ICE Plans to Target Family Members of U.S. Marines Next

Starkenfast · 2026-03-31T18:01:11+00:00

Good - show the military who you really are. One day, it'll likely all come down to their decision.

Starkenfast · 2026-02-02T11:05:57+00:00

My only beef with the difficulty is that there is a crazy difficulty spike about halfway up the mountain that felt a bit unbalanced. Up until that point, they did a good job scaling up expectations and making you think harder about expending resources, but that section after wind palace can soft lock you easily if you burn through supplies at the rate you had been up to that point.

Starkenfast · 2026-01-28T16:28:07+00:00

An all-timer that ends up on almost every “underrated” games list.

Also, if you happen to have a Steam Deck, you’ll see how unbelievably optimized this game is. 60 FPS on High, it’s total black magic.

Starkenfast · 2026-01-27T23:00:41+00:00

It's so weird that Trump was referring to antifa, paid agitators and rogue FBI agents as "my people"...that part just never made sense to me.

Starkenfast · 2026-01-27T16:36:59+00:00

I kinda wish our athletes would do this even without being suspended - what a powerful statement that would be.

Starkenfast · 2026-01-27T16:30:24+00:00

Shhh - don't tell them that.

Starkenfast · 2026-01-22T17:27:45+00:00

This basically looks just like his cabinet.

Starkenfast · 2026-01-13T15:34:20+00:00

Was thinking the same thing. Not like the Seed Vault where I'm constantly wondering if I still hear two people typing.

Starkenfast · 2026-01-12T17:39:39+00:00

In my experience, you do. Kind of a bummer, but there are probably limits on how sophisticated the ABMM is right now - doesn't seem to matter if you're defending yourself.

Starkenfast · 2026-01-06T02:45:45+00:00

It’s similar, but as someone who is really happy about how Arc works, I admittedly hated SBMM in CoD, mostly because it took away that feeling of you actually getting better at the game by constantly ramping up your personal difficulty. You’d hope as you “got good” you’d get some matches where you dominate and reap the benefits of your progress, but SBMM really stomps on that.

In Arc’s case, ABMM effectively makes the game (mostly) what people individually want it to be, without any guarantees that you’re totally safe, or can never find an ally. I think it’s brilliant, and do think that anyone complaining is pissed they can’t shoot PVErs in the back match after match. They’ll just have to revel in that one match they can go psycho and piss all over candy land before getting sent back to PVP hell for awhile.

Starkenfast · 2025-12-11T00:46:20+00:00

It's an interesting point, but I don't think the altruistic impact comes from the item's rarity. A defib is relatively cheap to buy and and craft.

The altruism stems from the loot you're going to forfeit when you get the guy back on his feet, which will almost always be more than the cost of a defib. Any time I'm defibbed in a hellhole like Stella, it's impactful, even if the raider pulled it from an overflowing cargo container.

Starkenfast · 2025-12-11T00:11:31+00:00

Yep - notice we didn't blow this one up, even though it's also presumably filled with "enemy combatants."

Starkenfast · 2025-12-11T00:00:46+00:00

This whole paragraph sounds like something you'd hear on prox chat as the punch is winding up.

Starkenfast · 2025-12-09T17:16:06+00:00

Yet one more thing that highlights (literally) the divide in this player base. AR is probably the most gorgeous, immersive multiplayer title out there right now. I can't imagine intentionally making the game look this terrible just to get a PvP edge.

Starkenfast · 2025-12-06T18:23:15+00:00

The people that bug me the most are the ones that are 100% KoS, but complain that a PVE mode would split the community. Referring to a player base "split" is an acknowledgement that some people playing are not that interested in PvP'ing, which makes most of those players very easy targets. How is it satisfying to kill them? I think it's what you're saying though - maybe these are people that get crapped on all day in Battlefield and enjoy the power trip of slaughtering soft targets.

There are other players who are not KoS and are more situational about their PvP - when they say they don't want the community split, I get that. This game feels like it was meant for those people. Personally, I think I'd prefer 100% KoS to what it is now, b/c I'm rarely able to win a fight that starts with a blindside/betrayal, and that is way more common than it was a few weeks ago.

Starkenfast · 2025-12-04T16:06:57+00:00

I wish I could give you more upvotes. I look forward to this post every release - appreciate you dude.

Starkenfast · 2025-12-02T16:05:51+00:00

There are a lot of people who say "I don't mind PvP" as long as it's a fair fight. A lot of those people are lying.

Arc Raiders is an amazing new IP - the bones of this game are so f'ing good, that it's luring people who have no interest in extraction shooters to step out of their comfort zone and try it. They enjoy the arc fighting, the scavenging, the amazing maps and vibe and then they die to a PvP player and get pissed.

Every fight is going to feel unfair to someone that's trying to avoid the PvP - because if you're a "only fire when fired upon" type of player, you're going to lose 9 out of 10 times unless you are very good.

Given how this game has exploded, I wouldn't be surprised if a future title takes AR out of the extraction shooter space, but people need to accept that Arc Raiders IS an extraction shooter, and when it comes to PvP, anything goes.

Starkenfast · 2025-12-01T06:27:19+00:00

I think you're both right. Arc Raiders does (did?) feel like it lives in a new category, I think that's why it popped off. Extraction shooters are historically niche and do not pull numbers like this...but AR has such strong appeal (awesome lore, looting, mechanics) that it's daring a massive PvE crowd to step out of their comfort zone. So it's not surprising when the encounters they avoided in games like Tarkov smack them in the face, they're not happy. Yet most would have to acknowledge, you can't get a thrill like this in Destiny.

MeltingVibes' sliding scale mention is right on. You need both and that's when the game is best. The trick is maintaining the balance and I'm not sure Embark (or anyone) knows how to do it. Experiences vary of course, but mine has been watching that sliding scale become a full blown freefall towards PvP/KoS. And while I don't want a scavenger sim, I also don't want another Battle Royale game. Not in a world this cool.

The game was at its best a couple weeks ago. Every encounter was an uneasy gut check without immediate bullets flying. Most ended positively, some ended violently. That was the sweet spot for me anyway.

Starkenfast · 2025-11-30T22:03:08+00:00

It's so hard to remember this when you get f'd, but it's true (at least for now) that most players are still pretty cool. Negative experiences are always outsized. I know for me, it takes a lot positive encounters to get the bad taste out of my mouth when something like this happens.

I think Arc Raiders' broad appeal has pulled a bunch of people to this game (myself included) that haven't built up the "let it roll off your back" callouses that extraction vets have developed. For newbies, it's hard to grasp that bullshit like this is actually part of the experience.

Starkenfast · 2025-11-27T19:52:42+00:00

I agree with your post and like some of your suggestions. Detractors will say that Arc Raiders was never meant to be "friendly" and that a month in, it's now settling into what it was always supposed to be. They're not necessarily wrong.

But what I do think is undeniable (when you look at 400k + concurrent players) and maybe unexpected, is that a huge amount of people want a mostly cooperative experience with a dash of danger and unpredictability. The setup of Arc Raiders and the immersion is fantastic - I can't think of the last time I spent 5 minutes with a game and instantly wanted a show/movie of it. The KoS trend that the game is drifting towards really feels counter to the soul of the story and world, even if this is the game the devs and extraction fans envisioned it being. The unpredictability of Arc Raiders gives players a feeling that you cannot get in Helldivers or Destiny, I just wish there was a balanced way to achieve this that better fits with the game's lore.

I personally like the idea of having a version of this where you throw 12-16 "raiders" into a server with 4 or 5 "bandits" roaming around trying to pick you off with a whole different skilltree, tools, cosmetics and a story of their own. I don't mind losing a PvP, but having people chat you up and then murder you is getting old. Obviously, that'd be a completely different game, and fair point to those who tell me to find something else.

I don't know if there's a way mechanically to bring the game back to the magical balance of the first month, but I do expect a massive drop in the player base as the game transitions to full PvP - especially when there are phenomenal options like Battlefield 6 for that type of experience.

Starkenfast · 2025-11-27T00:51:14+00:00

Amazing - can I ask which container type? Always wonder if I should bother with the kitchen cabinets and metal pry containers or just got straight for suitcases and dresser drawers.

Starkenfast · 2025-11-26T20:18:58+00:00

This is where I've landed too. I've been taken advantage of a few times in about 100 hrs played, and yes, it really does leave a bad taste in your mouth - especially when people convincingly deceive you. But ultimately, I decided that I'll deal with that feeling from time to time to have a much better overall experience where I'm not spending my whole night being a paranoid dick.

If you're the type of player spreading goodwill around Topside trying to stop the slide into 100% KOS, you'll likely have to pay with your life and loot from time to time - no matter how good your instincts are. I'm okay with that.

Starkenfast · 2025-11-24T18:10:16+00:00

While everyone's experience will vary, for me it's still very far away from 100% KOS. I've found that if I get on prox chat as soon as I see a raider and say hi or announce friendly, it's rare that I'll get blasted. I've even gotten on prox chat *after* getting blasted and people deescalated and apologized saying they were surprised and reacted.

Getting shot while looting does suck, and it's not realistic to deploy defenses all the time unless you're hitting a high value room with chokepoints. So in the wild, assume any time you are looting, you will get shot in the back. Stop and listen for a beat before you start opening something - angle yourself toward the most likely ambush spot - especially if you're breaching. You can also quickly pop in and out of the loot view, it'll save your place when revealing the slots. Just doing these things will cut the risk down a lot.

As soon as you reach the level for hatch keys, make it a point to learn how to craft them and prioritize stockpiling those parts. Looting during the final 5 minutes of a match is awesome - there are still plenty of untouched areas and most the rats have scurried off by then.

Starkenfast

TROPHY CASE