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[E3-MS] The Division 2

makaveli60

Member
On the one hand, I'm excited because it's one of my favorite games this gen. But on the other hand, 75% of the fun for me was the setting and the world. It's incredible how they recreated the snowy, Christmas New York. Obviously they can't do that again, but then if it's not snowy NY then it's a very different game. So I don't know...
 

wildstrike

Member
On the one hand, I'm excited because it's one of my favorite games this gen. But on the other hand, 75% of the fun for me was the setting and the world. It's incredible how they recreated the snowy, Christmas New York. Obviously they can't do that again, but then if it's not snowy NY then it's a very different game. So I don't know...

I'm with you. The winter atmosphere made the game special for me. I personally would like to seem them pick another cold city like Chicago or Toronto or Boston. If they want to do something warmer they should just stay in New York and have it take place during the summer.
 

makaveli60

Member
I'm with you. The winter atmosphere made the game special for me. I personally would like to seem them pick another cold city like Chicago or Toronto or Boston. If they want to do something warmer they should just stay in New York and have it take place during the summer.
Or they should move into a big European city set in Christmas time too. It would be quite different, yet similar in a way.
 

ZehDon

Member
Destiny has always been treated like this since day one. Same way Division was treated since day one...
Not quite like what we're seeing. The community has outright rejected Destiny 2's changes to the formula. Each week sets a new record low for PvP participation, and it's first PvE DLC was outright savaged by virtually everyone.

... It's just faux gamers yelling at the sky and many seem to forget how these games were always treated outside of their respective community topics on places like GAF...
What's a "faux gamer"? Do you mean the YouTube celebrities who built their name on Destiny, and who've all walked away from it because no one is player, watching, or subscribing? C'mon man, Destiny 2's position right now is not a vocal minority being loud - the community that formed around the first game is falling apart because Destiny 2 is just not a good game.

Massive, the developers of The Division, even added a nice little line totheir press release to curb some of the blow back that Destiny 2 has created:
... The Division 2 will be powered by an updated version of the Snowdrop engine that enables us to realize our ambitions for the sequel, but more importantly, we're also taking everything we learned over the past two years and applying it towards the sequel to make sure we get it right...
You should not have to say that. It should be implied by the fact that you're making a sequel.

Anyway, looking forward to E3 where we'll see more. I'll be most curious about their release date. If they've been chipping away at the sequel since launch of TD1, they might be aiming for Holiday 2018, which would be a huge surprise.
 
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sunnz

Member
The setting did play a big part for me too, mainly the winter/christmas mix.

Hardly see that in games so nice to see it. Wish actual open world games did it like gta/farcry
 
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VertigoOA

Banned
Not quite like what we're seeing. The community has outright rejected Destiny 2's changes to the formula. Each week sets a new record low for PvP participation, and it's first PvE DLC was outright savaged by virtually everyone.


What's a "faux gamer"? Do you mean the YouTube celebrities who built their name on Destiny, and who've all walked away from it because no one is player, watching, or subscribing? C'mon man, Destiny 2's position right now is not a vocal minority being loud - the community that formed around the first game is falling apart because Destiny 2 is just not a good game.

Massive, the developers of The Division, even added a nice little line totheir press release to curb some of the blow back that Destiny 2 has created:

You should not have to say that. It should be implied by the fact that you're making a sequel.

Anyway, looking forward to E3 where we'll see more. I'll be most curious about their release date. If they've been chipping away at the sequel since launch of TD1, they might be aiming for Holiday 2018, which would be a huge surprise.


And you think the dark below was received well? Curse of Osiris is better than TDB.

PVP needs to be reworked and it will be at the end of the month. Players will return like it always had for each new content drop. Weapon rolls being gone and the exotic chase made simple as hell hurt the game's replayability. I have everything already whereas I would've still been chasing gear in D1. There's far less of an incentive to play.

Nowhere near a bad game at all but nice to know you can form your own opinions instead of just regurgitating what you read on the internet. Must be that "finger on the pulse."

Revisionist history aside. D2 is very much repeating the exact path the first game had as well as showcasing those same playerbase results.
 
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Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
And you think the dark below was received well? Curse of Osiris is better than TDB.

PVP needs to be reworked and it will be at the end of the month. Players will return like it always had for each new content drop. Weapon rolls being gone and the exotic chase made simple as hell hurt the game's replayability. I have everything already whereas I would've still been chasing gear in D1. There's far less of an incentive to play.

Nowhere near a bad game at all but nice to know you can form your own opinions instead of just regurgitating what you read on the internet. Must be that "finger on the pulse."

Revisionist history aside. D2 is very much repeating the exact path the first game had as well as showcasing those same playerbase results.

Not sure the hate D2 is getting. The core game is far and away superior to D1 (outside of maybe the loot system, but I prefer it anyhow) and its DLC is moving on the same exact path/pace of the first game. Were people expecting D2 to have the same amount of content that D1 had after 4 DLC?
 

CoolNameGuy91

Neo Member
Not sure the hate D2 is getting. The core game is far and away superior to D1 (outside of maybe the loot system, but I prefer it anyhow) and its DLC is moving on the same exact path/pace of the first game. Were people expecting D2 to have the same amount of content that D1 had after 4 DLC?
Yeah, no one expects that of Sims or Civilization, but if a company that's disliked is involved, it's free game
 

Redshirt

Banned
I'm looking forward to it. First game was almost a home run, and the work Massive did post-release was phenomenal.

I'd really be surprised if they mishandle it like Bungie did.
 

Alebrije

Member
Bought the game last week , that 24gb update is huge but it seems they fixed a lot of the original glitches, the game is entertaining and atmospheric, cold NY looks great. D2 could be great if the developers learned from this game.
 

Pejo

Gold Member
I haven't played Division 1 since launch window, have they done anything about the ridiculous bullet sponge enemies yet? I won't come back as long as that shit still exists. It's a shame, I liked the gadgets and the setting, but the enemy types left a lot to be desired and the enemy health was just bullshit and no fun.

I'm glad a sequel exists, but since the last time I played, they have a lot to fix to get me to buy it.
 

PulseONE

Member
The first one had alot of potential that it fell short of in certain areas...but it had a strong base so I have some faith this might actually be pretty ok
 

ickythingz

Banned
Refunded the first one after almost 2 hours of playing. I could already see the shallow gameplay/grind/typical garbage/etc was going to be present and looking at the game now, I was right. They need to start adding more depth to these games. If your game has any grinding in it, you have failed as a dev.
 

IbizaPocholo

NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
http://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/05/18/tom-clancys-the-division-2-more-content/#nnn

According to the two executives during Ubisoft's fiscal year financial conference, the sequel will have far more content than its predecessor with an impressive amount of gameplay to experience right at launch. But the support won't end there. Once the game releases, Ubisoft promises to remain dedicated to the players' wants and desires for the title in an effort to offer “a lot of content at launch and to be ready to continue to supply a lot of content during the years that will follow the launch.”

Financial Officer Alain Martinez even stated that the endgame from the first title was underwhelming and definitely left room for improvement. That being said, he mentioned that due to that hindsight, they were able to go forward with the second title to do it right the first time. Because of their slight missteps with the first game, Ubisoft is confident that they will deliver the title that fans want, while even surprising those left wanting with the first The Division.

As far as why the team decided to proceed with the sequel rather than work on the first title if they felt it was so unfinished, the creative director mentioned back in March that it was definitely something they didn't take lightly.

“It wasn’t an easy decision, but there are so many stories and so many experiences that we want to explore within the world of The Division that we really felt a sequel was the best way to investigate these things.”

Game Director Mathias Karlson mentioned in addition, “Also, I mean, the process of making something is such an important part of learning and improving what to do next, what to do in the future. And these are all the same people, all the same teams and studios that made the first game. It’s an incredible opportunity for us to take all that learning, all that experience from what The Division is today and put that into a new game.”

https://www.pcgamer.com/the-division-2-will-release-within-a-year-ubisoft-confirms/

The sequel to online multiplayer shooter The Division was announced in March without a release window, but in a financial report released today Ubisoft said it would be out in the 2018-19 fiscal year, which ends next April. Less than 12 months to wait, then.
 
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FireEmoji

Banned
The Division is an incredible example of GAAS; I bought it at launch and thought it was pretty good but got distracted then picked it up a year later and was blown away by the progress.
 

The_Mike

I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
The Division is an incredible example of GAAS; I bought it at launch and thought it was pretty good but got distracted then picked it up a year later and was blown away by the progress.

Isn’t the best example of GaaS Rainbow six siege, where they continue to make content for the game and doesn’t make a sequel?
 

Strazyplus

Member
I kept getting dejavu with the trailer specially when passing up the tunnels and showing the map off and all the banter.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
This reveal / gameplay was the cringiest part of the MS conference for me personally
 

VertigoOA

Banned
Yea that was some boring footage. I don’t think I’m in for the sequel. Enemy encounters still sterile.

Ubisoft really needs to step away from the Tom Clancy stuff and being grounded in realism. I feel like all their games would be so much less bland if they had a fantasy and/scifi setting.
 

ZehDon

Member
meh, the first was okay up until level 30, then it turns into shit, gonna skip this one
I'd say with all the re-development that they did, and where The Division is now, everything once you hit level 30 is actually pretty damn fun. Leagues better than where it was at launch.

Massive seem committed to getting the end-game right from the get go, which is going to be where this game lives or dies. With that said, the gameplay looks like more of the same, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The change in setting is nice, the new toys look fun, and my friends will provide much better dialogue than this trailer. Might wait for the word of mouth, but looks good so far!
 

Neolombax

Member
I hope the sequel lives up to its potential. The first game was quite fun I thought. Hope they have a more varied enemy factions this time around.
 
More trailers with scripted game-play and the most unrealistic and cringe-worthy voice acting, piled on top of a demonstration of more bullet sponge enemies, mindless grinding, RNG loot system, artificial game-play and exploration barriers based on item level and not player skill.

How could anyone resist the same offer a second time?

The original Division trailer reveal and final product represented some of the worst of the current age of gaming industry including false advertising on graphics image quality among similar items listed above. It wasn't reflective of the real meta game of Division whatsoever.

The saddest parts are that, firstly, feedback from the fans on larger elements of the Division 1 were ignored. Secondly, it's hard to see a game with an enormous amount of potential from it's amazingly designed visual environment, sound design as well as tight control mechanics and animations be wasted on the most lowest common detonator of a 'shooter on rails' in an empty virtual world. Thirdly, you can tell some creative talent and effort went into creating this (it's not all negative)!

Once again you get to explore some plastic environment and dump clip after clip of ammo into enemies with a small beaming ray of hope that you'll receive a satisfactory, OCD soothing, dopamine hit by some randomly generated glowing loot that will result in a 2% upgrade. Deep down you know the game play and AI interaction of enemies doesn't improve beyond this but those feelings of wasting $70 will be repressed as long as you keep collecting loot and your friends continue to log in for a month after release right?

I'm not a fan of toothless analogies but a short an accurate comparison is that this franchise feels like dating the trope of a bodybuilder; pleasing aesthetics without any personality depth.
 
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Darak

Member
I found the original boring and repetitive. It felt like a shallow copy of Destiny, which was a shallow game itself. The sequel's gameplay looks like it's going to be exactly the same, down to the bullet sponge common mobs requiring 50 bullets to the head in order to go down. In addition, the snowy NY setting was a big part of the original's identity, and that Washington is a poor substitute. It looks like yet another generic post-apocalyptic city with loose vegetation, something that not only has been done to death, I also remember it looking better in PS3 era games.

Also, publishers need to stop those fake acted co-op trailers. They are extremely cringe-worthy.
 

Raoh

Member
Division is a great game. But it is also not a great game. It helped me with my SOCOM withdrawal. While I haven't played it in a while, it's always a game i want to go back to when I'm not either in a backlog or taking care of real life i sh...

Part 2 seems to still tick off the right boxes so I'm still in for a second go round in hopes they move forward and make it better. LIke I said, I still hold hope for socom, so until then, games like division will always get a chance from me.
 

Bolivar687

Banned
I've always been off and on with the Division but I've now been playing the hell out of it for the last few months. The game is in such a rewarding place right now and I'm glad to hear Massive's mantra has been "endgame first" with The Division 2.

I'm day one but ironically, the trailer really didn't do much for me. Hoping for a more in-depth showing tomorrow.
 

cormack12

Gold Member
Some gifs - not sure if spolier tag stops them loading for those not interested

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Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
It bothers me that in all the footage they showed, all the small arms engagements happen at like 5-10 feet away. Seems silly seeing a player behind cover, popping out to shoot at an enemy he can almost touch.
 

Redshirt

Banned
This reveal / gameplay was the cringiest part of the MS conference for me personally

Yeah. The reveal was cringey. Hard to believe Ubi didn't learn from the scripted Division 1 gameplay, which didn't go over well either.

I found the original boring and repetitive. It felt like a shallow copy of Destiny, which was a shallow game itself. The sequel's gameplay looks like it's going to be exactly the same, down to the bullet sponge common mobs requiring 50 bullets to the head in order to go down. In addition, the snowy NY setting was a big part of the original's identity, and that Washington is a poor substitute. It looks like yet another generic post-apocalyptic city with loose vegetation, something that not only has been done to death, I also remember it looking better in PS3 era games.

Also, publishers need to stop those fake acted co-op trailers. They are extremely cringe-worthy.

Did you play Division after the balance changes? Not sure it'll change your mind since you seem pretty negative, but the bullet sponge aspect was tweaked considerably after launch.
 

Darak

Member
Did you play Division after the balance changes? Not sure it'll change your mind since you seem pretty negative, but the bullet sponge aspect was tweaked considerably after launch.

Fair enough, as I left the game pretty early. Still, that Division 2 gameplay didn't show any improvement over my experience IMHO. The setting and weapon selection don't really fit those kind of MMO-little mechanics at all, again in my opinion.
 

pr0cs

Member
Problem is that people expect division to be a shooter. It isn't. You either suspend some belief before playing the game or play something with aliens so you don't feel sad about dumping multiple mags into a boss mob
 
This is a game i'm not hyped at all but i'm 100% certain to buy it. I just hope massive doesn't pull a bungie and use what they learned during these 2 years to build an improved sequel.
 

zeorhymer

Member
Meh. Division 2 is just like the original with different toys. What turned me off the most was when there was a shot of the guy looking through his inventory and he had an armor of 57,000 and health of 27000! I'm betting there going to be skills with the "Add 5% to health/armor/power" perks. It feels like they're doing the MMO route, but are behind the times. If the forced DZ is back, then fuck it.
 

Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
Meh.

Division 1 was my biggest $60 purchase regret this gen, even worse than Destiny 1.
Mine as well. Think I even bought the season pass. I really dislike this series, and really, all Ubisoft games at this point. They are all beautiful looking, repetitive bland nightmares. Done being suckered by pretty graphics and wishful thinking.
 
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Xiaoki

Member
Problem is that people expect division to be a shooter. It isn't. You either suspend some belief before playing the game or play something with aliens so you don't feel sad about dumping multiple mags into a boss mob
Yeah, in sci-fi and fantasy video games people will suspend belief for everything but you have the exact same kind of situation in a realistic modern world and suddenly people are completely unable to wrap their minds around it.

Destiny - "I shot that alien in the face and it didnt immediately die ...but its got advanced technology so thats fine"
Elder Scrolls - "I stabbed that demon in the face and it didnt immediately die ...but its got magic so thats fine"
Division - "I shot that guy in the face and he didnt immediately die ...what the fuck, this the worst fucking game EVER"
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Yeah, in sci-fi and fantasy video games people will suspend belief for everything but you have the exact same kind of situation in a realistic modern world and suddenly people are completely unable to wrap their minds around it.

Destiny - "I shot that alien in the face and it didnt immediately die ...but its got advanced technology so thats fine"
Elder Scrolls - "I stabbed that demon in the face and it didnt immediately die ...but its got magic so thats fine"
Division - "I shot that guy in the face and he didnt immediately die ...what the fuck, this the worst fucking game EVER"

Eh, it was an issue with Destiny as well. There is a good balance between a fun fight and bullet sponge. This usually has to do with mechanics. As an example, The Lich King or Argus in WoW feel like *just* the right length. Compare that to any of the bosses in the first two raids of Destiny or the "final boss" of the story mode for Division. There are very few to any mechanics, they take much longer than they reasonably should, and you just repeat the same few things ad nauseum. The final raid in Destiny improved on this quite a bit with strong/interesting mechanics.

I haven't really played much of ESO so I can't compare.
 

Xiaoki

Member
Eh, it was an issue with Destiny as well. There is a good balance between a fun fight and bullet sponge. This usually has to do with mechanics. As an example, The Lich King or Argus in WoW feel like *just* the right length. Compare that to any of the bosses in the first two raids of Destiny or the "final boss" of the story mode for Division. There are very few to any mechanics, they take much longer than they reasonably should, and you just repeat the same few things ad nauseum. The final raid in Destiny improved on this quite a bit with strong/interesting mechanics.

I haven't really played much of ESO so I can't compare.
Not talking about Time To Kill, talking about Suspension of Disbelief of realistic modern setting versus sci-fi or fantasy settings.
 

Redshirt

Banned
20 percent more content/activities sounds good particularly if that's over the content in the game now rather than at launch.
 

Lanrutcon

Member
Yeah, in sci-fi and fantasy video games people will suspend belief for everything but you have the exact same kind of situation in a realistic modern world and suddenly people are completely unable to wrap their minds around it.

Destiny - "I shot that alien in the face and it didnt immediately die ...but its got advanced technology so thats fine"
Elder Scrolls - "I stabbed that demon in the face and it didnt immediately die ...but its got magic so thats fine"
Division - "I shot that guy in the face and he didnt immediately die ...what the fuck, this the worst fucking game EVER"

I think there's a balance to be struck, but it needs to be slightly weighed in favor of good gunplay, not RPG mechanics. If you build your game to be a gritty and modern with all these fancy looking realistic firearms...then you can't blame the player when he's unhappy that he just had to spend a clip to drop a thug in nothing but a t-shirt and some jeans. It's like selling cans of Coke filled with Pepsi.
 
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