The Division - officially announced for PC!

Multiplayer hacks everywhere. There are no server checks, MP relies on the client data.
 
They'll probably fix the stuff being stored client side...I remember one of the Crysis games did this...people running around with pistols that shot nukes/singularities
 
They'll probably fix the stuff being stored client side...I remember one of the Crysis games did this...people running around with pistols that shot nukes/singularities

Unfortunately no, the cheating lasted well into Crysis Wars (Crysis Warhead MP component). It was incredibly easy to go into your client files and alter weapon data to make your gun do anything you wanted. Not going to lie, it was funny sniping people with freezing bullets and watch them tumble down mountains lol Sadly the game died because of these cheats and The Division won't last long if they don't do something.
 
Beta extended until 11am (EST?) on February 2.

And there's word of an open beta?

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...e-division-is-getting-an-open-beta-this-month

As for playing the game - I found it better than I expected. It does play a lot like a weird MMO, the cover system isn't awful (it isn't amazing), and the bullet-sponge mechanic does kind of suck. Technically, it plays a lot better than the framerate would suggest. The netcode isn't that great, and it's unclear how it would play under load - the few times I got dropped in an area with a lot of players, it did seem to struggle a bit.

Control-wise, I would say it's built for a controller - I feel most, if not all third-person shooter/action games are. The KBM gives it the accuracy benefit, but you are forced to sit awful close to the screen and with no FOV adjustments, it is mildly uncomfortable.

The Dark Zone plays exactly like you'd imagine - Rust/Day-Z/ARK where other players cross the line from adversarial to downright trolling. My few encounters have been borderline negative, with roving bands of thugs out to destroy anyone running solo or in smaller groups. The evac mechanic for loot is moderately annoying especially since your stash (where the decontaminated loot would be deposited) is nowhere near the entrances to the DZ.
 
Multiplayer hacks everywhere. There are no server checks, MP relies on the client data.

According to a few devs, they're already working on it.

I can't imagine this will ship without some form of anti-cheat in place.

I also wouldn't doubt that Snowdrop doesn't have some form of management built in that they can toggle on/off for what is client-side and what is server-side. Most modern engines (especially those looking to be licensed) are pretty robust.

One thing I wish would happen across all games is that they'd take a proactive approach to hacks and not a reactive one. Most anti-cheats are like anti-virus, they look for signatures and modified files/memory. An AI based engine that sits on the server side and monitors things would be interesting. Just like with various things these days, it could initially flag out-of-spec behavior and send it to a person for a check. Machine learning would then be able to narrow down what it should be looking for to do it automatically.

Battlefield needed that, and all they'd have to do is monitor their battlelog, the cheaters usually stood out in their streams. It's not so much about getting every cheater, it's about getting the abusive ones. A cheater that tries to blend in does suck, but they usually don't ruin a game on their own (these are the ones you ponder "great player or cheating?").
 
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I can't imagine this will ship without some form of anti-cheat in place.

I also wouldn't doubt that Snowdrop doesn't have some form of management built in that they can toggle on/off for what is client-side and what is server-side. Most modern engines (especially those looking to be licensed) are pretty robust

exactly...the usual PC paranoia...this isn't Ubisoft Massive's first rodeo...
 
Pre-ordered for 30% off. Been looking for a decent MP shooter and most of my friends seem pretty hyped about this game.
 

almost feels like the game got an early release with all the time available to play before March 8th

this closed beta made me want to buy the game...it's not the greatest game ever but it's fun and has a lot of potential going forward...yes there are the typical Ubisoft traits such as endless side missions, base buildup, collection quests but overall something feels fresh about the game...maybe it's the post-virus NYC setting which looks amazing from an overall technical standpoint...the detail in the city is first rate (I live in Manhattan so maybe I'm biased on that)

unlike the Titanfall and SW: Battlefront betas which I played and enjoyed, I knew afterwards that I wouldn't be buying the game...Division had the opposite effect...yes there is a graphics downgrade but overall the game still looks and runs great...they need to tweak the Dark Zone pvp and depending on end game content this is Ubisoft's most ambitious game to date...the addition of a single player story also will help a lot
 
i'm freaking having a blast with this game. hope to squeeze in a couple more hours tonight before the beta ends.
 
I think the graphics look pretty good....I remember a few times where my character had to adjust to the sunlight in my eyes...running down the street blinded for a moment...or is that considered effects? I think all in all the immersion is pretty damn good. I am pretty sure I'll end up picking this up...I wanted it more for the PVE part anyways...but the Dark Zone action was pretty damn fun before all the hacking started..LoL. If they get a handle on that...it should be pretty great all around.
 
Put in 21 hours with the game according to Steam and I had a lot of fun. I will admit at first I was having a really hard time with PvP and had my ass handed to me a bunch of times but I eventually starting figuring out the game and it provided many many hours of fun by myself which is impressive. Very few games can hold my attention for more than an hour playing solo. This game is one of them.

Things I liked:

Really detailed environment
Weather system is really awesome. Can go from sunny to blizzard like conditions
Music on the single player side was really good
Graphics were better than I was expecting
Combat once you get the hang of the game is really enjoyable

Things I didn't like:

The game runs like shit on my 4770K GTX 780 machine even on medium to low settings @ 1080P. I would often see FPS dips into the low 40's.

Rogue baiting is terrible. Someone on the Reddit sub mentioned that there should be a weapon safety implemented which makes perfect sense to me. It works like this. When you have the safety on you can ONLY kill Rogue agents and NPC's. If you shoot at someone who isn't Rogue nothing happens to the but if you cause 1 damage with the safety off to a non hostile you are marked as Rogue.

Not sure how I feel about the Rogue timer going up the more people you engage to defend yourself. I understand it but at the same time it's like you have to either run or go full on man hunt. Nothing in between unless you get lucky and no one comes after you.

Other thoughts

At first I was really disappointed because I thought the full game map size was going to be really small but the more I looked at it the map is pretty large. Assuming there are a lot more underground areas and more explorable buildings it will help keep the smaller map size more dense.

I think when they do come out with DLC is BETTER increase the map size and I think if they do it will expand north which would put the new added dark zones in the park. Could be a small change of scenery.
 
This is another game that I just somehow don't relate to the fun everyone is having. I guess it's because I don't have a group of people I game with online anymore. I played this by myself for a bit and found it way too grindy. Also would experience massive stutter in certain areas. All 8 cores roaring at 100%, lol.
 
hopefully the open beta rumored to be coming in a few weeks opens up more of the gameplay, skills, mechanics etc to get a better sense of the appeal of the game long-term
 
I guess I just don't get all the hype. The gameplay just feels average. I don't think the guns really feel that great, all guns in a similar class feel identical. While not everyone cares about the bullet spongy enemies, that type of gameplay just doesn't appeal to me in a "realistic" shooter (I guess the full title got my hopes up). It's really just a run and cover shooter. The loot is pretty boring but I'm not sure what can really be done about that since it's supposed to be a close to present day shooter. The dark zone is the only thing that made this game interesting to me. It's a less punishing way of incorporating an open world PvP type of game mode in here (a little similar to H1Z1), but it just feels bland (mostly due to the feeling of the gun play).

I realize that this is just a tiny slice of the full game, but the gameplay just doesn't feel unique like the game originally looked.
 
The cheating issues for the multiplayer is a big deal that's hitting all the mainstream gaming outlets.

Once again if you don't have dedicated servers or something equivalent like that it's just not going to be viable.
 
I have hopes that they'll be able to resolve the potential hacking issues prior to launch. With the price I was able to get a pre-order in for, I'll hang onto it for the time being.
 
I guess I just don't get all the hype. The gameplay just feels average. I don't think the guns really feel that great, all guns in a similar class feel identical. While not everyone cares about the bullet spongy enemies, that type of gameplay just doesn't appeal to me in a "realistic" shooter (I guess the full title got my hopes up). It's really just a run and cover shooter. The loot is pretty boring but I'm not sure what can really be done about that since it's supposed to be a close to present day shooter. The dark zone is the only thing that made this game interesting to me. It's a less punishing way of incorporating an open world PvP type of game mode in here (a little similar to H1Z1), but it just feels bland (mostly due to the feeling of the gun play).

I realize that this is just a tiny slice of the full game, but the gameplay just doesn't feel unique like the game originally looked.

100% agree...everything about the game feels generic. Not bad, but not really particularly good either.
 
The rogue timer is way way too long imo. I think a 45 second Max would be much better.
 
The rogue timer is way way too long imo. I think a 45 second Max would be much better.

The problem is the huge icon on rogues from a distance, it completely removes the element of surprise. Maybe allow non-hostile players to shoot tracer rounds to mark them for a short time or become globally marked when scanned by other players. Don't give away their position the entire time.
 
I think you should be able to go to a NPC in the safe room and enter a "bounty hunter mode" where it will allow you to track rogues in the map but it puts a sign over your head for rogues to see you coming. If a rouge team kills you then they get a large sum of money. When normal gameplay Rogues should be unknown until LOS where they have the rogue symbol over their head.
 
for me the Dark Zone is most fun when going Rogue...otherwise it plays like the pve section for the most part with better gear/loot
 
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for me the Dark Zone is most fun when going Rogue...otherwise it plays like the pve section for the most part with better gear/loot

I had a fun time running around as a rogue in the DZ...for a little bit. There just gets to a point where all you have is the remainder of the server going for easy bounty rewards and for me it turned more into a Forest Gump simulator than actually being able to do anything meaningful due to how long it takes for the timer to go away where you can't defend yourself.
 
This game will be a preorder for me after playing the beta. It lived up to the Hype ( for me )
 
with all the fancy Nvidia tech in the game I'm hoping Nvidia bundles the game with their GPU's...plus it's a Ubisoft game and it seems most Ubi games get bundled due to their partnership...it'll be an easy buy for me if I can get the game for 50%+ off at launch from people selling their codes...Rise of the Tomb Raider is currently being bundled with Nvidia cards and I picked that up for $25
 
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This game will be a preorder for me after playing the beta. It lived up to the Hype ( for me )

ditto, i preordered on steam. i played the beta for 16 hours :)eek:) which is more time than i've put into a lot of $60 games. i was surprised i squeezed so much time out of it over the course of a weekend. i'm sure i'll put hundreds of hours into the actual game.
 
Anyone pre order this shit?

Nah, this is a "wait for reviews" type game IMO. It was relatively fun, but we only got 1 mission and the dark zone isn't something that is all that appealing to me. Gonna wait and see how long the campaign is and how all the locked features work.
 
I didn't play The Division but it reminds me of Defiance which flopped.
A friend of mine played beta and said the game is awesome. I don't trust him as he is more of a pvp fps player and I'm more of a pve rpg/lootwhore type of player.
I heard it's a high risk - high reward game. Which I like. I also love to customize my characters.
So what do you guys who played beta think, will this game appeal to a player like me?
 
I didn't play The Division but it reminds me of Defiance which flopped.
A friend of mine played beta and said the game is awesome. I don't trust him as he is more of a pvp fps player and I'm more of a pve rpg/lootwhore type of player.
I heard it's a high risk - high reward game. Which I like. I also love to customize my characters.
So what do you guys who played beta think, will this game appeal to a player like me?

The loot is kind of boring, so it's hard to say if you'll like it or not. I hear there's an open beta planned so you'll have to check that out.
 
I didn't play The Division but it reminds me of Defiance which flopped.
A friend of mine played beta and said the game is awesome. I don't trust him as he is more of a pvp fps player and I'm more of a pve rpg/lootwhore type of player.
I heard it's a high risk - high reward game. Which I like. I also love to customize my characters.
So what do you guys who played beta think, will this game appeal to a player like me?

The problem is it's hard to tell based on the beta due to how it the setup.

In the beta due to how things were capped the higher end gear was only available in the PVP zone (the DZ) and PvE content suitable for the level 8 cap was also only located in there. While pure PvE content was only limited to one repeatable mission for lvl 4s (lvl cap was 8) and a scattering of side missions, most of which didn't really net you anything as the beta capped base upgrades to only 1 upgrade. Crafting was also not enabled.

So the beta itself forces you into the PvP area (in which the rule set is rather poorly implemented and could use quite a bit of work). As someone not as interested in PvP (compounded with the poor rules) I wouldn't get the game based on the beta. But is that indicative of the actual game? No clue.

In terms of actual loot and actual RPG progression you should think more in terms of Borderlands then a more full RPG like Diablo in terms of variety. Although more so then Borderlands.

Regarding the PvP rules comment I made. Right now there are quite a few holes in the implementation. It's likely as the game somewhat ages the meta game will shift a lot to more "griefing" type behavior then any real meaningful PvP. To some extent this was already seen in the beta. This is not factoring in the cheating issue.
 
I hope there's enough story missions and not just repeat this mission in 'Hard' mode like the beta wanted you to do...I think the beta was primarily geared towards getting people familiar with the Dark Zone pvp...hopefully the 2nd open beta will open up the story and world a bit more- including crafting, skills etc
 
Borderlands you say eh, well the loot is kinda similar to Diablo with randomized stuff :)
I really do like the visuals in this game. I just might pick it up. I prefer PvE but I don't mind shooting at people who stand in my way :)

Now I just need to figure out of this game works well for solo players as when it comes to loot - I like to keep everything for myself :)

Thanks guys.
 
Borderlands you say eh, well the loot is kinda similar to Diablo with randomized stuff :)
I really do like the visuals in this game. I just might pick it up. I prefer PvE but I don't mind shooting at people who stand in my way :)

Now I just need to figure out of this game works well for solo players as when it comes to loot - I like to keep everything for myself :)

Thanks guys.

I had just as much fun in the dark zone as a solo player. The tension was high and I would do my loot extractions during blizzards for cover. Also loot is not shared in parties, everyone sees their own loot Diablo style.
 
I was surprised how much I was able to do in this solo. I'm glad the options are there either way but I am confident enough that I can enjoy the bulk of this game solo if I felt like it.
 
I hope there's enough story missions and not just repeat this mission in 'Hard' mode like the beta wanted you to do...I think the beta was primarily geared towards getting people familiar with the Dark Zone pvp...hopefully the 2nd open beta will open up the story and world a bit more- including crafting, skills etc

Highly doubtful that another Beta would open up anything new. If you can't decide if you want to buy the game after this past weekend's Beta you won't. The Beta was just enough to give everyone a taste of the game. I fucking loved it so they have my pre-order.
 
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