Many prefer cooperation over PvP.
The new extraction shooter ARC Raiders has attracted a lot of attention. Although it is a PvPvE project, users have begun to notice that players sometimes refuse PvP and join forces — the reason for this phenomenon remains a mystery to some.
There are disputes in the community between "camps" of supporters and opponents of PvP, the struggle of which has gone beyond the fields of ARC Raiders and moved to forums.
Eurogamer journalists decided to talk to a sociologist on this topic to learn about the academic side of the issue: why ARC Raiders players unite in this way, and how long the anti-PvP movement can last.
Luke Millard stated:
The more I delved into this topic, the more my opinion changed. I saw more and more people switching to anti-PvP, more and more people condemning PvP and punishing PvP players. I would say that from a sociological point of view, it is all based on the concept of power and authority.
The sociologist noted a trend — the gaming industry is focused on creating linear games with limited choices that deprive the player of autonomy.
Therefore, when a player has a choice — and this, in my opinion, is wonderful — to play in a certain way, he automatically sides with other players. In this case, it means refusing PvP.
Millard associates this behavior with the "idea of camaraderie," for example, this can be seen in Helldivers 2 and Battlefield. However, not all projects are filled with kindness:
I think that [what is happening] in games like this is almost like a parallel to Escape from Tarkov. In "Tarkov" you don't help anyone at all. You go through the game, collect as much loot as possible and leave. It's just ruthless. I don't know what it is about Arc Raiders that contributes to the kindness we see. It seems that it was not only initially, but has actually become the main way to play the game... All weekend I see people punishing PvP players (laughs)
According to the sociologist, the number of PvP players will increase over time, and a separate PvE mode is not the best idea:
I think that if players who don't play PvP don't become the driving force behind the game's development or an integral part of it, they will eventually "die out." [PvE mode] will eliminate the nuance. If you approach it unnaturally, if you are forced not to be a PvP player [by your own choice], it deprives you of pleasure and camaraderie, deprives you of naturalness, and, as a result, the connections you form disappear. Without the element of risk, everything disappears
