Community Crunch 390: Winter Wonderland, Official ARK Merch, and More!

please restore events override settings for ASE... yes we know winter wonderland in ASE is fully working. just restore the other for 2024 ok? it's just about override settings assets (you did that in the switch version!) 😕

Was ist mit dem Cryopods?? Müssen wir doch ne mods installieren?? 

sooo thanks giveing is ending on the 18th for console players but meanwhile we arn't rlly able to play the game for a week because of savedata issues and rollbacking so console players can play the game and enjoy thanksgiveing but at the cost of unpredict abilite in playing/saveing what they've done in said game thats nice i don't wanna sound ungreatful but u guys didn't even mention about bugs in this chrunch and also about the save data issue u guys are looking into, yeah winter wonderland looks like its gonna be new and nice but it does suck for console players to basicly miss out on thanksgiveng i just hope that when the time comes hopefully said issue will be fixed with the winter wonderland update also im glad there is finally a ark merchandise store.

18 hours ago, MJAInc said:

Winter Wunderland, offizieller ARK Fanartikel, und mehr! - ARK2 & ASA News | Deutsche ARK2 Community

 

Das Winter Wunderland ist zurück

 

https://ark2.de/news/winter-wunderland-offizieller-ark-fanartikel-und-mehr-r84/

 

17 hours ago, Lucky98 said:

Wildcard, why dont you add option, when is event Like this or anykind of event that we can change players name?? We get boring from started name or even make a mistake on begin and name stayed human 😂😂 (Like me) but dont wont lose progress on official pve. Thanks

 

18 hours ago, ArkHeavy said:

I like merch, awesome!!!! But I personally don't like most of the pictures on the t-shirts because I don't want a toddler survivor on it. I would buy immediately where the ark logo is stronger on it and/or just an animal in action (less cartoon/anime like). Also the sayings should be optional... more like a "heavy metal" band shirt 😆

 

18 hours ago, MJAInc said:

Winter Wunderland, offizieller ARK Fanartikel, und mehr! - ARK2 & ASA News | Deutsche ARK2 Community

 

Das Winter Wunderland ist zurück

 

https://ark2.de/news/winter-wunderland-offizieller-ark-fanartikel-und-mehr-r84/

 

19 hours ago, Giark said:

Will SOTF be a separate download? And can we opt out? I have no intention of ever playing that and don't want X gigs of storage wasted on something I don't need or use.

 

20 hours ago, nipe said:

Fun with event and all, but less fun when server has been tame capped for 3 weeks now and your GM team doesn't remove pillar spammers. Without rule enforcement, your official PVE servers are running like poop and people are quitting already citing no cryopods and no enforcement as reasons to go unofficial again. Just sad, the influx of new people to Official PVE has been great but it doesn't last, people are used to active moderating of servers, not  tickets taking forever to be responded to, and then closed without anything being done because GMs only care about PVP right now? Unofficial servers had modders bringing Cryopods on first week, why are we to wait so long?!

 

20 hours ago, TheNakedGuy said:

wow .5 for official,thats so dam stupid.others get 3.5 and 4.5 and we get 1.5.maybe if you didnt pick such crap service provider in nitrado, they might run better.might as well take the event and no have it,.so stupid .5 more,wow 

 

21 hours ago, Mrsquids said:

I agree

 

21 hours ago, Seruum said:

why are we doing such low rates? seasonal events have never had such low rates. weekends need to be 2x and events atleast 3x like they used to be. timegating progression is not content.

 

22 hours ago, AmanaTishala said:

I adore chalicotherium and think they're cute! Could even make a pin of one with a beer 🍺 in its hand

 

22 hours ago, AmanaTishala said:

As for merch= stickers, pins (I see you have some, but definitely more), buttons, bookmarks, keychains, art prints are all big collectibles right now. 

Blankets, playing cards, figurines/tabletop rpg minis, statues, wall scroll maps, and drinkware all could be definite possibilities. 

 

As for specific animals: PLEASE THYLACOLEO STUFF! I have a hard time finding cool thyla stuff in general and LOVE Ark thyla! I would love to see that for sure! I also have a friend that would go bonkers for a lystrosaur plush! The Ark Raptor and parasaur have a very iconic look as well as the Ark trike (being hybrid as it is) so those could be good ones as well to do stuff with. I think the Argentavis are pretty and really love the Ark Yutyrannus as well. 

 

Also, if there were Ark temporary tattoos or prosthetics for cosplay made of the specimen implant that'd be awesome! Or maybe something to do with HLN-A as a light?

 

22 hours ago, MMaas said:

If I was a troll, I could make a joke about ASA being a copy/paste like that website...

Oh, wait... That's not a joke.

 

23 hours ago, Oli4 said:

I hope that those shirt images are just a poor photoshop... There is no way they are worth $40-50:
 

Gone fishing t-shirt:
1. What is that weird spot at the bottom right on the front

2. Why does it have the ASE logo on the front and ASA logo on the back

 

ARK: Survival Evolved Design T-Shirts - Flame
1. Same as Gone fishing t-shirt logo issue(#2)

 

The website itself also just seems to be some poorly copy/pasted template:

https://store.survivetheark.com/pages/faq

 

 

 

This entire site looks to have been made in <5 minutes and looks pretty sketchy...

 

23 hours ago, aikkam said:

WC potresti prendere in considerazione l'aggiunta di server orp pvp prima della fine di quest'anno? Sarebbe molto bello iniziare a giocare durante questo evento. Sarebbe un buon inizio 

 

23 hours ago, Coyal said:

This is cool and all I hate to be a buzzkill but what happened to the advertised enhance rendering? 

On ps5 started great then extra life happened and the Dino rendering distance shrunk and stayed that way. The rubber banding, server lag, jerky movement, horrible door animation aside, we are here to tame creatures finding a quetzal you have to fly into it literally,non trap taming a spino once on flee 3 steps where'd it go. Please 🙏🙏🙏 fix rendering Dino's.

 

23 hours ago, Kenchiro said:

I expected this event not to be x1.5 but it ended up being the same rates, a little disappointed on that part

 

23 hours ago, Caledfwlch97 said:

Any chance you'll start shipping to Australia from the Official Merch store? I wanted to buy the plushies but it only seems to ship within the US :((

 

23 hours ago, Shave said:

Can someone tell me where exactly I insert the "Command line launch argument"? I'm relatively new to Unofficial and haven't a clue what that means.

 

23 hours ago, ShadowShadex said:

Here is my store suggestions:

Keychains
Rex plush
Black shirt with ASA logo
Event themed shirts

 

23 hours ago, Ikusu said:

we can’t wait for the November surprise and the adventure packs and the new story maps

Thank you WC for being the best company and making the best sci fi story driven game and the best game ever 

 

23 hours ago, xpexp said:

Any news on cryopods?

 

23 hours ago, Jakoby33 said:

pods coming with this update??

 

23 hours ago, Rowdy101 said:

I have had my nogliiiiin for a month and a half. Pretty nice quality. 

 

23 hours ago, Rumackay said:

Poop plushie!!!

*Edit* Oh well, looks like only ships to the US. One less sale for WC then...

 

23 hours ago, ladyteruki said:

Community voted merch ? This has potential... Sadly the creatures I like are rarely among the most popular, but I'll keep hoping XD
(Chalicotherium plushie, anyone ?)
The poop plush is hilarious, though. Hopefully it does not come scented...?

Quick question : does the ARK store ship internationally ?

 

23 hours ago, badjuejue said:

Kinda of sad no mention of how PTR or often PTR will be rolled out to official. I was really looking forward to some info on cryos

Merry Krima

There is a bug that save data disappears in the Xbox version.

I lost everything. Please restore it.

Winter wonderland is calling my name , Hello raptor clause 

Any word on a fix for the chat window bug on Xbox. 

On 12/15/2023 at 7:48 PM, Oli4 said:

I hope that those shirt images are just a poor photoshop... There is no way they are worth $40-50:
 

The website itself also just seems to be some poorly copy/pasted template:
 

This entire site looks to have been made in <5 minutes and looks pretty sketchy...

You do know that you are dealing with wc/sg right? That's kind of their brand.

On 12/15/2023 at 10:28 PM, nipe said:

Fun with event and all, but less fun when server has been tame capped for 3 weeks now and your GM team doesn't remove pillar spammers. Without rule enforcement, your official PVE servers are running like poop and people are quitting already citing no cryopods and no enforcement as reasons to go unofficial again.

It's not very profitable for them so wc/sg doesn't really have any reason to keep up official servers. They've made it very apparently clear that they would much rather the majority of players go to Unofficial servers; thus funneling money towards their partner Nitrado as part of their contract. wc/sg has not changed a thing about how they handle official servers from the start of server transfers in A.S.E. and I don't see any chance that they will change ever if at all. Best to either accept official servers as they are or go to unofficial like they want you to do. 

Ark SA is trash literally every person on official servers has built massive structures with posts to prevent building all the way around the maps so no one can start on a server, every official server all the players have caught the maximum amount of tames preventing newer joined players from starting on any of the servers I'm about too start demanding a refund for a copy pasted game that is worse than the first one.

Edited December 17, 2023 by AeolusIII

1 hour ago, AeolusIII said:

Ark SA is trash literally every person on official servers has built massive structures with posts to prevent building all the way around the maps so no one can start on a server, every official server all the players have caught the maximum amount of tames preventing newer joined players from starting on any of the servers I'm about too start demanding a refund for a copy pasted game that is worse than the first one.

Were you actually expecting something different?

On 12/16/2023 at 1:12 AM, Ikusu said:

we can’t wait for the November surprise and the adventure packs and the new story maps

Thank you WC for being the best company and making the best sci fi story driven game and the best game ever 

Nice try jeremy 

I was asked to do a review for a gaming magazine. This is what I wrote.

At first you'd say it looks amazing but soon you'll realize graphics are very buggy, mostly it's the lighting thats is weird. It doesn't seem to come close to the realism Unreal Engine 5 offers, despite using maximum graphic settings. 

The dino's look cool at about 20 feet, further away they tend to look cartoonish and standing close the textures do not seem to be all that much better than ASE. The dino's give a very MMORPG vibe, simply programmed to do a few things (walk around, attack stuff). Especially herbivores come across as empty vessels, they do not move in herds in ASA, unfortunately. They tried to improve the navigating when dino's are following a player but the dino's seem to go nuts in crowded area's and you'll end up losing them all the same.

Fighting from dino's makes the player want to smash his/hers keyboard, there is no crosshair so trying to select a target to engage is next to impossible in chaotic moments. It also won't work if a pet dino stands in front of the target so you'll likely end up with you and your pets being killed. 

In multiplayer, forget about achieving anything if you do not have a large group of friends to play with. Getting enough resources to build anything fun is next to impossible so forget about caves, bosses or heck, even a few dino pets. Next time you'll login all is gone, killed or destroyed so you'll be starting all over again. Single player is the only way to go if you want to feel like a true survivor and be sure you can finish your building. But fiddle around with the harvest setting otherwise you'll still be building in 2030.

You can tell they copied most of the code from ASE and as a result you have a game that, most of the time, looks good but feels 10 years old when playing.

In conclusion you can pretty much state that Wildcard had a golden idea but was only able to sell copper.

Okay, so here's my thoughts about the new merch shop; and these thoughts are directed towards wc/sg so I do hope they take an introspective look at it because if they do then it will be helpful constructive criticism.

My point is this: wc/sg, you did indeed have an online merchandise storefront up and running at one point in time (I think it was about 5 or 6 years ago now) and I have the proof of this by the 2 (3D Printed) dinosaur figures that I bought from it. One a T-Rex, and the other a Fire Wyvern; both of which are very cool although printed with very early 3D printing technology so they of course would look cooler now if reprinted with updated tech. But I'm very happy to have them as they are unique statues due to when they were printed(Printed with SandStone instead of Resin). You had other merch for sale at that time to, but instead of expanding the online merchandise store like everyone in your community enthusiastically suggested you do, you just closed it up randomly one day without a further word on the matter.

So, fast-forward 6 years later and now you're trying to make it sound cool that you're finally opening up an official Ark merchandise shop. (One that supposedly won't randomly close in the near future).

I will be fair and admit that some of the stuff I see in your new shop is nice. However, will I buy any of it?

......The answer is no.

The reason why? Because you had your chance to make money with Ark merch 6 years ago like we all suggested you do. Other video games have merch, tons of other various businesses have merch, the thought that Ark with its amazing merch potential did not have official merch confused and astounded your fans; which is why we suggested you make money with merch to help fund you; a suggestion to which you silently said, "No". 

So then, why exactly should I buy any of your new "Official Merch" when I've been going to other businesses online for the last 6 years to get my Ark Merch. Other merchandise businesses that capitalized on the success and popularity of your game when you refused to do so. Other businesses that not only have a vastly wider array of merchandise for sale, but that are better quality. 

I, like many of your original fans, want you to succeed and want to help make you better. So take the five minutes it takes to read my constructive impression of your online shop and think about it for a second. Because ever since your announcement of ASA I've been waiting for you to give me a reason for why I should care about any part of the future of your company. Why I should keep caring about one of my most favorite games. The 2nd game ever that I bought for my Steam Account. And you have yet to give me a reason. Give me a reason; why should I buy merch from your shop instead of my usual sources that I've been going to for the last 6 years?

Edit: Okay, I will say this also though that I truly expected the poop plushie to sell out first but wow did the Dodo plushie sell out fast. How many of them did you guys make in preparation for opening day? I know it's Christmas season to but still the online shop open for just approximately 2ish days and the Dodo is already sold out?

Edited December 17, 2023 by FlorianWind9

Can you guys make BIGGER shirt sizes please like 3x and up? I want to wear these as huge comfy shirt pajamas. 😊

I do love the cross platform Mod highlights in every crunch, keep it going! 

On 12/15/2023 at 8:25 PM, Kenchiro said:

I expected this event not to be x1.5 but it ended up being the same rates, a little disappointed on that part

It was listed 1.5 for turkey trials and actually ended up 3x so maybe that's on top of the 1.5x that official is already at right on normal.

On 12/17/2023 at 10:54 PM, Joebl0w13 said:

What magazine might your review be coming out in?

Power Unlimited in The Netherlands

@StudioWildcard why the hell are you adding content like this when we can't even consistently save our progress in the game?

 

Fix the damn game instead of doing all this stupid sh*t all the time like you did with survival evolved.

Was really looking for a higher multiplier for the event, 1.5 is pretty meh. No cryo update hits hard when you can download a mod that works just fine. Please update the Event multiplier.

So I have played your products combined for a large portion of the last 8 years. I really enjoy the playstyle, the diversity of things you can do on the ark day in and day out is what makes playing other games not as enjoyable. The problem I have is even though I've supported your company with numerous licenses bought on different platforms (console/pc), been a helpful player on official servers, and a continued supporter to all I talk to about the game, you continue to produce products that can't be played. I'm not talking bugs, or graphics glitches, I mean I can not play on your official servers because of your self imposed dino caps. I started playing day 3 on steam (had to upgrade my computer to your requirements), I then put 387 hours into playing on my first server 5246 official pve. The extra life event rolls around and everyone is enjoying the rates and game when....."Too many tamed creatures on the ark".....wait ...what!*!*!....ok think, so we culled tames all of the tribes on the server did (meaning sacraficed either time raising or taming) 1 hour later, same thing mind you we are at 58/250 tribe cap....

So my GF and I said its extra life we will take advantage of the rates and new servers opening and start again. this time we start on 5278 official, which dropped at 8pm est durring the event, so as fresh as we can get. We go over and get a base and everything set up again, I get another 300+ hours into this server, my gf is 170+, and the Thanksgiving event rolls around, were hatching our boss rexs out, when all the eggs stop cooking, I look and theres those dreaded words again.."Too many tamed creatures on the Ark..this time it was even faster, and we had even less tames because were experienced players so we dont tame low level or useless tames and i was saving cap for rex raisings. and to top that all off, we joined an old ASE tribe mate on 5153 and within a week they were tame capped as well. 

1) Why set tame caps so low that literally every PVE server is on the verge?

2) Where TF are cryopods, it was stated 3 weeks durring extra life, then it was Dec 20th that was circled, that has come and gone, it was also noted that it might be in winter wonderland, but then Ced said we will have to check on actual cryo timing, and your twitter says this month (December). Meanwhile majority of your official player base is twiddling their thumbs or killing 5-6 tames to hatch/tame 1 so lets talk about sacraficed hours....Can we get an adult to answer at WC please....or i need 3 refunds

Edited December 21, 2023 by Ajani
typo

1 hour ago, Ajani said:

So I have played your products combined for a large portion of the last 8 years. I really enjoy the playstyle, the diversity of things you can do on the ark day in and day out is what makes playing other games not as enjoyable. The problem I have is even though I've supported your company with numerous licenses bought on different platforms (console/pc), been a helpful player on official servers, and a continued supporter to all I talk to about the game, you continue to produce products that can't be played. I'm not talking bugs, or graphics glitches, I mean I can not play on your official servers because of your self imposed dino caps. I started playing day 3 on steam (had to upgrade my computer to your requirements), I then put 387 hours into playing on my first server 5246 official pve. The extra life event rolls around and everyone is enjoying the rates and game when....."Too many tamed creatures on the ark".....wait ...what!*!*!....ok think, so we culled tames all of the tribes on the server did (meaning sacraficed either time raising or taming) 1 hour later, same thing mind you we are at 58/250 tribe cap....

To quote Mike585x who responded to another earlier on this CC; "Were you actually expecting something different?"

Of course this is the case, because this is still wildcard and this is still Ark. These are among the reasons why I have not yet bothered to waste my money on A.S.A. Because why should I pay again for the same bugs, glitches, and problems; only with a prettier gloss of paint that requires I pour even more money in to upgrade my machine to play it? 

I began playing A.S.E. shortly after it was launched in early access, and I finally gave up on official servers in November of 2017 when during an Extra Life Event I found the server I was on to be completely unplayable; thus wasting the boosted rates for me.

Now, I'm a survivor; and not one that easily gives up or whines; so that in itself is not why I finally gave up. Why I finally gave up is because on this particular server I'd decided to live a solitary life hidden under a waterfall in a small and easily defendable raft-house on a pvp server. During the Extra Life Event, the server glitched and crashed and kicked me out; and I relogged to find that my character had glitched through the raft's bottom and drowned. Okay, no problem, happens all the time, I'll just respawn on the bed that's on the raft right? Hmm.....Nope! Because you want to know something interesting which I learned that day? Apparently you can't respawn in beds that are placed next to an "enemy's" foundation or pillar. Not even if your bed is on a raft and floating well above said foundation/pillar. And guess what the bottom of the river I lived on was covered in? Foundations and pillars placed by a larger tribe to claim territory. So; apparently; since Leedsichthys smash rafts out in the open sea, and since I'd be incapable of respawning on my own rafts when sailing in the shallower waters of rivers where Leeds don't spawn, then that meant that living on hidden and defendable single player mobile raft-homes wouldn't even be a possibility for me. To make matters worse, the closest random respawn point to my now unprotected raft was so far away through dangerous territory that I'd have to build another raft just to hope to reclaim my original that had all my valuable stuff on it. So; I just decided at that point that I was done with wc and their official servers. I simply no longer had the time to deal with their nonsense. 

On 12/16/2023 at 1:58 AM, Lucky98 said:

Wildcard, why dont you add option, when is event Like this or anykind of event that we can change players name?? We get boring from started name or even make a mistake on begin and name stayed human 😂😂 (Like me) but dont wont lose progress on official pve. Thanks

Maybe a banner or achievement skin over the name for the holidays, but the ability to change your name in game would allow people to get away with stuff they're not supposed to do and avoid being reported (since it takes so long to get a report taken care of at this time)

9 hours ago, FlorianWind9 said:

To quote Mike585x who responded to another earlier on this CC; "Were you actually expecting something different?"

Of course this is the case, because this is still wildcard and this is still Ark. These are among the reasons why I have not yet bothered to waste my money on A.S.A. Because why should I pay again for the same bugs, glitches, and problems; only with a prettier gloss of paint that requires I pour even more money in to upgrade my machine to play it? 

I began playing A.S.E. shortly after it was launched in early access, and I finally gave up on official servers in November of 2017 when during an Extra Life Event I found the server I was on to be completely unplayable; thus wasting the boosted rates for me.

Now, I'm a survivor; and not one that easily gives up or whines; so that in itself is not why I finally gave up. Why I finally gave up is because on this particular server I'd decided to live a solitary life hidden under a waterfall in a small and easily defendable raft-house on a pvp server. During the Extra Life Event, the server glitched and crashed and kicked me out; and I relogged to find that my character had glitched through the raft's bottom and drowned. Okay, no problem, happens all the time, I'll just respawn on the bed that's on the raft right? Hmm.....Nope! Because you want to know something interesting which I learned that day? Apparently you can't respawn in beds that are placed next to an "enemy's" foundation or pillar. Not even if your bed is on a raft and floating well above said foundation/pillar. And guess what the bottom of the river I lived on was covered in? Foundations and pillars placed by a larger tribe to claim territory. So; apparently; since Leedsichthys smash rafts out in the open sea, and since I'd be incapable of respawning on my own rafts when sailing in the shallower waters of rivers where Leeds don't spawn, then that meant that living on hidden and defendable single player mobile raft-homes wouldn't even be a possibility for me. To make matters worse, the closest random respawn point to my now unprotected raft was so far away through dangerous territory that I'd have to build another raft just to hope to reclaim my original that had all my valuable stuff on it. So; I just decided at that point that I was done with wc and their official servers. I simply no longer had the time to deal with their nonsense. 

Rafts are broken right now and you can't access beds on them- nothing to do with spawning near enemy foundations. They plain just don't show up because the render is so small and once its out of render it "doesn't exist". Sometimes it does (maybe 1/10 times), but it is VERY unreliable. Rafts are basically pointless unless you already have another bed nearby or leave it in the shallow and use it as a trap only. 

10 hours ago, Ajani said:

So I have played your products combined for a large portion of the last 8 years. I really enjoy the playstyle, the diversity of things you can do on the ark day in and day out is what makes playing other games not as enjoyable. The problem I have is even though I've supported your company with numerous licenses bought on different platforms (console/pc), been a helpful player on official servers, and a continued supporter to all I talk to about the game, you continue to produce products that can't be played. I'm not talking bugs, or graphics glitches, I mean I can not play on your official servers because of your self imposed dino caps. I started playing day 3 on steam (had to upgrade my computer to your requirements), I then put 387 hours into playing on my first server 5246 official pve. The extra life event rolls around and everyone is enjoying the rates and game when....."Too many tamed creatures on the ark".....wait ...what!*!*!....ok think, so we culled tames all of the tribes on the server did (meaning sacraficed either time raising or taming) 1 hour later, same thing mind you we are at 58/250 tribe cap....

So my GF and I said its extra life we will take advantage of the rates and new servers opening and start again. this time we start on 5278 official, which dropped at 8pm est durring the event, so as fresh as we can get. We go over and get a base and everything set up again, I get another 300+ hours into this server, my gf is 170+, and the Thanksgiving event rolls around, were hatching our boss rexs out, when all the eggs stop cooking, I look and theres those dreaded words again.."Too many tamed creatures on the Ark..this time it was even faster, and we had even less tames because were experienced players so we dont tame low level or useless tames and i was saving cap for rex raisings. and to top that all off, we joined an old ASE tribe mate on 5153 and within a week they were tame capped as well. 

1) Why set tame caps so low that literally every PVE server is on the verge?

2) Where TF are cryopods, it was stated 3 weeks durring extra life, then it was Dec 20th that was circled, that has come and gone, it was also noted that it might be in winter wonderland, but then Ced said we will have to check on actual cryo timing, and your twitter says this month (December). Meanwhile majority of your official player base is twiddling their thumbs or killing 5-6 tames to hatch/tame 1 so lets talk about sacraficed hours....Can we get an adult to answer at WC please....or i need 3 refunds

Everyone knew this would happen. Why are people acting so surprised? Were you actually expecting something different? You pays ya money ya takes ya chances. Those who were smart knew not to bother with it in the first place until they sort it all out. Especially if it's just another "test" (basically Game Preview again). I'm not defending the company, but I knew what was coming. It's your own fault.