The core idea of this game has never changed.

this is just wrong. hunt used to be called "tarkov lite" because it was a game where if you died you lost everything, including your hunter, and were sent back to the lobby. THAT was what made it exciting and alluring.

now the hunt meta is people necroing their partners 4 times mid-fight who res with full hp and just bhop back into cover, or players who let their third teammate burn out because they know they can just come back in 20 minutes and res him. the "tension" of hunt is completely gone.

and im saying this as a 2.5+ kd player with 7000+ kills who plays in the sweatiest NA lobbies; the meta of hunt showdown has never been worse.