Adding New Maps and Recent Crashing Discussion

Kallyra

Regular
ARK Admin
Supporter
As you all know, Revenant Gaming is not run for profit, and continues to exist only on donations and volunteers. Our Ark community and platform have grown quite a lot over the past several years. Up until this point we have been adding new content as it comes without issue. However, we've now reached a point where the resources we have are not sufficient to grow further. We have a few options for moving forward with the new Ark map and even our current load. After some investigation, we suspect that low memory during peak usage time may be the cause of some recent crashes.

Our options:
1. We rent another server that will hold our low-population Ark maps. This will take some work to build up but the understanding is that, once completed, the maps will be functional and transferrable between each other just as they are now. This will free up our high-population map memory capacity and give us room to add in Crystal Isles as well as future content like Genesis Part 2. This will solve both the crashing and the lack of resources for the new map. This option would require the community to commit to increasing donations on a regular basis, as Revenant's monthly costs would go up significantly.
2. We remove a minimum of 2 low-population maps and add in the new map. No resource changes will be made - donation, server, or otherwise.
3. We remove a minimum of 1 low-population map and do not add in any more maps until further notice. No resource changes will be made - donation, server or otherwise.

We would love to see option #1 green lighted. All of us Admins (especially Phil) and Sip have been working to create some new things to help bring in revenue. We currently have Silent_Steel volunteering to take the first neccessary steps towards opening a Revenant Merch store online where you'll be able to purchase Revenant branded swag. Potentially things like shirts to wear proudly at gaming conventions or around the house, branded cups for your morning coffee or redbull... or coke, and the like. In addition, Sip is working on integrating donations with Discord roles so that our donors will be recognized with a pretty colored userhandle on here in the near future.

Ultimately, this is up to the community. We'll need your input on how you would like to see Ark move forward from here. This is our game, collectively, players. Keep in mind that we can always select one option now and revisit these choices at a later date. We're by no means locked into a decision we make here. Regardless of the community's decision, any of these options will take time to implement. If we are taking down any maps we will need to provide ample notice. We are not likely to have Crystal Isles available on the day that it is set to launch.
 

shade_ilmaendu

Newbie
Supporter
My first call would definitely be to get the second server or at least have that set as the end goal. I'll be setting up to do at least a small monthly donation to help maintenence costs.

If anything has to be cut like a lot of people I'd vote center first and foremost since there are no unique dinos and it's the smallest loss to have to take.
 

Bigmike

Newbie
Supporter
I'm a vote for option 1. I've only ever played Ark on REV servers and wouldn't have it any other way. Having all the maps clustered even the lower pop ones is a good draw for the complete ark experience, and added server stability for less crashes would be a net positive for everyone. Even the low pop maps have redeeming qualities to them, be it a better place to find certain tames, easier/different places to get artifacts, specific engrams, and a different boss experience, even if it's not somebody's "main" map. Personally I have a few subscription streaming services and I use them less than I do REV servers.

I would not want to see a 'pay 2 win' where donations get stupidly OP things or anything like that, and I think the community is against that too. But there is a conversation to be had about lesser incentives for donation.

A pay to play situation would for sure need to be avoided. A 'value for value' model is a great thing where members of the community can donate but are not required to.
Love the idea of a merch shop, who doesn't love some merch?

One concern would be, hype for ark is still pretty high, alot of people have been at home more often, Gen just came out recently, crystal isles dropping soon and Gen part 2 coming at some point, when that hype goes away do the donations go with it and is it a sustainable model? That being said I would like to see option 1 green lit and in the future if we have to revisit this conversation we do so then.
 

Secret Asian

Regular
Revenant Member
Supporter
I totally agree with pretty much all of Phil's comments and others similar ones. I love Rev Servers. Such a friendly and relaxed playing atmosphere. I would personally love to have all the maps available if it is sustainable. I feel guilty that I've been on this server for so long and not really donated much. I will endeavor to do so more often as everyone here does such an amazing job maintain the high quality of play for the community.
That being said, two things I really like about donation incentives would be the lesser rewards for donations and the merch shop. We have some very talented artists on this server and asking them for ideas for merch designs would be great. I am all for purchasing merch and proudly wearing it out and about :D It could definitely draw attend passively and who knows, more players to this great server :D
 

Kallyra

Regular
ARK Admin
Supporter
Update on future maps including Crystal Isles and Genesis content: We have received an outpouring of support from the community. Thank you all for your contributions. We'll now be able to proceed with Option #1. Will keep you updated on the process and looking forward to seeing some better performance and new content. Thanks everyone.
 

Kallyra

Regular
ARK Admin
Supporter
We will be working towards that still, as quickly as we can. Thanks Secret!
 

Chemayla

Regular
Revenant Member
Supporter
I still like the idea of adding rewards. If its not dino stat related so wouldnt be pay to win. Idea of things - color requests, lvl 0 stat dinos, holiday stuff not available year round. Things like that. No +lvl advantage dinos for sure, even swag
 
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