To those who have both read Malazan AND listened to the audiobooks, how would you describe the experiences, and their differences?
EDIT:
Thanks everyone for your opinions!
I’m on yet another reread, and I’d not even considered an audio version. Given how chaotic life can be, I wondered if it was a viable alternative.
Sounds like it’s a mixed bag, so I think I’ll stick with my old man ways!
Just had a wild ride on customs - hit up 3-story dorms shortly after raid start because I've got 3 or 4 quests objectives in there. Opened the 1st floor door to find a Reshala sausage party going on - Reshala, 4 guards, and a scav all just... standing there in the lobby. They hadn't made a sound the entire time I circled the building, or when I accidentality tried to break the second-story door.
Well, until they opened fire. They did a fair bit of damage while I shook off the shock, moved aside, and fumbled a grenade at my feet.
The poor toss probably saved me, as it caused the ones pushing me to run back inside rather than finish me off, and gave me a chance to prop and figure shit out.
Thankfully, I was carrying some 45-rounders I took off Partisan and packed with decent ammo, so I was able to essentially grind the entire group down in two successive full-auto salvos, the first like a complete dumbass, peeking the same door I was just at, and the second by bouncing a flash grenade down the inside stairs before opening up on the stunned survivors. 90 rounds and about 3 minutes to score my second-ever Reshala kill.
But in a reminder that Tarkov is gonna Tarkov, I didn't get credit for Reshala. I got credit for the scav and the guards, I looted him clean and turned in the pistol, but I got no XP and no task update.
Fuuuuck.
People keep telling me V-Ex is the best way to get Fence rep, but I ain't buying. Above is a 10 and a half minute raid in Reserve. 6 PMC kills.
I think we’re all aware of the rework, and that the wiki is currently out of date. That’s normal.
This post is to note some larger changes I’ve spotted that I haven’t seen mentioned, or that have been mentioned, but are important enough to add here.
First up, task items aren’t currently being lost on death. Bug? Change? I don’t know, but it’s reducing some of the grind, for sure.
Second, looks like a lot of tasks have been merged. This is good or bad, depending on the quests. In general, I like it, as it (sometimes) means you can knock out two part task in one run, rather than turning in part one, and going back out for part to. An example here is the Glory to the CLSU 1 and 2 tasks, where you can locate the apartment and the place of work in a single run. That’s great.
Third, some task locations have changed. Looking at you, Debtor. This task used to require getting (a cheap) key to unlock a room in Pinewood Hotel. That location is now unlocked by default, but it’s no longer the task location—it’s now Chek 15, the key for which is was running about 2 mil last night. Ouch. So some tasks are a bit more of a hassle—something to keep in mind.
Fourth, I’m a little suspicious that some task item spawn locations have also changed, but I’m not sure. I’ve run 11 raids where’s checked one of the two listed locations for the red vial in TerraGroup. It previously spawned in either a specific location in the server room office, or in the locked office. I’ve now checked the server room office 11 times with no sign of it. It may JUST be in the locked office, or it may have been moved entirely. Head’s up.
Fifth, a lot of “kill x PMCs with y” have been changed to simply “kill x anyone with y,” which is a huge improvement, given AI PMC’s tendencies to get killed off or simply rat in place.
Overall, some QoL improvements, with a few frustrations thrown in.
Edit: Finally caved and bought the Terragroup Meeting room key, and did indeed find the red vial there. Total of 13 raids where it was not in the server room suggests it may only spawn in the locked room now.
Today marks a couple big milestones for me--the first time I've survived a Partizan ambush, and the first time I've killed Shturman.
I play PVE, and Partizan is the reason I avoid some maps. I usually don't know he's there until the screen goes dark. Sometimes, I spot the grenade traps, and I'll try to get somewhere defensible, but that's only ever worked for me once.
Today on Woods, while I was scoping out the lumber yard, Partizan snuck up on me and started shooting me in the back. But for once he didn't land any hits on head, and I came out on top. I didn't even realise it was him until I approached the body, which felt like an important turning point for me.
I followed that high up with an actual one-tap on Shturman.
I learned the hard way, however, that he's got a small army of sniping guards. Those guys waited until I entered the yard to all pop out of hiding and pincushion me.
Still, I think I'm getting better at this.
