“Always two there are” isn’t an adage limited just to the traditional distribution of evil Jedi. There are also two reasons why a person might engage with Extraction as a genre. I indicated the first on Friday, but one more appropriate to Gabriel and others.
As Gabriel discussed in his own post – the mere existence of which already being an index of the madness consuming him – ARC Raiders is at least two different games. Going in by yourself and going in with any number of other people puts your decision matrix into harsh relief.
We have had to put people down like dogs playing in groups. The incentives for the vast majority of these interactions are pulled all the way toward violence. Although… at a certain point, it’s possible to trivialize (or nearly so) difficult PvE content in a group and the rewards for such feats are nutballs. These interactions can return to violence at the end; we’ve all seen heist movies. But as a generality you simply aren’t safe. Anywhere. From anything you might see.
If you queue up solo, there is still a chance you’re gonna get bit. That ambiguity vibrates throughout the entire structure, makes it vital, freights every interaction with downside potential. But that makes the more human interactions you have in that context unbelievably salient, and the vast majority of my encounters are not only positive and helpful but… friendly. Voice is common. Making a connection like this in the least likely place and under borderline psychotic, Darwinian conditions is life affirming in a way you ring from way afterward. This isn’t why I bought this game at all. It literally just came with the rest of it, for free.
(CW)TB out.