Woody714

While I have seen gameplay online, I waited until I could complete The Island before actually playing on Scorched Earth. I have tried other DLC maps like Lost Island and Fjordur, but this is my first run on Scorched. So...the environmentals...is it all just arbitrary or is there rhyme and reason? I thought there was logic involved...different storms affect things different...but the canteens! So I notice whenever water is placed in the inventory instead of the hotbar, it "evaporates" I would guess. I have even had jars and canteens just break...ok. So, now I have water just disappearing as soon as I place a canteen on my hotbar. Is this logical or is it just more randomness designed "to enhance the player experience"?

One axiom I remember from my many factory, warehouse and retail jobs is "The beatings will continue until morale improves". That seems to have been adopted by Wildcard when they ramped up the schadenfreude programming right alongside a "Quality of Life" update in August a couple years back. You can gripe all you want, but it only seems to get worse over time. One way this manifests itself that totally infuriates me is when "the game" does stuff like spawning in dinos and bugs right next to a tame. Coupled with that is the general way that "the game" seems to have zero respect for someone working hard and trying to do the right things. So while searching aimlessly for gigas to kill for their hearts, seeing as how I only need a tueso eye and a few gigas hearts to finally finish this map after three years of progress destroying game crashes, I stumble across the first tapejara to have more than 2 digits worth of levels. After the usual silly chase, I get it knocked out and actually build spike walls around it. Just as soon as I do, "the game" spawns in meganeura to ruin it. Like wow...I actually go to the effort to build spikes and...nope. For the community, those that are not paid schills to deflect the direction of the conversation, do you really find that this schadenfreude programming enhances the game. or could you really just get along without it? Fastener University baby...

I'm a bit split and surprisingly sympathetic to Wildcard. In the past, it felt like something odd was happening, but I thought it was just small company growing pains. I had no clue about the underlying drama until a couple months ago. I sure had lots of opinions on the game, lol...very passionate ones. My lingering frustration as a single/pve player does not really match the current situation. I suppose, after much learning and trial and error, that my main issues stem from general crappy performance on old gen consoles and the lack of save point control for console users. While seemingly impossible currently on Xbox, at least PS4 has something ...however cumbersome. I bought the game twice already...including the expansion packs...minus Gen for one of the systems. Now I pay $15 per month to play it on Xbox. I think I could ditch the "Ultimate" since I owe it and save $5 per month.. Anyhow, constant crashing led me to switch between systems. I also lost everything several times to poor updates and bad game crashes that wiped my character. I have come to accept that console performance is never going to be great, but what is not acceptable is losing everything because no one thinks to allow a proper save and recovery system. I can play with lousy graphics and maybe a touch of lag here and there...but losing everything several times really makes me question how I spend my "fun money". I would hope that any newly revamped Ark would include something to make me feel secure about investing my fun time and fun money into Ark. Since I have never had a "next gen" console, I have no clue how well they currently run the game. if it is seemless, I would indeed feel bad about having to buy the game all over again. Personally, I supported paying, I think I said upwards of $100 for a version of Ark...that actually worked well. That is excessive, but the parts of this game that work and that I like, I really like. I still have no clue why a single player can control absolutely every aspect of the game except for mutation rates...but what do I know? :-) So it is obvious now that making an old gen friendly revamped Ark is not feasible considering what UE5 can do for the next gen consoles. For we old gen console owners who have been putting off the upgrades...for whatever reason, maybe the time is now and honestly... a UE5 remaster and hopefully a few dozen good fixes will be worth the money. And hopefully they are serious about "longevity" and this fix lasts at least 5 years.

I just thought I would update the situation. I was not able to revive my levels but I was able to recover and redo most of what I had...I think. I saved the uber rexes, a smoking shotgun bp, a couple saddle bps and an awesome rifle bp. Most of the most recent and boss and caving relavent dinos survived, but I did lose a few unknown tames to cryopod issues. The rexes are a bit much...restraining myself to using them for meat runs until I find a worthy battle. I managed to learn to increase the decay timer to allow destruction of plumbing and electric. "Givetome" worked fine for claiming everything else. So, and hopefully it might help someone else, if the game crashes during a transfer from map to map and you are playing on an Xbox One S, I thin kthe best bet it to immeadiately go to the Xbox home screen without closing the game and locate and delete the player data save. I don't think this sort of crash has ever happened to me while simply playing a map and experiencing a crash. Those tend to send you back in time and make you lose progress and found loot...but not destroy a character. Also, I think the attempted load to Lost Island was either bugged or perhaps I died there and never respawned there because the spawn screen was like a death respawn. I had to click create new character at the bottom of the map and then I was able to click on download character from the next screen...the character creation screen. Anyhow, almost level 89 again with currently boosted xp stats...probably let the xp boosted until I get back at least to 103 or 105. An abandoned PS4 playthrough had me at 107-108 and or perhaps the Xbox update crash and there was a 105-106 lost somewhere as well. If I find no sweet theris soon, I think the uber rexes might have to run the dragon and Overseer...they have sweet speed.

So wow...what a depressing ride that just ended. It was going so well. I managed to get my level 89 character to all of the maps I had been on and over the last few days managed to drag home almost everything I wanted to save. With God as my witness, it was the last trip back to The Island with my best melee megatherium, several saddles and my best fur armor. POOF The last half dozen transfers went fine...but the very last one. WOW I just wish I had the presence of mind to know when the game is just crashing and will just "bounce back" or when to dig into the Xbox save file and dump it. I didn't dump it right away and the game tossed my character with my crap in upload. I tried a "virgin" map, Scorched and Val that I had been to and no level 89 character. So, to whatever mystical force that knows exactly when to strike...up yours. The next plan is to see if what I saved is still on The Island waiting to be claimed again, spawn in an awesome megatherium and a few saddles and get on with it. If it is all gone, my fingers are gonna get really sore from cheat codes after I wipe all of the maps clean... sigh... Please send well wishes to my inbox, I will not be receiving company.

When I got the PS4 and Xbox One S during a midlife crisis moment on Black Friday in 2019, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I had an Xbox 360 that I got in 2017...my only console ever. It had been over a decade since I built a gaming pc. Prices were, like always, seemingly high for high end pc performance. 2 games that steered me in the direction of unrealistic expectations for modern consoles was Shadow of War on Xbox One S and Horizon Zero Dawn on PS4. Neither of those performed poorly on the consoles. I played World of Tanks and Portal...they both performed well. I revisited Halo...no issues. Then I tried Ark and it seemed fine at first. Then you actually start to acquire things and performance tanks. I had no clue any game could be sold so broken. None of that was ever an issue in my gaming history...ever. if you had issues, you had a gaming pc that was not designed well. It was beyond the pale to think that games could be released and just not function. I had no clue. So my biggest issue in general now is that realizing how much time people invest in playing this game, and considering how it is prone to "break", perhaps a system or a few changes that allow people to recover...ON CONSOLE...would be a responsible choice.

Ok...a test I guess. I have played on, but am not overly invested in The Center. I will try to erase that one and transfer there. Hopefully I can return to The Island like I just have if I spawn at level 1. Then I should know if the system is bugged or perhaps if my Lost Island map is wack. Valguero has not been opened, so I could try there first I guess and see what that does.

Yeah, Pipinghot...thanks for reminding me. I probably would have come to that eventually when the stress clears and thought is free again, but thanks. My thought was to use the in-game sliders to boost XP gain and then change them back eventually. I actually like the early game grind, but needing the cryofridges in a new base that is actually my own means level 88. Also, one reason I post my troubles here is to help "feel out" the problem so that if and when I do need to submit game suggestions or actually submit a ticket for aid, I actually know what I am talking about and what to ask for. So...not trying to be impatient, but I would like to play and make progress in a positive direction, much like I thought I was doing all last week, lol. So, I am thinking of restarting on the map with my best stuff and using the game log-in screen options to clear the other maps. Maybe then i could transfer "clean". The thing is, if there is just a bug happening or something I can manipulate, I will feel real stupid ditching another weeks "work"...and that smoking 571 damage shotgun bp I just found. Just wish I new if this is what I need to do. Maybe time for some SOTF, but I had issues with the adrenalin last time, lol.

Well, it's nice someone who apparently has no official power to advise or aid with any specifics feels free to offer that I could simply not play the game...my choice. I would offer that a forum such as this is a valid place to petition for simple and basic change...such change that I feel would benefit all Ark consumers. Also, somewhere in the previous postings I referenced that I am not 100% sure manual saves of any type are possible on Xbox One S as I may have had previous save points confused with my use of a PS4 to also play Ark. The Xbox play-through has the best dinos and loot, so I am most interested in utilizing the Xbox data. I do not know how to manipulate the Xbox data if it is even possible. That leads me to the question of the day. After destroying my old base, all but the plumbing and electric which I could not claim with "Givetome", I was able to level my new character to 89 and rebuild a new base at another location. I took all the cryos and they seem to be mine now. So, being all settled in again on The Island, I tried to travel to Lost Island to get the good stuff. No joy...for some reason, I have no choice to download a character and a level 1 human spawns in. I was able to delete the local Xbox data, and when I played again, the game resynced and I was able to spawn on The Island with the level 89 character again. I tried once more from the Ob...upload character, cancel, exit game and load Lost Island. No joy...no option to download character. Now what? Also, is there a cheat to claim the utilities somehow? My only other option is to start at level 1 again on Lost Island so I can reclaim my "good stuff". But what a grind. And then I assume I would have to delete all progress on all maps to enable my new character to use them via travel? The new base on The Island included? lol.. sigh...

Nothing like building brand reputation...wait...I was born in the 20th Century when reputation mattered. I can guaranty you if there was a vehicle made that pinched your butt every time you sat in the front seat, no one would buy it for very long.

So there may be hope. I actually "cleared" all local data from the Xbox, biting the bullet and starting fresh...on The Island. Somewhere around raft building level, I noticed a party dodo on the beach. My lost play still had a party dodo or two as I didn't dino wipe for ages. So I proceed on to find my base still there. I researched claim command/cheats and was able to claim the gate, break in and start taking back my stuff. There should be hope for the rare rexes. Sorry to flip. You only ever get to see the negative. That said, for the love of God and all that is Holy, please find a way to keep people from destroying everything with one errant click.

Yeah...now that I poke around, I may have had the good rexes on a new character that was left over when the previous character was lost. In other words, I don't have a back-up of the good rexes and I am crushed. I am not even sure it is possible to back-up on Xbox...I might have gotten that confused with PS4. I am at a total lose right now as to why, what or even if. Like wow...

The problem is actually creating and using a save point on an Xbox One S. I do have a savepoint somewhere on a flashdrive. It has awesome bug rexes from Crystal Isles that seem to have stats of what an Alpha Rex would have. That savepoint is the one I used like 6 months or so ago when the PS4 seemed unplayable again and I switched back to Xbox...wanting to work towards Mjolnir. It is a complete pain and I will need to research how to access and load it. Creating a new one isn't as easy as just pressing a button. I made a road trip and spent $20 for the flashdrive that saved the bug rexes. The last time I checked, if memory serves me, I could only put one save point on the drive without erasing the other. So now I need to learn either how to partition a flashdrive for use with Xbox or dump the drive onto a pc...if that is possible. I could make another trip and spend $20 again every single time I felt a need to back up my game. Or, I could tell the world how ridiculous it is that this could even happen to someone simply by hitting the wrong button once or even through no fault of their own. I played Grounded and had a crash once or twice that wiped out current progress, but the game actually saves progress and, here is the kicker, keeps more than just the last back-up. It's almost like they could forsee that bad things could happen and have made a system that is thoughtful and courteous to the consumer. Yeah...I could get into the cycle of swapping and/or dumping and refreshing flashdrives every single time I play the game, but I honestly thought Wildcard was actually making improvements to the game and the precious user data that was not going to be lost for the umpteenth time would be safe. I drank the Kool-Aid maybe? All I know is that it should not be so easy to get hosed this bad.

Wow...this is a current issue again? Thought it was just me and pilot error. That said, I cannot express this passionately enough, but how ridiculous is it that save points...a simple damn save point, is just seemingly impossible with this game. I get the idea that absolutely no one at Wildcard has any respect at all for the 3 years of work I have put into this game...including at least two other episodes just like this. I really don't care if it is Microsoft and Xbox pushing hard for cloud gaming and limiting save points or if it is some dinosaur (haha) of an ideal for balance that exists to encourage tough game play...whatever...it is beyond the pale to just dump someone's hobby down the crapper for no other real reason than negligence. I am not sure how much more of my time and money I should invest in an activity, that while I love it at it's face, is certainly detrimental to my mental health. Get real and make a game that works...single player pleeb out...

So, I was travelling the Arks, pulling together my resources to finally finish the playthrough that has been lost twice already. I transferred to The Island where I had been an hour before. I had a 4 minute cool down on the spawn bed at the Red Ob...so I did household stuff and lost track of time. I came back and the Xbox was on the home screen so I hit "Ark" and apparently started an entire new game and lost my character...on all the maps. I returned to Rag to check, but I have no character to log in with. Can I fill out a bug report or something to try to get my character back? I have no current save points on a flash drive. This is devastating again...