I've been in the circles that believed in its existence (and played around with it) before the confirmation by the devs. I think acknowledging it officially was a big mistake, as players will now focus on playing the game system instead of enjoying the gameplay.

On ABMM itself, I really like that data about players' actions in raids can be used to distribute lobbies. I think Embark should lean towards providing a balanced experience (looting with the fear of what could happen with another raider) rather than putting people with the same "rating" together. We don't know what their approach is so no way to be more specific about what works and what doesn't.

I do think solo and squad ABMM should be separate, currently it does not feel like it's the case.

An experiment I ran myself: after playing squads with friends, which is always PVP heavy, I tend to run a bunch of naked runs (free loadouts dont give you a safe pocket, but going with absolutely no gear does) and run around maps.

This allows me to first learn the maps (locations and loot spots) and how to traverse them better, complete quests I've put off, and skew my matchmaking towards friendlier lobbies. I've had people completely ignore me, others chatting, a guy dropped a blueprint before going away... And the few that shoot and kill me end up disappointed by seeing zero loot.

It's my first extraction shooter as well, I've slowly accepted to not care too much about gear.

I don't know how to explain but you'll reach a point where you see that gear is just a bunch of resources needed to be crafted, and those resources can be easily gained through recycling, buying from traders, or from Scrappy.

This means my level 4 Anvil is actually just [x components + y coins] instead of a gun, a Raider Hatch key is 66 Seeds, and so on. If I lose them, I probably already have the resources to get new ones, or I just need to do cheap, chill runs grabbing anything to recycle once I'm back.

This alleviates gear fear and combats frustration when you get knocked out and lose it all. I tell myself "you win some you lose some". Another thing that helps is keeping in mind that you only lose what you brought with you, the loot you carry is never yours until you return to Speranza!

My thing is I joined my friends last night and they are little shits in the game that shoot on sight so I hope my account is not stained permanently.

Heh I just had a newbie try to hit me last night while I was breaching a door in Dam. The Sorting Hat hadn't yet gauged his aggression and he thought has was still playing Call of Duty. He broke my shield but I stood my ground and chased him down with a Renegade. Good times 😂

That said I do get matched with non-aggressive players mostly. Seems like the "spicy" encounters I get are noobs whom the system doesn't know enough about yet, and frankly, I don't mind it.

This is your destination after playing for a while.

These types of players are encouraged instead of vilified. You will become one of them or play solo.

It only takes couple of KoS people to make a whole lobby feel hostile. But I almost always get friendly lobbies even when I occasionally down people. I'm making enough per round that I can just use a hatch key every run.

For the most part, once you have your benches fully kitted, PVE only seems kind of boring. The only thing I find as “ratting” is shooting a dude on the terminal.

I find it to be quite dishonorable. I don’t mind losing a PVP duel, but being shot when I’m defenseless and just trying to help the two of us extract and get back to Speranza gooped up, is rat behavior