My Heart is in Speranza
What can I say? I love looking for garbage with my friends
Many people hate online gaming, and to be honest, I’m not going to try and sway anyone who does. Many of the things I love about it, can be used to bring about the things that give it a bad rap. The moment you open communication with strangers online, you open a Pandora’s box of random encounters. Some of them may lead to a front row seat of someone that lives thousands of miles away bare asshole. Forever the optimist, I believe that’s what makes the internet GREAT! Years ago there was no chance you’d see that person’s dubai chocolate colored starfish!
Jokes aside, I think the endless combination of game experiences you get when you mix and match players from so many different backgrounds is extremely exciting to me. I have always been obsessed with online gaming and the culture that is created by the melting pot created by our warped minds.
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In High School, I was obsessed with Runescape. It was my first MMORPG and was completely free, which was perfect for a mid student struggling with undiagnosed ADHD, because the former meant I wasn’t getting any treats from my parents. I loved watching the way the economy evolved based on the needs of the players and how you could make a load of money by digitally working a minimum wage job mining Rune Essence for the mages who needed it. I was intrigued by the swindling of a rich benefactor who wants to give you a bunch of money, but you have to go deep into the wilderness (the PVP zone) to receive it.
Essentially, I liked a game that grew to have a life of its own outside of the devs intended design. Players building a game within the game. On top of that, I love multiplayer politics. There was a mobile game I used to play called Atomic Dove, a text based war game where you could attack or politic with other players. I would spend so much time (and probably money) texting other players to plan and overtake the top dog in our way. Unsure of how long our alliance would last or if they would betray me to get in the good graces of that top dog. In short, I love the drama and innovation of the human element.
Imagine my glee when I watched a funny tiktok of some guy trying out Arc Raiders for the first time and it turned out to be exactly my shit. (I’d link the video but this was before the game’s boom and you simply cannot find it with a search.) Extraction shooters aren’t new to me, I mean I didn’t even realize I was in on them before it had a name. Escape from Tarkov usually gets credit, but someone recently pointed out that the Dark Zone in Tom Clancey’s The Division was an extraction shooter mini-game and they’re spot on. I LOVED the Dark Zone.
It was such a fun risk reward mini-game that allowed you to get more weapons for the PVE side of the rest of the game, also the fun in choosing whether or not you wanted to work together with another team or fight added so much tension to the airlift of your haul. I put so many hours in, and never made the connection when I noped out of Escape from Tarkov. I get the appeal, the excitement around it, but there was something that never stuck for me. It wasn’t until playing Arc Raiders that I figured out what it was.
Before I get into this, forgive me if there have been updates that changed some of these things while I was away from the game.
On the surface, Arc Raiders and EFT seem extremely similar, but what sets them apart is what makes me love Arc Raiders. Both games have you drop into a map with a loadout you make for the raid, usually you’re able to keep something safe whether it be the insurance in EFT or your safe pocket in Arc Raiders. That is because if you die without safely extracting, you lose everything else. The two games also have traders who give you missions to complete for them, a free loadout option, and the ability to beg for your life in proximity chat. My biggest hang up with EFT, though, were two things: the cpu controlled enemies and players looked the same and the game felt like you were set back every time you died.
In Salty Bet, the 24/7 mugen fighting game stream where you bet on fights with fake money (and probably is what directly led to the gambling problem in the gaming community today), when you lost all of your fake money/salt you went into what players called the “salt mines”. You make small $1 bets, and hopefully you make enough money to make real bets again. This is what dying in Tarkov felt like to me. I was constantly digging myself out of the mines and missing my guns. Arc Raiders, in my opinion, fixes both of these things.
Their experience point system rewards for looting, exploring, and surviving for as long as you can. Doing damage to and killing arcs along with other raiders gains you experience. So even when you die, you feel a forward progression and an opportunity to make your raider stronger and hopefully able to survive the next raid. I think “git gud” only gets you so far in a PVPVE setting. There are so many opportunities to get killed by an unlucky situation, with experience points to carry along with your L, you at least get to feel like you didn’t waste your time for the past 20-30 minutes, although it can be as short as 5 minutes in some cases. Secondly, the cpu enemies are evil drones called Arcs, and not only are not able to be confused with other players, they require teamwork to kill as you take on more challenging ones. This incentivizes players to work together, while adding tension while you wonder if your fellow player will betray you and steal all of the loot for themselves. A dilemma that draws a line in the sand between two types of players. If that wasn’t good enough, the game uses aggression based matchmaking which pairs aggro players looking for pvp together and keep the pve leaning players together on their raids. This in no way ensure’s safety, though, a PVP minded player who keeps getting destroyed before they could pop off shots are now forced to take out their anger on a lobby filled with players hoping to make temporary friends.
This formula has spawned a plethora of takes online about gameplay philosophies around Arc Raiders. Naturally you have people who look down on those who pretend to be a friendly player, only to betray you at the very end. The PVP minded players bemoan the players who complain about being gunned down when they find great loot. The game puts its playerbase at odds with each other in the best way. Every new party you form starts off with the question, “what kind of player are you”, because your actions have repercussions for the gameplay experience. In my honest opinion, this is a feat of gaming. How a game affects the overall gaming psychology of players has a much stronger impact than it gets credit for. I’ve seen the new label, “ball and gun gamer”, be used to disparage anyone who lamented Arc Raiders not getting a GOTY nod.
Which, if I can digress for a second… COME THE FUCK ON! I wish I could have one hobby that doesn’t try to create an elitist sect within itself to garner false superiority. Whether it’s a “ball and gun game” or a cell shaded game about a leaf that travels across a torrential pond used as an allegory for the grief of aging, to the outsider you’re both the same. They find you silly for finding art in a toy and wonder why you won’t pick up a book. So, lay off.
I think the effect that Arc Raiders has on the social dynamics of the players within its player base is worth celebrating, even more so when you consider that Embark themselves are driving it with things like aggression based matchmaking and timed boss events. I’m almost 100 hours into the game, but I do genuinely think I need a little more time to think about what my overall “review” of the game is, but as far as what Embark is doing, I’m pleased. I think when you’re trying to push the needle in an oversaturated market like online games as a service, you gotta do something pretty unique to stand out. I think they looked at a budding genre and saw a way to improve it while adding a unique design, sound, world and game feel to it.
Should you play it? Well, that depends? Are you interested in an online third person shooter where you might have to interact with some pvp minded players? Are you a looter shooter gremlin who can get enough of opening chests and inventory management? You looking for unique interactions with players that have stakes?
If so, I’ll see you in Speranza!