Antisocial gamers, stand up and listen. I am one of you, but I can feel my ways changing in real time, and it’s all due to ARC Raiders.
I used to be way more social in video games and in general. As I’ve aged, I’ve sort of gone into my shell a bit and only really stayed in contact with a handful of people. When it comes to playing video games, I’ve had voice chat turned off completely in everything for quite some time. And if I don’t, I usually mute people pretty quickly whenever they speak up.
I’ve become a solo player over the past few years, mostly out of it being part of my job, where I mostly play games during work hours, and friends aren’t online as much. I don’t really enjoy talking with people I don’t know, if I don’t have to.
Am I slightly antisocial? Maybe, but I also just don’t want to hear racial epithets, slurs, or just annoying negativity from people if I can avoid it, and so more often than not, I remove myself from that possibility entirely. But in ARC Raiders, communication with other players is a genuine necessity, and I’m somehow finding myself enjoying it.
Almost every interaction I’ve had in ARC Raiders as a solo player has been a positive one. We lone wolf gamers are all scouring the open world for quest items, gear, and loot, and trying to get back home to our chicken safely. Trios is another story entirely, where it’s all-out warfare on sight, but that’s to be expected.
The big takeaway here is that I have been using my push-to-talk key more in the past week than I have in many years. I often greet other Raiders with a “hello” and reassurance that I am not hostile, and they return the favor with an in-game emote or a voice of their own, and it’s made me very happy.
And more often than not, I end up working together with people I meet in ARC Raiders. The ARC enemies are formidable and can overwhelm you quickly. There have been times when I’m fighting the AI only to have a friendly player show up and assist me. I’ve grouped up with teammates to finish a common goal and defend each other as we extract. It’s been super nice.
I’ve had my fair share of encounters where I have been absolutely dumpstered by someone who just wants to play PvP and grab my loot, and that’s fine too, because it’s the nature of the game. But now, more than ever, I verbally offer peace before anything. And it’s spreading to other games, too.
I always find some time to play a few games of Marvel Rivals throughout the week, and just this morning, I found myself speaking to other players in Quick Match. We joked around about how overpowered Daredevil is, won our match, and said “GG’s” before moving on. It’s warming my icy cold loner heart.
I’m sure my tune will change the first time I hear a slur or unnecessary aggression, which is partly why I stopped talking in the first place, but for now, ARC Raiders has me coming out of my shell just a bit. And even if it started out mostly just because I don’t want to lose my gear and feel that crushing defeat, I’m taking it as a minor victory.
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