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ArkTheorist123

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Everything posted by ArkTheorist123

  1. Also, here is just how I imagine the last 2 Gen 2 chronicles will play out: Extinction: Rockwell monologues about element, the corruption, the Homo Deus, Helena and her friends, the ARKs, and the wasteland that is Earth; HLN-A has another memory recollection episode and remembers the things that Mei, Santiago, and Diana did for her, as well as the Homo Deus; possibly some more extra Santiago notes related to Gen 2 or ARK II; possibly some hint as to Mei and Diana's fate after Extinction. Gen 1: Since Gen 1 doesn't have much of a preexisting story, it's likely that the last set of Gen 2 chronicles will consist of Rockwell and HLN-A directly teasing parts of Gen 2's story, like the arrival and the colony ship; possibly some hint as to Mei and Diana's fate after Extinction.
  2. Something that really catches my attention in this note is simply the fact that it exists - I mean, it's not like this note tells us anything that we didn't already know going into Extinction, so why include it, especially in the Gen 2 chronicles of all places? Maybe the point isn't to tell us something new about Aberration or the ARKs, but to reintroduce Santiago to the story? I mean, Santiago is a major character in Extinction - where the next set of Gen 2 chronicles will be - as well as ARK II, so at least then it would make some sense if they wanted to expand upon his character and story going forward, by, I dunno, putting other notes similar to this one in the other maps?. But still, why include that in the Gen 2 chronicles of all places, unless... ...unless he has some significance in the story of Gen 2? I mean, we see in the ARK II trailer that Santiago likely came from one of those incubation pods that we've only ever seen on the colony ship, and that he's clearly familiar with the GenSim, which we've also only ever seen accessed from the colony ship. Yes, I think that's it - they want to tease Gen 2 and especially ARK II by reintroducing Santiago to the story, both on Aberration and possibly the other maps.
  3. https://www.reddit.com/r/ARK/comments/kdn2m7/only_for_me_or_this_guy_wearing_a_shadow_mane_mask/
  4. ARK II: Rise of VIN DIESEL cave drawings, original vs brightened/enhanced:
  5. I couldn't find a clear enough picture of this to put here, but if you look at Santiago's Genesis profile in the trailer you can see it mentions his "Haplogroup". From the research I've done, I've found that a haplogroup is basically where your ancestors would have originated from in ancient times. My question is, why would the GenSim be keeping records of that of all things?
  6. Interestingly enough, these ARK II: Rise of VIN DIESEL skins look like they're made up of scraps of tek strapped to the end of a stick. This could mean A2:RoVD could feature wreckage of tek structures (like what we saw inside that cave from the trailer) dotted around the map that can be scavenged for scraps of tek (and possibly more?) to help craft weapons/tools. Think of it as a sort of cheap alternative to smelting actual metal ore. The wreckage I'm talking about more than likely comes from the colony ship. Also, if you go in-game and looks at the axe skin model you can see a little carving of what looks like an implant under the head of the axe.
  7. Looking at this list of characters, I feel like the animated series is going to be more of a spinoff rather than an a direct adaptation of the explorer notes. Here are some of the differences I found: Instead of being a weakling who also flinched at the mere thought of hurting another person, Helena is now competent enough to kill random people using an ARROW. Like, not even using the bow, just using the arrow. Instead of becoming evil like what we see in the game, Rockwell now appears to just be evil from the beginning, and now also appears to be fascinated with the occult for some reason? Close family members of the survivors also appear. Santiago now also seems to appear on the island along with everyone else, and like I said earlier, appears to have his name, time period, and appearance changed. A ridiculously long list of side characters who, along with the family members of the survivors, are never actually mentioned in the game. That being said, let's assume that there are three different ARK universes where the story and/or characters and/or universe itself are slightly different: ARK Universe: The ARK story that we all know and love. Classic main characters whose motivations are perfectly explained and their respective character development throughout the story feels built-up and organic. There's also a few side characters who actually feel just as built-up as the main cast. The reason I bring all that up is in case the animated series...doesn't form it's story like that. I dunno, I just feel like it would be difficult for them to make every character feel like an actual character if there's so many other characters. Then again...we may just have to wait and see. ARK Mobile Universe: The nature of element and the obelisks is slightly different, as element now has several more forms and uses, while the obelisks now give people free god weapons when they get artifacts. There's also cloning chambers, a distant relative of Rockwell's, and probably a bunch of other things I'm missing. ARK Animated Universe: Features a whole host of extra side characters, some of whom are close relatives of the survivors. Some of the survivors also feel a bit different from their main game counterparts in terms of personality. Paras are also now a lot more loyal than they are in game, apparently.
  8. On a side note, who do you think is going to play who in the animated series? Madden will play Helena and Tennant will play Rockwell for sure, but what about all the other actors?
  9. I had to do it https://wiki.teamfortress.com/w/images/2/2e/Sniper_meleedare08.wav
  10. "Even with Athena on my side, I prefer to avoid danger, not confront it. My aim's piss poor and I've got fists like marshmallows. If I want a fair go at actually surviving whatever happens when the obelisk activates, I'll need backup" - Helena "Fortunately, Mei-Yin's got more intestinal fortitude than yours truly" - Also Helena "I'm no pacifist. Death and violence are a part of life, that's just nature. Yet a gun still makes me a little uncomfortable. The idea of shooting at another human just seems instinctively wrong to me. I couldn't even fire at the New Legion back on the island" - Also Also Helena Meanwhile, in the animated series:
  11. Things I personally noted from the trailer for ARK 2: Rise of VIN DIESEL: The dinosaur that appears actually looks more like a real dinosaur, thank god! The place where the cave drawing are also seems to show the same glowing rings and federation stasis pods that we saw at the end of GP1, just overgrown and surrounded by rocks. I believe it is the same room that we saw there, but it appears to have wound up on an alien world somehow and has become some sort of holy site for the humans of this world. This also opens up the possibility that ARK 2: Rise of VIN DIESEL takes place hundreds or thousands of years after the end of ARK 1, based on how overgrown everything is. The cave drawing the girl looks at seems to show an obelisk, HLN-A, and, interestingly enough, one of the Genesis Colony Ships rings on the right, just minus the actual colony ship. The Genesis Simulation appears to have remained intact, despite having landed on an alien world. How this would play into the story of ARK 2: Rise of VIN DIESEL remains to be seen. Santiago's name appears to have been changed from Santiago Camacho to Santiago Da Costa, and he is now from the 24th century instead of the mid-22nd century. He now also appears to no longer be a fan of pop idols and now looks like VIN DIESEL for some reason. Everything else about his character and backstory seems to have remained the same. It appears to be implied that he fought his out of the GenSim, or was simply freed from his stasis pod after it landed on the planet, and is now raising a family on this new alien world. Interestingly, he seems to be rejecting his past experiences and maybe just tek altogether, as we see him delete all records of him from the GenSim. He could also be doing this to protect his family, as he knows how dangerous element is and wants to keep them as distanced from it as possible. Based on all that I've talked about, here's how I think the story of GP2 and ARK 2: Rise of VIN DIESEL will play out: HLN-A and the player realize it's impossible to remove Rockwell from the Colony Ship, so they do the next best thing by taking the green ring that isn't affected by him and separating it from the rest of the ship. They then blow up the rest of the ship, taking Rockwell with it as they make a daring escape to the planet below, joining everyone else as the colony ring lands and releases people onto the planet. Cut to hundreds or thousands of years later, and humanity has once again found itself on the brink of extinction due to a race of orc-like creatures (beings who appear to be infused with element) going to war with them. Most of humanity seems to have forgotten everything related to element or tek, and so has resorted to fighting using the basics of spears and dinosaurs. What remains of the Colony ship, ring, and Genesis Simulation have turned into holy sites for the humans, and in fact the only remaining knowledge of anything related to element, tek, or ARK 1 exist through tall tales - myths, spread by word of mouth, that speak of towering obelisks, seeds within the sky, and small hovering beings of metal that once gave guidance to those learning to survive. And now, the player must assume the role of VIN DIESEL as he must find a way to defeat the orcs once and for all, while also potentially unravelling (or potentially trying to reject or conceal) the truth about these "tall tales".
  12. My final ideas on what the reveal could be tomorrow (which conveniently happens to be the day after my birthday): Major teaser for GP2. Announcement of some major update for ARK; something that is important enough to be mentioned at the Game Awards but is less important than a new expansion. Announcement of a new game. The possible ones I've come up with are: 1) A game revolving around the events during and/or after the explorer notes. This could be possible since we've seen WC get more involved with the stories of the explorer and even hire professional actors to voice them. A game like this could also provide some clues as to what happened to Mei and Diana after Extinction. 2) ARK 2. I understand why a lot of people think this is going to be it, but personally...I'm not so sure. Why would WC choose to announce it during this years game awards, as opposed to next years, after the conclusion of ARK 1 has been released? 3) ATLAS 2. 4) A whole new game altogether that we haven't seen before. Who knows what it could be?
  13. PERFECT GIF 1.mp4 "Ah! I love the smell of a fresh teaser from Wildcard in the middle of the night!" Also, part of the URL for that top image apparently refers to as "RedRoom_Silhouette_Center_04_LOCKUP_POSTER.jpg", which may give us some clue as to what WC is working on. Most likely a new game for sure.
  14. Thoughts on GP2 Chronicles 1: "Something weirdly nostalgic about this place. Reckon you must be used to the odd flash of déjà vu, with all those old memory engrams knocking about your head. Seems an odd thing for a bit of A.I. like me to be feeling, though…" "Funny that I almost remember being here. I don't mean just floating through the place, like I'm doing now. I'm talking toes in the sand, smell of the ocean sorta memories…" "I can remember meeting other survivors for the first time around these parts. Nerva...Rockwell...Mei-Yin...Did Helena leave me all her memories? What a wicked parting gift that was!" "My creator spent her life studying beasts she only knew as dusty old fossils. Can you imagine what it was like for her to wash up here and meet 'em in person? I don't have to imagine it, 'cause I can remember how she felt!" "Funny thing, having a headful of someone else's memories… You and I have had some adventures together, but I remember all the things Helena got up to while she was still human. And if I can remember being human, what does that mean about me? Am I her, or am I me -- or am I both of us? Bit of a mindblower, yeah?" As we can see, HLN-A appears to be experiencing Helena's memories as she visits the places Helena did. My best guess is that this is going to be a recurring thing throughout all of the GP2 chronicles. The second set of notes will likely be on Scorched Earth, where HLN-A will experience Helena's memories of Raia and Rockwell. The third and fourth sets of notes will likely be Aberration and Extinction, where she will experience Helena's memories of Diana, Mei, Santiago, and all the sacrifices those people made for her. And of course, she'll recall Rockwell's final descent into madness - that appears to be the whole point of these chronicle notes, to sort of rekindle this rivalry between Helena/HLN-A and Rockwell that was teased in the description of GP2 ("The final confrontation between the spritely HLN-A and the villainous Sir Edmund Rockwell occurs on a gigantic colony ship traveling through deep space"), but on a more emotional level. These notes are trying to show that HLN-A is starting to remember not just all the things that happened to Helena in general, but all the things Rockwell in particular did to Helena and her friends, and this is likely something that will be carried into GP2 (and yet, it's implied that despite their differences, both Helena and Rockwell haven't exactly shut each other out completely; Helena writes a rather heartfelt eulogy for Rockwell after his transformation and initial defeat at the end of Aberration, while in GP1, Tidbit glitch #18 HLN-A mentions that someone - presumably Rockwell - was nosing around inside the GenSim and was reading excerpts from a file on how to deal with loneliness). As for the fifth and final set of GP2 Chronicle notes - which would presumably be on GP1 - well, that will likely be where HLN-A will stop with the memory recollections (since Helena was never in the GenSim) and will start to begin making vague observations of the simulation that will presumably end up tying into GP2. Now, there are still some things that are up to debate with these new chronicle notes: Is Helena supposed to be having these random memory recollections? It was implied in GP1 that HLN-A was designed without the real Helena's memories (or rather, Helena was unable to get those memories to stick with her), so was it just some happy accident that HLN-A finally got those memories to stick after visiting the same places Helena did? And - as HLN-A literally says at the end of these notes - if HLN-A isn't supposed to be having these random memory recollections...is that supposed to mean something about her? It was strongly implied in GP1 - such as in Tidbit glitch #56 - that HLN-A is simply just a robot/A.I. and nothing more. But with these new notes - where HLN-A literally recalls walking on a beach - it makes she wonder if she's starting to become more human than robot/A.I. And on a final note...is it just me or does HLN-A sound a bit different in these notes? Is that Madeleine Madden voicing her? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moC24dDam4g
  15. Helena/The One Who Waits states in her 15th Extinction note that element was "carried across the universe like interstellar pollen", which rules out the possibility of it being from Earth. Although I think that part you said about element growing in Earth's crust could still be relevant, since I think it might answer the question of when it arrived on Earth. If it came down in a meteor or something in the present day then I'm sure it would of done a considerable amount of damage. Therefore, I think what happened was that a small amount of it arrived on Earth in a meteor millions of years ago, possibly even in the meteor that killed the dinosaurs (that would be a weird bit of irony). From there it grew within Earth's crust over the millennia until it was widespread enough that humanity took notice of it and began utilizing it for their own needs.
  16. Final boss of GP2? The eyes and the Rockwell tentacles make me think that this is an important part of Rockwell's corruption. and maybe the glowing sphere is supposed to be his brain or something?
  17. David Tennant is such a perfect fit for Rockwell. One of the problems I had with Rockwell's appearance in GP1 was that his voice just didn't seem like it fit to me...like they trying just a bit too hard to make him sound supervillain-y, what with the voice filter and all (or maybe the filter was intentionally used to hide the fact that the voice didn't fit?). Tennant is much, much better because he sounds just like I think all of us thought Rockwell would - the appearance of a benign old man, but the mind of a supervillain, not the other way around like they did in GP1. As for Madeline Madden, I can't really hear any difference between her and the old actor for HLN-A. We really only hear one line of her dialogue in the trailer.
  18. I believe at some point in the stream they said it would have a mission system, a more refined version at that.
  19. The stream starts at 10am PST, or 1pm EST in case you were curious.
  20. So, here are my final ideas and theories for Genesis Part 2 before the Extra Life stream...I was hoping to do a little more theorizing and lore-building before it, but this is what I have so far: Terran Federation Tek Suit: Obtained at the end of Genesis Part 1, this suit definitely looks like it's going to play a major role in GP2, based on how it appears in pretty much every teaser with a survivor in it. This particular suit appears to be a variant (possibly reverse engineered version?) of the URE suits we've seen in the past, and there are more than likely several differences - visually it's a bit more sleek, and even has a giant Federation logo right smack in the middle of the visor. As for it's capabilities in combat...well, that's kind of up in the air. It may give us some special advantages like greater melee damage or higher oxygen (you can also see some sort of device on the back of the suit in some of the teasers featuring it), but unless we're going up against some pretty formidable foes in GP2, I imagine that there will likely be some catch to the suit that won't make it completely overpowered. Perhaps we will have to unlock certain upgrades for it by completing missions, or heck, maybe the suit will even have its own attributes/stats in our inventory, although that's mostly just speculation on my part. Gremlin (Unofficial name on the wiki): First appearing in the Halloween teaser (above), the Gremlin looks like it’s going to be the “iconic shoulder pet” of GP2. Visually it looks like a cross between the Bulbdog and a Ferox, and behaviorally, well...that’s where things get interesting. As seen in the Halloween teaser, the Gremlin appears to be fully capable of decapitating an opponent; based off of the hole in the severed head seen in the teaser, and the seam running from the Gremlin’s mouth down its front, I think it’s safe to assume that the Gremlin attacks its enemies by literally splitting open, spearing them with its tongue, and then pulling them closer until it can yank hard enough to literally tear them apart - sort of like how the Bloodstalker attacks, or like that one imposter kill in Among Us (minus the dismemberment part). This would likely make the Gremlin a difficult creature to deal with, especially given how much smaller and more nimble it must be than a Bloodstalker - but at the same time, that likely means it would be an even more useful shoulder pet (assuming it can be tamed, which it looks like it does). Once tamed it would likely operate in a similar way as a tamed Bloodstalker, allowing you to latch onto other creatures at will in order to either pull them closer or kill them outright. Of course, the Gremlin likely lacks several of the Bloodstalkers other abilities, like wall climbing and water walking, but as a compact version of this one ability, well, I’m curious to see how this would play out. So yeah, WC has essentially created an even more deadly version of the Killer Rabbit from Monty Python. Well done. Strider (Unofficial name on the wiki): Some sort of large lizard or serpent-like creature with a frill and large fangs. Looks a bit similar to a dragon or rock drake. There’s really not much more we can tell about this particular creature since we’ve only seen a single dimly lit image of it from the neck up so far. Space Fish: Most likely a smaller, more nimble relative of the Astrocetus that can be outfitted with a tek saddle and ridden like a jet. Rockwell Tentacles: Probably a smaller enemy that looks like it's going to hound the player throughout GP2. Setting and Story: Now THIS is the real meat and potatoes of this post, the reason being that we really don't know anything definitive about where or when GP2's story takes place, or really what that story even is. However, I have found it pretty fun to speculate about, so here are some of the major points I want to make - Space is definitely going to play a major role in GP2, based how it frequently appears in the teasers released thus far. The teaser for the Space Fish appears to take place on the Colony Ship, meaning that that may also be a place visited in GP2. If you look at a brightened version of the strider teaser again, you can see what looks like seaweed and some other undersea fauna on the bottom right. This leads me to assume that there could possibly be an ocean biome in GP2 as well. In GP1 HLN-A mentions the existence of an engrammic matrix, a part of the brain that allows someone's memories to be preserved and extracted even centuries after that person's death. This opens up the possibility that Genesis 1 & 2 could take place CENTURIES after the end of Extinction. In the background of the Space Fish teaser you can see an ominous looking planet with red splotches on it, as well as what appears to be some sort of hologram of an Extinction-type setting. The fact that you can see tons of tek-looking structures in this hologram, something that didn't appear in GP1, might indicate that this place was inhabited by tek people at one point. And now for some larger story topics - A VERY IMPORTANT detail I noticed watching the GP1 end cutscene again is that during roughly the first 30 seconds you can see a weird glowing/pulsating device in the center of the incubation pod room that I think everyone is overlooking 0 the reason being I believe this particular device looks pretty similar to another device we've seen before - the one from the GP1 countdown. If you look at the two devices side by side, they actually share several similarities - they both have spinning rings, a variety of holograms, and pulsating beams of light that feed from the ceiling down to the floor and seem to give little glimpses into the simulation. They certainly don't look 100% the same (possibly because one device resides in Arat Prime and the other is one the Colony Ship), but I'm very certain that they have the same function - enabling things running on a certain system (like messages and people's consciousness being stored on the colony ship and Arat Prime's networks) to go from one location in the real world to the Genesis simulation, and then potentially have them exit the simulation to a different location in the real world. The reason we know this is because A) We saw Helena communicate with HLN-A from Arat Prime using this device, B) We pass through a similar set of spinning rings when entering/respawning in the simulation, and C) If you look closely at the device in the GP1 end cutscene, at the part where our survivor gets off the floor and the device starts sinking into the floor, you can see a series of holographic outlines for what look like a series of pillars - pillars that look identical to the ones we see in that little "In-between" area when teleporting around the simulation. Now, the reason I'm bringing all this up is because of the implications it has for the ending of GP1 and the beginning of GP2 - at the end of the GP1 end cutscene, when our survivor turns around after getting the tek suit, we can see if we look closely enough that the Rockwell tentacle that grabs us emerges from the floor of the incubation pod room - from the same place the device is. And if we know that that device is connected to the GenSim, then that must mean that what's really happening at the end of the GP1 cutscene is us getting grabbed and dragged back into the GenSim - which would then mean that GP2 is going to at least start in the GenSim. Now, I can understand why that might confuse some of you, especially given how we've seen so many GP2 teasers that clearly don't take place in the GenSim (like the ones with space or the Rockwell tentacles), but here me out - here's a bit of a rough draft of how I think GP2's story might play out to better explain how this might all fit together: GP2 would start where GP1 left off, with our survivor being seperated from HLN-A and dragged back into the GenSim. Since Rockwell lost control over the first 5 biomes we visited in GP1, we are instead being taken to some new area of the simulation, one that is more or less fully under his control and has been heavily manipulated by him to look his own twisted version of a perfect world (this would then explain why Genesis is split up into two parts - both parts happen within the GenSim, but the state of the simulation in each part is vastly different, as each portion of the GemSim we visit has been manipulated by a different person). The place is infested with a new, pink version of corruption that Rockwell has created following his escape from Aberration, and this has caused the whole place to turn into a hellish and apocalyptic wasteland like Extinction. This would then explain the Extinction-esque hologram we see in the background of the Space Fish teaser - that part of the teaser literally depicts the GenSim device beaming an image of this destroyed portion of the GenSim onto some sort of table (Note what appear to be rings on the top of the beam, and a part of the hologram that appears to drop off, indicating where the table or whatever ends). After making our way through this terrifying version of the simulation, we eventually make our escape by fighting some sort of boss. We then reenter the real world - only to find that we are in a different part of the Colony Ship. Furthermore, the pink corruption Rockwell has created has now begun manifesting itself in the real world and has begun infesting the Colony Ship. We the player are then supposed to make our way through this portion of the infested Colony Ship in order to perform some series of tasks or fight another boss, and are then yanked back into the GenSim. And so on and so forth - a repeating cycle of jumping back and forth between the absolutely broken GenSim and an increasingly infested Colony Ship. Each time we jump back and forth things get increasingly more chaotic - such as a version of the GenSim’s ocean biome that has now become infested with undersea monsters even more terrifying than the Moeder. Along the way we come across creatures such as the Gremlin, Strider, and Space Fish, reunite with HLN-A, find out a little more about Helena, the fate of Mei and Diana (or heck, maybe we’ll meet Mei and Diana), the Arrival, the Terran Federation, etc. All the while being hounded by Rockwell and his corrupted army. Everything then culminates in the Colony Ship’s control room, where we have some final confrontation with Rockwell over who gets total control over the Ship. And in the end we get some final confirmation over what the arrival is, which creates a direct segue into ARK 2. Most likely, the Arrival is us, the survivors being trained on the Colony Ship, arriving on a distant alien planet - one that the old humans had found to either have been infected by corruption like Earth, or was the homeworld of element (remember the red splotches on the planet seen in the Space Fish teaser? We’ve seen something similar to that before - the hologram of corrupted Earth seen in The Island’s Hall of History; definitely means that this world is infected with corruption). It is then our task as the player(s) to land on this planet and use our skills learned from the ARKs and GenSim to find the source of this corruption and put a stop to it once and for all. ...At least, that’s what I would like to see happen in GP2...probably isn’t though lol. But at the very least, I would like to see it A) Tie up most of, if not all of the loose threads held over from the previous expansions, B) Introduce new plot threads that lead directly into ARK 2, and C) Drop the whole multiplayer angle and just be an epic singleplayer journey that just centers on the player, HLN-A, and Rockwell. Oh, and that gremlin whatever-it-is that’s obsessed with severed heads. Fun fact: Sorry if this feels incredibly rushed, I made this entire post in the span of around 13 hours; knowing Extra Life is today is like its own form of adrenaline that has me goin like
  21. You've only just noticed that? I thought everyone saw that their first time watching the cutscene.
  22. Perhaps the armor will work in a way so that it's relatively low-tier when compared to the creatures you'll be up against in GP2, and we'll be able to unlock certain upgrades for it - by completing missions? - as time goes on. That way there would still be some sense of progression.
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