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The Melancholy Feeling of Tarkov

It's being echoed by many...

By JirasuPublished 2 years ago 7 min read
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It seems the overall consensus with Tarkov right now is that the game is in a really rough state. And that sentiment (for the most part) is echoed by those who invest a lot of time into the game. Whether it’s streamers or passionate players; the feeling surrounding the game is a whole mix of confusion, concern, frustration, and thinning patience. The promise land of what this game could become looms over the horizon, but what’s right in front of us is a situation that this game has not dealt with before on this magnitude. Right now, as it stands, people are upset at the number of blatant cheaters roaming every map. People are upset this game’s update schedule has come to a crawl. People are upset that at how quickly players can blast through the game and reach “end game”. People are reaching the end of their rope sooner than ever before, in regards how quickly they become desensitized to new content and get bored with the game.

For anyone listening if you’re enjoying this game, whether you’re brand new or a veteran, please, enjoy it. The game still has a lot to offer; with tons of replayablity with how many guns you can use to spice up your game play. As someone who has been playing this game since 2017, some of these issues and concepts are as old as the game itself. Others are new and a by-product of what has happened to this game over the last almost two years. People are bored so they leave; lest they wait for any kind of significant update to the game that will pull them back in. With wipe cycles being stretched to their absolute limits, people are voicing their disdain for how slow things have become. And honestly, those feelings are valid. Granted, when it’s spewed like toxic bile to the developers it helps no one and makes you look like an ass, but when given constructively, it can really give some perspective on just how far this game has come. Granted, I would be willing to bet BSG is way more aware of how the community feels moreso than we give them credit for. And not even because the community is telling them across the internet. Nikita especially is probably the most upset with how things are than anyone else. Since this is his passion project, when things are going sour, it hits him the hardest because all he wants is to take the vision, he has for Tarkov, and translate it into his game. Especially when he is on a podcast, you can see the frustration on his face when he knows things are arigh. Either way, no one wants to see this game fail. We all want it to be the vision Nikita has in his head. And if you don’t like those visions and ideas, and like Tarkov the way it plays today, then the Arena mode that will becoming out in the future will become your new home. It will be focused more on short games, small maps, and heavy PVP situations. It will be a paradise for anyone that enjoys holding down the W key with a gun that has less than 40 recoil. For everyone else, Tarkov is going to get harder (hopefully).

Hot take: old Tarkov (era 2017-2018) was way harder and arguably closer to the vision this game has strived for since its incarnation. The idea of survival and “progression through struggle” was the core of old Tarkov. The game had a fraction of the content it has now; and for some reason, even though this idea is wrong, it made more sense in my head. Now, while it may be closer to that vision, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better. The game was fundamentally worse before; even looking past nostalgia for the old game and how incredible it still was regardless. If our goal is to survive and struggle through this world, then it would make sense that our options are limited. And while they are in the early game, because so much stuff exists in this game, the potential to come across it and have it at your disposal is the primary cause for these mixed feelings. We…I want the game to be hard. I want to have to use shitty guns with barely any attachments on them. I want to have to use bad ammo for a long time. And currently, we are at the polar opposite of these ideas.

Money, is another large point of contention. It’s too easy to obtain and loses its value very quickly. Your choices with your funds lose their impact so early on. Being strapped for cash isn’t something that has ever happened to me. Not once. Money is extremely easy to farm. Even if you don’t optimize it to its maximum potential, you’d be surprised how quickly you can see that rouble count climb. And because money is so available, players can just brute force their way through by acquiring the gear they need from…. the flea market.

This single feature has caused arguably the most amount of grief and conversations around Tarkov. People either love it and want it to stay, hate it and want it to go away, or are mixed and just want to regulations to what goes on the flea. Honestly, I played the game without it, I could do it again. I’m not personally advocating for its disappearance, but if we woke up one day and it was gone, I wouldn’t be upset. The idea on paper is awesome. But the problem is what can go up on the flea, and how much of those items are on the flea, due to an abundance of them in the world. A fully player driven economy will almost always fall into a situation of inflation (New World being the exception to that rule), where things become grossly expensive due to supply and demand. The developers want no part in how it is moderated. Granted, events, shortages and influxes of items will skew the price of things here and there. But they don’t want to black list items off the market for one reason or another. Either way, the Flea isn’t going anywhere and while I don’t mind that, I would be okay if they restricted it someway.

Player frustration seems to stem from the lack of our ability to trust our own senses. Whether it’s vision or hearing (especially the latter), these are vital to the survival of your character in game. When they don’t function properly, it can create large amounts of frustration and angst towards those situations where we need to rely on those sense, only to have them fail us when they matter most. These feelings are only compounded by the movement in the game; how fast we move and because of that and the servers usually playing catch-up so it can feel like we’re always behind on our screen versus when someone kills us it looks perfectly fine. These are fundamental issues; deep rooted in the belly of Tarkov’s infrastructure. All we can do is hope that one day they are resolved.

Tarkov is a videogame experience that honestly should be experienced by everyone who enjoys challenging games at least once. There are many lessons to be learned, and can really open your eyes at the potential of first-person shooters. For some, it has ruined more arcade(y) traditional shooters. Not for me (at least not yet), but there are still many issues and wants that the game hasn’t fulfilled yet. And I hope that with each patch, we get one step closer to the true vision of Tarkov. And hopefully, the melancholy feeling that many are feeling will subside. And be replaced with wonder and joy.

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About the Creator

Jirasu

Scripts about the things I find interesting. Most are for videos on my YouTube channel.

Check it out, if you're interested:

hhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiqQGl1HGmVKGMYD8DRaHZQ

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