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Captain Jack Shadow

Too hard to find what you are looking for in an unofficial server.

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Need some filters.  Especially for rates, and grid size.

I for one, would like one that has something like 3x rates for most things, but much faster for breeding, and is at least a 5x5 grid.  As it is, people are limited in how much they can tell you.  You have to visit the server before you know what you are actually getting into.

Why can't we have filters, for instance one that allows you to select an less than, greater than, or equal sign, and then a number.  So I could select:
Rates = 3x

Or
Rates > 1x but < 5x   Maybe even have this for each rate...harvesting, taming, breeding, XP, etc...

 

Then, allow those who create servers to see statistics on what people are searching for.  This way, if thier server isn't attracting enough people, they can get an indication as to why this may be the case.  For instance, they set the gather rates to 25x, and then see that most people are looking for something higher than, but much closer to vanilla rates.  So they then know that their rates are making people give the server a pass.

Another thing that could be searched for is how many skill points you would have at say, lvl 100, with the default vanilla number also listed.  So an RP server may want to reduce the number of skill points to force more specialization, while others may want to increase the number to allow more solo play.

Whether the game is modded, or not, could be something people want to filter for.

Terrain collision for structures, could be something that is filtered for.  I would not play on a server that does not allow for structures to collide with the terrain, as it is one of my biggest frustrations with official servers.

Whether or not there is a restriction on company size, is another one that can be filtered for.  I don't think most do, but again, people might actually want that, and so server owners would see that people are attempting to find servers that limit companies to something like 10 or less.

Thoughts?

 

I think my ideal server would be one that has the following rates.

  • Gather 3x
  • XP 1x
  • Taming 2x
  • Breeding, something along the lines of 10x...or something that allows babies to be born and matured in about 4 or 5 hours after the mating begins.
  • Taming on Golden Age...which adds some difficulty and excitement to taming.
  • Basing on Golden Age...if you can pull it off, have at it.  Just don't block access to anything important on the island.
  • Stacking mod.
  • Building Mods
  • Ship mods

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I don't want to dissapoint you but I don't think filters for unofficial servers are their priority 😉 moreover you don't have any filters in ARK so I doubt it will ever be here. 

Check battlemetrics if you want info about servers.

Edited by Willard

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Don't use unofficials because:

A = Admins

B = 50000x taming speed

C = Mods (game changers not annoying admins)

Edited by Martyn
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On 5/20/2019 at 12:06 AM, Willard said:

I don't want to dissapoint you but I don't think filters for unofficial servers are their priority 😉 moreover you don't have any filters in ARK so I doubt it will ever be here. 

Check battlemetrics if you want info about servers.

The problem with that is that you have to check each individual server, right?  But I agree, ARK never had this, even though it needed it badly.  People would play more, if they can find what they are looking for.  As it is, you can visit a dozen servers, and still not find what you are looking for.  You could start your own, but that is very expensive, and so you would need a community, but they need to be able to find you.  And, you need to know what they are looking for.

This is where tending the garden, could benefit the community, and thus the Devs.

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35 minutes ago, Captain Jack Shadow said:

The problem with that is that you have to check each individual server, right?  But I agree, ARK never had this, even though it needed it badly.  People would play more, if they can find what they are looking for.  As it is, you can visit a dozen servers, and still not find what you are looking for.  You could start your own, but that is very expensive, and so you would need a community, but they need to be able to find you.  And, you need to know what they are looking for.

This is where tending the garden, could benefit the community, and thus the Devs.

You know how many parameters servers have? Have you ever tried to run ARK server? Thats 1 problem - large amount of parameters which you would have to filter.

Second problem - private servers are hosted by private providers. How can Grapeshot extract data from private servers which are not in their possesion? They simply can't. These datas are saved on private servers and they have no access to them.

Moreover devs want people to play on official servers, not unofficial. 

Edited by Willard

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You don't need every last parameter listed, and you allow the server owner to select certain things.  Like he simply puts in that he has 5x gather rates.  Or, in the set up process, and management process, it automatically sets that.

Another option would be to give a pop up box, that when you mouse over the server, it shows a paragraph where the owner gives you needed info.  But some things should be filtered for.  Grid size, gather rates, XP rates, taming rates, breeding rates, how many skill points at lvl 100, with the default shown so people understand whether it is lower or higher than vanilla.

Some mods would be good to have as filter options, as they tend to be highly sought after, but this is where the pop up could come into play, once you have narrowed down the field.

 

Like it or not, this does affect how many people play the game.  Somewhere out there is a server that is right for them, but they can't find it because there are just too many servers, and you can't see the info about them, to know if it is the one you want.

Hence my title...it's too hard to find what you are looking for in an unofficial server.

 

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Grid size is the important part for me, plus resource allocation.  Is it only tropic biome for example?

Next is mods, no one wants to be punching trees and someone comes along, kills you with a war of the worlds machine!

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Right...mods can be fun, if they enhance the game.  I like a stacking mod.  I like building mods.  I like mods that would add ships, creatures, weapons, armor, etc...that don't unbalance the game, etc...  But not all mods are good mods.  I did see a mod that adds a lot of visual storage options, and crafting stations, that look really good.

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Tbh everyone is different though,you obviously like tames,whereas id prefer building multipliers,but I get it about the mods.I joined two private servers that downloaded so many mods it kept crashing at start.and with private servers I've also been on two private servers that just closed no warning at all.And admins around can  actually be a good thing sometimes too,it does stop a lot of the building chaos.

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Many unofficial servers don't even show up for me. Bearded gamers for example; the only way I can find them is through Battle Metrics and then I have to direct connect to them through Steam. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to join without the "Failed to Query" or "Host Timeout Error". My wife and I tried playing last night and I was able to get in. She got in after a few attempts, but then was kicked due to a "Host Timeout" error. I never got kicked. She was not able to log back in so we just gave up. Same shit since the launch of Atlas.

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1 hour ago, Saltydog920 said:

Many unofficial servers don't even show up for me. Bearded gamers for example; the only way I can find them is through Battle Metrics and then I have to direct connect to them through Steam. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to join without the "Failed to Query" or "Host Timeout Error". My wife and I tried playing last night and I was able to get in. She got in after a few attempts, but then was kicked due to a "Host Timeout" error. I never got kicked. She was not able to log back in so we just gave up. Same shit since the launch of Atlas.

This is probably the biggest issue. If the populate function worked properly, then we could worry about filters. Unfortunately right now a large number of unofficial servers do not even appear in the list, even when searched for after it has finished loading. Using one of the community listing sites and direct connecting is your only option. This is made even lower frustrating when the server appears immediately for others using the same search parameters.

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I had some friends join an unofficial server, but I could not get into it, no matter what I tried.  Even using direct connect, or joining a friend, did not work.

 

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On 5/20/2019 at 12:39 AM, Martyn said:

Don't use unofficials because:

A = Admins

B = 50000x taming speed

C = Mods (game changers not annoying admins)

Agreed, almost all admins are corrupt, if you beat the owners group, you get banned or the server is wiped, it is terrible. 
"My server doesn't do that" Nonsense you haven't wiped the owners base and taken over a server.

The sad fact is that most unofficial servers are filled with inexperienced players that can't cut it on the official servers, sure there are people that need unofficial servers because of time constraints in their real life and they are really good players, but the  vast majority of unofficial server players are just bad at the game and when an official server player comes on those servers, that knows the tricks and ways to be efficient they accuse them of "hacking" or some other nonsense and whine to the admins until the official player is banned.

It is the same on Ark, Dark and Light, and Atlas, as well as other games in the genera. Unofficials are just not fun at all for good players with enough time to play the game consistently.

Edited by Evir
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Yeh this had pretty much been the attitude on most player run servers of any type that I've been to in the last 20-30 yrs.  People don't realise that when you offer a service to people, it means you need to put some effort into it, it's not just switch on, load up, play.  You need a dedicated staff, with people who know how to deal with hackers, who know who is or isn't cheating and so on. It's the same with officials, it's been a long time since I've seen any official game with actual gm's in them. 

So I prefer to play on standard rules, no mods, no admins, no nothing.  Let the players police the server etc.  The devs can make and break the game.

Course it would also help if you could search and maybe even view a server, without making a character on it, like maybe spectate, see if the conversations etc are active, see what people have built, if there's spam etc.

Edited by Martyn

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One Question

Why should the Devs of this Game consider Time and Money to a Subject that will goes against there will of People playing on There Officials?
But Yes Some Filter would be Nice though.
Well i Guess that this kind of Filters must be Done by Modders them self,and then given for free to GS,for ever be a Possibility.

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19 hours ago, MiyuNoir said:

One Question

Why should the Devs of this Game consider Time and Money to a Subject that will goes against there will of People playing on There Officials?
But Yes Some Filter would be Nice though.
Well i Guess that this kind of Filters must be Done by Modders them self,and then given for free to GS,for ever be a Possibility.

They have a financial incentive...they get money for every unofficial server running their game.  Or, so I have been informed.

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2 hours ago, Captain Jack Shadow said:

They have a financial incentive...they get money for every unofficial server running their game.  Or, so I have been informed.

Partially correct. It depends on who is hosting the server. They likely have a deal with a server provider(s) in the same way Conan Exiles is partnered with g-portal. Any server hosted via that company results in a kickback, and in return Grapeshot gives them advertising as the "preferred host", implying that there is some advantage to using them whether there is or not.

Your point stands, however. The more community servers can be readily accessed, the more people will be able to play on them, and the longer they will stay active. Plus it is good business in that it can only result in additional copies of the game being sold by people who want to play on a community server to play with their friends/gaming group. 

 

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