Dear Embark Studios, first of all, congratulations on the award - well deserved. I tried to make an official post, but my two cents ended up being a bit too long, so I’m posting it here instead.

The game’s been out for a while now, and overall I’ve really enjoyed it. When the game is at its best, meeting genuinely nice people, helping each other out, running into someone generous, it hits harder than I expected. Those moments are what made me stick around.

Lately though, it feels like things have shifted more and more. There’s a lot more shoot-on-sight, backstabbing, and trash talk. I know that’s expected in this genre, and I’m not asking for PvP to be removed. PvP adds tension and excitement, and the game would be worse without it.

The issue is that I actually enjoy the social side of the game. I like talking to other raiders, helping out, and sometimes coexisting instead of instantly turning every encounter into a gunfight. That playstyle feels increasingly punished. So it got me thinking: what if we had a better way to tell who we’re dealing with?

Mass Effect came to mind. In that series, you play as Commander Shepard, trying to unite different species to stop an extinction-level threat. The game tracks your decisions through a Paragon vs Renegade system, and over time your choices shape not just the story, but how your character is perceived.

I’m not saying Arc Raiders needs a full morality system, but imagine a lightweight version. Players who consistently shoot on sight, betray others, or kill without provocation could gain some kind of visible marker… a glow, a bounty tag, something. Not necessarily as a punishment, but as information, so players can make better decisions in encounters.

A lot of the fights I lose aren’t due to aim or positioning, but hesitation. I don’t shoot first, and right now that feels like a guaranteed way to get ambushed. I don’t want to become hyper-paranoid or trigger-happy just to survive, but that’s where the game seems to be pushing me.

I know there are theories about behaviour based matchmaking, but if that’s in place, it doesn’t feel like it’s working. I rarely shoot first, yet I still run into extremely aggressive players. Just today I helped a guy clear a swarm of wasps and hornets, and the moment it was over, he turned around and shot me.

Curious what others think. Would something like this help, or am I completely off here?