(Intro)
Tarkov is simply better off without the flea market. A mechanic that was introduced all the way back in 2018, and since its introduction has created more problems and band aid fixes across the rest of the game than maybe any other mechanic introduced. And over the years, the flea market has taken on many different forms and iterations to try and salvage the balance of the game, all without any success. There is no world in which this mechanic is healthy for a game like EFT; the emphasis on going into raids and extracting with items means any way of cutting that entire process out of the equation is going to be not only preferred but abused by the community. BSG tried so many times to dial the market down in a variety of ways, but ultimately nothing really got the flea to a place that it felt welcome in the game. You can take the flea out of the game, but you can’t take the game out of the flea. Even with its absence here in the hardcore wipe, the damage the market has done across the game can still be felt. So today, let’s go over the flea market as a whole; the different eras of it, how its inclusion impacted pretty much every major mechanic in the game and how much better Tarkov is without it being around. It’s going to come back, but I honestly wish it wouldn’t.
(The flea has warped Tarkov around its finger)
The idea of having a player driven economy is not new to video games. Tons of genres and games out there have successful player driven economies that work. But within the context of an extraction shooter, the thought of having players buying and selling items to each other is compelling. Barter items, keys, weapons; when the flea was first released it was the wild west for EFT. Anything could be put up for pretty much any price. And what happened? People abused the system so bad that Nikita himself had to reach out to several players and say hey can you not do that? Thanks. It’s like no, Nikita, you made this monster; the genie is out of the bottle. You made the bed, now sleep in it. We’re just the player; what happens on the flea stays on the flea. But looking back at the market, it is crazy how open ended it was. Pretty much no rules at all. Buy something off the vendors? Can go on the flea? Want to crash the market? Tell everyone to buy a particular item and then resell it at insane prices. A level of freedom that should’ve never been there from the start. With any open in game economy like that, eventually, the people who play the market the most benefit from it. But the problem with EFT and the flea is eventually it got to a point where players would either not enter raids at all, or only play their scav, collect a bunch of items, and then just play the market to make their money. I mean, hey I won’t poo poo how people spend their time in games, but obviously this was not what BSG wanted. Another example of them adding major mechanics into their game without thinking it all the way through.
And honestly, the flea has probably been their most egregious addition to the game. Ever since it was added, the balancing nightmare has never ended; constantly having to add red tape across so many elements of the game because now the flea market is impeding on any substantial progress towards the game. Several mechanics players hate within EFT are a by-product of the flea existing and being so unhinged at the time. The found in raid mechanic was originally created to stop hatchlings from existing in the game but found itself to fit comfortably in front of the flea market; slowing down progression substantially because there were so many different shortcuts that the market provided. Now, questing became a lot harder because going through a raid too fast would net you a run through, thus all items you collected losing their found in raid status. It got to a point where it felt like Tarkov was being molded around the flea market instead of the other way around. It was clear that BSG for years genuinely had no good answer on how to resolve the flea and have it in the game that is engaging and provides the mechanical experience they want, without just flat out ruining the game. They ended up putting heavy bans on many items in the game, which actually ended up working for a while. And the market settled down somewhat. But there were still items that could be bought which shouldn’t have been able and other newer mechanics being introduced that still circumvented the flea market with their inclusion.
(In the context of hardcore)
Because this wipe is supposed to be hardcore, the flea was removed completely to prevent any player from using and benefiting from it. Which was the right call; in the past BSG has had small events or short periods of time where they would disable the flea market and just see what happened. And every time they did, most players were in agreement that the game was better off without it. This wipe is no exception; I mean the flea would’ve straight up ruined the idea of hardcore, very similar to how Ref is doing it right now, even with all the nerfs to his inventory. Allowing players to buy and sell from each other in a vacuum sounds like a good idea. But in the context of hardcore, when things are supposed to be harder, more difficult to find, and you should be leaving raids to acquire those items, the flea is just a shortcut that solves most problems in the game. At least in this particular context, the progression of getting items is more natural. You find whatever it is you’re looking for in raids, be it as a PMC or a scav. That much doesn’t matter. Even if they had heavy restrictions on what could be put up on the flea, anything would just remove the scavenger nature of this wipe. And while many players had a lot to be disgruntled with for this hardcore wipe, the flea not being around is again, something most people are okay with. Players have forgotten what it’s like to have to find something you need or want. Imagine that; we were so used to just buying stuff with the flea that the moment we need to go out and look for it, it’s like woah this is a crazy feeling. It’s not a good sign if people are having epiphanies like that because something so integral to your game was basically removed because of another mechanic that circumvented it. Either way, the flea is not around for this wipe, and that’s for the better. But does that mean Tarkov is better off without the flea in the game at all?
(Is the game better off without the flea?)
A lot of players will hear that question and reflexively say no it isn’t. But hear me out. For anyone who played the game before the flea was added, I think you’ll understand. No flea means first and foremost, found in raid could theoretically be taken out too. It depends on the quests primarily; if BSG wanted to preserve the idea of having to survive raids to turn in quest items like for things like private clinic, then it would have to stick around, but maybe could be altered somewhat. Maybe more leniency of what survive means. Maybe hitting certain experience thresholds even if you get sent back to your stash could still technically count as a survive. This idea is not new and has been brought up before. That way if someone finds a graphics card or something, if they want to play the raid out and if they earn enough experience, they can still turn that item in for a quest. It doesn’t become a paperweight because they couldn’t sneak out of the raid even though they wanted to get involved in some action. There’s no concern any more people will run naked to the resort looking for LEDXs with no penalty. Because those that try won’t get the survive status. If it were up to me, I would just remove FIR entirely. It has no place in the game anymore should the flea be gone for good. If people want to hatchet run, let them. They lose nothing, but there is a good chance that in 2025, players are skilled enough to get rid of them before they get where they want to go. And plus, so many other changes to skills and the like means they won’t have max endurance or anything like that to cheese getting to loot areas first. I truly do believe the game is better off without the flea; we’ve been so dependent on it for years now, that with it gone the game is almost jarring. But that’s not the player’s fault; it’s BSGs. They put the flea into the game when it was a half-baked idea and kept putting band aid fix after band aid fix across it instead of tackling the core problems with not only the flea but the entire game as well. Nikita has even said in interviews that if he could go back, he wouldn’t add the flea market. Maybe the auction house would’ve been the way to go instead. But we’ll never know.
(Outro)
Tarkov is better without the flea market. It worked before it was introduced and it can work again without it. Granted, the game has changed a lot because of the flea, and not all in good ways. Many mechanics and interactions are the way they are because of the flea and how players used and abused it to speedrun the game and get rich off it. BSG never did a good job of actually trying to fix the flea, but even now, with the knowledge that it will return someday, I wish it wouldn’t. The game could be just fine without, but it would require a huge once over on many mechanics in their current state and whether or not they need to be redone, which eats into their 1.0 timeline, so that is not going to happen. Either way, this wipe the flea isn’t around and it’s been a breath of fresh air, having to look for what you want. My hope is that when it comes back, it’s a heavily restricted version of itself, and it provides a healthy extension to the core gameplay loop. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Let me know down in the comment section below your thoughts on the flea market as whole, whether it should come back or stay gone forever and be sure to subscribe for more videos about some of the worst mechanics to ever be introduced and how much of a negative impact they had on the game, even if we all used it. I hope to see you in future ones.
