On Discouraging Cheating

To Not Lose

Goat released a second video discussing cheating.  The part that I found the most compelling was the interview with one of the anti-cheat devs who work on The Cycle Frontier.  He made the comment that while RMT was definitely a motivator for cheating, their experience suggests that "most cheaters cheat to win. Or, more specifically, to not lose."

I feel like that's the crux of it right there, and it aligns with the various comments I've seen elsewhere on the internet from people who admit to cheating.   People cheat to not lose.   

Frankly, I'm sympathetic.  Tarkov is difficult and has often crossed the line from grueling to grinding. As a casual player myself, who still hasn't even reached the flea market (where the game becomes an entirely different game), I can understand the motivation.  

But if "to not lose" is the main motivator, that's entirely within BSG's control.  Here are some suggestions. 

Lower the Flea Market Level Requirement

We all know that the game is entirely different once you've reached the flea. And a lot of players just don't want to play the pre-flea game.  This is my sixth wipe and I'm not even questing this time round. I enjoyed the pre-flea game the first three or four wipes, but no longer.  BSG should lower the level requirement for reaching the flea. I'd suggest lowering it to level 3, but I'd be happy with level 10 or lower.

Now that BSG has stopped the barter trades on the flea, which is a direct salvo aimed at the RMT folk, just let the flea be available to everyone.  You do this, it'll lower a big cheating incentive.

More Insurance Products

Here are some new insurance products which I think would reduce the incentive to cheat and not impact gameplay in any significant way. If there are exploits I overlooked, they can be closed.

Replacement Insurance

What we have now is "loss" insurance that potentially returns a lost item to the policy holder. But how about "replacement insurance" that replaces the item even if it is taken out of raid by another player (but not by a team mate, obviously). 

Therapist can charge more for this, and she just goes and buys a replacement when executed.  This would obviously be for weapons, armor, and gear.  But not treasure,  and perhaps not keys, key rings, injector cases, meds, food, etc.

A dumb (and overly complicated) follow-on idea is to be able to replace "unfired ammo". You die in raid with two full mags of M855A1?  You're in good hands.

Immediate Return

Replacement insured items could potentially be returned to you immediately after death if you are a solo, or at raid end if you went in with team mates. 

Similarly, regularly insured items could be returned to you at raids end, rather than waiting 24 to 36 hours. Immediate Return should be a rider electable on any policy. 

A replacement policy with immediate return would solve a lot of gear fear and kitting anxiety. And that would reduce the motivation to cheat.  It means I could run some fancy kit over and over to my hearts content ( so long as my funds hold up - presumably this is expensive ).  

Long versus Short Hold

Right now Therapist will hold my insured items for 5 days. That's pretty sweet. But maybe that should be an upsell? I guess it is, since she charges more. 

Per Raid or Per Item

Right now, insurance covers the item until I lose it. But perhaps that pricing should be changed. It might make sense for Replacement Insurance to be only insured "per raid" and only payable upon my death.  If I survive the raid, no payout, and I'll have to re-insure next one. This would stop insurance fraud as well.   But perhaps all the insurance products should be priced per raid or per item. 

Life Insurance

This policy pays you money if you die. Or maybe only if you die X raids in a row.  It definitely seems like something that could be abused, but the intent is to take the sting off a string of deaths. Three deaths in a row can easily bleed a half million rubles, even for a low level player. It seems like the game should be able to calculate your monetary loss for any failed raid. Maybe the insurance covers you for 90% of your loss if you hit three deaths in a row. 

No Scav Cooldown Timer

If I just want to run my scav over and over, whose business is it anyway? Lose the scav cooldown timer.  I actually dislike running as a scav. But since I'm pre-flea, sometimes I sorta need to, and I hate it if I die early in a scav raid and now I'm stuck waiting. 

Increase Rubles for Quest Rewards

A mediocre kit costs a minimum 100K. Heck, just a full bank of the basic meds costs nearly 25k.  Money pressure is definitely one of the problems in Tarkov - a string of failures and things get difficult. And that's fine, that's part of the game. But it definitely makes losing dearer.

 I think most of the beginner quests pay much too little in terms of monetary reward. Most early to mid-game quests pay around 20K rubles. Just enough to cover a bottle of water and some painkillers. Thanks!  

Personally, I think those quests should pay 100K rubles and up. Help make you feel like you did something. And that should be true for the low-tier operational tasks too. Any player who is struggling to survive customs could definitely use some help.

Incremental Operational Tasks

The Operational Tasks give their XP and money to the player when the entire task is completed. But some of these tasks should be "incremental".  So "Survive on Customs" pays 30K Rubles if you just GO to Customs (whether you survive or not), and the rest of the reward ( XP, reputation, etc. ) on completion. Likewise, a "Kill 10 Scavs" operational task should pay 10K Rubles per scav, whether the goal of 10 is reached or not, and then pay the full XP , money, item, and reputation reward if it is fully completed.  This will give even struggling players some income.

Passive Income

When I reach the flea, one of the things I like to do is build up my hideout and start crafting. If I manage that right, I can start getting a tidy income of about 140K per play session (which for me, is just an hour or two).  This little bit of extra money is great  - it means I don't have to scav, I might be able to run back-to-back raids, even if I die. But this is only works once I reach the flea.  

Players need more ways of making money, even when dying. Especially when dying.  Crafts that are profitable without the flea might be one way to help.

At the beginning of Tarkov when you are just getting started, Prapor will send you those "boost" messages to help you out, with a helmet or weapon.  Those things are great. Players whose survival rate is low, whose ruble count is dropping, who are experiencing a string of deaths, who play infrequently or for short time windows, who just had a 0 EXP raid, who haven't killed another player in the last three raids - those players should be sent boosts.

Similar to the Incremental Operational Task idea, it might make sense to give struggling players rewards for just doing dumb stuff, without a quest even.    Entered a raid? That's 30K. Killed something? That's 10K.  This seems abusable, but if it were just given to players who were struggling or have a bad patch, it might be fine. The goal is to take the sting out of losing.

Better Food Pre-Flea

A very minor thing, but if you don't have access to the flea market and want to run back to back PMC raids, it might not be possible. Because you'll need to replenish your energy with food, and as a low level the only thing for sale is crackers.  Crackers?   Please add Squash or Herring or something as a non-barter option from Therapist.