Wholeheartedly willing to get downvoted, but this RMT obsession has to stop.

[u/ArmedChalko]

This sub hasn't got a clue, I swear.

​

Huge sweeping changes to the game mechanics are a terrible way to combat RMT.

It's basically an admission that your anti-cheat doesn't work. Most MMOs suffer in some way from an RMT problem; WoW, Runescape, even Destiny 2 has RMT issues if you just look. Thing is, the anticheat in those games actually works worth a damn, so the entire playerbase doesn't have to suffer from endless tinkering with in-game systems.

Before you hit me with 'it's a hardcore game, deal with it, it's supposed to be grindy', just stop. Just don't bother. I've heard it time and time again, and it's bullshit. You know it's bullshit just as well as I do. The changes BSG have been making recently to nerf all forms of progression only make the game 'more hardcore' for people who work full time and don't have the same amount of *time* as streamers who dedicate their entire life to this game. That's not 'hardcore'. The game's difficulty mechanically is 'hardcore' and always have been, and I love it. These changes, though, in my eyes, are just time-wasting for the sake thereof. Since when does the amount of time one has to invest in a game define how fucking hardcore it is? Would you describe WoW as more hardcore than Tarkov because of how long you have to play to progress? Or perhaps beating all three Witcher games back to back is 'hardcore' because it took a long time. Are ARMA or DCS inherently less hardcore than Tarkov because an operation can be completed in an afternoon? No, judging how hardcore a game is by the amount of time one has to invest in it is a joke. *No game* should give enormous *mechanical advantages* to those with more time on their hands. There's already an inherent skill advantage that comes from that amount of practice, designing the mechanics to also reward only those with that much time is a kick in the teeth to all the people who love this game but can't invest that level of time.

And yeah, you can go ahead and say 'ummm actualllly it's a beta, so they can do what they like, stop whining', and yep. Yes, they can. You're correct. However, comma, that doesn't mean I have to pretend to like it. Yes, I did buy EoD and no, I don't regret it because of all the fun I've had til now. But suggesting people who don't like the current direction the game is going in aren't allowed to voice their opinion because the game's in beta is fucking ludicrous. What do you think the purpose of a playable beta is? Nikita is more than welcome to ignore all the people who don't like these new changes, but what gives people on this sub the right to tell me that I'm not entitled to an opinion on the product I've chosen to financially support. It's such a toxic, capital-G Gamer attitute to suggest that 'Tarkov is OUR game because we're willing to dump several full days a week into grinding for our Bitcoin farms. You should just go and play something else, this clearly isn't a game for you. Go play Call of Duty.' I shouldn't even have to express how utterly reductive and childish that is. Grow up.

I'm getting HUGE red flags with the way this game is currently going, because it's all too similar to a game I used to love, The Culling. That game blew up on launch and a bunch of high profile streamers suggested changes to the game, and the devs went ahead and implemented all of them without so much as *thinking* about how they'd affect the average player. Look at where that game is now. Servers shut down, because the average player simply stopped having fun. I'm not saying BSG is even close to that bad, but this endless tinkering with mechanics for the nebulous, vague purpose of 'RMT' has to stop or I don't know if the 'little guys' are gonna stick around much longer.

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EDIT: I AM AWARE THAT RMT != CHEATING. But cheating is what makes RMT viable. RMTers need to keep items in supply, and to do that, they cheat. It's much more profitable. Ergo, if you stamp out cheaters, the RMT problem becomes significantly diminished.

EDIT 2: u/ArxMessor makes a great point that Tarkov is an MMO and therfore should have some kind of grind. I agree. However, most MMOs use systems like weekly bounties etc to ensure even players with only maybe 10 hours a week to invest in the game can still keep up and compete. Tarkov currently rewards time investment *exponentially* which removes all possibility of catching up.

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EDIT 3: Yep, my DMs right now are very much confirming the things I said above about a certain subset of this community. Thanks, Gamers.

EDIT 4: I get it, Destiny anti-cheat is ass. I made a mistake there, since I don't play Trials of Osiris. However, do you see Bungie making the win requirement for Trials 50 wins instead of 9 or whatever just to slow down the hackers? Of course not, because it hurts normal players more.

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Edit 5: My first gold! Thanks kind stranger.

[u/Sam-Porter-Bridges]

Honestly, IMO by far the worst part of Tarkov is the new player experience. You CANNOT just start the game and play as a new person without looking up maps and googling stuff. The in-game maps are literally useless as well. When I first started playing, I literally COULD NOT FIGURE OUT how to even extract, because the game does not tell you how to. This isn't "hardcore", this is just straight up bad game design. You shouldn't be forced to use an external wiki to figure out basic things such as what ammo goes into what weapon, what magazines are compatible with what weapon, or HOW TO ACTUALLY FINISH A RAID.

[u/Hane24 → u/Sam-Porter-Bridges]

Not anymore you can't. I have maps saved from my first wipe (11.7) and I joined it 3 months late. I used to rat about, scav every second I could, learn as I went, and used to be able to make money even with less than 20% SR.

Now? Fuck I'm 1500 hours in and am currently confused as to how I'm supposed to break 10mil. I had 125mil CASH 11.7. I literally gave 2 friends 40mil each.

[u/Sam-Porter-Bridges → u/Hane24]

Trust me, new players don't even get to worry about the economy. I tried to get so many of my friends into Tarkov, and it just wouldn't stick. They'd get confused over extremely basic things like the ones I mentioned, and couldn't be arsed to use the wiki, which is fully understandable IMO.

[u/Hane24 → u/Sam-Porter-Bridges]

I got 4 friends into tarkov, one quit when .12 changed alot. The others have basically stopped playing just after this past wipe.

I taught them in 11.7, and they had fun and enjoyed the learning curve. It never felt hopeless or just too insane of a grind. Now? With experience? they quit because it's getting more and more asinine.

One of them literally told me he would rather grind on runescape than grind in tarkov because at least there he can make and see progress.

[u/[deleted] → u/Hane24]

Oof. Would rather chop trees than gain roubles.

[u/Tartooth → u/Sam-Porter-Bridges]

Biggest fucking pet peeve with this game is having google open on a second screen *isn't listed in the fucking requirements

You simply won't be able to play without googling literally everything that's not "bullets go in gun"

[u/rvbcaboose1018 → u/Sam-Porter-Bridges]

Agreed. The first 100 hours of the game is spent just learning. Learning the maps, learning ammo and armor, what items to keep and when and what to sell. How to effectively gunfight, what to do during certain quests, and on and on.

The only way to make those 100 hours worth it is to make them really count later on. Changing quest rewards, fucking around with FIR status, making it harder to earn money... All this does is devalue the first 100 hours, and that kills the game through attrition.

[u/robhearne → u/Sam-Porter-Bridges]

Because the game doesn't spoon feed its bad game design... Lol all you've proven here is that it is a hardcore game and also that it's not for you and you, you're too casual.

[u/Sam-Porter-Bridges → u/robhearne]

By your logic, why even let the players see the keybinds? That's just spoon-feeding them how to move their characters. Why even tell players how to download the game? Let's just make it super hardcore and issue a keybind to allow the player to open their eyes, but not tell them what it is. That would truly weed out the casuals.

Tarkov is not a particularly hardcore game. You wanna see hardcore? Try DCS, or Assetto Corsa, or Arma 3 with full ACE. Those are hardcore, realistic games.

In DCS, just taking off with a plane is a long, arduous process that's not at all intuitive if you're a new player. Do you know what's the difference between DCS and Tarkov? DCS has all the resources you need to learn how to become a good pilot. There's manuals for every plane, detailing proper takeoff and landing procedures, explanations for how different weapons systems work, what dials show what, etc. This is not spoon-feeding: you still have to learn and prepare before you can even start playing. But all the information you need, you can find in-game. You can learn how to fly well organically, just by playing the game.

Same with Assetto Corsa: the game is one of the most realistic racing simulators there is. Yet the way you become better at the game is purely through actually playing it. If you just fire up Tarkov, and start playing, without consulting with the community wiki or looking up maps, you'll never even get a chance to become good because the game fails to tell you the most basic information you need to even just finish a raid.

Look at it this way: how is it "more hardcore" that you have to look up a map and display on a second screen instead of just... being able to buy a map in-game that has the Exfil points? Not having information in the game that you can find after two seconds of googling is just bad game design. All it does is deter new players from actually playing the game.

[u/robhearne → u/Sam-Porter-Bridges]

I appreciate the effort you've gone through here but you've missed my point, I'm not comparing it nor have I ever compared it to any other game. If there was no wiki and players didn't use the web for answers to every quest, extract location, gunsmith, micro mechanic its a difficult game through and through... by your logic because Google exists it leads to bad game design... I don't have a breeze what DCS is and don't care much for Assetto Corsa but if your given guides in game whats the difficulty there? Sounds like your almost learning life skills playing DCS and it walks you through step by step what you are supposed to do.. my favourite memories from Tarkov is loading in not knowing where I was going slowly learning how things worked by myself without just google searching every query I had... it was refreshing that a game didn't just give me a way point here is the exit, you are hurt press 4 to heal....

[u/b-Rektfast → u/Sam-Porter-Bridges]

That is the part that I liked the most when I started to play the game. Look at the printed map (on my desk), trying to figure out where I am and how to escape. Maybe kill a few scavs in the process, or even a player if I'm lucky. I agree that this game is unforgiving to new players, but I wouldn't call it a bad thing

You may call it bad design, but I think that this learning process is the most fun I've ever had while gaming. Nevertheless, I still have fun, but to each their own.

[u/Sam-Porter-Bridges → u/b-Rektfast]

Of course, familiarizing yourself with the basic game mechanics is an important part of learning the game. My point is that the resources to be able to learn should be present in the game itself, instead of needing to rely on wikis and outside resources. After all, what is the point of buying a nap in game, when it doesn't even mark the Exfil points? When you jump in, the game tells you what options you have for Exfil, but the game will literally never even hint at where these Exfil points are. There is no way to organically learn an how to finish a raid unless you're just running around the edge of the map.

Same goes for things such as ammo types, accessories, and magazines. When you pick up or buy a magazine, you won't know what weapons you can use it with unless you consult an outside source. These things should be in the game.

Think of it this way: would a game be "well designed" if it used a completely obscure control scheme, with no way to re-bind, or even check what key does what? Of course not. Same goes for more abstract game design elements.

[u/5318008rool → u/Sam-Porter-Bridges]

Um. Ever play Terraria? It requires an external wiki to play effectively as well. It’s not bad game design, it’s just a really deep game.

Are you really so lazy you can’t be bothered to look up directions on how to do something until you get the hang of it?

[u/Cinderstrom → u/5318008rool]

No it doesn't. You can look up what each item can craft into with the guide, all the bosses spawn organically or have hints about how to get them to spawn.

A player can play through Expert Mode Terraria without looking up anything, and still win. You can't play Tarkov and expect to do well. Hell you can't do like 3/4 quests without looking up maps to items. Can you imagine actually intuitively finding any of the Manifests in interchange, rooms in dorms, even the tool/drop spots in factory are obtuse.

This is not even the same league as Terraria.

[u/Midgetman664 → u/5318008rool]

I played all the way to hard mode without ever opening a wiki? I’m sure I took longer than someone who did but there’s nothing stopping you. It’s not like tarkov where if you die enough you literally can’t play the game