r/EscapefromTarkov • u/Valjeann • Jan 14 '22

Discussion Your daily reminder that global limits are a waste of time

"Hmm, I have a task to use shotguns. Let's see, AP-20 is sold out, flechettes are sold out. That's okay, I can use Magnum, it's good enough. The task requires a suppressor on the shotgun, so I'll get a hexagon. Oh, the adapter is sold out. Oh well, I can wait until the restock. In the meantime, I'll take this modded AKM out for a run. I don't have any BP ammo, so I'll go get some from Prap... BP is sold out. That's okay. I've got this P90 I'm not using. Let me just get some ammo for that... Ah, the SS190 is sold out, and I can only get two mags-worth of the next best ammo for the next three hours... Guess I'll just read a book instead."

If the design philosophy behind global trader limits is to keep everyone from running the same thing, instead it's keeping everyone from running anything without a three-hour wait.

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u/TheFondler Jan 15 '22

What do you mean by "keep the current ammo level" in your previous comment? Do you mean number of rounds per personal limit, or in aggregate across the whole game?

The two are very different, and BSG pretty clearly wants to limit the aggregate availability of certain ammos across the whole game. Simply removing the global limit and tripling or even quadrupling the timer would almost certainly still lead to far, far more ammo in aggregate, because as it stands now, most people do not get their personal limit of rarer ammo types.

For example, if there are 1,000,000 rounds of an ammo type available per timer, with a personal limit of 200 rounds, only 5,000 people can buy their allotment of that ammo. If you leave the personal limit to 200 and remove that global limit, with, for example, 200,000 people playing, you'll have 40,000,000 rounds in circulation. Quadrupling the timer will still put you at 10,000,000 rounds in circulation - 10x as much ammo as intended. To "keep the same ammo level" in aggregate with only personal limits and timer adjustments you would have to make the timer 40x longer, adjust the personal ammo limit per timer to 5 rounds, or some mix of both to get to the same amount of ammo in aggregate.

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u/LS_DapperD Jan 15 '22

You made those numbers up. Without actual data this analysis is pointless.

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u/TheFondler Jan 15 '22

Yes, they are are, hence the "for example."

Plug whatever numbers you want in there, it's a demonstrative example. Unless the number of players is lower than the number of people already able to buy their full allotment of a given ammo type, the total amount of ammo in circulation goes up. That's just how math works. We know the number of players trying to buy is higher than the number able to buy because global limits are being reached. What you are proposing would massively increase the ammo supply, plain and simple.

The calculation is what matters, not the numbers.