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Hey Survivors! Welcome to the latest edition of the Community Crunch! Upcoming Structure Changes! Later this week we plan to roll out an update that will make some changes to our current structure decay rules. In essence, we are redefining what we consider a viable minimum base or set of structures. Structures which do not meet this definition will rapidly decay resulting in the ability to either destroy them by hand or have the server automatically destroy the structures when they are loaded/leave stasis. Our intent behind this change is to address structure spamming issues (pillar/foundation spam) which often takes place when players attempt to claim or grief different areas of the map in both PVE and PVP. We anticipate that this particular update will be iterative and there most likely will be additional adjustments in the coming weeks as we work to resolve this issue. Code of Conduct Changes! Following our previous Crunch, the Enforcement Team are back again with another important notice regarding the Code of Conduct. We'd like to make Official Players aware of the following revision: Hacking and Exploiting Revision Exploiting - examples are not limited to but can include: Attacking from, travelling through, or building in unintended game-zones (under the mesh or above the map) Duplication of tames, items, or characters Unintended building mechanics (such as floating structures, using the world barrier as a snap point) Building a box on a platform saddled dino to completely prevent it from taking damage Modifying your game files to remove key graphical components (water, fog, etc) Attacking or blocking players through the terrain with dinosaurs Intentionally crashing users or servers (through DDoS or otherwise) Placing excessive quantities of C4 to prevent hostile C4 from being placed Stacking multiple creatures inside each other's models via raising babies close together, teleporting them near each other, downloading them, etc (ex: multiple brontos in a 1x1 foundation area) Please remember that these rules are constantly undergoing change, and they are never exhaustive. In addition to the above change, it's recommended you check out the entire code here. Small Tribe Servers Tomorrow! Tomorrow we will be releasing our first set of speciality servers on all platforms. These servers will be Small Tribes servers which limit the tribe size to 6 players maximum and alliances are not allowed. Server rates will be 3x (harvest, taming, experience) and will not be affected by Evolution Events. They will also have 2x maturation, 2x egg hatching, 2x gestation and 50% reduced mating interval. These servers will undergo a trial period of 60 days. If after the 60 days they remain active, we will continue to keep the servers active. If after the 60 days the player population is very low, we will try a new game mode type and online new servers for another 60 days. If you have other game mode ideas for Speciality servers that you think would be fun to play be sure to leave a comment in our suggestion collection thread: Community Livestream #3 This Thursday! A reminder for our stream this Thursday, we are accepting bases for our Base Tour! If you want to show off your base send some screenshots to the email below and include your server name/number. Unofficial server bases are also accepted as long as your server admin will allow us to come tour on your server. All platforms are welcome to participate. We look forward to seeing all of your base designs! We are still accepting any type of ARK related fanart to be featured in the Showcase section of the stream and entries are always open. This can be drawings, videos, builds, ANSEL screenshots, handmade crafts, anything ARK related! You can submit your ARKwork to our streaming email address: arkfans@studiowildcard.com Be sure to follow us on our Twitch page so you don't miss a stream! twitch.tv/survivetheark We'll be hosting our next Community Live Stream on Thursday, June the 7th! We hope to see you there Countdown! The countdown to our special event begins! You can watch the counter tick down at the top of the forums page. Survivors can look forward to some epic discoveries with new content and challenges, and we'll have even more exciting news coming in the middle of the month, so stay tuned! Mod Community News! Zen here, with your dose of mod news! Word is that Eco is working on a new decor mod! She's shown us a preview of her Primordial Structures decor which you can see below. The mod is still a work in progress, so I can't say when it will be available, but we'll be including this in her already impressive lineup of sponsored decor mods. Last week we concluded the submission period for the fifth mod tutorial contest. I will be announcing the winner for that next week. In the meantime, we got some pretty exciting submissions. The quality of these tutorials have increased considerably due to the increased time to work on them, and for that, I want to thank everyone who participates in the tutorial contest. I received tutorials for ballistic missiles that have an impact on the environment, remote-controlled spy drones, a dynamic creature skin, and a mapping tutorial on cave creation (Something that a lot of people have struggled with). Links to all of these tutorials are available in the contest thread. This month the theme for the mod tutorial contest is "Beach and Ocean Fun" and the submission period is currently open until June 30th. Tutorials for this contest could easily range from map level content to maybe some fun mini-games for the summer. We'll have to see what the mod community thinks up! ? The Great Migration #3: ETA June 12th! Just a reminder that there are just under 2 weeks left for the next stage of our Legacy migration. Here is a quick breakdown on how this process works: Taking Down Low Pop Servers With calculations based on sustained player-count as well as the popularity of game mode, we will be removing lower population legacy servers, most of which retain a 0-1 player concurrent population. These servers will be taken offline on June 12th. Any existing server that is not considered a low pop server and is not taken down at this time will still exist on the Legacy network. Legacy servers will continue to remain on a separate cluster from the new cluster, which means you will not be able to transfer anything between Legacy servers and the new servers. Servers Up for Deprecation Below is a complete list of the LEGACY servers that will be deprecated come June 12th. You have from now until then to move your belongings onto a server not present on this list. Please click one of the links below. They are separated by platform (PC, Xbox, and PS4). Most Popular Servers To avoid players having to move again in future, we're publishing the most popular servers across all platforms. These servers are the top 30 most active Legacy servers on each platform and are ones most likely to be safe from any future server removals. PC: Xbox: PS4: How To Move Servers If you are unfamiliar with the process, you are able to upload your items, creatures, and player through the Obelisk terminal, supply drops, as well as the Tek Transmitter. Survivors are advised to use Cross-ARK immediately to relocate their belongings onto a server that is not included in our take-down list above. Allocation of New Servers Our new method of onlining new servers has been through what we call "FRESH" servers. These servers are added to the main network but have downloads disabled for a period of 60 days. After 60 days that restraint is removed and they are officially joined to the main network. We plan to online set of Fresh servers on a monthly basis for all platforms so stay tuned for more information on when new ones will be added if you're looking for a fresh start. Server Saves of Deleted Servers We will make the save files available as soon as we can. We will host the PC files which anyone can download and then you are welcome to re-host the save file for your own use. We'll include a link to where you can download server saves in this post when they are available. Nitrado will also be able to provide the saves for use on Nitrado servers for console, as they have done in the past. ARK: Super Fan Edition! The Collector's Edition of ARK: Survival Evolved is available for purchase without the game or seasons pass included, for those who already own the game. This special edition includes: - HANDCRAFTED, LEATHER-BOUND EXPLORER'S NOTEBOOK: featuring the Dossiers of every creature you'll encounter in "ARK: Survival Evolved", with tips on capturing, taming and training them. With 100+ creatures in the game currently, there's plenty to read up on in this fantastic tome. - THE OFFICIAL ARK LOGO NECKLACE: to show your dedication to being a Survivor. - A CLOTH MAP OF THE ARK ISLAND: so you'll always know where you are! - COLLECTOR'S EDITION CHEST: All of this Ark-themed booty comes packed in a faux-wooden chest that will impress your friends and fellow players! - A POSTER FEATURING THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM BEHIND ARK - ARK OFFICIAL SOUNDTRACK CD You can purchase it world-wide today on our website: playark.com ARK: Evolution Event! Survivors across ALL Platforms will be receiving a special Evolution Event perk this weekend! It will be active from the Friday the 8th of June at 1 PM EST until Monday the 11th of June at 3 PM EST. All Official Servers across each platform will be undergoing this evolutionary change which includes: 2x Harvesting Rates 2x Taming Rates 2x EXP Rates That's it for this post guys! As always if you’ve got anything to share you can find us at: Twitter: twitter.com/survivetheark Facebook: facebook.com/survivetheark Reddit: reddit.com/r/playark Instagram: instagram.com/survivetheark Twitch: twitch.tv/survivetheark Steam: steamcommunity.com/app/346110 Youtube: youtube.com/survivetheark All the best, Studio Wildcard View full article

Most of the legacy servers that were shut down were ghost towns anyway. WC put on many more servers than were eventually needed 'cos of the initial hype around the game and people naturally moving on to other games (we had weeks of waiting for hours to get online as all the servers were constantly full so WC kept adding more). There were also problems on legacy with issues to do with duping and crazy bp / dino stats that were fixed throughout early access and the new servers were seen as a fresh start without those problems. I was on legacy and we had a choice to move to a legacy server that was staying online or to move on to a new server, the vast majority chose to move to a new server. Those who chose to stay on legacy did not have their progress wiped and were given time, if I remember correctly it was at least a couple of weeks, to move their characters and dinos over - and those servers stayed online all the way through to the end when all officials were shut down. Tbh it was expected at the time that all servers would be on a rolling shut down with new fresh servers coming regularly, it's more shocking that some ppl ended up having to reset timers for 5+ years, and newer active players had little chance to secure a prime location. I wouldn't worry about it. It was pretty clear to those playing at the time which servers were going to be shut down and which were still alive. The fresh start was a lot of fun and legacy players on legacy servers carried on right to the end too.

It is clear that we have all had opportunities in the past to ask for support and, where the request had the right reasons, the Support Team has done its job (some times better, other times less); one of my first posts here on the Forum was in response to some negative comments I read in the Community Crounch, on that occasion I wanted to explain that when the problems were well-founded (and well explained/documented), the GMs examined and acted, to they had solved two problems previously for me even though I was on the Legacy Servers... Now, however, our skepticism about the OP is clear for those who are in ASA and know/follow the events of the ASE closure announcement upon the arrival of ASA up to the situation of today...

Dear @StudioWildcard @Dollie @Cedric! The game is losing tons of players lately. But in here you have a pretty decent group of people who wants to play your game on official hardcore servers (far not everyone is bothering creating forum account to vote and had none prior due to no support on ASE hardcore servers, so there was no need for it really before) But thats one of hardcore discord communities (PC only, there are a lot more console players), and only few of us have voted in this topic: And still this topic is the most voted of all ASA suggestions Our community was never toxic and hating on devs, quite opposite actually, we have been supporting you even through all legacy servers closures, no official support for us, ASE closure etc. So once again we are asking you to open for us hardcore servers, so we can enjoy the game once more while supporting your team and your game. We are not asking for tons of servers, 1-2 of each map in a cluster would be enough. And i really can not see a single point on turning us down on that state of the game. Cheers

I join official PvE servers a little before scorched earth released. I know of the sunset of, the then, official servers that became legacy servers which they eventually shut down. And the sunset of official servers that happened recently. If there was another time they done it, I don't know of it. I have very fond memories from legacy servers and official. The way each server is shaped by the people on it. I just don't want to keep restarting from scratch every time they feel like it. If I did then I'd go play PvP. The way people were heart-broken when offical servers were shut down, leaving somewhere they have spent significant amounts of time, is understandable. I don't play ark unless it's official. I get bored when I play unofficial.

Hey Survivors! Welcome to the latest edition of the Community Crunch! Mysterious Mysteries: Introducing ??????? What an intriguing discovery survivors, can you guess what this creature is? Jen Has Ascended! Jen has been with the ARK team since the beginning days of Early Access and has been critical in the overall development and success of ARK. At the end of the week, Jen will be ascending into a new opportunity - closing one chapter and beginning the next. We will always consider Jen a part of the Wildcard family and are appreciative of everything she’s done for the studio and our products over the years. Join us in wishing her luck wherever her future takes her. The Mother of Parasaur’s will truly be missed! Mod Community Updates and Developer Podcast In case you missed our separate announcement post last week, submissions for our latest mod contest opened this Friday, May 31st. Check out the current entries and don't miss out on your opportunity to win an ARK Collectors Edition by voting on your favorite entries. In other modding news, sponsorship applications close on Wednesday night 6-5. Since the mod contest is underway, we thought it might be a good idea to check on some of the modders who have transitioned into roles on the ARK development team. Since launch, we've hired over 30 members from the community for various roles. Hosting is Cedric, accompanied by Dave, Jackson, Zane, and Josh. Listen to their experiences in the mod community and the different perspectives of becoming official mods and working for a game development company. If this podcast format is something you'd like to see with other topics in the future, let us know! Note: The goal was originally to post a video format but we had video issues while filming and decided to use the audio and do a podcast format instead. The Great Migration! Once again it is time to remove some of our lower population legacy ARK servers on PC, Xbox, and PS4 from our Official legacy network. Over time the ARK population has migrated from legacy to non-legacy and in its wake left many servers with low populations. Here is a quick breakdown on how this process works: Taking Down Low Pop Servers With calculations based on sustained player-count as well as popularity of game mode we will be removing lower population legacy servers, most of which retain a 0-4 player concurrent population. These servers will be taken offline on June 11th. Any existing server that is not considered a low pop server and is not taken down at this time will still exist on the Legacy network. Legacy servers will continue to remain on a separate cluster from the new cluster, which means you will not be able to transfer anything between Legacy servers and the new servers. Servers Up for Deletion Below is a complete list of the LEGACY servers that will be deleted come June 11th. You have from now until then to move your belongings onto a server not present on this list. Please click one of the links below. They are separated by platform (PC, Xbox, and PS4). How To Move Servers If you are unfamiliar with the process, you are able to upload your items, creatures, and player through the Obelisk terminal, supply drops, as well as the Tek Transmitter. Survivors are advised to use Cross-ARK immediately to relocate their belongings onto a server that is not included in our take-down list above. Server Saves of Deleted Servers We will make the save files available as soon as we can. We will host the PC files which anyone can download and then you are welcome to re-host the save file for your own use. We'll include a link to where you can download server saves in this post when they are available. Nitrado will also be able to provide the saves for use on Nitrado servers for console, as they have done in the past. Evolution Event! Survivors on all platforms will be receiving a special Evolution Event perk this weekend! It will be active from Friday the 7th of June at 1 PM EST until Monday the 10th of June at 3 PM EST. All Official Servers across each platform will be undergoing this evolutionary change which includes: 2x Harvesting Rates 2x Taming Rates 2x EXP Rates That's it for this post! As always if you’ve got anything to share you can find us at: Twitter: twitter.com/survivetheark Facebook: facebook.com/survivetheark Reddit: reddit.com/r/playark Instagram: instagram.com/survivetheark Twitch: twitch.tv/survivetheark Steam: steamcommunity.com/app/346110 Youtube: youtube.com/survivetheark All the best, Studio Wildcard View full article

So I am sitting here waiting for a spot to play on official, around an hour now, and some memories came crawling back so I thought I would see what everyone thinks. Remember when WC, at official launch of ASE, turned all of the "Official Servers" into "Legacy Servers" and ended customer support for those servers? The people that bought the game and played it from June 2015 till the official launch in 2017. Everyone felt betrayed. Then they proceeded to close servers and force server transfers killing server populations. They didn't wipe servers when the game officially launched but will they this time around with ASA? All your EA work down the drain! Can Snail Games or WC be trusted with all the controversy and poor management decisions? The ending of ASE and the handling of the launch of ASA has been almost hilarious but it's hard to laugh when it hurts so much. So what do you think? Will they wipe all servers when ASA (The remake released in Early Access) "Officially" launches...again lol?

WE DID IT!!! We did it! Me by posting a new chapter once every week for the last 14 weeks, and you by taking the time to read them! It's been lots of fun getting to post my personal Ark Survival Evolved story for others to read, and I'm very happy to have seen that at least a few people seem to be interested in it. I hope that it has been as enjoyable to read as it was for me to write! However, as stated in the introduction section for chapter 1, I currently only have 14 chapters completely finished and polished ready to read. So, unfortunately, as this is chapter 14 it will be the last one that I post for awhile. Perhaps for a very long while; as it takes a long time to write and polish a story. Maybe if I knew in greater detail the extent to which others might enjoy further chapters I would have a higher incentive to work on more? Feel free to leave a comment on this chapter if you'd like to express to me whether you'd like me to keep going or not; and feel free to give me details on why you'd like me to post further chapters, or if not then even why you'd prefer I didn't post any more chapters. Constructive criticism is always nice. To give you an idea concerning how far into the overall story chapter 14 is, I have a working list of future chapter titles and it would take around 86 more chapters to completely finish Florian's story; equaling to about 100 chapters in all(coincidentally; 100 also being the level that I reached with Florian's character before the legacy server split, along with a few other issues, caused his story to come to an end). In any case, I've found it to be a happy coincidence that I'll be posting this last of my first 14 chapters just a week before ASE official servers permanently shut down; as I've somewhat been dedicating the posting of these chapters as something of a "memoriam" for ASE official. I think one last solemn week after this posting is a very fitting timing. Say what you want of wildcard delays, but for me in this case it turned out nicely; as if they'd shutdown ASE official servers on their originally planned date, then the posting of my chapters wouldn't have worked out so well. Still, it'd be even better if they weren't shutting them down at all... Also, I hope that my chapters have helped at least a few of you in regards to the "void" created by a lack of promised official animated episodes. I, like many others, have been very annoyed at wildcard's debut of the season 1 animated series trailer near the beginning of this year; only to then get no further information about it until their recent announcement that "maybe you'll get to see it sometime next year"... Do you notice what I did wildcard? I waited until I had all 14 chapters completely finished and ready to post, then I announced that I would post 1 chapter each week until I'd posted all 14, and then guess what? I did just exactly that; and hit the weekly deadline every time. Sometimes on Friday, Sometimes on Saturday, but a new chapter every week. Maybe you could learn from your own past experiences and do the same for once? I mean, I don't care if you have all the episodes for season 1 finished and that you want to tell me this and show off a shiny trailer; it means nothing to me unless you then also begin to show me those episodes. Don't tell me that you have something done, or are working on something, until you're actually ready to show it to me; cause showing me a shiny trailer, then going silent about it for months, then almost a year later telling me that you still aren't ready to show me the episodes (and even worse that you still don't even know when you will be ready) doesn't build hype or anticipation; no, it builds resentment. Anyways; so, you could consider these first 14 chapters of mine to be "season 1" if you like. The first 14 "episodes" of Florian's story. And, if you've been feeling like the past few "episodes" have been really short; well, then I've got some good news for you! Similar to how the "introduction section" of this chapter will be the longest one so far, chapter 14 is also BY FAR the longest of these first 14 chapters. So; if you've been wanting more story each time lately and not getting it, you're getting it now! And if you've preferred the shorter chapters due to not liking as much reading; well, then, good luck with this one I guess! Alright, so, with all that out of the way; how was the previous chapter? Hulk certainly was a strangely interesting character wasn't he? Especially for a pvp server; where you'd expect him to just murder me, instead of throwing his implant at me and asking me to remember him. I mean, he was like level 84 or so at the time and I was only level 34. He could have one-shot me with his bare fists! But, whatever the strangeness of his methods, I guess he managed to achieve his goal. After-all; not only did I remember him, but I remembered him so well that I dedicated an entire chapter of my story to him! And now...with the last of my first 14 chapters...the end of "season 1" if you will...it's finally time to truly "start" to get into the story of Florian's Journey! To Celebrate the Existence of This Game, and to Mourn the approach of its Death, I invite you to read the longest chapter so far as we conclude this "memoriam" and "season 1 of chapters" with a Grand Finale! FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with... SECONDLY: IMPORTANT CONTEXT!! The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable. These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”. These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed. The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017. I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally. So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy! 102 102 Chapter 14 A Ghost-Face? And A Meat-Stick? I’d continued my Turtle hunt into the early morning…though sightings had remained few and far between. I now had just five Giant Turtles worth of harvested resources, packed into the storage boxes upon my raft; yet I figured that I would need at least five to ten more...just for a start. Irritable from the lack of sleep, along with a growing impatience over the long hours, I’d finally decided to give-up the hunt from atop my vessel…and instead search farther inland on foot. I docked my raft upon a wide sandy beach, strewn with large boulders, about a mile South of the huge swampland on the island’s Eastern edge. With a wooden spear in my right hand, and two more tied securely to my back, I jumped onto the warming sand; somehow managing to remain highly alert, despite my weary state. About a hundred feet in from the water, were a couple of small cliff-edged plateaus; with a wide, gently sloping, grassy pathway between them. The plateau on my right rose to about thirty feet above the beach beneath it, while the one on my left soared to around an eighty foot height; both seeming almost like barriers; set to separate the densely towering forest upon them, from the sparsely treed lowlands at their base. Quickly scanning the area, I could see that there were plenty of Trikes; Stegos; Parasaurs; and Phiomias; all casually moving about in their variously sized herds, grazing upon the low lying plants. But…no Giant Turtles. 103 103 Catching the glimpse of a swiftly moving Raptor, hunting a pack of Dodos several yards down the coast to my right, I decided to head off towards the left. The beach in this direction narrowed abruptly, as the land gradually climbed to a hundred foot tall cliff-face; overlooking the rocky sands below. This incline passed partly in-front of the eighty foot high plateau…creating a wide, smoothly sloping, grassy pathway; split in two by a large mound of earth about halfway up, which proudly displayed a single huge tree growing strong upon its surface. Deciding that the altitude would give me a good visual vantage point of the immediate area, I initially began ascending this convenient trail…but was stopped by a series of wooden billboards; which began just passed the large solitary tree. Carefully brushed in white paint, with bold lettering, they all read; ‘NO TRESPASSING! TRAPS AND TURRETS AHEAD! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!’ I gazed up the path, as it wound around to the top of the eighty foot high plateau…and saw the form of a modest stone fortress; tucked away behind a dense covering of trees…with what appeared to be an elaborate fortification of wooden spiked walls surrounding it. ‘…Here was certainly someone who didn’t like visitors.’ Not wanting to get into any unnecessary trouble, I quickly hiked back down the moderate slant; and decided to try my luck along the rocky shoreline, beside the gradually rising cliff-face. After about Sixty yards of barren rocky sand, the hundred foot high cliff suddenly dipped inwards; as if a giant had taken a large bite out of it. The rock-face curved inland as a half-circle, so that it created a large sandy area…sparsely covered in palm trees and boulders at the base of the hundred foot high precipice; which extended about three-hundred feet in from the water, and stretched roughly a hundred-fifty feet across…before realigning itself with the rest of the vertical rocky surface. The far end of the towering crag, several hundred feet off in the distance, gradually sloped down into a flat sandy beach; near the point of the peninsula. On either side of this enormous indentation…sunk securely into the sand near the water…was a large wooden billboard, with a merciless threat smeared upon it in red paint…probably meant to look like blood; ‘Trespassers Will Be Killed!’ 104 104 Glancing into the inward curvature of the rock-face, I saw what appeared to be a large wood structure; nearly as tall as the towering cliff beside which it was built, and almost as wide as the semicircle space within which it had been constructed. The building appeared haphazard…with no logical design to its assembly, and no obvious means of entry…though the sheer size of it was quite impressive. Thinking for a moment that; ‘traveling this way had been a waste of time’, it was then that I spotted the armor-plated head, of my long sought after quarry, emerging from the surface of the water on the other side of the large sandy expanse; which lay between the threatening billboards! As I watched the form of a large, grey-shelled, Giant Turtle with teal colored hide slowly make its way onto the beach…just out of my reach…a couple of yards beyond the far warning sign…I knew that; ‘I couldn’t let an intimidating message, keep me from obtaining the resources I so desperately needed!’ Still…being careful to heed the billboard’s warning, I traversed the space between the no-trespassing signs by wading through the ocean water; so as to not step upon the actual land…hoping that this would be a good enough excuse, should their owner suddenly appear…and question my presence. …A few minutes later, I had finally made it to the other side of the sectioned-off area; to find the Giant Turtle leisurely walking around the beach, as it soaked up the warming sun. With a battle cry, I swiftly charged towards it from behind; and stabbed my spear as deep into its back left leg as I could manage, before promptly pulling it out! Uttering a pain-filled shriek, the Giant Turtle quickly turned around; snapping at me with its razor-sharp beak-like mouth! Dodging its attack, I rushed around to its back and stabbed it again! The Turtle continued to follow me with its head…slowly turning upon its four stout limbs…as it attempted to strike back with its only means of offensive action. …I merely kept dodging around to its rear; piercing its hind-legs over …and over …progressively amassing a series of steadily bleeding wounds. 105 105 I then accidentally jabbed my spear into its shell, striking the hard surface, thus causing my weapon to splinter into pieces! Further proof that its tough, keratin-like shielding was exactly what I needed to increase my own defensive capabilities! Its rigid, spikey covering protected the Giant Turtle’s major organs from harm…making it seemingly impossible to kill the creature easily. For most predators, this was enough of a deterrent to keep them from even trying…but unfortunately for the Turtle, it just meant that its death would come slowly…and painfully…at the hands of any who were determined enough to see their efforts through till the end. Grabbing one of my back-up spears from its holster upon my back, I continued in the same manner as before; being even more careful not to strike its shell again. After about a half hour or so of struggling in this round-about way, the Giant Turtle at last succumbed to fatigue due to its gradual blood-loss…and collapsed onto the sand in a dazed faint. Taking the stone axe which hung at my side, I firmly held the Turtle’s limp head down…and with a couple of swift chops, I quickly ended its pain …along with its life. I didn’t enjoy killing the more innocent creatures…like this one. The bloodthirsty beasts…such as Dillos, Raptors, and Carnos…I had no problems with; but I ached severely inside, whenever I Killed something…which hadn’t first been trying to kill me. ‘Still…I had no choice. For my own survival…I needed their natural protection to become mine…and there was no way for them to give it up willingly.’ Knowing that I would still have to do this at least another four times, I silently thanked the animal for its sacrifice…and prepared myself to begin processing its body. ~~~~~~~ A series of rapid thundering footsteps, sounding down the shoreline, then interrupted my actions as I turned; startled; to look into a cavernous maw of sharply glistening teeth, which were as long as my arm! The massive Tyrannosaurus-Rex let out a deafening ‘RROOOOAAAARRR’ straight in my face; amidst a flailing of huge spit globs, and the stench of rotting meat! Frozen in fear…I sat there…as the intense ringing in my ears gradually faded…certain that I was only seconds away from sliding sliced and bloody down its throat! 106 106 Then, just as I was sure the beast was about to devour me whole, the playful male voice of a human looking down on someone less advantaged called out from far above; “Heh-hey there little guy?! What-cha doin near my beach?!” Dazed and confused…I stared blankly up at the Rex……wondering for just a moment, if it had actually spoken to me; “Uh………What?” A pale human face, covered in shaggy black hair, then poked out from behind the Rex’s gargantuan head and shouted; “Up here little guy! Those are MY no trespassing signs back there…or didn’t ya read them?! I sure hope you didn’t step on MY SAND; cause then I’d have to KILL YOU!” Briefly pushing aside the mind-shattering fact, that someone had not only managed to domesticate a T-REX…but also rode about on it so casually…for future contemplation, I quickly stuttered back in response; “Oh, oh, oh, oh that wood building and those signs are yours then? No Sir, I didn’t step a single foot on your sand! I noticed the signs, and swam around the area out in the water!” Hoping to add some extra weight to my defense, I briefly glanced at the lifeless turtle carcass beside me; “I wouldn’t have even done that…but I saw a Giant Turtle on the other side…and I just had to get to it! See, I’ve spent the past thirty-six hours hunting them specifically…and haven’t had much luck in finding them…so I couldn’t let this one get away!” The man gazed at me with a look that said he wasn’t entirely convinced; “Giant Turtles eh? Ah, you mean the Carbonemys. What’cha doin hunting those things for?! It’ll take you hours to kill one with your little spears! …There’s plenty of easier animals to hunt for food around here; and much better tasting ones to!” Getting up off the ground…I decided it would probably be better just to be honest with him; “I need their hard keratin shells to improve my defenses, so that I won’t just get killed in two seconds by something! It’s the only way I can think of, to survive with all the dangerous stuff around here!” The man momentarily glanced at my kill…then turned his attention back towards me; “Do you want the meat then?! And does the shell have to be fully intact for your use?!” 107 107 Wondering what exactly it was, he was thinking of doing…I shouted back submissively; “No! I have too much meat to eat already from my previous kills…and I actually need the shell broken up into much smaller pieces to use properly…so I’ll have to spend a lot of time painstakingly cutting it apart later!” The man’s eyes glinted with a spark of blatant superiority as he stated; “That so? Well then, you better step back; so that you can get a good look at what this powerful beast does best!” I barely managed to jump out of the way, as the man’s Rex suddenly scooped the Carbonemys corpse into its drooling mouth at his command! It then proceeded to crunch the shell into shattering chunks between its massive jaws; letting the pieces rain down onto the sand like thick, shimmering, shards of glass. I marveled at the lumbering brute’s delicate precision, as it appeared to swallow none of the sharp fragments along with its meat…letting the entire cracked shell fall at my feet; while I swiftly gathered the pieces into a large hide carrying bag on my back. When the Rex had finally finished with its meal, the man again called out to me boastingly; “See?! Wasn’t that so much easier?! Say…out of curiosity…it doesn’t have to be Carbonemys shell does it? I mean, there are lots of animals around here that you can get forms of keratin from. The spikes and back-plates on Stegos…the horns on Trikes…the skulls of Pachys.” Staring up at him gratefully for his help, I quickly answered; “Not really! Long as it’s keratin, I can use it! But…Stegos and Trikes are so much more dangerous. I don’t really think I have a chance at killing them; which is why I started hunting the Carbonemys.” The man’s face acquired a patronizing grin as he replied; “Well shoot! I’m about to go on a meat run to feed my Carnivores, and I end up throwing away piles of the stuff every time I do! Hmmmm…. Well…I suppose as a favor, I could throw it down to you instead! That is…provided you can keep up with me on foot?!” Gazing at him with increased gratitude, I yelled back eagerly; “Sure! That’d be great! Thank you so much!” 108 108 Laughing gently at my enthusiasm for keratin, the man shouted back to me as his Rex began walking forwards with gradually increasing speed; “Sure thing! The name’s GhostFace by the way; learn it and respect it! I’ll allow you to cross between my signs just this once, so you won’t be slowed down by the water as you follow me! Well…let’s see if you can keep up!” With that, the Rex took off down the coastline with crashing strides of ten to fifteen feet; which shook the sandy ground beneath its massive black and grey colored form! Immediately realizing that this GhostFace individual wasn’t going to make it easy for me, I desperately sprinted after him; using all the strength I could muster just to keep up! We rushed passed his warning signs and down the cliff-edged shoreline; finally stopping near the thirty foot high plateau, as the Rex skillfully took off a Parasaur’s head with one chomp! The poor thing hadn’t even had a chance…the Parasaur had barely begun to pick up speed in its attempted escape, as the steadily jogging Rex had moved swiftly upon it. Finally catching up…I placed my hands firmly upon my knees to steady myself, as I gasped deeply with exhaustion, while the Rex effortlessly picked up the Parasaur’s headless body with its jaws; and swung it around onto a special carrying rack made of metal bars, which had been fitted to its back. Hardly managing to recover from the intensive sprint, I then caught a glimpse of movement in the corner of my right eye; as a Raptor raced swiftly through the grass in my direction! Thinking for a moment, that I’d be done before my keratin gleanings had even begun…as I had no strength within me to run or fight back…I simply closed my eyes; and awaited the familiarly inevitable pain. Hearing a loud crunch, followed by an agonizing screech, I then opened my eyes to see that the Rex had deftly caught the Raptor in its crushing maw just before it’d reached me! Lifting it up, the Rex casually tossed it into the air; and then caught it again with a deadly cracking of bones. 109 109 Looking down from his large leather-hide saddle, GhostFace called out jeeringly; “You’re going to have to do a lot better than that little guy! We’ve barely begun, and you’re already out of breath! From here on the meat run will only get more difficult; so follow or not at your own discretion, as I can’t be constantly looking behind me to check if you’re still there!” Not waiting for a response, he directed his Rex to stomp up the sloping pathway between the two plateaus; into the forested region beyond. Not wanting to give this guy the satisfaction of my surrender, and still very much desiring that otherwise wasted keratin, I chased after him into the dense vegetation! We went up and over a large forested hill, then down the other side towards the bay-like inlet of ocean water; which ran along the peninsula’s inner flank. Here, amongst a wide scattering of enormous boulders, the Rex stopped again; as it engaged in combat with a lone green-colored Stegosaurus! Panting heavily a few yards away, I watched as the Stego whipped its spiked tail at the Rex’s lower jaw; lightly scratching its thigh instead. The Rex then shoved hard with its oversized cranium; smashing the Stegosaurus against a giant boulder near the sand, which was as large as the Rex itself! The Stego wobbled painfully from the impact, then rushed towards the Rex with another jabbing strike of its tail! This time; the Stegosaurus managed to scrape a couple of long, yet shallow, cuts into the Rex’s chest. Seeing the opening it was waiting for, the Rex clamped down hard upon the Stego’s immensely smaller head; using its huge left foot to press strategically against the Stego’s side until it fell over…twisting the Stego’s neck in the process. With the full weight of its left leg keeping the Stegosaurus pinned down, the Rex severed its head from its body with a hard wrenching yank! It then proceeded to skillfully rip out the Stego’s large back-plates and tail-spikes with its teeth; leaving them on the ground for me to pick up, while it swung the rest up onto its carry rack; to lay beside the Parasaur. As I scrambled to stuff the keratin chunks into my now bulging hide backpack, the Rex abruptly continued on its hunt; stomping in the direction of the inlet bay’s inland side, amidst a scattering of frightened Dodos! 110 110 A towering, hundred foot-high, cliff-face rose along the peninsula edged side of the inlet at our backs; with a large grassy slant leading up to its summit far down the wide beach, as it stretched towards the ocean. The far side of the bay rose into a large forested hill, with the beginnings of a lofty rock-face creeping just around the bend of shoreline; which marked the inlet’s outer reaches on that side, as it merged into the wider ocean. Flattening the smaller palm trees as it charged ahead, the Rex turned to rush down a series of large elongated mounds of dirt; sparsely covered in massive rocks and dainty trees…with variously sized, shallow streams continually splitting and reconnecting around them; as they raced out to join with the inlet bay. Hastily stuffing the last few bits of keratin into my pack, I once again chased after the Rex; my bare feet feeling refreshingly cool as I splashed through the shallow streams, and comfortingly warm as I ran over the earthen mounds. ~~~~~~~ Eighty foot tall cliffs began to rise on both sides; as the numerous streams gradually converged into a single, shallow river farther down. The cliff-faces narrowed into a thirty foot wide canyon; with a sheer rock-face to our right; and a gently inclining pathway, leading up to the precipice’s densely forested peak, on our left. The Rex again stopped, as it caught another Parasaur in its teeth; above a frantic scattering of the rest of its herd. The fleeing Parasaurs honked loudly with decrees of danger, as they dashed wildly into the lengthy ravine! While the Rex gently tossed its latest kill onto the slowly growing pile of victims upon its back, GhostFace glanced over his shoulder just as I was catching up to him; “That all you got man?! Come’on…can’t you run any faster?! I’m even going slower than usual for you!” Amidst a series of coughing gasps, I sputtered back; “I’m trying my best! But I’m running on foot! That Rex can take ten foot strides…compared to my two foot sprints! …I can only run so fast for so long!” 111 111 Commanding his Rex to begin walking down the river carpeted canyon, GhostFace shouted in reply; “Sounds like a you problem! I’ve got a schedule to keep, so I can only accommodate slowness to a point!” I said nothing, as we continued splashing down the deep gulley; the Rex causing a wave of water half my height to rise with every step. A few tens of yards in, the shallow river was suddenly split in two by a soaring cliff-edged plateau! GhostFace steered his Rex down the left path, which continued on for several tens of yards more; after which it gradually opened as the cliffs descended into gently sloping, rocky inclines. The waterway again was split into two narrow creeks by a lengthened mound of soil; shortly before joining with a larger river which extended meanderingly inland far off into the distance on my right, and curved around an eighty foot high cliff-face to my left…a narrower, shallow stream also branched off from this wider river near to where the creeks joined with it; which flowed straight out into what appeared to be the ocean, about a half mile or so to my left. Letting my eyes wander to the top of the eighty foot tall rock-face, I saw that a large stone fort had been built at its peak; overlooking the valley below as a steadfast sentry. After only a brief moment’s pause, the Rex suddenly jerked to the right; and headed down the large, meandering river. Chasing after him; we passed by another couple of small creeks amidst a series of long, earthen, rocky covered hillocks as the rest of the previous winding brook met up with the broader waterway. The huge river flowed lazily along a path of gently winding curves. It appeared to be about eighty feet wide from edge to edge, and ten feet deep at its center; though thankfully we kept to the riverbank, so I didn’t need to worry about trying to keep up with the Rex while swimming. The land touching the river’s margin on our right, upon which we hastily traveled, consisted of a large grassland; sparsely dotted with trees, that gradually transitioned into a series of forested knolls far off into the distance. The shore to our left, in contrast, immediately rose into a series of large wooded hills; which were occasionally laced by variously sized cliffs. 112 112 To my visual delight, there were a vast multitude of creatures moving throughout the wide prairie before us; as they all went about their daily routines. I saw large herds of Parasaurs, Stegos, and Trikes as they either grazed upon the grasses or drank at the water’s edge…flocks of Pteranodons soared through the sky overhead; occasionally dipping their long pointed beaks into the river for a drink, or to catch a big wriggling fish…various groups of Carbonemys moved slowly about near the water, as packs of Dillos and Raptors chased after fleeing Dodos and Phiomias respectively…towering over them all, rose a small herd of lumbering Brontos; which seemed unconcerned with the commotion around them, while they drank from the river and searched for tall trees to casually graze upon. Looking more closely…it even seemed there were a few species I hadn’t yet seen upon the island. There were what appeared to be a light scattering of Diplodocus throughout the savanna…a smaller cousin of the Brontosaurus. They stood about thirty feet high; upon four stout legs, with massive four-toed feet. Tiny spikes followed along the entire hundred foot length of their spine; from their bulbous head, sporting a pair of alert eyes above flat herbivorous teeth, down their ridiculously long necks…all the way to the tips of their exceedingly lengthy whip-like tails; all encased in a thick leathery hide of blues and greens. Droves of Gallimimus darted skittishly between the other animals upon two lengthy legs, with large three-toed feet; designed for extreme sprinting speeds. Their twelve foot height, and twenty-six foot length, caused them to appear something of a mix between a Parasaur and a Raptor…their heads seeming almost predatory with long narrow mouths filled by tiny sharp teeth, and a pair of slightly forward-set eyes; expertly alert beneath a tuft of long feathers which sprouted from the back of their heads, all set atop a very extensively curving neck…their two long, slender arms each with three lengthy clawed fingers made them look as though they could be quite deadly; along with their swiftly slender form, and lengthily slender tail all covered in a hide of tans and greens. However, despite their immediately dangerous appearance, I somehow knew that Gallis were among the most nervous of herbivores…being more likely to run from a Dillo, than attack it. 113 113 The Rex casually snapped up a few Parasaurs and Phiomias, as their comrades fled for their lives, while we continued down the riverbank. Occasionally, it would crunch up a Carbonemys or two; letting the keratin shards fall to ground, where I rapidly snatched them from the dust amidst its stomping feet. It tried to catch a Galli every now and then…but they were far too agile to be worth chasing after; not when there was so much easier game to be had. Whenever a Raptor or Dillo would charge towards us with intent to kill me, the Rex would nonchalantly bend over and snatch it into its crushing maw; as if to remind me, that I’d be dead without its protection. Eventually…we came upon a lone Triceratops; which had wandered a good distance away from the safety of its herd. Seeing a worthy challenge, the Rex lunged at it; barely scratching the Trike’s back, as it swung its horns around in defense! The Rex then backed a few yards away from it…and waited…as the Trike decided whether it would stay and fight, or rush back to the security of its herd. Being a young and naïve male, the Trike charged towards the Rex with intent to drive its horns deep into the Rex’s chest! The Rex on the other hand, seemed a veteran of dinosaurous combat; which had been well-trained by its human masters. Waiting until just the right moment, the Rex stepped quickly to the side; unharmed as the charging Trike rushed by! Then, seeing the opening it’d been waiting for, the Rex lunged swiftly forwards; aiming for the Trike’s weakest point at the base of its neck, which would otherwise have been hidden by the large armor-like frill atop its head! Clamping down hard, the Rex stopped the Trike in its tracks by pinning it with its weight…and after just a few seconds of struggling, it managed to snap the Trike’s neck between its powerful crushing jaws! Pulling out the horns for me to collect into my pack, it tossed the corpse onto the ever growing pile upon its back; which seemed to me to be getting a bit too heavy, and awkward, for it to carry effectively. Continuing onwards; it was then I realized how close we’d gotten to the enormous, floating, green-glowing metal tower! From my vantage point on the ground, it looked as though the area around its base might be similar to that of the red tower’s; as I could see seven colossal pillars of rock curving like claws towards the center of a circular region beneath. 114 114 Akin to that of the red tower, these claw-like rock formations pulsed green with a peculiar energy within a strange technology; which had been embedded inside them. As I gazed distractedly towards the floating tower, the Rex stopped abruptly to rest amidst the grassy plain. Standing here, we were only about a quarter mile away from the enormous obelisk; with just a few short, cliff-edged plateaus in front of it being the only obstacles to traverse. ~~~~~~~ As I was about to inquire if we might possibly head over in that direction, a gigantic bird suddenly blocked the mid-day sun with its massive wings; as it descended upon us! Franticly looking towards GhostFace to gauge the threat, I saw him waving up to the bird familiarly; as though he were greeting a long-time friend. My abrupt panic slowly easing off, I began to see the fowl more clearly; as it landed a few yards away from the Rex, with a deep reverberating ‘HONK!’ The great bird appeared to stand about twenty feet tall upon two large, five-clawed hind legs; and a couple of even larger five-clawed front arms. It had a pair of enormous skin-covered, orange-colored, wings which stretched between its limbs; and looked as though they would provide a forty-five foot wingspan if fully extended. Its head consisted of a long, pointed, cream-colored beak; which appeared to be even larger than the Rex’s cranium, with a huge eye about the size of my head on either side…and a thick Mohawk of purple feathers fluffed along its top…this all sitting upon a lengthy giraffe-like neck of blue skin; which connected to a large body of small, black feathers; with a little Pteranodon-like nub-of-a-tail hanging between its back legs. By all description…I knew it to be a Quetzalcoatlus! The Quetz stood there warily…its eyes flickering, and its head twitching slightly… as it constantly shifted its gaze about its surroundings; ever vigilant of potential threat. To my astonishment, it carried a large metal platform saddled to its back; with a long metal ramp sloping almost to the ground on the side which faced us! 115 115 A large muscular man, wrapped in a deep ebony casing, and wearing a complete set of hide-leather clothing with close-cut raven hair; then stood from his seat upon the Quetz’s back, and called out to GhostFace; “Hey! What you got for me?!” GhostFace shouted back in friendly banter; “More than you can carry, since the Rex can hardly lift it! But you’re welcome to try!” The man grinned, bellowing back; “That so?! Well; you better get to work loading up the Quetz then, so we can find out!” The man then glanced briefly in my direction, as he noticed my minute presence beneath the massive Rex; “Hey GhostFace; who’s the noob?!” GhostFace looked around confused for a moment, as the man’s question had distracted him; from his task of loading the harvested animals onto the Quetz’s metal platform with his Rex; “Huh?! Oh; yeah…I found him killing a Carbonemys with a wooden spear near my beach! He gave me the meat, cause he said he just wanted the keratin shell! I don’t really know why he wants keratin so much…but I told him that I waste a lot of it on these meat runs, and said he could have all that I collected today if he kept up with me! Heh, heh, heh…So he’s been following along and picking up the pieces I drop!” The man’s face then took on a sternly irritated visage…though I could see a smile of amusement just a few centimeters beneath it; “Come’on now! That’s not a nice way to treat noobs! Making them run behind you on foot so they die of exhaustion! You could just as well have saved up the keratin, and traded it to him for something later!” GhostFace replied critically, as his Rex tossed one of the dead Parasaurs onto the Quetz’s back; “Well…it’s not like I was forcing him to do it! He could have chosen to give up, and go do something else at any moment! I thought I was being quite charitable; since the keratin was just going to be thrown away…and I even made sure to keep him from dying! Besides…I doubt he’d have anything I’d want to trade for!” As the Rex threw its final carcass onto the now heavily weighed down Quetzal, the man looked down towards me and shouted; “Hey you down there! It’s a long way back to where you were! If you can manage to get yourself onto the Quetzal, and don’t mind riding near a pile of dead meat, then I’ll give ya a lift back alright?!” 116 116 Nodding my head in the affirmative, I ran up to the Quetz and carefully climbed up the somewhat slippery metal ramp to its back; being careful to avoid the small trickles of blood, which flowed down from the corpses above. As I steadied myself near the pile of remains, just a few feet behind the six and a half foot tall man, he gave me a nod; then took his seat by the long, hide-leather reigns and yelled at GhostFace; “Take the Rex a little ways into the ocean on your way back to wash off some of that blood! I don’t want the base smelling like rotting meat again!” I could hear the faint reply of ‘Yeah, yeah!’ from GhostFace, as the Quetzal unfurled its gigantic wings with a thundering whoosh of air! Then, with a snap of the reigns and a loud holler, the Quetz began to flap against the ground with a mighty force; causing us to slowly lift into the air! I wobbled slightly amidst the whirling gusts, and flattened myself against the metal of the platform to keep from being blown off; clinging tightly to my overstuffed pack of hard-won keratin, so that it wouldn’t go sliding off! Once we’d reached his desired altitude, the ride began to feel a little smoother …but I remained flat against the hard metal; for fear of slipping off, as there were no safety lines to cling to! Weighed down by the heavy load, we flew low to the ground…just barely brushing against the towering treetops, as we steadily headed back towards the peninsula. Once we’d been in the air for a couple minutes or so, the man at the reigns called loudly over his shoulder; so as to be heard above the Quetzal’s booming wing-flaps; “My name’s MeatStick by the way! …Bet this is the first time you’ve ridden a Quetzal huh?! Heh…probably the first time you’ve ever flown! …It might feel a bit bumpy at first…but you’ll get used to it! So…why do you want so much keratin; if you don’t mind me asking?!” While trying desperately to focus on not falling off, I respectfully replied; “It’s nice to meet you! …I’m Florian! …Well…I just figure that the tough substance would be really good for increasing my personal defenses! …There are so many dangerous things around here…that want to kill me…so I’m trying to think of ways to help keep me alive!” 117 117 Correcting the Quetzal’s course slightly, MeatStick shouted back; “I suppose that makes sense in your position! It could help you out, if you made armor-plating of some kind with it maybe! …Would chitin perhaps be of any interest to you?! That’s the hard carapace around things like Pulmonoscorpius, uh, the Giant Scorpions!” Considering my experience with them…I felt that chitin might be similar enough to keratin for it to be useful, so I responded quickly; “Sure! If you have any spare chitin, then I could certainly use it!” MeatStick happily yelled back; “Great! We’ve got a few boxes of the stuff just taking up space back home! I’m not going to just give it away like GhostFace though! …If you’re willing; let’s do a trade?! …If you can gather and bring me twenty bundles of fiber, then I’ll give you all the chitin we’ve got; alright?!” My enthusiasm building due to the recent turn of events, I gleefully agreed; “Okay! You got a deal!” MeatStick angled the Quetz’s trajectory slightly to the right as he responded; “Excellent! I’ll drop you off near the point of the peninsula then; okay?! There’s lots of bushes there for you to collect for fiber, and it’s close to where GhostFace found you…if you have a raft or something to put the keratin you’ve already collected into! Our base is near there to; when you’re ready to trade! You can’t miss it! In-fact…you’ve probably already seen it! It’s the large, stone, rectangular box against the cliff-face with a wooden spiked wall around it!” My smile widening, and not just because of the airstream blowing into my cheeks, I simply shouted back; “Sure! Sounds good to me!” ~~~~~~~ A few minutes later, I felt the Quetz slow its forward momentum; and begin to lower as it descended towards the peninsula’s point. It dropped till the bottom edge of the metal ramp was just a few feet above the ground, and then hovered there as MeatStick waved me off with a final instruction; “Okay; here’s your stop! Just slide down the ramp and into the sand…it should cushion your fall! Just walk up to one of our outer wooden gates, and give it a hard knock when you’re ready to trade okay?! Or give us a shout if that doesn’t work!” 118 118 I nodded, then slid down the ramp with a soft thud into the sand below; my backpack full of keratin making a loud rattling noise as it rolled down the glistening metal! MeatStick took off on his Quetz towards his stone fortification, which was just a few tens of yards down the beach, as I covered my face; shielding it from the spiraling sand, which flew up amongst the mighty gusts of wind the Quetzal produced in its wake! As the whirling grains settled, I confidently stood; hefting the hide pack full of keratin shards onto my back. MeatStick had dropped me off near the peninsula’s outer most point; just a few feet from the large wooden scaffolding, which resembled the letters ‘FU’. Now standing at its base…the entire structure appeared to be about thirty-six feet high, and forty-eight feet wide…as it faced sternly towards the crescent shaped islet, which sat about a mile or so out from the main island. Glancing briefly about my immediate surroundings, I found myself to be on a wide…flat…sandy area which was indeed densely covered in a blanket of little fern-like bushes; along with a sparse scattering of small trees. The beach curved gently into the ocean’s softly glistening water, all around the long finger of land; aside from a few large boulders…including a massive fifty foot tall slab of rock near its tip; which seemed strangely out-of-place amongst its otherwise flatter surroundings. As the ground moved inland along the peninsula’s length…it gradually sloped into a grassy, boulder-strewn hill; with hundred-foot high cliffs on either side…overlooking large sandy beaches beneath. A small jut of earth split the slope into two paths part way up; with a single, large tree growing firmly on its crumbling surface. I first made my way to the raft; which was about a mile down the peninsula’s rocky outer edge…being careful to skirt around GhostFace’s ‘No Trespassing’ signs…and stashed the substantial pile of keratin into a wooden storage container upon it. Once that was accomplished, I sailed the craft back to the peninsula’s point; docking it near the fifty foot tower of rock. Reminding myself to remain alert, I quickly set off upon my work of collecting fibrous plant tissue from the field of bushes around me; all the while enjoying a sing-song, chortling chorus from the many variously colored Dodos waddling peacefully nearby; as they fed off the differently hued berries. 119 119 I tied the fibers into bundles of a hundred strands each…and once I had twenty of them all set aside into a pile, I carefully gathered them up into a towering heap…cradled strategically in my arms…before striding warily towards MeatStick’s imposing dwelling. The cliff-face on the peninsula’s inner side rose gradually to my right, as I cautiously made my way down the half-mile or so stretch of coastline to their outer gate…trying my best not to trip over anything, as the awkward stack of fibrous bales made it difficult to see where I was going. The sun had long since dipped into the evening portion of its daily travel across the sky; causing a deep lengthening of shadows to blanket the terrain in a darkening precursor of the night to come. Walking up to their exterior fortifications, I felt a slight twinge of unease…as I still wasn’t certain how far I could trust them. The external perimeter of their land, on this side, consisted of a large wooden gateway about twenty-four feet high by twelve feet wide; which was connected to a twelve foot tall barricade of huge tree-trunks, that had been sharpened into deadly points…then angled out towards any enemy which dared approach. The bottom of the spiked wall appeared to have been securely sunk into the sand for added support, and the wooden beams were firmly lashed together with hide straps. To my right, the pointed barrier fit snuggly against the base of the rocky cliff; while to my left, it curved as it followed the shoreline around to the other side of their fenced-off domain. On either side of the wood gate, was a great wooden billboard which read in brushed white paint; ‘No Entry Without Permission! Trespassers Will Be Killed On Sight!’ Taking a slow…deep breath…I shifted the fibers’ weight to my left side; and pounded hard upon the wood gate with my right fist shouting loud as I could; “Hello?! It’s Me! …I’ve Finished Collecting The Plant Fiber You Wanted!” ……Silence. After a few minutes without a response, I was just beginning to consider whether I should give another shout; when the large double-doors of the wooden gate slowly creaked open, to reveal MeatStick standing on the other side. 120 120 Looking at me with a half-intrigued, half-confounded gaze…he called out in a deep, booming voice; “Oh Man! Are you actually still collecting fiber?! It was getting dark, so, to be honest I thought you’d given up and gone somewhere else! …Did you really collect all that by hand?! …Well…a deal is a deal. Come on in and set that pile down by the building’s entrance! I’ll get ya the chitin I promised! Don’t worry…none of my Dinos will hurt you; since I invited you in.” Continuing to balance the precarious parcels of fiber, I followed him through the gate into a wide sandy area; dimly lit by the crackling flames from a sparse scattering of five-foot high standing torches, which had been firmly secured in the ground. I scanned around to see if GhostFace was here as well, but saw neither him…nor anything else of interest along the barren shoreline. The singular structure within their semi-circle of spiked walls was a massive, stone, rectangular box; which hugged the cliff-face all the way up to its hundred foot height, so that if someone had been standing on top of the rocky precipice; they’d be able to easily jump from it, onto the flat roof of their building. The impressive construction looked to be about a hundred and eighty feet long, by forty-two feet wide, as well; with a behemoth stone gate, reinforced by metal bracing, as its main entrance. Glancing around the structure…I saw a stone, behemoth-sized gateway fitted into the perimeter barricade on the other side of the building as well; which looked to serve as the inland entrance to their claimed area. Placing the fiber onto the ground near the building’s entrance as instructed, I then stepped back and waited to see what MeatStick would do. I watched, as he strode casually up to the behemoth gate…and gave it two hard whacks with his right fist. A few seconds later, the massive doors groaned slowly open; just wide enough for two humans to step through side-by-side. He then walked over to the pile of fiber, and gathered it up as he instructed; “Wait here a few minutes…and I’ll be out with your chitin. I’d invite you inside…but I’d rather not take the chance of my Dinos getting spooked by someone they don’t recognize.” 121 121 As I nodded my head to show that I’d understood, he carried the heap of fiber through the doorway; disappearing into an enormous room, faintly lit by firelight…and smelling strongly of animals. With curiosity getting the better of me, I carefully peeked through the opening after him; to see what could only be described…in the dim light that I had to see by…as a massive stone barn. I saw rows and rows of stalls…all filled with various creatures; some of which I recognized, and some that I couldn’t quite make out in the weak light. I also noticed that there appeared to be three floors in total to the structure; with the larger land animals making up the majority of those stabled on the bottom, while the two upper floors consisted mainly of flyers along with smaller land critters. A few minutes later, MeatStick reappeared from the smelly twilight; holding four large hide sacks in his hands, which he promptly dropped to the ground at my feet with a clatter; “There you go! As promised! That’s all the chitin I could find stored around the base... Don’t worry about closing the wood gate on your way out; we’ll get it later... And don’t be a stranger okay?! If you ever need anything else, just give us a holler; and if we can help, then we’ll be happy to trade! Especially for more fiber! Difficult as it may be to believe…collecting fiber has actually become far more difficult and tedious a task for us than most other resources these days……and damned if it doesn’t seem like we need it to craft just about everything we use around here.” Picking up the bags, hefting them onto my weary shoulders, I felt emboldened by his unexpected extension of friendship; “Well…actually…there is one thing. I could really use a safe and out-of-the-way place to build a shelter for myself……if you know a good location where wild creatures, or other humans, won’t just demolish it the next day? …I’ve been trying to get a stable lodging setup for quite a few weeks now…but something always comes along and flattens it no-matter what I do…or where I build.” MeatStick looked at me with an intensely inquiring gaze…as though he were trying to discern who I fully was as a person... He then abruptly reached out and firmly grasped my left arm; pulling it towards him as he double-tapped the diamond implant below my left wrist. 122 122 ‘VROOOM!’ A holographic panel displaying my personal statistics appeared above my implant; which he then reviewed intently, before saying with some disappointment; “Quotient thirty-four eh? …Yeah…sorry…I can’t really use you in this state... But uh…if you want; it’d be okay with us if you built near the tip of the peninsula... We more or less own this whole stretch of land; and the peninsula’s point should be far enough out of our way.” As he let go of my wrist, an uncontainable excitement suddenly burst forth; “Really! You mean it?!” Taken aback somewhat by my intense enthusiasm, he simply replied; “Yeah… sure... Long as you don’t build too big…and long as you keep your distance from our no trespassing signs. Dangerous animals rarely show up around here, and few people come by, so it should be perfect for you to get a start.” Thinking back to the other, ‘no trespassing’, signs I’d seen near the start of the peninsula on its other side…and the small stone fort I’d noticed above them…I quickly glanced in that direction as I questioned; “What about your neighbor who lives on top of the peninsula’s hill? Will they be okay with me living here…since the place is already crowded between the two of you? …Or is that stone fort I saw another one of your buildings?” MeatStick seemed confused by the query for a moment…but then appeared to remember something as he laughed; “Oh! That’s just old Grognok The Bewildered’s place! Heh…Nah…he’d be fine with it…as long as you keep away from his signs. He’s just an old……mostly harmless…hermit, who prefers to live alone behind his complex fortifications. The guy rarely leaves his place anymore…prefers the solitude; and doesn’t like interacting with other people much. We tried to get him to join us a while back since he lives so close…but he stubbornly refused. I’d just stay out of his hair if I were you; then he won’t be a bother. If you do ever have the misfortune of getting into a conversation with him however; then I’d highly suggest you plead with him to tell you some stories from his past. Supposedly…he was one of the first humans to set foot on this island; and is one of an extreme few who are still around from that time! Getting him to tell you some stories, should distract him from whatever you did which might have angered him…and I bet they’d be fairly interesting for you to hear as well!” 123 123 A look of pride then swiftly covered his face as MeatStick continued; “Otherwise, if anyone comes knocking on your door, just tell them that you’re under our protection; alright? Long as you live on our territory, if someone messes with you, then that means they’re messing with us; and we’ll rush to the rescue! Oh…and ah…I don’t know if you know…but be careful sailing past that little islet out there. The island’s Alpha-Tribe has a heavily fortified base on it…with auto-turrets……and we’re actually in the middle of a tiny dispute with them at the moment. But…long as you keep your distance…they should be fine. Oh; and also……” I stood there…gratefully absorbing all the information he was giving me…simply overwhelmed by the moment… Though it was happening right before my eyes……I could barely believe it. ‘To go from the devastating events of just a single day ago…everything I’d worked so hard to build…swallowed up in an instant within the crashing maw of the deep sea…to now having someone strong who would not only allow, but even protect my existence?! Perhaps…just perhaps…I would finally be in a position where I could make some meaningful progress……and obtain the answers that I sought.’ When at last we parted ways…MeatStick back into his fort, and me back to my raft…we both had smiles on our faces; warm grins brought on by the prospect of having gained a friendly new neighbor. To Be Continued! As stated in the above introduction section, these first 14 chapters comprise just the very beginning of Florian’s story; what I would consider to be the “Introduction” for a series of varying events ahead. There are ups, and there are downs. There is progress, and there is setback. There is peace, and there is hardship. But always, there is the continual struggle forwards; always, the persistent act of survival! To complete the story of Florian’s journey, as it currently stands, there are another 86 or so chapters envisioned; as well as a final Epilogue chapter, to bring the story full circle. Will the rest of these chapters ever be written? Who knows? We’ll have to wait and see. It takes a long time to write and polish a story, though perhaps I might have a greater incentive to spend time working on them if I knew in greater detail the extent to which others might enjoy further chapters? Feel free to post a comment on this chapter if you would like to express to me whether you'd like me to keep going or not; and feel free to give me details on why you'd like me to post further chapters, or if not then even why you'd prefer I didn't post any more chapters. Constructive criticism is always nice. In the meantime; I'll be posting a Map of The Island that I put together, below this chapter, which shows all the major points of interest that Florian experienced throughout the entire 100 chapters or so of his story. This way you all can look upon the areas that you might get to read about someday, and anticipate the stories they might involve; or if the rest of the chapters never get posted then alternatively, you'll be able to look upon the locations of the stories you never got to read. Either way, you'll also be able to look upon it for reference concerning the locations mentioned in these first 14 chapters; if you were curious about their exact locations. Also, also; if anyone who has read this story wishes to experience more of the world which has inspired and influenced these true life events; then one need only search YouTube, along with the wider internet, for the video game: “Ark Survival Evolved” by “Studio Wildcard”. Or...if you happen to feel bold enough to do so...especially after all the events which have transpired surrounding this company over the last year...one might purchase the game itself; through the online PC hosting service “Steam”; or on any of the consoles which carry it; and create your own unique story! (Make note however that the Official Ark Survival Evolved Servers will be permanently shut down by the end of this coming week. So, if you are newly acquiring this game, you'll either have to play on unofficial servers; host your own unofficial server; play on single player alone; or potentially wait for the remastered release of this game as Ark Survival Ascended which may or may not release at the end of this coming October; and which may or may not have its own new official server network to play on. Also, just to make aware, the "free" mobile version of this game on the App Store and Google Play also does not have any official online servers for you to play on.) So, until a possible next time, keep on surviving! And I hope you will have a great rest of your day!

So I have had a concern regarding ASA and if it will follow in ASE's footsteps. ASE players were faced with a difficult choice when it came out of Early Access, stay on legacy servers or restart again on new servers. After looking through the discord I found the following image. Line 6 is what brought me to the conclusion that ASA will do exactly the same. "We'll leave Early Access once we hit content 1.0 again". So like the title says, be prepared for the day they create ASA legacy servers.

You are forgetting that they stopped support for those legacy servers. And I'm sure they didn't release the newer maps on legacy either. Periodic wipes isn't something I can get behind. Being a PvE player, after the first wipe I'd quit playing. Same applied to MW2 the original. After I prestiged and lost everything I stopped playing.

THE TIME HAS COME!!! I would like to dedicate this chapter to all of the Veteran Players of Ark Survival Evolved, well all the chapters that I have and may write concerning my story really, who played the game during the time between its early access launch and its so-called "1.0 full release"; (aka when wildcard decided to go back on their promise for no good reason and split the servers into "Legacy" and "New"; slowly deleting the legacy ones and not allowing us to even transfer character progress over to the new servers.) That was the original ASE vs ASA divide which killed the game for many players; including eventually for myself. Although it wasn't on a scale anywhere near what this modern death march is. Anyways; moving on to a more positive note; those Original Veteran Players, especially the ones who played on the Original Official The Island Server Number 39, made the game so much fun for me to experience; and made my story so interesting to be a part of; far more than anything that I could have seen or done alone in single player. Whether through ups or downs, friends or foes, progress or setbacks, I would not have had nearly as much fun or found the game nearly as interesting without them. All of their actions no-matter how small made the game world that I experienced what it was; and drove the story that I played a small part in. To Celebrate the Existence of This Game, and to Mourn the approach of its Death, I offer this chapter and all chapters of my story in dedication to all the Original Veteran Players of Ark! FIRSTLY: I would like to state that this story is NONFICTION, meaning that every event is completely true and really did happen. wildcard did not provide a nonfiction prefix for me to choose, only a fanfiction one, so I guess that's what I have to go with... SECONDLY: IMPORTANT CONTEXT!! The events of this story are Very Heavily based upon the true life events experienced through the perspective of the player character Florian, Nine, Wind. The events are marginally smoothed to convert video game aspects into real life description, and ever so slightly dramatized for entertainment purposes; to make the story more enjoyable. These events occurred within the online video game “Ark Survival Evolved” which is owned by “Studio Wildcard”. So…while the original life events occurred through Florian and the other player characters mentioned within this story; the world scenery and visual assets, as well as the in-game story elements, were created by and are owned by “Studio Wildcard”. These events occurred majoritively upon the “Official The Island Server 39”, with only the very ending occurring upon the “Official The Island Server 2”; and the planned Epilogue on the “Official Ragnarok Server 65”; all of which no longer exist. Server 39 and 2 would be considered "Legacy Servers" if they still existed. Server 65 would be considered a "Modern Server Soon To Be Ended" if it also still existed. The player created events of this story occurred between the time period of the game’s early access launch, on the online video-game hosting service “Steam” owned by “Valve”, which debuted on June 2, 2015; and just slightly beyond the game’s "full 1.0 release" on August 29, 2017. More specifically; the story of Florian’s journey, which would be depicted within the completed version of this book(If I ever manage to fully complete it), transpired approximately between November 28, 2015 and November 4, 2017. I am hoping that this story will be a way for people who love Ark; that have friends that don't like playing video games; or not open world sand box video games; but who may like to read; to show those friends what the game Ark Survival Evolved is really like; or at least what it CAN be. I am also hoping to convey to those who may read it what This Video Game Has Meant To Me Personally. So...Without Further ADO...I Hope You Enjoy! 40 40 Chapter 5 The Other Survivors With all the dying, and reviving I’d done in different locations around the island…it seemed highly improbable, that I wouldn’t have noticed at least some evidence of human activity before now... Apparently however…it had just been the luck of the draw. I now knew that there were other humans of some kind living on this island. I had heard their voices…and one of them had killed me. I also had a clue as to how I might contact them; by using the diamond implant beneath my left wrist, somehow... My first instinct, after having learned of their existence, was to do just that but; ‘by the way they talked…it seemed as though they knew more about me, than I knew of them.’ Explicitly designating a section of the island as a; ‘Noob Zone?’ …A; ‘Newcomer Area?’ Labeling me a generic, and seemingly widely understood term of Humanoid-Class-Identification; ‘Beach Bob?’ They clearly knew far more about what was going on with this island than I did…may have even been here for years before I arrived. Given this possibility, and their seemingly superior attitude towards; ‘Beach Bobs or Janes’, it was difficult to be sure of how they would treat someone new. All of this carefully considered…I made the decision that some reconnaissance was in order, before I formally contacted anyone. Not knowing how large the island was, and knowing well the potential dangers within it, I determined the fastest way to perform this reconnaissance…would be to intentionally die and revive…until I happened to be lucky enough to wake up on someone’s doorstep. ‘Bit of a painful way to move around perhaps…but certainly the swiftest’; I had become somewhat numb to the agony of death by this point anyway. 41 41 So…I began purposefully killing myself. Falling off high cliffs to break my neck; allowing carnivorous beasts to devour me; deliberately angering Trikes and Stegos so they would skewer me with their spikes; so that I could quickly pop up around the island in the chanced hope that I might stumble upon some indication of other humans being nearby; until finally… …I revived upon the beach in deep shadow. Thinking at first that it might be night, I looked up into the sky to find the sun shining brightly overhead; amidst a light blue backdrop with the occasional white, stringy cloud floating by. Seeing nothing dangerous nearby…I casually turned around, to face out away from the island, in the direction of the open ocean; curious to discover what was casting such a large silhouette. I had been expecting to see an exceptionally large boulder…or some other huge landform, sitting a short distance out into the water. Instead however…I found myself standing just fifty feet away from a massive walled city! My eyes widening, I stood there in awe; my mouth hanging open with astonishment! Never had I thought to find something like this! A small make-shift camp of some kind perhaps…a few little wooden huts sure…but nothing like this! The towering walls of the city looked to be about seventy feet high; and seemed to encircle an area approximately one-quarter of a mile long, by one-tenth of a mile wide. It appeared to be made of huge, cut blocks of grey stone; and looked to be built upon an enormous sandbar, which ran parallel to the shoreline; a fifty-or-so-foot stretch of ocean water rippling between it and the mainland where I stood; utterly transfixed... Roughly in the middle of the wall, on this side of the city, I could see a gigantic main gate; made of huge wooden planks held together by metal bracing; which was as tall as the wall itself, and about forty feet wide! A large stone bridge extended from the base of this gateway, out over the moat-like inlet of water, to rest upon the sandy beach beyond; connecting the city to the rest of the island. As I began to slowly walk towards the main gate I noticed a large flag, made of white cloth stretched upon a wooden frame, was stuck into the ground on either side of the walkway; each of the flags had words on them, written in splotchy black paint. 42 42 Approaching the bridge, I could see they were scribed in English; and silently read what they said. The flag to the right of the passage posed the odd query; ‘Got Dabs?’; while the flag to the left boldly stated; ‘Dab City!’. As I stood there wondering what a; ‘Dab’, was; I suddenly heard the loud, squealing creak of the main gate slowly opening its massive doors! Slightly startled, like a frightened animal, I quickly scurried away a short distance down the beach; lying flat on my stomach, to hide amongst a thick covering of bushes. I watched in curious anticipation, as the immense entry screeched fully open... Then, a moment later, I observed as four individuals rushed out from the city; swiftly moving across the bridge while shouting a unified battle cry! They all wore animal-hide leather clothing. Three of them carried long wooden spears, similar to the one I had made, with back-up spears tied securely behind them; while the fourth carried a wooden bow, with a quiver of arrows firmly strapped to his back. To my great wonder, I saw that two of the individuals rode upon saddled Raptors; their fierceness only intensified by the directing of their human masters! Another of them trotted deftly upon a large grey Wolf with a menacing gaze. Judging by the human who rode it…the Wolf appeared to stand about six feet tall, and eight feet long; from the tip of its wet, snarling nose to the end of its bushy tail. It moved quickly upon four, strong legs; each with a set of deadly sharp claws. Its two pointed ears swiveled alertly as its long, insulating fur rippled in the air; flowing past while it sprinted to the front of the pack! Perhaps the most surprising of all however…was that the fourth individual bringing up the rear; was riding upon a large, red, Carnotaurus! They charged fearlessly up the steep, grassy incline of the large hill in front of their city; and quickly disappeared into the forested knolls beyond. ‘Perhaps they were a hunting party headed out to procure some fresh meat for the city? Or a raiding group sent to deal with nearby rivals?’ Who could say?... As the behemoth sized gate began groaning closed behind them, I slowly stood…wondering whether it would be a good idea to introduce myself. 43 43 Instead…I turned around and scrambled up the sharply inclined mound, the sun hot on my back, to the top of an eighty-or-so-foot-high cliff; which overlooked the beach near the city. From this vantage point, I could just see over the seventy foot high walls into what lay beyond... I observed the roofs of many large, stone buildings; with a fenced in area between them, containing a small variety of dinosaur-like creatures. There appeared to be what looked like a small field of various crops growing in one corner of the compound as well; with the occasional human form moving from one place to the next, completing their different tasks. It truly was a fully realized, if somewhat primitive looking, city; operating efficiently on this strange island. With this impressive sight in view…it was then I decided, that I still needed to know more before making contact. ‘If there was one city this well developed on the island…then surely there could be more. Were there different separated groups? Warring factions?’ If there was a political hierarchy, then I needed to know more before diving too deeply in. ‘Get accidentally affiliated with the wrong group…and it could severely hinder my chances of discovering what was going on here...’ Deciding to do more searching around, I let myself fall freely from the cliff…my arms outstretched like wings…and angled myself so that I’d land head first to break my neck; swiftly severing my contact to life. ~~~~~~~ I revived upon a large, flat beach; with a soaring cliff towering a hundred or so feet above, all along its length for as far as I could see. Large boulders were strewn about the area from the base of the cliff, to a few yards out into the ocean’s water. The surf crashed gently against the rocks, as gulls cried loudly amidst the shining blue sky. Most notably however, was that I had revived right next to a large stone building; which rose about forty feet up from the sandy ground! It was a square building made of cut rocks, cemented together with mud and thatch; appearing to measure about sixty feet wide by sixty feet long, with a large gated door on the side facing the ocean. The gate was closed, and there were no windows to peer through, yet…somehow the structure gave me the impression, that it had been abandoned. 44 44 As I walked around its walls, and then further still down the beach, I found a few such large stone buildings; with some smaller wooden structures built between them…and still fewer tiny, thatch huts built between those. It almost seemed as though some well-developed group, or groups, of people had built the stone buildings and then abandoned them for some reason…then some smaller group or groups, had decided to erect wooden structures of their own amidst the large stone fortifications; possibly using them as extra protection against the island’s dangers, but had long since abandoned them as well…then a few lone individuals had come along with the same mindset, and built simple thatch huts amongst the larger wood and stone buildings; but had since moved on themselves…leaving a beach covered in empty ruins... ‘How long had people been living on this island…and how many…to have built such structures, just to leave them abandoned?’ As I briefly considered picking up where they’d left off, by making these abandoned structures a temporary shelter for myself, I then noticed one potential reason for their abandonment; charging towards me from a short ways down the beach. A large Raptor was sprinting in my direction; its eyes fixed squarely on its next meal! Having no reason to stay any longer…and nowhere to escape to from this ravenous beast…I let the Raptor take me in its claws as it pinned me to the ground with a familiar thud. It clamped its dripping jaws around my head, and severed my spine with a jerking twist; time to revive again. ~~~~~~~ I revived upon a beach which gradually turned into a sixty foot high cliff, sparsely covered in trees, to my left. To my right were two large, wooden billboards with English lettering on them. The billboard on my left, a short ways inland, stated clearly in bold white paint; ‘Be Advised! You are now entering The Republic of Mongo! Be Mindful of the Turrets!’ Looking past the billboard, I could see that the beach transitioned into a large hill made of cliff-edged plateaus; with wide pathways winding up to its top. 45 45 At the hill’s summit sat a large stone fortress, with what appeared to be small turrets of some kind peeking out over the edge of its walls; their metal glinting sharply in the bright sunlight. All along the pathways leading up to the fortress, as well as a few yards distanced on either side of the plateaued mound, similar billboards could be seen with white paint; depicting what I assumed was the same proximity warning, to anyone who might be traveling by. The billboard on my right, sunk securely in the sand, declared proudly in white paint; ‘Republic of Mongo Newcomer Courtesy Shelter! Please Be Respectful!’ Just to the right of the billboard was a wooden bridge, traversing a twelve foot deep inlet of ocean water; about thirty feet or so over to a small peninsula, which ran parallel to the mouth of a narrow river as it emptied into the sea. A few yards past the far side of the walkway, was a decent sized wooden building; with sparse square windows, a tiny wooden deck at its front, and a steeply sloped wooden roof. It could have been compared to either a large one-story house, or a small hotel. Beside the structure; a small area encircled by a tall wooden fence, with a large wooden gate could be seen near the building’s entrance. Two saddled Parasaurs were making soft honking noises, while peacefully grazing within the penned up space…it appeared that the courtesy shelter had a visitor or two. Encouraged by the welcoming billboard, I briskly walked across the wooden passage; and began making my way towards the shelter; eager to ask whoever was inside some questions…and hopeful that they’d be willing to answer them. Then I hesitated; and looked down. ‘What would they think of a random naked man, suddenly walking up to them…and rambling about how he had amnesia, while asking them why the laws of death no longer seemed to apply?’ Suddenly feeling self-conscious, I walked even faster…past the shelter…down the length of the peninsula, in search of bushes so that I could at least make a half-ways decent covering for myself. Unfortunately, the bushes and trees were very sparse on this rocky peninsula; so it seemed I would have to search the main coastline for materials. 46 46 Reaching the inland end of this long point of land; I came upon a large stone bridge, that spanned across the river which ran alongside the peninsula; two large stone towers framing the walkway’s entrance on either side. Due to its proximity…it seemed very likely that this bridge had also been built by the Mongo Republic. Looking across the water…the river appeared to be about sixty feet wide; and disappeared behind a bend of sheer rocky cliffs as it snaked its way inland. On the other side was a large, thickly forested hill; with an equally thick undergrowth of bushes. Enthusiastic about the future for the first time in what seemed like many days, I confidently walked across the bridge; the hard stone warm beneath my bare feet. Making sure to keep my eyes alert for any potential dangers, I saw a few wild Parasaurs grazing in the bushes near the tree-line; a few Trikes making their way down the shore; and the occasional Dodo, which seemed to pop up almost everywhere on this island; but nothing too hazardous. Having made my way to the lush covering of bushes, I began tearing into them; collecting their fibrous, leafy tissue so as to make a simple covering…much as I had before. ‘Better than nothing’, I thought. Focusing a bit too much on my work…and forgetting to keep looking around…once I had gathered a large armful of fresh fibers, I suddenly heard an uproar of loud tribal yelling directly behind me! Turning around slowly…I found myself face-to-face, with three deeply tanned individuals. There were two muscular men of average height, with a near equally muscular woman between them. The men carried long wooden spears, while the woman wielded a wooden club. Each of them wore simple loincloths; and their hair was black as a raven’s feather. For a moment I stood silent…frozen…unsure whether they were friend or foe. Her expression stern, the woman then slowly…silently…lifted her club; and brought it back down hard upon her other palm in an aggressive gesture. My body now moving on instinct, in fear of what they might do to me, I quickly dropped the bundle of fibers; and bolted down the shoreline! Hearing the men grunt with effort, spears swiftly whizzed passed me as I ran; barely missing their marks! 47 47 With nowhere to run, in desperation, I abruptly turned to the right; and dove into the ocean water…swimming far out, and deep down, in attempt to hide myself in its cooling depths! More spears sank passed, as I went farther…deeper…barely sliding by my shoulders and then……I waited. All that time in the void had gotten me used to the sensation of not breathing... Given the right incentive; it seemed I could hold my breath for quite a long time… The spears having ceased; I stopped swimming down, and looked back to see if they were following me. Fortunately…they were not. It seemed whatever they may have wanted with me, it wasn’t worth a deep dive; ‘they probably figured I’d have to come up for air at some point anyway.’ So I waited… One minute… Two minutes… Three minutes… Four minutes…… After a while, my lungs began to scream in protest; and I was forced to make the decision either to surface…or drown! Still thinking I might have a chance of getting some answers from whoever was staying at the courtesy shelter, I began franticly moving my arms towards the surface; choosing this time to grasp at life! Amidst the rippling waves, I burst through the ocean’s veneer; gasping deeply for life-giving air! Treading about ten yards from the shore…I surveyed the coastline as far as I could see in either direction; and as far inland as the trees would allow…attempting to determine if my tribal attackers were still somewhere waiting for me... Seeing no sign of them, despite my thorough searching…it appeared they had found their prey to be a little too much trouble for it to be worth their time; and had left. Cold…mentally shaken…I gradually made my way back to the beach; my earlier sense of encouragement evaporating, as my recently acquired fears had proven true; ‘it seemed that carnivorous dinosaurs…and murderous beasts…weren’t the only dangers on this island.’ Sloshing through the shallower water…I stepped back upon the warm sand with a deep sigh; my muscles quivering from the exertion of having run and swum so far; so fast. ‘At least it turned out…I was a pretty good swimmer.’ 48 48 Making my way cautiously back to where I had dropped the fiber…I found that they had taken all I had collected. With another deep sigh, but being undeterred, I more watchfully began collecting bush fibers again; hopeful that whoever possessed those domesticated Parasaurs, would be more civilized than the humans who had just attacked me. Completing my task without further incident…it had become evening by the time I finished crafting my modest garment; and made it back to the Republic of Mongo’s newcomer courtesy shelter. Amidst an odd mixture of disappointment and relief, I found both of the Parasaurs gone; along with whoever had owned them.

Hi Devs, Please leave a handful of servers up like you did with Legacy, that would only be fair to those who wish to keep playing as-is (especially those last-gen console users). You said you would slowly shut them all down yet there's *still* a fair amount of *populated* legacy servers, so leaving a few Official servers doesn't seem too much of an ask. Even if we had to pay a subscription to play them/keep them running, myself and many many others I know already said they would. It would be preferred and 1000x better than having to pay a 3rd party company for unofficial servers as well (and you'd get the money). Also, please let us at least keep our implant progress (not levels, just our progress), since it is already tied to our characters themselves via Vernacular ID. That wouldn't seem too difficult to implement for ASA from ASE. Now the stretch, but wishful thinking: Please let us have an "Ark" feature for ASE. As in an actual Ark, so pun intended. Let us bring over a copy of 3 of our favorite dinosaurs, all automatically neutered/spayed, and also can not be the same type. Something to bring over to keep our legacy in mind would be nice after what you have decided to do to us... Any of these options would be a great thing to do for us long time hard working players. If even just PvE (not sure how it would work for PvP because I do not play it). Hope the right people will see this plea, thank you for your time and have a great day!

I wrote this on the recent crunch, hoping the right people will read it, but it's all wishful thinking: "Please leave a handful of servers up like you did with Legacy, that would only be fair to those who wish to keep playing as-is (especially those last-gen console users). You said you would slowly shut them all down yet there's *still* a fair amount of *populated* legacy servers, so leaving a few Official servers doesn't seem too much of an ask. Even if we had to pay a subscription to play them/keep them running, myself and many many others I know already said they would. It would be preferred and 1000x better than having to pay a 3rd party company for unofficial servers as well (and you'd get the money). Also, please let us at least keep our implant progress (not levels, just our progress), since it is already tied to our characters themselves via Vernacular ID. That wouldn't seem too difficult to implement for ASA from ASE. Now the stretch, but wishful thinking: Please let us have an "Ark" feature for ASE. As in an actual Ark, so pun intended. Let us bring over a copy of 3 of our favorite dinosaurs, all automatically neutered/spayed, and also can not be the same type. Something to bring over to keep our legacy in mind would be nice after what you have decided to do to us... Any of these options would be a great thing to do for us long time hard working players. If even just PvE (not sure how it would work for PvP because I do not play it). Hope the right people will see this plea, thank you for your time and have a great day!"

I’d like build upon Mikes post. Keeping the survivor data in your implant would be awesome. We all know many gamers love the achievements and ways to show their hard work. It would be great to be able to continue this. having a few servers left open, even for subscription payment through Ark would be amazing also clear instructions on how we can download our servers if none will be kept live also, I had a thought I was curious if anyone thought of for PVP. Letting the Ark humans chose the path of Helena or Rockwell. Sort of like you see in games of WoW with the alliance and horde. “ Please leave a handful of servers up like you did with Legacy, that would only be fair to those who wish to keep playing as-is (especially those last-gen console users). You said you would slowly shut them all down yet there's *still* a fair amount of *populated* legacy servers, so leaving a few Official servers doesn't seem too much of an ask. Even if we had to pay a subscription to play them/keep them running, myself and many many others I know already said they would. It would be preferred and 1000x better than having to pay a 3rd party company for unofficial servers as well (and you'd get the money). Also, please let us at least keep our implant progress (not levels, just our progress), since it is already tied to our characters themselves via Vernacular ID. That wouldn't seem too difficult to implement for ASA from ASE.”

Legacy servers were originally due to dead servers and the fact that ark changed a lot early in its lifetime, the game now has a fixed direction, everyone knows how the entire story plays out and what content there will be. There would be no need to 'reset' or close servers at the games launch out of early access. That statement means the game will be 'released' ie. not in EA when all content has been updated, however, its not clear if that means publicly released or if that means internally after development has been completed.

ASA bits already have code path to handle eventually legacy servers :V

I remember coming back from a long break just after smalls came about, and I didn't know what it was, so I went into the legacy servers.After about a week solo I asked who the alphas were and they said I'm,Lmao. That's went I went to smalls and never looked back.

Absolutely all for it! As long as the freedom and simplicity of Official still exists! Also all for it! Done it before TWICE when they kept removing legacy servers slowly but surely (even though some are still around for some reason?). But yeah, all hopes of them leaving a few servers up like they did with legacy (to migrate to) is out the window and lost entirely since they want (have to get?) people to use Nitrado (thus pay them back for their loan etc.). All is lost.

Who wants to bet they repeat history again? ASE when it came out of Early Access, all official servers at the time were turned into legacy servers, those who played on official had to relocate or start again on the new official servers. ASA will probably experience the same thing. Also, will the same rules apply when a new map is released in ASA as the rules when it came out in ASE? The wait period to transfer dinos and items onto that server. Will they keep the transfer timer they have now or will it be like before where there was no timer? If they will remove the transponder if they are working on a new tracking system? These are my questions for ASA. I have a ton more but I've played ark long enough. Kinda know the drill already

Legacy Server Removal Earlier this year we reached out to find out what type of servers you're interested in and what legacy players enjoyed about their experience. As we move closer to the release of Genesis and another year of ARK content, we have been monitoring the Official Network server population and Legacy servers. Due to the current legacy server population, we will be closing all PvP legacy servers on January 28th. We've read the feedback from legacy players and know that you've invested time and created memories on these servers. Immediately following the closure of legacy servers, we will be providing the save files from those servers for you to download. Below is a complete list of servers that will be removed following January 28th. We appreciate the time our legacy players have spent with us and look forward to an exciting year of content. Winter Wonderland 4 We know how important events are to the community and we've enjoyed seeing the community content, screenshots, and shared experiences from Winter Wonderland 4. The event ends at 10 AM PST Wednesday (January 8th). Complete your chibi collection before the event ends! Sponsored Mod Applications Sponsored Mod Program applications are once again OPEN! If you are interested in sponsorship for your projects, please fill out the application here: Sponsored Mod Applications EVO Event Survivors on all platforms will be receiving a special Evolution Event perk this weekend! It will be active from Friday the 10th of Jan at 1 PM EST until Monday the 13th of Jan at 3 PM EST. All Official Servers across each platform will be undergoing this evolutionary change which includes: 2x Harvesting Rates 2x Taming Rates 2x EXP Rates Until next time! Twitter: twitter.com/survivetheark Facebook: facebook.com/survivetheark Reddit: reddit.com/r/playark Instagram: instagram.com/survivetheark Twitch: twitch.tv/survivetheark Steam: steamcommunity.com/app/346110 Youtube: youtube.com/survivetheark View full article

Having played the original Ark in Early access (Alpha stage) on xbox,i am a bit dubious of purchasing Ark Ascended. I quit Ark about 2 years ago. I played daily from Day 1 early acess alpha stage to the release of the last paid dlc and quit 2021. I am thinking of purchasing Ascended but now hearing its releasing early access and the heartbreak it brought when it moved out of the stage has put the purchase on hold. The server I was on from day 1 ended up becoming legacy servers. I tried to continue to play on this server but realised my days were numbered, no support, no transfer system, no updates and decided with a few other tribes from that server to move to a new server and start again, leaving everything behind to disappear. I do not want to go through that again. If i purchased and started again on Ascended on day 1 release what will happen to the server when the game gets out of early access? Will the server become legacy like it did before meaning i lose all progrese? If so,isn't it a waste of money and hours if the game will leave early access around the possible release of Ark2?

Current ARK Official Server Network Servers Version: v358.17 v358.17 - 09/29/2023 - Minor version for servers Evolved Sequence Completed : Ascension Imminent : ARK Survival Ascended Respawn Timer Initiated : Recharge Mode Engaged : Sleep well, Survivors, Nighty Night x : v358.11 - 08/14/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit v358.10 - 08/01/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed whitelisting on unofficials not working properly Fixed multiple crashes v358.9 - 07/11/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit v358.8 - 07/05/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit v358.7 - 06/29/2023 - Minor version for servers and clients Fixed an exploit Adjusted rhynio speed Added new sfx for rhynio v358.6 - 06/07/2023 - Minor version for servers and clients Dismounting a Rhyniognatha will now remember your previous camera view instead of always going to TPV Added additional locations on the Rhyniognatha that enemy turrets can aim for when carrying a character Rhyniognatha's Resin Bomb direct hits now correctly deal their intended damage of 300 Reduced Rhyniognatha's Health Scaling by approximately 30% Adjusted the scaling of some UI elements to prevent them getting cut off at larger resolutions v358.5 - 06/03/2023 - Minor version for servers Structures carried by Rhyniognatha are destroyed when cryopodded Rhyniognatha's Pheromone now correctly only drops from Male Rhyniognatha v358.3 - 06/02/2023 - Minor version for servers Rhyniognatha has landed on ARK! Discover Rhyniognatha, a super-sized creature with a set of unique abilities. From producing quick-hardening resin to carrying large objects, these versatile creatures provide an enhancement to your tribe's defenses. v357.20 - 05/31/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit Added a command line unofficial admins can opt to add to protect against the creature upload issue. This can be done by adding -SecureSendArKPayload to the cmd line. Please be aware this may have an impact on some mods. v357.18 - 05/04/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed server listing displaying incorrect user count Fixed multiple exploits v357.17 - 05/04/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit v357.15 - 04/26/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed multiple exploits v357.14 - 04/14/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed a crash v357.13 - 04/12/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed multiple crashes v357.12 - 04/07/2023 - Minor version for servers Re-added PAX color event v357.9 - 03/31/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed an issue transferring all when not at close distance Fixed an issue sitting in the Genesis fishing mission Fixed an exploit v357.5 - 03/24/2023 - Minor version for servers Added a 24 hour cooldown on tribe merges on official servers Fixed multiple exploits v357.4 - 03/06/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed multiple exploits Fixed a crash v357.3 - 03/02/2023 - Major version for servers and clients She Who Waits Explorer Note Voiceovers Fixed poop not going into player hotbars when handcuffed Fix for the exosuit or other characters getting stuck when transitioning between RTS Mode Fixes for characters getting stuck when transitioning between different controlled characters using the noglin Increase tribe message replication length limit from 200 to 300 Spectators in admin mode can now see all local chat v356.12 - 02/20/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed a crash Fixed an exploit v356.11 - 02/10/2023 - Minor version for servers Dynamic config colorsets Set event colorset from dynamic config using: ActiveEventColors=<name, e.g. "FearEvolved"> Additional option added "custom" allows for a custom colorset to be set up directly from dynamic config. If using ActiveEventColors=custom then the colorset can be defined with: DynamicColorset=<comma-separated list of color names> e.g DynamicColorset=Red,Magenta,DeepPink,Lavender The color names must be -exact- accounting for special characters and spaces. "DynamicColorset" will only be used if using ActiveEventColors=custom Updated Vday colorset DarkLavender,DarkMagenta,Dino Dark Purple,Dino Light Red,DeepPink,Dark Red,LemonLime,Red,ActualBlack Fixed a couple issues with tek teleporters not functioning after coming into contact with water Fixed a crash v356.9 - 02/07/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed an issue joining prim+ servers v356.8 - 02/06/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit that affected the player counts on Official Servers v356.5 - 01/31/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit v355.14 - 01/26/2023 - Minor version for servers Improvements to chat filter behavior The servers can now hot-reload chat filter lists by using ChatFilterVersion=. The value only needs to change to trigger the lists to be redownloaded v356.3 (356.1 client) - 01/23/2023 - Major version for servers and clients Offensive Text Filter - Added an offensive text filter that we will continue to update in order to address attempts at bypassing the filter. Our system scans for the usage of numbers and other ways to replace words quite effectively and we expect to make this more robust as we move forward GameUserSettings.ini [ServerSettings] bFilterTribeNames=True // Filters out tribe names based on the badwords/goodwords list. bFilterCharacterNames=True // Filters out character names based on the bad words/good words list. bFilterChat=true // Filters out character names based on the bad word/good words list BadWordListURL="URL GOES HERE" // for hosting your own bad words list BadWordWhiteListURL="URLGOESHERE" // for hosting your own good words list Disabled unintended client-side visual configs Fix the mouse cursor lock experienced when trying to access a structure that you do not have rank permissions for in RTS mode Fixed being able to select Access inventory from radial wheel on controller perf adjustment: Rate limit world buff ticks Adjust transfer all cooldown to 2 seconds Fixed a crash Fixed multiple exploits v355.16 - 01/18/2023 - Minor version for servers Carcha will now drop gigant hearts Fixed multiple exploits v355.14 - 01/11/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed multiple exploits Exo mek structure pickup now respects tribe permissions v355.13 - 01/10/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed multiple exploits Fixed the Random Chibi Engram in the Refining Forge not saving on server restart v355.12 - 01/03/2023 - Minor version for servers Fixed multiple exploits v355.9 - 12/23/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed multiple exploits v355.7 - 12/23/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an issue with ConfigOverrideSupplyCrateItems being non-operational on unofficial servers v355.6 (355.5 client) - 12/21/2022 - Minor version for servers and clients The recently added Helena and Rockwell explorer note voiceovers are now louder and should respect the NPC volume setting Recently added creature dossiers should now fully unlock properly New years can be set by unofficials earlier to account for all time zones. The earliest value that can be set is 1672480800 Fixed several exploits v355.4 (client) - 12/16/2022 - Minor version for clients Fixed dinos teleporting to the incorrect location after SE boss fight in Single Player (Teleport location: -302537 -44644 53371) v355.3 - 12/14/2022 - Major version for servers and clients Winter Wonderland 6 is live! This event can be manually activated with the server arg parameter: -ActiveEvent=WinterWonderland Added Scorched Earth ascension Added prologues and epilogues to all story maps Added Helena and Rockwell Explorer Note VO Added Aberration Rockwell boss VO Added launch config ?EventColorsChanceOverride=<num> (Takes a value between 0 and 1. 1 = 100% chance for color override) Fixed an exploit Support for ARK on Stadia has been terminated v354.6 - 12/05/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed multiple exploits v354.4 - 11/22/2022 - Major version for servers and clients Turkey Trial 6 is live! This event can be manually activated with the server arg parameter: -ActiveEvent=TurkeyTrial Smelting chibis requires the placement of a new refining forge Crafting new chibis requires the placement of a new cooking pot Wishbones are no longer able to be transferred. Attempting to transfer wishbones will result in them being deleted Fixed Carcha losing taming affinity on SP restart Added FearEvovled cosmetics to Hexagon Exchange Added purchasable random chibis at higher tiers in Hexagon Exchange Fixed an exploit v353.1 (353.2 client) - 11/10/2022 - Minor version for clients Fixed Carcha disappearing on Genesis Fixed a crash v353.1 - 11/09/2022 - Major version for servers and clients Fixed a crash Fixed decompose timer on fertilized Carcha eggs Fixed Carcha taxidermy poses v352.6 - 11/06/2022 - Major version for servers Added the Carcharodontosaurus to the game! Fixed multiple exploits Added icons to Fjordhawk death bag retrieval cooldown v351.6 - 10/20/2022 - Minor version for servers Changed scarecrows, pumpkins, gravestones to now give players a random amount between 1 and 10 (previously was between 1 and 5) Fixed Fjordhawk Death Inventory cooldown timer not calculating correctly when transferring servers Updated Fjordhawk Death Inventory string to correctly display "Death Inventory" Applied a one-time cooldown reset for the Fjordhawk Death Inventory Cooldown v351.5 - 10/19/2022 - Major version for servers The Fear Evolved Event event will run from October 19th 1PM Pacific to November 2nd 1PM Pacific. See this thread for details: Unofficial server owners can activate the event by adding -ActiveEvent=FearEvolved to the launch arguments Fjordhawk balance pass Reduction to Fjordhawk flight speed when picking up death lootbags Increase time before hawk becomes invisible to 20 seconds One hour cooldown added on retrieval of player's inventory when killed. This can be overridden with launch argument - -MinimumTimeBetweenInventoryRetrieval=<TimeInSeconds> Reduced base health and health per level gained on the Fjordhawk by approximately 40% Added 2x damage multiplier from guns and projectiles Visual improvements will be added in the next major version for client display of the cooldown time Fixed multiple crashes Fixed several Exploits v350.5 (350.4 client) - 10/05/2022 - Major version for servers Fixed multiple exploits v349.28 - 09/23/2022 - Minor version for servers Iterated on an invulnerability exploit v349.27 - 09/21/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed a crash Fixed an exploit Fixed an issue that would cause unofficial servers to crash when using certain mods. The affected mods should work now and unofficials can opt-in to the more secure item/dino spawning rules by adding -UseSecureSpawnRules to the server launch arguments. Using this launch argument may render certain mods non-functioning!!! v349.25 - 09/19/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit v349.22 - 09/07/2022 - Minor version for servers Further iteration on authentication exploit v349.19 - 09/07/2022 - Minor version for servers Further iteration on authentication exploit v349.16 - 09/06/2022 - Minor version for servers Further iteration on an authentication exploit Fixed a crash when using RCON v349.14 - 09/06/2022 - Minor version for clients Updated client save version to match servers v349.13 - 09/03/2022 - Minor version for servers Iterated on an authentication exploit v349.10 - 09/02/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit Fixed a connection issue Iterated on an authentication exploit New server launch argument: -imprintlimit=100 (this caps imprints at 100%); though we recommend going 1% higher to catch floating point errors especially when working with custom imprinting rates! Note, any creature exceeding this cap will be destroyed. v349.8 - 09/02/2022 - Minor version for servers PAX Party is now active with a burst of colors, 3X Taming, Harvesting, XP, Hexagons, and Breeding! You can enable the special colours with ActiveEvent=PAX Iterated on an authentication exploit Fixed a god mode exploit v349.5 - 08/31/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an issue related to server capping on Official servers v349.3 - 08/31/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit Fixed a crash v349.2 - 08/24/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit v349.1 - 08/24/2022 - Major version Fixed an exploit Fixed some map issues on Fjordur Fixed issue with getting dismounted from Space Dolphin randomly Fixed a server crash with saves over 4gb Fixed Basilisk not being able to tame in Simplified Chinese Added server config to disable creating folders in Tribute Inventories. (Now disabled on Official servers) -DisableCustomFoldersInTributeInventories Added server config to temporarily disable the Tek Railgun on PVP servers. (Now disabled on Official PVP servers) -DisableRailgunPVP v348.10 - 08/16/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit Fixed a crash v348.7 - 08/03/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit Mutagen spawns no longer save on server restart Disabled spawning on canoes while we investigate a related crash v348.6 - 07/29/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed a crash v348.5 - 07/26/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit Fixed a crash v348.4 - 07/21/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit v348.2 (348.3 client)-07/18/2022 - Minor version for clients Fixed a stall relating to Stryder Fixed switching ammo type on TEK bow Fixed accessing map marker UI with a controller v348.2 (348.1 client)-07/15/2022 - Major version for servers and clients Fjordur map fixes including: auto TP zone, oil vein node fixes, lava damage volume, kill volume, wild spawn fixes, water volume in poison wyvern trench, fixes to trees to allow harvesting, fixed holes Added further wild creature spawns to Asgard biome on Fjordur Decreased alpha dino spawns on Fjordur Increased runestone reward droprate by 40%. Fixed an exploit Fixed polar bear crash Fixed a bug related to player character becoming encumbered whilst fast travelling with Fjordhawk Fixed Fjordhawk not returning to player when leashed Fixed realm teleporting after boss fight on Fjordur Fixed reloading while mounted with shoulder pet equipped Redistributed element shard/black pearl nodes on Fjordur. This includes a 70% nerf to the amount of nodes in the Throat of Flames and redistribution of those to the following areas: Element Shards added to: Fire Wyvern Trench Molten Caverns Mount Doom Caverns Balheimr Black Pearls added to: Poison Wyvern Trench Lightning Wyvern Trench v347.1- 06/30/2022 - Major version for servers and clients Biome Teleport is now enabled by default in Single Player Multiple map fixes for Fjordur Fixed an issue that caused the XP bar to display incorrectly v346.30 - 06/28/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed multiple exploits v346.16 - 06/23/2022 - Minor version for servers and clients Fixed Fjordhawk not eating tamed corpses on PvE Fixed cases where Desmodus would gain too much movement speed Desmodus speed can now be leveled up with -AllowFlyerSpeedLeveling Fixed an issue where minibosses would sometimes not drop a relic v346.14 - 06/21/2022 - Minor version for servers and clients Added element reward to mini-bosses on fjordur Added other map learnable engrams to Fjordur (now matches Lost Island) Fixed several map issues on Fjordur Fixed gamepad issues while mounted Fixed Desmodus issues while using Simplified Chinese Fixed an exploit Fixed a crash v346.12 - 06/13/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed a cooldown on defecation Server administrators can enable and disable the Fjordur biome teleport in GameUserSettings.ini, under [ServerSettings] with the server config option: UseFjordurTraversalBuff=true/false v346.11 - 06/12/2022 - Major version for servers and clients Fjordur is Live! Explore a cold and hostile Norse-inspired archipelago in our newest official community map, featuring four new creatures for you to collect! To address an unintended change, the turret exclusion list option is now applicable to wild dinos only The TEK Helmet multi-use wheel is now accessible while mounted Fixed an issue that caused the Lost Island Artifact of the Massive/Devious respawn incorrectly Fixed an exploit Fixed multiple map holes v345.39 - 06/03/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an issue with event creature colors not spawning v345.38 - 06/02/2022 - Minor version for servers Happy 7 years of ARK! We are so grateful for our amazing community and all of your support. Looking forward to what the coming years hold in store! Help us celebrate with a hand-picked rainbow-colored event featuring a bunch of colors loved by you & 2x all rates! Ends Mon. Use the server parameter -activeevent=ark7th to begin the event Fixed an exploit v345.37 - 05/25/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit v345.35 - 05/19/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an issue with shotguns not causing damage Fixed an exploit v345.33 - 05/18/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed multiple exploits with the TEK Railgun v345.31 - 05/16/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed a crash with the TEK Railgun Reenabled the TEK Railgun's ability to shoot through geo/meshes on Official PvP Fixed an exploit with the TEK Railgun Fixed a bug with the TEK Railgun's range v345.28 - 05/16/2022 - Minor version for servers Further iteration on the TEK Railgun (see previous patch note) v345.25 - 05/13/2022 - Minor version for servers Temporarily disabled the TEK Railgun's ability to shoot through geo/meshes on Official PvP whilst we investigate exploits related to the gun. Unofficials can enable using -PVPDisablePenetratingHits v345.23- 05/04/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an issue that prevented Space Dolphin lasers from causing damage in specific missions v345.22- 04/29/2022 - Minor version for servers Astrodelphis Balance Pass Roll damage to players and tames reduced by 20% Laser damage to players reduced by 20% Increased EMP/Chaff radius by 33% Reduced EMP/Chaff cooldown from 5 to 4 seconds Prevented laser damage scaling versus structures Lasers no longer damage turrets Turning on saddle/Starfighter mode now requires saddle engram Miscellaneous Fixed various exploits v345.19 - 04/15/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed the missing Eggcellent Adventure event wild creature colors (59, 67, 68, 76 ,84, 94, 95 & 100) v345.18 - 04/14/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit v345.17 - 04/13/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit v345.16 - 04/13/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit v345.6 - 04/10/2022 - Major version for clients and servers Eggcellent Adventure returns until April 25th! Follow the trails of wild Bunny Dodo's and Bunny Oviraptor's to gather Bunny Eggs for special event loot. Use the server parameter -ActiveEvent=Easter to begin the event. For the duration of Egccellent Adventure, we will be disabling the world buffs from Baby Boon & Maewing Poach on Genesis Part 2 on the Official Network. In the past, we've adjusted for the impact events have had on the rates by tweaking the bonuses that we use during the holidays, however, those tweaks lead to unfavorable circumstances on maps that aren't Genesis Part 2, so going forward during breeding events, we'll be disabling these mission buffs specifically as not to affect the bonuses on other maps. v344.26 - 04/10/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit v344.21 - 04/08/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed multiple exploits v344.12 - 04/07/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit Refactored the way creatures consume food upon exiting stasis resulting in a significant performance optimization v344.8 - 03/10/2022 - Minor version for clients and servers Fixed multiple exploits Fixed a crash v344.3 - 03/03/2022 - Major version for clients and servers We know you folks enjoy your event cosmetics so as we enter into our last year of events on ARK 1, we will be adding the associated cosmetics to the Hexagon Store once each event ends. Speaking of - we've added the Love Evolved cosmetics to Hex store with today's patch! All of the event content will be added to the PC game at the end of the year's cycle of events so they can be opted into for our PC unofficial server owners and players. Our console players will be able to grab all event cosmetics from the Hex store! Over 70 fixes related to mesh holes and foliage across all maps Fixed an issue where King Dinopithecus trophies disappeared on session restart Disabled various boss trophies from being able to be transferred to prevent them from disappearing Fixed a bug with fishing from a canoe Fixed an exploit v343.19 - 02/24/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an overspawn on Lost Island v343.17 - 02/21/2022 - Minor version for clients Fixed fishing mission on Genesis 1 Fixed a bug when fishing from the canoe v343.17 - 02/18/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed fishing mission on Genesis 1 v343.12 - 02/10/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed several exploits v343.11 - 02/09/2022 - Minor version for clients Fixed a crash related to opening remote inventories with hoversails inside of them v343.7 - 02/09/2022 - Major version for servers and clients Love is in the air! Love Evolved is live from Feb 9th to Feb 16th! Use the server parameter -ActiveEvent=vday to begin the event. For the duration of Love Evolved, we will be disabling the world buffs from Baby Boon & Maewing Poach on Genesis Part 2 on the Official Network. In the past, we've adjusted for the impact event have had on the rates by tweaking the bonuses that we use during the holidays, however, those tweaks lead to unfavorable circumstances on maps that aren't Genesis Part 2, so going forward during breeding events, we'll be disabling these mission buffs specifically as not to affect the bonuses on other maps. Player will no longer punch when cycling through snap points on Xbox while using RB Dinopithecus will no longer drop its follow target when it has an attacking target Additional players will no longer be deleted when riding a Mega MEK Wild Noglins can now be targeted by Plant X Turret mode is now disabled after a Parasaur dies Fixed an issue where adjusting DinoCountMultiplier on an unofficial server prevents quetz, spino and tuso spawning The egg incubator gestation monitoring buff will now correctly display the embryo stats of Unicorns The egg incubator HUD will now show when trying to check Megaloceros stats Element reward has been increased on King Dinopithecus by 33% Tek Shoulder Cannon will now turn back on after dismounting an Exosuit Fixed an issue with the mammoth drum buff Fixed several map holes on Lost Island Fixed floating foliage on Lost Island Fixed an overspawning issue in Lost Island cave Fixed an issue that required players to install The Center DLC to play on Ragnarok Added "exact match" parameter to some cheats: cheat DestroyAll "classname" 1 Fixed multiple exploits Current Version: v342.22 - 01/27/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit v342.20 - 01/27/2022 - Minor version for servers Performance adjustments for Lost Island Fix for server crash v342.17 - 01/24/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit v342.16 - 01/19/2022 - Minor version for clients Fixed an issue that prevented completion of the Star Dolphin mission Fixed SInomacrops losing taming progress if food drops below 50% Sinomacrops will no longer eat kibble v342.15 - 01/13/2022 - Minor version for servers Server-side foliage optimization for Lost Island v342.13 - 01/12/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed an issue that prevented completion of the Star Dolphin mission Fixed SInomacrops losing taming progress if food drops below 50% Sinomacrops will no longer eat kibble v342.9 - 01/10/2022 - Minor version for servers Fixed several exploits v342.2- 01/05/2022 - Major version for servers and clients Fixed some exploits Fixed some holes in lost island Fixed some crashes Addressed some overspawning issues on Lost Island Can no longer place dermis of creatures in taxidermy/training dummy if that creature is not transferrable to a given map Fix loot crate spawns of Massive/Devious artifacts Fix for fertilized voidwyvern eggs not decaying Reduced fog while underwater Fixed some clutter & foliage Adjustments & fixes to Amargasaurus Fixes to Sinomacrops Adjusted respawn map and global LAT/LON coords to be more accurate on Lost Island Fixed large beaver dams being invisible for some clients on Lost Island Fixed an issue where some dinos were marked as not tameable in caves on Lost Island Current Version: v341.59 - 12/30/2021 - Minor version for servers Fixed an exploit v341.56 - 12/23/2021 - Minor version for servers Fixed a creature overspawn issue Enabled New Year event Fixed an exploit 'Happy New Year!' event is now enabled on Official Servers. The event is set to go off at approximately Midnight EST and Noon EST on the 1st of January 2022. Servers running the event will be bombarded with raining gifts in a hail of fireworks to mark the end of 2021. These gifts will contain a collection of your favourite skins from past events that are currently unavailable and a chibi bonanza! And by bonanza, we mean, the drop rate of Rare, Very Rare and Legendary chibis will be dialled to over 9000! Unofficial Servers can enable the event with the following commandline param: -NewYearEvent To modify the times, the following commandline parameters can also be used: ?NewYear1UTC=1640995200 ?NewYear2UTC=1641038400 You can use https://www.epochconverter.com/ to get your appropriate timestamp. Please keep in mind that this event cannot be run before Midnight EST on the 1st of January 2021, so if you wish to change your time it would have to be set after that. Some additional notes: This event can only be run ONCE on a savefile (with 2 triggers). If a server is set to run the event at a time already passed, then on load the server will immediately trigger the gifts. If a custom time isn't set, then the event will run default at Midnight EST on the 1st and again at Noon. v341.33 | 341.36 (client) - 12/16/2021 - Minor version update for clients and servers Fixed several exploits Various map fixes for Lost Island Sinomacrops can now be transferred to Aberration v341.31 - 12/16/2021 - Minor version update for servers Fixed various mesh holes on Lost Island Dinopithecus now has faster and sticky grenades Disabled flyers and jetpack in boss arena Level weight has been adjusted on Lost Island so that it'll be more likely to find higher level creatures v341.30 - 12/15/2021 - Minor version update for clients and servers Fixed a bug which the Loadout Dummy, Taxidermy, and Training Dummy where the dermis was being destroyed, which in turn also destroyed anything that was equipped to the dermis. We'll be rolling back Official PC servers to right before the .28 deployment to restore any player data that was lost due to this bug. v341.28 - 12/15/2021 - Minor version update for servers Improved mesh detection in the Lost Island desert Magmasaur's can now be raised with sulfur Improved Amargasaurus AI Fixed volcano ground clutter issues Improved Dinopithecus melee attacks v340.19 - 12/14/2021 - Major version update for clients and servers Free DLC 'Lost Island' is now available! Introducing a new map with over 150 sq km playable area, and 3 new creatures; the Amargasaurus, Dinopithecus, and Sinomacrops! Winter Wonderland will be making a triumphant return with new presents and goodies for ARK survivors. Use the server parameter -ActiveEvent=WinterWonderland to begin the event. For the duration of Winter Wonderland, we have disabled the world buffs from the Genesis Part 2 Missions on the Official Network: Baby Boon & Maewing Poach. In the past, we've adjusted for the impact this event has had on the rates by tweaking the bonuses that we use during the holidays, however those tweaks lead to unfavourable circumstances on maps that aren't Genesis Part 2, so going forward during breeding events, we'll be disabling these mission buffs specifically as not to affect the bonuses on other maps. QOL: New TEK Egg Incubator Buff 'Gestation Monitoring' - activating this buff grants your character the ability to view the embyro's stats of gestating creatures or reset the creature's gestation. Fixed some exploits Fixed some server and crashes Fixed a bug where the TEK Bow would fire inconsistently v340.12 - 11/29/2021 - Minor version update for servers Fixed an exploit v340.10 - 11/29/2021 - Minor version update for servers Fixed an issue that prevented Exo-Mek from being deployed v340.8 - 11/29/2021 - Minor version update for servers and clients Fixed a crash that occurred when trying to complete the "Survive The ARK" mission Fixed an issue for non-dedicated servers that prevented players from joining when using a DLC map v340.3 - 11/23/2021 - Major version Turkey Trial 5 begins! See below for the event details Fixed several exploits v339.40 - 11/18/2021 - Minor version update for servers Fixed an exploit v339.34 - 11/12/2021 - Minor version update for servers Fixed several exploits v339.28 - 11/9/2021 - Minor version update for servers Fixed an exploit v339.20 - 11/4/2021 - Minor version update for servers Fixed a serious exploit related to 3rd party software Fixed an exploit Reduced AmountMaxGainedPerLevelUpValue on Tapejara from 0.2 to 0.17. This will essentially result in a 15% reduction in overall HP. v339.14 - 10/29/2021 Fixed multiple level-design related bugs such as holes, floating foliage, incorrect volumes, etc on Crystal isles Fixed Rockdrakes so they can now be neutered and spayed Temporarily removed Hexagons from Genesis 1 glitches whilst we work through a related exploit v339.7 - 10/26/2021 Prevented the Dodorex/Dodowyvern from being mindcontrolled by the Noglin v339.5 - 10/26/2021 Fear Evolved 5 is now live Fixed some exploits v338.41 - 10/21/2021 Fixed multiple exploits Fixed a bug where the player and Stego were immune to being netted v338.35 - 10/20/2021 Fixed multiple exploits Increased Astrodelphis Missile/Homing Missile cooldown to 1 second. Does not affect the Mission variant. v338.31 - 10/18/2021 Fixed an exploit v338.30 - 10/16/2021 Fixed an exploit v338.29 - 10/15/2021 Mana breath damage to players reduced by 20% Turret health buff has now been updated and will no longer require the replacing of turrets to take effect Fixed an exploit v338.23 - 10/15/2021 Balance Blood Stalker Reduced piercing damage from 85% to 65%. Players grappled now get a 20 second immunity buff from being webbed by the Bloodstalker again No longer unequips player’s melee weapon when webbed Wyverns Reduced Wyvern HP gained per level by approximately 20% Reduced armour penetration on Lightning Wyvern beam attack by approx 20% Buffed Fire Wyvern right-click attack by approx 30% Prevented Void Wyvern from performing a right-click attack unless mounted by a rider Adjusted Wyvern base drag weight to match Crystal Wyverns so that they behave similarly against items that take this into consideration, such as the Net Ammo. (Therefore Fire, Lightning, and Poison Wyverns can now be netted). Noglin Now targetable by Plant X Takes reduced damage from Plant X when attached to a player Net Ammo Increased durability usage on Harpoon Gun for net ammo specifically. Cost per net fired increased by approx 250% Increased weight of weight ammo from 0.2 to 2.0 Mammoth Prevented being dismounted from creature when you are buffed by the Mammoth Mammoth war drummer now gets 40% damage mitigation whilst drumming Shadowmane Reduced the range the stun attack can target horizontally by 20% Increased the holding space bar jump distance by 20% Reduced how many targets the Shadowmane can chain stun when right-click is held to 7 targets from 15 targets Increased cooldown of teleport attack from 4.5 seconds to 15 seconds and each target added increases the cooldown by 2 seconds rather than 1 second - Increased the length of the immunity buff after a player has been stunned by the Shadowmane from 30 seconds to 50 seconds. Reduced passive creature armour from 124 to 80 and reduces its armour gained per level by 35% Global Stun Immunity Buff The following dismounts will now respect an overriding dismount immunity buff when the effect is created by any of the following creatures and items: Void Wyvern Shadowmane Netgun Flash bang (Plant Z Grenade) Miscellaneous Balance Prevented the Exo mek from filling turrets that have recently fired Increased Megalosaurus damage with the night time buff by approx 25% Increased Tek Turret HP by 100% Quality of Life and Misc. Increased slots on the Industrial Grinder from 60 to 120 Expanded the Tek Cloner register range by 3x Reduced Tek Surveillance Console Stack Size from 100 to 5 Display a HUD whilst holding H with tek Glove equipped displaying player location and upload timer Increased Magmasaur’s smelting output by 100% Enabled auto-harvest on Ankylosaurus Enabled breeding on Rockdrakes Enabled breeding on Achatina Fixed some exploits Fixed a bug where TEK Stryders and MEKs would not regain health in stasis Fixed a bug where MEK modules would lose durability when released from cryopod Two new admin commands: cheat drainwater <number> and cheat drainfood <number> Fixed a bug where the Dedicated Storage Box would ignore stack modifiers in server config files Fixed a bug where caused Plant Z to no longer heal dinos Fixed a bug where Soap would remove textures from some structures Fixed a bug where Cosmetics on the Shadowmane would not retain their colour v337.41 - 10/13/2021 Additional Official Server logging/debugging information Fixed an exploit v337.36 - 10/12/2021 Further iteration on Server logging/debugging information v337.35 - 10/10/2021 Additional Official Server logging/debugging information Fixed an exploit v337.33 - 10/10/2021 Additional Official Server logging/debugging information v337.21 - 10/08/2021 Temporarily prevented the Noglin from gaining torpidity v337.20 - 10/01/2021 Fixed an exploit v337.17 - 09/29/2021 Fixed an exploit v337.16 - 09/23/2021 Fixed an exploit v337.15 (clients are .13) - 09/20/2021 Fixed multiple exploits Fixed a bug where pressing "Spacebar" to bring up the camera list would shrink the UI each time Fixed a bug where weapons on the Loadout Mannequin would equip to feet Fixed some typos in text strings Fixed server versioning TEK Security Console Cameras are now able to be unlinked remotely Fixed servers not showing up when attempting to transfer between servers on Stadia Adjusted default Stadia video settings to support increased view distance and better texture quality. The following settings can also be adjusted in the options: post processing and view distance. v678.51 - 09/17/2021 Fixed multiple exploits. Fixed a bug where Explorer Notes would not unlock properly on Genesis Part 1 and Genesis Part 2. Any missing Genesis Part 2 note can be re-collected, and Genesis Part 1 notes should be fixed retroactively however may require you to respawn on Genesis Part 1. Fixed a bug where empty dedicated storage boxes would leave empty bags when destroyed Added 3 more buttons to Dedicated Storage boxes to withdraw 1, 5, and 10 items. v678.46 - 09/15/2021 Fixed an issue related to the placement of new dedicated storage boxes failing to retain items after a restart. v678.45 - 09/14/2021 Fixed an exploit Refactored TEK Dedicated Storage. This is a rework of the structure for server optimization, it should improve stability across the board due to huge memory-savings on large/active servers. It will generally function the same. You can still deposit and withdraw, but there are a few changes to be noted: You'll now be able to slot cap yourself directly using the Transfer All button when using the dedicated storage and it will ignore your weight. You'll no longer see an inventory inside the dedicated storage box when opening it, don't worry, your items are still there. You'll no longer be able to popcorn (Spamming the 'O' key to drop items) from the dedicated storage directly, (but you can now transfer a slot cap into your own inventory and popcorn from there). v678.37 - 09/10/2021 Fixed a network incompatibility which caused clients to disconnect when interacting with certain structures v678.32 - 09/10/2021 Fixed an issue with a bad build which caused game content to be destroyed. If you had updated your server to .30, you'll need to patch to .32, and may need to roll back your save file. v678.30 - 09/10/2021 Genesis Part One Mission Hexagon Rewards increased Fixed multiple exploits v678.20 - 09/08/2021 Fixed some incorrect volumes in Mission Zones Fixed a bug where Mini-HLNA emotes didn't play for female characters Fixed a bug where Mantis was not able to harvest with tools Fixed some exploits v678.13 - 09/02/2021 Fixed some cases where players could fail to connect to servers Fixed some crashes Fixed some cases where Mission Dinos could spawn under the mesh Fixed some cases where Mini-HLNA would no longer play its emotes Fixed a bug where the Ferox's insulation buff was not correctly applying v678.10 - 08/31/2021 Updated Vivox (voice chat & backend) Fixed some exploits v336.23 - 08/30/2021 Fixed multiple exploits Fixed a bug where kill notifications would not appear Fixed multiple level-design related bugs such as holes, floating foliage, incorrect volumes, etc v336.12 - 08/24/2021 Fixed some exploits v336.3 - 08/17/2021 Fixed some exploits Fixed a bug where the Mutagen nearby buff icon would not display properly Fixed a bug where the Raft and Motorboat would not work properly in some water volumes Fixed a bug where the TEK Stryder bed would duplicate itself on the respawn UI Fixed a bug where Charge Batteries would not recharge in stasis'd TEK Stryders Fixed a bug where creatures would spawn above the map on some levels Fixed a bug where HLNA teleportion would not work when the game is run different languages Fixed a bug where certain creature abilities would not work when the game is run different languages Fixed a bug where the Loadout Mannequin's hotbar would no longer work when using blueprints Fixed a bug where Mutagen bulbs would fall through the map in certain cases Fixed multiple bugs with the Noglin causing problems when taming and possessing. Fixed a bug where some missions would not start properly/could not be completed. Fixed a bug where some subtitles were not playing when the game is run in different languages Fixed a bug where Explorer Note VO would constantly repeat if you return to the location. TEK Dedicated Storage box now supports its quantity display on various sides of the structure and has some QOL features to enable these on multiple boxes easily. v335.8 - 08/11/2021 Fixed multiple possession related bugs with the Noglin Fixed a bug where players would not get twins or triplets when hatching/birthing babies on PC Fixed a bug which caused Eggs to not be visible in the Egg Incubator Fixed a bug where certain creature abilities would not work when the game is run different languages Fixed some exploits Fixed some localisation bugs Fixed some level design related bugs such as holes, floating foliage, incorrect volumes, incorrect damage multipliers v334.3 - 08/05/2021 Fixed some exploits. Fixed a bug that prevented players from repairing items in Dino Inventories that functioned as Smithy. Fixed a bug that caused the Charge Lantern to lose quality when placed and picked up. Fixed a bug that prevented some boss flags from being placed. Fixed some voiceover bugs. Fixed some PVE Exploits. Fixed some incorrect spawns with Summoner. Fixed some areas that prevented Megachelon from building. Fixed some client stalls when using the TEK Incubator. Fixed a bug which could cause items to be lost in the Loadout Mannequin when using a non-survivor dermis. Fixed a bug where players were being killed when entering a mission mounted from a Stegosaurus. Fixed a bug where some Explorer Notes would repeat themselves on unlock. Reworked the Shadowmane leap so that it works better on servers with low framerate and fixed a bug where it would jump too far in some cases Removed some redundant options in metal elevator platform multi-use wheel TEK Stryder beds are now named after the TEK Stryder itself Made some balance tweaks to Trap and Hunt missions to reduce overall difficulty v333.15 - 07/29/2021 Fixed some server side crashes v334.13 - 07/28/2021 Fixed some miscalculations with Noglin's taming effectiveness Fixed some cases where certain structures were not respecting Tribe Rank Rules Fixed some level design related bugs such as holes, floating foliage, incorrect volumes, incorrect damage multipliers. Fixed a bug where the Egg Incubator would not display stats for certain creature eggs, such as the Bloodstalker and Megachelon Fixed a bug where Cryopod UI would display incorrectly display hidden colour regions Fixed a bug which prevented TEK Skiffs from being crafted due to nearby Voidwyrms Fixed a bug which prevented resources from respawning due to nearby Voidwyrms Fixed a bug which caused Gacha's to provide the wrong fungal wood Fixed some more edge cases where Noglins' could still fly certain flying creatures under water Fixed some more edge cases where mission data could have been lost Prevented being able to drop eggs in the non-overworld Mission zones (such as Survive The ARK) Fixed some exploits Fixed some server and client crashes Unofficials can now enable additional dupe protection using the following commandline: -UseItemDupeCheck (Note: this could have an impact on mods, so use with caution) v333.4 - 07/22/2021 (Major version update) Fixed a bug where defeating King Kaiju wouldn't display on your implant Fixed a bug where Baryonyx wouldn't regenerate health on killing fish Fixed a bug with Brontosaurus IK Fixed some level design related bugs such as holes, floating foliage, incorrect volumes, incorrect damage multipliers. Fixed a bug where players would be unable to remount the Voidwyrm if the player was killed during the taming process Fixed a bug causing visual artifacts in water Fixed a bug where some wild creatures wouldn't be able to damage each other Fixed a bug where you wouldn't be able to use '0000' as a valid pin on Pressure Plates & TEK Sensors Fixed a bug where Lamp Post, Omni Lights, and TEK Lights were having their options reset when you would leave stasis/render distance Fixed a bug which allowed the Zero G buff to persist outside of the space biome Fixed & protected against multiple exploits Fixed & protected against multiple server and client crashes Fixed a bug which caused unclaimed baby dino corposes to fall through the map when killed Fixed a bug where Shadowmane could do higher than intended damage in some cases Fixed a bug where turrets that were powered by the "Copy Settings" feature would not automatically turn back on when the generator they were powered by was refueled. Fixed a bug which made players unable to use the TEK Sword charge ability when the Shoulder Cannon was equipped Fixed some false positive anti-mesh detection Plant Species R decay timer has been increased to 20 days TEK Sensor and canvas now respect enemy foundation range Made some tweaks to the Starwing Strike race so it can no longer be completed without moving the Astrodelphis. Creatures spawned by Hunt Missions can no longer be netted Shadowmane can no longer jump/blink when it has C4 attached to it (similarly to the Managarmr) Updated some text string to be more accurate Two new admin commands: Cheat AddChibiExp <HowMuch> Cheat AddChibiExpToPlayer <PlayerID> <HowMuch> v332.12 - 07/20/2021 (Client) Fixes some cases where certain Explorer Notes would not play when accessed via the Explorer Note UI v332.14 - 07/20/2021 (Server) Fixed a bug which caused hitscan weapons (such as the Fabricated Sniper Rifle) to be highly inaccurate/unreliable, especially against moving targets or when you were moving as the shooter. v332.13 - 07/15/2021 Significantly reduced the delay when transferring items between inventories or dropping items on the ground (a side effect of a crash and stall related fix from the previous patch) Noglins can attach to flyers and use them in non-flyzones but not underwater Net immunity cooldown increased from 10 seconds to 30 seconds When releasing a dino from a cryopod on servers using bEnableCryopodNerf, the creature will not be able to be netted for the duration of that buff. On Official PvP, this is set to 10 seconds. v332.11 - 07/15/2021 Fixed a bug where you could get inaccurate taming effectiveness on some creatures Fixed some exploits Fixed some client and server crashes Fixed some server stalls Fixed Megalodon gestation time (once again matches Megaloceros) Fixed some placement issues with some trophies Fixed a lot of level design related bugs such as holes, floating foliage, incorrect volumes, incorrect damage multipliers. Structures built on a Hoverskiff will forward damage to the skiff (does not forward damage from Wild creatures) Fixed some Desync reports Fixed a bug where HLNA crafting Explorer Notes would not unlock when using different characters on the same account Fixed some cases on Genesis Part 1 where the Explorer Notes would not unlock properly on the server Exintction Explorer Note #21 has been moved so it is no longer in the mesh Fixed a case where wild Snow Owls wouldn't be able to attack HLNA opacity settings now affect her movement SFX Fixed a bug where the Hoverskiff would not take off in Genesis Part 1: Tokyo Skiff mission Fixed a bug where some saddle engrams were missing from their respective crafting stations You can no longer build through Mission Dispatchers on Genesis Part 2 Fixed some mesh exploits Fixed a bug where you couldn't craft TEK Replicator on Genesis Part 1 Fixed a bug where TEK Stryder transmitter inventory was being wiped on server load Fixed a bug where players could move Netted Creatures Fixed some cases where the Noglin could attach in cases it shouldn't, and some cases where after a Noglin has attached it would be in a broken state. Fixed a bug on the Starwing Strike mission where your camera could get stuck using a gamepad Noglins now respect no flyer rules (maps, volumes, and water volumes). 6x Structure Damage has been removed from vents on Genesis Part 2 Fixed a case where players sometimes did not get their race creatures/canoe. Fixed a bug where some Genesis Part 2 creatures were not able to hit level 500 on Official Servers Fixed some shader/visual issues with SM4 v332.8 - 07/02/2021 Enabled the Full Hexagon Store on Official Genesis Part 2 Servers Reduced Cuddle Interval on Slide and Glide Mission from 0.5 to 0.1 to increase time between imprints (maturation and imprint bonuses remain the same) Fixed some mesh exploits Fixed some crashes Fixed a case where players would not be able to unlock Explorer Notes on Genesis Part 2 Fixed some issues SFX issues with HLNA v332.6 - 07/01/2021 Fixed an exploit with character authentication (EGS) Fixed a bug where mission levels would not unload properly Fixed a bug with the Mission UI Fixed a bug where a random asteroids would momentarily appear on low framerate servers during space warp Fixed some cases on PVE where players could build in building-prevented areas Fixed a case where some Mission Dinos were not being properly destroyed Nets are no longer effective against alpha creatures Fixed some exploits Fixed some client and server crashes Fixed a case where players would randomly die to fall damage in the Starwing Strike mission on low framerate servers Fixed some mission VO bugs Fixed some cases where players could exploit certain mechanics to make missions trivial v332.1 - 06/30/2021 Summer Bash is now live! For more details: Re-added missing cosmetic items from a previous event Fixed and protected against multiple exploits Fixed multiple crashes and exploits Fixed a bug where turrets wouldn't shoot unclaimed creatures TEK Pistol has reduced damage when used against boss monsters Velonasaur spawns have been updated on GEN2 to use the R-Velonasaur Mission Net Ammo no longer works on non-mission creatures Fixed a bug which prevented players from being able to place C4 properly Fixed a lot of level design related bugs such as holes, floating foliage, incorrect volumes. Fixed some SFX bugs with the Stryder Fixed a bug where players were unable to remove cosmetics from the Shadowmane Maewings now have a toggle visible trough area Reduced Equus gestation time Fixed a bug where players could speed up the taming process by using a Stego's impale mechanic v331.19 - 06/26/2021 Fixed TEK Generator enemy placement radius being too low on PVP Fixed a case where cryopods were being destroyed when releasing cryopoded-creatures Fixed & protected against multiple exploits Copy Dino Settings now only applies to dinos of the same type/variant (i.e Parasaur, X-Parasaur, etc) Copy Dino Settings now has a timer and release, akin to unclaiming a creature, to prevent accidental usage. v331.11 - 06/24/2021 Fixed some cases where the Explorer Notes would not unlock properly on the server (to get the first HLNA explorer note, make sure to hit the reset cinematics button in your options - note that you only unlock Explorer Notes once HLNA has finished all her lines.) Fixed a bug where the WorldBuffScalingEfficacy would break harvesting rates Prevented some Rockwell & Eden variants creatures on Aberration that weren't native to the map (https://survivetheark.com/index.php?/forums/topic/617465-an-update-concerning-genesis-2-r-variants-on-aberration/) Enabled creature downloads on Aberration for the Genesis Part 2 permitted creatures, including Stryder, Maewing, Shadowmane, Noglin, and some R-variants. Fixed multiple level design related bugs such as holes, volumes, and floating folliage. Shadowmane baby food consumption has been reduced Fixed a bug where Maewing babies in baskets could be lost on server start up Fixed cases where the "hacking" mini game could fail incorrectly when taming the Stryder, and also made it more reliable on all servers. v331.7 - 06/22/2021 Fixed an issue with Genesis Part 2 not using the correct octree causing performance problems Reduced the Lazer range of the Astrodelphis (does not affect mission version of Astrodelphis) Astrodelphis Lazers now respect armor when applying damage (does not affect mission version of Astrodelphis) Adjusted Mantis Feeding to prevent it from starving when fed Rhino Horns Fixed a bug where the Astrodelphis baby would get stuck inside the mother on spawn Fixed a mesh exploit v331.1 - 06/20/2021 Fixed an exploit with character authentification Fixed multiple server crashes Fixed an edge case bug where feeding the Shadowmane would not result in an affinity gain Fixed a bug where the Global Mission Reward bonuses were overriding dynamic rates Astrodelphis homing missile no longer targets players v330.8 - 06/18/2021 Multiple TEK Engrams (Replicator, Teleporter, Trough, Forcefield, Dedicated Storage, Armour, Rifle, Turret, Generator) were added to the Genesis Part 2 boss fight Hoversail no longer falls in Zero G (Boost is always active) Net Ammo loaded into a Harpoon Launcher can now be used underwater Mantis will now accept Rhino Horns for taming, at a lower affinity than Deathworm horns Noglins can no longer attach to babies Fixed a bug where Voidwyvrm wasn't gaining bonus levels after taming Fixed some VFX and SFX bugs with the Voidwyrm Fixed some VFX and SFX bugs with the Stryder Fixed some bugs with the Stryder which affected transferring items to and from the dedicated storage, as well as accessing some aspects of its pinwheel Fixed a bug where players could errenously remove attachments from their Stryders Fixed a bug where Stryder's taming effectiveness would drop from 100% to 0% Stryders should no longer count towards the Global Platform Structure Limit Increased the Stryder hacking grace period to compensate for low framte rate servers Fixed some visual issues with certain items on the Loadout Manneuquinne TEK Explosive Arrow Damaged reduced by 25% TEK Explosive Arrow projectile speed reduced by 33% Astrodelphis Lazer damage reduced by 33% Astrodelphis Grenade Bomb projectile speed reduced by 50% Astrodelphis Lazers will no longer damage targets if it is encumbered Fixed a case where the Astrodelphis homing missile would still damage riders even though it was targetting the creature Note: We still plan to iterate on Astrodelphis balance. Fixed multiple server and client stalls and crashes Fixed some cases where creatures weren't properly playing the unconscious animation when being shot by a Net Ammo Fixed a bug where the Space Asteroid resources weren't respawning on transition Fixed a bug where the Genesis Part 1 Arrivial Protocol mission wasn't starting Fixed some cases of false mesh detection Fixed some exploits in missions that allowed you to keep the mission weapon longer than intended Fixed a bug which allowed you to create loot caches that would expire in 10 seconds Removed some invalid items from the Mission Loot & Supply Crate tables on Genesis Part 2 Updated some mission objective text on Genesis Part 2 Updated some descriptive text for items on Genesis Part 2 Fixed a case where HLNA notes would not play when mounted v329.51 (.49 for clients) - 06/15/2021 Fixed TEK Sensor resetting on server restart Fixed Loadout Dummy decay timer being too short Fixed Dedicated Servers having the incorrect version when launched via the client Fixed being unable to navigate onto the Genesis 2 Engram filter Fixed some cases where the Stryder could not harvest properly Fixed some cases where the Net Ammo was not correctly dismounting players TEK Bow 'H' (Additional Info) Key now correctly displays the shard cost per ammo type Fixed some item descriptions Updated the Venus Fly Trap HUD Fixed some environmental visuals Fixed some inconsistencies with the Hoversail Trick Activation Text Fixed a client crash Fish Baskets no longer check for nearby enemy structures in PVE Stryder now has folders in the Multi Use wheel when looking at available dedicated storages, sorted by the nearest to the Stryder first. Tropeo saddle was readded to crafting stations Reduced the Astrodelphis melee damaged Astrodelphis homing missile shot no longer damages riders when it is targetting a tame Turrets will no longer attempt to target the Astrodelphis homing missile (as this does not damage structures). Dung Beetles are now available on Genesis Part 2 R-Plant seeds have been readded to the general mission loot reward Fixed some cases where Mutagen could be fed to unintended things. Fixed some exploits Fixed multiple server and client crashes Fixed multiple server and client stalls Fixed a bug where eggs would incubate instantly Server Configuration values related to Genesis 2 World Buffs bDisableWorldBuffs=True This will disable world buffs entirely bEnableWorldBuffScaling=True This dynamic setting will cause world buffs to scale their benefits multiplicatively, rather than additionally. (Official Servers have this set to false/use additional). WorldBuffScalingEfficacy=1 This dynamic setting will act as a global scalar to reduce/increase the effectiveness of world buffs. 1 would be default, 0.5 would be 50% less effective, 100 would be 100x more effective. v329.45 (.33 for clients) - 06/12/2021 Fixed a bug with the Voidwyrm that allowed it to over-level. Any over-leveled ones have had their levels rolledback and stats reallocated. Fixed multiple server side crashes Fixed a client side crash Fixed a network incompatibility with the Voidwyrm that would cause disconnects v329.27 (.25 client) - 06/10/2021 Fixed a bug where loot crates would only give primitive quality items Added bees to GEN2 (recommending ForceRespawnDinos/killing dinos if you don't see them!) Added Keratin & Chitin to the Meat Plants in the Corrupt Cave Reduced crafting time of Cementing Paste to 1 second from 5 seconds Fixed multiple server side and client crashes Fixed a bug where MEKs could not harvest meat Fixed a bug where loot crates would only give primitive quality items Fixed a bug where the Maewing would not slide properly on water Fixed a bug where the Minigun would revert its quality when being placed on the ground Fixed some turret tracking bugs and improved turret tracking against TEK explosive arrows and other projectiles in low FPS. (More improvements to come) Turrets will now destroy TEK Explosive arrows in an AOE upon impact Fixed a bug where the TEK Bow was not requiring its Engram to equip Fixed some mission and item typos/descriptions Fixed a bug where race missions would count your weight, forcing you to move mockingly slow. Prevented C4 from being attached to the Canoe Fixed a bug with the Noglin when attaching to tamed dinos it would "untame" them. Removed a bunch of invalid items (such as carnivore seeds) from the files. Fixed a bug which allowed you to tame mission dinos and have retroactively destroyed them. Fixed a server side crash Improved Space Dolphin shooter mission hit registration v329.22 - 06/08/2021 TEK Sprint and TEK Punch now work on GEN2 again. v329.21 - 06/08/2021 Fixed an exploit with Astrodelphis Fixed multiple client and server crashes Fixed a bug where Stryders were not starting to auto-charge after being tamed Fixed a bug which prevented the TEK Gloves from working if TEK Shoulder Cannon was equipped Fixed mission progression sometimes being erased Prevented the Canoe from being grappled Fixed a bug where explosive arrows would not be targetted by turrets Fixed some false positive mesh detection cases in mission zones Fixed the Astrodelphis losing too much taming effectiveness per feed Fixed the Canoe getting stuck in the Team Downriver Run race Fixed incorrect SFX on mounted dinos when wearing GEN2 armor Fixed being able to target players in the Starwing Strike race Fixed a bug which caused the Astrodelphis to ignore the server setting for taming, making it always tame at the same speed regardless of settings. Fixed a bug with the Stryder's shield. Fixed an exploit with projectiles. Fixed a bug where players would not be teleported to the boss fight Fixed a bug where some mission levels remain loaded after exiting the mission Fixed a bug with bAlwaysAllowStructurePickup Fixed a bug which prevented being able to place C4 with Gamepad v329.14 - 06/06/2021 Fixed multiple server crashes Fixed a client crash related to eggs and the egg incubator Fixed a bug which would cause you to be dismounted/killed during certain missions v329.9 (server is .8) - 06/05/2021 Temporarily disabled Space Dolphin's bomb structure damage whilst the mechanic is being iterated on. Fixed a multiple exploit Fixed multiple server and client crashes Fixed a replication issue with the Egg Incubator v329.7 - 06/05/2021 Disabled TEK Punch from doing damage on Genesis Part 2 Added a server config bool for Unofficial Servers to allow them to disable the GEN2 TEK Suit on spawn: bDisableDefaultMapItemSets=True (Game.ini) Fixed multiple server crashes/hang Fixed a bug where players would be unintentionally killed on the Hoversail Fixed a bug where you could use mission canoes as beds Fixed a bug where players could join servers and go over the slot count v329.6 - 06/04/2021 Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in the intro cinematic Fixed several server crashes v329.5 (v329.3 server) - 06/03/2012 Genesis Part 2 is now available! (For unofficial hosts, the map name is Gen2) Epic Settings bumped up further for improved visuals Added a "Allow Enanched Max View Distance Mode" checkbox to settings Added a "Reset Cinematics & Cosmetic Items" button to settings to enable a one-time playing of cinematics/receiving your cosmetics again. Copy Dino Settings to nearby Dinos adding to Multi Use wheel on Creatures Multiple Ferox bug fixes in various game modes (dedicated, non-dedicated, and single player) Fixed an exploit with MEKs Fixed an exploit with Managarmr Ferox will now display stats for both of its forms Enforcer can now climb walls by holding down shift (similar to Bloodstalker) Cryofridge is now paintable Player Taxidermies now support hairstyles TEK Helmet multiuse wheel has been moved on keyboard to R Training Dummy updated to support equipping armour so more precise DPS can be identified Multiple holes, meshes, volume, floating folliage fixes across all platforms. New player whistle "All Passive Flee" New Server Configurations: Game.ini: bHexStoreAllowOnlyEngramTradeOption=true (only allows Engrams to be sold on the Hex Store, disables everything else). BaseHexagonRewardMultiplier=0.1 (Allows you to score hexagon rewards on specific servers) HexagonCostMultiplier=1 (Allows you to scale the hexagon cost of items in the Hexagon store) bDisableHexagonStore=0 (Allows you to disable the Hexagon store) v327.21 - 05/18/2021 Fixed an exploit v327.19 - 05/05/2021 Fixed an exploit v327.10 (Server is v327.8) - 04/28/2021 Shadowmane Chibi now available for anyone who has collected all the Genesis Chronicles Explorer Notes Fixed a localisation crash Fixed an exploit that allowed players to cause others to disconnect using dedicated storage boxes Removed Easter Holiday content Eliminated edge cases where servers could have more players than the config would allowed v326.13 - 04/23/2021 - Fixed multiple level-design related bugs such as holes, floating foliage, incorrect volumes, etc. - Server config value: "AllowCaveBuildingPvP=false" now supports blocking building in caves on Aberration, Extinction, Genesis Part 1, and Crystal Isles in preparation for Conquest server launch. - New server config value in ShooterGameMode Game.ini: PreventTransferForClassNames= For example: PreventTransferForClassNames=Dodo_Character_BP_C - Seeds now have a spoil timer (included a one time destruction of them in dedicated storage boxes) v326.8 - 04/12/2021 Fixed a server crash that would occur when the server was attempting to save v326.6 - 04/07/2021 Fixed a localisation crash v326.3 - 03/31/2021 Eggcellent Adventure 6 is now live, for more details: Fixed a bug where wild bees would not spawn Additional server side logging Additional mesh detection metrics v325.17 - 03/29/2021 Additional mesh detection metrics Additional server side logging Fixed a mesh exploit v325.10 - 03/25/2021 Fixed Cryopod not displaying the creatures gender TEK Federation Helmet colourisation on female characters v325.10 - 03/25/2021 Fixed a bug which would cause dino mating cooldown to reach unreasonably high levels v325.6 - 03/24/2021 Genesis Chronicles V! Jump in to collect your TEK Federation Helmet skin, and HLN-A & Rockwell's Explorer Notes on Genesis! Fixed a mesh exploit v324.24 - 03/19/2021 Fixed a mesh exploit Deinonychus riders can no longer use weapons when they're latched onto a creature Deinonychus can no longer be picked up by the Karkinos Fixed a server-side stall exploit v324.22 - 03/11/2021 Fixed a mesh exploit Fixed an exploit that allowed you to avoid turret damage Hover Skiff can no longer use turbo speed when carrying enemy players or tamed enemy dinos (no changes made if using carrying allied or wild) v324.18 - 03/05/2021 Fixed an exploit which allowed players to avoid taking damage from turrets Reverted bola changes that were implemented with previous exploit-fix. v324.17 - 03/05/2021 Fixed a bug where the spyglass was not displaying wild or enemy creature names v324.16 - 03/05/2021 Reworked TEK Helm to function like the shoulder cannon so that tapping 'E' no longer cycles visors instead holding 'E' will bring up a pinwheel which players can use to toggle or cycle the visor. Corrupted Dinos no longer damage player structures on PvE Made some tweaks to the Artifact system in single-player to resolve some scenarios where some artifacts (such as Skylord) would spawn/respawn unreliably. Fixed invisible bees. Fixed a bug that allowed players to escape through the ceiling barrier on some maps Fixed a client crash related to movement Fixed a client crash related to attacking with creatures Fixed a bug where the Colour ID was displaying incorrectly on Cryopods Fixed an exploit that allowed players to avoid turret damage Fixed a bug where enemy creature floating HUD names would still cost client performance even when not rendered Fixed a bug where the Shoulder Cannon was targeting allied creatures on PVE Fixed a server crash v324.10 - 03/01/2021 Added some additional logging for servers Added some additional validation against renaming dinos and structures Fixed an exploit with explosives Fixed a server crash v323.18 - 02/26/2021 Updated cryopod UI. (Known issue: imprint value isn't correct & you may need to throw out existing dinos to get the updated spayed/neutered status). v323.17 - 02/25/2021 Cryopods will now remember (but not display) the mating interval time and count down correctly Fixed Cryopod UI displaying wrong values for some stats. Cryopod UI has been adjusted to be smaller, display gender, and whether a creature has been spayed or neutered. We plan to make some more changes to this in the future where the colour-ID will be included on the colours, as well as some general clean up of the UI. Fixed an issue where the new TEK Federation Gloves skin would cause some masking issues on the player character's head v323.14 - 02/23/2021 Fixed a client crash caused by highlighting/mousing over cryopods v323.6 - 02/23/2021 Genesis Chronicles VII (Notes 16 - 20 have been added with the TEK Federation Gloves cosmetic) Additional metrics for transfer and server connection issues Cryopods now display more information including the creatures' colour region and mutations. v322.15 - 02/18/2021 Can no longer ride unconscious Stegos Fixed various map issues related to volumes and borders Ziplines will now check to see whether a character can actually fit into a space before allowing them to attach to the zipline Dino Leash now has a designated folder in the crafting UI Added the option to see Unlearned Engrams on Remote Inventories with crafting (which can be toggled on/off on the same UI) v322.9 - 02/11/2021 Valentine's Event is now live! Launch with -activeevent=vday Can no longer carry/base Corrupted Dinos Notes have had their character limit restored to the previous value (no longer cuts off after one line) v321.20 - 02/04/2021 Fixed an exploit v321.14 - 01/26/2021 No longer able to delete/destroy the obelisk via admin commands (previously deleted ones are now restored) Fixed an exploit that would allow the Velonasaur to have infinite stamina while firing spikes Fixed a bug that prevented players from accessing the Ferox inventory Fixed a bug that caused Billboards & Signs to have a 24 character limit Fixed a bug that caused wild beehive spawns to over spawn Fixed a typo with the Ovis Chibi Fixed a server crash v321.11 - 01/24/2021 After placing a structure, the placement HUD will remain active if the player has any more items of that structure available to place. (So you no longer have to re-select the structure to place the same type again). v321.10 - 01/17/2021 Fixed a visual issue with the Federation TEK Chest Piece Fixed a bug which prevented non-dedicated servers from being able to be hosted Fixed a bug where the inventory rank was not updating on the client unless you rendered the structure again or rejoined the server. v321.1 - 01/14/2021 Added Explorer Notes 11-15 for Genesis Chronicles Added TEK Chest V2 for Genesis Chronicles Added additional mesh biting detection Fixed multiple mesh methods Fixed a bug where the Scorched Earth Manticore was rewarding the incorrect amount of Element Fixed an exploit that allowed players to create names with invisible letters Fixed multiple level-design related bugs such as holes, floating foliage, incorrect volumes, etc. Fixed a bug where the Taming UI pop up would not function at reduced resolution scales Fixed a bug where the TEK Turret did not respect Tribe Ranks Fixed a crash with the Taming HUD Fixed an exploit that allowed beehives to be duped Managarmr can no longer dash when C4 is attached (Similarly to how the Pterodon cannot roll) Deinonychus riders are now correctly dismounted when flashed by a Plant Species Z Fruit Carno Visual Changes (Texture/Material Update) New Single Player/Host Setting: Enable Level Up for Flyer Movement Speed (You can enable the setting on Unofficials by doing the following: adding bAllowFlyerSpeedLeveling=True to the game.ini or -AllowFlyerSpeedLeveling to the commandline) v320.57 - 01/06/2021 Fixed an exploit that allowed 'family shared' accounts to play on 'family sharing prohibited' servers v320.50 - 01/04/2021 Fixed a meshing exploit v320.38 - 12/24/2020 'Happy New Year!' event is now enabled on Official Servers. The event is set to go off at approximately Midnight EST and Noon EST on the 1st of January 2021. Servers running the event will be bombarded with raining gifts in a hail of fireworks to mark the end of 2020. These gifts will contain a collection of your favourite skins from past events that are currently unavailable and a chibi bonanza! And by bonanza, we mean, the drop rate of Rare, Very Rare and Legendary chibis will be dialled to over 9000! Unofficial Servers can enable the event with the following commandline param: -NewYearEvent To modify the times, the following commandline parameters can also be used: ?NewYear1UTC=1609477200 ?NewYear2UTC=1609497200 You can use https://www.epochconverter.com/ to get your appropriate timestamp. Please keep in mind that this event cannot be run before Midnight EST on the 1st of January 2021, so if you wish to change your time it would have to be set after that. Some additional notes: This event can only be run ONCE on a savefile (with 2 triggers). If a server is set to run the event at a time already passed, then on load the server will immediately trigger the gifts. v320.31 - 12/23/2020 Fixed an exploitable client side crash v320.29 - 12/18/2020 Fixed a bug which prevented some servers from listing on EGS clients v320.18- 12/17/2020 Winter Wonderland is now live until Jan 7th! Launch your server with -ActiveEvent=WinterWonderland to enjoy the festivities! Fixed an exploit with tribe names v319.29 - 12/15/2020 Fixed an exploitable server side crash (recommend unofficials update as soon as possible) v319.22 - 12/14/2020 Fixed incorrect damage multiplier volumes being active v319.14 - 12/11/2020 Exclusives! Animated Series Raptor Costume Santiago's Spear Skin Santiago's Axe Skin All acquired by clicking on the main menu options Genesis Chronicles Added HLN-A Explorer Notes 6-10 for Genesis Chronicles Added TEK Suit V2 pants for Genesis Chronicles Bug Fixes Fixed a bug that allowed the Stego to continuously impale Removed level up notification when a dino is already at max level Fixed an exploit with FOV Fixed a bug with the Aberration day/night cycle Fixed an issue that could cause a stall when using the teleporter and troughs Fixed an occurrence where the TEK Skiff would be unable to fly even when it has been fueled Before eating a Tropeo egg, you will now receive a warning before consuming it Fixed an exploit with Nvidia Ansel Fixed an issue where the baby mantis could float in the air Adjusted the Stego's impale damage so that it scales with the level Fixed a bug where a mounted rider could be killed after removing a Trope saddle Fixed a mesh exploit with the Crab v318.14 - 11/28/2020 Turkey Trial event colours will now properly show up in all colour regions on wild creatures v318.12 - 11/24/2020 Prevented more TT cosmetics from being grindable v318.9 - 11/24/2020 Turkey Trial is now live until December 8th! Launch your server with -ActiveEvent=Turkeytrial to enjoy the festivities! Fixed a bug where Tamed Megalodons were accidentally applying the Gashed debuff, causing a slow and a bleed, rather than the Gnashed debuff which would only cause a bleed. Additionally, Wild Megalodons will no longer apply the bleed effect (Gnashed) to their targets. Fixed a bug which broke Basilisk IK Fixed a bug where the Mammoth damage debuff (Trumpet) was not working on wild or tamed dinos Fixed multiple level-design related bugs such as holes, floating foliage, incorrect volumes, etc. This includes the floating water volumes around the Crystal Isles floating islands which would cause players to dismount in midair. Fixed a bug which caused the Taming HUD to clear itself after a server restart or relog Fixed a bug which caused Quetz to be affected by small bear traps Fixed a bug which caused the Rock Drake to stop gliding Fixed a bug which caused Large Crop Plots to be fully irrigated when placed Fixed a bug which allowed players to place ocean platforms inside other player structures Fixed a bug which caused Onyc's babies to spawn at the wrong socket location Fixed a bug where HLNA was not correctly colorizable Fixed a bug which allowed Desert Kaiju flock to be taxidermable Fixed a bug which prevented you from being able to "track all" creatures that were tamed within a search filter in the Taming UI HUD. Fixed a bug which caused some foliage on Aberration to be missing collision Fixed a bug which prevented Arthropleuras, Spiders, and Onyc that were in Cryopods from being deployed Fixed a bug which caused Wild Stegos to have colour plating in Single Player Fixed a bug which caused Mantis that were grown from the baby stage to be larger than tamed ones Fixed a bug which made the Chibi Bone Rex smaller than intended Fixed a bug with the Hockey Mask which would cause it to stall players upon selection Fixed a bug which prevented the Stego from gaining experience when killing with Impale Fixed a bug which caused the Bleed Effect to be off center on the Allosaurus and Thylacoleo Fixed a bug which caused non-aggressive Eels to wander in circles Fixed a bug which made it so that the Shoulder Cannon icon was not colourised Fixed an exploit which prevented turrets from shooting at you Fixed an exploit that allowed Cannons and Turrets to be healed using the tent v317.2 - 11/19/2020 Fixed a client crash caused by launching the game whilst not being connected to the internet v317.1 - 11/13/2020 Fixed a case where transfers could fail Fixed multiple server side crashes v316.40 - 11/12/2020 Eliminated server calculation related to replacing structures (no cost to server). Active on Unofficials too. Optimised server calculation for demolishing structures (Official only for now whilst being tested) v316.31 - 11/10/2020 Fixed a bug which caused players to be unable to connect or travel between servers v316.28 - 11/10/2020 Fixed a bug which caused players to disconnect after defeating bosses Fixed a bug which caused players to timeout or get a Login Lock error when transferring on Official Servers v316.18 - 11/07/2020 Mammoth TLC Stego TLC Taming HUD Turret Radius Settings Insects are now breedable Wyverns are now breedable (except Zombie Wyvern) Reduced Giganotosaurus maturation time by approximately 15% (Total growth is around 10~ days) Increased Diplocaulus base health by 33% (from 190 to 250.3) Increased Diplocaulus movement speed when ridden by 25% Added a (slow draining) bleed to Thylacoleo basic attack Reduced depth requirement for Megachelon breeding so that it can be bred on other maps Reduced Megalodon gestation/aging times to match Megaloceros Added a Pack Bonus to Megalodon: Damage Reduction and Damage Increase per pack member within range Added a bleed to Megalodon basic attack Increased Jerboa base weight capacity from 55 to 120 (Matches Bulbdog) Increase Ankylosaurus metal weight reduction by 10% (from total reduction of 75% to 85%) You can now turn when rolling with a Doedicurus (similarly to the Genesis Race Mission) Basilisk now has eyes Element reward from The Island bosses has been increased by 100% Element reward from The Center bosses has been increased by 100% Element reward from Scorched Earth has been increased by 50% Fixed a bug where HLN-A would jitter a lot at low client fps Fixed a bug which allowed you to blow up 2 pieces of C4 without consuming them Fixed the Onyx having the wrong icon Fixed a lot of typos Fixed a shoulder pet offset issue with the Ferox on the Gigantopithecus Fixed a bug on localized/translated Cryopods which prevented it from displaying the correct information Fixed multiple level-design related bugs such as holes, floating foliage, incorrect volumes, etc. Fixed a bug which prevented you from placing Cliff Platform structures in the Genesis Part 1 Ocean Biome Fixed a bug which broke biome specific overrides Fixed a bug which allowed players to fly across the map with certain creatures and grappling hooks Completely disabled the option to set teleporters as Public on Official PvP (including using them). New Dynamic Ini options: HexagonRewardMultiplier (multiplies hex rewards for missions), BabyImprintAmountMultiplier, and BabyCuddleIntervalMultiplier Hotkey for GCM demolished has changed to "G" when using keyboard and mouse Ended Fear Evolved and removed Halloween content v315.18 - 11/06/2020 Fixed a server crash v315.17 - 11/05/2020 Fixed an issue where player characters were not linking up to tribes correctly. If you have recently transferred to or downloaded your character on a server and it was not placed in it's tribe, please do not create a new tribe. Once this patch is live, you can transfer out and back in again and this should grant you access to your tribe once more. v315.16 - 11/05/2020 Fixed multiple server crashes v315.15 - 11/02/2020 Fixed a crash that would occur when the player would not be able to authenticate through Cloudflare Additional anti-cheat server-side logging v315.9 - 10/29/2020 Increased chance of creatures being a bone or a ghost type Changed scarecrows, pumpkins, gravestones to now give players a random amount between 1 and 5 Increased the average frequency of seeing gravestones, scarecrows, and piles by approximately 15% Fixed special map overrides not working on DLC maps, such as TEK Creatures, GEN-X, etc. v315.4 - 10/23/2020 Fixed a server side crash Prevented the Dodowyvern and DodoRex from being able to be picked up with a hoverskiff v315.2 - 10/23/2020 Fear Evolved 4 is now available until November 6th! Enable with -ActiveEvent=FearEvolved Crystal Wyvern Fertilized eggs now properly warn players before consuming C4 will no longer float when attached to dinos that have been cryo'd Players can demolish structures quickly in GCM by using Q on keyboard or RightBumper+X on Gamepad/R1 + Square. Fixed a bug where players were unable to ride dinos whilst being grappled. Fixed multiple level-design related bugs such as holes, floating foliage, incorrect volumes, etc. Fixed multiple mesh exploits Fixed a bug which would cause Rock Drake to spin rapidly when climbing walls Fixed a shooting exploit with TEK Tapejara Fixed a bug which allowed Magmasaur to do damage in ORP mode Added colorisation options for Shoulder Cannon Added the TEK Trike to the core game so it can now be transferred Added the Master Controller flag to VR Boss v314.13 - 10/13/2020 TEK Grenades when attached to a scout will now instantly explode Further enhancements to the mesh protection system to prevent projectiles and structures from being fired or placed inside the mesh v314.7 - 10/09/2020 Fixed a client crash on Aberration Fixed a client crash on Linux v314.5 - 10/08/2020 Pacifier (imprint/cuddle) icon will be hidden behind the Extended HUD options (H) unless an imprint is available (then you'll see it) to reduce on screen clutter. v314.3 - 10/08/2020 Crystal Isle map optimizations Fixed multiple level-design related bugs such as holes, floating foliage, incorrect volumes, etc. Networking optimizations and security improvements Pacifier (Imprint) Icon only displays above baby dinos when imprinting is NOT at 100%, and will pulse when a baby is ready to be cuddled Additional mesh detection improvements Fixed a bug with Tropeo that allowed it to attack ORP structures and dinos Initial Implementation of the Live Tuning System. More details can be found here. v313.57 - 10/01/2020 Fixed a meshing exploit Fixed a turret soaking exploit Dino Leash will no longer prevent creatures from being transported via a TEK Teleporter Fixed a bug that prevented the oil pump structure from being able to be placed on oil wells. Fixed a bug which prevented players from launching the expansion pack maps on Linux Locally run 'getall' commands are now locked behind a server admin check Alliance chat now works with Gamepad v313.55 - 09/29/2020 Further optimisations made to the structure stasis code (Official Only) Fixed a bug which would cause spectator mode to stop working v313.52 - 09/28/2020 Further optimisations made to the structure stasis code (Official Only) Fixed a crash related to the stasis optimisation code (Official Only) Fixed OSDs and Veins not being destroyed when leaving render distance (they are supposed to be destroyed) Fixed Gas Veins continuing to explode gas balls even when they have a collector attached v313.49 - 09/27/2020 Further optimisations made to the structure stasis code (Official Only) Fixed some stasis-related crashes (Official Only) v313.46 - 09/26/2020 Fixed server crashes related to stasis optimisation code (Official Only) Additional stasis optimisations (Official Only) v313.43 - 09/25/2020 Fixed multiple cases where players or dinos could get stuck in structures via relogging or fast travelling. (Official only - related to the stasis code) v313.41 - 09/25/2020 Structure stasis code optimized (Official only for now whilst we continue to investigate impact) v313.37 - 09/24/2020 Fixed multiple level-design related bugs such as holes, floating foliage, incorrect volumes, etc. Prevented players from being able to level up tames above the server-specific level clamp Fixed multiple mesh methods Fixed an exploit with the Astrocetus Updated the PC Client Patch Notes URL v313.35 - 09/19/2020 Fixed a server crash related to RCON. (Unofficial Only) v313.33 - 09/18/2020 Fixed a server crash v313.30 - 09/17/2020 Fixed multiple level-design related bugs such as holes, floating foliage, incorrect volumes, etc. Fixed Fence Supports requiring foundational support when trying to snap to each other Fixed an exploit which allowed players to bring tames to Genesis Gauntlet Missions Fixed the DefeatBoss admin command Added additional sockets onto the skiff which auto-turrets can use as targeting options Added some protection to the Tribe UI to prevent players from accidentally leaving their own tribe or kicking themselves Prevented the trough visual from displaying in spectator mode Fixed a bug which allowed you to complete Genesis Gather Missions before hitting all the requirements Fixed a bug which would allow you to build a floating base Fixed a bug which prevented Megachelons from counting towards the platform dino limit Fixed a mesh exploit Fixed a bug which prevented catapults from applying damage when shooting boulders v313.28 - 09/16/2020 Fixed multiple server crashes v313.23 - 09/15/2020 Fixed a server crash v313.22 - 09/13/2020 Fixed multiple exploits related to mounted turrets v313.19 - 09/10/2020 Fixed an exploit that caused players to be ignored by auto-turrets v313.14 - 09/08/2020 Fixed an exploit that caused players to be ignored by auto-turrets v313.14 - 09/05/2020 Fixed a bug which stopped Gacha crystals from providing items upon consumption v313.10 - 09/04/2020 Fixed a bug which prevented the TEK Bridge from snapping Increased the TEK Bridge decay timer Fixed a level up animation glitch with the Bear and Megatherium Fixed multiple level design related bugs such as holes, floating foliage, incorrect volumes, etc. Fixed a bug which caused the Trough visual indicator to reset on load in Single Player Fixed an exploit used by malicious players to arbitrarily add pin codes to unpincodeable structures Fixed various broken creature spawns in Genesis Single Player Adjusted the Transfer UI's Server Session list alignment Fixed a bug where downloaded Titans were not saving on servers Fixed an exploit with Crystal Wyverns Fixed an exploit with the Reaper and Basilisk Fixed an exploit with the Deinocyhus Fixed a bug with the TEK Skiff would not update its inventory, causing it to be unable to fly as it assumed it was carrying too many items v313.7 - 08/31/2020 Fixed multiple meshing exploits v313.5 - 08/25/2020 Doubled harvesting, taming, and XP rates in the core game Transfers and Reaper Pregnancy now enabled on Official Crystal Isles and * (EGS/new) servers Fixed multiple level design issues related to holes, volumes, floating foliage, and more across various maps. Desert Kaiju lightning strike no longer goes through terrain/world geo Fixed a stutter with the TEK Suit on Crystal Isles Reaper Kings in Rockwell Fight are no longer tamable Setname now correctly checks for admin Trough now remembers the state of the Visual Indicator on load of save game Fixed multiple mesh exploits v312.84 - 08/18/2020 Fixed a server desync which would cause players to disconnect in certain locations on Crystal Isle v312.83 - 08/18/2020 Fixed a client desync which would cause players to disconnect in certain locations on Crystal Isles v312.82 - 08/18/2020 Fixed multiple mesh exploits The admin command destroytribestructureslessthan now works correctly on teams that are not part of tribes. Purlovia can no longer burrow if it's being carried by a Skiff beam Gacha Crystals are now applying the item clamp on generated items v312.80 - 08/14/2020 Fixed a bug which would have caused characters to accidentally overwrite already existing but dead characters upon transferring in. Fixed a bug which would have caused consumable items to have not been removed from inventories upon use. v312.74 - 08/10/2020 Fixed an invulnerability exploit with MEKs Unofficial Servers can now disable family sharing by disabling the following config in GameUserSettings.ini under ServerSettings: AllowSharedConnections=False v312.72 - 08/05/2020 Fixed multiple mesh exploits v312.66 - 08/04/2020 Fixed multiple mesh exploits Fixed TEK Gauntlets pushing enemy tamed creatures in PVE v312.65 "QOL/Balance Pass" - 07/30/2020 Creatures Basilosaurus Increased deep-sea-depth value at which damage taken by approximately 30% Bloodstalker Reduced armour penetration by approximately 35% Reduced durability damage by 50% Carno Added 30% armour penetration to the Left Click attack Added a Bleed effect to the right click attack which does up to 5% of targets health over 10 seconds, cannot be stacked but the timer can be reset. Carbonemys Increased resistance to TEK Turrets by 10% Dunkleosteus Reduced weight of Obsidian in inventory by approximately 75% Reduced weight of metal, stone, crystal, and black pearls by approximately 50% Increased swim speed by approximately 20% Liopleurodon Increased buff timer from 30 minutes to 6 hours Megachelon Reduced Shell Resistance by 30% (from 80% to 50%) Reduced Health Per Level gains by approximately 15% Paracer Reduced Health Per Level gains by approximately 15% Gasbags Can no longer inhale or exhale when being carried by skiff Will no longer push Dinos around in PVE when landing to prevent griefing and exploits Breeding Reduced Mosasaur maturation time (now matches Yutyrannus) Reduced Basilosaurus maturation time (now matches Gacha) Reduced Tusoteuthis maturation time (now matches Yutyrannus) Reduced Plesiosaur maturation time (now matches Gacha) Reduced Compy maturation time (now matches Otter) Reduced Equus maturation time (now matches Procoptodon) Reduced Quetzal maturation time to approximately 5 and a half days Reduced Phiomia maturation time (now matches Ovis) Reduced Ichthyosaurus maturation time (now matches Roll Rat) Reduced Dunkleosteus maturation time (now matches Mammoth) Reduced Jerboa maturation time (now matches Otter) Increased Rhino maturation time (now matches Doedicurus) Genesis Added an additional 15 seconds to all race missions on Xbox and PS4 Added Event Emotes to the Hex Store at the cost of 50,000 hexagons Reduced Hexagons rewarded on Mound Over Matter and One Helluva Treasure Hunt by 25% on all difficulties Increased the cost of Gunpowder in the Hex Exchange to 150 hexagons. Increased the cost of Hide in the Hex Exchange to 60 Hexagons Element Shards gained from Genesis Volcano Red Crystals have been reduced by approximately 40% Per Character Hexagon clamp added to configurable ini (Defaults to 2.5m on Official Network, retroactive change). Can be edited on unofficials by changing this variable in GameUserSettings.ini: MaxHexagonsPerCharacter=2500000 Valguero Boss Fight timer has increased from 20 minutes to 30 minutes. General Flying creatures will prioritize picking up friendly-creatures rather than dismounting friendly riders Baby Creatures will no longer auto-wander when hatched Mounting a flying creature will no longer instantly cause it to take off Cryopods in a player’s inventory will now charge if a player is sleeping in a TEK Pod. TEK Helm will now provide players with the Gas Mask bonus, protecting them from the Poison Wyvern and Basilisk spit. Tamed Creatures can no longer consume antidote Added multiple item-clamping checks to various areas of loot generation and crafting. Heavy Turret damage increased by 15% TEK Turrets now require double the amount of shards per bullet Metal Ingot stack size has been increased to 300 Raw Metal stack size has been increased to 300 Spoil time on Lesser Antidote has been increased to 3 days Spoil time on Prime Meat and Prime Fish have doubled HLNA and Chibi Creatures no longer disable the protection against Bees buff. Yell and Whisper can now switch between the following modifier keys on PC: Left Shift, Left Ctrl, and Left Alt. A configurable GameUserSettings.ini which allows server hosts to limit the amount of gateways that can be placed on platform saddles. This configuration is not retroactive, so applying this change will require some manual administration work to clear up any pre-existing platforms that exceed the limit. MaxGateFrameOnSaddles=2 We’ll be enabling this on our Official PvP Network and setting the limit to 2, on all platforms. Official PvP players will have approximately 30 days to adjust their current existing platforms to remove any that exceed the gateway limit. v312.57 - 07/22/2020 Fixed multiple server crashes Cruise Missiles will now be targeted by turrets that are set to Survivor Only Tweaked the Bloodstalker's valid-enemy target HUD color and additional server-side validation to prevent exploits. Fixed a bug with the Bloodstalker that prevented it from harvesting corpses v312.53 - 07/21/2020 Fixed multiple mesh exploits Fixed an exploit that allowed you to avoid cryosickness Removed the purple crosshair from Bloodstalker when it has a valid enemy target due to exploit potential. End the Summer Bash event on Official Servers v312.52 - 07/17/2020 Fixed a shooting exploit Fixed multiple mesh exploits Added additional settings to the dynamic config Fixed some colorization issues with the Crystal Wyverns v312.47 - 07/14/2020 Fixed multiple server crashes Fixed multiple undermesh exploits Fixed an exploit to block turret fire Fixed Saddles not respecting the armor clamp when releasing them from cryopods Fixed EGS clients not being able to rejoin full servers without relaunching the application Added multiple missing sound effects Added a limit to the number of flex pipes that can be placed within an area v312.43 - 07/12/2020 Fixed some client crashes specific to mods v312.40 - 07/10/2020 Fixed a server crash Improved shooting accuracy on lower fps servers against moving targets Fixed some client crashes specific to mods v312.35 - 07/09/2020 Fixed an exploit related to the Railgun Fixed an exploit related to Shoulder Cannon MEKs can now harvest corpses with their swords Reduced TEK Generator enemy foundation check radius in PvE Multiple level design fixes related to holes, volumes, floating foliage, and collision. Rollrat passengers are no longer killed when the Rollrat rolls Begin 'Mating' has now been moved back to the standard tick (should eliminate the delay in creatures starting to mate) TEK Sensor settings should not restart after loading a saved game Crystal Wyvern cloning costs have been rebalanced Removed some unusable items from the Mission Loot Tables Added TEK Trike and Ice Golem to the recoverable cryo array so that they can be cryo'd and used on Genesis specifically Additional Hexagon Loot Crate protection to prevent them from being unopened upon purchase TEK Gloves now work on Genesis Fixed some cases where the Rock Drake was able to shoot at turrets but not be targeted itself Megalechon dermis now works on the Large Taxidermy Base HLNA skin will now respect the 'disable default survivor item' options in the client Added `BabyImprintAmountMultiplier` as an additional game.ini config for globally tuning imprinting. Multiplier applied to the percentage each imprints provide. For example, if an imprint usually give 8%, setting this multiplier to 0.5 means they would now give 4% each. While setting it to 2.0 means they would now give 16% each, etc. This multiplier is global, meaning it will affect the imprinting progression of every species Further tweaks to logic used in shooting desync exploit fix Fixed another bug that would have prevented data from being written to the cloud when transferring characters (Official Only). Prevented unclaimed dinos from breeding Prevented baby dinos from auto-harvesting Fixed element pool not restoring element for TEK equipment v312.32 - 07/07/2020 Improved logic used in our shooting desync exploit fix from the previous patch Fixed a bug which would have prevented data from being written to the cloud when transferring characters (Official Only). v312.29 - 07/05/2020 Fixed a shooting desync exploit Fixed multiple server crashes v312.27 - 07/02/2020 Fixed multiple level design issues related to holes, volumes, floating foliage, and more. Fixed multiple exploits related to Genesis Mission Weapons Fixed a bug that allowed you to purchase unopened loot crates v312.24 - 07/01/2020 Fixed some exploits related to ranged weapons and guns. v312.19 - 06/30/2020 Fixed multiple level design issues related to holes, volumes, floating foliage, and more. Fixed Dino Leash breaking on restart Fixed a crash related to crafting items with the gamepad Reduced the Prime Jerky crafting cost of Summer Bash Holiday items v312.14 - 06/29/2020 Fixed a server hang Fixed a server crash v312.15 - 06/27/2020 Reverted file loading change due to it causing memory issues v312.13 - 06/26/2020 New command line arg: -PublicIPForEpic=<IPAddress> If this command line arg is used, this is the public IP that EGS clients will attempt to connect to. If this command line is missing and -Multihome is specified, then EGS clients will attempt to connect to the Multihome IP Note that if you're using Multihome and specify a non-public IP address, then players will not be able to connect to your server using EGS. Make sure to set a public IP address (e.g WAN or external) v312.9 - 06/25/2020 Summer Bash 2020 enabled on Official Servers. Unofficial can enable using: -activeevent=Summer Fixed multiple level design bugs related to holes, collision, floating foliage, and incorrect volumes. Primal Crystal is now transferable Jump Pad enemy foundation prevention removed Fixed an exploit which allowed players to transfer items into non-downloadable servers Fixed a bug which would cause dinos to get stuck when using the Arctic NE teleport Fixed players being unable to use the bunny-hop dance v311.302 - 06/19/2020 Fixed an exploit Limited the public teleport setting specifically for Official PvP v311.209 - 06/18/2020 Crystal Wyverns can now be transferred between maps EGS Clients can now use the favourite server feature Genesis Geysers no longer restore the food stat Fixed a bug where using the rocket launcher could propel you backwards Scout can no longer pushed tamed dinos Crystal Wyverns can now be cryopoded Fixed multiple mesh holes, collision issues, floating foliage, and incorrect volumes Fixed Tropical Wyvern from regaining health passively Fixed a bug where some Crystal Wyverns could not be tamed properly v311.101 - 06/16/2020 Fixed multiple start up crashes affecting some EGS clients v311.100 - 06/16/2020 Fixed Legacy Servers not showing up when transferring. v311.99 - 06/16/2020 Re-implemented Multihome server functionality Resolved some connection and start up issues with EGS clients Improved listing for Unofficial Servers on EGS clients v311.97 - 06/14/2020 Improved Unofficial server listing for EGS clients Unofficial hosts should make sure they're installed vc140: https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/download/details.aspx?id=48145 v311.94 - 06/12/2020 Additional Logging on Official Servers to identify connection and listing issues. v311.87 - 06/12/2020 Fixed the 'Kicked by BattlEye' disconnection error Fixed certain server map names not showing on the session filter Fixed eggs and babies being teleported to 0,0 when in stasis v311.81 - 06/12/2020 Fixed voice connection remnants after transferring to a different server Fixed language overrides on EGS v311.79 - 06/11/2020 Fixed Linux servers not starting up Fixed EGS clients not being able to connect to password protected servers v311.78 - 06/11/2020 Disabled bRawSockets as they no longer function with the new game networking code Fixed a client side crash when accessing inventories Fixed Crystal Isles Map showing in all filters v311.74 - 06/11/2020 Crystal Isles free map is now available on Steam & EGS ARK is now available on the Epic Game Store (free forever for one week!) For those of you running dedicated servers, here's some info you need to know: When running a Crossplay or Epic Game Store server, the VOIP software will be default to use the Vivox, an alternative VOIP plugin. For those using Steam only, you can continue to use Steam VOIP (default) or alternatively opt into Vivox. Necessary Server Args: -crossplay (enables Crossplay on Dedicated Server) -epiconly (enables Epic Game Store only players to connect to the Dedicated Server) -UseVivox (enables Vivox on Steam only servers) Running a server with mods or without -epiconly or -crossplay will mean that the server will only accept player connections from Steam and not EGS. 5th Anniversary Event (can be started with -activeevent=birthday) Fixed multiple undermesh exploits Increased Ovis corpse harvesting scaling by 4x Fixed a mating range bug Additional server-side transfer logging Whisper (ALT+B) and Yell voice (Shift+B) chat have been added v310.211 - 06/10/2020 Added some additional exploit protection to the transfer system v310.117 - 06/05/2020 - Fixed an incorrect kill volume on Aberration - Fixed some incorrect meshes on Aberration v310.80 - 06/04/2020 Initiated a one time Mindwipe COOLDOWN reset on Official Servers Corrupted Dinos can no longer be teleported Reduced scaling factor of sheep harvesting health to reduce stalls Set ORP activation timer to 10 seconds on Official PVE servers v310.112 - 05/31/2020 Fixed some cases where the login lock could be bypassed v310.111 - 05/26/2020 Fixed multiple level design bugs related to holes, floating foliage, and volumes. Made some UI improvements to the TEK Grenade Launcher and the Giant Turtle's Breath Attack Additional protection added to glitches on Genesis Fixed some bugs where XP was not being awarded properly when collecting Glitches v310.94 - 05/20/2020 Added additional protection to GCM, Explorer Notes, and Glitches to address potential exploits 7:30PDT Fixed an over-sized pain volume on Extinction that caused players to die due to mesh detection v310.90 - 05/15/2020 Transfers are now enabled on Genesis and the latest Official Servers Titans cannot be transferred into Genesis Managarmr cannot be ridden on regular Genesis servers (can be ridden on flyer-allowed servers) v310.76 - 05/09/2020 Fixed some bugs in the transfer system Added additional protection to character downloads in invalid cases v310.68 - 05/08/2020 Fixed an oversized pain volume on Extinction v310.67 - 05/08/2020 Improved anti mesh detection logic Improved climbing pick logic to fix some meshing exploits Multiple level changes including patching up holes, removing floating foliage, setting up appropriate volumes Fixed multiple exploits that allowed you to stack creatures on top of each other Fixed an exploit with Magmasaur Prevented corrupted creatures from basing on Skiffs Queen Bee will no longer spawn bees when encumbered Queen Bee will take 3% of health as damage when a bee of hers is killed Queen Bee will stop spawning bees when at 10% HP Added additional trace checks on lightning aoe to prevent attacking through structures and mesh Fixed multiple server stalls v310.62 (.61 client) - 05/01/2020 Fixed multiple meshing exploits Fixed an exploit which would cause players to become invisible Fixed multiple server stalls Fixed multiple level issues including holes, floating foliage, areas where they could get stuck, and missing volumes Mindwipe Tonic now warns players before being consumed Created a cheat command to grant unlimited weight for admins (Cheat deeppockets or cheat infiniteweight) Lava Lizard can now be spayed or neutered Fixed some missing icon related to holiday emotes Fixed a bug which could have caused characters to fail to download Disabled the temporary additional server crash logging v310.53 - 04/30/2020 Fixed some server stalls and crashes Enable additional logging to identify server crashes & stalls v310.5 - 04/29/2020 Additional server crash and performance monitoring heuristics v310.47 - 04/27/2020 Improvements to the anti dupe protection Retroactive fix for Valguero Ice Wyverns which were stuck as "Raptors" in cryopods. (Note: you'll still see the raptor icon until you deploy the cryopod) Fixed holes/floating foliage Resolved some anti meshing false positives v310.41 - 04/22/2020 End of Eggcellent Adventure. Enabling 2x harvest, breeding, XP and taming Fixed a bug with Cruise Missiles which caused them to detonate on the player firing Fixed a bug which prevented MEKs from attacking structures Fixed an exploit with the Rock Drake Fixed multiple level design issues related to holes, floating foliage, volumes, and lighting Fixed multiple server crashes and server stalls Fixed a bug with certain creatures attacking through structure walls Reduced the Giant Turtle's bubble-blowing attack on when above ground Marked Valgeuro's Ice Golem and Chalk Golem as unable to transfer Valguero Ice wyvern class switched to Ragnarok Ice Wyvern Fixed an exploit that allowed mission creatures to be used in unintended ways Added additional kill volumes to unintended playable areas Fixed an exploit which allowed certain creatures to attack structures through walls Fixed a bug that could cause items to transfer back to your own inventory when transferring from personal to remote with the T key. Adjusted (reduced) the Thyla cost for cloning Fixed a bug with the grenade launcher where it sometimes wouldn't use all its ammo v310.36 - 04/18/2020 Additional server side protection against exploits v310.34 - 04/16/2020 Activated Dupe Prevention System on Official PvP servers v310.29 - 04/15/2020 Fixed multiple server crashes v310.27 - 04/14/2020 Adjusted several creatures for the prevention of mesh biting Fixed a crash that resulted when trying to craft an item from the hotbar Ferox breeding/mutation movement speed has been corrected to be consistent between small and large Ferox. Terrain textures have been improved on The Island in areas where it appeared to be low quality Improved several terrain areas in Genesis that caused players to get stuck, to be incorrectly teleported, or allowed players to unfairly exploit. Fixed an issue with the lighting in caves on The Island Fixed an exploit with turrets and ziplines Fixed an exploit with meshing and the cruise missile v310.19 - 04/11/2020 X-Dinos will now receive the Active Event Colour Override Increased % chance of active event colour dinos spawning from 10% to 25% Fertilized Eggs now have a warning when a player attempts to consume them Fixed an exploit that allowed you to get under the map. v310.11 - 04/07/2020 Added Eggcellent Adventure event content Fixed a bug where MEK pistol could damage players mounted on a dino Reduced MEK pistol damage to players by 85% Reduced MEK Pistol range by 25% Increased the amount of materials harvested by the mining drill TEK Shield now has a limited number of crafts (like other TEK blueprints) Made multiple improvements to the Hexagon Exchange UI Fixed a bug where releasing from a cryopod using EnableCryopodNerf would cause them to take 10x damage for the time set. Introduced an increase incoming damage multiplier from the cryopod-release debuff This can be adjusted with the command line/GameUserSettings.ini parameter 'CryopodNerfIncomingDamageMultPercent' where 0.25 = 25% This is enabled on our Official PvP servers and is set to 25% by default Loot crates will now automatically open when purchased if you are flying or swimming Prevented MEKS from being able to be stacked inside each other Fixed an issue with TEK durability that prevented stat capping Argents can no longer pick up smaller wild aggressive creatures in PvE v309.53 - 04/03/2020 Completed a full pass on Loot Crates to improve loot variation and quality Fixed 100+ holes, terrain, and level design issues across various maps Magamasaur no longer takes damage from lava on The Center Fixed a mounting exploit with Magamasaur Fixed an issue with Dedicated storage locking behavior on PvE (Players could withdraw items when it was "locked") Fixed a bug that allowed building within the boss arena on Valguero Made several collision improvements for meshes on Aberration Added a debuff to reduce damage to tames, players, structures for a short duration of time after releasing from cryo. This can be configured on unofficial servers by using the following command line/GameUserSettings.ini parameters: EnableCryopodNerf, CryopodNerfDuration, and CryopodNerfDamageMult Where CryopodNerfDamageMult=0.01 means 99% of the damage is removed. This will be enabled on our Official PvP Servers with a 90% reduction for 10 seconds. Parasaurs no longer detect bodies that are not visible or rendered Fixed several missing notifications on gather, retrieve, basketball, hunt, and escort missions Fixed an exploit that allowed Ferox to clip inside enemy structures Ferox can no longer be trapped with a bola Reduced the amount of element received by Red Crystals on Genesis by 33% Increased the amount of materials harvested by the mining drill by 33% Players recover 50% faster from the frozen state left by the Snow Owl dive Removed the Snow Owl heal effect on enemy players and enemy-tamed creatures (wild creatures are still affected) Snow Owl dive slow has been reduced to 2.5 seconds Fixed a bug where Ferox Stats were being rerolled after first time transforming Prevented itchy from stealing cryopods v309.44 - 04/01/2020 Fixed a turret exploit with the Space Whale v309.42 - 03/30/2020 Fixed a server crash Fixed multiple cases where the Bloodstalker couldn't swing around Extinction Fixed some configuration issues with the dynamic rates ini on non-standard official servers v309.4 - 03/26/2020 Fixed an issue with collision on several meshes Fixed several mesh holes in various biomes Improved hover skiff movement and operation on steep terrain Fixed a damage exploit with Ferox Ferox should now keep its imprint buff when in large form Reduced cloning cost for the Giant Turtle Improved HLNA performance when crafting a large number of items Teleporting East in the Bog biome will no longer transport the player South East Insect swarms now give chitin instead of hide Modified the no-build zone in the main volcano cave Adjusted the trajectory of lunar comets to prevent edge cases of players and dinos dying Fixed a rare case where the mining drill could damage the tek sensor Activation/deactivation settings will now save on the tek alarm Activation/deactivation settings will now save on the pressure plate The lava on The Island in caves and the lava in the Wyvern trench on S.E. will no longer damage Magmasaur Improved localization on the Rockwell boss fight and end cutscene Cryopods can be accessed in the HLNA Shop again Enabled several performance-related visual tweaks on wild Astrocetus Improved the accuracy of HLNA cardinal direction when teleporting HLNA teleportation logic now tries to avoid turrets, non-allied players, and hostile dinos Fixed an exploit with cruise missiles that allowed them to bypass turrets Improved several visual components of the mission UI (difficulty text, leaderboards, item lists, mission notifications) Made adjustments in areas near the volcano to fix rare instances where eruptions would instantly kill players/dinos Significantly reduced the frequency and slightly increased the duration of green rain in the bog biome Reduced the number of insect swarms in Bog biome by about 25% Added a cooldown between green rain insect swarm spawns. Fixed an edge case that caused the player to be destroyed when mounting an Equus and equipping its saddle Increased the placement radius check for ocean platforms to prevent them from being placed next to enemy foundations/platforms Prevented Meks from being deployed in the VR Mission Fixed an issue that prevented players from receiving the mission buff in specific biomes (Bog/Ocean/Arctic) Fixed the increased damage multiplier in various biomes Reduced the bat spawns in the main volcano within the volcano biome v307.8 - 03/24/2020 Fixed an issue that would prevent players connecting to OC servers Re-enabled configuration to prevent Reapers from being transferred to Genesis. v307.7 - 3/22/2020 Fixed a bug which prevented the Moeder boss fight from initiating correctly v307.59 - 3/21/2020 Fixed a bug which prevent players from seeing Primitive+ servers Fixed an issue with crafting costs on TEK items v307.56 - 3/20/2020 PvP Official Server Wipe for the following: TEK Suits (Chest, Leggings, Helm, Gauntlets, and Boots) MEKs (MEK Attachments & Ammo included) Cluster Grenades Official Server Genesis wipe for the following: Tamed Reapers Note: Any tamed MEK or Reaper that was in a cryopod now cannot be spawned when deploying that cryopod. You can either let it expire, or throw them out. TEK Suits: Increased TEK Suit repair costs by approximately 20% Wearing a full TEK suit will prevent you from being targeted by bees when opening a bee hive Capped TEK Suit durability at 1500 TEK Suit repair costs now scale with quality MEKs: Pistol Damage versus Tamed Creatures reduced by 30% MEK Rocket Boost (tapping/holding space) should no longer damage tamed creatures or players. Reduce MEK movement speed by 20% when shield is up Sword Damage versus Tamed Creatures and Players reduced by 25% Bog Spider Balance Changes: Reduced the range at which it can grapple an enemy to just slightly below maximum auto turret range (5800 units) Pelagornis Balance Changes: Polymer weight reduced by 80% when in Pelagornis inventory Increased polymer harvesting by approximately 30% Rhino: Decreased the maximum damage scale from 12.5x to 8x when charging Increased the time/distance it takes to charge up to max by 20% (so it'll take longer to hit that 8x) Rhinos are now affected by Plant Y crowd control Cluster Grenades: Cluster fragments if shot by a turret will now detonate all other fragments from the same originating grenade Fabricator: Can now craft the TEK Replicator (TEK Replicator has been removed from Loot Crates in Genesis) Mindwipe: Initiated a one-time forced respec of all characters on Official Servers Initiated a one-time forced mindwipe cooldown clearance of all characters on Official Servers QOL: Added a "Grind All" function added to grinders Added an optional visual indicator for the TEK trough radius Note: This setting is defaulted to OFF. Also it does not save, meaning it must be turned on if you leave stasis range. This will be resolved in a future update Gachas will no longer auto consume buff soup/food. This means they won't accidentally eat them when they're stored in troughs. Disabled cryosickness on PvE Official Servers (Can be disabled on Unofficials using: EnableCryoSicknessPVE=true in the GameUserSettings.ini) Bug Fixes: Fixed a bug which allowed players to cancel the Spinos' animation and attack twice. Fixed multiple bugs related to locations showing Mission Areas when they weren't supposed to or vice versa v307.43 - 3/17/2020 Fixed an invulnerability exploit 307.42 3/16/2020 Fixed an invulnerability exploit for ferox Fixed cooldown time for the mindwipe Fixed an infrequent server crash v307.4 3/13/2020 Fixed a crash related to the bog spider v307.2 3/13/2020 Adjusted Ferox knockback distance for PvE scenarios in which it could move other tribes tames Increase to timers on various beta and alpha race missions Fixed instances where the lunar buff would remain after using a TEK Teleporter Fixed a rare occurrence where Ferox could jump through the mesh or get through the world barrier Fixed a bug where Ferox could jump while over-encumbered Fixed a bug that caused Ferox taming meter to be invisible Corrected Ferox size when attached with the Sarco's barrel roll Removed the ability for BloodStalker to grab and pull forest/desert kaiju Improved navigation issues on Escort Missions Removed the Crab's ability to pick up the Dodo-basketball Improved reliabilty of HLNA teleportation when traveling with tames Fixed several taming effectiveness and taming multiplier bugs with BloodStalker and Giant Turtle Fixed a case where Space Whale could blink behind static meshes Fixed a bug with Ferox that allowed it to stay transformed by forcefeeding Fixed an issue with mindwipes that caused them to have an increased cooldown timer Adjusted platform saddles to prevent cheesing Gauntlet MissionsCHECK Removed the ability to place structures on baby turtles Fixed an instance in which tamed dinos would be launched long distances by avalanches Adjusted the loot quality and rewards on several missions Improved the overall feel and appearance when webbed by BloodStalker Fixed a visual bug with the Space Whale saddle that caused skins to remain on when the saddle is removed Adjusted the Giant Turtles basing logic to prevent extreme use cases Reduced mobility for BloodStalker while over-encumbered Fixed a bug where the Giant Turtle could be tamed out of render distance Improved placement of walls when using an Ocean Platform Fixed an instance where players with glide suits weren't being reeled in properly by BloodStalker Removed the ability to apply a skin to the Giant Turtle and Space Whale platform saddle when structures have been placed Fixed an instance where the mining drill could dismount players Fixed occurences where players could incorrectly get inside of Gauntlet missions Creatures can no longer attack through the barrier while on Gauntlet missions Added Deinonychus saddle to the engrams list Fixed a visual bug with the Hover Skiff rotation when restarting the server Improved performance while riding over rocky terrain on the Hover Skiff Fixed a bug with Ferox taming methods Fixed an instance in which the BloodStalker's web could remain attached after teleporting with HLNA Fixed a rare occurrence where the Dodo Basketball mission could not be completed after switching languages Fixed several visual bugs with HLNA teleportation Fixed a bug that prevented players using gamepads from using the throw attack on Karkinos Fixed an issue that caused a Follow whistle command when holding 'B' on a gamepad Added the ability to use the Reaper tailspin attack while using a gamepad Schools of fish no longer damage rafts and motorboats Improved several areas where localization was missing or incorrectly Fixed an occurrence where the mining drill sound would remain playing after mounting a dinos Fixed instances with damage scaling while using weapons with projectiles Added several missing items to the HLNA Hexagon Store Removed the ability to give birth to Reapers while on Genesis Fixed a rare bug that caused recent mission progress to be lost after a server restart Added a HUD notification during the VR Boss fight to indicate you've reached the limit Fixed a bug that caused the Space Whale corpse to disappear after 1 hit Increased the reliability of repairing glitches Basilisks can now be tamed on Fertilized Magmasaur Eggs Fixed several mesh holes Improved turrets ability to damage cruise missiles in low FPS settings Improved several visual components in the Mission UI Fixed a bug that prevented several Aberration dinos from being downloaded on Genesis Fixed occurrences where Magmasaur could damage structures out of turret range Current Version: 306.89 3/11/2020 Fixed an exploit with Ferox v306.88 3/10/2020 Fixed several performance-related crashes Current Version: 306.87 3/9/2020 Fixed an exploit v306.86 3/6/2020 Magmasaur now requires metal ingots to shoot projectiles Magmasaur projectile speed and gravity adjusted for proper turret targeting in low FPS conditions v306.84 - 3/5/2020 Fixed an exploit with Ferox Fixed a display bug with the Hexagon Shop v306.83 - 3/4/2020 PVE caves on genesis mare now arked non-buildable The ice cave on genesis is now marked non-buildable on PvP Fixed incorrect damage for building in Arctic and Ocean biome v306.8 Fixed implementation of newly added Genesis configuration settings Disabled XP on Gauntlet missions Some TEK suit abilities have been disabled on regular Genesis servers v306.79 GameUserSettings.ini: AllowTekSuitPowersInGenesis=True (to enable or disable TEK suit powers in Genesis) Game.ini: bDisableGenesisMissions=true (to enable or disable missions on Genesis) Temporarily reduced affinity needed to tame Bloodstalker until further tweaks can come in later We are investigating ways to bring these configuration options to consoles in a future update. v306.75 Fixed a bug where Pelas and Itchys would fly to xyz coordinates 0 0 0 Fixed a bug where players could attack each other with the mining drill Fixed a bug where items may have received an unintended item cap Item and Creature transfers have been enabled outside of Genesis Temporarily added TEK Replicators to the Loot Crates until they can be better placed on the map v306.74 Fixed a critical crash Removed mission requirement for additional players when entering the final boss with a player who has the requirements. v306.67 Set kapro race to use "Teleport Out of Bounds" functionality Fixed space whale's display name Cruise missile now has a 2.55s arming period ("Arming Duration") before it can do it's nuke explosion If Cruise missile is destroyed or detonated before then, it now does a harmless explosion Reduced Tek Claw damage against structures Fixed player emote specific to Portugese language setting Fixed certain languages not finding appropriate directories Basketball Missions rewards should now match their intended reward returns v306.63 Reduced high quality tier loot drop rate from missions by approximately 40% Changed ocean platforms to be Blueprints only in mission rewards (to prevent demolishing rewards for materials) Increased damage to insect swarms by Beelzebufo to 2.5x Increased damage to insect swarms by Fire to 1.5x Reduced health of insect swarms by 50% Reduced AoE damage on the tek cruise missle Reduced the explosion radius and explosion emitter size on the tek cruise missle Fixed issue where insect swarms could attack through walls Fixed an issue with Megachelon (turtle) taming method Restricted cryo use and disabled building in the VR boss arena Fixed an issue where rock slides would linger after ending Fixed several visual bugs with Magmasaur Fixed several visual bugs with Space Whale Fixed several bugs with the Ferox taming process You must now hold the sprint key with the Ferox when super jumping. In order to super jump, just jump again + shift right before landing after a regular jump. Bloodstalker can no longer be knocked out Ambergris weight now scales by 0.5 in Magmasaur to help with raising babies Adjusted the platform build area on the Megachelon Fixed a taming bug with the Bloodstalker Fixed a crash with Extinction's horde crate and element node Restored Extinction Horde mode data Fixed some bugs which caused projectiles to not expire on clients v306.53 - 2/26/20 Building is now enabled in mission areas by default on Unofficial Servers (no longer need to use the aforementioned ini to change it) To disable building in mission areas, add the following setting to your Game.ini under the ShooterGameMode section: bGenesisUseStructuresPreventionVolumes=true Unofficials can now using flying creatures by adding the following setting to your GameUserSettings.ini under the [ServerSettings] section: bForceCanRideFliers=True

It's a business so my guess would be simple math. How many DLCs would the people on legacy servers buy vs the cost to keep the legacy servers running. Then again, I'm not privy to those decisions. I've always been dishearten by the route they chose in 2017 but life goes on. I don't sweat the stuff I can't control.