Beginner guide, written by a beginner.

I'm on day two of playing Tarkov, I thought I would start a guide to help other newbies like me, since the learning curve is nearly vertical.

1. Welcome! You are an NPC in a first person shooter enjoyed by people who found the game long before you.
2. New players' purpose is to distribute loot around the map. They distribute more randomly than programmed drops and provide vital materials to the experienced players. Think multi-level-marketing scheme with less training and more contempt for the bottom of the pyramid.
3. Bring as little as possible on each run. Armor is irrelevant. Backpacks only provide a more convenient collection point for the experienced players to pick through. First aid equipment doesn't work when a body part goes to zero (which happens almost immediately) so it's not really necessary either.
4. As a new player, all weapons are equal (-ly ineffective). Chances are you'll never see the person who kills you anyway, so your choice of weapon to donate is your decision.
5. In the unlikely event you see a fallen player, you can take their backpack if you think you're going looting. (lol)
6. Don't bother with insurance. If you have anything worth insuring, it will get taken by someone else, so you won't be getting it back anyway. Also, insurance takes many hours to potentially return the item, and you know you're just going to lose it the second you go back in anyway.
7. Start with the cheapest / smallest weapons. You'll be losing them in a few minutes, so work from smallest to largest so you at least have some understanding of the controls before you lose the valuable stuff.
8. You'll probably be wondering what to do. No, there are no instructions, tutorials, compasses, maps, etc. Stumble blindly until you find an extract. There's no point in looting, just go directly to the extract.
9. The game is designed to actively discourage you from playing. Play a round as Scav, (~10 minutes), play a round of PMC (~10 minutes), repeat PMC until Scav unlocks again. Soon you will run out of gear and money. Once you're left with a pistol only as PMC, the 20 minute waits for Scav are your only opportunities to use real weapons or equipment.

​

Anyone else think of things I may have missed?