Two Million Dinomancers Can't Be Wrong | ARK: Survival Evolved | MMORPG.com

SBFord

Two Million Dinomancers Can't Be Wrong | ARK: Survival Evolved | MMORPG.com

It isn't easy to stay alive in ARK: Survival Evolved, but up to two million folks are giving it their best shot. Studio WildCard announced earlier today that over two million game units have been sold.

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Lobotomist

Great game. As I said earlier , if you want to know where actual sandbox MMOs have gone. This is where.

Thane

well, if this argument is by numbers, than this game must be worse than WoW :pleased: 
just saying, never argue on numbers.

cronius77

the thing is these games offer better multiplayer than most mmorpgs now because they require groups for pvp and survival is much harsher alone even on pve servers. mmorpgs for the last 10 years have been about solo , race to end game doing quest after quest so there was zero risk vs reward. Plus creativity is much better in these survival games. Its funny they sell 2 million copies online through steam yet no big publishers wanted to pick these sort of games up as they are high risk yet all you have to do is look at minecraft statistics and see this line of game is where the money is moving towards.

zaberfangx

All right game, can be way to of a grind. But if people in to it be my guest.

Lobotomist

Thane said:

well, if this argument is by numbers, than this game must be worse than WoW :pleased: 
just saying, never argue on numbers.

For a game that came out of nowhere , made by completely unknown company - vs most popular rabid fanbase hundreds of millions marketing money powerhouse that is blizzard.

eddieg50

from everything I have read it sounds really bad, but maybe people like bad nowadays

Lobotomist

eddieg50 said:

from everything I have read it sounds really bad, but maybe people like bad nowadays

What are you talking about ? Most people on this forums that played it say its one of best games they played in last years , and that its true return of sandbox. However if you are person that likes on the rails gameplay and closely adjusted gameplay experiences. Than it will not be for you

ElRenmazuo

I just want them to optimize graphics better, they put enough new dinosaurs and monsters for now.

Tokken

Fantastic Game!  Everchanging with all the new constant updates.  I've been playing since it came out and I am still enthralled in it.   Loving every minute of it!

mmoguy43

I see this game as a trend that has snowballed. Survival + [other component] games are very popular right now but this one, being a prehistoric world, has taken off without slowing down because of what sets it apart. On top of that, it is great example of how to do early access right. Starting with a great core game, even while rough, then rapidly updating and expanding on it is the best way to keep players and gain many more.

ishist

Discounting the lack of optimization (because early access) I can't find a single thing to fault them on. Nearly every time I'm playing and think to myself "This would be better if it had X", Less than a month later X appears in the game. I'm starting to think they're spying on me.

Ikeda

Yea....

I've got 2 beast of PCs and rarely do I even feel the optimization issues.... BUT I also turn off light shafts and bloom because it's ridiculous.

Other than that... Ark has been my home for weeks now.  And while I go and dabble at other things I still go back to it.  

rodarin

This could get long...

Ark is probably te best current game on the market today. Which has to be taken with a grain of salt. It has major league negatives, but the positives and 'perks' make it head and shoulders above anything else.

Problem is the negatives are huge....

Optimization sucks. even on local and single player if your computer isnt fairly top end even with all the 'tricks' and manipulation youre going to get 40-50 FPS for the most part. High end machines will see 60s. Which would be fine but there is a constant stutter effect in certain areas that is crazy.

PvP (on official servers) The PvP mechanic is maybe the worst ever. In their over zealousness to release a 'hardcore' game they have a system in play that is complete dogshit. Killing people offline and raiding people who arent round to defend themselves isnt PvP. Its griefing plain and simple and is the worst mechanic I have seen in a game in a long time.

"Content" or lack thereof. There isnt any other than what you can think up to do. Which in a 'normal' PvP environment would be to PvP. You could of course set up role playing scenarios and trade with other people/tribes. But this game completely lacks a long term playability factor beyond grinding and rebuilding things you have had destroyed while you were offline.

Its grindy, which relates to lack of 'real' content, you have to have something to do while playing I guess.


Hacks, theyre eevrywhere now and theyre in Ark which in a game trying to be 'hardcore' is a death sentence. They have recently taken personal responsibility in trying to get rid of them we will see how it goes.

Any one of those 4 things is a game killer these days, this game has all four and in spades.

BUT, and its a HUUUUUUGE BUT. This game has measure and positives in place to remedy most of those.

Unofficial servers, that eradicates pretty much all of it but 'content'. Although on an unofficial server with rules and players you get familiar with it can get rid of 90% of the griefing and your worry about hacks can ebe greatly diminished and if you think someone is hacking you just delete them. But they give people the ability to have their own version of the game they can host anyway they see fit.

Crafting, indepth, related and makes sense. It also makes you pick and choose (due to point restraints) what you want. Some thing are a necessity, others are obviously a convenience. But crafting system in the game is one of the best ever let alone today.


character development. Completely up to you you get points you put them where you want. Choices are rudimentary but more than enough to make even slight difference obvious. There are obviously no 'classes' so you truly build a character the way you want to, and now with the new food to reset points you can level up stuff you need early then switch over when you get to 'end game'.

Dinosaurs/environment, yeah its cheesy but if you can run this game on max setting and take the time to look them over theyre pretty frigging awesome. People always take 'environment for granted and some pretty cool architecture, landscaping, and forethought into making stuff look realistic (as realistic as something no one has ever seen can be i guess) gets lost in the mad dash to ,max level. The only thin they need to do to make these things more realistic is add bubbles to fish as they breath and breath vapor coming out of their (and the players) mouths in the cold regions and  in cold times.

Development coin flip on this one. But developers are adding content non stop. I am the first to say they hold stuff back, but this game isnt technically released yet so theyre definitely adding things. So either their code is pretty simple (more on that) or theyre really making an effort to ad things to the game. Developers also see what people say and do and put it in the official game. Not always knee jerk reactions but they implement what people want.

Modding, which goes hand in hand with the code. They have made it completely open source and given fans/players/ wannabe developers open hand at creating mods those people can use on their own or their own servers. Which is all anyone has ever asked for. So these modders and 'visionaries' take what ARK has and make it a lot better. Because they can do it without a budget or time constraints or any of the things that a 'real' job in developing generally makes impossible. Basically it gives people free range to invent anything they can dream up that is supported but the code the game has. And the mods for this game are incredible, completely different maps, addition items, simplified items, improved items, and 'stuff' that just makes the game better in every way (other than making it run better).

''Battle Royal". Every game is doing it now. basically its the hunger games modded into whatever game yu play. H1z1, Day Z, Ark, and probably many others I dont play or care about. I am sure some people might call this a negative, but its the 'new' thing. Basically MoBa on steroids. Its also completely desperate from the 'main' game. It also, I think is the reason for the new jump in sales (which had slowed). I dont personally have any interest but recognize theyre the thing these days. Especially with streaming.

So thats Ark in a nutshell. Official servers and version are horrible and if thats all that was offered this game would be deader than the dinosaurs it uses. But what makes it the best thing going is their willingness to let people make the game the way they want and we all know games mods always make even the best games much better. And modding is the very reason why some people think some games are much better than they really are/were. Skyrim was a disaster on release, but give guys some code and time and they can make it not only playable but a game that will go down in history. Not saying that will happen with Ark, but play on an offical server for a week, then go to a well modded private server (with a healthy) population, and its like playing a completely different game.

rodarin

Oh and I didnt edit the last post because it was already way too TlDr, but Ark isnt really a survival game. Its an MMo (small pop) with decay. Just because stuff doesnt last forever doesnt mean its a 'survival' game. But I guess they have to have a simple term for it.

eddieg50

rodarin said:

This could get long...

Ark is probably te best current game on the market today. Which has to be taken with a grain of salt. It has major league negatives, but the positives and 'perks' make it head and shoulders above anything else.

Problem is the negatives are huge....

Optimization sucks. even on local and single player if your computer isnt fairly top end even with all the 'tricks' and manipulation youre going to get 40-50 FPS for the most part. High end machines will see 60s. Which would be fine but there is a constant stutter effect in certain areas that is crazy.

PvP (on official servers) The PvP mechanic is maybe the worst ever. In their over zealousness to release a 'hardcore' game they have a system in play that is complete dogshit. Killing people offline and raiding people who arent round to defend themselves isnt PvP. Its griefing plain and simple and is the worst mechanic I have seen in a game in a long time.

"Content" or lack thereof. There isnt any other than what you can think up to do. Which in a 'normal' PvP environment would be to PvP. You could of course set up role playing scenarios and trade with other people/tribes. But this game completely lacks a long term playability factor beyond grinding and rebuilding things you have had destroyed while you were offline.

Its grindy, which relates to lack of 'real' content, you have to have something to do while playing I guess.


Hacks, theyre eevrywhere now and theyre in Ark which in a game trying to be 'hardcore' is a death sentence. They have recently taken personal responsibility in trying to get rid of them we will see how it goes.

Any one of those 4 things is a game killer these days, this game has all four and in spades.

BUT, and its a HUUUUUUGE BUT. This game has measure and positives in place to remedy most of those.

Unofficial servers, that eradicates pretty much all of it but 'content'. Although on an unofficial server with rules and players you get familiar with it can get rid of 90% of the griefing and your worry about hacks can ebe greatly diminished and if you think someone is hacking you just delete them. But they give people the ability to have their own version of the game they can host anyway they see fit.

Crafting, indepth, related and makes sense. It also makes you pick and choose (due to point restraints) what you want. Some thing are a necessity, others are obviously a convenience. But crafting system in the game is one of the best ever let alone today.


character development. Completely up to you you get points you put them where you want. Choices are rudimentary but more than enough to make even slight difference obvious. There are obviously no 'classes' so you truly build a character the way you want to, and now with the new food to reset points you can level up stuff you need early then switch over when you get to 'end game'.

Dinosaurs/environment, yeah its cheesy but if you can run this game on max setting and take the time to look them over theyre pretty frigging awesome. People always take 'environment for granted and some pretty cool architecture, landscaping, and forethought into making stuff look realistic (as realistic as something no one has ever seen can be i guess) gets lost in the mad dash to ,max level. The only thin they need to do to make these things more realistic is add bubbles to fish as they breath and breath vapor coming out of their (and the players) mouths in the cold regions and  in cold times.

Development coin flip on this one. But developers are adding content non stop. I am the first to say they hold stuff back, but this game isnt technically released yet so theyre definitely adding things. So either their code is pretty simple (more on that) or theyre really making an effort to ad things to the game. Developers also see what people say and do and put it in the official game. Not always knee jerk reactions but they implement what people want.

Modding, which goes hand in hand with the code. They have made it completely open source and given fans/players/ wannabe developers open hand at creating mods those people can use on their own or their own servers. Which is all anyone has ever asked for. So these modders and 'visionaries' take what ARK has and make it a lot better. Because they can do it without a budget or time constraints or any of the things that a 'real' job in developing generally makes impossible. Basically it gives people free range to invent anything they can dream up that is supported but the code the game has. And the mods for this game are incredible, completely different maps, addition items, simplified items, improved items, and 'stuff' that just makes the game better in every way (other than making it run better).

''Battle Royal". Every game is doing it now. basically its the hunger games modded into whatever game yu play. H1z1, Day Z, Ark, and probably many others I dont play or care about. I am sure some people might call this a negative, but its the 'new' thing. Basically MoBa on steroids. Its also completely desperate from the 'main' game. It also, I think is the reason for the new jump in sales (which had slowed). I dont personally have any interest but recognize theyre the thing these days. Especially with streaming.

So thats Ark in a nutshell. Official servers and version are horrible and if thats all that was offered this game would be deader than the dinosaurs it uses. But what makes it the best thing going is their willingness to let people make the game the way they want and we all know games mods always make even the best games much better. And modding is the very reason why some people think some games are much better than they really are/were. Skyrim was a disaster on release, but give guys some code and time and they can make it not only playable but a game that will go down in history. Not saying that will happen with Ark, but play on an offical server for a week, then go to a well modded private server (with a healthy) population, and its like playing a completely different game.

This is pretty much what I read about the game also on why it sucked, that people could get attacked while they were off line, non stop grieving, bad optimization, not enough content.   Your solution is to go to an unofficial server but how do you know what it is like? are rules posted?  also I have a 7870 graphic card, can I even play the game?

Ozmodan

"Ark is probably te best current game on the market today. Which has to be taken with a grain of salt. It has major league negatives, but the positives and 'perks' make it head and shoulders above anything else."

What are you smoking.  It still has major bugs even while they add more content.  You would think they would address the bugs first.  After you have played it a few times it becomes very boring.  Personally I consider the money I spent on it a complete waste.  Even the kids dumped it after a day.  So my guess is that a lot of those purchasers are no longer playing the game.

ElRenmazuo

eddieg50 said:

from everything I have read it sounds really bad, but maybe people like bad nowadays

http://store.steampowered.com/app/346110/

over 44 thousand reviews with mostly positive 73%

Theocritus

Once again though another game where sandbox = being killed by other players....I watched vids on it and it looked interesting until thugs started roaming up and down the beach killing all the new players...That isn't fun sorry.

waynejr2

@SBFord you know that two million dinomancers bit is just borrowing from eat manure 10 billion flies can't be wrong.  So  this game would be the manure in the analogy....

vadio123

CANT BE WRONG but
Cant be right 

Nepheth

Theocritus said:

Once again though another game where sandbox = being killed by other players....I watched vids on it and it looked interesting until thugs started roaming up and down the beach killing all the new players...That isn't fun sorry.

Well you can play on a pve server if you don't want to killed by other players you know...