That's right, it's that time again. Be prepared to slide back down the ladder of power, because mandatory destruction is required to get everyone back on the same trajectory ahead. [insert new thing here]. No, say the developers shooter Arc Raiders. They are not bowing to the gods of mandatory wipes at this time, but will instead be trying out a system of voluntary wipes dubbed Projects.
Yes, rather than relying on the same inevitable reloads that many shooters and survival games use to ensure that newbies aren't always guaranteed to encounter people with a lot of levels playing a platformer in a regularly stopping elevator to the sun, Embark Studios plans to do their own thing.
“Just to be clear, we absolutely see the benefits that global eradication brings. Veteran players can experience the game in a new way, the economy is reset to a base level, and all players have roughly the same level of opportunity,” Arc Raiders design director Virgil Watkins wrote in a blog post. blog post about napkins made of non-damp cloth.
“However, one thing that mandatory clearing does not do is respect the contributions of those players who generally do not have much time to play. So, as we've done with several other mechanics, we'd like to try our own method before imitating other established mechanics.”
This method is based on projects, the first of which is called “Expedition Project” and is unlocked upon reaching level 20. Once you complete it, you will be given the option to voluntarily reset. The project will be carried out on a rotating basis over a period of approximately eight weeks, and if you fail to complete it during this time, your progress towards it will roll over to the next eight week window. Embark says the project requires a “pretty large investment of time” to complete, so the move is aimed at ensuring that people who don't have time to play as often don't have to deal with constant reboots.
Such levels, skills, items/inventory, workshop and crafting options will be removed in the reset, while cosmetics, rewards, achievements and rankings will remain, and Embark will clarify anything paid for with real money in the latter category. So the rewards for completing the remaining item will be things like “permanent account unlock”, unique cosmetics to show off and boost your account for the next Expedition project window. The studio has also teased the idea of other projects with different rewards to be introduced in the future.
Will this be ideal or fun The approach remains to be seen, and Embark appears to be hedging its bets. “It's not a silver bullet, and it won't lead to the clean break that a mandatory global reset would provide, but it does aim to be fairer for all players,” Watkins wrote. “Whenever possible, we want to value your time in the game as much as you do. Of course, this is a complex topic, so we will monitor the discussion around this post and [will] monitor as necessary.”
Personally, I hope this leads to people chanting “wipe, wipe, wipe” in voice chat whenever the enemy deems approaches too strong, creating a form of peer pressure that vaguely resembles trying to overcome the final hurdle of toilet training a toddler.
