Was Tarkov Designed to Be Miserable?

(Intro)

Tarkov and its world is a dark place. People constantly at each other's throats, fighting to either stay alive or to appease those above them. It makes sense then within the context of the world and the circumstances surrounding everything going on, that some of the gameplay would reflect that pain and misery. Tarkov at the start is easily one of the hardest games to get into, learn, and truly understand. Some would even go so far as to call the process even after potentially hundreds of hours, miserable. But that’s a good question to ask; is the game truly miserable? Both to play and to just experience. Was it always intended to be this way? It’s kind of a loaded question with a somewhat nuanced answer. So, let’s take a crack at answering it and see what about Tarkov would make people see it as being a miserable experience, and how many have still managed to find the fun and excitement despite everything in the game trying to prevent you from finding it sometimes.

(The definition and implication in EFT)

Before we look at Tarkov and whether it’s miserable, let’s first look at the definition of miserable and see how much of it applies directly to Tarkov, both in the universe and in the gameplay. The definition of miserable is: “Wretchedly unhappy or uncomfortable”. Which makes sense, but if we want to go a layer deeper, the definition of wretchedly means: “To do something in a miserable, poor, or contemptible manner”. Which again, within the context of the game as a whole, makes sense. Your PMC is almost assuredly both unhappy and uncomfortable with the circumstance he’s found himself in. Stuck in an isolated area, with no contact from the outside world, with the sole purpose of trying to survive and get back home. All the while, the locals, other military groups and even cultists are running around trying to take you out. It makes perfect sense then that within the context and world of Tarkov, there isn’t much joy or happiness to be had. That’s the easy half of this conversation. The other half, involving the player, is much different.

Everyone who has played knows that this game is hard. Hard in the sense that there is what feels like an insurmountable amount of knowledge you need to accrue in order to feel like you understand even just the basics of the game. Maps, extraction points, weapons, ammos, boss spawns and locations; the list goes way beyond just those. It’s the equivalent of trying to learn all the character abilities in something like a MOBA; hundreds of abilities, passives, and item combinations. It’s one of those moments where you feel like there’s no way the game expects you to not only learn all this stuff, but have dying to it as part the learning process, right? That alone is enough to push some people away from ever trying. Thankfully, the new tutorial in 1.0 Tarkov does a relatively solid job of throwing you into the game, quickly acclimating you to the situation and to think on your feet and what to look out for. Whereas before, it was so much just trial and error figuring things out unless you had a friend helping you because the game never explained any of its mechanics to the player. And while there is certainly some charm in older versions of the game being so just flying by the seat of your pants, the game has so much more content and has been optimized to such a degree that you need to help the new players, otherwise they might find the experience truly miserable.

(Was it always meant to be this way?)

Jokes aside, there was a point in time when Nikita, in interview, said that this game was never meant to be fun. Now, the specific definition of fun he used in this context, we don’t know. However, we can try and extrapolate what he meant. Fun in the sense of the game being jovial and lighthearted? Something that anyone can pick up and play? An experience akin to something like a more family-oriented game? Again, we will never know for sure, but at least my own personal interpretation of his definition of fun is something that you don’t just experience. You almost live through it. An Tarkov does have moments that feel immersive; whether the weather creating a specific mood or atmosphere, working through a map and not really seeing other players. Or getting your stuff kicked in again and again. Tarkov is as much a don’t tilt kind of experience as any other. It’s unlike many other games out there, even ones in the same genre. Where you kind of just go through the motions and every once in a while, something happens that might be cool of kind of get you out of the monotony of the gameplay, but nothing like Tarkov that is always trying to get you. Something that you really need to pay attention to because if you don’t, you might miss that other player in the corner just watching you waiting to take their shot. And for years, this game was niche; something you only really heard about through word of mouth. And most people that mentioned it always defaulted to saying it’s insanely difficult. And because there was a sheer lack of information about the game, that was very much true. But does that statement still hold up after the full release of the game? Yes, of course it does. People are going to find things about Tarkov to be difficult. Someone might have great aim, but struggle when it comes to tackling multiple people at once. They might enjoy playing as a scav because it’s a little more laid back but are terrified of playing as their PMC. At least now, there is an abundance of information about weapons, quests and everything you might need to understand in order to be successful. And despite everything, all the hardships losing gear sets, quest items and anything else that would make you beyond upset; players still managed to find the fun in Tarkov even if the creator himself maybe never wanted you to.

(How people still found the fun)

Even with a lack of tutorial or any in-game information explaining how the systems work, people managed to slog their way through their first hours of Tarkov just taking it all in. It was so different such a shock to the system, that people were more curious about what lies deeper in Tarkov than anything else. Even if they failed a hundred times, there was something about the game that would just sink its teeth into you. And before you knew it, slowly but surely you improved. You understand how to tell between an AI enemy and a player, your movement gets better, your aim gets better, and you begin to feel more confident taking better gear into raids. And at this point, you’re addicted to the game and just want to play as much as possible. People for years have gone through this series of events. Even if the game isn’t conventionally fun, even if the game does everything it can to basically push you away, people craved more. One more raid, one more scav run, whatever it might be. Whether or not Tarkov was designed to be miserable at this point, well it doesn’t matter. People are playing for a multitude of reasons. And now that we have the PvE version for those who want to experience the game under slightly more relaxed circumstances, even that can be a wild ride for someone jumping into the game for the first time. It took a long time, but tons of people now have found the fun in the game. One way or another, one playstyle or reason, it doesn’t really matter. If you play Tarkov and can enjoy yourself, that’s all that matters. It means those hours of playtime, years of wipes and patient waiting to see the game release was worth it. And now, all we can hope is that the game continues to improve and what new content updates they plan to add in the future.

(Outro)

Tarkov was never meant to be fun, in the traditional, more conventional definition. It rode a tightrope between a difficult first-person shooter, and an immersive hardcore experience that was something you wanted to tell your friends about. EFT may have never been designed with fun in mind, but just the existence of the game and how far it went against the grain was enough to entice people into the ecosystem. And once they were in, if they didn’t immediately bounce off, they would most likely fall in; sinking scores of hours into the game and finding not only their reasons and motivations to keep playing, but also accidentally finding the one thing the creator never intended us to find; fun. When everything is working and you have a crazy raid experience, there is no other video game high out there like Tarkov. It just makes you astound at how difficult but rewarding something can be. And even when you lose a hundred times, even when you want to quit, all it takes is one ridiculous raid to make it all feel better. We’ve said it before, but Tarkov giveth and Tarkov also taketh, and no other game really does it like EFT. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Let me know down int the comments section below your thoughts on whether Tarkov is a miserable experience both in terms of the game but also the lore, how you found the fun inside of EFT and be sure to subscribe for more videos about the game we love to hate but also love for what it does to our brains when it all works out. I hope to see you in future ones.