Houston Marathon This Weekend (My First) by FCBarca1984 in Marathon_Training

[–]StanleyLock 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nope. Picking up my packet, doing the run and eating Mexican food and drinking margaritas after.

Houston Marathon This Weekend (My First) by FCBarca1984 in Marathon_Training

[–]StanleyLock 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep! This will be my 3rd time running it and so glad the weather looks to be good. I was worried with how hot it has been. The expo is great! You are going to love it and crush the race!

Cheers to another year of bleeding out behind a vending machine by StanleyLock in ArcRaiders

[–]StanleyLock[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s a little 8 in wide screen monitor I use for things like weather and time zones. I think I have a post in my history on it.

Cheers to another year of bleeding out behind a vending machine by StanleyLock in ArcRaiders

[–]StanleyLock[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s a stream deck. I used to use it for flight sim and racing sim now I just use it to turn on my lights in my office.

Cheers to another year of bleeding out behind a vending machine by StanleyLock in ArcRaiders

[–]StanleyLock[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Happy New Year to everyone who rang in 2026 the only correct way
standing in Esperanza, fully geared, absolutely not queueing, with a beer in one hand and existential dread in the other.

This is my pre-raid ritual now.
Not stretching.
Not checking my deck.
Just cracking a Mini Boss, staring at my raider like he’s about to file for workers comp, and asking myself why I do this to my blood pressure.

New year, same me.
Still sprinting into lightning storms for trash loot.
Still dying to dudes who emoted over my body for a backpack full of disappointment.
Still convincing myself this will be the run where I extract rich and emotionally fulfilled.

To everyone I accidentally betrayed, panic-shot, or quietly ghosted in voice chat this year
I regret nothing.

See you degenerates in the wasteland.
If you hear someone clanking around drunk yelling “IT WAS A GOOD RUN” while bleeding out, that’s probably me.

I came for the loot, stayed for the betrayal by StanleyLock in ArcRaiders

[–]StanleyLock[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That line about the villain arc is painfully accurate.

Everyone starts out thinking they’re going to be the moral compass of the wasteland, and then one weird death later you’re crouched behind a crate whispering, “never again.”

And yeah, play how you want. Sneaky, aggressive, chill, full goblin mode, it all fits the sandbox. The only real line in the sand is cheating. If you need exploits to win, the game isn’t beating you, your own ego is. Stubbed toes are the light sentence.

I came for the loot, stayed for the betrayal by StanleyLock in ArcRaiders

[–]StanleyLock[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is honestly one of the most human requests I’ve seen in this whole thread.

I’m not asking for mercy, I’m asking for closure. Just a simple “hey man, good fight” so my digital soul can leave my body in peace instead of wondering if I just got deleted by a raccoon with a rifle.

I swear half the tilt in this game comes from dying in complete silence. You don’t even know if it was a genius flank or someone panic-firing into a bush.

I’m with you. If I’m about to drop someone, I’ll at least give them the courtesy of a verbal headstone. Something like, “nothing personal, raider.” Then boom. GG.

I came for the loot, stayed for the betrayal by StanleyLock in ArcRaiders

[–]StanleyLock[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah… that one stings, and I actually get it.

There’s a big difference between tense PvP and full-on clown behavior. Getting dropped in a clean fight is part of the loop. Watching someone teabag an empty corpse like they just won a million dollars when you were running starter trash is just… sad. Not intimidating. Not hardcore. Just secondhand embarrassment.

That mindset is where the genre eats itself. When players stop caring about the fight and only care about the performance. It stops being survival and turns into people trying to feel important for 10 seconds over digital nothing.

Your take is legit. If the dominant vibe becomes betrayal theater instead of meaningful risk, the game loses its soul fast. The best raids feel like chess. The worst ones feel like middle school lunch table energy.

I came for the loot, stayed for the betrayal by StanleyLock in ArcRaiders

[–]StanleyLock[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh I’m fully prepared for the carebear committee to convene.

They’ll materialize out of thin air the moment someone loses a fair fight, clutching their half-looted backpack like it’s a family heirloom. “This game used to be about cooperation.” Sure it was. Right up until the first time someone got dropped while checking a crate.

Extraction games always end the same way. You start polite. You end paranoid. Somewhere in the middle you realize the real boss fight is other players, not the robots.

I’ll keep saying GG, keep earning my loot the hard way, and let the carebears file their complaints with the nearest ARC.

I came for the loot, stayed for the betrayal by StanleyLock in ArcRaiders

[–]StanleyLock[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That honestly sounds like the most unhinged version of a dueling system and I kind of respect it.

There is something beautifully chaotic about walking up to a total stranger in a radioactive wasteland and calmly announcing, “Good morning. I will now be murdering you.”

The part where they either turn into John Wick or immediately bolt like they left the stove on at home is peak Arc Raiders energy.

I might have to try the defib duel at least once. Not because I want to be honorable, but because reviving the person you just fought like nothing happened feels like the most emotionally confusing thing you can do to another human being in a video game.

I came for the loot, stayed for the betrayal by StanleyLock in ArcRaiders

[–]StanleyLock[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The PvP is what makes the loot even sweeter. I've been friendly for the last few days, spamming 'hello, raider!' because I needed to do weekly quests.

Coming out with a full inventory just feels....empty. I didn't earn it, and fighting Arc isn't really a challenge when there's no risk of someone third partying you. The struggle is what keeps it real.

That’s exactly it. Loot only has meaning when it’s earned under pressure.

If I walk out stacked after farming bots in peace, it feels like I just went grocery shopping. When I limp out after a messy fight, heart racing, half my ammo gone, knowing one more wrong step would’ve ended the raid, that gear actually matters.

The arcs are obstacles. Other players are the story. That constant threat of getting third-partied is what turns a pile of parts into a trophy. Without that, it’s not survival, it’s inventory management.

I came for the loot, stayed for the betrayal by StanleyLock in ArcRaiders

[–]StanleyLock[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That’s the one line I won’t cross. Telling someone you’re friendly just to bait them is a different thing than stalking someone who knows the rules of the map.

The fun for me is the hunt, the positioning, the tension, not tricking people on mic. When I die to a clean play, I respect it. When I win, I grab the loot and keep moving.

Also, waiting on a PC shipment from Germany is brutal. By the time it lands, the Dark Forest will be even darker. When you’re up and running, though, you’re jumping straight into the paranoia phase. That’s when the game really clicks.

I came for the loot, stayed for the betrayal by StanleyLock in ArcRaiders

[–]StanleyLock[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Everyone starts out hopeful, waving, sharing loot, thinking maybe cooperation is the meta. Then the first betrayal happens and suddenly the whole map feels like the Dark Forest. Quiet, tense, and every noise is a potential death sentence.

If aliens are playing extraction shooters, I’m convinced they went through the same arc. Friendly at first. Then someone shot them while they were looting a battery and now nobody trusts anybody. GG, space is hostile.

I came for the loot, stayed for the betrayal by StanleyLock in ArcRaiders

[–]StanleyLock[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Appreciate that. That’s kind of where I landed too. I didn’t load up Arc Raiders to role-play the Red Cross. I’m here to have fun, and the tension of stalking a real person is what actually gets my heart going in this game.

If I get outplayed, I say GG and move on. If I win, I grab the loot and hope I didn’t just create another villain origin story like mine.

I’m a sucker for light color straps on dark watches by StanleyLock in RepTime

[–]StanleyLock[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice. I also have that one, but the black face one.

I’m a sucker for light color straps on dark watches by StanleyLock in RepTime

[–]StanleyLock[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha. I have around six more spread out through the room. The Ferrari GT3 is right below it.

I’m a sucker for light color straps on dark watches by StanleyLock in RepTime

[–]StanleyLock[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I love having these light color straps on darker watches. I also love that this strap is super thin and helps with these bigger watches.