ARC Raiders developers have considered high-value matchmaking or special rounds that don’t allow the use of the Free Loadout option, but there is a major risk that comes along with that type of queue.
The ‘Problem’ With Free Loadouts in Arc Raiders
As the ARC Raiders playerbase continues to grow, the development team at Embark Studios is continuing to listen to player feedback and take their requests into consideration as they work on the game’s roadmap. One request that has come up from some higher-level players is the desire for matches that require players to bring in some minimal level of valuable items.
The idea behind this request is that it can be far too easy to enter the game using a Free Loadout and turn a huge profit with basically no risk. A portion of the playerbase feels like it would be beneficial to have some Map Condition or special raids where players know that everyone is coming in with some minimum level of value in their loadout.
ARC Raiders Devs Do not Want To Segment The player Base Too Much
In a recent interview with GamesRadar, design lead Virgil Watkins explained that the team has considered this type of feature, but that there is concern it will make it too inconvenient for players to squad up together.
“I think for the moment, we don’t want to segment the player base too much. We don’t want to put people in situations like, ‘Hey, we’re trying to play together, but I don’t have the criteria to go play with you and now we can’t play together.’ There’s some hesitation to put barriers between players and the content they want to play, or want to make an attempt at. It’s not something that’s off the table for us, but I think we have to be a little careful in how we do that.”
In addition to making it harder for friends to team up, any further segmentations of the playerbase could also impact queue times.
It’s very interesting to see confirmation that this idea is not entirely off the table for the team. This sort of feature would likely have the two-part effect of eliminating Free Loadout players who might be more aggressive because they have nothing to lose, but also increasing PvP tension because all players would be carrying something of value.
It sounds like this feature, if it ever does arrive, is not coming any time soon, so players will have to continue preparing for anything as they go topside in the meantime.
Although the Cold Snap events are now over, ARC Raiders players can currently focus on working through the Week 13 Trials.
ARC Raiders is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles.
The post ARC Raiders Dev Explains the Problem With Matches That Exclude Free Loadouts appeared first on VICE.
