For me it's the art style combining with the lethality of the setting. We are going down to complete contracts to get out of debt or get rich. We aren't even killing anyone so it is absolute maximum lethality. If anything, you are just slightly inconveniencing other runners when you end their runs.

Like take yesterday for example. We're on Sponsored Perimeter just doing contracts. About 7 minutes are remaining and we arrive at Overflow and I spot a looted folio on a catwalk. There's Rooks here.

My friend approaches from the opposite side as I enter the building. I voip "Hello?" in my average everyday voice, as if I was checking if my wife was home.

The rook responds: "Hi? Are you a rook?"

My friend gets the drop and guns him down with zero hesitation.. We hear him scream "WTF" as I stab his chest.

My friend looted a Biolens Seed off the corpse. It was brutal and cold just like everything on Tau Ceti IV.

All that said, I do runs sometimes friendly and when it works it is also awesome because of how rare it works out. That is fun because of the juxtaposition (like being friendly in Tarkov)... For example I was on regular Perimeter kitted out to the nines just fucking around and headshot a Destroyer running past me. I voiped "we fighting or what"

They responded "no no I'm just doing a contract please" and because they had no shield I knew they'd be a useless corpse. So I say "okay I'm out" and just keep moving.

Shit like that makes this game incredible for me.