MrrCupcake

I love the positivity too! I just translate Wildcard PR (when they do communicate lol). It helps me be a happier person. Ark Genesis (1 and 2) was Ark 2 for me. ASA is Ark Remastered. I've bought remasters before, and I expect to buy Ark Survival Acceded. If it's bad, or doesn't measure up to my value, I won't get this remaster. Or more like I'll only buy one copy . . . (yeah some of us understand that lol, Ark is better with friends!) Changing the topic a bit to communication, (please read this wildcard), the Satisfactory (Coffee Stain) community manager(s) do a commendable job communicating. Their challenges changing their early access game from UE4 to UE5 has really helped me be more understanding of wildcard. Oh if only Wildcard would communicate like that. Maybe we live in a world where all the negative publicity is still publicity and it's intentional. Sad. Coming back to the original thread ASA vs Ark 2. Yeah, I'm sure there will be an official Ark 2 some year in the future that follows the story from Ark Genesis. (I personally suspect even Ark Genesis was supposed to be Ark 2 but had to rush it out for financial reasons, but I don't know.). It looks like ASA and extinction story line DLCs will be funding an Ark 2 production. Either way, I'll have a new-ish Ark themed survival game to play with friends in October (90% sure lol). Whatever Wildcard Calls it. There are worse names like Ark 360, but I could see wildcard adopting the "Series" naming style LOL. tldr: Wildcard communication isn't always clear. whatever they call it, likely soon we will be playing a new-ish Ark themed survival game. Hopefully for years to come.

On Nitrado's official announcement to be "exclusive providers for ARK: Survival Ascended server hosting. " They mention SELF HOSTED servers on the FAQ: ---- Can I monetize my ARK: Survival Ascended Server? Nitrado’s commercial exclusivity for community servers will not prevent monetization of your self hosted or even rented server, such as but not limited to donations, “VIP” roles, reserved slots, items and anything else that is permitted within the Terms and Conditions & End User License Agreement of ARK: Survival Ascended. ---- Hopefully that includes dedicated servers, but at the very least it looks like there will be a way to host our own games

I host servers for a couple of communities. I'll keep playing with friends and host whatever they play on. Like you said, I may host both ASE-UE4 & ASA-UE5. I expect to host both until I'm sure I like ASA. I don't host xbox but I had xbox and Steam Ark on my desktop until most switched over to Steam. Ark has used a lot of HDD space lol. Priority 1 -self-hosted unofficial dedicated servers Priority 2 -crossplay Mods Priority 3 -crossplay I'm a little afraid WC will force OverWolf. Hopefully not, but I'd be surprised if they maintained two mod systems. Overwolf might not be a dealbreaker for me. But I'll wait and see. OW is a little why I wonder about self-hosted dedicated servers. If some mods are paid for, I could see some type of prevention to stop copying mod file folders to servers like ASE works now. I'm looking forward to more unofficial server news! If ASA adds crossplay without sacrificing any core features of ASE, it will be great. Hopefully!! (I could see putting up with Overwolf for that)

Hosting my own community dedicated server will be the deal breaker for me. I won't rent one. I've bought enough hard drives to have room for Ark!! (I'm a little worried about needing a full 1TB for ASE and ASA to be installed at the same time LOL) I'm reservedly hopeful WidlCard can do it. pcgamer.com has an article about crossplay dedicated server using steam for Valhiem with xbox and Steam crossplay. I haven't tried it though. It is possible at least!! I'd be happier if dedicated servers were not crossplay than not being able to host my own. I really hope WildCard doesn't take a step too far back from the great (in my opinion) SteamCMD and the Steam Workshop 'experience'. I'm not optimistic Overwolf will have anywere near as good an experience as Steam Workshop. At least SteamCMD has a lot of crossplay work already done and other game titles use it for more than a Steam and Epic crossplay Dedicated server! But, like Pipinghot suggested, without ASA self-hosted unofficial dedicated servers, I'll be one who sticks with ASE. Really really glad WildCard won't break ASE as originally announced (UE5 would have broken ASE saves and mods). With mods and my own self-hosted unoffical server I'll be buying ASA. Hope wildcard reads these!!