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Marathon's 'Endgame' Map "Cryo" only available on weekends

If my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle.
Bold of you to assume the gender of your body type A aunt in 2026.
I'm convinced this cadence is simply part of managing the deployment and performance of content. Right now it definitely plays into the setting of the game and the discovery of what happened to the colony and the marathon. I dont see why they could'nt relax it in the future.

Tho I do find it funny that no one complains about "prestige-ing" in arc raiders being time gated when its the longer term, if not the only endgame that exists there(5 months later). Personal progress is arguably more shackled in Arc's sandbox. Like, fuck, GTFO has a somewhat similar "you gotta prove you're worthy bucko" progression to get into deeper levels and that ultimately can leave the unskilled stranded if they dont try to address their strategy and approach, forget scheduled availability

I'm beginning to question how many people actually play the games they passionately discuss. Arc has serious structural problems that become noticable over time. ABMM completely breaks the games loops.

Trials and gear farming are done safely in peaceful lobbies without risk, turning aggressive lobbies into deathmatch. A lack of a real wipe exacerbates the issues for players who choose to complete the expedition. Any form of violence against players quickly lands you in aggressive lobbies where you're running into a stream of fully geared players who are just there to fight. The game offers no respite with it's stream of players joining midmatch. You're placed in boring peaceful lobbies if you die too much.

SBMM or GBMM would help return some level of variance to the game. Adding an ante and/or minimum loadout for special conditions like dark and Darker would cut down on naked rat/free runs ruining what's supposed to be the challenging part of the game. Ideally I'd like for Embark to separate PvE and pvp entirely and add a full wipe to PVP like tarkov does. I would be fine with longer matchmaking if it meant competing on a level playing field.

Marathon's design choices seem to address many of the niggles in the genre. A lack of a safe pocket to condition players towards loss from day one. Restrictions on free kits/whatever the solo shell is from the endgame. Ante-based ranked modes that require some form of risk. It seems to genuinely take the genre forward while being an excellent shooter (Shooting is the worst part of Arc. It's a great game in-spite of its shooting). I'm waiting curiously on the sidelines to see where it goes. I'm probably in if it doesn't get shut down immediately like concord.
 
I'm convinced this cadence is simply part of managing the deployment and performance of content. Right now it definitely plays into the setting of the game and the discovery of what happened to the colony and the marathon. I dont see why they could'nt relax it in the future.

Tho I do find it funny that no one complains about "prestige-ing" in arc raiders being time gated when its the longer term, if not the only endgame that exists there(5 months later). Personal progress is arguably more shackled in Arc's sandbox. Like, fuck, GTFO has a somewhat similar "you gotta prove you're worthy bucko" progression to get into deeper levels and that ultimately can leave the unskilled stranded if they dont try to address their strategy and approach, forget scheduled availability
I didnt play ARC yet, but if it has some kind of progression locks, it doesnt sound like it's a big part. If it's such a huge issue, I never read anything about people complaining about it. In Marathon going from 3 maps to 4 maps is big content. Does ARC lock out gamers from playing any maps due to character progression or weekends?

Marathon is different. This cryo content is supposed to be such a big part of the game they kept reminding gamers wait till end of month, including telling reviewers to not upload reviews until you play this raid map.

Turns out there's level and gear value requirements, only on weekends, and trios only. Told to gamers at the last minute. What if someone wants to play on weekdays, doesnt have the right requirements and wants to solo it like playing a regular match?

Although to be fair about the last part, I'm pretty sure I heard about the no soloing it part before (I might be wrong), but it seemed if it was already told many people didnt know since some people are surprised it's trios only. As I said, I might be wrong on this part and telling gamers it's trios only is new info just this week.
 
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Bold of you to assume the gender of your body type A aunt in 2026.


I'm beginning to question how many people actually play the games they passionately discuss. Arc has serious structural problems that become noticable over time. ABMM completely breaks the games loops.

Trials and gear farming are done safely in peaceful lobbies without risk, turning aggressive lobbies into deathmatch. A lack of a real wipe exacerbates the issues for players who choose to complete the expedition. Any form of violence against players quickly lands you in aggressive lobbies where you're running into a stream of fully geared players who are just there to fight. The game offers no respite with it's stream of players joining midmatch. You're placed in boring peaceful lobbies if you die too much.

SBMM or GBMM would help return some level of variance to the game. Adding an ante and/or minimum loadout for special conditions like dark and Darker would cut down on naked rat/free runs ruining what's supposed to be the challenging part of the game. Ideally I'd like for Embark to separate PvE and pvp entirely and add a full wipe to PVP like tarkov does. I would be fine with longer matchmaking if it meant competing on a level playing field.

Marathon's design choices seem to address many of the niggles in the genre. A lack of a safe pocket to condition players towards loss from day one. Restrictions on free kits/whatever the solo shell is from the endgame. Ante-based ranked modes that require some form of risk. It seems to genuinely take the genre forward while being an excellent shooter (Shooting is the worst part of Arc. It's a great game in-spite of its shooting). I'm waiting curiously on the sidelines to see where it goes. I'm probably in if it doesn't get shut down immediately like concord.

I disagree with you on Arc and ABMM. Many of us don't find the peaceful lobbies "boring", its how we prefer to play Arc Raiders. Maybe that breaks the game loops for you, but not for a lot of Arc players, including myself.
 
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I disagree with you on Arc and ABMM. Many of us don't find the peaceful lobbies "boring", its how we prefer to play Arc Raiders. Maybe that breaks the game loops for you, but not for a lot of Arc players, including myself.

Oh no doubt. The mass market likes mindless grinding without any sense of loss or risk. Hence why my ideal situation is for you guys to get your own dedicated safe space like it's done in tarkov so more traditional matchmaking can be applied for those who want to play an extraction game. It's a win-win.
 
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