Nipzo

I think based on the contract they have, releasing on the 31st is shaky ground - wording in legal docs is always stressed and I think ASA needs to be out prior to the 31st. I would expect it before then but not by that much.

They're not going to go back. It's all still there for unofficial, at least - some companies would fully remove the old game and force you to buy the new. Doesn't make it nice or right, but it could be worse (and given they need the server space for ASA, it's not like it was done for no reason). They're also not going to just give up on content just because you don't like it.

Probably flop initially. It really depends how they leverage a more primitive souls-esque experience with what we know of ARK. I like the focus on primitive survival and real-world creatures personally, but that's not enough for me to want to jump at the game if it deviates too heavily. We don't even know if there'll be multiplayer, for example.

Probably new creatures in terms of gameplay, but I think having a cleaner code base to prevent less issues and also a far less bloated game is top of my list lol.

It's the next map in order of release from the ones they've already gone through. I'd expect Val -> Gen1 -> Crystal Isles -> Gen2 -> Lost Island -> Fjordur as the remaining order, especially since maps like Fjordur need Gen2 done for the Shadowmanes, for example.

Having no previews yet is very strange, I agree - but the DLCs are all coming for free simply for having ASA. There is meant to be a new, paid DLC also, but everything in ASE is getting ported for free to ASA.