ARK Lore Theories (Part 1)

[The Inquisitor]

Hello there!

Firstly I just wanted to say that this game is a fantastic game, with many features that we as gamers have dreamed about having all in one place for quite some time now. I take my hats off to the developers who are a leading example as to what all game developers should aspire to become like; commitment, devotion and constant tweaks and upgrades, with much of that stemming from what the community has fed back to them.

Now, my tribe has spent an enormous amount of time in-game (surviving isn't what it used to be y'know), and I have taken it upon myself within the tribe to take a focus on the lore behind the game, analysing the evidence we have available as to what the ARK is, where it comes from, who created it and why we are here. My assembled thoughts and theories are stated below.

Now as an archaeology student I quite enjoy the study of artefacts and constructing understanding from nothing. A game that makes me do that and hides the lore in-game?
---> \O/

Everything in this game regarding lore is done for a purpose. I take nothing on the game for granted, and I believe each thing I analyse is related to the source and purpose of the ARK. I've spent hours analysing details and piecing together my numerous theories.,,(As a student and nerd alike I can be excused from being so in-depth about these sorts of things).

Firstly the Ark, itself. The Biblical reference springs to mind almost instantly. A statement by the developers I saw on a post stated the island itself is the ARK. A no brainer, yes, but it's always safe to get some confirmation. Now what is confusing is the fact that dinosaurs exist on this ARK, with humans simply dropped in to survive around them. I'll explain more on my possible theory about this later on, but the fact that particularly dinosaurs were chosen is interesting. The Mesozoic period I argue would have been on of the most difficult periods of Earth's history to live in. The amount of danger and the climate itself was rapidly different to what we are aware of today, so perhaps such a period was mimicked by whoever created the ARK to rest humans. The specimen implants state that the function of humans and their worth is 'to be determined'. This implies that the ARK is not saviour and sanctuary, but an experiment. Who knows what came before the present humans that have been dropped onto the island, The creators chose well, no period of time could test survival and function better than the Mesozoic period. Perhaps this is a restart on life? A test by a superior species (Or an extremely highly developed version of our own) to overcome some devastation or to restart a new Earth through test subjects and trial and error. Is the ARK an experiment for good, by any means necessary, or bad?

One cannot miss the Obelisks and the supply drops that both hang in the air and appear from absolute nothing. Upon inspection of the Obelisks it appears they are created from some form of metal, a metal that is seemingly xenos in origin. The fact they hang in the air like that must mean they contain some form of anti-grav, or other force repelling technology. The fact they are not a solid structure but held with an energy field also reinforces the potential xeno/highly developed society source, with technology that is far advanced than that we know of,
The supply drops seemingly appear from nowhere, which could imply that the physical space around the ARK is torn open to allow passage. The 'chest' of the supply drop is clearly high tech, and appears to be made of the same material as the Obelisks themselves. If this theory is correct, the ability to tear open the physical space around the ARK simply to drop a supply crate of gear that is completely backwards compared to the container holding it is staggering. Whoever or whatever manages the ARK wants to give us a fighting chance at least. How kind the master is.

Additionally, my tribe notice something interesting about the ARKS. Each colour seemingly represents an element, fire, earth and water. Each Obelisk surrounds a zone that appears to suit the colour (The Red Obelisk appears in the north, in the volcano area, the Green Obelisk in the more terrestrial, jungle area and the Blue Obelisk in the area that contains a large bodies of water). Do they represent the elements? Or is the colour coding linked to something we do not yet know?

[kevin]

With the supply drop and everything I feel like maybe its like a kind of hunger games or if you watched the maze runner kind of thing. Maybe the only way to escape this map is by finishing the 3 obelisks or something.

[The Inquisitor]

I thought something similar, they drop loot down onto the planet and survivors contest to fight for the resources. Again it sppears to be a social experiment, a test of wat humans will do to survive and HOW they survive.

[GobboKirk]

Interesting read :)
Alien race of genetic engineers maybe, would explain our "freedom" in character customization.

[The Inquisitor]

Thank you :)

It could be aliens yes, especially with the technology and the genetic manipulation. At the same time it could be a massive twist and turn out to be us, or some shock that none of us had thought of.

[The Inquisitor]

http://steamcommunity.com/app/346110/discussions/0/594820656445627711/

Part 2!

[o|-} Tony Shark]

This is exactly what the forums should be used for. Thank you! I really enjoyed your perspective on this and have been trying to construct my own theories on the lore of this game aswell.

I like the idea that the Ark could be a sort of Purgatory for the extinct species and if that where the case, why is mankind there etc keep the ideas flowing people!

[The Inquisitor]

Why thank you! I want to generate and stimulate lore discussion, I was hoping there would be a thread for lore somewhere so this kind of stuff wouldn't get lost amidst the questions, but it will survive!

That idea is a fresh one I never thought of. Perhaps a Darwinist resurrection of extinct species perhaps also, linking in with this idea.

[The Inquisitor]

See what you make of Part 2, I continue on there with theories that expand :)

[GobboKirk]

Subbed to both to see what people come up with :)

[I Am Beard]

What about a test instead of purgatory? There´s still the Ascension the devs mentioned numerous times without giving any hints to what it really is.

The whole ARK might as well all be just some sort of field test to determine ones worthiness to... well. ascend. I don´t think (hope) the story will later take a turn towards anything religion-based, so it might be aliens or even humans evolved to a higher form.

Would also fit in with the scifi grade weaponry and gear that is available at high level as well as the obviously more technical parts of an otherwise completely natural island.

[The Inquisitor]

Thanks for the sub Gobbo!

I agree Error, I believe that the ARK is a large testing ground, an experiment by the 'overseers'. The specimen implant basically proves this, with the comment about the usefulness of the species 'to be determined'.

[Quillbolt_h]

Thing is, the thing lots of people avoid is the reason the island is called the ark. I thibk its some sort of computer generated dimension that after we destroyed earth we decided to use our at that point hyper advanced tech to essentially restart the universe. Unfortunately due to public opinion, humanity was given more time and more opportunities to develop, such as using the engram to learn about certain simplistic ( at least what will considered to be simple in the future) technologies and tools. Also they could assess engrams.



But there Is one more thing to address, the odd unnatural unreal creatures like the broodmother and the dragon. In my opinion they are genetically modified creatures designed to test the species that would evolve to be the dominant ruler. Built into your survivors head is the purposefully implanted urge to make progress. To conquer all the island. And to do that, they must take down the bosses. Why else would a person put their life at risk over a measly flag?

[Lilkinsly]

This is my theory.

I believe that there is an alien race, let's call them "collectors." They go around getting samples from planets of what they find interesting. The island as we know it is actually a huge spaceship. It is literally an Ark carrying samples through space.

Here is the catch. I believe that there are other ships "Arks" out there. Some from other planets. Maybe some of them malfunctioned and are all water or desert. I also think that once we get the Sci Fi tier and storyline, we will be able to discover and travel to these other ships.

Consider this. We know a Sci Fi tier is coming. Is that the end of the engrams tree? What comes after Sci Fi? Alien Tech. I think we will find another humanoid race (samples as well) on another Ark, they are hostile and have the equivalent of their planets dinos. The tech tree after Sci Fi will be their Tech tree (and maybe other races eventually). We will eventually arm ourselves and our dino's with human and their tech and wage battle against them.

The question remains. Are the collectors watching? Or may they died out and the ships are on autopilot as we drift through space. That is my bet.

[jhulett]

My thoughts are that it is a planet found and the leaders of the old Earth (which was destroyed) send down people to make the planet safe for them, the leaders are in the Oblisks (the space ships that escaped Earths destruction) and don't tell the people, whose memories have been wiped, what the truth is in fear of a rebelion.

The planet is young and that explains the dinos. The leaders don't want to expend all their resources on a planet they are not sure Humans can control, and don't want to be with out on their Oblisks. So they basically throw people down there with nothing and give them a bit of help now and then (drops).

They called the Planet ARK because it is the only known planet with the ability to sustain life they have found since escaping Earth. It was called this because it represents the only hope of the Human race being able to survive. eventually other Oblisks arive in other sections of the planet (new Maps).

Just some thoughts

[Quillbolt_h]

İlk olarak jhulett tarafından gönderildi:

My thoughts are that it is a planet found and the leaders of the old Earth (which was destroyed) send down people to make the planet safe for them, the leaders are in the Oblisks (the space ships that escaped Earths destruction) and don't tell the people, whose memories have been wiped, what the truth is in fear of a rebelion.

The planet is young and that explains the dinos. The leaders don't want to expend all their resources on a planet they are not sure Humans can control, and don't want to be with out on their Oblisks. So they basically throw people down there with nothing and give them a bit of help now and then (drops).

They called the Planet ARK because it is the only known planet with the ability to sustain life they have found since escaping Earth. It was called this because it represents the only hope of the Human race being able to survive. eventually other Oblisks arive in other sections of the planet (new Maps).

Just some thoughts

Thats a good Idea but why would there be dinos on a alien planet? And heres another development I just realised, take note of the implant, its very description dehumanises you, and doesnt differrentiate you from the dinos. Why doesnt it say your name instead of your species? why wouldn't humans be important enough to other humans for the survivors to be individualised. Im starting to think its aliens. But the obelixes being spaceships is a good one. I will keep that observation in mind.