Player Scav Reputation and Punishment System

[Arkaelov]

Lotta text coming. Scroll to the line before the bullet points for TL;DR.

Just something I felt like throwing up a topic about and voicing my opinion on. I'm by no means a Tarkov veteran. I've only played for two wipes now and only have maybe a hundred PMC raids and a similar amount of Scav Runs. But this is a topic that I think is abrasive for everyone, new and old. Long story short, I want to address the constant shoot on sight mentality that Player Scavs have in Tarkov. Tarkov is a game where people are both paranoid and greedy. This isn't a negative, however, as the paranoia keeping everyone on edge and greed to snatch and exfiltrate with the best possible loot is what makes the game such a unique experience. This is fine for PMC Raids and Scav Runs, but only to an extent in the latter.

In a PMC run at the start things are somewhat contained. Players spawn in at approximately the same time. Scavs typically spawn in shortly after and at an adequate distance from PMCs. Scav Runs however have way more variables. You spawn in at a random location with random gear around whoever my be near by, be it Scavs, Player Scavs, or PMCs. Now it goes without saying, there's not much that can be done to change this, nor should there be. The random nature of it all is required. But such spawns, in tandem with the traits and mentalities I touched on prior, result in the topic I want to address.

Player Scav on Scav/Player Scav violence. I know this is an old topic, one that has been talked about in the past and that there may be some systems in the works for. But I still feel this is a topic worth throwing up here so I can voice my thoughts, as well as others if they want. I personally think that Scav on Scav violence at the moment is a sore spot of the game that takes an interesting part of EFT and makes it a bit tiresome. Now, I don't think that Player Scavs shouldn't be able to kill each other. But I do think that, at the moment, it's a bit of an epidemic that negatively impacts the game for some people. That being the case, I think a number of changes can improve the Scav on Scav violence.

 

TL;DR- I think Scav on Scav violence is kinda annoying and abrasive in EFT and it can be sightly modified to make it a more interesting and fun experience. Some thoughts below.
 

• Increase the Scav Run timer by 10 minutes per Scav (or Player Scav) killed in the previous Scav Run to a maximum of one hour
• If no PMCs are left in the Raid, killing other Scavs (or Player Scavs) increases Scav Run timer by 5 minutes
• Killing X Scavs (or Player Scavs) in a 24 hour span results in your Scav being "marked", thus Scavs aggro upon on sight after entering a Scav run
• Killing Scavs after X amount within those 24 hours increases the time marked to 24 hours since the last Scav kill, till you kill no Scavs for 24 hours
• Marked Player Scavs will be denoted by red arm bands they cannot remove while marked (possibly red facemasks or other item of clothing)

Those are just some thoughts and recommendations I have on the matter to make Scav gameplay more focused on actual scavenging and focusing on PMC enemies. Given that Scavs are still out for their own interests and cutthroat, you can still kill other Scavs, but at a cost. Want to kill that Player Scav who is trying to extract? Do it. You'll incur a 10 minute penalty as your Scav lays low for killing one of their own. Want to kill more Scavs for better gear? You'll need to lay low for longer, or even lose the trust of the Scavs who will attack you on sight for the time being. As I see it, this is a somewhat lore friendly option that I think could be very interesting if implemented.

But yeah, that's what I've got. I'm curious to hear what other people have to say on it and if you think Scav on Scav violence is fine as is, could use some tweaking, or what. Thanks for reading if you somehow read all of it, btw.

[psykikk]

2 minutes ago, Arkaelov said:

Lotta text coming. Scroll to the line before the bullet points for TL;DR.

Just something I felt like throwing up a topic about and voicing my opinion on. I'm by no means a Tarkov veteran. I've only played for two wipes now and only have maybe a hundred PMC raids and a similar amount of Scav Runs. But this is a topic that I think is abrasive for everyone, new and old. Long story short, I want to address the constant shoot on sight mentality that Player Scavs have in Tarkov. Tarkov is a game where people are both paranoid and greedy. This isn't a negative, however, as the paranoia keeping everyone on edge and greed to snatch and exfiltrate with the best possible loot is what makes the game such a unique experience. This is fine for PMC Raids and Scav Runs, but only to an extent in the latter.

In a PMC run at the start things are somewhat contained. Players spawn in at approximately the same time. Scavs typically spawn in shortly after and at an adequate distance from PMCs. Scav Runs however have way more variables. You spawn in at a random location with random gear around whoever my be near by, be it Scavs, Player Scavs, or PMCs. Now it goes without saying, there's not much that can be done to change this, nor should there be. The random nature of it all is required. But such spawns, in tandem with the traits and mentalities I touched on prior, result in the topic I want to address.

Player Scav on Scav/Player Scav violence. I know this is an old topic, one that has been talked about in the past and that there may be some systems in the works for. But I still feel this is a topic worth throwing up here so I can voice my thoughts, as well as others if they want. I personally think that Scav on Scav violence at the moment is a sore spot of the game that takes an interesting part of EFT and makes it a bit tiresome. Now, I don't think that Player Scavs shouldn't be able to kill each other. But I do think that, at the moment, it's a bit of an epidemic that negatively impacts the game for some people. That being the case, I think a number of changes can improve the Scav on Scav violence.

 

TL;DR- I think Scav on Scav violence is kinda annoying and abrasive in EFT and it can be sightly modified to make it a more interesting and fun experience. Some thoughts below.
 

• Increase the Scav Run timer by 10 minutes per Scav (or Player Scav) killed in the previous Scav Run to a maximum of one hour
• If no PMCs are left in the Raid, killing other Scavs (or Player Scavs) increases Scav Run timer by 5 minutes
• Killing X Scavs (or Player Scavs) in a 24 hour span results in your Scav being "marked", thus Scavs aggro upon on sight after entering a Scav run
• Killing Scavs after X amount within those 24 hours increases the time marked to 24 hours since the last Scav kill, till you kill no Scavs for 24 hours
• Marked Player Scavs will be denoted by red arm bands they cannot remove while marked (possibly red facemasks or other item of clothing)

Those are just some thoughts and recommendations I have on the matter to make Scav gameplay more focused on actual scavenging and focusing on PMC enemies. Given that Scavs are still out for their own interests and cutthroat, you can still kill other Scavs, but at a cost. Want to kill that Player Scav who is trying to extract? Do it. You'll incur a 10 minute penalty as your Scav lays low for killing one of their own. Want to kill more Scavs for better gear? You'll need to lay low for longer, or even lose the trust of the Scavs who will attack you on sight for the time being. As I see it, this is a somewhat lore friendly option that I think could be very interesting if implemented.

But yeah, that's what I've got. I'm curious to hear what other people have to say on it and if you think Scav on Scav violence is fine as is, could use some tweaking, or what. Thanks for reading if you somehow read all of it, btw.

although I do not like or condone mindless violence, I think this is the wrong way to go about it. 

instead of applying penalties for unwanted behavior, it is much more beneficial to reward "better" behavior. this would mean: 

make it attractive to cooperate. 
I suggest:
make player scavs differ from normal scavs visually. (they are NOT part of the local gangs that e.g. guard interchange...)

make player scavs spawn in pairs. survival of one: no EXP. if both survive: normal XP for both. (incentivize teamplay between scavs)
give scavs team exits. the more scavs exit together, the higher the xp bonus. -> even higher invcentive to play together with scavs we meet in raid.

scavs will still not be able to camp exits because of exit timers of like 60 seconds or even more.. this way they would be sitting ducks for PMC. 

give player scavs more incentive to actually do something in raid that is of value. 
give each player a unique "scav profile". with their own inventory. (no stash) 

after dying, player scavs ALWAYS start new with minimal loadout (makarov, scav vest)- only survival 
if they survive, we can still transfer stuff to the PMC, BUT we also have to outfit the player scav for the next scav raid. scav equipment cannot be taken from the PMC stash. (it´s one way. only scav > PMC, not the other way round)




 

[Arkaelov]

1 minute ago, psykikk said:

although I do not like or condone mindless violence, I think this is the wrong way to go about it. 

instead of applying penalties for unwanted behavior, it is much more beneficial to reward "better" behavior. this would mean: 

make it attractive to cooperate. 
I suggest:
make player scavs differ from normal scavs visually. (they are NOT part of the local gangs that e.g. guard interchange...)

make player scavs spawn in pairs. survival of one: no EXP. if both survive: normal XP for both. (incentivize teamplay between scavs)
give scavs team exits. the more scavs exit together, the higher the xp bonus. -> even higher invcentive to play together with scavs we meet in raid.

scavs will still not be able to camp exits because of exit timers of like 60 seconds or even more.. this way they would be sitting ducks for PMC. 

give player scavs more incentive to actually do something in raid that is of value. 
give each player a unique "scav profile". with their own inventory. (no stash) 

after dying, player scavs ALWAYS start new with minimal loadout (makarov, scav vest)- only survival 
if they survive, we can still transfer stuff to the PMC, BUT we also have to outfit the player scav for the next scav raid. scav equipment cannot be taken from the PMC stash. (it´s one way. only scav > PMC, not the other way round)




 

While I do like those ideas to an extent, I sadly don't have the level of faith in people's good will that these rules/benefits would hope to bring forth. At the end of the day, this is a loot based game. Nearly all the players will choose killing a Scav player to get another gun, vest, or other items over getting even 2x experience. What you're proposing also radically changes the Scav experience outside of the raid as well. Honestly, I wouldn't be opposed to that either, but I feel what I proposed is mostly statistics and easy backend changes. Your changes, while they may help, would be an extra layer.

At the end of the day... people are jerks and selfish more often than not. I think that somewhat distinct penalties will be the only thing that people will understand and actually heed. If someone wants to kill other Scavs, their Scav runs will come less often, resulting in peaceful Scavs being the rule, not the exception. Because lets be honest... what percentage of Scav players currently shoot on sight in your experience? For me it's 99%. A few extra Exp incentives won't change people who just wanna slay and get loot. But they could help I think. They're just not enough on their own IMO.

[CooH1e2]

Both penalties and benefits for Scav players may have impact in some players but in the end it won't change dramatically the game.

What is the usage of the SCAV player?

The longer I play the less I use it... It's useful for some times that you want to get money and loot with less risk or when you want a "casual play" without any risk. In general both systems won't affect this gameplay because people don't worry about being 20 mins without scav instead of 10 min if they already got good stuff. 

I think it's a total rework needed for scav's and faction (hope it's coming with 0.12) 

SCAV player concept is not really fitting the storyline..... You pick a random scav to work for your PMC? in exchange of nothing?

If the only reason for this is to get some stuff when you have not resources it's better to find something different.
Resources generated in your hideout that can be sold or traded by  small guns.... being able to start with a premade loadout provided by a Trader by the promise that he keeps half of the loot you take out.... or something in this direction.

This way you will be doing the "Scav/loot" thing with your PMC directly and end the SCAV violence.

I think they want to implement various PMC's per player and some karma.... let's see how they manage

 

 

[stAKato]

Why not make all the loot you picked on these SCAV you killed simply broken / unable to use / unable to sell / unable to drag into stash? (as if there were a scav checkpoint when exiting the map) and the more you do it right, the more you get? 

Killing scavs - you loose quality equipment, rank for the next raid and all the stuff you get on killed scavs this raid. 

If you were in a SCAV team - same thing for every teammate. 

Killing a SCAV killing SCAVs - no penalty - way better stuff next raid

Killing no scav and no PMC - slightly better stuff next raid

Killing PMC - way better stuff next raid (the more you kill, the better stuff you get) 

AND / OR

There would be a system of  rank/trust :

Rookie, Patrol, Ranger, Veteran, Cell Leader, Region Leader, Grand Leader. 

With 10 levels in each rank. 

The highest rank you'll reach, the more chance you'll have AI SCAVs would follow you and team up (for future AI behavior) and the better your stuff will be. 

Maybe if you killed too much SCAV, you'll go on a Cultist raid next time (Every AI tries to kill you), if you kill no one during your raids, you'll become a Peacekeeper for your next raid (no AI tries to kill you). While on Peacekeeper, if you kill someone, you'll come back as a SCAV.

There would be a cool down timer (24-48h) after that, you'd come back as a SCAV. 

These idea are pretty raw yet, I know.