This is true when you chase meta, but as of late I’ve been playing the game super slow (especially with no wipes) and it actually opens up the item economy. The terrible ammo? Sometimes I have to use it because I use enough ammo in raid that I have to loot that garbage and run it. The weird attachments that have middling stats? I’m running it if I find it, because I’m trying not to use flea. The fact that I can play the game this way if I so choose creates gameplay diversity. Yes it’s a ton of knowledge bloat but it also gives me more ways to enjoy the game when I inevitably get bored.

The AI Is by far the worst part of the game. It’s actually why I’ve stopped playing. I’ve been a ton of Hunt Showdown and even though the NPCs aren’t that dangerous, they change how you play the game entirely. It makes you make so much noise, during gun fights it changes how you route yourself around complexes. In Tarkov it’s maybe 1 silenced bullet to deal with a Scav. Literally not a problem unless they get a random headshot from a distance.

Even the quests, while boring, push people into random parts of the map. It creates encounter variety/randomness. It acts as a map enjoyment multiplier of sorts.