Is Tarkov Pay to Win?

This is "Unheard" of

i swear to god every tarkov player has Stockholm syndrom they keep getting beaten but get up and defend the company

In feel like bsg is gonna make another oopsie and cause the whole community to lash out They gonna make a very pay2win item

is not about how big an advantage is, paid advantage is pay to win advantage.

The sniper skill itself isn't an advantage in PVP, but it gets you to level 7 faster, which gets to level 10 faster, which unlocks good ammo crafts and Lightkeeper questlines

If you have a larger stash that means you can store more gear, meaning every loss you take is less than if someone who doesn't have it takes the same loss. Someone with standard is losing a lot more than someone with unheard of or even the other tiers. Not even to mention the tons of free gear and currency each version over standard has. Literally the only difference to f2p models is that you pay up front and have it given to you each wipe. Otherwise it's the exact same advantage as buying boosters and in game currency in other titles. I have many reasons I choose to pay spt over live whenever I do play the game, this sort of thing is just another tick on that list.

I feel like ignoring the fact that progression is helped by having more expensive editions, therefor an advantage in gameplay over other players is entirely ignored. If you can have more stash space for more weapons armor items for progress/quests to fast pace your progression, this is an advantage, even if minor. and any-even SLIGHT advantage is pay to win. it doesn't matter how minor. the term "Pay to win" is not literal, it has always meant paying for gameplay change over other players. even if it's just stash lines it is an advantage.

If you pay to have an advantage on your first raid on the start of the wipe - the game has pay to win elements. If you pay to have faster progression that allows you to have better gear than other players at your level at the first days of the wipe - the game has pay to win elements. If you pay to have extra space in your secure container that allows you to bring in extra high tier ammo, full stack of stims, the best kind of meds - stuff that otherwise you wouldn't bring with you every raid because of the risk of losing it - than yeah the game is pay to win.

I bought EoD in 2018, back around the 0.10 beta and have always been for the opinion that any version upgrade of the game over the base copy is Pay 2 Win. Cope all you want about "but you can lose all your items in raid!!!11!!!1“, but a larger stash and larger secure container is by definition is giving you some kind of advantage - Pay 2 Win.

No new leviticus video in 16 minutes, hopefully he hasn't abandoned the channel.

minor point about the rep, new players are less likely to be keeping up with quests and are more likely to not have the rep required before hitting the level requirement. source: myself, when I was new, I always hit the rep requirements about 3 levels late. it's not a huge thing, but it is something.

sunk cost fallacy

As a standard edition player, I respectfully disagree. Having an expanded stash size and free storage boxes right off the bat does have an effect on gameplay. P2W in this game doesn't necessarily have to only be about gunplay, but overall progression (hideout, traders, wealth, etc)

You look me in the eyes and tell me the ability to ignore most Jaegor tasks (for hideout and LL4) isn't P2W as FUCK.

It feels like a bigger stash would help in raid by speeding progression by a lot, and thus having better gear than non paying players. that sounds like a big advantage!

Hey man those stash lines are deadly. I have eod and my one buddy has a standard account. His stash makes me want to walk barefoot on glass covered in lime juice and salt. After every raid it takes him 30 minutes to figure out how to fit whatever he got out of raid into his various bags, rigs and other assorted containers and shit. Them stash lines would save him.

I think an issue to consider is that the extra slots, cases, and pockets allows for more loot to be retained, leading to more money, better loot over time, and quests being completed more often. All of that combined definitely leads to an accumulated advantage.

Expanded pockets can be a pretty tangible advantage in the quests that force you to use scav vests. Normally if you see a guy with a scav/security vest you know he only has two, maybe three, mags to work with. Which is knowledge you can potentially use to your advantage. But with unheard he can have up to five.

It is the continuous inch towards complete and total cash grab and pay to win that makes me nervous.

I'm pretty much with you everytime, but this time you really missed, truth is in a game like tarkov where progression is key, depending which version you buy you get a significant advantage towards your wipe progression, it might not be like a golden one shot bullet, but you get a great head start too in early wipe, not counting the secure container advantage, rep advantage, overall stash availability, you don't need to get a rocket launcher to be paying for an actual advantage in such a game where a single raid is just a part of the entire game experience. Edit: I also forgot to mention you save millions of roubles in early wipe since you don't have to upgrade the stash size with EoD or Unheard