General Discussion

I'd recommend that you get it! If you want to play on official servers, I'd highly recommend finding a nice PvE server that has a tribe willing to take you in and show you the ropes. It's probably best to do that and learn your way around the game with either friends or friendly people. However if you're not interested in that or get bored, you can always download mods and/or play solo where you have free reign over everything

I play it alone on Xbox lmao but I really enjoy it especially when I don't have to deal with jerks destroying everything.

@wumbology

Ark is amazing! I don't play with anyone or go on public servers much, but even by yourself the game is challenging but fun. It's a bit frustrating starting off, but after a few tames and a completed house it becomes a lot more enjoyable. Although, the game does lag a TON in some spots, and does crash often while flying (aforementioned by @/Faededfyre). Totally get it!

[quote name="KitschBird" date=2017-06-19 14:19:56] @ wumbology Buy The Isle instead. ;) Also, Steam reviews are often from whiny people who don't know what they're talking about. Ark is a good game. I have not played it myself, though. [/quote] As someone who's played ARK and it's Scorched Earth expansion, I agree with KitschBird ^^ ARK is cool and all, but it's only really good if:[LIST] [*]You have friends to play it with [*]You have a [i]powerful[/i] computer [*]You have a lot of time on your hands [/LIST] An annoying thing with ARK though is that, if you use a public server (which I'll get onto why you should in a minute) you, your items, your buildings and your dinosaurs continue to exist ingame even after you've signed off, leaving you subject to attack, theft, or having your dinosaurs killed. Also, if you don't sign in frequently, your dinosaurs will starve. However, a public server (PvE, is better than PvP) is better for you in the long run. You can make friends, form tribes, and life in ARK becomes slightly easier as you can have a whole bunch of people helping you tame the big game (e.g. T-rex, Spinosaurus, Giganotosaurus, Titanosaurus) and fight the bosses (more of an 'end game' thing) [img]https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3938/18350982014_26a49780f7_z.jpg[/img] [img]https://res.cloudinary.com/lmn/image/upload/e_sharpen:100/f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/v1/gameskinnyc/s/p/i/spinosaurus-2ab0e.jpg[/img] [img]http://static.giga.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/ark-survival-evolved-giganotosaurus-2.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.dsogaming.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/1465776406_Titano1.jpg[/img] Also, while the vanilla ARK is good, the landscape is very diverse and there are bountiful numbers of dinosaur and mammal species to tame (including avian and aquatic animals), I do personally prefer the Scorched Earth expansion. Weather in Scorched Earth actually varies [i]and[/i] has an effect on you, unlike in the vanilla ARK where weather is more of an aesthetic thing. In Scorched Earth, you can experience:[LIST] [*]Sandstorms - Reduce visibility and drain stamina [*]Superheat - Heatwave, drain your water at a much faster rate than normal heat and induce Heat Stroke fairly quickly [*]Electrical storms - Temporarily shut down electrical devices and prevent firearms from firing [/LIST] How do you detect these storms? With the help of a little buddy of course! [img]https://res.cloudinary.com/lmn/image/upload/e_sharpen:150,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_80/v1/gameskinnyc/j/e/r/jerb-b6313.png[/img] Jerboa's can be used to detect storms, they make unique chirps as a warning for a certain storm. Another thing I like about Scorched Earth is the unique way you 'tame' the big game; Wyverns. You can't obtain them by regular means (knocking it out then feeding it til it becomes your friend). You have to:[LIST] [*]Knock out a female Wyvern [*]Take Wyvern milk from her [*]Steal a Wyvern egg (the whole colony will be out to kill you as soon as you touch that egg) [*]Incubate the egg [*]Feed it Wyvern milk til it grows up [/LIST] A far better, and more interesting, method of taming a killing machine, if you ask me! [img]https://survivethis.news/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Lightning-Wyvern.jpg[/img][img]https://survivethis.news/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Poison-Wyvern.jpg[/img][img]https://survivetheark.com/uploads/monthly_2016_10/large.580b98c73e22d_EXFIB0-FireWyvern.jpg.082a1e33b2330d285a369371da22007a.jpg[/img]

If you have a PC that can run it, get it. I have 100 hours in it.

I have a pretty powerful rig myself and it still lags and needs to be on low settings. The devs choose to add more dinosaurs than to actually make their game work on most PCs.

What are your PC specs?

@wumbology
Not bad, but it updates EVERY SINGLE DAY, so its torture if you have slow internet, and people can kill you while you are offline -_- and if you lag out while fighting something, on a bird or in the middle of nowhere your dead, and I suggest unoffical servers, dont waste 8 hours to get a rex.

@wumbology The Wyverns [i]are[/i] awesome! You can also get a pretty cool skin for your Wyvern, the bone skin! (Halloween exclusive)[img]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_FQYFgQvMJs/maxresdefault.jpg[/img] It's also worth mentioning that there are different types of Wyverns:[LIST] [*]Lightening - Kinda your 'end game' Wyvern, fires a [i]deadly[/i] lightening beam projectile that is pretty much an insta-kill. - Usually comes in shades of blue, purple and grey. (If you're Shadow flight, makes a great lookin' Shadowbinder!) - Always has a distinctive lightening pattern on the wings [img]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/idelvVkmf3A/hqdefault.jpg[/img] [*]Fire - Your 'meh' level (for a Wyvern tame) - Breaths fire - Usually comes in black, red, orange, yellow or, less commonly, white shades - Fire breath is not as lethal (still pretty deadly) [img]https://i.imgur.com/oTqdVDw.jpg[/img] [*]Poison - Still deadly but much easier to bring down / steal from (if, when stealing a Wyvern egg, it is nearest) - Has a poison projectile, shoots green globs of poison - Projectile is weaker and, since it fires in shots, frequently misses - Usually comes in shades of green, black or grey [img]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LXD71nh-_cE/maxresdefault.jpg[/img] [/LIST] There are also Alpha Wyverns. 'Alpha' animals appear in the vanilla ARK too, they're animal variants (typically carnivores) that are larger, MUCH stronger, sport brighter colour schemes (typically red, orange or white), and glow orange. Alpha's can't be tamed, however mods allow Alpha tames to be possible. [img]https://i.imgur.com/ISgQ2Tl.png[/img] [img]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/E0-P__tQDHY/maxresdefault.jpg[/img][img]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RZr0zuCg0Jk/maxresdefault.jpg[/img][img]https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WBZVOOA0S4Y/maxresdefault.jpg[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/rZA2NP6.png[/img] The only exception (aside from modded version) to the 'alphas can't be tamed' thing is the Allosaurus. When Allosaurs are in a group, one turns into an alpha and leads the group (however sometimes multiple Allosaurs can become an alpha) [img]http://cdn.inquisitr.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Allosaurus-670x388.jpg[/img] [quote name="wumbology" date=2017-06-20 08:45:58] Do the PC, xbox , and PS4 versions have different servers? [/quote] Yup, they're hosted on separate servers, meaning players with different consoles can't interact. The devs have talked about making it so all players on any platform can interact, however I've seen little to no sign of this happening soon.

@Wumbology (first off, great username lmao) Just uninstalled it--it's fun, that's one thing for sure, but if you're a PC gamer

A) MAKE SURE your computer has the specs for it! I don't remember if it's optimized yet, and while my rig managed to play it with a few framedrops when flying, I don't know about anything below that. I have an i5, 8gb RAM (Holy moly that's IT?? I need to up it to 32 lmao), and an AMD Radeon 7870.

B) Make sure you have a MASSIVE hard drive or external HDD, I'd recommend 500GB- 1TB as prices drop, because this game devoured almost all my data (which is why I uninstalled it)

C) It updates constantly, moreso than War Thunder. It's good updates, though! They're constantly adding more creatures.


--All in all I'd recommend you give it a go, especially if there's a sale. Try finding private servers and play around, especially if it's console. On PC, single player is fun if you godmode and give things a try before really playing it for real.

I might go back to it for the dragons, ehheh