One of the most interesting developments since the PvE update isn't the mode itself.

It's watching people slowly realize that the PvE vs PvP war was never the actual issue.

The real divide has always been between normal players and brainrot players.

Most PvE players never hated PvP players. They hated griefers. They hated the guy whose entire gameplay loop was making sure everyone else had less fun. The guy who sees a mechanic and immediately asks, "How can I abuse this?" instead of "How can I enjoy this?"

Likewise, most PvP players weren't the issue either. Most people like competition, risk, and player interaction.

The actual problem has always been the same crowd:

Cheaters

Exploit abusers

RMT farmers

Corner campers with the reaction speed of a house plant and the patience of a tax auditor

People whose entire personality can be summarized as "if it's annoying, I'll do it"

And now we're getting a live demonstration of that reality.

The PvE players who simply wanted a more relaxed experience got their mode.

Great.

But did the "problem players" disappear?

Of course not.

They evolved.

Now you have people running around PvE servers vacuuming loot from under everyone's noses because apparently they require a constant supply of negative attention to survive.

The same players who spent months insisting they loved "player interaction" suddenly discovered that ruining someone's farming route works just as well as ruining their raid.

Who could have predicted this completely unforeseeable outcome?

Then we have the Stella Crow situation.

An amazing number of players suddenly camping Pendola because augmented weapons are apparently the hottest commodity around.

Not because they desperately need them for gameplay.

Not because they're chasing some incredible build.

But because every multiplayer game eventually attracts the same species of player that views the game as a resource extraction operation for RMT.

Again, notice the pattern.

The issue isn't PvP.

The issue isn't PvE.

The issue is the people.

The same people.

Every time.

And while all of this is happening, we're already seeing something else that should concern everyone regardless of which queue they prefer.

The update isn't even that old.

We're only a few days in.

It's a weekend.

And PvPvE is already seeing a very obvious increase in suspicious players, cheaters, wallhack-level awareness, impossible tracking, and all the usual nonsense that magically appears whenever high value loot starts moving around.

Normally you'd expect that to be one of the highest priority issues after a major update.

Instead, the conversation keeps getting dragged back into PvE vs PvP tribalism while the actual health of the game takes hits in real time.

The frustrating part is that every day these problems sit unchecked, normal players get pushed out while the people nobody wants around become a larger percentage of the active population.

That's a recipe that has killed more multiplayer games than balance issues ever have.

And to add a little extra salt to the wound, we're already seeing what looks like preferential treatment for certain voices in the community.

If you have a massive following, your complaints seem to travel at light speed.

If you're AverageJoe472 with 200 hours played and a genuine concern, good luck getting anyone to notice.

That isn't healthy either.

If there are teams available to take care of specific community figures and their concerns, then there should be enough resources dedicated to taking care of the thousands of average players who make up the actual backbone of the game.

Because streamers and influencers are part of the community.

They are not the community.

At the end of the day, the last few days have reinforced something I've believed for a long time:

PvE players are not the enemy.

PvP players are not the enemy.

Most people on both sides just want to log in and enjoy the game.

The real problem has always been the same small collection of cheaters, griefers, exploiters, RMT goblins, and terminal brainrot individuals who migrate toward whatever activity lets them extract the most value while contributing the least.

Hopefully this entire situation helps more people open their eyes.

Because if both normal PvE players and normal PvP players stop blaming each other and start recognizing the actual issue, the community might finally be able to have the conversation that matters.

/rant

You can sync your account so it matches your in game too.

They need to expand on Outposts as soon as they can imo. They gotta let us place any object anywhere though, these placement options are hella limiting.

Come on Embark we need some love for dolabra, it would be soo cool to use amplified version of dolabra with increased damage against Arc and increased range + some cool exclusive

Was gunna open the door beneath me initially but there were 3 guys waiting for me to do so, I ended up deciding to snipe some arcs to pass the time waiting for them to leave

Probably half of all ARC units were locked onto me right there. I wonder what the other raiders on the ground were thinking of this...

The sub has been at it the entire week, and I wanted to leave my 2 cents.

I've been playing PvE and also read a lot of posts from "carebares" that felt more like crybabies than anything else.

PvE has been the most fun I had in the game since I bought it. I can finally play with friends and not feel like im being watched and hunted, I can take fights with bigger arc otherwise I would have avoided from fear of being too loud or in a bad spot and doing quests is better now and i can take the scenery of this gorgeous game.

Yes, sometimes I kill something, and 5 people show up to vulture on it, but beats getting shot and loose everything, plus most arc respawn.

I sometimes do it myself to get called an asshole, but hey, I could have shot you afterwards, taken all for myself, and then have someone shot me, and the cycle keeps going.

Encountered my fair share of "griefers," and guess what? they are so easy to avoid.

(Also, the part no one wants to admit, doing a bit of ragebaiting every now and then is also fun)

Lure grenades, cloak devices, the push perk. Those are tools that you would have to bring with you anyway. If you are bringing just ammo shields and bandages, u aren't playing the game right anyway.

Someone died, and I dont have a defib? Of course, I want your stuff, can't let it go to waste, is your fault you died to the Arc

And the fun part is that I can go to PvPvE lobbies loose and not worry. I end up losing half my stash, trying to recover the value of the first kit I lost.

The game is fun. U are just too bitter to see it. If they remove the toggle after all this, i might not play again.

Cheerios

It's been downright amazing almost like a movie. The amount of fun I've had. The amount of friends I made. All of them hope the toggle is permanent. I agree with them. I can't wait. God bless Arc Raiders.

Outpost status, What do you think of it so far?

I like to stock up on fruits for Scrappy etc, Anyone wanna share some photos? 🤓

Kill 3 wasps 10000 times and you're done. Why not just tie it to XP gain and let people do what they like?

Had such a great time tonight bringing a ton of defibs and reviving all the literal fallen brotheren.

I told my son to go look for mayhem on Pendola Pass, and this is what he found 😂 A full health Bully stuck upside down in a tree. He went in with nothing, took it down, grabbed the loot, and made it out at extract.

We’d just got dolby atmos running on the home theater too, so the whole room was coming alive while this was happening. Such a fun run to watch him pull off. Anyone else found a Bully stuck like this?

Embarrassing. I don’t know what’s been going on lately but I’ve been getting absolutely spanked by the arc, I’ve lost 2 hullcrackers and a Jupiter this weekend.

Spaceport, EM, PvE test. I was looting a freshly broken-into courier in search of bully parts. Dude runs up and bull rushes me out of the looting screen while talking shit on mic.

In a stroke of divine judgement, he is smitten by lightning and knocked. I could've warned him, but I didn't. I also could've been the bigger man, but I wasn't. As he started to crawl away begging for a defib, I sicced a nearby bombardier on his butt. Thanks for the Anvil IV and Survivor, buddy.

AITA?

I wish more people would talk about this game's visuals. It looks like its on par with Red Dead Redemption 2 and that game's visuals are insane

The full auto burletta seems like it has a similar TTK as a max bobcat but it equips way faster and doesn’t require a kinetic to reach this TTK. this is gonna change the balance of things.

There is no reason there should be a giant, accessible window to the final room of loot on the newest end game content grind. I have not done the Emperor puzzle a single time where someone is not waiting outside with a Snaphook to take half the shit in the room. Put up a barrier that Arc can fly through and players can't. This is not hard to fix. Respectfully, this is not a request, do it.

First there's people glitching in and now its just people waiting for you to do all the work and take all the shit. How is this supposed to be rewarding?

Edit: For some extra context into my reasoning here, I want to add a few things.

This is not me crying about rats or having to PvP for loot. I play PvP. I have no issue shooting players for loot. That's not the point.

My point IS that having this door open the moment someone gains access from the inside completely circumvents the entire intended gameplay loop surrounding the Emperor to begin with. Saying it "encourages player interaction" is not true. It encourages people sit around and wait for someone to roll out the red carpet for them. If you want players to fight, they need to do it inside on the way through the Emperor. Not cheese their way directly to the end after someone did it as it was intended.

Just had 2 trolls trap me in the medical storage room on Stella. I thought about surrendering but no way i was going to let these losers have their way.
Some other guys showed up and i asked them if they could bring a shredder over. One kind soul walks a shredder over to where theyre holding me captive and we all watch as it shreds the trolls to pieces. We then loot their dead bodies. Thank you again to the guy who decided to help me out of that situation. Youre a hero.

It's the "Hang in there" after the flair popped for me 😂

This person ran all the way through my Emperor loot run (i.e. from the key that I used to open the door).

I was stuck in the maze portion getting blasted by pops and fireballs while homie ran by racing to the end without saying shit or helping.

After I made it through to catch up by the skin of my teeth, I find him getting ready to loot the whole room.

So anyways, I started blasting.

Long story short, if I open the Emperor, and you're racing through to steal my loot, you're getting blasted.

I feel like this is fair, wanted others take on it.