Ive been getting bored with the game, and I have for a while, but I've found a way that I can have fun and feel that satisfying, adrenaline pumping, hand shaking, exciting feeling I felt when I first started playing. And its arguably the worst type of player. Here's a rundown of what to expect.
Before I pick a map, I always have an objective in mind, where am I going, what am I looking for, that type of stuff, i normally bring in a key or 2 (i trade items on metaforge, so i always have keys) so I load in and know exactly what to do and where to go.
When I load into the game and down the first person I see without hesitation, they are most of the time upset with me, but I dont care, I want you to get mad, I want that raw, unfiltered reaction. I Walk up and recruit them, tell them I dont want their loot, I just need someone to watch your back. If they join me, I defib, drop them some heals and drop a defib incase I go down, drop them like a pink trinket, give them another weapon, or do something like that to establish that trust, I may repeat this 1 or 2 more times and have a whole squad.
I got this idea from a tik tok, I give them a "safe word" I call it, and any time this word is said under any context for any reason, it means we shoot and kill the nearest person, most of the time its during a conversation we're having with another person. People get super pissed off, and I love it, the angrier you are, the better. I love getting these reactions from people, I love making other grown men get super emotional and angry over dying in a video game. I laugh and try to make it worse. This right here, is the most entertaining part of the game.
I tell my 'teammate' to let me loot first bc im looking for something specific. Then ill ask then if they want or need anything, and they can have the weapons, most of the loot, and I'll intentionally keep anything hes looking for in my inventory. And I take or recycle grenades, traps, mines, or anything that I dont want and can be used against me later.
When we get to the key room, I just ask to loot the containers first bc I want something specific, and ill for real leave pink trinkets, and other high value items in the lockers so my 'partner' has incentive to watch the door for me. When I get done, I let him loot up and Ill throw a door blocker on the door. Wait till hes done, if I have a second key, we go there too and do the same thing.
Along the way we might kill some people using our safe word, might have to take down some arc, complete a quest or two, I'll pick up my partner if they go down. But eventually we have to either extract or hatch out, so right about the time we're ready to leave I'll say something like "hey, before we go I found some of these ____ you were looking for, let's go in this building so we're not in the open, you probably need some space for it" and as they're managing their inventory I say something kinda cringe like "rule number 1, dont trust anyone" or "this is how things have to be" or "yeah, I was never going to let you make it out of here" and shoot them at point blank range in the head.
So yeah, I of mfeing the villain is so much fun to me, it gets my heart pumping right before i do it, it feels like I'm a kid again doing something bad, trying not to get caught. Like i know i shouldn't do it, but its exciting to do it anyway. Sometimes they get angry, sometimes they surrender, sometimes they question me, they plead for their life, try to bargain with me, they try calling for help. The cries of desperation, making another grown man beg for his life and getting overly emotional, crashing out, hearing that voice break and about to cry in a video game is much more satisfying to me than any item this game can give me. It makes me feel powerful, I literally downed you on sight and made you submit to me in our first encounter and you did everything I told you to do, we killed several people for no reason.
After I loot the body, I go to the hatch or the extract, and get out. Yes, I've died on the way there, I've been killed by someone that witnessed the whole thing. I've been killed by arc on the way out. When that happens, its fine, that's what I get for being grimy. But I dont get mad at it, first of all its only a game. And the real goop isnt the bobcat, or the blueprints, or anything else you can fit in your in inventory. The real goop was all the time I took from you, your dignity I took from you by making you beg for your life just to take it anyway, the raw and unfiltered emotion I got from another grown man.
As gamers you all know that feeling. The real goop was the adrenaline I've been chasing since my first encounter with the arc back in November, the same feeling I get from winning a Ranked game by mere inches, the feeling I get when I killed the 3rd guy in a 1v3 after the first 2 left me 1 shot. The feeling right before you have to make the final, game winning shot. That feeling that leaves your heart racing and hands shaking after.
Side note: I would like you guys to know I would never do something like this in real life to someone. I would never betray someone that trusted me in the real world with real world consequences. I believe Embark created a great game and has no idea how to keep it alive, I feel like these updates are mediocre at best and the game simply doesn't give me the same itch that it used to. And in order for me to enjoy my time with the game I had to get creative.