The loot nerfs across the game, especially in locked key rooms has negatively impacted in my opinion the best part of Tarkov's gameplay loop as a looter shooter. You had desirable locations of high tier loot that players had to fight over in order to access and then extract with. The loose loot all over the map, that is very rng on being good or not, combined with FIR, has ended intentional combat zones over loot areas like the days of old with dorms in customs or resort in shoreline. Players would come to these zones to duke it out over the spoils, and you'd have awesome multiway battles, especially when two squads meet, making it feel like a proper warzone.
This part of the looter shooter aspect was the most compelling part to me that no other game had. Because after fighting, you still had to be on guard while you looted the aftermath or made your escape as lurkers could be on the fringes setting up an ambush. Now, the game feels like a single player looter experience where running into players is more rare and a chore once it happens since you'd rather survive with the odd loot you've found after spending half the raid quietly ratting for it. And if you go in wanting pvp, you will usually only be hunting for players that either don't want it and are aimlessly looting and thus its an unfun experience for half the side, or you randomly run into another pvp hunter where the fight usually ends quickly as its a matter of luck if you or the other spotted one another first.
I miss the action around good loot zones. There was so much dynamic ways to approach these areas. Rush to get there first, wait and hold the exits, take an unexpected route to flank from a different area. Anyway it happened everyone going into these zones new it was a pvp area. Gone are the days where my squad would show up to dorms, and post up like a SWAT team on the car extraction side holding all angels as we piled into elbow and cleared. What's the point? Now pvp is us getting bush wookied in obscure random locations where the response is to just carpet bomb them like North Vietnam till he dies, or getting whacked by a dude that went completely still in some bumbfuck nowhere room he stumbled in upon hearing us run by. Where once again, after the initial ambush of them dropping a squad mate, we just nade the room till he gets flung out the door.
Its lame. Only labs has pvp as the rooms, and loose loot mainly, are consistently good and contained in a smaller map. You will always be clearing and operating as if there are players and having rolling gun battles. Except now, with all the restrictions and cost of entry of cards and keys to the map, its mostly a ghost town going there.
Bring back lots of loot. I don't care if it allows some hackers to make money easier on RMT, their impact was negligible, while the loot changes and restrictions have been major and reduced a lot of the fun and enjoyment of the tarkov gameloop. If the worry was people made too much money, then add more money pits like more expensive end game gear or stuff via light keeper. Game is just stale atm.
