Tarkov's Weight System - 4 Years Later

(Intro)

One of the most divisive mechanics to ever be added into Tarkov, it’s been over four years since the introduction of the weight system and all that’s associated with it. Before it was implemented, people could run around in the game with literally hundreds of kilos worth of gear in their backpack and feel no ramifications associated with it. I remember seeing videos of people bringing in empty thick item cases into labs, and over the course of a single raid, killing raiders and other PMCs alike and filling it as much as they could. It’s crazy to think that weight used to be, at one point, a non–factor; no matter what gear you were using or what you had acquired in the raid, everyone moved at the same base speed (excluding strength bonuses for those who power leveled it up to max). But then, BSG decided to add a system that made you slower, more lethargic and made it significantly more difficult to extract with even more than just two people’s worth of loot. And over the four years it has existed, it’s gone through many different changed and iterations. So, how bad was the weight system when it was first added? How rapidly did it get changed? What did the community think of it? And how is it now in 2024, four years later?

(Weight System release and reception)

The weight system was added in patch 12.4 which released on March 12th 2020. It didn’t come with a wipe, and was in fact added about midway through a wipe cycle. When BSG initially talked about it before they released the mechanic, people were a little hesitant at the idea of weight being something we had to think about. But in the context of Tarkov, it makes perfect sense. Weight is a mechanic in a lot of other survival games; where the more you carry, the slower you move and the less spring you have in your step. Ultimately in that context, it was more so a matter of when and not if for weight. And when it was added, oh boy was the community in an uproar. The gameplay loop and the core of what made Tarkov for a lot of people had been uprooted to a point it wasn’t even the same game anymore. The penalties were too harsh, the limits too low, and the general feel of the mechanic was just awful. The one thing that remains vivid in my memory are the clips of people at the highest level of being encumbered and how bad the camera shake was. You know the game setting that controls your screen bob? Well imagine that at the highest setting, and then double or even triple it. The game was almost unplayable because people were getting motion sickness. So, within the first few days, BSG made some rather swift adjustments to the system as a whole. And sadly, that was the story of the weight system for quite some time. Almost every major patch after its release would have a line in it somewhere about making adjustments to the weight system, until it got to a place where it felt... okay. People still rag about it to this day, but it’s nowhere near as bad as it once was.

(Iterate, iterate, iterate)

One of the weight systems majors' problems were the thresholds for when it would begin to kick in. The values were constantly changing; trying to find a happy medium between what players are okay with, and where the developers actually intended it to be in the first place. One day it would be too low so BSG would give us a break and raise the value, and the next day they would lower it again but be higher than that first day. It was a game of tug-o-war. What also exacerbated this problem were some of the soft skills, mainly strength. This skill is still in the game but behaves a little differently than it did four years ago. Leveling it up like it did in the past, increases your carrying capacity, but the biggest change about this skill is when it actually kicks in. Because it requires you to have the “overweight” debuff on your character, which requires you to be at a certain weight before it turns on. And that number has constantly changed over the years. Just looking through the change log for Tarkov, at one point it was 48.75 kg, then it was reduced to 40kg. And then reduced even further to 35kg. You can see why this mechanic has been problematic for a lot of players; the inconsistency with it and how we constantly are having to adapt and adjust to whatever the new magic value is. People who went above and beyond building their kits with weight in mind were affected the most. Because your kit before might have been below the weight limit, and then suddenly the game updates and now it isn’t. It was definitely a messy display of trying to reign in this mechanic to a place that pleases the most people possible, including the developers. Even in more recent updates, BSG is still trying to get the weight system correct. Combine that with inertia being added into the game with the Lighthouse update, and now we have two different mechanics that are trying to accomplish a similar goal; which is to reign in player movement and make each step someone takes more deliberate and purposeful. Instead of being able to move at Mach one and bunny hop across the map to the high traffic and loot locations before anyone else. But inertia is its own can of worms that we’ll maybe talk about in the future. For now, the weight system was a necessary evil in Tarkov and while many people don’t mind it being in the game or the intention it’s supposed to have, it’s the implementation that has sour peoples experience with it.

(How far it’s come)

The weight system in 2024 is still prevalent but not to the degree or once was when it was first introduced. The values for when being overweight have normalized and there are new ways to skirt around being heavy. Still, the tried and true method of running until you’re out of stamina and then crawling to regain it still works and is used by many. But it’s not the only way to go about getting your character to extraction when you weigh sixty plus kilograms. The MULE stimulant grants an additional 50% carry limit for a whopping fifteen minutes. Very useful to always have one in your container should you ever come across a pile of lootable bodies, or something like a tank battery and you need to get the hell out of dodge as fast as possible. Being able to quickly take off your backpack with the drop command also helps quite a bit so you aren’t fiddling around in your inventory trying to discard it on the ground. But in general, the days of walking at a snail's pace with no hope in sight are largely gone. Sure, being at absurd weights like fifty-five kilograms or higher will make it very difficult for you to simply walk. And you will burn stamina by performing any action, but at least I don’t get sick watching my character basically limp his way to the extract. But I would say the first six to twelve months of the weight system being added into the game were rough. And then once again a little more recently at the beginning of 2023. Where many creators and players were able to convey their disdain with the general feel of Tarkov, and how they aspire for change. And much to the delight of many, BSG heard those pleas and made some drastic adjustments to weight, movement, inertia, and the clunkiness that was previously associated with the movement. Speaking only for myself here, I never had an issue with weight being something we needed to worry about. It makes sense; we’re military and we carry around lots of gear, and the more we carry the heavier we will be, making things like just walking a risk. As funny as it was seeing people many years ago run around at full speed with three-hundred plus kilos worth of loot on them, it practically didn’t make sense it didn’t set the right tone for what Tarkov is trying to accomplish. I can’t remember the last game I’ve played that not only let me move with little to no penalties, but almost encouraged breaking the limits of what was feasible to carry. I know people still hate it, and sometimes it can be frustratingly annoying, but that’s with the implementation, not the concept.

(Outro)

Weight has gone through many different iterations over the course of its life. The concept is sound and fair, but how it was added left much to be desired. Luckily, BSG has acknowledged that and for years have strived to get it closer to something that is more amicable with the player base. And right now, it’s felt, but fair, respectively. It doesn’t make me want to barf while walking, and the amount where it becomes a problem only happens if you bite off more than you can chew. And there are ways to work around it, if only temporarily. It’s not perfect; it has its flaws, but weight was always a matter of when and not if. And over the course of four years, we have seen drastic changes made to it both rapidly, and slowly. There’s nothing saying it can’t get be changed further, and who knows? By Tarkov’s 1.0 release, it might be in the best state it’s ever been in. Maybe in another four years, though, we’ll see. 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 weight system in Tarkov, how it’s evolved overtime and be sure to subscribe for more videos about looking to the past to see some of the darkest times for a game we have come to love, hate, love, hate and love again. I hope to see you in future ones.