Arc Raiders devs love the self-described sheriffs of PvP, even if they do kill the wrong people sometimes: "Those are some of the better moments"

Arc Raiders characters with shotgun and revolver — (Image credit: Embark Studios)

Arc Raiders developers love all the roleplaying communities in the game, including the self-described sheriffs who dole out what they call justice in online lobbies. Whether their verdicts are actually just is another question, but developer Embark Studios is simply glad that its game leaves room for that kind of emergent storytelling.

Speaking to PC Gamer, design director Virgil Watkins was asked about the wandering group of Stella Montis sheriffs that pounce on any suspected PvP aggressors who, allegedly, betray or backstab other raiders. The sheriffs on Stella Montis don't always get things totally right, but hey, they're the law. Who's gonna stop them?

"Well, I mean, for me, that's actually kind of the hope with all of it: letting players lead with their own motivations and create all those stories for each other," Watkins tells the site. "And that's not something we can ever author or force to happen, and I'm glad that we don't try. I far prefer that we give players the means and the context and the opportunity to do these things, and then they do what they want to do."

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"I've even seen videos where people cause that kind of chaos on purpose, like they'll have a silenced weapon and watch two people being friendly, and they'll shoot at just the right moment. The guy turns like, 'Why'd you do that?' And they get in a fight, and then a third guy shows up, and punishes the first guy, and then no one knows what's going on anymore. And yeah, I think those are some of the better moments you can hope to see," he adds.