technology myself, I do know how much work it takes to create mods and design models for them, since I want to start designing models myself. But even before I did this, I was aware that it is a lot of work. You don't just put a blob somewhere, you have to work out what it should look like and then convert it into a working 3D object. Ark itself has several hundred animals, several different maps, numerous objects, whether walls, clothing and so on. If they redesign EVERY single part, or even just change it a little bit, in terms of appearance. That's a lot of work. The Lootdrop here was not only a little bit changed, but massively! Gladly you can continue to claim I am a bot or even doubt my sanity. But since I run my own server and very very very much time and work in the Ini put around mods, as well as settings to run so that I have a nice game experience know some that I am not a bot. Also there I was again clarified that such a programming is no walk in the park. Only I have just a different understanding for all the work behind such a game. Of course it could be that I'm wrong and that it's no trouble at all to create new models, change old ones, iron out problems and do everything else with links and that it only costs a little snap of the fingers. Only I prefer to see positive and can also see something great in a "small" picture. That WildCart does not like to give away much information is well known by now. So why shouldn't I be happy about the fact that this time there is even a picture, if I had rather expected nothing because of the last week? And it was seen how so many people reacted when something came out and then it suddenly became different. That's why I can understand it very well if they prefer to keep a low profile for the time being.

You're not wrong, the Xbox One is 10 years old. It's a dinosaur. It's been tamed. Time to kill it.

Almost all of these creatures are amazing! I'd love to see a runner up or dev favorite make it into the game as well as the winner ❤️ Also that loot crate hits different, wow

If you wanna see how ASA would hold up on old gen consoles,,,, well uh you do you I guess. It's not a paywall, it's just that the old gen consoles can barely run ark1. Hell, my PS4 can barely run JWE2, and from what we're seeing, ASA is gonna be adding a massive amount of new content. I understand it's a bummer that old gen people can't play it unless they get a new console. But honestly I doubt the game would be playable on PS4 or Xbox1. Let me know if I'm wrong btw, I'm not very tech-savvy lol.

What was wrong with the look of the current loot drop - not to sure why ASS (I mean ASA) needs to showcase a lootdrop of all things

#SaveOfficialServersPlease 💔💔💔💔

Issue is not paying for remaster (at least it is not the biggest issue), its the way they communicate to their player base, many of which has been here since start. It wouldnt break their neck to apologize and be a little more open about things they do. Only reason for being so shut off as they are, in my opinion, is that they dont know themselfs what they will change.

If Wildcard needs money, I'm genuinely shocked they're not trying to release new expansions for Ark 1.0. That's how they did it in the past, and the vast majority of people I've talked to are disgusted by ASA and not planning on buying it. At least, not for years, and not until all the DLC is released, there are reviews to see how it runs, and we see how well the overwolf/modding situation is handled. And only then on sale, because why would we rebuy what we've already bought for no reason? I mean, if you don't believe me, check the steam forums - there's a huge thread with 90% of users refusing to buy ASA, and most of my friends who play the game are in the same camp. If wildcard's going to release a new DLC eventually, and I mean this in all seriousness, why not add it to Ark 1? Both ASE and ASA? I really think they're going to make a tiny, tiny percentage of the money they could if they support it on ASA only. I'm perfectly willing to buy new content, I mean I've purchased all the expansions so far, but I have negative interest in repurchasing a shiny version of what I already own (which, let's be honest, will be a disaster at launch, won't contain all current content for well over a year, will be missing all the mods I like, and any new paid mods will most likely be a disaster, as paid mods always are.) I'm just really disappointed right now, man.

I mean the majority of players are still mad at you and not planning to touch Ark Ascended but yeah, ignore the backlash. Insert This Is Fine Dog here.

Completely agree here! Such an interesting event this time around, with tons of ideas that could really utilise the new engine for ASA! Really hoping we get multiple winners, perhaps one community and one WC choice! Speaking of ASA, a supply drop reveal was unexpected, but interesting. Really curious to see how old critters like the Bronto, which have been around since 2015, get retouched and TLC'd. ARK 2 saddles looking sick as well!

My friend, someone having an opposing opinion to you doesn't make them 'rude.' I personally find a lot of stuff about ASA kind of concerning and heck, ethically wrong, as far as video games go. You can hate me for having a different opinion than you, but that's okay, I will still like and respect you anyway, because I have ADHD and am incapable of holding a grudge for more than 2 minutes

I have three ps5’s, friends, and dare I say sexy. 🤓 I still think the concept of paying for asa is completely asinine. I mean jeez I have to pay x more to have some bro run my gen 2 missions again In my most humble opinion I think Asa will be delayed until 2040 anyway.

ooh, one whole image of one asset. oh yes, this perfectly justifies shutting down servers with years of work and memorials to dead players. Oh yes, so sorry for my "tone", I have zero sympathy for a company receiving the criticism they should be getting, for the mistakes they continuously refuse to own up to or correct.

That Carno Armor Concept is making me reconsider my possition on weather or not to buy ARK 2, the concept of it being a two seater this time around also hypes it up a bit. Now if only ASA would have a similar craft system too. As for the Redesign of the loot drop, I love it. looks FAR more alien and high-tech than before. Kinda reminds me of something you'd see in the Halo series. And turning the revolving plates into a stand for the crate is a pretty genious touch. Over all, great design. Hope to see what it looks like in other teirs in the near future.

One can only hope that they slowly realize what they have done. all servers i know are empty.

This is a very simple decision for me as an Official PVE player. Its not the cost. If I cant take my tames, Character, gear and equipment, I delete the game off my pc in August.

and that´s why we put the beetle on the bottom of the ranking

Who cares about new dinos... Save Official.

I think they want to recreate the early days of releasing things often to create hype - problem is there's far less hype if uv already played the map before. I'm starting to think more and more I just can't be bothered to go through it all again. I would with all new maps perhaps...but the same again, bit tedious. The magic is lost. Also starting to feel more solidarity with my old official friends tbh and may just boycott for the horrible way they have been treated. Not feeling very benevolent towards WC these days unfortunately.

Made an account just to post a few thoughts. Nobody asked for a UE5 upgrade to ASE. That was a nice bonus when it was announced in Jan as a free upgrade. Now hearing that we have to pay for it, along with the official server network wipe is a bitter pill to swallow. What we absolutely don't want is a rushed, poorly implemented and unoptimized game, especially if we have to pay to continue playing on official servers and even more so if years of breeding have to be restarted from scratch. You talk about creating a game which can be played for years to come. Who is going to play it? You've stated that it's not backwards compatible, which means no assets can be ported from ASE to ASA, leaving what? The boosted and fibrecraft pvp servers which wipe regularly. Everyone else will continue playing on ASE or quit. My advice: Ditch ASA. End development of ASA, it was a nice bonus when it was free. It's a drain on resources and likely to be a financial loss. Redeploy the ASA team to Ark 2 so that you have a chance of releasing it vaguely close the latest delayed release "date" but more importantly ALPHA TEST, DEBUG AND OPTIMIZE IT BEFORE BETA TESTING. Monetization is clearly an issue, so introduce microtransactions? Custom skins etc? Snail/Wildcard have failed to adapt to changing financial models in the gaming industry. You are providing a games-as-service model but your financial model remains paid-DLC. Obviously this creates huge problems with cash-flow, especially when the development of the next title is delayed. You cannot solve this by trying to squeeze money out of the community by re-selling them products that they have already bought, it will not work. Look at the backlash that's been generated, look at the effect on Snail games' share price. Continue down this road and it will be the financial ruin of Wildcard.

Completely agree! I am one of the new players and you can imagine how it was for me when I bought all the add-ons (at the end of March) and found out that the servers were closing ... And I note that I did not buy one, because I play with friends, they too bought all the add-ons and here is such gratitude for the purchase ... I built so much, spent so much REAL time, many maps have not yet been studied, and here - "we are closing our servers, and you buy a new game" ... Yes, I just recently I bought this one, I haven’t had time to play it normally with my friends yet, why do I need another new one??! The offer with servers is simple and ingenious - indeed, in this way it will be possible to avoid negativity among those who play this version of the game and at the same time free up servers for the new version. A very simple solution, but apparently money and the desire to sell a copy of the game (there will be little new there) is more important than the community of players who make the company's income.

We have been playing with my son for 5 years and also with friends. Now, when the son learned that all animals will die in time, he was upset to tears. Since he raised these animals and looked after them. It was HIS achievement and his pride. You think that you are hurting everyone. Leave a couple of servers and notify us to leave the animals.

The difference is that most companies OFFER a remastered version, not force it down your throat by shutting off servers so you don’t have a choice. Yes companies stop supporting their servers eventually but it is typically years after they have already released the new and remastered games. This turned purely into a money grab. They realize they are changing Ark II so much that their current community will not be completely happy (they stated We also recognize that ARK 2 has some pretty significant design changes from the original game, which may not make it as appealing to everyone (looking at you, Souls-like combat, primitive-only weaponry, and strict third-person mechanics – and an overall “very serious” tone), which is why we feel it is essential to provide players with a fully next-gen version of the original experience to ensure that fans can continue to enjoy the ARK they know for years to come. ) The delay of Ark II is going to cost them money as well. So they thought two birds one stone. Release a remastered version for current fans because a portion of the community is not going to like/support Ark II and charge for the remastered to keep money flowing in the meantime. Actually not a bad move on their part, until they decided that people will not have the option to upgrade. It’s either give us more money to continue to play (and still lose all of your stuff) or stop playing/play solo/pay us monthly to play. I honestly think the community would have better received all of this if: 1. ASA was offered as multiple different bundles - one with dlc and one with Ark II. So people can choose what fits best with their interests. 2. ASA was announced, but keeping ASE servers up so people can make the choice to upgrade or not (at least for a period of time). 3. ASA upgrade price gets modified to lower amount appropriate for only updating current content. Lots of people talking about willing to pay $30 to $40 for update and all dlcs. This way the players wouldn’t have felt so forced. There would be time for transition. WC can still make money to carry over for Ark II. Players would stop feeling like they are paying a brand new game price for a game they already own, rather it would be seen as an upgrade fee. I can’t think of a single time I’ve seen a game that has told their current players “hey, in 4 months we are shutting the servers you are currently on, off. You will only be able to play on official on a new game that comes out the same month, that you haven’t seen yet”. Companies are always announcing non-support or server shutdowns but it is years after launching their new title and giving players ample time to transition.

90% of the negative comments here are from players, the other 10% positive comments are from wildcard/snail games employees…. jokes aside to close the game off years before the sequel is even finished is insane, even call of duty allows its predecessor games to run for a while. The short sharp chop of Ark1 its to excessive, many of us are quite attached to our bases our Dino’s AND our community, something you don’t quite get in single player….. You can say oh but you will get that back in Ark 1.5, no you get a lot of burned out people wondering why should they even bother mutating Dino’s again, while we get distracted to the real reasons behind all this , ARK 2 delayed…. End off, lack of funds to creat Ark 2 so let’s strip our golden game (Ark 1) call it Ark 1.5 and make them all do that again while we charge them all for it, it’s ok they will jump through hoops for us because that’s what the player base does right?? Oh and then they have something to do while we deal with 2-3 years of delay after delay after delay…. Of course Ark 1 would end one day but don’t do it this crappy cash cow way. You lose the respect of your players!!!