Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

ArK Genesis Announced!

Last year, Studio Wildcard (SW) received major backlash after posting a countdown on the Ark website (survivetheark.com), which ended up being an event that had dino skins (based on the new Jurassic World movie at the time) as rewards. Many fans, including myself, were expecting news of a new DLC, we were sure of it, but we were wrong. However, not much later, SW posted another countdown on the website, but this ended up being an announcement of a DLC, Extinction.

I’m not going to spoil the lore of Ark here. If you want to know it, you can find it easily enough on the Internet. However, it seemed Extinction would be the end of Ark, or Ark DLC. There was a subtle piece... Read All Last year, Studio Wildcard (SW) received major backlash after posting a countdown on the Ark website (survivetheark.com), which ended up being an event that had dino skins (based on the new Jurassic World movie at the time) as rewards. Many fans, including myself, were expecting news of a new DLC, we were sure of it, but we were wrong. However, not much later, SW posted another countdown on the website, but this ended up being an announcement of a DLC, Extinction.

I’m not going to spoil the lore of Ark here. If you want to know it, you can find it easily enough on the Internet. However, it seemed Extinction would be the end of Ark, or Ark DLC. There was a subtle piece at the end that hinted there could be more. There were also coded messages, which revealed another location in the Ark lore. This lead many to believe that this was not the end of Ark, as the story was still open-ended.

Recently, SW, posted a new countdown on their website. There were coded messages found on a website, which were decoded and showed SW giving us hints of something that’s coming. The way they did this was interesting and it was also very interesting to see people on the Internet who were able to decode these messages. One of the encoded messages stated, “this is not Ark 2.” People also were able to analyze the webpage code or scipt in Firefox and found a directory leading to a sound file. The directory was called “Genesis.”

It was a day before the end of the countdown and the Playstation store had a new post. It was showing a Genesis Season Pass along with some pictures of the new content. It seemed someone might be ready to lose their job after this leak. However, it turned out to be true. It wasn’t really a leak though. The page was supposed to go up yesterday on 8/8/19. However when for us it was 8/7/19, it was already 8/8/19 in Australia. SW pretty much just laughed about it in their announcement stream.

Genesis is “a new chapter” in Ark. You can see and hear in the announcement video that we are going some where where some one cannot help us, so she creates a cool robot-like thing and gives it her personality. This will make more sense if you’ve followed the lore of Ark, you’ll know who that “someone” is. This robot is called HLN-A (hint here). It’s designed to go along with us on this new journey and help us along the way. It can show us when there’s danger, react to our emotes, and encourages us to do things in the game. It seems it will guide us on our way to the end of the game or content. Surprisingly, this HLN-A is available now if you purchase the Genesis Season Pass (as I did). Right now, it’s pretty much a cosmetic “pet.” It’s expected to become much more of something when the content is released.

We got a look at some pictures, which show off new creatures and new biomes. Two pictures seem to clearly be on the first map, called the Island (in case you didn’t know), but SW says this new content will consist of two new maps. There’s a volcanic biome, ocean biome, and poisonous-looking biome. Part 1 of Genesis will arrive in December, while Part 2 will arrive in “winter 2020.” I assume they mean Part 2 will arrive about a year after Part 1, because SW always released new DLC a year after the previous one. So, this year, just like last year, many of us are back on the Ark hype train.

One of the new creatures was seen near an active volcano and it’s covered in molten rock/fire. This creature doesn’t like water, can be tamed, and acts as a mobile forge (for smelting iron). This is similar to how other creatures work in the game, for example the Giant Beaver acts as a mobile Smithy. Another new small four-armed creature looks adorable, but is Ark’s first shape-shifter. If it eats Element it turns into a larger wolf-like creature. It seems as though it will not turn on whoever it tamed, but can be used in some strategic ways.

Apparently, (as revealed by SW), people have been asking for another creature from the devs for quite a while now. SW stated that they just didn’t have anywhere to put it. This is the new giant turtle looking creature. It functions as a mobile island, you can build your base on it, and harvest the plants/materials that grow on it. It can dive underwater and when it does, it creates an oxygen bubble, so you won’t need to wear SCUBA gear. This creature is massive and as such Genesis will have an ocean biome that this giant can live in, where it can be tamed.

There are a couple more things mentioned by SW, but I recommend (if you’re interested) to watch the stream, which has been posted on YouTube (https://youtu.be/zC7ArMfwz8U).

Last year, I was really excited for Extinction, but was a bit disappointed by it, mostly because of the amount of things that feel nearly impossible to do alone in single player mode. I don’t want to be let down again, but I can’t help but to get excited about Genesis. However, it does make me wish that devs wouldn’t tell us long in advance about something they’re working on and make us wait months or years at a time. Instead, I kind of wish they would just make the announcement when they release the content. The days do seem to pass more slowly when you’re eagerly awaiting something new to be released.

So, what do you think about this? Are you excited? Have you purchased the Season Pass for this? It’s only about $35 and seems like a great value for Ark content released in two parts. Let me know what you think.

Digital Foundry Reviews The Newly Released Classic Doom Collection Ports

A few days ago I wrote about iD Software releasing the original Doom, Doom 2 and Doom 3 on mobile, Switch, XBox 360 and Playstation 4 during this years Quakecon. Some of the games launched with a few issues that Bethesda has fixed(like requiring you to create a Bethesda.net account) but how do these ports run on modern systems and stack up to the originals? Digital Foundry are some of the best reviewers around and run all the new ports through the paces in this video that's a must watch if you are considering playing these classic games again.

Kung-Fu Heroes & Vice: Project Doom Coming to Nintendo Online August 21st!

Nintendo is adding two new classic NES titles to it's Nintendo Online service this month called Kung-Fu Heroes & Vice: Project Doom. These are really unique games to add to the service as they are not top tier NES games but help fill in the Nintendo Online collection to be more than just a library of greatest hits. I'm excited to get these added to the service because as someone that hasn't played either, this seems like a great way to jump in.

DuckTales: Remastered Leaving All Digital Storefronts This Week

If you've been putting off buying DuckTales: Remastered, it's time to make a decision. Unfortunately, it will be leaving digital storefronts in a few days. Steam and Xbox will lose the game August 8th at 8PM EST, and the Wii U shop and Playstation 3 will lose it on the 9th at 8PM EST.

Bonus, it's getting a 75% off sale most places as a farewell sale. For under 4 bucks, this is a steal.

It saddens me that this game is leaving. There's no reason stated, but it's likely licensing issues with Disney. That's a common thing with licensed games. If you want to read more about my thoughts on this game, I covered those here... six years ago. Wow, it's been that long!
... Read All

The State of The Wyvern Inaugural Address

Greetings, Adventurers and thank you for reading the inaugural edition of The State of the Wyvern. The State of the Wyvern is a periodical that will drop every few weeks that snapshots the state of Tale of the White Wyvern, highlight certain games and player rankings as well as talk about recent changes to the games and our plans. We're also open to hearing what you think about the game as it moves through time so feel free to chip in your thoughts.

Current Player Leaderboards

Tale of the White Wyvern has a few in-game places where you can see how players are currently ranked. The first is the current player rankings you can view by (L)ist Players -> (S)ee all... Read All

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 08/03/2019 at 08:56pm

Thanks for the State! GG top players!

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 08/03/2019 at 11:30pm

I tried to put my horse armor on Tiberius, but he just ended up killing me. Be warned, Tiberius does not like to horse around.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 08/04/2019 at 05:35pm

So far, it's going great! I'm really enjoying the game!

Tim wrote on 08/09/2019 at 10:40pm

The game is great, I forgot how much I enjoyed playing these kinds of games.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 08/11/2019 at 05:13pm

What’a the secret to leveling up so fast? Is it player fights?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/11/2019 at 05:44pm

> What’a the secret to leveling up so fast? Is it player fights?

Yep. PvP is a pretty big experience boost. With that, you have to balance it with not being equipped properly. For instance you can level faster but if you don't have a high enough weapon or armor, forest fight become hard. So it's a push and pull thing.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 08/11/2019 at 06:08pm

Thx!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 08/12/2019 at 02:17pm

Seriously, I've been stuck at level 4 for a while now because I had enough exp to level up, but now not good enough equipment to beat the level 4 master lol

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 08/12/2019 at 04:27pm

I’ve been through that, Adam.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 08/12/2019 at 04:40pm

PvP nets you a crazy amount of XP when you win. The hardest part is keeping gear leveled with you.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 08/13/2019 at 04:28pm

The addition of the outhouse is most welcomed. The forest was getting pretty nasty with everyone doing their business out there! :P

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/13/2019 at 04:42pm

> The addition of the outhouse is most welcomed.

All Travis and I work on are the most important things for the game!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/13/2019 at 04:43pm

🤣

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Watch The Whole QuakeCon 2019 Keynote

I know this is already "aged news" but Quakecon is something fun I watch every year and wanted to share this news drop with y'all.

Apologies, I've been busy with the Tale of the White Wyvern and haven't had a whole lot of extra time to write as much as I'd like.

That all said, if you are a first person shooter fan or just a fan of iD Software and Bethesda you need to clickity clack that play button and let the entirely of the Quakecon keynote envelop your eye holes.

Noteworthy Things

* The Rage 2 free update train is still rolling and out now. If you thought Rage 2 was easy apparently they added a new mode that should make you cry tears of pain.
* Doom, Doom 2 and Doom 3... Read All

The Outer Worlds Is Coming To Switch But Not Right Away

The Outer Worlds is the upcoming Fallout-like RPG by Obsidian Entertainment and was recently announced as coming to the Switch! This is great news if you want to play The Outer Worlds on the go but Obsidian hasn't said when the game is launching on the Switch only that it would come after the initial launch.

Are you planning on picking up The Outer Worlds and if so does the Switch port change how you might play it?

"Lost in transit while on a colonist ship bound for the furthest edge of the galaxy, you awake decades later than you expected only to find yourself in the midst of a deep conspiracy threatening to destroy the Halcyon colony.

As you explore the furthest... Read All

The Original Hype Launch Campaign: Get Your Free Wyvern DLC!

Jon and I want to thank everyone for checking out Tale of the White Wyvern, it was an incredible amount of fun! Now, after giving you all a taste of the game, we are going to be sharing the game with the larger world, and if you help us you can earn some free in-game DLC! Starting today, if you retweet or share the game on Facebook or Reddit, we will send you an Original Hype DLC code for 500 gold, 2 gems and the Original Hype player title!

Cheerful Ghost Tweet to RT:
https://mobile.twitter.com/_cheerfulghost/status/1155849834366156800

If you shared the game on Facebook or Reddit let us know in the comments and we will message you the DLC code privately here on Cheerful... Read All

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/29/2019 at 05:20pm

I shared on Facebook and tagged Jon.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/29/2019 at 06:34pm

DLC code message to you Greg!

Thanks!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/29/2019 at 07:23pm

Thank you! :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/29/2019 at 07:23pm

🐉

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/30/2019 at 06:06am

Wait a second...Travis said "for 1,500 gold," (see line four of this post) but the screen shows 500. I think you have a typo in this post, Travis, or you owe me 1,000 gold haha.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/30/2019 at 12:21pm

Oh right, that’s a mistake in the post it’s supposed to be 500 gold not 1500.

Button_Smasher wrote on 07/30/2019 at 01:31pm

I just retweeted - @rzbreaks twitter account.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/30/2019 at 06:45pm

Code messaged to you. Thanks Smasher!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 08/02/2019 at 05:22pm

"Young Billy" hit me with his "Smashed Pumpkins." LOL I get that one!

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Final Fantasy VIII Remastered!

I think this was already reported on here during the E3 stuff, but it's come more to my attention due to a friend sharing info with me on Facebook. At first, I ignored this news. I thought it was just for the Switch (which I may still get) and I believed that the Steam version was "remastered." But, it seems I was incorrect (please correct me if I'm wrong). I played it a few years ago on Steam and didn't have a problem with it, it looked fine to me. Although, I must admit, I never really complained about the graphics. I know the non-FMV stuff wasn't perfect, but kind of blocky/not smooth, but that never affected the love I have for this game. Apparently the "remake"... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 07/29/2019 at 02:40am

The version currently on Steam is basically just a port with a few QoL features. The graphic upgrades in this remaster are VERY noticeable and help a lot. Much of the original Playstation's library hasn't aged well, and this is a fresh coat of paint that makes it more accessible. I probably don't care one way or the other about it honestly. Remake treatment I'd be more interested in, but while this is very cool, it's not something I really need to enjoy that game. Unless it's crazy cheap. Then maybe

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 07/29/2019 at 04:02am

Yeah, I think I feel like you. I absolutely love this game, I don't care if it looks like it did on the PS1, that doesn't change how much I love it. It might be nice to play the remastered version, though. I might check it out, we'll see.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 08/20/2019 at 04:13am

A new trailer has been released with a launch date! Sept. 3. https://youtu.be/JbTcLwqheao

I don't think I have a stronger emotional bond with any game that even comes close to matching the one I have with this game. The music makes my hair stand on end and makes my eyes water. I wonder if I will ever care with how it looks compared to more modern games. It will always have a very special piece of my heart. It certainly brings back now old memories!

I liked something I saw earlier that the remake pretty much puts an end to a funny meme. If you're not familiar with it, you can check it out here: https://memebase.cheezburger.com/tag/final-fantasy-viii I think it's a pretty funny meme actually.

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Play Tale of the White Wyvvern Right Now!

Tale of the White Wyvern is a text based, high fantasy, sword and magic adventure mini-MMO that you can play with your friends, and is finally here and ready for you to play by heading over to https://thewhitewyvern.com! We’ve spent the last few months working hard on the game and are happy you can finally play it! We also wanted your first day in game to go smoothly so we created a Let’s Play you can watch above to get a taste for what to expect in game!

Tale of the White Wyvern is in open beta, so let us know if you have any questions or run into any bugs. We have instructions you can read before you play from the game menu, and we also offer tips along the way to... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/28/2019 at 03:24pm

🐉🐉🐉

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 07/28/2019 at 04:34pm

Thanks for making this Jon & Travis!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/28/2019 at 04:52pm

What's the difference between staying at the Inn (which costs $400) and just logging out while in the Town Square? It seems you could save money by doing the latter, but I'm assuming that would leave you vulnerable to attack. It also seems you can attack people who are in the bar? The bartender said you can call someone down and they'll get first hit. Can you clear this up for me?

Personal request: would it be possible to get a custom color scheme? Maybe we could create one in the game. I don't have a problem w/ the color scheme, I'm just curious if it'd be possible to change it to something other than the other included themes.

Also are you going to be sending out the social media hype link and rewards?

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/28/2019 at 05:19pm

> What's the difference between staying at the Inn (which costs $400) and just logging out while in the Town Square? It seems you could save money by doing the latter, but I'm assuming that would leave you vulnerable to attack. It also seems you can attack people who are in the bar? The bartender said you can call someone down and they'll get first hit. Can you clear this up for me?

It's pretty much as you say. Plus:

* You can only attack people at your level or higher or one below you. So level 5 can attack 5 and up and level 4 but no one level 1-3.
* Staying in the Fields (quitting the game normally) makes you able to be attacked by people (with the rules above)
* You can pay to stay in the Inn (400 gold * level). This means people have to spend money to Call you Out plus you get one bonus. If you stay in the Inn you always get the first attack(to give the Inn a further bonus). (with same level rules above)

> Personal request: would it be possible to get a custom color scheme? Maybe we could create one in the game. I don't have a problem w/ the color scheme, I'm just curious if it'd be possible to change it to something other than the other included themes.

It's something Travis and I will add to the list. With that, what color scheme are you thinking about?

> Also are you going to be sending out the social media hype link and rewards?

That's going out on the 29th so check back tomorrow for more information on that!

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/28/2019 at 05:39pm

ALSO your Inn stay lasts until you log in next and experience a new day. Then you need to rent another room.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 07/28/2019 at 05:42pm

Does staying at the inn regen health?

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/28/2019 at 05:49pm

Thanks for the clarifications. So, if you log out while in town, you're in the fields while logged out?

The color scheme I have in mind is a black background with blue text and purple for the highlights (like the parenthesis "()" surrounding letters/keys to press to activate action). I was surprised and pleased to find out that it's not just a keyboard game, but it's also point and click. :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/28/2019 at 06:02pm

> Does staying at the inn regen health?

No. You can heal at Helga's to pay to regen health. Also you regen health when a new game day hits. Also you have a random chance to regen health in the forest.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/28/2019 at 06:05pm

> Thanks for the clarifications. So, if you log out while in town, you're in the fields while logged out?

Yep. Stepping away from the game at any point drops you to the fields.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 07/28/2019 at 06:05pm

Cool. Thx for the info.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 07/28/2019 at 06:06pm

I played my first day, and was totally transported to high school (other than the fact that I was playing on my phone lol).

Travis and Jon, you two have done a fantastic job creating this game! It honestly feel super good playing it!

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/28/2019 at 06:07pm

❤️🐉

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/28/2019 at 06:19pm

> I played my first day, and was totally transported to high school (other than the fact that I was playing on my phone lol).

That's the basis of what I have going on in my head about creating a marketing message. Something like (in a deep voice) take a trip back to 1995, the era of the BBS. Cheerful Ghost brings you a game reminiscent of your favorite BBS games. Come check out Tale of the White Wyvern.

Something like that anyway.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/28/2019 at 07:48pm

I was leaving the forest and was attacked by something and couldn't run away (I didn't want to anyway). I killed it and now I have -1 fights. :( Will I lose one when they're replenished or will it just refill?

I was having trouble withdrawing all from the bank. It said "enter nothing for all" and I didn't input anything and I withdrew 0, tried again, same thing, was reporting the "bug," tried it again and it worked. Maybe I didn't do it right until the last time.

Oh, ok, now after depositing all w/ the "deposit all" button, I tried to withdraw 800. I typed "800" in the text box. It said I withdrew 0, but that I had 800 on hand. I don't know if there's some kind of bug/discrepancy or I just did something wrong. In the end it works out.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/28/2019 at 08:03pm

> I was leaving the forest and was attacked by something and couldn't run away (I didn't want to anyway). I killed it and now I have -1 fights. :( Will I lose one when they're replenished or will it just refill?

You get all 25 at the new day.

> I was having trouble withdrawing all from the bank. It said "enter nothing for all" and I didn't input anything and I withdrew 0, tried again, same thing, was reporting the "bug," tried it again and it worked. Maybe I didn't do it right until the last time.

Should be fixed now.

> Oh, ok, now after depositing all w/ the "deposit all" button, I tried to withdraw 800. I typed "800" in the text box. It said I withdrew 0, but that I had 800 on hand. I don't know if there's some kind of bug/discrepancy or I just did something wrong. In the end it works out.

Should be fixed now.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/28/2019 at 08:30pm

Greg, it's possible you were doing all those deposit/withdraw steps while we were actively squashing a bug there.

Everyone, thanks for joining up and playing, it's fun seeing a ton of people enjoying this game.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/29/2019 at 07:38am

> No. You can heal at Helga's to pay to regen health. Also you regen health when a new game day hits. Also you have a random chance to regen health in the forest.

You regen some health, right? I just logged in and I'm missing some health. Although I wasn't sure if I had stayed at the inn when I first wrote this comment, I now know that I did, because I tried to buy a room and it said "no need to pay twice."

Also, I'm sure a new in-game has started, but I only had 1 fight. :( Time is currently 3:35AM EST.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 07/29/2019 at 02:05pm

I think it missed that midnight new day. I had 0 fights and could still sleep in my room.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/29/2019 at 02:11pm

> I think it missed that midnight new day. I had 0 fights and could still sleep in my room.

Yeah, somehow the new day didn't trigger. I manually ran it this morning. Should be good now!

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 07/29/2019 at 02:32pm

thx Jon!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/29/2019 at 07:25pm

I thought it was funny when I killed "Travis the Barbarian," but killing "Red Neck" really made me LOL.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/29/2019 at 07:25pm

> Travis the Barbarian

I have a few Travis references in the game.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/29/2019 at 10:29pm

I sprinkled in a couple Travis references in the bits of lore I wrote, but they’re somewhat esoteric. One is easier to spot than the other.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/29/2019 at 10:32pm

> I sprinkled in a couple Travis references ...

IT'S RAINING TRAVIS!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/30/2019 at 01:10am

> I sprinkled in a couple Travis references in the bits of lore I wrote, but they’re somewhat esoteric. One is easier to spot than the other.

Dude, "esoteric!" I wrote a play in high school for a class project and it was totally esoteric! One of my recent game reviews has an esoteric title. :) (Yes, I did look up the meaning of "esoteric" as I've heard of it before, but didn't remember/know what it meant.) Mostly what I'm talking about are music references.

I'm still finding it humorous that I killed "Red Neck." I feel like I stomped all over his "Don't Tread on Me" flag/license plate.

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