Captain Jack Shadow

I think one of the reasons that ARK has lasted so long is that for one, it doesn't take as much effort to get built up. Second, you could actually save a lot of your stuff by uploading it. Your most important breeders, your most important blueprints...could be uploaded, and then downloaded on another server...saving you from having to completely start over. And I think most people had several bases anyway, so they could quickly set up shop with their best stuff. Granted, this did not always happen, but at the same time, very active tribes had their BPs and tames spread out in those different bases, so losing one base wasn't the end of the world. A lot harder to do that here in Atlas. I have quit playing, but only because I couldn't be competitive with a small company, and merging that small company with another company, turned out to be not so enjoyable. Most of my company quit. Only 3 remain with the new company.

I had thought about that. I see two options. One, you can pull it out, but just once, and only after a significant cool down timer, after putting it in. And I do mean significant. If you are putting it in to sell it, there needs to be time for customers to discover it. Maybe a week minimum, or maybe even a full month. This allows for somebody to legitimately buy it. I also believe the Devs would need to sit down and do some math...figure out some parameters for each item...such as a minimum price you can charge for items, and a maximum...to ward of exploiting. Second option is to never allow you to retrieve it, but instead, give you a minimum price in gold for the item, if it doesn't sell. If you are truly trying to sell it, you don't need, or want it, so getting some gold for it beats not being able to sell it...agree?

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.

The solution is to allow only so much stuff in the market at one time. You would need to make it enough to make it worth taking it there, and once there, they could also make it such that you can't withdraw it from the market. Thus you can't hide your stuff there. You would only deposit what you actually want to sell.

I think it was 1400 gold per day. Not good at all. I am not even sure why they think it needs a rent cost. Once again, these things need to be thought out. Ask yourself one simple question...why will anyone use a player shop? The answer has to be simple...because there is a benefit to it, and that has to be on both sides. I said this before...you have to think in terms of in game meta. For somebody to use a Giraffe to gather thatch, it has to gather thatch faster than a person with a pick can. Otherwise, nobody will use them. And that doesn't mean more thatch per hit, that means more thatch per minute. Like with weapons, when balancing, you have to think DPS...damage per second, as that is what matters most, though you also have to add in how hard it is to hit a moving target with it, so we might want to add a P to that...PDPS...Practical Damage Per Second. With the player shops, you have to look at both sides. Why would I pay gold for a raw material, like Cobalt? Easy...it has to make sense in terms of getting things done. Can I get enough cobalt, that I save time? In other words, can I go get enough gold to pay for it, in a short enough time, for it to make sense. I can sail to the location that cobalt nodes exist, and mine it, or I can go t a shop, and pay gold to buy it. Which is easier, and faster. Time is the most important aspect here. Can I farm the gold faster than I can sail to the location with the cobalt, and get back with it. This is also why all player shops need to be tied together. If I have to sail to a location near the cobalt, then the player shop just became all but useless, because now I have to farm the gold, which equals time, and then I have to sail to a location near the cobalt, which equals time, and then sail back, which equals time. In other words, it takes more time and effort to farm the gold and buy the cobalt, than it would have taken to just sail to a location and mine it myself. If shops are to work, there has to be an obvious benefit to using them. Tying them together, such that if you look into one, you look into them all, would allow them to be useful. You now have a reason to use them. You save time.

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.

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.

I have to agree with EVIR. Early Access is not for this kind of testing. An idea is supposed to be largely tested before being put in game. You aren't supposed to be using your player base to test the new aspects of the game. But, at the same time, a little common sense goes a long way. We don't have silenced, semiauto, sniper rifles with a 4x scope, right? Why not? Because that would be dumb in a game like this. But we have torpedoes going in, with no idea how they will affect gameplay. And, will they require mythos? If so, kiss small companies goodbye. Not that many are left at this point anyway. Yeah, just what we need. Something that strips planks off below the waterline in one hit...yeah...that's just what this game needed. Facepalm.

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.

Or Lazarus Chowder.

Once again, I said that PvE needed to have the Claim flags brought back, but modified. Give each company one, maybe two of these flags to put down, to create a circle that you must build in. Nothing can be permanently placed outside of that claim. They could give one for a base, and one for a port. Make them the size of the sea claims, or maybe slightly larger. That way, you can choose a plot of land, but not spam the island with structures. They could then give you smaller claim flags, for placing down a temporary structure. This would allow you to make temporary structures, but they could give it a 24 hour timer, at which point, the structure becomes demolishable. A cool down timer could be put in, to keep you from putting down more structures right away. Or, they could allow you to put down structures, outside of your claim circle, but they are immediately demolishable. This way, if somebody spams like this, other people can just demolish the structures.

Are you on an unofficial server? There is a mod that brought the ARK creatures to Atlas...but only an unofficial server that actually has that mod. Check the server's mod page. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1723362540&searchtext=

Just put a trough down as close as possible. They have a pretty decent range. You can also whistle the tames to follow you, which should get them close to the wall, then whistle them to stop. You will know when you have it right, because there will be the trough symbol over their names.

That's a symptom, not the cause. They need to code in some way of dealing with this. One such way would be to make you invisible to SotD, when you first travel into a grid. Testing should give them some feedback on how long that invisibility would need to last. This way, when you do travel into a new zone, and end up spawning right in the middle of a SotD fleet, you can just keep sailing, and be OK...so long as you do just that. However, they need to make that timer relevant to the speed you are going when you hit the new server. I for one, often drop my speed to almost nothing as I cross, if I am carrying tames, or a lot of people on my ship, as this seems to allow for a better spawn in of all tames and real people. Less people and tames spawning into thin air, and dropping into the sea...less tames disappearing. So, I would need to be able to lower the sails and get moving.

I both agree, and disagree with you. I agree that the sprinting speed is way too much, but I do not think that reducing it to the walk speed is right. It just needs to be more realistic. Of course, this would make riding creatures even more important. A horse would be more valuable, or even a pig, as it would run faster than you can. We might see more of these animals in fights, as people use them to move around the islands much faster, in defenses, and offenses. This would also give the defenders a bit more of an advantage in defending, since they would have more tames to use. Cargo Galleons/Brigs would be more important for PvP, as you would need them to transport more tames. Second, it's quite realistic for the Bow and Arrow to do the same damage as a Flintlock. Flintlocks weren't actually that powerful. Oh sure, sometimes they killed people with one shot, but so too did arrows. Plus, a boy and arrow should be much more accurate at medium to long range. A Flintlock should be close range only. They were notoriously inaccurate. Pistols today are far far more accurate, but even they are not very accurate at longer ranges. Bows also need different tips. The arrow you use, should determine its effectiveness against each target. Against bears, and other tough creatures, you would want the appropriate arrow head. Against those in armor, you would want armor piercing arrowheads...and yes, those were a thing, back during the time of men in armor. And then need to stop nerfing the range of the bow. It's ridiculously short. While a flat trajectory is not realistic, neither is the trajectory of these bows. Too much drop, or so it seems from my real life experience shooting bows. Maybe give us different bows to upgrade to...like longbows, etc... Agree that swords, and other Melee weapons need to be revamped. The two handed weapons should do the most damage, and have the longer ranges, but also be the slowest. The brass knuckles should be the fastest to use, and do the least amount of damage. The sword should fall in the middle. Don't like the damage numbers, but is there an anti-cheat function there? If somebody one shots people, wouldn't it be nice to see if his carbine, or flintlock, or arrow, is doing an absurd amount of damage? If the damage numbers aren't visible, they should be in a death log, showing each time you were hit, and how much damage was done each time. This would be used to report cheaters, which would be used by the Devs to investigate the culprit.

Kind of. Where as Element in ARK is needed for crafting specific End Game items, Mythios is needed to craft Mythical items. So this is how that works. Let's use Blunderbuss, since the Wiki gives picture examples. So first you need to know that there are similarities and differences to ARK crafting. Common = 1x materials = Gray Fine (Ramshackle) = 2x materials = Green Journeyman (Apprentice) = 3x materials = Blue Masterwork (Journeyman) = 4x materials = Pink Legendary (Mastercraft) = 5x materials = Yellow Mythical (Ascendant) = 6x materials = Cyan 2 major differences are that Mythical requires Mythos, for both crafting, and repair, thus few people outside of Megas want these BPs. Mythos is too hard to get for smaller companies. You have too many other things to do. Megas can have people dedicated to getting it, so they may actually do it. So what smaller companies want, are Legendary BPs. Yes, Legendary are the most sought after, and the Devs seem to know this, so they are actually more rare than Mythical BPs, which is really really dumb, because the smaller companies could use these to at least compete. This simply adds to a HAVES and HAVE NOTS problem in the game. Most people I have talked to, don't use anything over Masterwork, for the most part. The company I am presently in...I suggested crafting a few of the Mythical weapon BPs, and I was told not to, because in a raid, you are very likely to be killed, and so all you just did was give the enemy a mythical weapon to use against you. Even if it is broken, they just got a cheaper Mythical weapon to use against you the next time. This is the problem of making them so expensive, and thus exceedingly rare. But, as I said, a Mega is far more likely to use these, thus exacerbating the problem of Megas. Another difference with ARK, and one not well thought out, is that you have to spec into both crafting with these BPs, and using the items created by them. Ask yourself this question...if I hand you a sloppy ramshackle quality gun at a firing range, and a high quality competition quality gun, is there any difference to you, other than one will shoot more accurately, and consistently? Do you need to take a class to get better, to use that higher quality gun? No. So, I have no problem with them making you spec into using higher quality BPs, but I do not like them making you spec into an ability to use them. Even worse, you have to spec into crafting, to use. Just makes no sense. The community has made it clear that they do not like this. They tried to recreate the wheel, to make this game different than others with skill trees, but the wheel can't really be recreated. Skill trees need to make sense, but this one does not. The skill points for crafting need to be a good bit higher than the "SEPARATE" skill tree for using. This would be realistic. The number of people who have ever been able to handcraft guns, swords, etc., have always been much more rare than the people who can adequately use them, and this is even more so when talking about fine craftsmen. Yes, those who are exceptionally good with weapons are more rare than those who can adequately use them, but not even close to as rare as those who can craft them. So it makes sense to have spec'ing into crafting cost more points than using, and you should not have to spec into crafting at all, to use a gun, nor even repair it. I cannot craft guns, but I have repaired many guns, in real life. So here is the final difference, as shown above in the list. The higher the quality, the more variety of materials needed, as well as higher amounts of each. A logical change needs to be made. First, I would reduce the increase in quality with regards to damage and armor, for things like weapons, and armor. Instead, increase the durability significantly. Maybe add a slight increase in accuracy for firearms, and maybe even a reduced weight. Reduce the durability increase just a little for structures, and ship parts, but also reduce the weight, with each increase in quality. Second, reduce the cost of Mythos. Third, increase the amount of Legendary BPs we get. Stop restricting them just because they are more sought after. The idea should be that there is a benefit to higher tiered stuff, but the benefit should not replace, or nullify skill, and sadly, that is exactly what games like this often do, because they take the increases way too far. This is also why so many people who can't put a lot of time into a game, end up leaving. They soon learn that their defeat is hard coded into the game. When you are running 100% Cannons, and planks, and you meet somebody with 200%+...you are at a severe disadvantage. You can definitely be more skilled, and yet still lose far more often than not, and most people won't stick around for that.

You should read more. You might learn something. When you start making the colors mean something, as they do now, people simply avoid the lower tiered crates. So why have them in the game. When was the last time you saw somebody stop for a yellow crate? I haven't seen it since early last season. You should learn to be a deeper thinker...think more critically. The idea that you should be able to see the quality of anything, before opening it, is kind of silly. That goes for maps, flotsam, and map bottles. I personally enjoy the sunken treasure the most, because you don't know what you are getting, until you are right up near the wreck. Too late to pass up even a 1.x sunken treasure. You are already there, so might as well grab it up. This adds to the discovery and exploration aspect of the game. Plus, it's pointless to make things that people are just going to ignore. Imagine making several cave dungeons for this game, with varying levels of quality loot inside. These would be procedurally generated, and random in quality. You just happen across them. So when you come across a 1.x cave, you just ignore it. So why even have it there. What's the point of even designing stuff people won't use? This kind of progression works in single player games, where you get better and better stuff, to deal with better and better adversaries, and harder and harder challenges, but this is a PvP game...on the PvP servers. Thus MetaGaming is the way people play. So if you want the game to have more depth, you have to create more width. Don't want a Carbine to rule the Battlefield? Make other weapons just as powerful. Don't want the Bears to rule the battlefield? Make the Lions and Tigers just as powerful. What you seem to lack the ability to understand is that Flotsam is boring right now. It plays into Metagaming, which means pull out the spyglass, and only stop the ship for the high quality Flotsam. Kind of ruins the point of having multiple levels of quality. Opening a Flotsam should be like opening a present. You shouldn't know what's inside the crate, until it's opened. This includes knowing the quality.

When a door, or hatch is closed, the only option is to open, or close. To actually interact with the door, or hatch, you have to open it first, then look at the actual door, or hatch. Not sure when this is the case, as doors and windows did not act that way in ARK, but it does in Atlas.

Coral should be in every grid, near every island, and should not be deep sea...it should be in the shallower areas. So to find it, you should just be able to look an the map, to see the shallow areas, and go there. Coral is not in the deepest parts of an ocean. https://coral.org/coral-reefs-101/coral-reef-ecology/how-coral-reefs-grow/

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

Next, she's going to take away your 3x magnification reading glasses, and so, the next time you use the restroom, you are going to be in for a...ahem...big surprise.

I remember, about 2 years after EVE had debuted, the player base had stagnated, and started to decline, so they had to make some changes to make it more friendly to new players, but I still chose not to join, and after talking to others, found out that I was not even close to being alone in my thinking. My choice was made to never play it, when after making the changes, the Devs admitted that people joining now, would never have a chance of catching up to those who had played since day one. My thinking was, OK, thanks for helping me make my mind up that I would never play the game. I never did.

Not actually true. Megas do exist, but they are now divided into companies, like XYZ XYZ Gold XYZ Silver XYZ Red XYZ Blue XYZ Violet Etc... Yes, except for the XYZ substitute, that is a real Mega that is in the PVP server. So, they can divide responsibilities. One of them grows crops, and makes medicine, while another tames and breeds, while another crafts high quality items, while another farms gold and BPs, while another gathers resources for BPs. This puts them far ahead of, for instance, a company of 40 people, where many of them cannot devote large amounts of hours to the game. This is not good for the game. Get that idiocy out of your head, because people don't stick with games, when they realize that they have no chance. The idea that a game actually exacerbating a have and have not situation is good, is pure lunacy. People don't stick with games for long, when they begin to understand that they are destined to be one of the have nots, in that game. They go play other games. Basic human psychology. Not sure why that's so hard to understand.

Yeah, it's basically like the white drops. Does anyone even bother with them at low levels, if they are experienced with the game? No. Now...what I did do, was drop everything on the ground from white drops, to get other drops to spawn faster. When a drop is cleaned out, and disappears, it causes a new drop to spawn...if not right away, after a very sort period, or so it seemed. I don't go out of my way to do it, but I will run over a yellow drop, if it is close to my path. The thing is, when I am traveling with others, they won't even stop for mid level crates. This is why I would like to see them revamped. The increasing of the gold was not enough, since the amount of gold in them was pitiful at best. So, I would like to see them totally revamp this system. Make the crates more colors, just to add some eye candy. But make the colors meaningless. Reduce the chances of useless blueprints. It's depressing to get thatch wall after thatch ceiling after thatch roof, after thatch floor, after platform, after gate. Make the level of the crate actually matter. We shouldn't be getting a lot of thatch in high level crates. In fact, you shouldn't be getting thatch at all, in high level crates. The type of item, as well as it's quality, should determine which level of crates it's in. It's enough to make you uninstall the game, when you find that rare 2 digit crate, only to get a Masterwork, or Legendary thatch wall. Make the quality of the crate imperceptible from a distance, as is the case with maps, and sunken treasure. Add a chance for the BP to be an item, instead of a BP, and add a random crafting bonus to it, so that it is truly useful. In place of some of the useless BPs, allow there to be useful resources instead...like some gun powder, fire gel, iridium, Agedwood, etc... This should range all the way from just a small handful for a very low level crate, to a full stack in a very high level crate. With some good changes to the crates, we might see more people out farming them.

I am not against something like a Crab being OP, but it has to be done right. WWIIOL had tanks, and in the beginning, they were insanely powerful. Not because the tank itself was too powerful, but because the rest of the game was not ready for it. Little to no cover or concealment on terrain that was as flat as a golf course. So you would get shot by them, as infantry, from distances where you could not even see them. The howling from the community was intense, and it never stopped. Not until tanks were nerfed into near uselessness. Sadly, all that was needed, was for the rest of the game to catch up. It eventually did, but the howling didn't stop. The Devs had been beaten into submission, and so they never stopped with the tank nerfing. Meanwhile, infantry can run with loaded bazookas...a huge no-no in real life, as the round was not locked, and already armed, so just falling on the ground would cause it to explode and kill you. Where as killing a tank, using infantry, was hard, and exhilarating in the beginning, it became way too easy in the end. The answer the Devs always gave was to work with the infantry...get them to protect you from other infantry...except that they would not, except for the occasional, rare person who would...for a short while. The answer here, is not to make Crabs nerfed, it is to alter the game, and Crabs, such that they make sense. For instance, Crabs should have to be kept in the water, and only venture out for short periods. They should start to lose some health and abilities, if out of the water for too long. How long? I don't have a good answer for that. Additionally, they should be impervious to small arms fire..arrows, pistols, carbines, etc (except the eyes)..but very susceptible to Cannons, and Ballistas. Tigers, and Bears, etc., should be useless against them, as they shouldn't be able to do anything to their shell. But cracking that shell should be very harmful to them. The jumping should be toned way way down. They should be quite the nemesis of Submarines. They should be able to traverse rough terrain fairly easy, but trees, regular large trees, should provide a natural barrier to them. Smaller trees, should not. Full grown palm trees and up, should not topple over to them.