Tarkov’s Softcore Patch is Floppy

(Intro)

From one polar extreme to barely half of the other, BSG just released notes showcasing what they’re calling the softcore balancing for Tarkov. A new Jaeger quest combined with some mechanical changes across the game’s weight and movement systems, as well as new barters and flea market rules. We’ll be going over all of these and then having a conversation about what the heck is going on with this game recently and how some of the previous conversations we’ve had over the last couple of weeks, feel more vindicated about their existence. This game feels lost, empty and devoid of any soul. One of the weakest states I’ve seen EFT fall into, pretty much ever. But we’ll get into that in a few.

(The actual changes)

Before I read directly from the list of changes, for some reason I went into this beforehand thinking it was going to be closer to a pre-wipe event, where they kind of say screw it and just let the floodgates open, but that’s not the case. These are much more specifically curated changes that kind of coincide with what happened to Arena, and while I’m personally more confused than anything with what happened over there, I’m more disappointed when it comes to EFT proper. Heavy reductions to both inertia and aim punch across the board, meaning movement and fights should feel like less of a gamble whether or not you hit the headshot and more about how strikes first. Increasing the threshold for being overweight by fifty percent means hey everyone can carry more gear from other players which is nice. More loot containers across all maps are cool if you are still scrounging for loot or are looking for specific items. As well as more of the Jaeger stashes and specifically, duffle bags? I mean, sure, I guess.

More containers in marked rooms is a little vague to me, but I would have to imagine you can get things like doc's cases, injector cases and the like from those rooms again. And from a couple of clips online, it looks like you can get even things like weapon and thick item cases which is kind of crazy; at least that will activate some neurons in players brains. They also upped the chance of finding colored keycards which would be cool if they were still infinite use, but alas. If you are level ten you can now use the flea market, and we all can list up to a maximum of five items instead of two that we had previously. Your skills level significantly faster; they upped the survived experience multiplier and now you can no longer earn hardcore wipe achievements. Th- that's it; that’s your lot of changes for this softcore experience. Now, let’s get into why this feels like another ball dropped on an opportunity to at least bring people back with something substantial.

(Why this feels like nothing)

I hate to compare these changes to the hardcore ones, but first off, the idea of a fully sanctioned BSG hardcore wipe was enticing before we knew anything about what it entailed. We all theorized about how much or how little it was going to have an impact on the game. Once they started rolling out the screenshots, we got somewhat of a better idea as to how it would play out, but because we weren’t in the game yet, we didn’t understand the gravity of all the changes. And very quickly once the patch rolled out, people realized this wasn’t going to be for them, and that’s okay. And to this day, we still have container restrictions in the game because of the hardcore wipe. You know where a good place would’ve been to start with this softcore experience? Allowing full access back to our container. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind the no medication and ammos in the case, but if we are going to explicitly do the opposite of hardcore, or at the very least provide an experience that should be tailor made for those who were pushed out of the game because of the hardcore changes, don’t you think it would make sense to as the very first bullet point, revert those changes back to how the secure containers behaved previously? BSG is so bad when it comes to tempering expectations and how they go about changes. Many have used this analogy, but this kind of event needed a scalpel; a certain level of precision and tact with how you approach creating an experience that feels more open and inviting for those who were shut out because of hardcore. But instead, they went around wildly with a hammer; no pause for thought, no considering what needs to be changed or what would make sense and fit in an experience like a softcore patch. Just smashing things randomly without thinking how this would add to the experience or why it might feel good to include. It’s become infuriating to watch every single time.

I see online somewhere, oh hey BSG is going to do a thing, and then we get the notes and it’s like... what? What is this? To me, at this point, it makes more sense to lean into what they’re good at; which is rolling out pre-wipe events that basically just give everyone access to everything. And then the last few days are usually just hey everyone has max traders, everything can be bought infinitely, and it all costs one ruble. But hey, maybe I’m jumping the gun here; maybe this is the start of multiple balance changes coming to the game that will ramp up in casuality...? I don’t know if that’s a word but just making the game more relaxed and PvP focused. That would be ideal, and I can be called a stupid butt head later on if that comes to pass. I don’t mind being wrong, in fact in this particular case, I’d rather be wrong. I want them to in a couple days be like here’s another softcore update making the game even less serious given the state it’s currently in. But if this is the only set of notes and changes that are coming for this softcore idea, we’re cooked. It’s like goddamn; they tried a little too hard with hardcore with all the changes and how drastic some of them were, and assuming this is all they’re going to do with this softcore patch, they didn’t try hard enough. I mean; we’ve been at end game for a while now; it feels like for over at least a month people have been at end game. I can’t remember the last time I ran into someone under level thirty, and I’m barely at thirty-three. Hell, I don’t even have my favorite piece of upper clothing for the USEC because I just don’t care. I don’t man, I’m tired. Not necessarily of Tarkov, but how it has been handled for the last couple of months. Like I said at the top, it feels lost and just meandering around without any real sense of direction. I only hope that 1.0 can kind of steer the ship back onto course. At this point, it doesn’t even have to fix Tarkov, just get us back to where the game makes sense, the pacing of the progression feels like it won’t be completed in less than a week, and this empty feeling might just fade away.

(Outro)

There’s not much else to say honestly. This idea of a softcore experience was again, interesting when said out loud, but when it came time to actually roll out some updates, it was once again half-baked ideas that don’t really matter in the long run. More freedom, ease of attainment for items, making things cheaper; I mean there is other stuff they could’ve done but it doesn't matter now. I’m sorry; I hate for these conversations to turn into me just ranting incoherently about the ineptitude of BSG sometimes, but it’s hard not to get upset when good ideas are wasted. I always try to give them the benefit of the doubt and to not just rag on them, but it’s tough when you watch them in real time stumble over themselves time and time again. Things like this can definitely have some nuance, and I can see is them adding more after this first initial patch. But at the end of the day, who really cares, right? We are about a month away from 1.0, whatever that looks like. At least that will have some weight and impact on the game, and we can all experience a “finished” product together, and talk about all that changed with the game, when the time finally comes. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Let me know down in the comment section below your thoughts on the idea of a softcore patch, what you would’ve included in something like that and be sure to subscribe for more videos that start out as a conversation but quickly turn into a tired and jaded rant. I hope to see you in future ones.