In a conversation with @scratchmonkey I tried to create a chronology that lead to the creation of Escape from Tarkov.
My theory starts with the DayZ mod for Arma. When the game released it was originally envisioned as a zombie game, and people played it accordingly. There was an emphasis on fragile aliances, of trying to determine how to tell if other players were friendly or hostile, and to not start fights because it would draw the attention of zombies. Over time players realised that zombies were non issue, and that the most efficient way of dealing with with other players was to shoot on sight. The meta shifted to collecting enough gear to kill other players, and then killing players to gather more gear. At that point choosing safe locations to log out in so you can log back in without being found was important.
And that led directly into Tarkov. Now that it was obvious that a fragile alliance was not viable that aspect was just removed from the design, and an extraction mechanic was added in so that the log-out gamble was playable instead of just a coin flip. But Tarkov’s aesthetic and UI are so close to Stalker that I feel like I’m missing a history of MP Stalker mods that were only ever released in russian, and figured @iguferon would be familiar with that side of the history.