Escape from Tarkov recently just launched its patch 0.16.8, mostly known as the hardcore wipe, and it is a bit historic in several ways. For one, it should be known as the “last wipe” since Battlestate Games is preparing for launch sometime after August, and there are no planned wipes anymore on launch.
Secondly, the game made drastic changes to test out some mechanics, making it a “hardcore” wipe, as some of these changes made the game excruciatingly harder to play. A lot of players aren’t a fan of these changes, and most of them are giving up already on the hardcore wipe.
Escape from Tarkov’s Hardcore Wipe Disaster
While disaster might be an exaggeration, it is only bad if the launch isn’t as close as it is, and if they didn’t go into the hardcore wipe, saying they are testing a few things. Yup, they were testing things, but we can all say that one change is objectively bad for the game in many ways.
That change is the removal of in-game tasks. Since Escape from Tarkov’s focus is to incline more on its RPG elements than anything else, the removal of quests just gives players absolutely no goal in the game.
Yes, they can make their own in-raid goals, such as farming specific loot and bosses, but that doesn’t help sustain a player’s stash value. Players are poorer than ever, but it is because of a combination of the lack of quests, insane costs of goods, including insurance, and the increased Scav timer cooldown, making players who lost a string of raids poor enough to absolutely have nothing to play with.
Not only do they have nothing to play with, but the essence of playing is almost completely gone. Most streamers voiced out their concern, and the community is already up in arms and quitting until changes are made.
Battlestate Games Responds with Fast Balancing Changes
Battlestate Games were prepared for any escalating situation, as if they had anticipated such events. Since they are experimenting with a few mechanics, they knew the changes would bring two ends of the spectrum – players who will play no matter what, and those who will quit because of the tiniest detail they don’t like.
After just a day of feedback, BSG immediately added back the in-game tasks, reduced the cost of insurance, and reduced the Scav cooldown timer.
Some of the biggest changes remained, such as being unable to level up the traders, increased prices, banning crucial items in the Secure Container, and disabling the flea market. Most of these changes make it a “hardcore” wipe, and that’s honestly a refreshing sight.
Some players don’t like these changes as the game went through years of changes to reach where it is today, and these changes brought it back to the old times. I guess you can’t please everyone, but that’s how it usually goes.
The fast balancing changes by BSG made a lot of players come back, but was it too late? This has been the main problem with BSG since they always want to remain mysterious.
Sometimes, the lack of communication significantly hurts the community. If they had simply run a survey using their new system or conducted a Q&A to gauge the community’s opinion on removing quests, the outcome might have been different.
The game felt too awkward without the quests, since there was almost nothing to do. Having a quest doesn’t necessarily make the game harder or “hardcore.” It was just there to induce players to do something, or anything, for that matter. Hopefully, BSG has gathered all the necessary information for their test and is now ready to get everyone excited for their launch after being in beta for more than a decade.