Online roleplaying has been around since the dawn of the internet. Since 1975, in fact, when the first primitive Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs) were created. In recent years, our understanding of what roleplaying games are has changed loot, statistics and levelling coming to the fore. But for purists it s always been about inhabiting a character and seeing the world through their eyes. While roleplay, or RP , servers are still around today, it s mostly a niche concern, restricted to underpopulated WoW realms or the persistent worlds of Neverwinter Nights. Now a new place to roleplay has emerged, from the unlikely source of dinosaur survival sim ARK: Survival Evolved. Even more interesting is the way streamers on Twitch have adopted the game, creating a new hybrid form of entertainment where viewers can watch as events unfold, talking to streamers while they inhabit their characters. Full-time streamer and games writer Debbie Weefz Timmins likens it to a soap opera where the viewers get to talk to the actors while the action is happening . Also, there are dinosaurs. ARK roleplay s appeal to viewers is multifaceted, but perhaps the biggest draw is that it s often riotously funny. Characters tend to be drawn in broad strokes, their silly accents and outlandish backstories designed to make them stand out from the crowd. The result is very

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Ark: Survival of the Fittest began life in mid-2015 as a mod for Ark: Survival Evolved in which players, individually or in small teams, compete in a Hunger Games-like, last-man-standing tournament. It proved popular enough that Studio Wildcard spun it off into a free standalone game earlier this year, adding cash prizes to the mix just to keep things interesting. But yesterday the studio announced that it has been re-integrated into Survival Evolved, in order to give it full Steam Workshop support. We think that Steam Workshop support for Survival of the Fittest is a significant addition it's pretty much the most-requested feature for the game at the present time, Studio Wildcard co-founder Jeremy Stieglitz said. We can now support unlimited modding with both games and modders have instant access to work with new content as it drops into either game. For purposes of technical functionality, Survival of the Fittest will continue to operate as a standalone game, separate from Survival Evolved, and it will remain

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Open world survival game Ark: Survival Evolved is free on Steam this weekend, meaning you can hunt, tame, and ride its dinos to your heart s content for the next two days. The deal runs from right now until Sunday 1pm PST/8pm BST, and if you like what you see, the prehistoric sandbox is also subject to a 50 percent discount until Thursday August 4. Since its Early Access launch just over a year ago, a tonne of weird and wonderful stuff has made its way into Ark: Survival Evolved from rideable giant kangaroos, to Christmas-themed raptors; from zombie dodos, to scores of neat user-made mods. Studio Wildcard s Jesse and Forest Rapczak showcased the latest update at the PC Gaming Show this year, which adds dinosaurs so big you can build bases on their backs. If you think that sort of thing is a good idea. You do? Well, head on over to Steam

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At the PC Gaming Show during E3 2016, Jesse Rapczak and Forest Rapczak of Studio Wildcard announced some upcoming changes to their popular multiplayer dinosaur-based survival game Ark: Survival Evolved. Big changes. Specifically, the biggest dinosaur the game has ever seen. The aptly named Titanosaur is so big, in fact, that players will be able to build a base on its back, creating a lumbering mobile headquarters and a terrifying war machine. (Presumably, first they'll have to tame the mighty beast, and I can only imagine how big its poops are. They've gotta be massive.) Check out the trailer above, which shows the Titanosaur being used to siege a fortress and crushing small dwellings underfoot. The Titanosaur will loom into sight later this month, along with a new biome featuring giant redwood trees, complete with Ewok-style tree forts and villages (and at least one actual Ewok, also viewable in the trailer above). Studio Wildcard also brought two more videos to our show, both featuring mods that are becoming officially integrated into the game. Above, you can check out Primal Survival, which lets you play Ark as a creature instead of a human. We're not just talking dinos, either: the trailer shows playable bears, sharks, primates, wolves, and even ants. Ants! It's not just a matter of swapping your skin with that of another creature

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The Ark: Survival Evolved mod Survival of the Fittest was spun off into a free, standalone game earlier this month, as the first step in establishing the competitive esports Survivor League. Today, developer Studio Wildcard revealed how its new esports league, which will award cash prizes to the game's top 40 players each month, will work. Survivor Leagues will be made up of the top ten players in each of the game's four modes, and will run for approximately 30 days. A clock and leaderboards will count down to the beginning of the next Survivor League period, and also track the top ten player rankings in real time. Rankings will not reset at the beginning of each new league, so it's possible for players to stay in the Survivor League for multiple months, but players who don't play for more than a week will see their scores begin to decay. All active Ranked games count toward admission to the Survivor League, and players who make it in will be awarded a cash prize based on their ranking: * $3,500; *  $2,500; *  $1,800; *  $1,650; *  $1,500; *  $1,350; *  $1,200; *  $1,050; *  $900; *  $750; Survivor League members will also

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One of the things I like most about Ark: Survival Evolved is the apparently complete lack of commitment to any kind of coherent narrative, or even theme. When it first began, it seemed like a Land That Time Forgot experience with rideable dinosaurs and assault rifles, but since then Studio Wildcard has added dragons, a Yeti, War Kangaroos, Raptor Claus, and even Mega-Beavers. Now Easter is coming, and that means it's time for—get ready for it—an Eggcellent Adventure. The latest festive event includes collectible Bunny Eggs, suitably huge, that can be painted or crafted into Easter-themed items like Bunny Ears or a Bunny Costume for the Procoptodon. But it won't be all sugar-coated fun and games: The ferocious Bunny-Dodorex will be hopping around Ark all week long, and he's apparently not someone you want to meet. The latest Ark update also adds the new Swamp and Snow Caves areas, containing high-end loot, advanced artifacts, and more clues towards the mysterious origins of the Ark. You may not want to rush into them headlong, however, as the developers warned that they're intended for high-level survivors. The Ark: Survival Evolved Eggcellent Adventure is live

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