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Please give this a read if you've EVER played PvP on PC servers... This is being typed by someone who has been a loyal and passionate player of the ARK games for years and years like most. Have been a part of multiple communities within the sphere of ARK including PS4, PS5, Xbox, and PC including all Official, Unofficial, Offline, Single Player, Small Tribes, and even NoTame servers. For an overwhelming majority of the part, my friends and I have enjoyed ARK more than any other video game we have ever played. It's an incredibile game that has been sustainably upgraded throughout the years. Even the issue of duplicating items on Legacy servers was fixed mostly with the new servers rolling out a few years ago. My main point with this first section is to explain that we have been playing the game for a while. Where I see a major issue is with the PC gameplay on PvP servers. The issue of using .ini files to modify gameplay has completely ruined the game for a large majority of players and some don't even realize it. The .ini files people use to put into the game data remove rocks, bushes, trees, etc. sometimes entirely and some even go as far as removing the opacity of water entirely. Let me tell you about my experiences. When I played on PS4, which was most of my time initially, I had a blast. The game was fun, balanced, and was genuinely a fun activity to plan on having available after work. I could get on with my buddy (this was right when wingsuits were released) and we could fly around The Island and stand a chance against larger tribes because we could hide in the forest. Being able to see someone hiding within a bunch of shrubbery, bushes, etc. is a feature that should entirely be available to users in the late-game process. Tek, Bloodstalkers and other methods should 100% be available to do so. Here is where I see a major issue. When I made the joyous swap to PC, I was super excited to experience ARK on a better scale. Better inventory management with mouse/keyboard, better graphics, and better FPS. But when my friends and I swapped over to PvP servers, the issue of these .ini files have arisen. We would have players with Wyverns, etc. able to see us immediately because the only thing they would see on their end is a tree trunk. They would not see bushes, tree branches and leaves, or rocks. The use of these files is widespread and gives serious advantages to players. They ruin the experience for players who want to have a balanced, PvP-oriented experience because it becomes an issue of either use the files and experience a lifeless, almost MS paint-like version of ARK just to win fights, or keep the settings the same to maintain the graphical beauty of the game. MAIN POINT: I would like to place a formal suggestion to completely remove the use of .ini files in ARK II. As stated above, they ruin the PvP gameplay experience for a lot of players. I would be happy to discuss this with whoever but I would ultimately like to be heard by Wildcard because this is an issue that affects every single person playing the PvP servers. PvE servers and the experience they provide is still top-notch in my opinion and a fantastic time both by yourself and with friends. The graphical beauty should be maintained and removing the .ini files would restore balance to the game in PvP environments and ensure that every player is on the same playing field. I hope this finds everyone well. Edit: After talking to someone on Discord, apparently this is an issue on Xbox servers as well. Even more the reason to have this talked about.

Please give this a read if you've EVER played PvP on PC servers... This is being typed by someone who has been a loyal and passionate player of the ARK games for years and years like most. Have been a part of multiple communities within the sphere of ARK including PS4, PS5, Xbox, and PC including all Official, Unofficial, Offline, Single Player, Small Tribes, and even NoTame servers. For an overwhelming majority of the part, my friends and I have enjoyed ARK more than any other video game we have ever played. It's an incredibile game that has been sustainably upgraded throughout the years. Even the issue of duplicating items on Legacy servers was fixed mostly with the new servers rolling out a few years ago. My main point with this first section is to explain that we have been playing the game for a while. Where I see a major issue is with the PC gameplay on PvP servers. The issue of using .ini files to modify gameplay has completely ruined the game for a large majority of players and some don't even realize it. The .ini files people use to put into the game data remove rocks, bushes, trees, etc. sometimes entirely and some even go as far as removing the opacity of water entirely. Let me tell you about my experiences. When I played on PS4, which was most of my time initially, I had a blast. The game was fun, balanced, and was genuinely a fun activity to plan on having available after work. I could get on with my buddy (this was right when wingsuits were released) and we could fly around The Island and stand a chance against larger tribes because we could hide in the forest. Being able to see someone hiding within a bunch of shrubbery, bushes, etc. is a feature that should entirely be available to users in the late-game process. Tek, Bloodstalkers and other methods should 100% be available to do so. Here is where I see a major issue. When I made the joyous swap to PC, I was super excited to experience ARK on a better scale. Better inventory management with mouse/keyboard, better graphics, and better FPS. But when my friends and I swapped over to PvP servers, the issue of these .ini files have arisen. We would have players with Wyverns, etc. able to see us immediately because the only thing they would see on their end is a tree trunk. They would not see bushes, tree branches and leaves, or rocks. The use of these files is widespread and gives serious advantages to players. They ruin the experience for players who want to have a balanced, PvP-oriented experience because it becomes an issue of either use the files and experience a lifeless, almost MS paint-like version of ARK just to win fights, or keep the settings the same to maintain the graphical beauty of the game. MAIN POINT: I would like to place a formal suggestion to completely remove the use of .ini files in ARK II. As stated above, they ruin the PvP gameplay experience for a lot of players. I would be happy to discuss this with whoever but I would ultimately like to be heard by Wildcard because this is an issue that affects every single person playing the PvP servers. PvE servers and the experience they provide is still top-notch in my opinion and a fantastic time both by yourself and with friends. The graphical beauty should be maintained and removing the .ini files would restore balance to the game in PvP environments and ensure that every player is on the same playing field. I hope this finds everyone well.

So in Singleplayer all of the "Does NOT take place in the genesis simulation" missions are not avaliable and those are the easiest to do by yourself with a great tek bow or giga. They are also great for farming hexagons but they are not showing up. I cant imagine its because you cant do those missions without a group cause a single normal stat 100% imprint bred Giga can do the Alpha Velonasaur Stalk and Shadowmane Prowl missions with minor hesitation at best. Does anyone know or have any theories as to why in Singleplayer Xbox they took out the easiest solo missions to do?

Is anyone else having the issue where the Devious and Massive artifacts are not spawning on Lost isles. I waited an hour at the spawn since leaving and returning didnt seem to work and still nothing. Really slowing down growth for my base and wasting time. This is for console btw Ps4