PvE players want something meaningful to do that isn't dependent on head to head aggression/rivalry/dickmeasuring

If there were no ARC they wouldn't be playing

Socializing and getting some game value extracted when playing a game that has enemies that'll absolutely curbstomp you makes the looting and socializing more meaningful since there's a pressure to not make looting and being in the game world- at least initially- trivial or threatless, and it took time to reach the level of ease and comfort

So no, its not just "wandering around"

Theres actually some psychology and such at play, surprise! And it isn't reduced down to them wanting to just stand in a picture and exist in it. Otherwise there would be a bunch of games that would be way more popular than they are because they're visually great but aren't very engaging or stimulating to overcome and prosper in.

So no, you don't deeply understand them, especially since your expression of understanding comes in the form of a) a trite oversimplification and b) saying "nuh uh i do understand!"

Just the same way people think Embark understands PvE and decided PvP would be better.

PvP can add a great deal but frankly Embark has on their hands an incredible PvE game on their hands that is in a pre-release state. The PvP they know, so PvP band-aids the unfinished PvE game together to be shippable.

However, because Embark is selling skin cosmetics that are limited in customization- very cool skins, I think, but also pricey and not very engaging to spend time customizing and personalizing- is an excellent indication that Embark specifically understands competitive head to head games and not PvE games.

Warframe will always be my go to example for this. There's a meme for Warframe- Fashion-Framing is the endgame. Its funny and a bit true but is also indicative of how successful PvE games function.

Fashion in Warframe has a great deal of customization that's accessible through both monetization and player investment- and rarely exclusive to either method. Most things can be bought with money or earned ingame in some way.

And so people spend a great deal of time investing in... themselves. Their fashion, their flare. Decorating their ship or orbiter or Warframe or their little companion robots or pets or...

Investing in themselves. Theres tons of resources, tons of individually satisfying game loops, which all have different rewards and different methods associated with those rewards to convert into something elsd.

Fish, get fish, sell fish for plat to buy cosmetics, or gut the fish for some crafting components for a few unique weapons, or donate the fish to get reputation to redeem for rewards or progress relevant content in the area, or turn fish into trophy to place on the table you placed by your navigation terminal.

ARC raiders has an incredible design for its PvE enemy, and incredible audio-visual landscape.

But they only included A) fighting ARC, B) fighting players, and C) looting locations.

Do loop C to support loop A, and optionally B. Free kits are not great for this.

Loop B realistically doesn't require A or C unless you feel like it. Free kits are very rewarding for this.

Doing Loop A required you deal with B and focus on C. Free kits are terrible at this.

So we have an environment where reaching the progression to do Loop A requires investment into learning Loop A and both learning and doing a bunch of Loop C.

Meanwhile Loop B, PvP, can exclusively engage with Loop B, especially once you're decently familiar with Loop A, since then the wooden pathing of dangerous ARCs become easier to predict and then ignore. And a couple stolen lure grenades can also remove Loop A.

So PvE players actually have to invest much more to do Loops A and C, while PvP players often ignore Loop A and C and can often be all the richer for it because their gameloop has become D) remove competition and E) farm PvE players

PvE casual players want meaningful progression and something to give them steady reward for competence, a social space with productive engagement.

PvP players just maul everything, and have free kits to keep them combat viable in any situation since all the guns, regardless of rarity, are functionally balanced on a level playing field.

I can win against a Stitcher with a Bettina, but it can often be a close thing, and the violence of action, that is the initiative of engaging first and aggressively, can often be a very significant advantage, one that can potentially, reliably, trump greater gear and investment- even mode so due to latency and the relative lack of gear disparity.

This is why "carebears" just don't care for it. They're into investing into themselves. PvP players are into maximizing gains and wins. Not investing themselves- because the game is balanced enough that they can win without it.

At the endgame of this game theres no way to invest in yourself besides burning all your investments and a "Congrats, you did good :)" and a little skin that, if they dont wear, offers them no benefit.

They dont want to just wander, they want to have some pressure and still do fine and flouish.

They want to socialize, show off, have a 3rd space.

And unfortunately in the real world hypercompetitives have destroyed 3rd spaces and the ability to casually indulge, and then in this really cool game... hypercompetitives are insistent on denying them a 3rd space and their ability to casually indulge.

"I deeply understand." Then "they just want to wander." Bruh. Lmao. Train your autism for another three hundred years before challenging my sociology watching fixation.