My experience and suggestions

[AGR0- 3]

I've played this game for a total of roughly 40 hours from day 1 and have experienced a lot, even though it's probably only 10% of what is available from this massive game. However after all this time me and my 2 friends have to call it quits after we simply can not progress anymore, and don't really feel like being slapped down once more. Seeing as I actually quite enjoy the base game and can see that there is great potential, I figured I would leave with this post and come back when (hopefully) the game has matured and the issues we have experienced are fixed. 

 

Critical

• Stop Red Server Wall doing damage to ships

When a server wall turns red it becomes a solid wall and will do damage to any and all ships, this would be bad enough on its own but that's not it. If you manage to get half way through it while it's blue and open and then it turns red, it'll stop and grab onto your ship. Doing something like 300,000 damage a second across the entire wall essentially cutting the ship in half. Once you eventually get through to the other server you'll sink immediately like a ship with no hull does.

So this needs to be fixed, I'm not entirely sure how one would fix this however I think something like instead of making it a solid wall just make it teleport you back 25m or so and turn your ship 90 to 180 degrees one way or the other. Perhaps also automatically raise all sails to stop the ships from being caught in a teleporting loop.

• Reduce Ship of the Damned spawn rate and make neutral to smaller ships (Raft, Sloop)

This here is the final drop for us, after our 3rd Sloop has been sunk by Ships of the Damned, and the reason why we're now taking a break from this game. I feel like there is no way for a smaller ship to traverse the map without having to turn, dip, dodge, and weave your way through 30 Ships of the Damned just to get to the next server over, where you'll immediately be sunk by the 3 Ship of the Damned awaiting you on the other side.

For the most part a simple fix here, just reduce the spawn rate even further, maybe even removing them completely from certain grids and boost their loot considerably. Making them something you'll either hunt down or happen upon and have to run from sometimes, a grand event you could say, and not something that will constantly grief you. Making it neutral to Rafts and Sloops unless fired upon might be good as well which allows explorers to explore without being threatened too much. I think one also needs to make sure when you teleport through to a new server, the server needs to make sure there are no Ship of the Damned right on the other side to ruin your day.

• Reduce territory claim amount per player

I'm obviously not the only one who feels this way, but seeing as the game has been out (or at least playable) for less than a week, and most islands you get to is already covered with claim flags is to me a big issue. Me and my group was a little late out of the starting areas and when we came upon the islands which one could stake a claim we wasn't able to find anywhere to claim because everything was taken already. For newer players this is of course bad.

There are many ways around this and many great suggestions on the forums already to choose from. What I thought up was first of all making claim flags require some resources to build, but also making them only 1 per player with a max cap of say 5, and to get more you'd have to buy more with Gold, this would give more use to Gold and also hopefully reduce the amount of random flags dotted all around. Might also need a different solution for big companies, not sure about that though.

 

Moderate

• Reduce amount of food to become full

Currently takes too much food to become full, I found myself having to eat 3 stakes, 3 fish, and 30 berries. That's far too many, I never got to try out cooking fully because the ingredients weren't available, so maybe actually cooking a meal would be better. I personally feel reducing this a small amount would be beneficial, not making it too easy but also making it a slightly less harsh.

• Remake vitamin system

Although I think the vitamin system is a nice touch, I feel it's currently a tad bit too harsh if you don't keep it up. I would prefer if it only gave buffs and debuffs. Instead of taking damage when its too low and too high, and only getting a buff if you keep them in check. I would like it more if it was only to get buffs and debuffs, for example you'll get a buff for each vitamin if kept in place. A gives movement speed buff, B gives damage buff, C gives stamina buff, D gives fortitude buff, while having them all also gives XP buff. While instead of having you take damage over time from them, make them give debuffs to the same types. This'll make it good to keep it up, but not debilitating if you don't keep them all up all the time.

• Reduce animal spawn rate

Currently I think there are far too many animals on these islands, just feels very crowded most of the time. I also think it might be more interesting if neutral animals would be more abundant during the day, and it'll switch to predators being more abundant during the night. 

 

Minor

• Cooking and eating food should reset spoil time

Right now when you have normal food in your inventory it'll of course spoil but when you put it in a campfire to cook it, when it cooks it won't consume the spoiling meat and leave it to spoil instead so you're left with a lot of rotten meat. Same goes for berries or already cooked meat, once it's in your inventory and you eat it, you won't eat the spoiling item but a 'fresh' one and leave the spoiling one to rot. This kinda irks me, and would prefer if the food would refresh as you eat the oldest one.

• Open up skill trees for viewing

Right now it's really hard to understand where things are located in the skill tree and plan what you want to become and do, I would prefer if it was open enough so that you can see what each skill tree contain at least. I wouldn't mind if you still have to  unlock the skills within from a different skill tree, just as long as you can see and read what is there. Could also make the 'unlock to here' thing carry over skill trees.

• Make debuffs and buffs more clear

Pretty self explanatory, would be nice with more clear and descriptive debuff and buff texts when holding H. Specifically the vitamin debuffs doesn't actually say what it does.'

 

 

This became a lot bigger than what I was anticipating.. hehe Would also just like to thank the devs for fast updates even through the holidays, greatly appreciated and I'm excited for the future of this game! Will definitely stick around to keep an eye on this, and I would definitely like to hear if anyone disagrees.

[Sea Hag 6]

Glad you posted this not only with the problem but the fix inputs. The most critical fix that MUST be made is claim flags. And I think 5 flags is MAX and an excellent idea. Players should sail and make there choice a well thought out decision and not a land grab of ... all for one...

I have been playing since the second day of launch and I am tired of sailing around for hours on a raft to finally see an Island in the horizon to come up to it and its all flagged... For this reason I am about ready to

#1 quit and ask for a refund because I bought a game I thought I could build a base and shipyard on... 

# 2 just quit but leave a negative review and tell my friends who are still on Ark to not bother coming over... At this point if I asked my steam friends to purchase and come over I would lose a friend.... 5 days of sailing I cant watch the water anymore.

I started the game and picked a grid to start on .. there was no set starting point, Starting in any other spot besides freeport or any other level 1-8 location is a recipe for disaster.

You cant drink water if you start on random grids and I  asked a player how to get water and he said its a gambling Game, this is not needed.  Digging for water and clicking mouse to get in the green area while an alpha snake is biting you is not fun. Funny but not fun.

Fix this by

# 1  a low level 1-8 designated point

#2 A fresh water pond, river or lake to drink from is needed on grids outside of beginners starting point...

- while drinking salt water should make you sick, crazy and then eventually death, if you don't find a medicine man / woman to personally heal you.... 

 

Did I mention FIX the flag Claims. Please

 

Next is the vitamins and I think the original poster has an excellent idea on that. 

But I might add that while you have the vitamin depletion skills on the tree … it is a waste of ALL that hard long hours of time playing to gain 1 more level of experience to then  save up 8 of them to pick the skill to be able to have a smitty ( who thought of that one.. " 8"? )  

and Food

It spoils way to fast. The way you play atlas is pay attention to your food /vitamins and  water while in freeport because if you die you lose everything you just did for the last few hours...

Then at level 8 sail out on your raft to just let yourself die... NO WATER and food spoiled

There's really no meat out there in the ocean sailing and it spoils before you can find a safe spot to land and hunt for Meat. There's fish in the ocean but Jellyfish are not on our menu, along with the sharks that are waiting in there for you to jump in to spear a bass.... 

So its a risk for a level 8 to leave freeport with any food or vitamin supply... don't add it to your raft weight 100 berries is 10 pounds... just saying. 10 pounds of fiber is more profitable at this point. 

 

8 skill points to select the option to have a smitty. You need spy glass which is crafted on a smitty to sail out of freeport... and able to make better metal tools would be a added plus 

Fix this by bringing back down the smitty to 2 skill points. 

Aggro is too high. I had a croc pop up out in the ocean followed my raft while it chewed on me or the back of my raft until the island was almost out of render.

crocs need to stay closer to beach and not aggro on you when you are out in the water, a distance needs to be added.

So now I sail until I run out of vitamins, starve or die from thirst if the cold doesn't kill me first. I don't equip clothes, weapons / tools or any food of any sort, why should I ? It is easier to die and to not carry foods or water and stick all your weapons/tools and clothes in storage box in hopes that ….

Did I mention.. Fix the flag claims? ...

#1 For I can land and play atlas

It looks like a lot of work has been put into the creation of this game and the staff have been more than gracious and polite during there never ending work through the holiday season and I would like to THANK those that have dedicated there time away from there families during the Christmas and New Year Holidays and into fixing and working on this.  Its not right to sit and complain while at home for the holidays while many at atlas devoted there time into trying to make our holiday fun and they were away from there families.