Players of the popular extraction shooter Escape from Tarkov have been reporting lengthy loading times after the most recent game wipe.
For those not familiar with the mechanics of Escape from Tarkov, which is currently in early access, a wipe effectively erases all of your collected gear and has you start the online shooter again from scratch.
They are usually part of a wider update and, while losing all of your progress might sound annoying on paper, each wipe is often highly anticipated by the community. They not only provide a great opportunity for lapsed players to return to the game without being completely pummeled, but also see you forced to contend with much scrappier combat encounters thanks to the limited gear.
As with almost any big online game, server issues are to be expected around the time of a big update but some players have taken to social media in order to vent their frustrations with dramatically increased loading times when trying to find a match.
In a post on the Escape from Tarkov forum, one user has commented that their loading times have ballooned from under seven minutes to “up to 15 [minutes]” when trying to enter a raid as a PMC and “up to 30 [minutes]” as a Scav.
“I’m new to the game and I started playing before the wipe,” continues another forum member on the same thread. “I would get in in less than 2 minutes. After the wipe, I’ll sometimes sit there for 5 - 10 minutes to get in. I’m thinking about ditching this game.”
There are similar reports over on the Escape from Tarkov subreddit, where user u/TGess has highlighted the long loading times as their biggest issue with the latest update. “I do not need more content,” they say. “I just want to actually play [the game] and not sit and watch the loading screen.”
The problems don’t appear to be universal, however, as plenty of players are also reporting that they haven’t noticed any major increase in loading times. Although I haven’t had time to jump into the latest wipe yet myself, I’m used to experiencing fairly long loading screens already so have my fingers crossed that I’m not going to be one of those affected.
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