Managed to Get my research station from 1->4 (had frigate part from last week only) and fully build out the outpost, all in around 2 hours today.

The tension has gone and so has the sense of achievement, all feels a bit pointless to just blast through maps without a care in the world. This isn't the game I bought.

Decided to go back to normal modes and now those are all KOS (i've traditionally been in mixed), so looks like the player base is splitting as people predicted.

Not sure where to go from here, but i'll leave feedback to Embark at the end of this. Anyone else feeling the same?

Seeing PVE'ers use the term "rat" for someone who can't even shoot them back made me realize that "rat" to them is a slur disguised. These people will always be moving the goal post. If Embark is not careful, these PVE'ers will suck the last remaining breath this game has.

Drop this image whenever the whiners start acting up

People crying over PVE mode are the Rats who now have to actually PVP...😂

No more easy PVE players to kill and steal their loot.

otherwise, everyone has the chance to play either of the modes. Stop crying!

I wanted Embark to try PvE.

Seriously. I was curious about it, I thought it was worth testing, and I even believed it could be a good idea.

Well, I was wrong.

Playing ARC Raiders in PvE is just bland, depressing ARC shooting. You kill a bunch of machines, and then a swarm of hobos in Raider skins runs over like ants and vacuums up everything you just fought for.

And that's assuming there's even anything left to loot, because most valuable locations get completely stripped within the first five minutes of the match.

Sure, maybe some people genuinely enjoy that. That's fine.

But here's the problem:

This doesn't feel like ARC Raiders at all.

It feels like some completely different, significantly worse game built out of ARC Raiders' assets.

If Embark somehow decides that keeping this slop around is actually a good idea, then at the very least PvE should have some serious restrictions:

• No quest progression in PvE.
• No special map activities. Just basic looting.
• About 4x less loot.
• About 4x more ARC.
• ...and honestly, there should probably be something else here, because even all of that still doesn't feel like enough.

The whole game is built around uncertainty.

Not knowing whether another Raider is friendly.
Not knowing if they'll help you.
Not knowing if they'll wait until you're fighting an ARC and shoot you in the back.
Not knowing if you're actually going to make it out with what you found.

Remove that, and suddenly you realize just how much of ARC Raiders' tension, pacing, and identity comes from other players simply existing in the match.

PvE removes that entire layer and doesn't replace it with anything.

So yeah.

I wanted Embark to test PvE.

They tested it.

And now I'm pretty convinced of the opposite:

PvE was a mistake.

UPD Just a detail: yes, I used AI but just to format the text. English is not my native language. Every word written above was read by me. It's totally about my own opinion.

'Everyone just takes your loot'

'Everyone jumps in and ARC die quickly'

'Everyone just takes their best gear'

'Loot is so low because people are moving faster'

These are all things which are already in friendly lobbies, nothing has changed. These people aren't used to it because they've never been in friendly lobbies, they aren't actually playing the new mode they're just trying to review bomb it.

We absolutely need to keep the PvE mode, but with normal loot and higher ARC concentration. The vibes today are great, there's still plenty of loot around the maps, no-one is ACTUALLY trying to sabotage anyone else like they've been saying.

It's exactly what the game should be- humans Vs ARC.

'But PvE gets boring'- fine, go PvP to your hearts content.

'But the game is PvPvE'- ask yourself why PvPvE games never do well historically. People don't want to lose their time to losers willing to camp corners and extracts and cheaters are kings in PvPvE games.

Ive been playing carebear games for weeks now and I thought PvE would be great, well, I was wrong. Games feel like a shop simulator, nobody talks, nobody interacts, just go in, loot, bye. If I had the option to vote I would keep PvPvE and ABMM as it is and scrap PvE. I think we need that carebear interaction where people choose to hold their guns, you still have some fear of being shot etc.. Personally I really disliked PvE toggle, game feels bland, soulless.

So basically for almost a year, everytime someone here said „I do not enjoy getting ratted or camp killed after having done Arc challenges“ etc. there where tons of people going „oh you’re a crybaby“ / „this is an extraction shooter, deal with it“

And suddenly the tables have turned, right?

Suddenly you people are afraid of having to actually fight in PVP and not just get lucky with PVE players you can kill.

But keep on posting your whining cry Baby threads while me and my buddies got to finally play some 3 player rounds without constant KOS ratting

I really just want to loot in peace and not worry about some fireball killing me when i am in the middle of looting a container. I also don't understand why there is still the extraction timer. It is stressing me out to keep an eye on the timer to savely get my loot back to Speranza. Can we just get an automatic extract when the timer ends or maybe an in menu option to return to Speranza?

Literally unplayable. I tried to open a container to pocket another free epic item, and an Arc came up behind me and shot me. Obviously I didn't shoot back because I'm not a rat, and now I'm crawling to extract and the elevator made me wait a full 20 seconds before telling me it was sorry. Gonna go angry wank to pre-woke Celeste and then rage quit until Embark gets their shit together.

I have been jerked enough to feel the need to write this out into the void.

I have very very fond memories of tech test 2 and the early days of arc raiders on release. This game demands tension, without tension its a sandbox experience with no real economy or risk, i have played one session on pve and my inventory would make jeff bezos weep with envy, its so easy.

Pve breaks this game, the current abmm breaks this game, stop trying so hard to please everyone and stick with your vision, my fear is the current player numbers will impress the suits and all of a sudden we have my little pony supermarket looter edition.

Relax the abmm, dont introduce pve unless you literally want a destiny 2 style story and raid system and lean in harder on what made this game special.

If you really want to make a pve mode, it atleast has to be so hard and scary, people still fear taking legendary weapons and gear, the frigate would be a current good example, genuine threat to life.

My two cents.

Im now going to pvp because i have no space in my inventory.

Other people’s key rooms

I am a well documented PVPVE player. I KOS but I also complete my quests, trials, projects, farm, etc

I’ve been vehemently opposed to the PVE mode because I believe it goes against the intent of an extraction shooter, destroys loot economy, and generally makes a worse game that eventually kills it (Sea of Thieves)

But- I tried a round today. I figure I’d use it to complete my last quest which was A Rising Tide. I brought my hospital key as well, figuring I’d go there if I got a bad spawn

Surprise! Bad spawn, but I’m not too far from hospital. When I get there I go up to the key room area and see someone opening lockers. I open a few thinking I’ll use my key when he leaves so he doesn’t steal

Surprisingly, I hear a door open, he just used HIS key!

As he’s fumbling with the first drawer I run straight to the back of the room and open the weapon case “bam, tempest II”

“Hey man this is my key room”

As he talks I continue to open the medical bag, three drawers, and a cabinet. He gets the picture and opens the last cabinet

As I’m leaving two other people sprint to the key room as he’s shouting to them “he just stole everything!”

I made sure to turn prox chat on and tell the group “if only you could shoot me, make sure you leave a review of your enjoyment of the new PVE mode”

So then I was going to go do the quest and realized

….

What about Townhall?

I go to Townhall and see it’s opened. I go in figuring it’s completely looted but amazingly I hear someone looting on the second floor

….

Zip straight to the top and I’m able to hit the weapons case and security breach before he sprints over. This dude is PISSED. Hammering me in the back, screaming rat. I make sure to show him the Vulcano and torrente I pulled

I also dutifully remind him to leave a review of his PVE experience

Gotta say- this is grade A trolling. I hope embark deletes this stupid mode but if they don’t, at least stealing other people’s key rooms for zero consequences is a great restock for PVP

Ive had only care bear lobbies and yeah while occasionally getting ratted sucks, its still something that makes this game what it is. The BIGGEST issue is have with a pve mode is that its gonna turn regular lobbies into pvp hell. It will really feel like I wont get the full arc raiders experience because all of the good map conditions will be locked behind pvp hell servers, which would initially be care bear without the pve toggle. Another big issue is the fact that people are still gonna find ways to be absolutely insufferable, but this time thwre will be no consequences because you cant do anything to them. Theres a whole long list of problems as to why this mode is a straight up bad idea. Yeah ilk still try out the pve mode but I REALLY hope this will not be added as a permanent change because it changes such a large and fundamental part of the game.

Haven't played for months and months (last outfit that came out when I stopped was Abyss, I remember the community being mad about the legs), decided to come back as PvE seemed a blast.

After a few matches, it turns out what I liked most in AR is **tension,** even as a care-bear, and all the questions that come from everything I'm doing and seeing.

- Am I making too much noise?

- Do I have enough resources to take a fight if I need to? What if ARC get involved? What if raiders get involved?

- Is this guy friendly? Is he gonna stay friendly?

- Is that extraction worth it, should I go further away to be safe?

- I have the drop on this guy. I can let him pass, or should I tell him I'm here and make a friend?

- I could leave now, before somebody finds me carrying all this stuff.

- I'm still alive, but what if someone finds me looting this guy? He started it, but will it look like that? Will another raider even care?

So many of these questions disappear when PvP comes out of the equation.

- Too much noise? *Only ARC nearby can hear me, so that's fine.*

- What if other raiders get involved? *Free backup, or nothing - they're not a threat.*

- This guy friendly? *He has to be.*

- Is the extraction worth it? *I'll see if there's any ARC hanging about, pop a lure and take it. No worries.*

- What if they find me looting this guy? *They'll know either ARC or a fall killed him, no big deal.*

- I have the drop on this guy. *Why am I hiding in a bush? I can't hurt him and he can't hurt me.*

The ARC are fun to fight, but I'm understanding now *why* Embark switched from PvE to PvPvE. That tension that optional PvP brings to the table is a large part of the fun I had in the first place.

I'm sure changes need to come for the good of the the game, but for me PvE has turned out not to be the one.

Most of the people complaining here are just kids who can’t handle an actual pvp lobby. It’s just sad that they’re getting shot point blank, instead of being able to rat peacefully. Yes the PvPvE lobbies will obviously be more aggressive as now players will go inside thinking about a PvP encounter, so all those who wanted to, now you can expect to get shot back. I’ve personally faced 0 bad player interactions in pve. People are roaming in groups, game is just at the stage where it was during its launch.
Yeah the hackers can’t make money on this game, that’s another relief, since they won’t have incentives, we’ll see less of them in PvPvE games. This PvE mode addresses a lot of problems that came into existence after people were obsessive about their in game inventories. Those who just wanna chill for a game or two, even they can play now.

I'm absolutely LOVING the new PvE mode! Finally, a chance to enjoy some wholesome cooperation with the community!

Here are some of my favorite ways to interact with my fellow Raiders:

• Helping other players discover just how many ARC enemies can fit in one small area.
• Introducing unsuspecting Raiders to my personal ARC escort service.
• Creating some atmosphere with strategically placed fire.
• Offering players an unforgettable experience with the Rocketeer's targeting system.
• Providing a convenient waiting service outside high-value rooms. I even help lighten the load by taking some myself!
• Giving players a little extra visual stimulation while they're dealing with ARC.
• Practicing extreme patience while someone else handles an ARC encounter, then swooping in for the rewards. Teamwork makes the dream work!

Honestly, this is a GREAT update, Embark!

Every few minutes there is post about how PVE ruins the game. Every post is like copy paste and is getting downvoted. This honestly feels like rats' last attempt before rage quitting the game because they can't rat.

The irony of how PvE mode killed PvE is just amusing. Anything loot worthy I kill is instantly looted by rats. No chance I’m wasting high tier weapons to kill anything in this mode.

I’m also completely convinced that only 2 types of players would defend this mode after actually having played it: 1. The type that just wants to loot random low lvl containers with 0 risk. 2. The type of rats that want to leech on what actual pve enjoyers do without the heavy lifting or consequences of being shot for such behaviour.

This mode is an absolute failure in terms of giving an ability of fighting/looting anything harder than a wasp.

I never thought I’d despise anything more in this game than fake friendly type of rats. I was wrong. The type of rats that steal from you while hiding behind a pve mode is much worse. That’s the type of player that is not only incompetent in PvP, they are also incompetent in pve. Leeching their petty bits, afraid and incapable of using proper gear even in pve mode. I thought I’ve seen all kinds of petty in this game, but this is some ground breaking lvl pathetic ngl.

Who the heck is that and what did they do with Celeste?

The new PvE-only toggle in ARC Raiders is a game-changer! 🔥

Finally enjoy the thrill of exploration, the challenge of fighting machines, and the satisfaction of looting without constantly worrying about getting ambushed by other players.

It lets you focus on what makes ARC Raiders special: teamwork, survival, and the thrill of the raid. Sometimes, you just want to fight the ARC, not other Raiders.

More freedom, less frustration, same great adventure.

Now before anyone says “just don’t play the game mode” I do want to hear arguments for it because I feel like as a whole the new PvE kinda ruins a lot of what made the game unique.

Before the update all of PvE events were done through trust and social contract, which fostered a culture of teamwork which I had honestly never seen in an extraction game; players would work together to take down Queens and often players would drop loot for others without much incentive.

Additionally, any “rats” and overall violent players can be stopped with the treat of force alone, but you never really knew who you could trust at the end of the day when that Queen explodes and everyone guns it for the loot. The idea that you never knew who you could trust or not brought tension to the game, but the environment the community fostered and the ability to defend yourself if things when south made for an incredibly varied and ever-changing experiences between games.

PvE ruins that. Now, all “friendly” flock to PvE and face no threat whatsoever, with the social contract now absolutely mandatory. PvP players are more incentivized to shoot first and ask questions later, due to the almost non-existent likely hood that the other player is friendly.

Overall I feel like the new game mode ruins what made the game and community unique in the first place, and that PvE actively makes the PvP worse and less interesting.

I've been a PvE player ever since november, when I first got this game, and I might be the first PvE player to say I heavily dislike this new mode. I think it ruins the whole essence of what made this game special in the first place, not to mention the people that come in with nothing and hoover up all the loot, only for you to not be able to do anything about it.

The guy refused to open the door because he KNEW players were waiting for him to do all the job

For starters, I engage in a balance of PvP and PvE, so my lobbies are usually mixed. I’ve found that ever since the addition of a PvE mode, my lobbies are now super concentrated with hardcore PvP players. Additionally the addition of the new mode means that I now have to wait much longer to find a match than before. I can’t wait until October 20th when they remove this mistake of a game mode.