On a PvP server of the survival hit Rust, much revolves around diplomacy, empathy, and the courage to take risks. MyMMO author Maik Schneider can count himself lucky that his girlfriend played along. In such matters, she simply excels.
If you are a survival fan like I am, you probably cannot avoid the hype surrounding the over 7-year-old Steam title Rust in recent weeks. Well-known US streamers started a large joint server and from there a wave of enthusiasm for Rust emerged.
The hype caught me too. Quickly, I rented a server with a buddy and my girlfriend to learn the game. After that, we headed to a populated PvP server to experience the real Rust feeling. My girlfriend coped with the hostile environment much better than I did.
That’s why my girlfriend is better: Basically, a large PvP server in Rust or similar games like the dinosaur MMO ARK is a social playground, with rules set by the players. On the server, she showed me that in such games, it’s not all about mechanical skills.
There are roleplay servers with strict rule sets where you can only raid enemy bases at specified times. If you want to raid, there should be a backstory to it. However, many PvP servers only ensure that the global chat runs somewhat civilly, that cheaters disappear from the server, and that the overall infrastructure remains intact for proper server functioning.
Accordingly, there are also few rules influencing player interactions. Anyone can shoot anyone at any time, annoy, scare, or gift them – depending on their mood. If you haven’t made a name for yourself on the server yet, it matters how you behave towards others. My girlfriend Alicia has managed to achieve her goals much more easily and efficiently than I ever will in such a game.
Initially, she had to look at her controller to find the buttons. After hundreds of hours and countless games like Minecraft, Warzone, Tricky Towers, or survival titles like ARK or 7DaysToDie, that’s no longer a problem, and in many games that we start anew or revisit, she is fully engaged.
In the process, she developed her own taste, and if our current game is not to her liking, she takes an extensive turn in the strategy game Civilization 6 or lets a settlement flourish in the survival building game Rimworld.
It can really be nice to live with one of your favorite players.
What makes Alicia better: PvP servers like in Rust are tough environments. Pure shooting often only leads to hours of grinding and crafting being raided. Additionally, you constantly have to go on big, dangerous loot tours. If you are not online 24/7 on the server, you need the following traits for success:
- Diplomatic demeanor – You must never give the other person the feeling they are being conned
- Empathy – You have to recognize in split seconds what the random server encounter is like and respond accordingly
- Courage – To face the ongoing danger of getting shot and looted again and again
After over 50 hours of gameplay on the Rust PvP server, I realized that my girlfriend stands out in these areas. Alicia talked to strangers much more and was able to build a loose relationship with close and distant neighbors much faster.
Moreover, she found nice players through this. She did not simply leave them hanging in the middle of a conversation due to her empathy, as I likely would have done. With a weapon drawn.
She also demonstrated courage by consistently going on the exhausting, large loot tours. On such tours, playtime can quickly vanish if an evil player needs to take out their frustration with a semi-automatic rifle.
I, on the other hand, found my comfort zone near our base – collecting wood, stone, and ores for our supplies. However, I hardly participated in the tours for the important metal scraps.
I was really glad that Alicia was braver to balance me out.
Why is it likely to remain this way? Whether Rust, ARK, Conan, or 7DaysToDie – games with extensive base-building features give me the opportunity to somewhat isolate myself from my group. If my help is needed, I’m on it immediately. But otherwise, I’m more the type who stays home to keep an eye on the slaves and dinosaurs, ensuring that the base becomes too large again.
I know that by doing this, I will miss out on certain aspects of these games. But until now, I have rarely managed to step outside my comfort zone and do not take the significant risks that my teammates sometimes take, especially my girlfriend Alicia, which likely means she will always be better in such games than I will.
