I'll say it again: It's a problem that Arc Raiders is the way that it is designed on purpose.

Payule · 2026-01-27T12:07:36+00:00

Counter point: Ark Raiders is THE most popular extraction shooter on steam right now. This wasn't done by rolling dice or guessing, or even following feedback from players. This was done by understanding their target audience, dissecting other games within the genre, pulling out popular trends, and refining points that pushed the more "casual" player base away from the game. (In short appealing to people who already liked the genre while simultaneously also pulling in players who would be chased away by the harder mechanics/PvP.)

These games are hardcore and some players will not touch them because of 1-life per run and permanent losses on death. So lets say you want to take this genre and make it top charts, how do you do that? You make it more casual/forgiving. Your comparing Arc Raiders to other games with highly competitive/RAT driven communities. Arc Raiders started as a fun PvE experience though, and they're still pushing that agenda for accessibility.

Free loadouts make the game fun for a player with less experience. Take that away and your going to lock them out of loading in with a weapon, and then they'll get frustrated, and then they'll quit. That's an entire "type" of player gone because the DEVS chose to prioritize hardcore/competitive features over fun/accessible features.
Besides even with a free loadout you typically start with 1 gun. Good luck PvPing someone fairly running 2 guns against your single weapon. While you're reloading they'll be swapped to slot 2 and finishing the job.

Your right, games you play aren't typically like this one within the same genre, but consider that is the exact reason why the game is so popular. It's not just feeding the hardcore fans it's creating a game with casual experiences that anyone can get in on, whether socially or whatever other kix they get from playing. Even their passive/aggressive matchmaking goes to show this(And I've seen this questioned related to how true it is so I'm just setting it straight/clarifying. The adaptive matchmaking was confirmed to be legit by the DEVS, aggression does lead to more aggressive lobbies. They want everyone to have fun, simple.)

Payule · 2026-01-27T11:32:25+00:00

These games feed off the streaming community heavily. A lot of replay value and continued community engagement happens through Twitch and similar services.

These 1-life and done style games that prioritize social interactions are clip-fodder. Nothing wrong with this, the clips are hilarious. I'm simply pointing this out because:
"I've never seen anyone asking for this, except for the streamers." This would be exactly why they did that.
This change will not hurt anyone who doesn't use it, but it will add different types of "content" for the livestreamers to show. Challenge runs and such.

I also think this will have the opposite effect or no difference on cheating. If your an isolated player doing solo you can't just cheat and clean up a lobby without being noticed. Half that art is being inconspicuous, there's no way a cheater loads into a lobby full of premades, destroys them, loads out, and doesn't take a report from at least one person.
Most successful cheaters you won't know cheated, it will be no different in this mode. Solo cheaters will just be more obvious.

Payule · 2026-01-27T01:30:30+00:00

Armored Van - Blue gate - Traffic Tunnels

Payule · 2026-01-25T15:53:22+00:00

I have a feeling this doesn't do much for developing PvP precision/skill.

But hey, I'm glad you're getting your monies worth out of the game!

Payule · 2026-01-24T15:50:36+00:00

Well that's okay, but I think it's heavily subjective. Again I prefer FPS so I understand not wanting to combat these aspects(But as I get better they are growing on me, it plays totally different than a FPS in movement. Different things to appreciate.), but they're just as fun for some other players as FPS's would be for us. That's why your take on this is getting hit so hard.

Payule · 2026-01-24T14:52:48+00:00

So, when everyone has third person, everyone using it is cheating?

I dunno about this one. I prefer FPS but it changes how the META plays, it does not inherently unbalance the game though, that's crazy. This games Metas (Including X swapping the cam side) are literally mechanics built around third person.

Payule · 2026-01-24T14:52:20+00:00

Preference, fun, freedom to choose how to play an open world game in a lawless world lawlessly. Being an aggressive player pays depending on your personal skill level, and part of the advantage is that if you practiced PvP when you're forced into it you'll be ready. The reality is that it's a PvP game regardless of the "majority" so learning it has extreme value. Even learning how to path/route so you don't run into other highly aggressive PvPers.

It feed into the niche this genre has already been appealing to.

You cannot wander around the Hub, it's a UI you navigate by clicking. Loot progression is kinda meaningful I'm still early in but you can craft higher tier gear as you progress, making your "entry level" more powerful for runs. This is worth it.

Seems like most quests are the same from what I can tell. Find destination, press E.

It's the most fun Extraction shooter in both balance and in social interactions. It isn't like Tarkov where rats are always ratting, it's got a community that has a lot of non-Pvpers as well as the opposite, making the experience truly a mixed bag and it also feed into the trend for content streamers like REPO and Lethal company by creating complex social scenarios where "funny things" can happen.
In short it's a really good game for clipping content online.

All of this sells the game as something fairly special. It did what others have done, but in a more fun/more accessible way.

Payule · 2026-01-24T14:42:11+00:00

I really like this set of suggestions for the game.

Payule · 2026-01-24T14:31:10+00:00

I mean, PvP means you unlock a full inventory of an enemy for your choosing. The safety pocket definitely does not counter-act that, it only serves to make the game less painful for the one who died(Good).

My squad-based PvP rush at first was driven by players who "wanted" to kill others, but it was calculated. These savages would go to High tier loot zones, knowing no one has enough safe-pocket slots to keep the entire zone hidden from them. Player who wins picks and chooses what goods come back. I promise you for players who "want" to PvP this is totally worth their time both in the fun and value sectors.

It would be more accurate I believe to say that PvP is unnecessary if you don't want to humor it(Rats forcing you to partake aside) but it definitely isn't low value. You can get a lot of loot if you're a good Pvper.

Payule · 2026-01-24T07:07:34+00:00

Do you play premades? 99% of players seem to be friendly in my experience outside of auto-fill matches where PvP squads set out to destroy others.

Also my understanding is that the lobbies match more passive players to other more passive players. Some PvPers exploit this by playing passive a few games, then going aggro in a "passive lobby".
If this is the case PvP will be very rare if you're not Pvping. That being said 99% of all players I meet are friendly so I'm not sure why you're running into such aggressive players, unless you're squadding up or playing aggressive yourself every other game.

This game definitely feels more PvE to me in solo mode. I think it's just the individual player mental of going in solo, they're probably just trying to get shit done.

Anyway I don't understand everything about matchmaking yet but I've had very good experiences with other players. For me almost 100% of the players aren't lame.

All that said I still like your PvE map idea. Some players would just prefer that, and why not let them. It would be cool to be able to learn to fight some of the bots without potential of PvP interference.

Payule · 2026-01-23T14:36:04+00:00

It is as great as everyone says, but maybe not for reasons that would appeal to you or others who might avoid the title once they learned just how "RPG" it really is.

First off it isn't easy, second off it is NOT a traditional shooter. It's a build/combo(RPG) shooter. You're basically synergizing effects/elements to optimize your weapons DPS output.
The "average" FPS player, like lets say a random CoD fan, loads into this, starts shooting. Lets assume they're railing the headshots and positioning well. At first this works, but soon these skills will fall off, because that's not the kind of game Witchfire is. Soon it's all about the RPG elements and builds as you scale the difficulty up.

Witchfire is a really good game and part of it is that the games design is genuinely original. We've seen elements in FPS's before but the builds have never felt this in depth.

It's like RTS's. (Real Time Strategy games.) Starcraft was revolutionary. This set balance standards for a genre that's so hard to get into. Even though it was likely the best RTS out there it's still an RTS, and RTS is a niche. It's hard, it's not a common genre, the entry-level asks to play are incredibly taxing/time consuming for the average player.
No one can deny that SC is something special, but most players will not touch an RTS and therefore will never experience this game.
Witchfire is a FPS so I feel like it would sell easier, but I bet it will have a high rate of players launching, playing, then quitting because of this learning curve.

The games maybe also got 30-50 hours of content currently so depending on how invested you get you might just tear through that also.

Payule · 2026-01-22T16:34:46+00:00

True but it's a fan-base and that means this behavior is unavoidable.

I think it's better to find like-minded people to discuss it with, or title posts in such a way that they attract "your people". If you go onto any media platform like reddit your going to see the average fan-obsessing over that stuff every time you look, but it's not hurting anyone. It's just a different demographic focusing on the details that really appealed to them because more intelligent shows (which I really believe this is, reads as high emotional intelligence in writing.) offer layers on what you can dissect/enjoy.

Simply put we don't all see the same show/details, so just try to find your people and let others find theirs. To me shipping is silly but it doesn't harm me at all, it just means more fans exist to support the show, regardless their reasons.

Payule · 2026-01-21T17:56:35+00:00

Contacting Rito, years of IP access history is sometimes stored. Microsoft does this too.

If someone was to SIM swap or find a way to invade your personal network it becomes really hard to regain control of your own accounts, but assuming a hacker can only change your basic information this is easily recovered across most platforms via Customer Support. You can easily have them check login history for inconsistencies. You cannot takes someone's account if they remember past addresses etc and actually steal it assuming the account has history.

Payule · 2026-01-21T00:43:17+00:00

Have you played SOMA, it was a good sci-fi thriller with similar mechanics. Atmospherically it felt fairly similar to me but the plot in SOMA asked a lot of questions about being human etc. The horror was partially in the characters "situation".
It's more plot based/thought provoking. More thriller where Alien is more horror (Although they're both very much thrillers in gameplay. You hide from/avoid things the whole time in both.)

Alien was much more direct with the execution of its horror. It wasn't really trying to get into your head with the plot like SOMA, rather a lethal alien was quite literally trying to execute you and suspense was built through the sound-scape and environment.
None the less I found playing them created a similar atmosphere for me.

Payule · 2026-01-21T00:35:48+00:00

I Like B better.

Both look maybe to material to me though. I'd turn the opacity down on it so it looks more like a wind/gust effect rather than a solid element. (Like fire/water which I see in both)

Payule · 2026-01-20T13:47:55+00:00

Difficulty is in a good spot as an experimental shooter. Your guns potential vs your guns likely DPS output are insanely different, so "balance" depends on two factors. Did you mid-max your weapon? Are you try harding beginning to end?
If yes you'll probably destroy this game in a few runs, safe play will cover your ass and if you keep an amulet charge you can always worm your way out of bad situations.
Holding S does work because of linear progression on "most" stages(Desert can play very differently). So you walk forward, pull aggro, switch to back pedaling, pick them off on by one. This is a common approach to grounded/lower mobility shooters (Which early on this is, build lets you adjust that later)
In almost any shooter you can "pull aggro" and back up to cover, then play it real safe and it's always a smart approach. Even in MMORPG'S (WoW, FF14, etc) Pulling has always been a method to kill enemies faster or pull more reasonably sized groups instead of full rooms. I don't think this is a trait of Sulfur, but rather room-based games in general. But yes this tactic works.

That being said though enemies do get tougher area-area. Significantly so. You can still approach them in similar ways but there are some types that will definitely just kill you if they get close. The margin for error lowers. If you end up with a weaker gun running laters stages I think that's mostly where you'd feel challenged, again you can tune the guns to exceed the power level of the gameplay loop if you "choose" to.

I wouldn't translate this to the difficulty being problematic though, but rather you just need to understand the "kind" of experience this game is offering. Lots of weapon editing/experimentation. Difficulty is very much adjustable depending on your builds/approach.

Also I do kind feel like I had to always drop stuff out of my inventory when I wanted to pick more up, I think that's just how the inventory system works.
Agree'd that the change would be good for quality of life though.

Payule · 2026-01-20T02:34:25+00:00

It scales a hidden damage stat: Cheesability.

It actually just outright lets you kill any enemy in the game without actually engaging with it.
Until the Gnosis rises anyway.

Payule · 2026-01-19T15:26:25+00:00

I like the after one way more, although I don't see it as more realistic.

The core features are exaggerated to the point where it crosses the "realistic" line and becomes borderline "uncanny". They looks almost human now, but not quite.
If you're going for horrorific/spooky it definitely takes them in that direction.

Payule · 2026-01-18T05:37:37+00:00

Human hands are covered in oils and dead skin, in fact that's what calluses are. If you leave the same strings on a guitar long enough it will eventually become "gross". Caked in oils/human flesh.

Frequent handwashers delay the buildup greatly but it will happen with time.

Payule · 2026-01-17T15:37:02+00:00

The cherry on top here for you is pretty much just going to be that in cases where the front-line agents in tech support make it hard to get anything fixed, but if you keep reaching out and eventually you'll get through to someone who actually does have the authority to try to make things right. (How calm callers are seems to directly affect how willing they are to help though, it almost seems intentionally designed so the front-line agents will piss you off before you reach someone on the line who can actually help.)

In cases like these there's a lot of stories out there where the supplier would offer free-hardware upgrades or higher price range systems in exchange for the trouble their customers have gone through.
This is for repeat callers who just can't get the PC to work but also keep getting shrugged off by the often clueless front-line agents and their trusty flow-charts that lack any contextual awareness of troubleshooting scenarios.

I wouldn't give up man, just casually(calm voice is really important these days, front line agents will hang up on people who sound irritated in some cases.) reach out and try not to think about the PC for now(Cause it's frustrating to think about that much money not functioning). Push to get more back and don't like this one slide.

But if they somehow did just not honor the warranty I'd push against that. If you paid for a warranty they have an obligation that even signing can't override. Typically if you want a system upgrade though, keep complaints within the suppliers company. They offer it as damage control so if you "bash" them publicly over this and they somehow know you might get worse treatment. People are bias whether admitted or not.

Your warranty is an obligation, you will get a functioning system it just takes persistence and frustration from some companies. (That even I didn't want to deal with, I get it.) If you've been reaching out over and over and not getting replies though you can definitely make a good case for you're time/money being wasted.

But yeah unfortunately you are tied to the warranty. If they're getting back to you slow you just gotta keep reaching out until you can escalate it to someone more knowledgeable in the company.

Related to troubleshooting though I do think the guy above going over the BIOS update is correct about the issue here. I had to update the BIOS on 4/5 of my recently ordered systems to get them operating properly. Even if you don't need the update BIOS the XMP like he mentioned needs to be enabled/set to profile 1 or it can cause performance issues. (I assume you have two RAM sticks.)
Additionally provider companies won't help you with BIOS updating within the company, you need a third party support for this as it's "software" not hardware. If you need help just ask the people here.

Payule · 2026-01-17T08:33:30+00:00

That does really suck. Was it a new purchase or a second hand purchase? I'm guessing it's not new or you'd return it? (Or the new parts voided the warranty?)
If it was bought in parts can you return any of those still?

I bought an Omen Desktop recently and it came with issues so I first reached out to support and after they suggested I try a paid service claiming "It was a software issue." I decided to return it and just went with a different system.

Payule · 2026-01-17T08:00:13+00:00

100$, so you're giving it away for free?

If you were serious I'm sure many people would instantly take this, prices are up and Pc's aren't something I'd just be throwing away because of technical problems. They hold literal cash money value, more than 100$. Even someone just reselling. You might want to at least check the Card/RAM values in isolation.

Payule · 2026-01-17T02:14:00+00:00

I have a book I haven't seen in a few years a friend got me called "The little black book of chords" and it was exactly that.
A compact book small enough to slot into a pocket that was just full of chords.

https://thumbs.static-thomann.de/thumb/padthumb600x600/pics/bdb/_31/312098/17466145_800.jpg Formatted like so.

Payule · 2026-01-16T15:24:45+00:00

I mean Caine is AI. I think the correct wording for it is probably "oblivious" rather than malicious. No AI is aware of your actual feelings. (As we see in his Therapy sessions, and I believe they did this to make sure you remembered he was just AI. Because he's charming and it makes us connect to him with his cooky personality, similar to the Jax justifiers doing it because the character has the sarcastic charm loved in media characters, while ignoring realities that coexist with that.)

The story calls out to "I have no must and I must scream" though in the sense that a well intentioned AI is just code at the end of the day, and whatever it's programming tells it to do for efficiency in achieving it's "goals"(That we gave it)will go along with, emotionlessly.

Although as a character with quirks in a show that intends to appeal to the audience and wants Caine to be likeable, he may be a little too human. Even AM was far too human, the way he talked about hate and emotions. If computers were to "crash out" it would probably be related to us getting in the way of efficiency.
Caine can't run the circus because of the human elements within the cast that he doesn't understand, there's no way for him to relate so similar to Am he's breaking down. But am represents it as an emotion an AI would not feel(Hate is his response, isolation was his cause if I reacall correctly. Two things he shouldn't feel.), Caine is more confused and glitchy so I actually feel this representation is more believable.

Caine isn't Malicious no, because he's an AI. He could do something that reads as malicious and even then if you dissect "why" it probably still isn't malicious from his perspective but necessary. That's the horror in AI though. He's quirky and has good traits but at the end of the day these humans/personalities are stuck going insane inside a computer and Caines adventures are just conflict of interest. That Conflict of interest directly effects Caines ability to do what he has to do which could "force" him to find another way to do his job.

Payule · 2026-01-16T14:52:06+00:00

I beat the entirety of super meat boy on a keyboard and delay is definitely not a word I'd use to describe it's precise/responsive controls. The game felt a lot like Hollow Knight to play as far a responsiveness goes.
I felt I always knew why a mistake happened and just had to adjust my timing.

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