When comparing PUBG-2017 and PUBG-2024, the first thing that catches your eye is the fabulous abundance of loot. In the old PUBG, you could loot a small town and find nothing but an uzi and holey pants. In modern PUBG, it is enough to loot two houses and you can forget about looting until the next match.
To be honest, it is not entirely clear why this whole system of loot lying on the ground remains in modern PUBG. If instead you just make a choice of equipment like in Battlefield or Call of Duty, then nothing will change. Loot on the ground is just a vestige left over from ancient times when finding an SKS + 4x was an event.
And those were great times. A player who found nothing but trash felt vulnerable and feared for his life. A player who found something really good was afraid of losing it. Early PUBG made players value their lives.
If I value my life, then I behave completely differently. For example, if I hear gunshots in the distance, I will think about whether I can take advantage of this. Maybe I can ambush the winner of a shootout? If I can predict the route he will take, then it will be easy prey. If I cannot take advantage of this, then I will simply remember that there is danger in that direction and continue on my way.
By the way, the other players did the same. Everyone tried to act carefully. This world had its own special logic by which it lived.
In modern PUBG, players just run to the sounds of gunshots, like in any other shooter. For some reason, it is considered that shootouts are the only fun part of the game. According to this logic, Call of Duty is ideal, but then it is unclear why play something else.
Personally, on the contrary, it was always much more interesting for me to lie in the bushes, look at the map and come up with a plan of action. Where will I run? What route? When? What about plan B? What will other people do? And so on.
But I digress a bit. The idea of the article is that early PUBG forced people to play it safe and thus created unique gameplay.