The Division

[Cerveza mas fina]

https://killscreen.com/articles/the-perverse-ideology-of-the-division/

It’s a perverse idea of society, one where the government and its agents are the only thing standing between the average man and a host of violent sociopaths that surround him; from the “hoods” hanging on his street corner to the janitor at his office. They want what he has, the man thinks, because it is what they lack. They want to take what he has earned—to destroy what he has built. It comes from a deep seated place of ignorance and selfishness, one that doesn’t seek to understand the world but to divide it up into property and power. This ideology is nothing short of poisonous and yet The Division uses it as the fuel for its world. It borrows, word-for-word, the rhetoric of the New Orleans police department command who after Hurricane Katrina gave the order to “take the city back” and “shoot looters.” It presents those disenfranchised by society as its greatest enemies. It follows neo-liberal dogma so blindly that in one bizarre mission it actually sends the player to turn the adverts of Times Square back on, as if those airbrushed faces and glimmering products were the true heart of New York City, shining down like angels on the bodies of the dead among the trash.

[VomKriege]

As usual with Kill Screen, a bit of flowery language and wankery, but is he wrong ? Tom Clancy's universe as a militaristic fantasy filled with cardboard villainy seems pretty accurate.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Never been to that side but it's an interesting article, if a bit over the top, I can see where he is coming form with most of this.

I was actually thinking about Directive 51 this morning after seeing a tooltip about it, the continuity of "the state" being the most important thing. Sure it was probably coined with the idea to help the people, but now is a goal in itself more important then them.

ANYHOO

crafted a level 10 blue, got my dps up by 33%

[demi]

AngryJoe review is spot on. I'm putting the game aside until the "Raid" update.

[Trent Dole]

https://killscreen.com/articles/the-perverse-ideology-of-the-division/

It’s a perverse idea of society, one where the government and its agents are the only thing standing between the average man and a host of violent sociopaths that surround him; from the “hoods” hanging on his street corner to the janitor at his office. They want what he has, the man thinks, because it is what they lack. They want to take what he has earned—to destroy what he has built. It comes from a deep seated place of ignorance and selfishness, one that doesn’t seek to understand the world but to divide it up into property and power. This ideology is nothing short of poisonous and yet The Division uses it as the fuel for its world. It borrows, word-for-word, the rhetoric of the New Orleans police department command who after Hurricane Katrina gave the order to “take the city back” and “shoot looters.” It presents those disenfranchised by society as its greatest enemies. It follows neo-liberal dogma so blindly that in one bizarre mission it actually sends the player to turn the adverts of Times Square back on, as if those airbrushed faces and glimmering products were the true heart of New York City, shining down like angels on the bodies of the dead among the trash.

It's pretty funny to see people morally objecting to yet another stupid killfest game cause of some ideological shit. Last gen there was at least one of these games every month and how many complaints do you recall seeing/hearing?

[Cerveza mas fina]

Think only UC got flak for cognitive dissonance.

Made it to level 17 now, game is addicting for sure with high production values.

+graphics
+music
+gunplay
+loot
+teamplay
+matchmaking

-Typical ubisoft collectathon
-Enemy variety
-Story
-Mission variety
-No "omg" setpieces

[Am_I_Anonymous]

http://tomclancy-thedivision.ubi.com/game/en-GB/news/detail.aspx?c=tcm:154-242994-16&ct=tcm:148-76770-32

GAMEPLAY

Named enemies. will now drop better loot in Challenge mode than in Hard mode.
Added a cooldown period for the Static Turret stun attack in order to avoid a stunlock in PvP and PvE game modes.
Named NPCs will no longer respawn after being killed in the Open World. This will prevent situations where players were able to kill a same named NPC over and over again.
Modifications to the weapon talent: Trained.
It can now only be rolled on Shotgun, Marksman rifles and Pistols
Its bonus has been reduced from 1%-5% to a constant 0.1%
For the Midas SMGs, Trained Talent has been replaced with Responsive Talent which increases damage when getting closer to the target. This applies to existing weapons as well as newly acquired ones
For all SMGs, LMGs, and Assault Rifles, it will be replaced with another randomly picked weapon talent. This applies to existing weapons as well as newly acquired ones
Fixed a speed run exploit for the Rooftop Comm Relay mission
Fixed an issue where weapons dealt no damage if the reload animation was interrupted by an agent’s skill
Fixed an issue where players became stuck in an emote animation if activated via chat while auto running
Fixed a bug where skill power would be increased permanently while using the Death by Proxy talent
Fixed a bug where experience was not being awarded for completing all side-missions in the Midtown East safe house
Fixed instances where the Seeker Mine with Airburst / Multi-mine mod would detonate too soon, miss targets or cause no damage
Fixed a bug where grenades would sometimes not display the blast radius warning before detonating
Fixed an issue where some NPCs in low cover would not react to being shot by the player
Fixed issues where emotes would cause the player model to behave oddly (missing guns, player stuck in emote animation, etc)
Fixed a bug where weapon mods and weapon skins would not show up on other players in the game world
Fixed an issue where DPS would not be calculated properly when purchasing a new weapon mod
DARK ZONE

Players can now heal other neutral players in the Dark zone, by using First Aid and Support Station skills
Players are now able to fast travel to Dark Zone checkpoints, but only when coming from outside the Dark Zone
The Dark Zone disconnect timer has been increased to 30 seconds, meaning players will remain in the game world longer when logging out while in the Dark Zone (this applies while not in combat)
Items extracted from the Dark Zone are now properly marked as "new" items when moved to the players inventory
Players killed in the Dark Zone now drop ammo, medkits and grenades. This loot is generated and not taken from the dying players’ inventory
Players killed in the Dark Zone will lose less Dark Zone Funds and Experience (Rogue and non-Rogue)
Dark Zone Funds and Experience rewards for surviving Rogue status have been improved
Dark Zone Funds and Experience rewards for killing Rogue agents have been improved
Phoenix Credits drop have been increased on lvl 31 and 32 enemies in the Dark Zone:
Lvl 30: 1-3 Phoenix Credits
Lvl 31: 2-4 Phoenix Credits
Lvl 32: 3-5 Phoenix Credits
Increased drop rate of High-End items from lvl 31 and 32 named NPCs in the Dark Zone.
Increased drop rate of High-End Division Tech Material from lvl 32 named NPCs in the Dark Zone.
Improved Dark Zone Chests items quality:
Rank 30 chests will now drop Superior (Purple) items instead of Specialized (Blue)
Keys chests now have a chance to drop High-End (Gold) items
Dark Zone Funds drop rates and quantity on NPCs has been reduced.
Fixed a bug where the Wildfire and Fear Tactics talents were affecting neutral players in the Dark Zone.
Fixed instances where players would receive a DELTA error message when entering the Dark Zone
Fixed a bug where sometimes players could not loot anything after returning to the game following a network disconnection
Fixed Stage 1 Rogue timers not displaying correctly when Rogue players receive damage from another player
GRAPHICS

Fixed a few lights that did not cast global illumination
UI

Added more information for Daily missions on the Map
Tutorials have received some UI polish
The Matchmaking menu now displays the mission difficulty rating more prominently
The mini-map mission tracker has been optimized to be less confusing to players
Fixed a bug where some of the attributes for high-end equipment were cut-off in the recalibration menu
Fixed a bug where the Matchmaking menu for a mission would not display correctly or kept disappearing
Fixed missing item icons in the Reward Claim Vendor's inventory
Fixed incorrect side-missions being displayed in the Map legend
AUDIO

Fixed a bug where the helicopter crash SFX would be missing from the Brooklyn end cinematic
Fixed a bug where the Zapper Turret mod had no sound
Fixed a bug where the audio for entering a contaminated area would be cut-off
Fixed a bug where audio would not play when scrolling through vanity items
LOCALIZATION

Fixed Ubisoft CLUB reward descriptions in Korean and Traditional Chinese
In-game localization bug fixes
PC

Tobii Eye Tracking bug fixes and improvements
On launch, the PC client now monitors PC graphic settings and applies the best settings for the user’s configuration. This is unless the user has custom settings.
Fixed an issue where the Map was sometimes difficult to navigate with a mouse
Fixed issues with Hungarian, Korean, and Russian localizations
Fixed an issue that prevented matchmaking while on the Map
Removed the Store button from the Character Selection screen on PC versions of the game. Players can find the store page in the Ubisoft CLUB app directly
Fixed increment number on Day 1 Patch Notes (was 1.1, now correctly states 1.01)
XBOX ONE

Fixed a bug where players could not reconnect to the servers after suspending the game on Xbox One
Fixed a bug on Xbox One where unblocking a player would not be reflected in-game until title reboot
PLAYSTATION 4

Added an option to disable the PlayStation 4 controller speaker
Improved textures and models streaming speed
Fixed an issue where ISAC volume could get too loud when playing with headsets

[demi]

Some good changes to loot drops mostly.

- Maybe Sponge Mode (Challenge Mode) will be worth farming
- Maybe farming high level DZ is worth doing
- Maybe Opening chests worth doing

Dont care about rogue stuff, I just run around calling people autistic spergs

[Am_I_Anonymous]

Still no raids though.....

[toku]

Yea some good DZ and challenge mode changes. It's still fuck Russian Consulate challenge mode tho. Not really interested in that shit again.

[demi]

Raid was always an April thing, we will def hear more next month on that

[Cerveza mas fina]

Game could have done with more then 9 different side mission types.

[G The Resurrected]

Had a good run in the lovel level DZ soloing by myself then it all comes crashing down with rogues. I just want an area like the DZ for solo damnit.

[demi]

?? You mean to farm PVE mobs? Theres an entire gameworld for that. It was called Bullet King.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Hit level 21.

The main missions are fun in a squad

BUT


I would like to see it be more dynamic, have a sewer level flood while you have to escape, have a building collapse, a fight on a train. I dunno. It all feels exactly the same.

I presume these are the dungeons that one has to play over and over in the endgame, so why not have them be more special and interesting

It's the same problem the Destiny campaign had really where every mission played out the same (except the one you got the sword, which was janky as hell but at least different)

[chronovore]

This looks crazy. Does rolling prevent all damage, or just most of it?

[Cerveza mas fina]

I haven't seen that Chrono.

Anyhoo I'm level 27 now and nearing the end of the "campaign", I write that in brackets because the "story" is so weak ass.  The settings have been getting nicer for the story missions, like the Russian consulate. And the enemies look cooler now.

What's the point of starting a new agent btw if any agent can have any build? Diablo this ain't.

Got my first two purples so yay, shooting is really good fun, enjoying Machine Guns now that suppress fools.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Finished the story missions last night and hit level 29.

+Last 2/3 missions where what I was expecting all the missions to be, varied stuff like blowing up a wall, fighting a chopper, cool looking levels
+Demi is right about how bullet spongy the enemies are, like in the last mission it took forever to take some enemies down which wasn't exciting just boring cause they were not gonna kill my team anyway and we were kind of dug in
+Story exposition is shit as is the story, how hard can it be to make this coherent?

Gonna hit 30 this week, hit the Dark Zone to see what's going on there, then sell the game this weekend prob

Solid 6/7 this one. With some tweaking it could be an 8 or a 9 but I don't think Ubisoft has it in them.

[Human Snorenado]

How accurate is this review?

"The Division takes place a week after Donald Trump has been elected President."

[thisismyusername]

This looks crazy. Does rolling prevent all damage, or just most of it?

Most of it, it looks like. Otherwise he would've been downed a few times from what it looked like.

Edit:

OPscT3 weeks ago
For those of you complaining about the "hp regen exploit" understand this, I've crafted a near perfect mask that took a lot of resources to gather and I'm not changing it because ubisoft launched a game with tons of bug in it. Besides, I'm not one of those who purposely throws a grenade at their feet just to get the benefit of the bug. That mask is here to stay until ubisoft can come out with a fix.

[demi]

The current state of the game is one big mess. Tons of glitches, exploits, bugs... the reddit is fun to read.

I just set up a sale on craigslist for this game. Destiny won (which actually just released a free update that put a shot in the arm into the game)

[fistfulofmetal]

BTW this game is free for the weekend on Steam and also half off.

I played the first hour until you get to Manhattan. It seems cool. Harder than I thought. I actually died in one of the early missions.

I read about the Survival mode and thought it sounded cool so I may pick it up if I continue to like what I play over the next two days.

[thisismyusername]

BTW this game is free for the weekend on Steam and also half off.

I played the first hour until you get to Manhattan. It seems cool. Harder than I thought. I actually died in one of the early missions.

I read about the Survival mode and thought it sounded cool so I may pick it up if I continue to like what I play over the next two days.

The later missions get TOUGH. Even if you're on the level, you'll get steamrolled by one-shot snipers now and then.

[Cerveza mas fina]

I really liked this game despite its ubiflaws

A sequel would be hard to do as there is no othwr city as cool as NYC

[toku]

I enjoyed it a lot as well.

[Let's Cyber]

I'm excited for Survival on PS4.  It is pretty much what I wanted out of the base game.

[thisismyusername]

Finished. Hit 30. Unlocked all upgrades. Did all the story missions, nearly mopped up the side-missions for the upgrades.

About 20 hours or so to do all that. So I'll probably buy it on Steam sale to support Ubisoft for giving me some fun on that. We're totally going to a "Division 2" going by the epilogue Echo/mission that is after the main story missions.

I'm honestly more interested in knowing how the Division was founded and how they chose candidates, maybe that's what the Rogue agent will do besides "LOL SMALLPOX MORE DEADLY!"-2. But I'm doubtful about that. :'(

[fistfulofmetal]

Man I think this game scales wayyy too hard when you group up. I have it on normal and it's just so annoying. Enemies do too much damage and take too little, they cram too many in the mission. It feels like I'm playing on the hardest difficulty but it's just on normal. It's just annoying.

It feels too easy alone, but it's fuck annoying in a group.

Happy I got a chance to try it instead of buying because I have no interest in putting anymore time into this.

[thisismyusername]

Man I think this game scales wayyy too hard when you group up. I have it on normal and it's just so annoying. Enemies do too much damage and take too little, they cram too many in the mission. It feels like I'm playing on the hardest difficulty but it's just on normal. It's just annoying.

It feels too easy alone, but it's fuck annoying in a group.

Happy I got a chance to try it instead of buying because I have no interest in putting anymore time into this.

It's mostly gear. Once you get decent gear, you'll be able to go toe-to-toe with most of the enemies. The armored purple/yellow ones are about the only "bullet sponges" once you're on the proper level. Though the problem I had with the game was that once you level past a story's "set" level, it raises the world level(s) to match you. You hit 25 before finishing the story? Enemies will now be level 27-29 in your world. Especially if you grouped up with someone to quickly level up.

Someone leveled me from like 10 to 20 within an hour or just going around mowing enemies down in story missions on the highest "world tier"/5 with their gear set to solo-tank damage. Then I somewhat struggled to get gear to match that because most of the store-bought ones suck and the drops I got from doing those runs were in the level 30's.

Once you hit 30 though, you have to grind some more to get that Tier since "gear score" kicks in and then you have to pray your gear drops are good to raise the score so you can get another tier to get better gear.

[fistfulofmetal]

It all sounds very tedious. I enjoyed walking around the digital NYC but that wore off pretty quick. The Survival mode does sound really cool though. Maybe I'll pick it up and try again when it hits like 15 bucks.

[thisismyusername]

Well, I mean it's an RPG-TPS. The RPG-part is where the tedious comes in.

[fistfulofmetal]

Yeah yeah. I figured it would be more like Destiny. I'm just surprised by how squishy you are by default.

I may just stick to single player. I wanna explore more.


I deleted the game but reinstalled it >.> Might as well get my weekends worth.

[thisismyusername]

Run through the story while saving the 500 rewards for the first three (at the top) upgrades for the wards. Then do the side missions to (slowly) grind up the remaining 400-400-400-200-200-200 (or so) for the wards to be powered up. If you like certain perks, focus on the upgrades that give it newer things. There's the heal beacon that is placed down that allows someone to revive themselves from it, for instance.

[demi]

Yeah yeah. I figured it would be more like Destiny.

This is what the entire Destiny community said too, lol.

Then we realized what trash this game was and went right back to Destiny.

[benjipwns]

Free Weekend thoughts after a couple hours outside of the tutorial.

 

The main thing, well, two main things, I want to muse about are the absurd level of detail that this game has. To where it's unnecessary and they had to make clear what was actually interactable with to a silly degree. Like a modern version of the old cartoons/Resident Evil thing where the object out of place is animated and what you can mess with.

It almost makes me think, is this game the other half of Patriots? If you remember Patriots was supposed to be set in an open world New York and then got punted to next gen consoles. Then cancelled and Siege replaced it out of nowhere. Then The Division came along not long thereafter. Like Siege did at launch, this feels like half of a game. Or less, maybe even like it's using stuff made for something else as assets at times.

Also, oh my god at having to walk near everywhere.  Even with the fast travel to safe houses it's unbearable. And the weapon loot is wow so garbage.

Everything about this feels underbaked, and reading that it caps out at level 30 (I'm 1/5th of the way there after an hour and a half?), and that the missions just repeat with more HP for the enemies essentially. I kinda want to explore the New York but not like this. And the co-op doesn't really help it since there's basically no strategy/flanking/etc. capabilities. I realized while playing it that I already have the second Homefront and that's probably essentially the same game but potentially better so I guess I'll maybe play a little more of this for free since I did unlock some zones on the way to the DARK ZONE but if I want to play whatever this is, post-apocalyptic loot real world-ish shooter? I can just try Homefront, since I guess it's got crazy weapon mods and more single player positives? I dunno, I played this cuz it was free and I wanted to see the pretty graphics. And it is pretty. DX12 crashes on fullscreen setting (so you just alt-enter) but runs so smooth even with all the absurd pretty on.

And it feels like a shooter version of Batman sometimes. You have the Batman vision type thing that shows through walls, the music sounds similar, it even gets all action packed and then dies down to quiet as you end a random street fight. It takes place in the snow like Origins. People talk to you over the comms. (I liked the first mission giver lady.) You even do a lot of unnecessary one button climbing to find you've gained no strategic advantage. Maybe I should try this with a controller instead.

I need a grapple gun to fly across the rooftops like Titanfall 2, that would make this pretty sweet even with all the other garbage.

Also, you kill like...a lot...a lot...of black people. Seriously every enemy is a black dude so far. Oh, and a couple black ladies.

[thisismyusername]

Survival is the only worthwhile thing in the game, but since you're a Free weekender and don't own it, you'll never get to play it. :'(

[benjipwns]

Is that in the Dark Zone or the matchmaking menu or something? Game boots up into the world so I didn't even look at those after doing the video settings. Ubisoft did a full unlock for the free weekend, it's not the usual separate token they use in uplay for these that reset your progress it just expires until repurchased. There was some dude in the one safe zone saying he had almost beat the whole campaign because he'd been playing for like 36 hours straight.

edit: my dude, er, well gurl is only level 6 though if that matters

[thisismyusername]

Is that in the Dark Zone or the matchmaking menu or something?

No and if it's like the other Free Weekends, you don't have the DLC which Survival is.

You go into the "Hub" and then matchmake near where Last Stand's DLC would matchmake. Are you on PC? I can login.



TL;DW: It's basically "Battle Royale" that Arma and a few other "survival" games had in the Divison. You work your way around the Light Zone into the Dark Zone to get anti-virals to then extract. BUT the Hunters that come after you (one time, but you have to kill them or duck them and survive to flare gun again, where they'll hunt you down again) are tough as hell. So within the 1-2 hour (or longer if you luck out on meds and pills) time-limit pushes you to continously craft and build better things.

It's what the Division should be for the most part: Having to scrounge things up instead of doing runs over and over and over at WT5 with 256 gearscore.

Also Massive has pretty much dropped a skeleton crew on "support" while working on Avatar (and pre-production for the Division 2) so what you see is what you get in regards to bugs and everything.

[benjipwns]

hmm i thought they were giving everything this weekend because they emphasized that this wasn't the standard trial but i guess dlc is prolly too much to ask, i have no idea what i'm actually doing mission wise in the game, when you clear a zone it should fill up with dudes on your side like saints row, instead you see two or three guys standing around in the same spots

i found in the options an auto-parkour option if you're already sprinting, really made movement better, especially any ladders, there wasn't much advantage to controller other than the menus seem to be designed perfectly for one and it didn't miss loot as often, though maybe the cover works better, went back to standard controls anyway even though i normally like controllers on TPSes, i got a scope that turned a three burst smg into a stupidly effective sniper rifle since nearly every battle is within twenty feet anyway, now if only it shot corrosive lasers too this would be third person borderlands in new york

[chronovore]

Ubisoft LOVES its own auto-parkour. "Hold R2 to win" is how I think of Assassins Creed and Watch Dogs movement.

My son said the same thing about all that walking: "There are all these cars and open streets. Why can't I drive there?" Later on, there was an in-game cinematic where a delivery gets ambushed, his first statement was, "Sure, sure! THEY'VE got a car."

[demi]

This game fell right off, lul. Destiny even with its rehashed content has more activity.

[benjipwns]

literally cars everywhere, with their doors open! and lights flashing! the roads aren't even that bad, most of them have been cleared!

this takes the auto-parkour to another level since you can set the sprint on a toggle, just hit the button once and run for miles leaping over crap instantly

there's a npc of a guy, sometimes woman, trying to shimmy the lock on a car but it doesn't seem to take into account the status of the car so i just watched this dude try to break into a car through basically the only window not smashed out on the thing and with two of the doors on the other side already open flapping in the breeze

there's also a like totally weird inconsistency on which semi's and ambulances you're allowed to climb up on, even when they're the same exact model, it's like if they're ever so slightly on a curb or whatever

i saw my first dude yelling out a window at me, that was a nice touch for a open city where buildings are usually just facades and they never put in open windows or anything farther up because you can't go there anyway, he was like three stories up and it didn't seem to be a building you could get into, i aimed at him and he just yelled at me more, everyone on the street seems to either run away screaming or decide to fight me

some of the looted storefronts have a questionable decision making on how they were looted, like pharmacy is completely empty and not trashed, electronics store just has everything smashed and lying around, i don't feel like that's how it'd go for some reason, not that i've ever seen a riot or anything in real life where i'm sure everyone calmly bought everything in a pharmacy and then just smashed electronics

also there's like a weird disconnect where i have all this technology but like the people in the world instantly gave up and threw their working gadgets on the ground for me to pick up and listen to and decided to go huddle around fires...now i'm just going to pretend that the backstory is actually that Dilbert episode instead of some weird virus: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1c8nz4_dilbert-s01e09-the-knack_fun

[thisismyusername]

some of the looted storefronts have a questionable decision making on how they were looted, like pharmacy is completely empty and not trashed, electronics store just has everything smashed and lying around, i don't feel like that's how it'd go for some reason, not that i've ever seen a riot or anything in real life where i'm sure everyone calmly bought everything in a pharmacy and then just smashed electronics

I'd basically put that under the week or so of panic that the "dollar flu"/bioterror attack did. Basically for the first few days, people weren't too affected by it, then as the days go on it accelerated, to where the pharmacies are hit (kinda like that scene in Contagion). Then when the power plant went down (due to nobody managing the automated systems, there's a promo for the game that states the source for this) everyone started to panic and riot (and smash electronics or drop them) due to chaos.

But anyway, the game ends on a cliff hanger of you going after the rogue agent that helped start the Dollar Flu/bioterror attack, so we're basically getting a Division 2. But given how this one came out (only new thing was modes that would be free DLC instead of expansion passes) a lot of the community is sour.

It's a shame, because the idea behind the game and world-building are a-okay. It's the actual execution and support that they fucked up.

[toku]

This game scratched that questing alone at 4am itch that WoW did for me a decade ago. I liked walking everywhere and shooting things. I enjoyed the alone in weird wold vibe. Collecting the radio messages or w/e. Alright looking game too.

Still amazing they shipped a game with even worse endgame content AFTER Destiny though.

[Cerveza mas fina]

This game scratched that questing alone at 4am itch that WoW did for me a decade ago. I liked walking everywhere and shooting things. I enjoyed the alone in weird wold vibe. Collecting the radio messages or w/e. Alright looking game too.

Still amazing they shipped a game with even worse endgame content AFTER Destiny though.

good point, I spent loads of hours running around wow at night alone, grinding, loved that vibe

[benjipwns]

This game scratched that questing alone at 4am itch that WoW did for me a decade ago. I liked walking everywhere and shooting things. I enjoyed the alone in weird wold vibe. Collecting the radio messages or w/e. Alright looking game too.

After I unlocked a bunch of these and the echo recordings and then tracking down the missing people was probably the most fun I had with the game before the free weekend ended. And I kinda wish I had started doing more of that sooner and just ignoring the stupid missions even if I did like putting the base back together with my...technology credits? health care stars?

Tracking down the missing people and recreating their steps reminded me of the brief detective work you did in Arkham Origins that briefly made the plot into a mystery. (tho we all knew it was always joker) Sure you're not really putting together evidence and solving a case as much as following bread crumbs that piece together the story as you go but whatever. That's rare enough in these kind of games. I even liked the radio messages in the first Borderlands, especially as the scientist goes insane, if only because that was the only thing the game was telling you about the world.

An open world game as some kind of alcoholic disgraced PI trolling the streets at night climbing into places and rummaging through abandoned apartments to solve cases and collect scarves. And getting beat up and the cops all like "this is the last time! You're this close to the edge!" And doing surveillance and stake outs. Figuring out that you're being tailed. I'd play that. Cut the check Ubisoft, I'll put it ahead of developing my Crimson Skies sequel if you pony up enough cash.

[Let's Cyber]

The survival mode is fantastic and I wish they would have built up upon that. It needed to be part of the core game or even the main focus of the future Division 2 campaign. A State of Decay type base building and supply gathering mechanic would work perfectly in that setting. It also would give players something to dig into beyond grinding missions for loot with slightly better stats.

Last Stand mode isn't that great but I only played it for a few hours. Most of the games were a rout in one direction or the other with very few close, competitive matches.  Also getting melted by some guy with a min/maxed Lightweight M4 isn't enjoyable.

[thisismyusername]

I didn't mind the loot grind, but them trying to force a "meme" (if you will) out of Dark Zone (trying to get people to like it, I guess I should say) instead of doing more PvE missions--no, incursions don't count. Really did no favors for the game.

Survival is interesting, but I dunno if I'd make it the "main game." But the idea behind it is sound: Start a new character, build up as best as you can and survive a storm or other things while dealing with the elements/enemies.

[Let's Cyber]

It would take a little more work on the developer's part than just "Adding survival to core game" like I suggested but basically I want an extra meta game on top of the existing overworld based around incentivizing exploration and survival. Right now, even with the world tier mechanic they added to make mobs more difficult(which was good step btw), there is almost zero reason to roam and explore once you've beat the game and have seen everything. There is also zero tension or a sense of danger while traveling around once you're level 30. It feels like a missed opportunity especially when Survival opens up the entire map and makes it feel new, fresh and dangerous again. Why not extend that to the main game in some way?

So when I say I'd like Survival in the main game, I'm talking more about that same sense of tension and rewarding exploration. Have the overworld respawn with randomized loot and resources periodically (useful resources, something to spend things on. I'm currently maxed on gold fabric, there is fuck all for useful stuff to craft with it). Expand upon the base building mechanic they already have, make finding resources more important and give me things to invest said resources into.  Also make the overworld more dangerous and greater penalties for dying in the single player, like in say Don't Starve. Maybe force players to fight back to their death location to get their stuff back. Keep the cold, hunger and sickness meter from survival but not the time limit.

All of this could be mostly separate and optional from the other modes they've established. Let people fast travel and just do missions if they want. BUT give the option for a "hardcore" mode in the overworld with greater dangers and rewards.

Also, the current Survival mode is great, I wouldn't want that to go away. The rewarding sense of progression in that mode is pretty unique IMO.

[toku]

You guys make me wanna try survival but im not trying to drop so much on mp DLC for a game im absolutely gonna be trudging thru solo. I'd have to start over too on PC (I got it for 99c via UBI in some weird fuck up or something liek that) as I don't have a lvl 30 character there lol.

[Let's Cyber]

You don't need a lvl 30 character for Survival. I think as long as you've unlocked the base, you can join a game. It strips you of your gear so you start off with nothing but a pistol.  You have to kill mobs and search buildings for clothes, food, gear and weapons. You'll get regular game loot boxes after the match is over.

If you're cautious and take your time, it is totally doable solo in PvE mode but it will be a big challenge to actually extract at the end. I wouldn't recommend PvP solo. Being hunted down like a wounded gazelle takes a special kind of masochism to enjoy.