The extraction genre has a language of its own, and if the guides and the conversations have been sounding like gibberish, these are the words you will actually run into, said in plain English without the gatekeeping and without any assumed knowledge. Once they click, the rest of the genre suddenly makes a lot more sense, which is why I would keep this page rather than decode the slang one argument at a time.
The run, from the drop to the door you are trying to reach
Extraction shooter is the genre itself, where you drop into a dangerous area with whatever gear you choose to bring, fight enemies and scavenge loot, then try to reach an exit alive so you can keep what you found. If you die, you usually lose what you were carrying, and that risk is the whole point rather than a punishment bolted on afterwards. A raid, or a run, is a single session in the danger zone, from the moment you drop in to the moment you extract or die. People talk about going on a raid, and a good run means a successful, profitable one, which is the version they mean when the raid went well. Extract, or exfil, means reaching an exit point and leaving the area safely with your loot, and that is the goal of every run, because to extract successfully is to win, while exfil is just the military shorthand for the same door. Loot is the gear, weapons, valuables and resources you find out in the world, looting is the act of grabbing it, and a good haul is the reason you took the risk in the first place.
The fear, the third party, and the wipe I have never loved
Gear fear is the very real anxiety of taking your best and most expensive equipment into a raid, knowing you could lose it all if you die. Overcoming it, which means actually using the good kit rather than hoarding it, is a rite of passage in these games. I still have guns I am saving for an occasion that has never once arrived, so I am explaining the term from inside it rather than from a position of recovery. Third-party, or getting third-partied, is when you are already in a fight with one enemy or player and a second one shows up to take advantage of the chaos and kill you both. It is the single most frustrating thing in PvPvE extraction, which is also a big reason a lot of people prefer pure PvE. It is most of the reason I did too, and I am putting that next to the definition so the bias is visible. A wipe is when a game resets everyone’s progress, gear and money back to zero, usually to refresh the economy and give everyone a level playing field. It is common in hardcore games like Tarkov, where it has become a love-it-or-hate-it part of the genre. I have never once loved it, which is the bias sitting under every nice thing I just said about a level playing field.
Who you are fighting, and the base you go back to
PvE means player versus environment, so you are fighting the game’s AI enemies rather than other people, and this is the corner of the genre this channel lives in, which is growing fast. PvPvE means player versus player versus environment, the most common model, where you fight both AI enemies and other human players who are in the same area trying to do the same thing as you. It is more chaotic, and it is not for everyone, because you are sharing the area with other human players who are trying to do the same thing as you. A scav, or the AI, is the computer-controlled enemies you fight, and in some games you can also play as a lower-stakes scavenger character with random gear, which is a popular way to learn a map without risking your main loadout. A hideout, or a safehouse, is your personal base, where you store gear, upgrade your facilities and manage your progression between raids, which is the quiet room the loud one is trying to get back to. Insurance is a mechanic in some games where you pay a fee to potentially get your lost gear back after a raid, if nobody else took it, and it is a small safety net against the gear fear I am still keeping guns for.
That is the core vocabulary, and once these click the whole genre opens up, which is why my solo beginner’s guide walks you through the first runs and the extraction shooter matcher points you at a game.
FAQ
What does extract or exfil mean in an extraction shooter?
It means reaching an exit point and leaving the area safely with your loot, and extracting successfully is how you win a run. Exfil is just the military shorthand for the same thing, so when somebody says they exfilled they mean they got out with the bag rather than inventing a second objective.
What is gear fear?
It is the anxiety of taking your best and most expensive equipment into a raid knowing you could lose it all if you die, and learning to actually use that kit rather than hoard it is a rite of passage. I still have guns I am saving for an occasion that has never once arrived, which is how I know the feeling is not theoretical.
What does getting third-partied mean?
It means you are already fighting one enemy or player and a second one shows up to take advantage of the chaos and kill you both, which is a big reason many players prefer pure PvE. It is the single most frustrating thing in PvPvE extraction, and it is most of the reason I did too.
What is a wipe in an extraction shooter?
It is when a game resets everyone's progress, gear and money back to zero, usually to refresh the economy and level the playing field, and it is common in hardcore games like Tarkov. It is a love-it-or-hate-it part of the genre, and I have never once loved it, so the definition above is coming from the hate-it side of that split.
What is a scav?
It is the computer-controlled AI enemies you fight, and in some games you can also play as a lower-stakes scavenger character with random gear. That second version is a popular way to learn a map without risking your main loadout, which is why people use the random gear before they trust the place with their own kit.
What does PvPvE mean?
It means player versus player versus environment, which is the most common model, where you fight both AI enemies and other human players trying to do the same thing as you. It is more chaotic, and it is not for everyone, because those other players are in the same area and they are not there to help you.
Sources (1)
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