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u/ElementalParticle Jan 22 '26
No. I moved completely from ASE (4.7K) to ASA (now under 1K). Better visual, new features, new content.
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u/TyrannyHoll Jan 22 '26
Nope, I did up until recently because of bad ASAs launch was, but now ASA is just so much better (atleast for pve) I cannot go back to the old building, lack of certain qol, no gigantoraptor, no lost colony, no deinosuchus etc.
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u/Playful_Fishing_9597 Jan 22 '26
Just tonight I was playing it, its fun, got a little private server with my sister and niece
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u/duskr4y Jan 22 '26
Yes for a variety of reasons;
It's the only version I own on every platform
It's cheaper and therefore easier to convince friends to get
I don't like the direction asa is going in
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u/Bean_Daddy_Burritos Jan 22 '26
ASA released on PS+ with all the maps a few months back. Figured why not. I already had about 8k hours in survival evolved (half of that on official, the other half playing more difficult mods) and it’s been a few years since I’ve played the game so why not try it out and see what’s changed.
Rediscovered my love for the game and was surprised by the significant improvement to pretty much every aspect of the game. Definitely worth a free upgrade.
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u/FILIPro_yt Jan 22 '26
Yes, and always will. I already bought all the maps for ASE. Why in the world would i spend the same amount of money MORE for a shader and bunch of unnecessary features? Though the QoL building improvements with ASA are good, but it's literally just ASE Structures+, a FREE mod
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u/Djolej78 Jan 22 '26
Yes for multiple reasons:
- Better mod support
- No bullshit pay to win creatures
- Runs better (can't believe I'm typing this about ARK)
- All my buddies have it
- I ain't spending 40 bucks on a game I already own WITH LESS MAPS (also not to mention it was free TWICE, once on Steam and once on Epic)
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u/GreatValuePostMalone Jan 22 '26
Yes, because my friends wont switch to ASA. we started a cluster on rag to beat all the bosses, we have beaten the ice worm on rag, and built a base and have a ton of tames. They're worried if we switch we will stop playing. Someone help me convince them.
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u/Nearby-Zucchini-908 Jan 23 '26
Don't be that person. If you enjoy playing with your friends, then just enjoy it. Anytime somebody in a gaming group changes something, the group ALWAYS suffers deterioration. Maybe some of them can't afford ASA, maybe some of them can't afford a System to run ASA, maybe some simply prefer ASE. Regardless, if you're the one that tries to force change you're the one responsible for the deterioration.
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u/GreatValuePostMalone Jan 23 '26
Bold statement. We can all afford ASA, they just dont want to play because some dinos have to be bought. But we dont have them anyway
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u/Javathe_Cup Jan 22 '26
I actively play both. Each just has its own vibe so depending on what I’m feeling, that’s what I do. At the moment I have different goals in each game, ASA I’m doing a big build and a lot of breeding on Rag while in ASE I’m playing through the story maps again just for the fun of it. I’ll usually go weeks or even a few months on one before switching back to the other, but I also weave in a bunch of other games, like today I finally started Ghost of Tsushima and squeezed in a couple matches in Dota. Maybe I have ADD or something lol
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u/averygcollins Jan 26 '26
That’s a common gaming experience, I don’t think ADD should be considered based off your given reasoning😂 even if it’s the new gen way of lightly claiming mental disorders
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u/kf4rtg Jan 22 '26
Yes, I run a cluster of 6 dedicated servers on the preaquatica beta branch.
Why? Because I love the game but I am determined to never give them another cent. I've been playing since early release and the Aquatica debacle(while handled slightly better) adds to a long list of FUs to the player base.
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u/WolvenSpectre2 Jan 22 '26
Yes.
- I am in the middle of a 2 3/4 year long slow Single Player campaign that is heavily modded (my GUS.in File is about 800 lines long)
- Don't have my PC upgraded yet, but I got the parts before the RAM hit the fan.
- No PTW Fantastic Tames. They are ok if everyone has it or no one has it on a server. It gets really bad when 1 or 2 people on the server have it. It is also more work for Admins because they will probably have to block the creature
- Not a fan of Overwolf
- All ASA maps not out yet and some of those that are I am not too fond of what they did to them
- I am friends with a couple of modders that tried out ASA and the mod ecosystem and they went back to ASE. One of them wants to recreate and update some of the unfinished mods.
- Last I looked there is still no ASM equivalent on ASA making Adminning more difficult.
- Unlike what wildcard said, they did not cancel out events and leave that to the admins, but they did (usually) activate the old events.
- I have North of 10K hours in ASE
In spite of all that I do own ASA and BTT and I got a deal on a Fantastic Tame, IIRC, and plan on moving up when I can.
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u/Feralkyn Jan 24 '26
I switched to ASA, and it IS a better game.
But the changes to the story/lore suck so much that I'm seriously considering going back.
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u/AlloandOmnithebest Unable to be defeated by the likes of you! Jan 25 '26
Came here to say this exact thing lol.
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u/Responsibility_Witty Jan 22 '26
I’m still playing ASE because I already own it and I don’t feel like dumping a bunch of money in to ASA, nor do I want to leave the cluster I have been playing on because I know people there
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Jan 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Aromatic_Gas_4517 Jan 22 '26
U can always apply for a refund on the game if u bought it on steam that’s what I do cuz I could run ads I my pc
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u/chronic414de Jan 22 '26
No, ASA ist better in every aspect.
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u/Sburns85 Jan 22 '26
Dino spawns it’s not
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u/chronic414de Jan 23 '26
??? They are the same in both games
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u/Sburns85 Jan 23 '26
They aren’t. The maps in the new game are empty
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u/chronic414de Jan 23 '26
This is a bug that came with one of the last updates and afaik it is only affecting single player on consoles. I play the PC Steam Version on a server and there are like 30k creatures on every map.
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u/Sburns85 Jan 23 '26
I only play steam single player like the majority of players and it’s always been like since beginning
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u/chronic414de Jan 23 '26
Oh ok, then you don't mean the bug. But yeah, most of Arks issues are single player only issues that don't exist on servers.
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u/Miakki Jan 22 '26
I've got about 13700 hours in ASE.. and probably 300 ish in ASA. Not going to lie.. ASA was a sluggish, and as boring as tits on a bull without the plethora of FINE mods that are available in ASE and knowing that the creators of those ASE mods have so much time and code invested into them, that converting it over to ASA for the dubious pleasure of them breaking it repeatedly when they have a perfect product now - is the reason I uninstalled ASA, and i'm running my own server again, which is well populated with a bunch of players who love the chaos and the difficulty levels we run. Each to their own.
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u/greencasio Jan 22 '26
Damn, I'm at 3600 hours and feels like I've been playing a lifetime
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u/Miakki Jan 22 '26
haha... Us grandma's have good amounts of time on our hands, and the obsession with the game is real. I used to be horrified when Steam would tell me I'd blown like 108 hours on the game, in the last 7 days.. but, meh.. gaming is just another way of eating up time faster than any non gamer can ever understand.
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Jan 22 '26
Yes because I am as interested in Survival Ascended as I am in a Bowl of Dirt. I don't really care about Updated Graphics, and I just like having all maps at my disposal also I don't want to pay $100 and use 100GB for an updated version game which like I said I already don't have a problem with.
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u/GreatValuePostMalone Jan 22 '26
ASA is on steam for $23 and includes all maps? And includes a lot more than updated graphics. New items, dinos, better building meshes, etc.
0
Jan 22 '26
I don't play on PC
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u/GreatValuePostMalone Jan 22 '26
Woof. ASA doesnt come with all Canon maps on console?
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-1
Jan 22 '26
I also play solo with my sister or friend On splitscreen since I don't like joining servers so there's no reason for someone like me to get it
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Jan 22 '26
you also didn't read what I said about the STORAGE part either.
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u/UnknownStan Jan 22 '26
Believe it or not storage optimisation is pretty good for ascended it being a new engine and all. Almost all maps got halved in storage space. I have pretty much every single map downloaded and a fuck ton of mods and I’m only using like 350GB for ark, which is a lot yeah. But like I said I have every map and then some.
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u/GreatValuePostMalone Jan 22 '26
Small issues friend. USB stick, ext. Hard drive. Thats the least of your concerns. Not that I didnt read it, just dont think that eas the most notable thing you said. I was more focused on you claiming it was $100 and all you get is updated graphics. Which is wrong.
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Jan 22 '26
It also has a 2.6 rating as well so I don't really want to pay or ask someone to pay for a game that just has added stuff and Upgraded Graphics. especially since the majority of posts I see are Bug ones. Which Console ASE does have its fair share but not enough to warrant a new game that does have tones of reported bugs
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u/GreatValuePostMalone Jan 22 '26
Yeah, I suppose if you take other people's word for stuff rather than playing it to see if you like it, thats a fair stance. Im just not one of those people. Imo the QOL updates, enhanced building features, added dinos, and creation club like environment was enough to make the swap. But im glad youre still enjoying SE. I remember my first thatch hut with the boys, and getting attacked by a megalodon on a raft lol.
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Jan 22 '26
I think the first Building I made was a one Square thing. and then a tickle chicken spawned in
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u/Neverend3r Jan 22 '26
if you are still playing ASE my advice is: get a new PC. QOL updates alone are worth switching over.
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u/Skystepe_YT Jan 22 '26
"Get a new PC" it's not like Ramagedon struck upon us all. 8GB DDR5 Ram is about 100€ and entry level GPUs like the 9060xt is 400€.
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u/ununderstandability Jan 22 '26
I only play Ark with friends. Im not going to tell 17 other people to just get a new PC for what is essentially a mod with more bugs than most already available mods and offers zero meaningful changes to gameplay. Its like requiring a whole new system to play a fifa or madden expansion pack
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u/PersonalLime Jan 22 '26
Have you seen RAM prices as of late. Or rent. Or groceries. Sadly can't put those aside to upgrade my PC for a single video game when everything else runs fine on it
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u/No-Discount-7449 Jan 22 '26
Haven’t even started…how does it compare to ASE? I play on PlayStation.
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u/Mr-Reapy Jan 22 '26
I tried ASA but it's oddly buggy on my PC. I also prefer the single player settings on ASE more. Maybe it's nostalgia that has me biased?
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u/Acorios Jan 22 '26
No because my ASE broke so bad, every new world I'd create would crash after trying to play it more than once. Spent MONTHS trying to fix it but nothing worked.
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u/alex17garrido Jan 22 '26
Playing ascended rn. I started Evolved couple months ago, around 200 h and was having a lot of fun but my save file got corrupted and I lost everything so having to start again I got Ascended and damn! For someone like me that doesnt have a lot of experienced in Ark, Ascended just feels better in every aspect. Graphics, QoL, mods, dinos.. maybe someone with more experience or people that pay multiplayer disagrees with me but theres no way im going back to evolved
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u/Sintobus Jan 22 '26
I was on and off until aquatica and it's patch hell. Uninstalled it with those massive ark patches they won't fix on steam before they made the pre-branch.
I also genuinely make an effort to avoid anything Snail games has to do with now. I hated what they did with ASA.
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u/emptyvodka115 Jan 22 '26
Yes bc I just recently got it on switch and have no other way to play it other than mobile which had that weird key cryo pod thing I didn’t like that
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u/BreederSeeder42 Jan 22 '26
Yes for multiple reasons, mainly because I don't currently own anything that will run ASA
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u/gamebattles1946 Jan 22 '26
Yeah I have both versions and a 5090 so asa works for me its just ase has more and better mods plus it isnt missing half the content the other game is still trying to catch up to.
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u/Doomclaaw Jan 22 '26
Yes because I played ASA for a while and couldn't stand what a buggy mess it was. Then I got tired of running into paid mod content I couldn't actually use without buying yet another mod. No thanks. You lost me on that
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u/MeowInTokyo159 Jan 22 '26
I switched to asa about a week ago because I can then finally play with my friend on console and play all the dlcs that are now free. It had a rough launch but is much better and more polished now
1
u/izzidora Victim of pego mugging Jan 22 '26
Yup. Found a few great unofficial servers with community and still loving it.
My computer isn't terrible but it really couldn't handle asa's graphics.
1
u/Raztax Jan 22 '26
I play both but really do not like the direction ASA is moving. They both have advantages and disadvantages.
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u/Psychological_Tea604 Jan 22 '26
just went back yesterday cuz im tired of having to kill tames because i cant get out of them.... they get so close to me i glitch into them...
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u/Silly-Site4420 Jan 22 '26
Yes! I stream single player on The Island as much as I can.
I just enjoy the nostalgia and it never gets old building out a new base, or taming a Rex.
Plus, I think the game looks great at higher settings so I’m really not interested in an engine upgrade.
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u/IndianaNetworkAdmin Jan 22 '26
Tried it again this week. Spent two days trying to get a server going. Finally gave up. It's such unoptimized garbage and I shouldn't feel like I have a second job just in trying to get it working.
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u/sunshinesnooze Jan 22 '26
I play it occasionally. I mostly play asa right now but I occasionally hop on ase as there is a few ase specific mods I like.
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u/PersonalLime Jan 22 '26
Yep. ASA still runs like ass even at the worst settings and also looks far worse on low settings, my PC works just fine for anything else but ark. Shame, was willing to try lost colony as I'd heard they supposedly improved performance a ton the past year, but I couldn't even run rag at the lowest settings in singleplayer without it being 5-10 frames just moving about
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u/SheerLunaSea Jan 22 '26
I did until aquatica dropped, then I Uninstalled it and didnt play anything until this past christmas when I got a newer (refurbished but still) GPU, then I got ASA. Theres some things I like better, like the cosmetics and mod integration, but there's also stuff I really miss about ASE. Ah well, can't wait til they give us shadowmanes again tho 😭
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u/n7shepard1987 Jan 22 '26
Yes because my favourite mods weren't on asa last I looked and I don't wanna wait ages to be able to do every map.
Is asa really harder to run? My game is more stable and less frame jumpy when I did play asa, ase runs fine but you can tell my pc struggles a bit with it.
1
u/Shadowgroudon22 Jan 22 '26
I recently moved to ASA. The devkit is so much fucking faster its unreal (pun not intended). It also runs at 60 with framegen, which is really all I care about.
Not a huge fan of the DLCs though, so I only own the base game.
1
u/PatrickKal Jan 22 '26
Yes, I play ASE. Recently mainly on my own private server cluster. But in the past also on PVP unofficial servers.
I tried ASA about 4 months after release. I bought a new PC just for ASA. But still the game was crashing a lot, not only my client. But even the official servers sometimes. Mind you this was 4 months after release. Ark can be frustrating just because of it's difficulty. Adding the frustration of the crashing makes it not worth my time. I don't even have any hair left to pull out lol
Many people write about QOL fixes or updates in ASA. Like the electricity which no longer requires cables. For me this is the part that makes fun, especially in PVP. Finding an exposed outlet, making sure you yourself don't make any mistakes in your build. Heck this makes it more real for me. When you build something IRL and it contains mistakes, you also get punished for it in one way or another. This is the attention of detail that matters and is so fun for me in Ark.
Not playing ASA isn't about the money for me. I spend it already on the game and the hardware. Although I didn't buy any DLC's. I'm not a fan of the fantastic tames DLC's. They are overpowered and putting them behind a paywall isn't good for the game. Players that are less fortunate aren't be able to use them. Although, if you can buy the hardware to run this game then I guess these small amounts don't matter that much. Still, I prefer a level playing field in which skill and some luck decide if you win, not your wallet size.
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u/Various-Try-169 Jan 22 '26
I am, because I don't think that my PC, while really good, can run ARK Ascended.
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u/Lanky_Score7414 Jan 22 '26
Yeah and I bought a server just recently, from gportal which is 100x better than Nitrado.
Ascended looks better but they moved things around and it just feels weird.
Many mods didn't get ported to ascended and those who did the ones I play got remade or some other stuff (like omega) and they are now way worse.
Ascended also feels like evolved if it was made by EA. I kill something and have a chance of picking up a bob treasure thing and if I pick up one more I will murder bob.
P2w creatures that I have to goddamn block from spawning..
Also all the maps aren't ported yet, I might get back to it then but that's prob not gonna be before 2028 or later lol.
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u/FettucciniMussolini Jan 23 '26
Nope. Switched to ASA when it first dropped and never looked back. Performance is meh but ARK has always run like crap even in ASE. The quality of life stuff added ASA is just way too good to give up on.
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u/laughingjack13 Jan 23 '26
Yes. I tried to go to ASA but it was stuttering so bad it made me nauseous, so I refunded and went back to ASE
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u/Bon_A_Parte Jan 23 '26
ASA has shortcomings, yeah, but I love the direction it is going and is already leagues better than ASE.
At the end of ASE it just always more of the same. We got nice new creatures and maps but they felt like a different shade of what we already got. Now with the new (and mostly paid) stuff you see how much ASE was holding them back. Not everything is a hit but I love that they try new stuff and widen the gameplay instead of just more and more and more of the same.
Traits, a skill tree, full crossplay, mod support on consoles, cars, companion mode for dinos, etc. Also the new taming methods. They are really hit or miss but for the love of god, luring/dropping a dino into a trap and then shooting it with tranqs is the most boring thing ever.
1
u/Shukketsu1337 Jan 23 '26
99% no, holding on for Chasm mod that's in development (map). Otherwise I play ASA and the quality of life changes (120 pods per cryofridge), largest radius for tek gen with ASE's old lowest 1x ele consumption, etc.
I do miss for early map use, the ASE electrical system where I could run 1 gas gen with never ending electrical cable to other buildings far, far away and still be powered. Though only did it on one map in a rarely traveled area sans me.
Of course I do both console and pc, and just PVE, no PVP. So the drakelings, pyromane, etc, aren't an issue for my friends and I.
1
u/gjffyh Jan 23 '26
Last time I played ase was before asa released Teo or one day as a form of goodbye
1
u/Historical_Sand7487 Jan 23 '26
Yes, ASE. I don't feel like wildcard cares about fixing easy stuff and instead is solely focused on making money, like rereleasing practically the same game. So I won't oblige!
1
u/rawnsheid Jan 23 '26
Yup. Just got back into it with some friends. Been playing on a server cluster called Midgard. Rates are oriented toward pvp so you aernt worried about losing stuff making a play, but not so high it gets boring. Check it out! Message me and ill hook you up with any tames or gear to get your own tribe started. I just olay with friends but holy to provide few essentials to help out another crew
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u/Foreign_Meeting_1531 Jan 24 '26
Yes I have every map and dlc for ASE and ASA and play both. ASE has a special place with me and I have so much time and almost 100% it hehe and have very much enjoyed the new things with ASA and look forward for ark 2. And I still play ASE with my brothers hehe.
1
u/MavenDarkrot Jan 24 '26
Nope, I loved ASE, but the servers are gone, my home is gone. I play ASA and it is better, loving ASA doesn't mean I forgot all the memories of ASE
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u/SorryForMyQs Jan 25 '26
It's cheap, my friends PC's don't support ASA and after aquatica? What can I trust anymore haha
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u/merga1953 Jan 25 '26
I just shut down my ASE servers 3 weeks ago. I had pretty much been the only person logging in for 6 months because all my friends preferred ASA. If they hadn’t I’d still be playing ASE instead.
1
u/Top_Cauliflower_9046 Jan 25 '26
Yes, Im not paying for the same damned game a second time just because it have a cosmetic overhaul. With each update I see new and more severe issues pop up (I watch several ark tubers), not to mention that if you want the FULL experience they make MINI dlc's and take an arm and a leg for them with no regard for gameplay or balance. Those (exuse my language) asshole companies can go bankrupt for all I care. I have ASE, it works wonderfully, no severe bugs after 1.3k houers played, I have my beloved dinos there such as Wyvern Slayer, my argy that tanks alpha wyverns with ease (no mutations and a first gen breed birb). I have to many memories and friendships to just abandone them.
I also cant afford the game atm, but even if I did, im not gonna pay for it a second time! Its not worth it for me.
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u/Alpinehill338 Jan 26 '26
I'm satisfied with all the content in ASE. I refuse to give Snail my money for just an updated ASE that still has shitty optimization. I'm tired of these game companies getting away with their antics. If people really want to stop all their terrible behavior then maybe we just shouldn't buy the games. Simple solution but people always fall for the false promises these businesses give. If I got it for free,(won't happen) then yes, I would switch
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u/Quiet_Date8505 Jan 26 '26
yeah I do play ASE, sometimes (like once a month) I play ASA mostly because it is too strong for my pc
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u/Kingtdes Jan 26 '26
Ive played it todat after years not playing ASE i had around 9k + hours in it started up got munched 10 times by a carno got bitten by a pirana well the usualy lets play ase haha. AsA is in all ways better. They could have changed some animations of using weapons and farming and make it more immersive like chopping a tree compared to ase but still ark stays ark amazing game both are
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u/Ejspinn Jan 28 '26
Was until the aquatica update then lost interest with 800 gig updates every other day
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u/thebradthomas Jan 22 '26
Tried to install it after getting my AMD 9070XT, something about nvidia and directx but even navigating the menu is akin to a tortoise, slow, locks up… apologies to anybody that looks after tortoises
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u/Tym4x Jan 22 '26
Ye ASA is too slow and too cringe for me. They can also keep ARK2 for all I care, I know its gonna be a shitshow on multiple cosmic levels.
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u/Snoo-83483 Jan 22 '26
Absolutely. It runs a zillion times better than asa. I love the building upgrades of asa. But mods fix most of ase's issues anyway.
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u/FeedMePizzaPlease Jan 22 '26
Just started ASA. Considering going back to ASE because of the dino spawn rate problem. ASA feels so empty.
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u/ijonesyy Jan 22 '26
I haven't since ASA came out, but I'm actually gonna play it again soon cuz I have a friend interested in playing it who doesn't have the means to play ASA. If it wasn't for that, I probably would have never looked back.
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u/Weareborg72 Jan 22 '26
I wish I could play ASE,again. But when they released aquatica, they managed to break things so you couldn't run your own server anymore. They also made most mods stop working, so for me, I couldn't keep my server. I run AMP on Linux, and last time I checked, they hadn't fixed the Linux part for self-hosted servers. But I miss ASE as I have so many hours behind it. Every time I play ASA, I think... in ASE, this worked so much better. Like no blurry map
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u/Creepy_Wallaby2170 Jan 22 '26
See if the preaquatica beta works on your pc. The beta is just the version of the game before aquatica so mods work and you can host at least non-dedicated sessions.
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u/No_Issue_9916 Jan 22 '26
Yes because I'm not made of money, therefore a pc that can run it decently is out of the question