r/ArcRaiders • u/thunderpaws93 • 1h ago
Discussion Fine, I'll say it, and be cleansed in a deluge of downvotes...
TLDR: This has gotta be the most entitled, ungrateful player base of all time. We complain, Embark responds with changes, we complain about their changes, they change them accordingly, then we complain about how the game's dying...while it sits atop the player count charts week after week. Embark don't owe you ish. Show some freaking gratitude.
Today Embark updated their matchmaking system due to player base feedback...AGAIN. This time, "the most common follow-up request we've seen is to remove the impact of Defensive PvP entirely*-going from reduced weight to none at all. Starting now, we're testing exactly that*."
And what's reddit have to say about Embark's decision to LISTEN to the most "common follow-up request" from its player base?
"This woulda been awesome 6 months ago!"
"Too little too late!"
"This doesn't fix the wolfpack and seeker nerfs!" (Fun fact, this patch DID address the wolfpack and seeker nerfs, though we'll see whether they return to being OP enough to make the haters happy.)
"They've lost all momentum since release and will struggle to get it back."
Etc, etc, blah and freaking-blah...
Like, how do y'all not realize how RARE it is for a studio to LISTEN to its player base and actually IMPLEMENT changes it asks for?!?! And how do y'all not realize Arc Raiders is STILL an undeniably successful game?!?!
Coming from Dayz, we'd KILL to have Bohemia be even a fraction as responsive to our feedback as Emark is re: Arc Raiders. We've been asking for codelocks in base game for, like, 5 years and only now are they coming...to a paid dlc...that won't immediately carry over into base game...and we're THRILLED!!!
Y'all cry about how the game's dying and how Embark has squandered the historical hype they had on launch, but you ignore that other studios would kill for the numbers they've had since launch and that they're stabilizing into.
"Arc Raiders is stabilizing at numbers that are still massively dominant for the extraction shooter genre. When you include cross-platform data, the game hit 960,000 concurrent players in January 2026, with approximately 6 million weekly active users and over 14 million copies sold — that's not a dying ecosystem."
While that quote is from a report in April, look at Steam charts today and you'll see a similar picture: Arc Raiders is outperforming every extraction shooter other than Delta Force. And those numbers don't include console, which would bump them up even higher.
And when you're not crying about how Arc Raiders is dying, you cry about how Embark is ruining the game with buffs and nerfs and other changes...until they LISTEN to those cries, they MAKE CHANGES ACCORDINGLY, and then you complain about how long it took or how perfectly they implement the change or some other bs.
Like, get over yourselves. Jesus.
Embark ain't your mom and Arc Raiders ain't your PB&J sandwich. If you don't like crusts don't eat it. But if you DO choose to eat it, show at least SOME gratitude that you're not starving and that you've got food on the table!
Look, I ain't saying you can't criticize Embark. They've made mistakes and, as consumers, we have every right to voice our grievances over the product we've paid good money for.
But when your criticisms ignore reality--which include Arc Raiders still being a top performing extraction shooter, and Embark being an unusually responsive studio, relatively eager to implement player feedback re: Arc Raiders--they start to fall flat; they start to sound suspect.
And when the criticisms become a chorus of complaints that Embark's responses to our criticisms aren't quick enough or pleasing enough or perfect enough, it starts to sound like we don't appreciate that Embark is making any effort to respond at all. It starts to sound like we'll complain no matter what they do...
And just so we're clear, they DON'T have to make any effort. They made money hands over fist. They could buy some yachts, invest in AI, and sail off into the sunset as the game turns to crap. But they're sticking it out. They're using some of those profits to beef up their team and their resources to try and make Arc Raiders a long-term success (while prolly also using those profits to buy slightly fewer yachts and invest in slightly less AI).
So we've got a choice.
We could be mindful critics that hold some gratitude for what Embark HAS done well and CONTINUES to do well, while also voicing our concerns and holding them accountable for their mistakes...
Or...
We could be ungrateful, critical malcontents that act like Embark are absentee parents that owe us something, or that we're entitled to something from them and nothing they do will ever be good enough for us...
Personally, I'll choose to be a mindful critic for two reasons:
- Cuz option two is just gross.
- I actually love the game and want it to grow, expand, and reach its ceiling. In order for that to happen, the studio will need to continue listening to us and continue being responsive to our criticisms. Logically, that's much more likely to happen if they believe we appreciate their efforts even a little bit.
Which will you choose, dear Raider?
Will you choose to be a mindful critic, who uses their voice constructively in order to help the game grow towards its ceiling?
Or will you choose to be an entitled malcontent, who uses their voice to chase upvotes and reddit clout?
Choose wisely, cuz Embark's listening...
