Arc Raiders had a free playtest this weekend, and some players are arguing that the game needs a PvE-only mode. In the game players are tasked with scavenging resources from an open map infested with enemy robots alongside other players, with players not in your group effectively being another type of enemy. This, of course, has some players saying that fighting enemy robots is enough, that they don’t need the extra stress of having to fight off other players too. The pro-PvP players are, of course, saying that this is what the game is, and if you don’t like it you should go play something else.
It’s not like that’s never been done before. Sea of Thieves is another PvPvE game, and not too long ago it too got a PvE-only mode.
What do you say about this? Should a game that wants to be both PvE and PvP also offer exclusive modes?
My experience with PvPvE games is they tend to be incredibly toxic, with some people just trying to get started, and others picking on them for fun.
I have several friends who vow not to play PvPvE games again after bad experiences in games like Last Oasis and World’s Adrift, although they were interested in playing both of those games in a PvE format.
Personally I find the extra danger from considering other players “another type of enemy” to be interesting. But also those types of games tend to breed to most toxic communities.
The problem is that they’re beyond another type of enemy. There’s a a sizeable portion of players that loves just killing other players, not to loot them (because they’re nebvies, there’s nothing to loot), not to defend something, or whatever, just to relish in the carnage of helpless others.
I’m like your friends, I just never play a game if there’s any PVP involved. It’s not worth it. I play to have fun, not to be a perpetual victim.
nobody is helpless in pvp games like arc, i’ve squad wiped people who had far higher end gear than me during the play test, and had the same done to me. if you don’t enjoy competition then don’t play a pvp game??
Not just your experience, all of the games I’ve seen have a steady pulse of reviews about giving up due to of older players shitting on newbies, with devs silently endorsing it or having their hands tied by management because either “that’s the way it’s meant to be played” or they have a microtransactions shop and this toxicity encourages petty rage spending to catch up.
And it works, because despite the mixed or barely positive reviews, these games still enjoy a steady stream of players enjoying the cycle of abuse.
I’d consider it an exploitation of the “do unto others what was done unto me” psychological thing we humans tend to have going on.