Competitive Tarkov Shouldn't Be a Thing

Tarkov is a naturally competitive game. With the stakes being so high each raid, it only makes sense that one might become relatively “passionate” about whether you survive raids, kill another player or boss; it’s eat or be eaten in the world of Tarkov. However, what tends to cross a line for myself personally is when the game gets put into an actual competitive scenario. Where money and potential reputation is put on the line. Here, we begin to see the problems of Tarkov stretched to their absolute limits; everything that can go wrong with the game bubbles up to the surface for thousands of people to see. There is a reason why the meme of “E-Sports Ready” exists; this game in its current state should never be played for money. It’s so impractical. Even if there are tons of fun to be had; it just doesn’t make sense for people to spend time and effort sweating in a tournament setting where all the randomness of Tarkov that we normally enjoy, can blow back in your face and cost you potentially real-world currency. Maybe I’m being a little hyperbolic with this; if there isn’t any money on the line, and it’s just people coming together to play Tarkov at a high level, then there isn’t an issue with that at all. But when money is added, it can become a toxic cesspool of the games glaring issues coming to a head. So, please join me as we discuss why competitive Tarkov shouldn’t exist in its current format. And be sure to subscribe for future videos.

Like I mentioned at the start, the meme of Tarkov being “E-Sports Ready” exists because the game has so many issues. This has existed for many years now, and you usually hear people say it immediately after they die to some typical Tarkov shenanigans. Whether it’s bugs, glitches, or network problems. Any of these followed by a death will usually result in the individual saying E-Sports Ready. And I mean I laugh at this joke, but in all seriousness, a game that isn’t consistent and is as problematic on a day-to-day basis as Tarkov is, shouldn’t be played for money. I’m sure there are other games that fit into this category as well. I mean, you could argue PUBG, especially when it had initially released, but we’re talking mainly about Tarkov here. Even when BSG sanctions an event run by a community member, and even provides special servers for those players so they aren’t playing with the random denizens of the internet, I still find it difficult to watch those tournaments. Sure, it can be fun and exciting to watch the players with the most hours logged into the game go at it with one another. And again, if there wasn’t a prize on the line except for bragging rights, it feels justified for those kinds of events to exist. It’s all banter, people get to limit test their skills against their peers, and they get to entertain thousands of viewers. It’s a win-win for everyone. But personally, the moment any kind of monetary incentive is added, that’s when a line gets crossed. It's hard to watch those events and people get frustrated with their loss not because the other person outclassed them, but because the issues with Tarkov creeped up at the worst possible moment.

It doesn’t really need to be stated, but the technical issues with the game alone should prevent many events from occurring. It’s a shame to see people play so hard, and to go back and watch how many times Tarkov and its net code screws people over who might’ve had an actual chance at taking it all. It’s one of those things where BSG tries to do right and provide something entertaining to those who are going to participate, and to those who simply might just watch. But their own game works against them and can easily mess things up for those involved. Which is why I am happy Arena is going to exist.

Arena might be able to save and cobble together what should be their competitive scene in the Tarkov universe. That has been a primary goal for arena directly from BSG’s mouth. And we saw firsthand what that would look like at Twitch Con. And while it wasn’t perfect, what we saw had promise and potential. Remember, that version of Arean is an older version; it was lacking some spectating tools and optimizations according to Nikita, who jumped onto the mics for a little while and answered some questions. So, the hope is that the version of arena that releases to the public runs better and plays better than what was shown on stage. Because as I’ve said to myself many times, if arena regarding its net code runs even just 50% better than Tarkov does, with desync and dying around walls and the like, we might have the groundwork set for a massive competitive scene. And it’s here where those tournaments and events can be played for money. Not traditional Tarkov, but in the arena.

Very recently, BSG organized an event for any size streamer who within the last month streamed 100+ hours of Tarkov (notice that stipulation). It would occur over the course of nine days and each day would have challenges that would need to be completed to earn points. And at the end of the nine days, whoever has the most points gets a steamer item of their choice added into the game. Which, I think is an interesting alternative to just money or new accounts. It’s something that will be immortalized into the game and be there forever. However, it became very apparent that the challenge was going to have the shortcomings we’re used to whenever BSG tries to run an event of any kind. This entire event focuses on elements of the game I would think streamers aren’t interested in. Now I know that sounds stupid; streamers play the game so it shouldn’t matter what part of the game they engage with. And to some extent, you are correct. But if we look at just the first day of the challenge, kill Killa. Boss kill okay makes sense. “Find” a bitcoin, “Find” a GPU, two scav kill components, and finding streamer items. Where are the PMC components of day 1? Where’s my Kill PMCs, one point for each dog tag extracted with? What this does, it set the precedent that killing AI and looting around the map are more enticing components for an event that finding and engaging in PvP. Especially considering this is called a “Streamer” challenge. You’d think a critical component to this entire event would be running into other streamers and fighting them. But nope, loot the map, kill scavs, try to kill the boss. Do that for 8 hours, wash, rinse, and repeat. And just after the first day, it was clear people were not happy with this event. People were quitting, going to extremely low population servers so they didn’t have any real competition. Sigh.... This isn’t the first time this has happened. But it shines a light on why Tarkov shouldn’t be competitive or taken seriously in that realm. The randomness that the game has innately built into it can literally be the reason why you don’t get some of these challenges completed. And it’s a shame that PvP isn’t factored into any of the day's events. Not to mention with previous events, there has been drama with players calling out other players for cheating, which is a whole other can of worms. And while those claims were bogus, because cheating is so rampant in Tarkov across the entire game, the idea of someone cheating in a tournament where again, money is on the line, doesn’t seem that farfetched. I feel bad for BSG; they want to put something together for players and create some competition and rally the community together. But most of the time, they lose sight of what these events should be, and how they should be orchestrated. It ends up turning into a PvE farm fest, without much acknowledgement of the others in the tournament around them. This was supposed to be an easy win for BSG, but instead, it ended up causing more problems than it solved. I hate to say it out loud, but it’s pretty on brand for them at this point regarding this stuff.

Competitive Tarkov shouldn’t be a thing. At least not right now. Wait until arena comes out and we all get some time with that. Plenty of people will be having conversations about the new mode and whether that will actually be “E-Sports” ready. Apparently, there is a TarkovTV livestream occurring on the 14th of this month, so maybe we’ll get some more insight into what's going on with arena and if we can expect a more accurate release date for arena. But for now, don’t take competitive Tarkov seriously. It has zero weight in the grand scheme of things. Just play the game and do your best to enjoy it. And if you find yourself getting upset or frustrated at the game, that’s the sign of needing to take a break. And we’ve all been there at one point or another. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Be sure to leave your thoughts about competitive Tarkov down below in the comments and subscribe for more videos about the angles and smaller niche communities of the game that might become much more prevalent in the near future. I hope to see you in future ones.