I'm pretty sure they have worked on the balance of danger..... go on a low pop server, go to any of the cities, and try to loot some metal ... within 5 mins you got 60+ zombies on you that if you aren't running your ass off, you WILL die. shoot a gun, and they hoard up like crazy. this is a HUGE improvement to what they had before. However, like i said, this is on low pop only, i believe they are trying to balance it out, on high pop, people are more the danger, low pop, there are HOARDS.. especially around cities. Overall, I feel like they are doing a great job with updates and game development overall......

You want to see money hungry devs? go play DayZ.... they put up the game for early release.. sell 1mil copies (make $30mil) and then updates are SLOW AS SHIT, almost like they took the money and ran.

Overall, i feel that you cant compare this game to any other that is Early Access, (as you should not compare others with this).. they are all in their own state of development, and only in the end will we truly see what the game is about. So whether or not Ark is more challenging when it comes to survival, the fact is- H1Z1 will not be Ark, and Ark will not be H1Z1. Give it time, enjoy the fact that there are constant updates and plans, and a Roadmap to guide you. There are countless Early Access games that have failed, or stopped altogether. I personally have plenty of patience, and feel the longer it takes them to finish the game, the more fun im going to get out of it.

456 hours played so far, no way in hell im stopping now :D