Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios is bowing to the pacifists and trialing a PvE mode in their extraction shooter. If you play between October 13th and 20th, you'll be able to flick a toggle that means you load either into the traditional world of Arc Raiders, where human players vie for the valuable scraps left behind in a ruined world watched over by killer robots, or a slightly safer version where the machines are still deadly but the humans can't hurt you.

"We’re seeing a large and growing group of Raiders who come to the Rust Belt for the co-op and the ARC, not fighting with other Raiders," Embark say in the post announcing the trial. "That group has become a core part of our community, so it’s important we learn how to support them properly rather than leave them working around the game."

To back this up, the studio share some data they've collected, showing that there are now more players that play only friendly co-op and never attack other humans than the merciless pure PvP bunch. Apparently the PvP group has remained at a stable 34% since the game's launch, but the number of mixed players, who spend most their time being affable members of the post-apocalypse society but occasionally dabble in wanton homicide, has shrunk, with most opting to become full-time peaceniks.

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[–] 2 points 10 hours ago (2 children)

Looting with no risk gets super boring super fast; unless they provide some steep incentives for NOT queueing up in PvE only, this game is going to fall flat on its face.

This is a fascinating take. You feel adding an optional extra mode will make the game fail? Not adding it will allow it to succeed?

The goal is increasing the user base, right? I'm someone who never plays PvP. I'll never play Arc Raiders without a full PvE option. You seem to be full in PvP. You're already playing. If they add this mode, I'll likely buy it and play the PvE maps. I suppose the question is, will you stop playing PvP?

Concerning your statement about risk, it's completely your opinion. I find games like Power Washing Simulator incredibly boring, but they're successful enough to inspire sequels and clones. The solution is simple: I don't play them. If someone finds PvE boring, they can elect to never play. I find plenty of challenge in other PvE games like Helldivers 2, Deep Rock Galactic, Borderlands, and a myriad of other dedicated co-op (no PvP or "versus" mode) games. So for someone to say "I don't like this mode so I don't think it should be there" is a nonsensical response to me.

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  • You feel adding an optional extra mode

    If it doesn't have a separate progression system, it's not really optional—not in the way that you imply. It changes the incentive structures of the game as a whole, which means the whole game must be played differently.

    As a basic excercise, let's think about a game with a dark hallway that has scary monsters. Most players don't want to walk down a dark hallway with scary monsters, so how do you get them to?

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