overwolf ?

[valdindor]

Ok i see the news that its being used to allow paid mods and consoles to use mods on the remake. I'm also seeing people on other platforms getting pissed about it. So can someone give me a cliff notes of why people are upset about it? I have no idea what it is beyond a basic google search. Also i keep seeing people go back and forth about how its mandatory for mods and it not being so. So is it or isn't it?

[𝓝𝓪𝓬𝓱𝓸𝓫𝓸𝓲]

They literally confirmed Overwolf will be exclusively used for mods on ASA today. "Mods are going to be available Day 1 on every platform exclusively through Overwolf"

People are upset because overwolf is essentially bloatware. WildCard also mentioned ASA would be using mod.io, then without warning, switched to overwolf (probably because of money).

This means no more Steam workshop.

[valdindor]

i missed that. I kept seeing people fighting over that part. Is there any particular reason to dislike overwolf? people seem to have strong feelings about it

[Aapjuh]

Currently: Steam(to install game and mods) + Ark(the game)
Future: Steam(to install game) + Ark(the game) + Overwolf(to install mods)

Its additional clutter, not to mention overwolf app has ads.
But i understand the why, it will allow modders to make some money for their hard work and in turn could promote competitive progress/quality.

[Tyler the inflator]

Originally posted by valdindor:

i missed that. I kept seeing people fighting over that part. Is there any particular reason to dislike overwolf? people seem to have strong feelings about it

Bloatware, unnecessary launcher, not really save overall too.

[JoshTGW]

Overwolf as some of the others here have stated is in fact bloatware. Bloatware is by Google's definition 'unwanted software whose usefulness is reduced because of the excessive disk space and memory it requires.' Overwolf takes up an unnecessary amount of data and is to some degree badly designed. They also expose users to an absurd amount of ads which just adds to overall problem. ARK has in the past been a bit of a data hog and a performance hit on many PCs. Overwolf won't make that any better, and in fact it will most assuredly make things far worse. If you thought ARK in UE4 took up a lot of data or was difficult to run, just you wait until the UE5 version Ascended comes around, along with Overwolf, and just takes up so much data that it could crash your PC. Overwolf in the past has also been accused of being spyware though I'm not sure if this claim was ever proven true or not.

ASE: Steam (w/ Game/Refined Mod Accessibility) -> PC
ASA: Steam (w/ Game) + Overwolf (w/ Bloatware/Sloppy Setup/Potential Security Risk/Pay-to-Install Mods) -> PC

It's almost a guarantee most mod creators out there will not skip out on the opportunity to make money off the mods they've created and therefore mod accessibility may become very limited in the future. While yes there are people who are nice enough not to do that, the fact remains that if they want to be paid for the labor costs and time they've put into their creations, economically it makes sense. Another reason why it's likely going to happen is that some well-known mods out their tend to have patreon pages listed on their mods where people can donate money to them and that's a clear sign they want to make some money off of their effort.

I doubt this, but I hope in the future Steam (Valve) prohibits the usage of apps like Overwolf by any of the companies using their platform/services. I don't like Overwolf and i have my reasons for not trusting them at all.

[Sharla Smith]

Originally posted by JoshTGW:

It's almost a guarantee most mod creators out there will not skip out on the opportunity to make money off the mods they've created and therefore mod accessibility may become very limited in the future. While yes there are people who are nice enough not to do that, the fact remains that if they want to be paid for the labor costs and time they've put into their creations, economically it makes sense. Another reason why it's likely going to happen is that some well-known mods out their tend to have patreon pages listed on their mods where people can donate money to them and that's a clear sign they want to make some money off of their effort.

I can understand that, but I guarantee if a popular mod becomes premium, there'll be a free alternative.

[JoshTGW]

Originally posted by Sharla Smith:

Originally posted by JoshTGW:

It's almost a guarantee most mod creators out there will not skip out on the opportunity to make money off the mods they've created and therefore mod accessibility may become very limited in the future. While yes there are people who are nice enough not to do that, the fact remains that if they want to be paid for the labor costs and time they've put into their creations, economically it makes sense. Another reason why it's likely going to happen is that some well-known mods out their tend to have patreon pages listed on their mods where people can donate money to them and that's a clear sign they want to make some money off of their effort.

I can understand that, but I guarantee if a popular mod becomes premium, there'll be a free alternative.

Either way, because WildCard Studios is going to link mod support exclusively through Overwolf, I see no reason to touch ARK: Survival Ascended, not even with a 39 1/2 ft pole. Just having Overwolf makes the game not worth it to me. ARK by default, even if you adjust the settings, just feels like it is always missing a fair bit that mods tend to fix up and even adds some Quality of Life stuff. It's also usually those QoL mods that tend to be the most popular. Premium versus a free version means that the Premium version will be guaranteed to have all the complete features of that mod while the free version is a stripped, made possible to feel underdeveloped, and inferior version of that exact mod with who knows how many reductions in features and accessibility.

We also don't know if the Premium versions will grant the user who bought access to the mod a permanent right to access that full version of that mod at all times. For all we know this could evolve into an even more terrible cash grab by WildCard by making access to those mods limited-time paid-for subscriptions like Blizzard does with World of Warcraft.

Funny thing is too is that if mod creators want a Premium version of their mod, it's likely they'll be required to pay WildCard a fee to keep that version on there. Usually if a mod creator makes money, especially if the mod itself uses any copyrighted assets made by Studio WildCard, then they'll want a portion of that potential profit, including the developers of Overwolf. So it's already a giant cash grab. They can't fault mod creators who have patreons since that operates in a legal gray area and that's possibly why they are placing modding support on Overwolf. So modding may literally act like some sort of NFT situation.

If i thought the scandals were bad or how WildCard was handling ASA, i most assuredly do not like what they're going to be doing or what they could do one bit now. It feels like they're digging their own grave at this point and i'm not jumping on that band wagon heading for that pit, no thank you.

[Naalith]

I get it, it makes it so they can put mods on console which is cool for them. It's just a literal downgrade for Steam users. I'm sure if there was a paid mod worth buying we'd all be willing to download Overwolf, but the fact we're downloading bloatware just to be able to play the game (and lets be honest, ARK without mods is basically still an early access game) with normal mods is just insane. It's like they're trying everything they can do in their power to make people not buy ASA and Ark 2.

[BlackDino]

Speaking as a ASA supporter and was planning on buying once able to. Overwolf has turned me off. I will not be dealing with it again. I play Wow and used it in the past. NO MORE! So I'll be sticking with ASE till the allow for something other then Overwolf with mods.

The Harvest Moon Looking dino Game is looking pretty good right now.

[Lily]

Originally posted by BlackDino:

Speaking as a ASA supporter and was planning on buying once able to. Overwolf has turned me off. I will not be dealing with it again. I play Wow and used it in the past. NO MORE! So I'll be sticking with ASE till the allow for something other then Overwolf with mods.

Agreed, I will not buy ASA as long as Overwolf is the only way to get mods on it. I will never play Ark without mods, and I will never ever install Overwolf on my pc again. Sticking with ASE as long as steam workshop mods remain working. If ASE mods stop working I will quit Ark before I ever install Overwolf.

[Tyler the inflator]

Originally posted by BlackDino:

Speaking as a ASA supporter and was planning on buying once able to. Overwolf has turned me off. I will not be dealing with it again. I play Wow and used it in the past. NO MORE! So I'll be sticking with ASE till the allow for something other then Overwolf with mods.

The Harvest Moon Looking dino Game is looking pretty good right now.

I was thinking about buying ASA when every DLC is out + sale. But Overwolf is something that I don't want to have on my Computer and I never play ark without mods.