After playing with the new loot changes, progression on Chernarus feels significantly worse.
Previously, moving inland gave you a gradual sense of improvement. You might start with basic weapons/gear, then find better firearms, ammo, mags, armor, and equipment as you moved through Tier 2 and Tier 3 areas. The best equipment was still reserved for places like NWAF, Tisy, contaminated zones, helicopters, and convoys, but there was a nice smooth noticeable progression along the way.
Now, the progression feels almost completely flat until the very end. You can spend hours moving inland and searching police stations, hunting locations, towns, and smaller military areas while continuing to find mostly basic weapons, incomplete guns, and very little useful ammunition or armor. Then the loot quality suddenly jumps at the highest-tier locations.
WOBO said it right in his newest video about the Changes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuPIJVIv8nM) where the loot system FEELS and ACTS like the attached pictures now. previously it was a nice progressive flow (see Previous loot progression.png) but now its just poor planning (see "New loot progression.png).
The issue is not simply that good loot is rare. The issue is that the middle of the progression curve has nearly disappeared.
Players are now expected to enter the most contested areas of the map with Tier 1 equipment and incomplete weapons. At that point, either the worthwhile loot has already been taken, or you are fighting players who already have Tier 4 weapons, armor, optics, and ammunition. That creates an enormous gear disadvantage and makes progression feel way more dependent on luck than exploration.
Changes such as moving more weapons to dynamic events, pushing common weapons into higher tiers, heavily reducing magazine chances, and removing much of the lower-tier armor have all contributed to this problem.
I'm not saying that high-tier equipment needs to become common. Northwest Airfield, Tisy, contaminated zones, helicopters, and convoys should remain dangerous and rewarding. However, Tier 2 and Tier 3 areas need to provide meaningful intermediate upgrades again. A smoother progression curve would make travelling inland, exploring smaller locations, and gradually building a complete loadout feel worthwhile.
Right now, in my about 20 hours of playtime on the new changes, Chernarus on official feels like: almost nothing, almost nothing, mostly nothing, followed by an extreme loot spike at the very end. I would strongly prefer the previous gradual progression system, or at least a better balance between the two.