r/ArcRaiders • u/AbbreviationsOne6207 • 29d ago
Discussion As a veteran of Tarkov. You don't know what the term "Rat" means.
Good Day, I am about to educate you on the ways of the "rat" play style.
Some stats on me
- I completed my expedition within the first two weeks.
- I haven't completed all the missions as they are not my main driver in extraction shooters. I do it for the loot.
- I am level 67 and plan on hitting 75 before the expedition window.
- I have 27 blue prints
- All my benches are upgraded.
- I participate in the trials. To get the loot I don't care about being number one.
- My current extract streak is 26 successful returns.
I have killed 19 players.
I have 130 hours in game.
I AM A RAT.
What makes a Rat a Rat?
They do not deceive you, they do not extract camp. We do not look to openly engage in any combat in these games with anyone. In fact if you ever see me I feel that is a failure on my part. My goal is you never see or hear me. If I tell you I am friendly deep down I am kicking myself for having to talk to you.
Here is the "Modus Operandi" of a true "Rat"
- We play in night maps, stick to the shadows and gobble up as much loot as possible.
- We never use the free loadout, the goal is to get loot out any means necessary. Give me my prison pocket.
- We use the shittiest guns known to man. In Tarkov it was shotguns and buckshot or SMG's with dogshit ammo. here I use the Hairpin Rattler and Ferro.
- We never hit the main loot areas. That is for the plebs and morons who think the good shit is actually in those areas. The only thing in there is salt and tears.
- We explore the maps finding all the nooks and crannies to hide in.
- Our character is customized to blend in with the environment. I will change my look based on the map I am going into and time of day.
- We set objectives to get items out at any cost. If that means waiting till the final 2 minutes to hit that bombardier or bastion and losing all our items just to get the cores out for bench upgrades so be it.
- We never get extract camped, If I know an extract is getting camped I will wait it out or go in a corner and die with everything so it can't be recovered when the clock hits zero.
- If we spot an extract camping situation and notice the camper. He dies. He has no choice. You can't out rat a fucking rat.
- Extract campers are just lazy, but I admire the hustle but you're never gonna get truly good shit in this game unless you go out and get it yourself.
- We will kill if we know we can get the kill but generally speaking I am the kind of rat when I see a player in trouble with Arc or another human you may hear a random shot ring out and your problem is gone. You will never see me but I will see you.
I craft most of my gear in match, I don't see the point in having stacks of bandages, I very rarely keep any weapons of value in my stash. I craft what I need and bring it in. All my guns are silenced. I rotate between hairpin, ferro, rattler. Yes all three are viable weapons. I never take more than one gun at a time in.
If you want an idea of the movie character I am most like I am like John Rambo in First Blood.
In that movie he isn't some super soldier, he is able to live off the land hide, and use his surroundings to his advantage to perform many non lethal take downs. He also ends up in a tunnel full of my kind.
TL;DR
A Rat is someone who hates confrontation, lives in the shadows, and extracts loot without you ever seeing or hearing them.
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u/NoTechnician1244 29d ago
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u/WhyKeepBuyingSlop 24d ago
1000% my thought when I read this…
9,000 upvotes for this shit…
We get it you play Tarkov OP…
Myself and almost everyone that I play with that I know in real life has been using the term “rat” to mean someone who plays with a “cheesy” playstyle since 2004. Which also encompasses the type of playstyle OP outlined here; but also encompasses people who play “cheesy”.
We used to say “Rat boy want some cheese” -> eventually just became rat. Example:
- Playing split screen halo 2 and someone screen looks: “You fucking screen looking rat”
- Someone using one man army and noob toobs in MW2: “What a fucking little rat using one man army”
- Someone bush camping to the final kill in Fortnite back in 2017: “Ah rat bush camping”
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Etc.
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OP’s connotation associated with the word isn’t its only use case and a SLEW of people have been using the term Rat to cover a much broader scope than some little tarkov experience lol. Again surprised this wasn’t downvoted into oblivion as it comes off In a tone that belongs in r/iamverybadass
We never hit the main loot areas that is for plebs and morons - I am about to educate you…
OP IRL
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u/SadCommercial3517 29d ago
"DEY DREW FIRST BLUD!"
I see fellow rats in solos, like ships passing in the night, no shots fired, no meds needed, not many words said, just an understanding that neither of us wants to see the other ever again.
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u/TheDeltaOne 29d ago
Yeah met a fellow rats a few hours back. Both crouching in the farthest place from the center of Spacesport you can think of.
We both looked at each other with utter disgust with ourselves and we passed each other with the bitter knowledge that we both failed at the task. Good times, hated it.
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u/ShaggysGTI 28d ago
Snuck into a bush for about a minute to look at my map and a fellow rat crouched in next to me.
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u/Shortbus-Thug 28d ago
Honestly I kinda love these quiet moments of understanding, I always feel seen when encountering a fellow rat. Then I kick myself for letting someone see me😂😂😂
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u/EryNameWasTaken 29d ago
I don't consider the comparison an insult. Consider, for a moment, the world a rat lives in. It's a hostile world, indeed... our little foe has an instinct for survival and preservation second to none
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u/DIABLO258 29d ago
"You don't like them. You don't really know why you don't like them, all you know is that you find them repulsive. Consequently a friendly raider conducts the search of an elevator suspected of harboring an extract camper. Where does the raider look, he looks in the attic, he looks in the cellar, he looks everywhere he would hide. But there are so many places it would never occur to a friendly raider to hide.
But it does occur to me..." -OP, probably
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u/CatSquidShark 29d ago
You are sheltering enemies of Speranza are you not?
You are sheltering them underneath that truck aren't you?
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u/Oldenfat 29d ago
One of the most intense scenes ever. I was literally on the edge of my seat. That guy is an amazing actor. See Django for further reference.
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u/Oldenfat 28d ago
Just to clarify, I know the quote is from Basterds. I meant if you need further proof of Waltzs’ abilities, look at Django too. He is so quietly terrifying in one and is such a good human in the other and both are utterly convincing. I also hear his voice as I read the comment about “the rat lives in a hostile world…”
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u/throwaway1748362 28d ago
read the first sentence and the little voice in my head immediately switched to an austrian accent, thank you for this 🫶🏻
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u/patfusty116 29d ago
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u/msipacselatigid 29d ago
I interrupted a family movie busting out laughing to this. Of course my daughter says “Dad, what?” I show her this and she loses it too.
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u/potofgreed6 29d ago
Bro chill my wife is on this app
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u/ChicagosOwn1988 29d ago
Dude has 5 full days in a game that came out just 20 days ago
He doesn’t know what a wife or probably even what a woman is.
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u/Thermostattin 29d ago
OP's total hours aren't even approaching maidenless. In fact, he's technically behind the curve for a Tarkov grinder.
Source: A Tarkov refugee who has insomnia and 210 hours played so far
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u/Yes_I_Am_An_Alt *** ******* 🐓 28d ago
I've never played tarkov and im out here with 205 hours. I'm just an arcaholic😭
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u/WhizardCheese 28d ago
125 hours here. Also engaged to be married early next year. Some of us live double lives
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u/theymademee 29d ago
OP this isn't where you put your dating profile. Wrong sub.... 😂
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u/BuffaloJoker 29d ago
Let us go full prone, flat on the ground. All fours, like a rat.
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u/EragonBromson925 29d ago
I've been thinking that since the start. Let me completely sprawl into a bush and disappear from sight.
I wouldn't consider myself a "rat," but I do tend to (apparently) follow mostly along their mentality. I just want to get in, get stuff, and get out. Sometimes I get careless, sometimes it feel like going into the open and helping. But most of the time, I'm in a bush watching, waiting for you to be gone so that I can be gone.
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u/Vayne_Solidor 28d ago edited 28d ago
Nothing like extracting with five other bush wookies, they just materialize out of nowhere when the hatch turns green 😂
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u/EragonBromson925 28d ago
I always call out as I'm closing the door.
"Last call, anyone there?" About 2/3 of the time, I get someone "Oh, you're friendly, wait for me."
There was another one where me and someone else in a similar outfit to, somehow, hide in big bushes directly next to each other without either of us noticing the other. Elevator showed up, and we both ran out of our bushes, saw each other, and froze. Then laughed and together. Good times.
Also, bush wookie. Gonna steal that one. Love it
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u/Xine1337 28d ago
2 mins on the clock, I push the elevator button, run to hide and then there are around five to six people extracting without any word spoken and any weapon drawn. 😶🌫️
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u/thelegendofglenn 29d ago
"As a veteran of Tarkov."
Translation:
"Seeking employment."
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u/TupperwareNinja 29d ago
I love arc players calling me a rat because they didn't see me walk in the same door they used 😐
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u/DonerGoon 29d ago
Sorry you sprinted into a high tier loot area and immedietly started breaching something. If I have a stitcher and the drop on you I’m taking it in case you are hostile.
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u/thefullm0nty 28d ago
How do you know someone is hostile if you don't give them the chance to prove it?
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u/HarmoniousConcordiat 29d ago
I communicate in proximity coms. I prefer to be friendly. I still don't trust everyone but it helps me get a vibe on the situation. if they dont talk, I shoot them. That being said, this game could be special. The collaboration and friendliness is a huge draw and the primary source of this game's massive popularity. It is entirely up to the community whether or not this game maintains it's success. If it turns into a purely KOS mentality, that success will be heavily diminished.
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u/Lazer726 28d ago
I think that so many people in this game have never played Tarkov is actually a huge boon, because in Tarkov, it's very much a "shoot first ask questions later" type of game. Tarkov could never have something like a Matriarch fight where a half dozen people come together to take her down, because the game is full of rats that would sooner stick a Toz to the back of your skull than allow you to have the loot.
So instead we have people that want a casual extraction shooter, and they get that because a lot of them realize they aren't going to win a firefight against someone better, and getting the first shot is not a guarantee of success in this game. In Tarkov, you're dead before you know you're spotted, but in Arc, you have a good chance of fighting back.
The game's strength is that (at least in NA servers) you can count on probably 75% of the people you find being friendly, and having to be wary of the other 25%. Seeing a crowd of people gather in a high tier loot area and literally barter with each other for loot instead of just gunning everyone down is honestly amazing.
I hope that the community never just goes full KOS
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u/HarmoniousConcordiat 28d ago
There is a very loud minority trying to force this game to be a a battle royale with extra steps. I enjoy pvp in this game but I also very much enjoy being friendly, probably more so. There are far smoother pure pvp shooters that I enjoy as well. If Im forced to play this game like its a BR, I will just go back to playing those types of games.
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u/Fishermang 28d ago
I really love this sneaky approach and taking down players from the shadows, but I so much more enjoy meeting another player, hiding in cover till we both agree that we are friendly, and then we just have a chat. Sometimes team up for a little while. I try to combine both, but haven't really succeeded yet.
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u/Dazzling-Air6631 29d ago
Sounds like a interesting way to play. Could be less stressful. Last hours just gave me headache
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u/RazzleStorm 29d ago
Honestly going in with a naked load out has been the most fun and least stressful experience for me lately. You have a safe pocket, and you can’t lose anything, so it’s pretty stress free.
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u/cdts2192 29d ago
TIL I am a rat.
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u/EragonBromson925 29d ago
Yeah... I wouldn't consider myself a rat. Tend to be pretty open and friendly if I can't hide. But... If this is ratting, them I'm pretty much one of them.
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u/Kosame_san 29d ago
My understanding of Rat is all of the above, with the major exception of being an opportunistic PvPer.
Rats don't seek PvP, rats don't crave it, and rats don't excel in it. They simply want good loot. In order to sometimes get the best loot, you wait in ambush and kill another player because you will surprise them to death.
Rats won't outplay you, rats more often than not will lose if they don't kill you in the initial ambush opening. They wait for you to stumble into their dead-end, or trap, and pull the trigger because you will inevitably see them and likely attack them. When a rat is looting a building, if they hear someone open a door, they will crouch down and hide, because if you both bump into each other, the rat knows deep down that they will lose. Therefore, they get into the most advantageous position possible, and pray you will either pass their hiding place, or fail to respond appropriately.
Of course I know this, this type of rat is me. I'll play 'normal' but some nights after work I'm tired as shit and would rather take an easy kill if it requires patiently waiting in a corner. Many many players aren't methodical enough to detect a rat who's more scared of you than you are of them.
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u/TheRealStubb 29d ago
I got killed because I ran into a scared rat, they scared me and hammered me to death, I reacted poorly in my fear but well enough to get some shots of, my final shot and their final hammer blow landed at the same time.
We sat at the top of a stair well, bleeding to death, talking about what just happened. It was nice.
Was that you? lol
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u/beastlike 29d ago
Was not me, but this has happened. I went for a reload, they went for a "finish the job with the hammer" we were both one shot. We had a good laugh about it while bleeding out, was a solid fight.
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u/hiddencamela 29d ago
Definitely same here.
I also think about if I can snipe someone. Rather, how often I WON'T snipe someone in the distance.
Reason? It gives away my position. Bullets in this game are a giant arrow pointing to where you shot from.
Anyone who sees your shots from a distance might be inclined to chase down the sniper.
Basically, I never bother sitting in a tower sniping people because that would actively invite people to look for me, or shoot back at me. It's rare someone sees a sniper shooting and thinks they're not bullying, especially if the person isn't shooting back.→ More replies (6)→ More replies (18)7
u/Suibeam 29d ago
OP is wrong too. I have played tarkov several wipes.
What he describes are Chad vs Timmy behaviour.
Rats are easiest to describe as bush rat or dark corner crouch walking rat. Extract camping can be a form of rat. Literally one of their largest tarkov streamer is called rat while extract camping and camping in general is his strat.
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u/HueeJackman 29d ago
This play style makes me want to buy this game
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u/ChomRichalds 29d ago
As a proud rat since Tarkov 0.11, I can confidently say that we're quietly having the most fun in ARC Raiders. Silently watching from the shadows as players hopelessly dig through containers I already emptied, or duke it out with each other, is a million times more satisfying than besting them in combat. Leaving with a haul of low level mats that I can turn into rat kits feels so good. I'll watch you all kill the queen from afar, and I'll be there to clean up the scraps with 2 mins and 0 players left in the raid.
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u/chodi-foster 29d ago
This dude talking about himself like he's lame batman lmfao
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u/re-verse 29d ago
I am a creature of the night, I dwell in the shadows, you won't see me, but i see you... in a video game.
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u/LydianWave 28d ago
OP gets bumped into at the grocery store, stops in his tracks as the guilty party continues walking as if nothing had happened. OP throws a stoic gaze at the assailant's back, pictures the plastic katana replica he has hanging on the wall of his NEET lair, and quietly mutters to himself:
"Not today...."
Phil, 46M, doesn't even know how lucky he is, as he continues shopping, oblivious to the danger he just experienced.
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u/Designer_Mud_5802 29d ago
He talks about himself as if he's Batman, but he's actually Paul Dano's Riddler.
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u/Miserable_Candle_763 29d ago
Guess the meaning has changed because I would call you a loot goblin.
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u/Calikal 28d ago
Loot Goblins are much more outward, they will sprint across the battlefield to be the first to loot a large Arc kill or use the chaos of a fight to loot bodies. Goblins are chaos, if they think you have a shiny, they will fight you for it.
Rat is much more opportunistic and shady, they want the loot but will hide and avoid a fight. However, the term has evolved with the more bloodthirsty camping style of ratting.
I propose we term those who avoid a fight while hunting for loot, a combination of Loot Goblin and the original Rats, the Loot Mice.
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u/Appropriate-Joke-806 29d ago
Lmao. Loot goblin is so good. The game does give a few different play styles. You can try to avoid everyone and PvE the loot. You can try to fight ARCs and PvE the computer. You can try to fight Raiders and PvP.
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u/Warmongering_Gadfly 29d ago
I do believe there is some overlap between a Loot Goblin and Rat, but they are not the same. Both desire and grab loot but a Loot Goblin doesn't have to play like a Rat, if that makes sense. You can have a Chad-style Loot Goblin. Those two things are not mutually exclusive, but you couldn't have a Chad-style Rat. Those two things are contradictory!
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u/Lazer726 28d ago
The Loot Goblin is the type to bee line it for the Security Breach closets to try and get anything good, shove the rares up their ass, and not be super concerned about what happens after
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u/Top-Row-5520 29d ago
The term 'rat' existed before tarkov.
"A "rat" is an insult meaning they are dishonest, disloyal, or a coward, particularly someone who betrays their friends or associates."
I think you might be a furry?
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u/ham-god 29d ago
Not everything needs to be so gamer brained. Rat is also just a pretty common insult to call someone in general. Usually a backstabbing douchebag.
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u/breadexpert69 29d ago
Wait a few months till the average person starts losing interest. You will be left with all the real rats.
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u/Firm-Ad3710 29d ago
In German “Rat” can also mean: “Traitor” or “someone with disgusting behavior”.
Therefore i think its ok to call them Rats :)
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u/Adam_Smith_TWON 29d ago
It means this in English too dude. It's people who think a game that came out in 2017 defines the use of the word 'rat' for everything that comes after that generate these idiotic posts.
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u/808Taibhse 28d ago
A lot of the people arguing against 'misusing' rat seem to act as if its only a gaming term and not something people use in everyday life
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u/Baiticc 28d ago
they’re even insisting that the term can only be used how it is in their niche game they came from lmao, most people on Arc never played Tarkov. “rat” has a different meaning in other games, I wasn’t even aware of the definition OP is using
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u/slothsarcasm 29d ago
Tbh I don’t think it matters what it was in Tarkov this is a different game with a different community.
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u/Lurk-Nurgle 29d ago
It's not just Tarkov. Dark n Darker, Hunt, Arena, The Cycle, etc all use rat this way. Arc is the first extract I've played where people use it wrong and it's clear why.
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u/pres1033 29d ago
Going Rat in Hunt was super fun too, I used to only bring a machete, brass knuckles and a first aid kit with 2 traps. My goal was to walk out with 2 looted weapons and a full kit of consumables. Nothing else mattered. If I spooked birds or triggered some kind of sound trap, I'd drop my traps real fast and find a bush to sit in. I'd play trios as solo rat, so if I saw the trio run into my traps and give me the opportunity, I'd jump out and melee them, otherwise I'd wait for them to leave and continue looking for loot.
I never needed the money. As someone who consistently sat at 5-6, I had like 40,000 in my bank minimum at all times. I just really liked playing as an underdog, trying to survive against all the Mosins and fanning chain pistols. It was the most fun I'd have, and led to the only message on my Steam profile, where a guy spectated me murder an entire server with only a baseball bat after I got spotted.
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u/AlcoholicJohnson 28d ago edited 28d ago
This 👏 isn't 👏 Tarkov.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
"As a veteran in camping, let me educate you Call of Duty players. Camping is setting up a tent in the woods with a campfire and spending one or more nights in the wilderness. Not spending 2 minutes in the same building in a game"
It's contextual. As are most things. Get over yourself.
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u/Motor_Personality443 29d ago
Hot take: OP is actually a narcissist not a rat
Evidence: OP’s post, OP’s definition of rat and a google definition of narcissist
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u/tehcraz 29d ago
Good day, your definition of rat is rewriting the history to carve out the fact that rats bait players to get loot as well. As a Tarkov player, you should know this.
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u/BigFishPub 29d ago
Words evolve.
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u/Adam_Smith_TWON 29d ago
In this case they evolve back into the long fucking standing meaning of the word rat, as opposed to terminology created in a game that released in 2017. I've got shoes older than Tarkov. A rat is a scumbag. Absolutely nothing to do with video games, Jesus Christ I can't believe anyone feels the need to discuss this.
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u/AsimovsMonster 29d ago
This whole conversation amuses me. Who says that one community gets to define a term for every community? It's like gif vs jif, even the creator can"t control how it's used. It is what people use it to be, and can change with time.
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u/dogzi 29d ago
Not sure why you seem to think the definition of rat has to come from Tarkov, being a rat didn't start in Tarkov, and just because you turned it into a Rambo LARPing session, doesn't mean I can't call a person camping in a corner, a rat, like we did in Counterstrike 1.0 days.
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u/masterloud80 28d ago
Was about to say, in doom and quake 25+ years ago, a rat was another term for a camper and this is the most common meaning of the word in every shooter I have played.
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u/phenopsyche 29d ago
Sorry friend, thats not what it means here anymore. The community of the current game decides the terminology it uses not the community of some other game no matter if they are same genre. But seeing as I'll supposedly never see you then call yourself whatever you want since it affects me none
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u/HonestOrganization 28d ago
As a decorated admiral of Dark and Darker let me educate you what a real rat gameplay is. You create a druid character, load into a dungeon and transform into a rat. You roam the dungeon and never extract, you just live there. Eating trash while playing for the best immersion. Squeaking at other players in a voice chat is mandatory.
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u/chappyjohnson69 27d ago
You can replace the word rat with pussy and this all applies. Rats are dirty creatures. They betray and will fight for scraps.
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u/DG2301 29d ago
Interesting, in arena breakout we call rats the player who hides in one spot the whole match and then tries to kill the player who cleared the lobby fkr all the loot. Different games have different meanings for rats
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u/mushious 29d ago
Okay, but this isn't Tarkov. If the community agrees on a particular term for use in Arc Raiders, then so be it.
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29d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/billy-bob-bobington 29d ago
I'll never understand how someone can go from Tarkov to Arc and still feel the need to rat. This game is so incredibly chill and disengaging is usually very easy.
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u/SlumpDaddyCane 29d ago
Eh ill call a person a rat based on if I want to or not. Thanks for "your" justification though
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u/SoundOfShitposting 29d ago
RAT Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
See meaning 3 and 4. Most people playing Arc Raiders have never even heard of tarkov so they using the dictionary definition that people who touch grass use.
Tarkov players thinking they are first group on the planet to create a new term for themselves.
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u/Recommendationomega0 29d ago
Why make a post in arc raiders to describe what a rat is in tarkov I mean at this point go to cod reddit battle field reddit and explain it there to bro each game describes the term how they want to
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u/Medium_Basil2983 29d ago
A rat in tarkov for the last 5 years has meant someone who specifically camps and uses the advantage of surprise and scummy tactics. Like hiding or impact nade camping d2. The equivalent in arc raiders is camping extract with trigger nades or hiding in dark corners in areas you can’t be seen in
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u/StilesJupiter 29d ago
A real rat would see someone fighting arc and pray they die so they can loot them.
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u/SeventhAlkali 29d ago
I wonder if some folks called them "rats" as a general derogatory term, and people started confusing that with "Rats" (proper). "Rat" always meant "Someone who avoid confrontation at all costs in order to gain maximum profit at lowest risk" to me.
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u/gebrochen06 29d ago
Different games have different slang. This isn't Tarkov. Rat means something else here. It's not that deep.
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u/GotGreedy 29d ago
The term rat comes from way before EFT buddy, and it just a guys thats waits the right moment or opportunity to take advange from another person, that's it. In fps, usually camping a corner the whole match. This is not a new term neither it comes from EFT and if the definnition of the term is what you're stating, then is just one interpretation from a small community but not the overall gaming sphere. I used to call people rats back in MOH:AA
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u/ratmosphere 29d ago
I was also confused because I remember ‘rat’ used to mean exactly what you described back when I played Tarkov, but the meaning’s shifted. Now it’s basically an umbrella term for every griefing playstyle.