The game isn't supposed to be balanced for multiplayer, as solo is the intended balance point. If they want to add a bit of code to use a separate loot pool when there are more than one players turning in the same quest, that's fine by me. If they did that they could even split the coin and exp as well.
In the first week or two 50 rounds of ammo isn't a total waste, especially if it's the proper caliber. But by the time you're doing T4's and better you probably have the capacity to pump out ammunition of whatever type you need in full stacks, if not boxes. Ammo of the wrong type usually just piles up and eventually gets sold, but with the nerfs to buy and sell prices ammo is hardly worth holding to sell. The people talking about ammo scarcity always confuse me, I've never noticed a shortage of ammo after the first week or two, are ya'll just praying and spraying for body shots of something. Rads can soak up a lot of rounds, even as headshots. Maybe I just melee more than most people, I usually save the guns for hairy spots and horde nights, or when I'm really just trying to rush a PoI ASAP.
The game
is supposed to be balanced for multiplayer. This isn't a solo game, though it can be played that way. Although I have no data on it, I'm sure more than half the players play the game in multiplayer, either only multiplayer or in addition to single player. The game is 1-8 players officially. Perhaps you're mixing up the statement that balancing for PVP or balancing for more than 8 players isn't the goal for the developers. But balancing for 1-8 players is supposed to happen.
As far as ammo, most people short on ammo after the early game are likely those who like to use a lot of turrets for horde night as those burn ammo quickly. And whatever ammo you personally use regularly will usually be low unless you're crafting a lot of ammo. When I used to use 9mm (SMG) all the time, I was always low on 9mm and had crates of everything else. I then switched to desert vulture for my main weapon and left the 9mm for turrets and things balanced out better, though 7.62mm and shotgun were still very high. It also comes down to whether or not people are crafting ammo. A lot of players don't craft unless absolutely necessary, so they mostly only use ammo they find or buy. Others craft it but don't spend time crafting the parts (casings, shells, gunpowder) and so can only craft as much as they find parts for. Obviously, that's a player choice that affects the amount of ammo and not a game issue. But it isn't really wrong to play the game that way if you don't enjoy crafting.
T5 or T6 takes waaay too long ( 7Days suits drove me mad looking for missed zombies for a whole day running around looking for few groups I somehow missed ) to be worth doing it for traders.
I did couple off them just for the sake of a resetting of POI so I can scrap them for materials ( book stores for those roles of paper - for shotgun shells crafting, Army outpost 7 for beds and car parts, Grover high for quick library run and quick xp with all the zombies hordes you get...)
Lower tier quests gets you quick magazine bundles or duct tapes.
Otherwise I only use traders to buy couple of food ( cans and potatoes/corn ), than usually I buy cobblestone to save time, occasionally duct tape and glue, magazines, lamps, Dew collector 1st two mods and Crucible to send me ahead. That is it, all the rest is useless in their menu.
Don't even bother with them, just go to the wasteland for higher Loot stage and you get all the items you need much faster for lower tier POI's.
Also for skill progression just do mail boxes, newspaper stands and bookstores instead of buying from traders - frankly that is all game is all about now since there is no learn by doing anymore.
I used to think that, but now I don't think they are all that long. Yes, T5 POI are a big step up from T4 POI, but once you know the POI, you can cruise right through them without taking all that long. Still might be double a T4, but I don't think that's all that bad. Sure, you can quest or just loot only T4s and get through a lot of them quickly. But the T5 POI are really well done and worth doing, imo. There is a lot of loot in them, regardless of quest rewards. And having a POI last longer than 15 minutes is nice. But to each their own. If you don't like spending time in a POI, the game makes it easy not to have to do so. For those who like these large POI, they are there for us.
Btw, if your game play choice is to loot higher biomes right away rather than working up to them, be prepared for the changes to biomes that will probably make that not possible until later in the game. Wasteland is intended to be all radiation, so until you can handle that, you aren't going to be able to go there. They haven't given details about the other biomes, but the plan is to make them hard to rush towards.
