The Division - officially announced for PC!

Yeah that's really neat of them doing that. I hope it really is to help the game and not some PR stunt. I don't even mind if those guys like Marcostyle and SkillUp go. I just hope a lot more 'normal' people get to go as well. I want to see Frraksured from here go and help, that way he can report back here what's coming out. :)
 
Yeah that's only Steam though. I don't use Steam for this game. I launch it from Uplay. Where's the Uplay charts? I'm not saying that a lot of players have not dropped off, but that can't be indicative of the whole player base.

I'm sure a lot of people will come back to check out 1.4 and beyond. Doesn't matter, I'll keep playing. I still find some cool people just match making. Had a really fun group last night wandering all around the Dark Zone.
 
The chart is not a good overall assessment of the number of people playing, it is meaningless in that regard. It is more about the % people still playing vs the max. I suspect consoles and ubi will have a similar drop although not as dramatic. For comparison rainbow 6 launched in dec, had a 39k all time peak, and still has 14k daily peak. The numbers are just vastly different. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege - Steam Charts
 
Unfortunately I really don't see Survivor doing much for the game, but that may just be because the game mode really doesn't interest me. I will gladly be proven wrong.

I think they are on the right track, fix the game first. If they get the game to a "fun to play" state again, that will do as much for the player base as new DLC. Then when more DLC does come around, the returning crowd will stick around longer. The final DLC for "year one" looks to include an additional area atop the existing DZ. So, they really need to get the DZ figured out before they expand it to that degree (map in the last story mission looked to be almost double the size of it).

I agree with jiminator, this game was designed to be Ubi's Destiny and there is a lot of life left in it. People are always going to run off to other games for a while (nothing was going to keep me from Mankind Divided no matter how fun this was), but these are the type of games that become our 'main thing' we keep returning too. Ubi needs to make good on this before attempting D2 or their hype train will get derailed by the Community.
 
jmaker said:
Yeah that's really neat of them doing that. I hope it really is to help the game and not some PR stunt. I don't even mind if those guys like Marcostyle and SkillUp go. I just hope a lot more 'normal' people get to go as well. I want to see Frraksured from here go and help, that way he can report back here what's coming out. :)
Click to expand...

Man, I would love something like that! But my work would knee cap me if I took more time off, lol (took my first trip to Europe this year to see my daughter who was deployed there, used a lot of vacation).

TaintedSquirrel said:
The fact that Ubi had a year's worth of DLC planned and the game was basically dead a few months after release is pretty sad.
Click to expand...

I think having so much content planned so fast was a lot of the problem. They created such a break neck pace for themselves that all their fixes could be little more than reactionary. There was no time to really delve into it because they had obligations they had to meet. It's why we are going to have to wait for content now. Regardless, they are sticking with it, so I'll continue to give them the benefit of the doubt.
 
jiminator said:
The chart is not a good overall assessment of the number of people playing, it is meaningless in that regard. It is more about the % people still playing vs the max. I suspect consoles and ubi will have a similar drop although not as dramatic. For comparison rainbow 6 launched in dec, had a 39k all time peak, and still has 14k daily peak. The numbers are just vastly different. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege - Steam Charts
Click to expand...

of course it is...taking consoles out of the picture (which will always have higher player numbers), the Steam charts show who is playing and charts the game from release until the present...don't know how much more info they could give...I'm sure Uplay's player base is not greater then Steam's...the fact is that the game dropped fast and the number of current players is very small...what does Rainbow Six's numbers have to do with The Division?
 
MacroStyle's suggestions for 1.4



Not sure I agree with everything, but for the most part I think he's on point. Glad he's getting to go to Massive and give his input.
 
Last edited:
Hopefully everything these guys talk about in this video. Very long, but they go through all the major issues in the game.

 
The biggest issue me and my friends see is the endgame difficulty/loot imbalance. We've basically hit the point where we need better gear to do harder missions, but need the better missions to get said gear. At this point, we're doing basically just the two easiest weekly HVTs and praying for 229 weapons/268 Armor (Even though its 90% Lone Star; just need the toughness). Pretty much that's all we do now, and we don't play anymore because there's no point until we get said drops.
 
Yeah you need better gear to complete the missions/incursions but the only way to get better gear is to complete the missions. I know that's one thing they should be working on.

I'm still going strong. Mostly doing 4 horsemen every day. Still looking for a badass M1A. I get a few here and there. I think Brutal, Deadly,Capable would be perfect. Or a 229 Competent Destructive Ferocious. Perfect AlphaBridge combo there. I want to try solo Heroic runs soon.
 
Sorry I'm getting to this so late, but here's Thursday's SoTG. Primary topic was 1.4 changes:



Key take aways:

  • Rebalancing of NPC damage dealt and damage received.
  • Rebalancing of gap between new / unoptimized and fully min / maxed players of the same gear score.
  • Rebalancing of gear and weapons in relationship to the above actions.
  • Rebalancing rewards for Hard - Challenging - Heroic so players can gear up for more effectively (not have to play Heroic in order to have the gear to survive Heroic).
  • Focus of making post level 30 gameplay as rewarding as pre level 30 gameplay.
  • No new PvP features or major changes until they can assess the success of the above changes. PvP alterations will come in later patch, not 1.4
  • Public Test Server opens on PC ONLY, first for a select group on Sept. 15th, if that goes well, then to all PC Division owners on the 19th.
Sounds good so far, they assured more detailed info would follow.
 
Last edited:
The special report and PTS have been delayed.

But at least they said Falcon Lost will now have checkpoints! Yay! Nothing worse than getting to wave 14 or 15 and wiping.
 
Rebalancing rewards for Hard - Challenging - Heroic so players can gear up for more effectively (not have to play Heroic in order to have the gear to survive Heroic).
Click to expand...

Pretty much this. My group is hovering around 212 gear score, and we're just starting to farm 240 Gear via Underground on Hard. Have ZERO chance of passing an incursion or Challenging mission right now, and honestly, I don't think even with all 240 gear we'll have the DPS. So we're all just saving up phoenix credits, getting to Underground rank 40, and hoping for some decent 229 weapons on sale (or better, a weekly HVT actually dropping one).

Also, a Daily HVT of Rank 33 (Challenging) would go a long way to speeding up this process and keeping us on more then one hour a week. Hint hint...
 

A couple/few of the folks that were part of the "ETF" have posted what info they can.
It's a nice summary, and it certainly sounds like Massive is trying to move in the right direction.

wtf, why can't I just post a URL to the reddit post? Forum keeps auto-formatting with the media=reddit tag.

Code: 
https://www.reddit.com/r/thedivision/comments/52hvtz/my_elite_task_force_summary_and_impressions/
 
really impressed with how committed Massive seems to be. still tons of potential in this game, and i personally have had a blast with it.
 
Glad they are paying some attention to Crafting amidst all the other changes. Eager to see how this all plays out.
 
dirksquarejaw said:
Edit: looks like Massive has postponed the public test server from this Thursday until a future date.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...

It sounded like they postponed the PTS due to wanting to make changes based on the feedback of the ETF.
I'm hoping that is accurate and truthful, and would show that they really are listening to their users.
 
gimp said:
It sounded like they postponed the PTS due to wanting to make changes based on the feedback of the ETF.
I'm hoping that is accurate and truthful, and would show that they really are listening to their users.
Click to expand...
That is my hope too, and not just dragging us along for nothing.
I'm all for waiting on the test server or patch/update until they have the bugs/issues fixed. We don't need another rush job where it breaks more than it fixes.
 
some changes have been detailed in the SotG, source
Code: 
https://www.reddit.com/r/thedivision/comments/52v1yd/state_of_the_game_september_15th/
Update 1.4 changes
General changes
  • Fixing enemy health and damage post level 30 so that it is linear and not exponential
  • Time to be killed in comparison: Now it takes 2.1 seconds to be killed by a standard Riker – it will be 6 seconds in 1.4.
  • Time to kill in comparison: Now it takes for an unoptimized build / unmodded ACR 3.8 seconds to kill a Riker – it will be 2.1 seconds
Difficulty progression / changes
Now you can play normal/hard mode missions without big problems – but the gap between hard and challenge mode is huge and you basically need challenge mode gear to even play that content.

Reworking the difficulty scaling in endgame

  • Greater granularity
  • Even transition to endgame not huge difficulty spikes
  • Better loot and mission rewards
  • linear equipment progression
  • Support solo players
  • RPG/Shooter experience back
  • Clearer path through endgame, what to do, where to get better gear and how to improve your character.
New World Level
  • Players can now select the World Level when they hit level 30.
  • You are able to set the level of the NPCs and the loot to a specific level.
  • Named roamers are back in the open-world (Bullet King lives!) and now you can farm open-world again
  • The World Level can be changed at any time
  • There will not be level 34 / 35 NPCs
  • The World levels will be unlocked as you progress
The World Level will affect the enemy levels of:
  • Missions
  • Open World
  • Incursions
  • Underground
World Level impact
  • Tier 1 (Level 30 enemies – GS 163 loot (rare 182)) – no challenge mode
  • Tier 2 (Level 31 enemies – GS 182 loot ) – challenge mode is available
  • Tier 3 (Level 32 enemies – GS 204 loot )
  • Tier 4 (Level 33 enemies – GS 229 loot ) – heroic mode in Incursions
Normal / Hard / Challenge / Heroic selection
  • Challenge-mode will not be scaled to four players per default, so you can play it solo now.
  • When you are in a group, the enemies still scale up to the number of players.
  • Elite NPCs are now smarter than before – so they will not be just bullet sponges but move faster and more tactical.
  • Heroic will only be available for Incursions
  • This difficulty will not increase enemy level – but the amount of loot you get
  • That is the same for solo and group players
Gear Score Changes
  • Max Gear Score will be 229, so Gear Sets have the same as the highest possible high-end
  • High-End items will be more important now, since they are at the same level as Gear Sets
Loot
  • All enemies are able to drop the best loot of that Tier. But of course trash mobs have a less chance than a named enemy.
  • Trash-mobs in Incursion are not included in that.
Matchmaking
  • You matchmake with people on your World Level
  • You can also play with players on a higher World Level and get the loot-drops from there (power leveling)
  • You can also join players in a lower World Level to help them out
Dark Zone / PVP
  • Dark Zone selects the World Level for you
  • PVE Dark Zone: they are listening, but there will not be specific Dark Zone Changes in 1.4
  • The World Level also applies to the Dark Zone
  • The Dark Zone Bracket is still calculated based on your gear score
video:
 
Only had a chance to watch the first ~45 of the SoTG so far. Had to head off to work :(
But, I'm getting more and more hopeful.
 
The Change Log looks promising. I liked pretty much every solution they were going with. Still have to see how it actually 'plays', but I like what I see so far.
 
Awesome stuff coming our way. Here's a short version Marco put out if no one wants to watch the full SoTG.

Heroic mode is only going to be available for Incursions. I don't know if he made that clear.

 
Uh, jmaker you beat me to it. I was just about to post that video. I'm blaming it on being at work. ;)

EDIT: Arrekz did a rundown video as well, which includes several little details MacroStyle didn't have in his. It still sounds like good news all around.



EDIT #2: Skill Up adds his spin on 1.4 also, largely the same info with very little new info, but he's excited which was fun for me to watch, lol.

 
Last edited:
VF31Tomcatters said:
1.4 looks promising I hope it brings back some life to the game. I like the world tier system.

Finally upgraded PC(see sig), game runs much smoother and I'm seeing better frames
Click to expand...

nice congrats on the upgrade. i did a similar upgrade (from 2500K/980 Ti to 6700K/1070 SLI) and it made a huge difference. game runs fantastic now.
 
How long would it take to catch up with you guys? I have one max level character but haven't played since a few weeks after launch?
 
Well if you can find a group to do Dragons Nest 4 Horsemen, then it won't take long to gear up. But who really knows how everything's going to work and feel when the update comes out.

They said new blueprints are going to be coming out, so I'm just grinding 4HM, deconstructing everything, including gearsets, saving any decent performance mods, or even any god roll like weapons, or gear.

I'm almost maxed out on Fabric, weapons parts are close to 500, and electroncis/tools are around 300. I'll start selling stuff when everything gets to at least 500.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top