gumbyc

Could someone post or link to the instructions to connect to the ptr. I know it’s a different setup and can’t remember where the instructions are. 

Thanks. 

Nvm. Found the instructions on dollie’s wow and mega patch post. 

I love all this banter back and forth regarding weekdays and/or weekend 2X. Regardless of what side your on, it's obvious that players want 2X. Yes EEECEEE my hidden motive is I want 2X to be the new norm. The current rate is too much of a grind. When considering the Dev's roadmap with more  time spent at sea and in combat, to balance that we need to spend less time gathering. Ask yourself, how are we going to accomplish that? Critical changes are coming and we can only guess what those changes are.

4 hours ago, boomervoncannon said:

You stopped just short. Go back and look at that post again. The next thing he says after the part you quoted is this, which I find disappointing:

”no, I don’t work weekends, but I would like the people that don’t work weekends to suffer a little since other people do have to work weekends. I feel bad for those guys.”

 

Yes , your right, I should have included that but what about those players that work weekends? I sometimes cant get on line on the weekend and wish there was additional events for weekdays. Ya, I agree bad choice of words.

BUT

I'm trying to figure out what Jat meant when he said

On 9/15/2019 at 3:09 PM, Jatheish said:

We've got our heads down at the moment working on some things, so expect it to be a bit more quiet than usual for a while. 

As for 2x weekends, they aren't guaranteed to happen every weekend. In this case, we were working on a build to deploy (perhaps to the PTR again too with some pretty critical changes) but it needed more time internally, so we may end up going out with it later during the week and we'll discuss whether that includes a 2x or not.

"we'll discuss whether that includes a 2X or not."

What I gather is they are working on something with critical changes that might change the way of 2X. Just the PTR ?

EEECEEE....Where do I start ?

In one of REALIST past post on this thread he said this:

"The only thing is here that they already made the original 1x to 2x within the first few months. It took ark about a year and a half before that really happened.

lets say they make the new 2x the new 1x. People will still want events which would really be 4x at that point. Soon after that people will complain about not having that event(totally cool)."

I agree with that. If we make 2X the new 1X, where do we stop, and I'm sure if they have event that are 4X, some will complain. I don't agree with most of what he says, but there is nothing wrong with thought provoking conversation. He throws a hook in the water and waits for someone to bite. Granted, not the best place to do it in a forum about game play which he doesn't play, but is does create conversation. Every once in awhile he comes up with something worth talking about, but ya, he likes to talk about stuff he really know very little about. It's obvious he pushes your buttons, and I can understand why, but i don't let it bother me.

No, sorry no smurf account here. If you look at my profile in steam, you will find me with 1665 hours on Atlas, and before that I had 6652 hours on ARK. So don't come after me with a bunch of unfounded accusations trying to stir something up, and don't blame me for finding the REALIST entertaining. Sure he posts all over this forum, not knowing what he's taking about  most of the time, but that's what he does. You, me nor anyone else can do much about it. If you want to spend time countering his nonsense, that's fine with me.

And yes, I feel the present game play at 1X should be 2X. No more than that. I found the 4X, way too much, and in addition IF they need something to attract people for weekend play there are many other things the Dev's could offer.

Sorry, I don't see where he want to hurt people on the weekend. I went through the entire thread again and the only reference I could find close to that was this :

"long story short. They shouldn’t be having events on the weekends anyways. People don’t play on the weekdays so it makes way more sense to have events on the weekdays. "

I don't agree with that however it's not too far off from what the Dev's have plans for and do by not giving us 2X, like this pass weekend. I refer you to JATS statement regarding 2X. Who knows what they have planned for 2X.

By attacking me, your playing right into the REALIST playbook. Don't bite the hook.

I agree with REALIST that we should be concerned on what the norm 1X should be. We started out at 1X, then 2X became 1X, where do we stop. There has to be a balance where we get enough per wack to satisfy us vs making the game too easy. I don't know how we find the answer to that. Hardcore long time players don't want the game to be easy because that leads to boredom. As one of those players that have a lot of time in the game I can say I'm not happy with the present 1X, and would be satisfied with 2X becoming the new 1X. With that you must ask then what could be done for weekends or special events? Maybe just do one thing like gold or taming boosts, kracken 1/2 as strong, power stone giveaway, something.

As I mentioned before, with the Dev's plan to have us spend more time at combat and at sea, we will need to be compensated somehow for the additional materials we will need to repair and maintain our ship and crew. For the most part, those come from time gathering resources on land.

I thought EEECEEE brought up a good point and I have a question for REALIST. Do you play ATLAS? I ask because I think it's important to know where a person is coming from to understand what they are saying. This is not a dig, it's not meant to demean you in any way and I welcome your views be them from a philosophical or player perspective.

note

I did look for your profile in steam and couldn't find it among the 4200 other REALIST. Are you on steam?

It's obvious that a lot of players want and miss 2X for many different reasons. Gathering to craft is essential to game play. Hardcore players have found ways around it by crafting higher quality tools, bonuses, and by taming animals that yield higher rates. I would be interested to find out if many of the hardcore ones still want 2X or if they are they satisfied with the normal rates. I know the more you have the more you want, but is using the boosted rates from non-2X, sufficient enough?

I though about my mushroom comment and realized that if we knew in advance when the 2X events were going to happen, would we not play during non 2X? Would knowing reduce the overall numbers of players during non 2X periods?

I want to know when the 2X events are, and will play at other times regardless because I use that time to look for maps or do routine things. I look forward to the 2X to reduce by board-em of repetitive gathering and build up resources which I can use during the week. I guess the question therefore is; would you want to know in advance when the 2X events will be, or are you happy being a mushroom?

Thanks JATHEISH for chiming in with the explanation. It's great to know that the conversations in forums don't get lost in Never - Never Land

I don't know how you can take a picture of 2 pie charts and take them out of context. I agree with you to a point but would not call it development time. They want us to spend more time at sea and in combat. Gee, more combat means your gonna need more repair resources . This thread is about 2X rates and the only reason I brought of taming is because the 2X (when breeding is included) helps all aspects of the game.

To be clear, I don't like and do almost no breeding or taming. I enjoy sailing, treasure hunting and building. I don't know if the majority of players want less land time and more time at sea, doing things. If we are going to spent more time a sea, than the gathering rate on land must be better than it is now because you'll have to maintain your ship and crew with repair materials, food, and gold. Even finding treasure maps is done on land. I think as the change is made to spend more time a sea, it's going to be a painful period of adjustment because now you can't do that without spending a good amount of time on land gathering. One way to decease that is by removal of certain requirements for ship and crew or increasing the gathering rates. From past experience with changes, I think there will be many unforeseen adjustments necessary to compensate for the increase to time at sea.

Many players enjoy breeding and spend hours doing so. 2X obviously help tremendously. Unfortunately it's not part of the Dev's big plan. In Dollie's  Aug 30 "The Mega Update and Launch" they want to cut time spent on "Tames and Creatures" by approx 80%. They don't care what we enjoy they know better. 

"Essentially, we feel like players are currently spending too much time in certain areas of the game, and not enough time in the areas we think should be the most fun, such as Sea and Combat."

I totally agree with @eeeceee

12 hours ago, eeeceee said:

Because some person got skills and gear from completing the game basically, you're saying 2x is not needed by anybody else to play the game in order to get those skills? Can we just borrow your skills and gear? I don't really understand how that makes sense, seems the telling part of that argument is the "people just got used to", and some people don't care about 2x because they're above it somehow.

Go through the motions, or just let the devs know that the game is a bit of a grind which can have certain effects on people and their enjoyment of the game, with the aim of avoiding going through motions.

edit: I would like more breeding events, and for the breeding to be seriously looked at. Only twice I've breed animals besides crows and parrots, and it was during the breeding events. That is not because I don't find the game fun and I just had the realisation that I was just going through the motions, so I'm going to have to just make do. I'm not going to sit there and do the copy pasted from ark 8hours 'til juve elephant/rex breeding. It's just not a healthy activity for humans, should be changed, and has been promised that it would be changed. I cant believe the breeding is a copy/paste and unhealthy still actually.

2X weekends help everybody, even those with super dooper extra skills. Many players look forward to the bonus and for the Dev's to treat us like MUSHROOMS, pisses off a lot of players.

IDK, If your fortunate to get Myth tools you might as well use tames to get higher yields. I made a legendary axe and only got 86-90 wood per tree. Once in awhile I got 101, but that's the max. With 2X's on of course it would be more. The point is to build a big ship it takes time to harvest. If you LIKE to spend time harvesting.  Don't forget about the gold. We all need it and regular rates are very disappointing.

I do other things during the week and do treasure hunting for the extra 2X gold on the weekends. The Dev's are terrible at giving notice on what's going on. (example is no notice of no 2X gathering this weekend) They make tweaks along the way without telling us and give us 2X when they feel like it. Like giving a dog a bone. With their new direction being more time a sea, gathering resources for a galleon or brig without 2X's is painful, even with tames. With berries for the silo, mats for the upkeep of the ships, resources is a constant struggle. More time at sea means less time to gather on land. I will be interested to see how that plays out.

Gathering to me is no fun, it's a necessity. I enjoy sailing and building, however that requires resources.  With the low rate of gold rewards for destroying SOTD ships, and float-somes or sunken ships, not having 2X gold is almost a waste of time. With island cost of around a 1000 per day, gold is a necessity,  in addition to buying items at freeport.

Last week while sailing around I found only me or one other player in many grids, the game is really loosing it's player base. I hate that but understand why. Lack of information from the Dev's, lack of new game play challenges, and not fixing long standing game bugs don't help keep the players they have. With over 1600 hours on Atlas, I'm about ready to jump ship.

No, your not the only one. Every weekend its a crap shoot to find out whats it going to be 2X, 4X gold, XP, harvest, taming.  I dont understand the reasoning for not having a schedule so we know what going on. I guess we are like mushrooms. Keep us in the dark and feed us s#%t.

2X's should be the norm. 4X's for holidays, or whatever.

It would be able to have a docking station available on a dock to store the submarine versus having to keep it on a ship. Sometimes you don't want the extra weight or need the sub but would like a place to store it.

it would be nice to be able to upgrade a spyglass to a better one with better optics. this could be done with a blueprint or upgrade option.

When you have a lantern on a wall hook you sometimes forget to shut it off when night ends. If there could be a setting to shut it off during daylight it would help a lot. Similar to how the bouys work or have a pinwheel option on the switch or lamp itself.

For those of us who like to paint our ships, we can't find a way to paint the keel. Please add this feature.

How about providing seeds to grow berries. Since the silo has been added and where nits the first source to feed the crew, if you have a large company, berries are deleted very fast. In addition to the silo, I think it would be better to feed the crew from the closest food larder first.

Those of us with ships find mooring next to a dock advantageous for loading and unloading supplies. To accomplish this we build docks parallel to shore. Building perpendicular to the shore is a better solution but requires too many pillar supports if the water is too deep. Floating docks would be a great benefit. Thanks 

Hardcore breeders ( I’m not ) will put the effort in to maximize the offsprings regardless of the time it takes. After the initial gestation and birth up to the 10% threshold they will do what’s necessary to ensure the health of the baby. Pass the 10%  to maturity it’s just a matter of setting a timer and log in to care for and imprinting duties. I see no reason why that time could not be lowered. In the case of bears it’s every 8 hours to increase imprinting 20%. That’s way too long and I don’t see s need for it. If the animal is only for up breeding, imprinting isn’t even necessary. Like I said, hardcore breeders are going to do what they have to and novice players most likely won’t spend the hours needed to get them pass the 10% maturity. Please make it less time consuming without making it too easy.  

Building is a big part of the game which many of us enjoy. With the collision values on stone and wood structures ( some exceptions ) it really hinders building designs forcing us to try s work around or redesign. Allowing these pieces to blend into the surroundings instead of getting the obstruction notice would be great. It would allow us to be more creative with our building. 

We have a company on our island who was there before we purchased it. They have pillar spammed a section of the shore preventing anyone else to build. We have tried to discuss the issue however they either are unable or won’t talk to us. 

It would be helpful if we had the option with the claim flag system to individually block building rights to that company. That would force them to communicate with us or move. This could be added to the block island wide or company only building options. 

We have multiple ships as many companies do. When we get a notice that a crew member died or mutinied it would help if it said which ship the crew was on. Sometimes it gives you the coords, but there is no good may to look on a world grid map and find out where that location is, to ID the ship.

One of the new ones in A8, map island different from the actual one. No edible greens or fruits and no metal nodes. Anyone else have similar problems?

I curse the dev’s every time I play for one bug or another however in support they have fixed ton’s of bugs. You would know this if you have played since the beginning.  Sometime they fix one and they create new ones. You just gotta post in the bug section, give as much detail as possible and enjoys the game between all of them and re-report if necessary. Hopefully others with the same problem will see the bug post and give their input. I don’t like the excuse it’s EA what do you expect. Continuing bugs should be fixed before new stuff is added. 

And Yes with over 2200 hours on ark I saw the same type of bugs. Very frustrating. 

I hope this gets more attention and that it’s fixed. Galleons are a big resource and effort to build and outfit. Stupid to lose one over such a design mistake. In addition I believe that the limits on structures and weight should be looked at also. 

On a 35 point island is it 99 G to buy and 198 G for upkeep? Is the upkeep initially 198 G for 12 hours? Game time or real time?

Thanks GUYBRUSH

That is a big change from the way it was. So, as a tenant there is no down side to living on an island  owned by someone else. We don't really pay anything. It just magically goes to the owner. As far as the owner goes, he get resources from the game, gets whatever percentage from gold treasure found on his island, and gets to pay for upkeep.

It seems there is no big advantage to owning an island, only if you have a lot of tenants and want to do a lot of building.  No big treasures on his island, and nobody treasure hunting on it means he has to come up with upkeep cost another way.

This tax and ownership thing is a big deal for me and with opposing views and difference explanations, it is confusing. I try to read all the log's and forums to understand how things work, but just as this post is an example, we have resources are and are not taxed. Which is it ?

I don't like the current systems. I agree the first claim system stunk. The one we have now is too limiting. Not enough small islands to go around. I was one of the first ones on the EU-PVE servers. Being a solo player, I couldn't build fast enough or gather gold quick or travel fast enough, to own a small island. Sure I suck as a player but with 800 hours on Atlas and 6700 hours on ARK, I am a dedicated player and love this game. There is now three of us in company and that gives us 34 company points. One short of a 35 island. Using that as an example, its my understanding that a 35 island costs 99 gold to by and 198 for upkeep (is that amount for 12 or 24 hours). If that is correct, with the current 1x harvest rate it's not that easy paying for upkeep. Most of the buried ones are less than 100 g, the sunken treasures are 40-80 g, and the float-ems are useless. When you sink SOTD you get 10-20 g, and with the time and materials to do all those in combination, it is not easy as a solo or very small company to own an island. In addition you are paying maintenance cost for a crew to outfit your Brig or Galleon, with enough canons and crew to be able to sink a fleet of SOTD.

So, we don't own an island, so what. So we pay taxes to someone to live on their island,  why? Why do we have to pay taxes? Why is there even a tax system? Why cant we just play pirate? What benefit is there for a tax system in a PVE game? It's not a PVT (tax) game.

I will acknowledge that the upkeep is one way to eliminate someone for claiming an island and never playing other than checking in every 21 days. Is there a better way?

Please don't tell me to live on lawless and put up with the foundation spammers. Been there, done that. I have seen people on claimed island doing the same thing to keep people away from their area. Don't blame them to some extent, but I'm for firm boundaries, because fences make good neighbors.  

I guess this is what happens when you have a game designed for big companies, made into a PVE game, that allows solo players to join in. OR, you have a sucky players, playing a game that requires skill.

ok , Log #26:

- Max Tax rate on PvE set to 20%, and is only additive on PvE (doesn't reduce the taxee's resources)

What is an additive tax?

The volume level of the blizzard in the arctic areas is too loud. It overwhelms everything else. Please tone it down some. It is a nice added effect even though.