Hello my name is Frosty and I have been working on default speedruns because I don't want any categorys to be untouched here in ARK. One major problem I see with default difficulty (and really the reason no one wants to do it) is because of how long everything takes. Now do not get me wrong I completely understand why bisho would choose the category to be like this, however I feel like in at least full runs maybe there can be some Quality of Life changes? Maybe instead of Default Settings it could just be Default Difficulty. The settings I would suggest to be changed are :

Level Speed - This is just grindy as normally you want to be max level. It should not be as easy as it is in easy but even a 2x multiplier would help a lot here.

Harvest Amount - This is the biggest problem. In Full run you need to get around 2k (island) shotgun shells and 2-3 shotguns for a optimal strat to fight the bosses. Other runs do not need this as much such as QAT where the main goal is to craft an auto turret.

Being able to see where we are on the map would be nice.

Taming Speed - In QOB this would be helpful, however since the main goal of the run is to tame everything IDK if it would be best. Would probably bring a 100 hour run (estimate) down to about 70.

And many others. Again I understand the appeal of just doing it on default settings and will do it either way. Was just wondering if this would maybe catch the mods eyes since default is rarely ever ran.

I also have a poll going on here. This is for me to just see what everyone else thinks. The mods can look at this too if they want but I always find the polls results interesting. Anyways thank you for reading and I hope you have a snow day! -Frosty

https://strawpoll.com/2gw4976hk

Look I'll be honest the rules/rates where designed for full run. QOB as you put it for crazy people and personally I think it shouldn't be a speedrun due to its nature. I like apex due to its nature of being reasonable, and auto turret (although a little weird) is also reasonable in regard to their goal. Where as queen of beasts was made to be unreasonably long and tedious so I don't think it deserves increased default rates cause at that point just go do easy

Im not talking about only QOB tho I am mainly talking about for Full Runs. So it is not as grindy

by using "singleplayer settings" we are already boosting alot of stats (especially for dinos), even with singleplayer settings for most of the bosses pump-action shotgun is the fastest way, if we boost harvest amount dino strats would be even more slower, less likely to be useful.

one more thing i dont think default is to grindy or take to long, check our easy leaderboards (first WR and current WR) we improved our times alot, default is just sth new for us and i think the moment a few of us have done some runs and we have "initial paths" through some maps the time will improve alot

I dont think it would make dino strats slower cause you still collect faster with dinos, but I understand yall not wanting to change it. In any sense Ill no matter what be doing all the full runs so hopefully yall can beat my times. Have a good snow day -Frosty

Now, dino and gun strats have same times to complete the run ... increasing rates can kill dino strats, IMHO.

Ive tried dino strats and they just never live but I see where you are coming from.

My friend and I are thinking about doing some duo speedruns. Because it has never been done before, there are a few rules I wanted to ask about. Do we have to do host/local (it has tether distance.) or can we host a private dedicate server (if it does not fry my pc.) Also, can we do easy and default difficulty?

non ded will fry your pc the same way as if you host it ded on your pc since both times your pc needs to host the server, if performance is a problem then non private ded is the only way!

you can do both, easy or default.

KEEP IN MIND:

1. show the server settings BEFORE the server start (if youre using a web interface from your server provider you need to all the settings you can configure there aswell!)
2. show deletion of ALL save files (this includes cloud files from uploading)
3. show the server start (this includes the command line argument with that the server is getting started)
4. tab in main menu of ARK and show the server + the connection process (all players)

if you're unsure if your server setup is correct, make a short video and i'll check it.

technically we cant verify multiplayer runs as of right now just because the rules for them are getting rewritten. but do what maverick says and we can verify it once multiplayer rules have been rewritten. and yes you can do any type of run. If i were you i would practice with ur friend but not actually go for official run until the new rules are certain.