Embark Studios has officially unveiled further details on the first Expedition for ARC Raiders, but the community appears to be disappointed with the accompanying rewards, with some calling it a “waste.” The departure window for ARC Raiders‘ first Expedition is later this month, and although dedicated community members are gearing up for the hard reset, others are opting out of the wipe, as players believe there are some serious issues with the concept.
For those who might be unaware, the ARC Raiders Expedition is Embark’s take on a server wipe. However, unlike games such as Escape from Tarkov or Rust, ARC Raiders gives players the choice to reset their progress. Of course, doing so does reward players with some exclusive buffs and benefits, such as up to five more skill points. However, players cannot simply choose to take part in the Expedition and be given these rewards for free. Instead, Embark requires fans to put together their caravan, which will then be used to transport their Radar out of the Rust Belt forever. Building the caravan can be done during a certain 60-day period and requires tons of resources to be contributed to it. If completed in time, anyone heading out on the Expedition will all depart and thus be reset at the exact same time.
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Why ARC Raiders Fans Are Unhappy With the First Expedition
In theory, this is a great way to give dedicated players something more to work towards, while also allowing more casual players the opportunity to continue grinding. However, recent news seems to have left both sides of the community disappointed. Over the weekend, Embark revealed that anybody resetting their progress will permanently unlock a new Outfit, a Janitor Cap for Scrappy, an Expeditions indicator icon, 12 extra Stash storage spaces, and more skill points. However, it is the latter of these unlocks that fans are most unhappy with, as players can earn up to 5 additional skill points per 1 million of Stash value, which many believe to be a controversial addition, as it promotes item and gear hoarding, and is also an unreasonably high value for very little reward.
Following the announcement, it didn’t take long for the community to question whether or not the ARC Raiders Expedition was even worth it. In a new post on Reddit, which has garnered almost 7,000 upvotes, one player said five million for five skill points is “too much,” noting how even achieving a Stash value of one million took long enough. Another user responded with disappointment, too, but for a different reason. “What really bums me out about this is that we don’t get to just waste our gear before the wipe,” the user said. This sentiment was shared by others, as another player said, “The fun of a wipe for me is in using all my loot right before the wipe with no worries at all.”
Embark hasn’t commented on why the Stash value needs to be so high to earn just five skill points, but it has revealed why it decided to do its wipe a little differently from other extraction shooters, such as Escape from Tarkov. In a recent blog post, the studio noted how progression wipes are “notoriously difficult” to balance in online multiplayer games. Although mandatory wipes have obvious benefits, Embark says it wants to respect the time players have invested in ARC Raiders. As such, the studio has decided to give fans a choice: those who haven’t completed as much as they’d like can continue grinding, while those ready for a new challenge and ready to restart the grind with extra buffs are free to do so.
