Do you ever get genuinely sad about EFT?

Like, genuine sadness, not just frustration about some bug or being killed in a dumb way. It isn't just exhaustion either, I get that too after a few sessions and I go play something else or just leave my computer all together for a few days. Sometimes I get the feeling after not playing for a while and coming to the sub to hype myself up again but all I seem to be able to focus on are the videos about bugs and cheaters and I catch myself upvoting comments complaining about anything, I don't even know why.

Like, man, I really love EFT. I genuinely think it's one of the most promising games in the last decade. I remember first hearing about it, it was just rumors and a website. Then the trailers started coming out, first the announcement trailer, then the "Action Gameplay Trailer" and then the alpha gameplay. I was so fucking pumped, I wasn't that excited for a game since Metro 2033 came out. It was a shooter that didn't cater to what I used to call the "CoD kids" and it wasn't a fast-paced competitive shooter either, it was gritty, punishing, every shot counted and the weapon modding was a dream come true, I couldn't list everything that I was looking forward to if I wanted to.

Of course I pre-ordered it and got the EoD edition, I wanted to play it as soon as I could! I spent a lot of time in the alpha and the experience was okay, there wasn't a whole lot to do with the limited maps and gear but it was fun, I knew it only just launched to early access so I was fine with it.

Now I'm looking back at what has been happening with the game since 2016 (holy shit, that was 5 years ago) and I'm both sad and happy; happy because there is so much stuff now! Maps, guns, gear, quests, clothing, optics, it really is incredible, and sad because it's all just… there. Every wipe I try out new guns and gear but fall back to the same stuff I used last wipe because it's just more effective. Every wipe I grind the hideout to, in the end, be left with basically unlimited amounts of everything and a money printer. Every wipe the quests get more and more repetitive and there is less and less stuff to explore.

I feel like this game is missing its "glue", something to hold together the loose parts that are the weapon modding, the gun play, the quests, the skills etc. There is no real RPG-style character progression, you just get better at everything. There is no real story, it's just dumb achievements that I have to complete to unlock gear. Learning the game ist just learning the meta and how to exploit its flaws. Maybe we should have missions with pre-determined gear so we could experience the full range of items there is. Maybe we need scav progression or VoIP or some sort of prestige system. Maybe the new armor model will bring the tension back or maybe I will want to play the game again when streets comes out or even later when we will first see some DLC, I honestly have no idea.

Maybe I'm just burnt out, maybe I have to leave the game for 2 years and come back but I have this nagging feeling that it will be more of the same; more maps and guns and gear and clothing and quests that get repetitive after a few wipes. In the end, I will always have a place in my heart for this game and all the things it does great but that place is missing a piece, a piece that might find its way to my heart in the future or it might not, who knows.

Thanks for coming to my EFTED talk, you are more than welcome to shit on me for being wrong, bad at the game and unreasonable but I would also love to hear some other opinions on this.

May Nikita be with you.

Edit: I'm genuinely impressed by the ideas and comments that were shared, some good points were brought up. Very cool guys, very cool.