My Blunt & Honest Take on Escape From Tarkov

15mins of bullshit ......with no real value

Goat's video encouraged BSG to make a typical bullcrap corporate response, but in the end do absolute jack shit. Disappointing that you don't acknowledge that and I'm forced to make the conclusion that you're advertising for BSG.

Wat kills me is that in most games you get to a point where you wish there was a mode that catered to those who wanted to have a specifically more casual experience. Like say in racing games like Forza where you want to race only d class cars even though you have access to x class ones. Seeing who can make the best one in that category or say like in tarkov where you want to see who could be the best Timmy not the best late game grim reaper. I dunno why I have not seen it as an option yet in a lot of games.

Unpopular opinion.........It needs some QOL to keep players and get new players. My group that plays have said since the start of early access, not having a map that just shows your location and the exfil locations is artificial difficulty. Also, there is no reason to have 30 ammos when only 5-10 matter. That's artificial choice. It just takes to long to get into the game and the action each round. I look at all items in the game and only 15% are worth your time for start to finish. There is no reason for the bloat except, artificial choices.

My only question - is it really that hard to make new quests? I mean, people that make them are some kind of professionals, no? Cuz for example, if you Escape, then you have option to restart account but have golden Dog Tag and for example Kappa, but start all over again with A LOT tweaked or new quests.. would wipes be even needed? So much easy content without making new maps, new everything, just entertaining enough quests could keep a lot people engaged. But for that, progress should be slowed down a lot, but so that there would be still every change meaningful in gameplay or other sort of perspective. Cuz now when you grind out Tarkov's wipe, no one would care to start over cuz difference between starting and ending is just insane, that there just isn't anything to grind for other than story that alone can't make up for same-ish or no gameplay progression, and if there were progression even further, it'd just arcade not hardcore survival.

In result, I don't think that paying to some good professionals to design quests are a lot more expensive than only trying to make game more engaging by gameplay what's just insane amount of development.

N don’t think a game that’s been out for years , shouldn’t require a car down payment just to run the game decently 😂😭. (Not literally a car payment) but definitely can’t be using no mid pc.

The only thing keeping me from playing this game is the cheaters .. aaand the sheer amount of time you have to dedicate to it to stay ahead of the curve, that's it. Love it, yeh the ai could be a little less infuriating, the stamina is extremely frustrating at times and there are various bugs, but this is still imo the best fps ever made. It still needs work and I can deal with that, but the cheaters.... Oh god it's bad at times.

They should add a game mode where everyone is a scav and the only way to get a meta build in the match is to take it from one (maybe more) of the bosses on the map, or there are keys that are specifically for that map that spawn in the game giving player’s incentives to go to places of interest that have a chance of giving the player a better gun, gear, meds etc.

the audio is better than I've ever seen it. Besides the bug where you literally can't hear your teammate or enemies, I feel like streamers are whining cause sneaking actually works now and not everyone plays like a mindless "chad".
Also about the hackers, that guy lied his ass off 1 hacker per full sever, BULLSHIT. He lied his ass off or played with the same hackers, to increase the "DRAMA" and "SHOCK". Sometimes people are just better than you or are lucky.

"first person to hit the button TO MY KNOWLEDGE". There were probably a few thousand Asians that got there before you.

No, the real issue with tarkov is that streamers and lifeless people can get to lvl 60, big streamers have max strength in 2 weeks and 0 intertia. I love inertia even tho it's so annoying yet nobody experiences it except casuals that play the game properly. Everyone plays 4 minute raids and level all their skills. I play for 50 minutes and barely extract at the end and make a lot less levels. The fact that they added cooldown to Mechanic quests shows this even better. If you are going to nerf experience gain so people don't cheese it in one raid, then nerf experience gain for people that rush and do kills for content mostly or cause they like to play like CS:GO. For people that actually play the game the way it was meant to be played like you actually care if you die or if your gear gets lost, I sit in a bush for 30 minutes cause I heard something. I would expect to be level 51 covert movement instead I am barely 15. I bet most streamers also have people doing work for them while they sleep, leveling useless skills. I don't fight that often and I am punished for it. When I get to vitality or stress resistance walls I need to farm those skills, meanwhile top streamers probably have them maxxed out in a month at most. That's what really pisses me off and this is why wipes are SO FUCKING HORRIBLE. This is why people don't play, "oh I missed this wipe I won't even bother I will play the next one" so you only have chads and hackers playing top meta builds and guns, there is no incentive to play when 2 weeks into a wipe people already call for another wipe cause they are crybabies and are way behind. Tho in the case of streamers or abusers or cheaters, they aren't wrong, they are already too far behind when they have lvl 10 endurance and landmark is lvl 51. Whenever someone asks a streamer how they casually give some dumbass response like "oh my strength is max cause I played early wipe with an altyn" or my fence reputation is 6 cause I did 200 scav runs, BRO EVERYONE DID 200 OR MORE THAN YOU SCAV RUNS, YOU ARE ALWAYS ON YOUR PMC AND BARELY DO 10 RUNS A DAY and also 200 *0.01 doesn't equal 6. So for me and most people that know the game and math, it seems like streamers cheat a lot or the game favors that gameplay tho I am certain some of them have their friends run raids when they sleep to level up skills for them, there is no way you max strength in 2 weeks

Tarkov should not further promote the sweaty players who play a lot before giving new or casual players a bigger advantage . Both audiences should be taken care of . Make armor cheaper and less impact full. Instead of a slick eating 30 bullets . Make it eat 10points of armor per 10 pen on bullet or something. The high tier armor is still worth it but won't make you godly . Make low class ammo slightly better vs high tier armor or something. Make new players feel like they can win and the game would do better

i don't get why people keep suggesting ideas when Battlestate specifically wants as toxic and hostile of a climate as possible for their game.

Perhaps certain maps should be equipment locked or incentivize powerful players to go to diff maps. As it is you start on customs and end on customs pretty much. New players always going up against monsters late wipe.

Game is extremely unrealistic with the ballistics and gun play as well as movement and stamina

People keep making the same analysis about the game. Supposedly people like the state of the game at the beginning of the wipe and dislike it later on in the wipe.
I have a completely different point of view: the reason why you see a surge of players at the beginning of the wipe and everybody leaving after a couple months has nothing to do with the game being better at the beginning of the wipe. The reality is that each wipe you got 1) complete new players 2) old players coming back to see if the game has improved. Invariably all those people will leave a couple months later. Why? Because the game sucks.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the game, i.e. the core design and mechanics of the game, but the implementation is absolute garbage. The game is slow, like slooooww, not only your fps are beyond horrible for any modern title on modern hardware but the game feels sluggish. Somehow they decided your aim had to be linked to your character level in game or something obscure like that. Next, the network stack is bugged, nobody knows exactly how or why, but it is. Sometimes you click and it doesn’t click, sometimes you shoot and it doesn’t register, sometimes you don’t see someone but he is, etc. etc. THIS is what is killing the game. What do you think is the single thing you absolutely can’t fail in an hardcore game? To have a hard game? No, not a all, an hardcore game should be hard, it’s why it’s an hardcore game! No, what you can’t have is randomness. If you manage to shoot someone in the head in an hardcore environment, the guy should be dead. Period. As soon as this works randomly, your hardcore game is dead.
The game is also absurdly dark and loud to the point you are basically forced to cheat to play the game, running your monitor/video card at crazy brightness and gamma settings and limiting the loudness. This is non-sense.
This is reason people leave, because those issues affect the core of the game, and the more people make the wrong analysis about why people leave (i.e. the wipe) the more the core issues will persist.
And regarding the wipe in itself, I also have the complete opposite analysis: the wipe is killing the game. First of the all, the wipe is not part of the core design and mechanics, it has been added to circumvent a technical issue, which has drifted to being part of the game. Worst, the wipe now feels like it is the game. There is absolutely no way this can work. You can’t make a game work with something which is absolutely not part of the core design and that has been added to solve a technical issue, now being such a big part the game. It’s a bit like when you feed alcool to an alcoholic to solve his drinking issue.
The wipe has a number of very vicious side effect: people will wait the wipe to enter the game because they feel like they need to start fresh with all others to have a chance, which is obviously very bad in itself, and then will leave when they feel they won’t be able to accomplish the game before the wipe happens. And the people who stayed will yell for a wipe because 1) there is nothing to do 2) there is no players. And since there is new players (both new and old coming back) at the start of the wipe, people think it’s the solution, and you start a new cycle.

I'd love a solo only mode. I don't mind larping as solid snake , avoiding people if I play as a low level player late into the wipe if I wouldn't get dumpstered by the second, third, or fourth teammate afterwards.

Yesterday I reinstalled Tarkov, I never played this wipe, I played a little bit on the previous ones. I installed it, I played it a little bit offline to check Streets, but then, I don't feel like playing it at all until the next wipe. It's not matter of playing against higher lvl player, it's the fact that why should I invest my time in quests, in reaching the flea, when the wipe is coming soon? It's the wipe blocking people to play it on the last 2 months before the wipe (that happens around Christmas and around end of June, early July each year since I started playing in 2020). Just my opinion. I don't feel like to put effort in a game where all my progress will be lost and have to start again soon. They must address playability, replayability, without just using wipe as a crouch. It is not that other mmrpg wipe all the time as a rule.. think at eve online, wow, or whatever you want

First Wipe William here, everything's all new and shiney at the moment, been playing about a week, have updated to EOD already...
£140~ seems like a lot, and I've always been against Pay 2 Win and/or Pay 2 Progress mechanics in games, but, for some reason Tarkov is different to me.

And if I break it down, to getting an hour's fun for every £1 I spend, I've already got like, £70~ worth of fun.

I've been playing DayZ, pretty much no-lifing it for about 3 years on and off, and I feel the same thing I felt when I got in to DayZ, the "I'm gonna be no-lifing this for a long time" kinda feeling
Deffo see myself spending several thousand hours on Tarkov, learning all the maps, weapons, ammo, angles etc etc etc etc , there's so much and more is gonna be continuously added over time.

And ok , to the point! lol

The reason I bring my Timmy-ness and DayZ addictions, is because the things you're saying about Tarkov now, remind me of what me and my buddies are saying about DayZ at the moment,
See, we're all getting real bored of DayZ, it's a great game, the interactions and such are golden but no matter what game you're playing, if you spend all your time on it eventually you're gonna get burned out, and that's before taking stuff like bugs and cheaters into account, and of course the issues with people becoming super-OP late in wipe, like I'm new and if I bump into someone who's been playing since start of wipe or before, I just don't stand a chance, even if we're exactly matched skill-wise (which I'm really not btw xD), there's a very slim chance I'm getting out of that fight alive, I don't even have access to decent bullets at my level so no way am I getting through Level 6 Armour.


But in a way I'm kinda glad that a lot of the long time veterans are moving away from Tarkov,

I think it was yesterday or the day before, I was tryna do the Quest where you have to find the USEC camp and the Convoy for Prapor(?)

I'm halfway between USEC and the convoy when I see another PMC in front if me, we both kinda panic and try and shoot eachother whilst tryna take cover behind trees, we're like 5 metres apart if even, both with similar low-tier gear and I had a Baby AK and he had something similar , not 100% sure...
But the point is , that little fight, that I lost btw, was one of the most satisfying moments in Tarkov so far, we were both not very skilled, not well geared, both panicked and both trying our best.

It was so exciting fighting someone who felt like my equal, it's not very fun getting shot in eyeball by someone who hasn't even ADS the millisecond they see me xD
BUT*** that also adds a lot to the excitement, I only fight if I really have to, otherwise I'll run and hide xD maybe after next wipe I'll play a bit more aggresively...
So yeah I'm not overly opposed to veteran players leaving for a while, gives us new players a chance to get into more interesting fights

I forget the point I was originally tryna make :L so yeah Thank You Very Much for sharing your thoughts and views, it's interesting to hear how the vets are feeling about the current state of EFT.

Big Respect, that's a subscribe from me ;D

I never comment on videos but here we go, One problem I see with the balance of Tarkov is the ammo and how many different types of each caliber that are available. If you want "Balance" take 556 for example give us 3 rounds for the caliber normal, tracer and AP thats it and do the same for all the calibers. Probably not a popular idea but there are ammo types of certain calibers that no one uses so why have it in the game.

Tarkov is my favorite game ever. :)

The armor system in Tarkov is what ruins the game. I've said it for years. The performance of armor in Tarkov borders on the magical. There is no system on planet Earth that will allow a person to absorb multiple rifle rounds, and just shrug it off. I don't care what level your armor is. If I shoot you in the head with a 7.62, you should at the very least lose consciousness. Instead, what we end up with is a ballistics system that feels anemic, and an armor system that is so over powered it's ridiculous. This gives players with armor an overwhelming advantage. So as people begin to accumulate enough armor to enter raids fully kitted, the fun of gunfights goes away, and people start playing other games. It's as simple as that.

Sorry but without matchmaking system this game will never become super popular. If you start in any sport or competition you go against your locals, then state, and then national. You don't fucking go against national athletes from the get-go, because you would be crushed, and slapped so hard you will be depressed for your whole life.

At this point with tarkov, features are plentiful, to the point where it slowly is stopping to become a game. And realism is not an excuse, for crying out loud you can rip your limb off, destroy it, then you just stitch it back up with super glue, pop some vaseline on your lips and your good to go, if Tarkov keeps going too far into realism it will stop being a game and will stop being enjoyable.

There are also big things at stake right now with Nikita alienating his community by attacking modders instead of embracing them with SPTarkov. There's a big indication that, it's what your player base wants and copyright striking channels who try to post anything about it, threatening with bans and legal action. Empty talk as what the mod does, does not infringe on the IP, it's not commercial use, and it brings more people to Tarkov and in turn more revenue for BSG as you need to have a copy of Tarkov to even play it.

And then you got the elephant in the room, desync and cheaters. It's gotten so bad to the point where it's not enjoyable along with other updates putting icing on the cake.

To be honest I’ve never played tarkov more than 30 days after each new wipe. For me a new wipe makes tarkov a 10/10 game not considering the technical and mechanical issues, just the experience is 10/10 but after that honey moon period the experience plumet to 5/10 or maybe even lower and the game become obnoxious and not fun at all. Dunno how they can do to fix that and make people like me stay longer

I'm guilty of enjoying "the race" at the start of the wipe creating some sort of strategy of how you're going to go about the task or hitting certain goals, seeing who can grind the hardest, comparing yourself to and watching streamers doing 24 hours sessions along side you etc. But as soon as hit that first burnout phase from playing 160hrs in week, get annoyed with technical issues, or real life calls I'm sort of done and don't go back to wipes. Part of the problem is we all got kappa a couple of times, we all "got gud", at least for our own personal standards and compared to we started, and we just don't feel the need to do it over and over again now.

I dont think I can ever come back to Tarkov in the same way all wipes have done this far...
The cheater situation with the game is simply insane. I refuse to play a game with a cheater in every full lobby like Tarkov does.

The fact of overgeared player is a good argument and can feel frustrating, i must say i enjoy more early wipes when people fight with waterguns and everyone is struggling to do quest, because what i love the most in the game is modding my weapons test/playing it and you have to be creative to get a good fashion/tacticool and good stats/playable and this at affordable price depending of your budget and level/quest advancement... BUT after 3/4/5 wipes i end up playing the same buildS early mid late game = tier 4 armor minimum (like in early wipe) cuz it protect me more from scav and its cheap in general (tier 5 if i got some cheap) and same budget weapons with a cool design or color always with the same principle cost/effectiveness... one thing tho ill always take the best bullet available to me... the one that will give me the best chance to slice anything that comes my way... i never wear helmet (shotguns scavs head eyes anyway) its just adding more to my loadout for 0,00001% chance to save my life... BUT thats not the point of my charade there... i dont get frustrated to play against overgeared player when i always play budget or tacticool gear... its my choice i just have to play better aim better position better flank better and its more satisfying to play... and if i cant kill them ill just ignore or bypass them... what made me stop play the game? pinglock (cant play with friends in EU anymore) the sound/audio freaking horrible dont hear anything in building (but love to play woods with a snipe + side pistol/smg) cheaters, server issue, freeze, bugs and co... the sound/audio again... did i say sound/audio ill say it again sound/audio and desync... i hope to play again when open world will be there (in my dreams) or if at least they fix the game. but for me overgeared people for example are not an issue

I play for 30-45 days get lvl 42-45 and stop, because I don't want to push crazy tasks I get 0 interest in rewards for, game progression is very fast in some aspects if you know what to do

I always said it - 1 month after wipe the game is dead. Why wait 6 months for a wipe? Make it 2 months .. or even 1 month .. and that game will explode. Is that so hard to get? Just adjust the quests accordingly and were fine. Maybe shuffle the quests every wipe that we dont have to do the same boring rotation every time.

Make OP Armor super hard to get - maybe you can get one imba piece once a week
and we can just be honest - that complicated ammo system doesnt improve the game in any way - its just frustrating - If i land some shots, I want to be rewarded no matter what ammo I use.

I bought the Deluxe edition, played the game for 3 days, have ZERO wish to go back.

i love hunt showdown way more. its more interesting and satisfying and balanced

I like video games.

The prestige system might be worth a try

Thanks for not skirting the cheating topic.

being an older gamer i bought tarkov for a few of my friends. we have played fps since BF1. they struggled and then gave up really quick because they were outmatched so quick then add in the cheaters at the time, well that was 3 ppl not playing and me ontop cause they would rather play pubg. we work long hours and dont get to play so much and get outclassed so quick we need something to level that playing field.

I love pvp but I feel like tarkov is too pvp focused at the moment. Knowing all of the spawns at the beginning of a match removes the immersive factor and unpredictability the game should have.

I just wish I could refund this game, tried playing it on my pc (which isn't even bad) and I just can't do anything without it crashing 2 minutes into a raid

Lightkeeper was such a slap in the face for most of the community IMO. They spent all this time hyping up Lightkeeper and in raid trading, only to release him with no trading implemented and with such an absurd questline to even see him that most of the community will only ever see him on a stream. BSG consistently make changes that benefit the people who play Tarkov like it was a full time job, so why should I even bother dedicating any time to it if that's who they're designing the game for? The gap between hardcore players and casual players should be player skill and knowledge, not stuff like PMC skills.

I feel like BSG went out looking for something unique and hit a gold vein by accident, but for some reason they refuse to pivot their original vision and take advantage of what they landed on. Their game would work wonders as a seasonal live service game, such as Diablo 3 but with more frequent updates and seasons. With the money they make from that, they could easily fund the development of their original vision, simply branch the game out to two different games. Both of them would feed the other with players and tech/code. As a game developer I simply find it weird how they don't lean into what the audience mostly wants and make the best extraction shooter they can.

That's really cool idea!
I would also add an option to level match the players. It would make life easier for the players who has real life, and cannot spend all the time playing Tarkov

I wish BSG would hire some actual game designers

On point... I dont play specifically bc of this

I constantly look at the game on my desktop especially since I know streets was released. But I’ve yet to touch the game in over 2 years because of all the hacking. I’ve played competitive games my whole life so I could tell early on the hacking problem was getting out of hand. From everything I’ve seen on YT surrounding the community the hacking is out of control now and I’m sure they’re not exactly doing as much as they can. Only fun I could ever have after awhile was being a Mosin man going after fully geared guys.

An offline mode that allows players to enjoy the story with friends and avoid cheaters would be a valuable addition. Additionally, implementing a system that distinguishes between competitive and non-competitive characters could enhance the gameplay experience.

In this proposed system, the competitive character would undergo periodic wipes, enabling a fresh start for players who thrive on the competitive aspect. On the other hand, the non-competitive character would retain progression and remain unaffected by wipes, creating a more consistent and continuous gameplay experience for those who prefer a more relaxed fair approach.

The competitive ladder would continue its regular cycle of booms and busts, providing a dynamic and challenging environment for competitive players. Meanwhile, the non-competitive character would be clearly distinguished and not participate in the ladder rankings.

By offering both competitive and non-competitive options, players can choose the playstyle that suits them best, fostering a diverse and inclusive community within the game. This approach would address concerns related to cheating while ensuring a fair and enjoyable experience for all players.

The community and streamers could also change the life cycle by running the worst kits possible so if newer or slow players do play the game would still be enjoyable. You would have the stat advantages and game skill but not be bullet proof.

Implementing these features would not only enhance gameplay but also encourage long-term engagement and satisfaction among players.

Tarkov arena could still be a great niche FPS but I think it’s current state is the prime example of what is killing gaming, it feeling like a job.

Once I switched to SP Tarkov I never looked back. SPT is so much more fun than playing online with all the cheaters and tryhards.

I was an early adopter and I'm positive overall but havent played since VOIP. I think there's two main issues. The foundations they built were when engine dev was challenging for studios with way more resources. Engine work isnt simple. They also grew very quickly and the community changed with increased knowledge, wider appeal, and that brought something that BSG doesn't like. Having to change their approach, or at least they need to if they havent already. Their community posts read way differently now, so it's a good sign


My perspective is about issues I saw in 2020 that were never resolved, and I know they arent without even playing. Why? Because they made another map, released another feature. That all is great when the game is ready for it. I don't know their financial position and a lot of that dictates decision-making. Gaming industry can be volatile for smaller devs. As an organization BSG has to rely on themselves or consultants. This is business side, I want to focus on the game because I see it as a passion project.

So, making audio more difficult just gives cheaters more advantage, so those two problems feed off each other. I think this game shouldve ironed out the desync/engine dev side earlier. It's expensive and doesnt generate sales. I get it. I understand why they made choices to add content, but a huge part of the experience is getting a clean raid.

The game in 2019 was a lot more positive imho. 2020 as well. With the influx of players came cheaters, and the vision of BSG is pure but it isnt congruent with the reality of what it's like over time. It's easy to have a great experience if everyone is kind of... playing by the rules.

Some games can have unflinching vision, but not a game that demands such an investment from the player in terms of skill, learning to deal with how intense the game can be (this is part of why it's one of the most unique experiences in gaming).

The skills I am OOL on. For a while, the economy was pretty easy even for like 8 hours a week of gaming time. I could still enjoy the game and it felt like it was a "Most Dangerous Game" by... that 20th century author. If I go down to a chad, it was at least a tense experience for them because every player felt so dangerous in the game. I once got a... i forget the key but it was one of the best loot keys in 2020ish wipes on Shoreline. Plus his full kit. I had the basic Makarov and got a lucky shot as he stormed through woods. I panicked, but it was a 1s stop with a friggin Makarov. I think I never even used that dudes kit.

The way a casual "should" play is like a chad but more limited to the capabilities of the loadout, but the social engineering doesnt work when people start getting overwhelmed by economics... I think the economy couldve waited to be fleshed out. The RAID is the game. Not the menus, as cool as all the features theyve built are. There is no shortage of talent at BSG. But the core issue is reality vs. Expectation of the playerbase. They cant build their vision with the rigidity they used to swear by. It's what made BSG a success. Vision..but now is a time where they have business decisions to make. This game can be saved and be a mainstay in gaming if they untangle all the playerbugs that were added with the complexity they built and the issues of growing pains. Least common denominator is a big deal for AAA titles. That is a concept that BSG and i think Nikita personally intensely dislike. And look where it got them.

If every cheater decided to quit today? Well it's wishful thinking. They of course have many issues with the game- content quality can be excellent if they stop adding so much so soon. If youve played this game more than a few hundred hours, you probably got to experience this game's magic in your own way and feel the money was well spent. Still, this is the life work of a small group of people who found success and are doing their best to handle the issues. Pointing them in the right direction without being overly negative about the game is where I'm at. Theres a lot more competition now and I'm afraid the core mechanics and basic under the hood stuff is going to be what drags this game down. Don't wanna see it happen. Tarkov was ahead of its time and they are suffering from the success of it. I think they already had the winning formula but they were determined to overperform and not be lazy devs. It's their style. But they realize compromise has to he made with the playerbase, even if they don't personally enjoy playstyles or approaches to the game. A lot of these issues are caused by externalities of growth, but they never really did the thankless and expensive project of working the engine better. In 2023 devs can do a lot more with a lot less on this engine.

EFT2? Just make the game again but build it the way they wish they wouldve all those years ago. The foundation. They have had years of live tests and know what people like.

Played this game a good bit during "quarantine" after my job shutdown for a few months. I will admit I had some fun. However, I went back to work and later had a kid and I realized after attempting to play another wipe that this game is a complete waste of time and energy and that it is a game made for sweaty no lifes that have LOADS of free time. Oh, and streamers lol. Every update they add is a quality of life nerf or something no one asked for that just makes the game more intolerable to play for anyone with responsibilities. It's player base really needs to go outside and touch grass again. Also, take every match you've ever played and multiply that by about 7. Thats the average amount of time you have spent just waiting to get into a match. Game is only good if you are unemployed and single with no kids. Or you play video games for a living.

They need to release a online coop tarkov. Play with friends against bots. You could even set it up to have friends fight each other

its gotten better with all you and your cheating friends stay away, i know you cheated lmao