Lurker300

What I meant is the issue being they are likely taking a hit on cost for maintaing servers that are empty most of the time. So by never doing it they created a problem. I don't have exact numbers as I am updating ARK right now but if you yake any map accross all patforms you always see 1-2 that are maybe half populated if that and the rest handful to noone on. All those servers can be consolidated. that will free up any storage taken by each instance of the server and consolidate physycal server assets (I say this loosley as I do not know what their setup is nor have I looked if they are hosting on a cloud service which is alsso a cost). Also cleaning DBs from old characters and maybe limiting base sizes and amounts would help storage which also limits costs. My guess is they are paying in someway for limited to unused servers and whatever they can clean from stale characters. I agree this may be more to get ppl to buy. Maybe they need a large input of money as funding may be getting cut short and from the looks of it even if they did develop Ark2 and decided it was not good and starting fresh or whatever happend they may need the funding for the continued development into 2024. Hopefully things get worked out. I would hate to have my time wasted like that. But even more for ppl that have spent years.

Is your issue cost of all the empty and low pop servers? Or at least part of the issue. Why not just consolidate and maybe users may lose bases but can transfer tames and so forth while keeping character progress. Or give them something for loss of base. I know consolidating servers bases can’t due to conflicting base locations but everything from character, tames, items is workable. Then maybe a query that depending on how large a base its users get those items or something along those lines of a loot bag while migrating users into new servers after consolidation. Anyway, for me loss of base is least issue. For me it’s more the grind to tame, get boss fights to unlock tek etc. not to mention time to level. I can rebuild a base easily, but the tames, especially mutation chains, grind and all that is the biggest issue on just wiping. If issue is like I mentioned before I say work a server consolidation plan. Shoot, I work in IT with background in Sys/Network and currently work as a database, application, and automation specialist. Hire me and I can get it done 😉. I’m currently doing the opposite for work and splitting DBs. Also, if issue is cost vs revenue maybe making a store for skins, accessories and customizations that are not "pay to win". Much how some games have a premium store for skins and such that offer no in game benefit but may mitigate some of the costs running servers which consolidating should already help. Also maybe cleaning databases of old accounts. Maybe set to stale characters over X time to wipe and run that query on a schedule. Also maybe set limits of how many characters players can have though that could affect some players that may have over any limit set but it's a thought. There are many ideas I can think of to mitigate DB/storage size. Also, maybe if there is a consolidation where all bases are wiped though characters, dino etc. are set into a download folder where users can upload as if when transferring maps then restructure base building to limit spam and base sizes. This could help DB, storage and even performance on previous gen consoles as well. If this is not an option, please let us know on what you mean that the "saved data" will be uploaded for use? Does this mean everything down to the databases even on console where someone like me can essentially launch official servers as they were upon shutdown? I know at the moment running a server on console is limited to ini files and a few options via portals but no modding or DB access. I may be interested in making this a project to put up a consolidated version of the official servers if possible depending on how we/I can work it. There would be some logistics to take care of. I just do not want my self as well as everyone that has put so much time and effort to lose all they have built and worked on. Feel free to contact me. My email is in my account in which you can contact me. For community, would this be something that works for you either via ARK servers and consolidate with some ideas presented or if not the second option of say someone like me reviving the servers after shutdown in a consolidated form? I am not guaranteeing I would take this on as there would be a lot of logistics to look into but it seems like a next best option if Ark official servers are out of the question. But there is a few months to look into, plan and talk to key stakeholders to make it possible.