What Makes a Tarkov Casual?

(Intro)

Tarkov is known to be an incredibly difficult and complex game if you’ve never played it before. It goes out of its way to feel obtuse, unorthodox, but most importantly, unique when compared to many other games in the same genre or sphere. While it was not the first extraction shooter ever created, it certainly was the first one to nail down the formula correctly. Which is why it has grown so popular over the years. But what has become a by-product of this, is the general player skill level has slowly risen overtime. You go back even just five years ago; people were not generally as knowledgeable or skillful at the game as they are now. There was a decent chunk of the player base who had no idea what they were doing, myself included. The population playing the game was much smaller, so it makes sense that people were kind of just meandering around EFT trying to figure it out as best they can. At one point or another, anyone who plays EFT will be considered a casual. But this term and its definition has somewhat changed as time has gone on. Is a Tarkov casual someone who doesn’t play a lot? How much do they know about the game? Can they hold their own in PvP engagements? People will have their own definition of what a casual is in EFT, and today, our goal is to break this term down and figure out where people might place themselves if asked the question: what makes a casual in EFT?

(The definition itself)

Before we look at what the term casual means within the context of Tarkov, let’s quickly look at the real-world definitions of casual so we can get a better idea as to what it might mean for the game. The term casual has three meanings that make sense for this conversation: Relaxed and unconcerned, not regular or permanent and a person who does something irregularly. The general theme across these is time invested. Which makes sense; if you only dabble in something and don’t put the time or effort into getting more proficient at anything, you are technically a casual. You may really enjoy the thing you do, but you can only do it so much because of forces outside of your control. And let’s get this notion out of the way: there is nothing wrong with being a casual at anything. You don’t have to be an expert in something to love it or enjoy it. For a personal example, I spent all of 2023 and about half of 2024 learning how to draw. It's always something I’ve wanted to be good at, or at least proficient at. I read some books, watched a lot of videos when it came to anatomy and learning how to get the basic shapes and structure of the body, but I could never nail it down. I felt some progress but quickly stagnated in getting better. And sadly, have since put it down, which is something I want to correct going forward. But just because I am a casual at drawing, doesn’t mean that’s bad. I just haven’t put the reps in to really getting better. I enjoyed it while I was learning and wasn’t too worried about what others were doing or how behind I was. And something like that takes years and years to nail down correctly. The same can be said for games, especially ones like EFT.

It’s not a game that you can just jump into and expect to be successful in. From learning the maps, how each weapon feels, to all the little nuanced mechanics and how they interact with one another. EFT is a tough ass game to learn, but above anything else, you should be having fun while learning, even if that wasn’t the point of the game existing in the first place. And this logic applies to EFT and pretty much every game genre out there. You may love the game, but if you can only invest a few hours here and there to play it, that would make you a casual. But what about other aspects of enjoying a game or IP? What if you maybe can’t always play the game, but you enjoying watching videos about it, and enriching yourself that way? Would that still make you a casual? Or alternatively, maybe you have the knowledge of what each quest requires of you, and you know how each map is laid out like the back of your hand, but you struggle when it comes to playing and prematurely getting sent back to your stash? Would that still make you a casual? This is why I think the conversation about casuals goes so much deeper than just time played; there are many variables that need to be taken into account.

(The variables in question)

Let’s take those other variables into consideration, then. If we aren’t just looking at time played, knowledge is another major component into the casual conversation. There is a large degree of legacy skill once you learn all the ins and outs that Tarkov has to offer. They can be applied to a variety of other games in this genre, but many of them are uniquely specific to EFT. The recoil of the weapons, the map designs, spawn locations, quest progression; no other game holds a candle to what Tarkov has been doing for so long. Granted, it wasn’t perfect at the start. It took many years and many different iterations of these formulas to get to a place that feels acceptable. I mean, the recoil being the most obvious one. Does anyone even remember what the old recoil was like? I’m almost ashamed that’s what we played with for as long as we did. It was so bad, and a natural deterrent to those who were learning the game. It didn’t make sense, and the only thing that mattered was the recoil value of your weapon. Now, it’s much more freeing to just build a weapon you think looks cool and have it still function as expected.

Another major component is being able to tackle PvP engagements effectively. There are people who play this game that can just click heads like it's nobody’s business. They may struggle in other areas of the game like quests and being able to survive, but they see another player and they just have the magic touch to end the fight before it even begins. Granted, being good at fighting other players will get you much further than not, but it still plays an important role in being effective in the game and separates veterans from casuals.

It’s also important to understand that anyone can become a veteran and a solid Tarkov player. Like anything in life, it does take time a dedication. Granted, Tarkov doesn’t make it easy for people who only can spare a couple of hours a week to engage with it. EFT really wants you to only play this game, and to spend as much time as you possibly can on it, which is a shame, but that’s part of the reason that Tarkov has gotten as successful as it has. There is a barrier that will shy some people away because of that level of investment. But that doesn’t mean it needs to all happen at the start, or you need to engage with every single day. If you have extra time to spend on it, you will get better. It may not happen as quickly as someone who does devote all their free time and energy, but you will see improvements regardless.

(Perception isn’t always reality)

If I asked you the viewer, where would you put yourself on a scale of one to ten in regards to how much of a causal you think you are, with one being a full causal and a ten being the highest level of veteran you can be, where would you place? Depending where you go online and who you talk to, there is an intrinsic perception when it comes to where people might place themselves and others on this hypothetical scale. With how long the game has been out for and how many players there are, if we asked this question at the start or a couple years into EFT’s life, the answer I’d imagine would be drastically different. Back in the open alpha days, I would honestly say at least seventy-five percent of plays fell into the category of casuals. That number nowadays however, I feel is smaller. By how much? I’m not entirely sure. We see more people playing the game at a higher caliber; leveling up quickly, earning tons of rubles, getting the kappa container and now hitting prestige.

There is a subgroup of people completely dedicated to playing pretty much only this game, and there’s nothing wrong with that. They would most likely see everyone else that doesn’t put the same amount of time into the game as casuals. But how committed, how much investment would you need to give up in order to not be considered a casual? I’ll use myself as an example; I have been playing this game since 2017. For about a solid year I had no idea what I was doing or what was being asked of me. I just went into raids with very little or no gear at all and just kind of flopped around. It wasn’t until I watched some videos and guides by more experienced players that things began to click. Completing quest, leveling up and getting better with game knowledge as a whole. Now, in 2025 I would consider myself a veteran regarding knowledge, but if we are using time as the barometer, I’m a casual. I don’t play this game every day anymore. I still enjoy it, but there are other games I want to play and have conversations about. My tolerance for the BS that can come from this game isn’t as high as it once was. But like many players have said, when you win in this game, the highs are like nothing I’ve ever experienced in a video game.

(Outro)

What makes a casual Tarkov player? Bringing it back to the main question, ultimately it doesn’t really matter. Whether you say it’s how much time you have put into the game, how much you currently put in, how much experience you have; Tarkov can make no lifers look like casuals, and the opposite can happen to someone who has less than two hundred hours in it. Raids are dynamic, and never the same; you need to be prepared for anything and when your back is against the wall, survival and having an awesome story to tell your friends is what matters the most. I have my moments where within one session of Tarkov I will die every single raid and have nothing to show for it, and other times I can wipe a five-man team by myself. You will have your moments in this game; as long as you are playing and can enjoy yourself when you do, that’s all that matters. If you aren’t having fun, go play or just do something else. We are all casuals at one point, and EFT has a way of making you feel like one even thousands of hours later. 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 what makes a Tarkov casual, where do you put yourself on that scale and be sure to subscribe for more videos about the separation of players by arbitrary values that doesn’t matter in the long run at all. I hope to see you in future ones.