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Hands-on with The Division 2’s Dark Zones and Competitive PVP - MMORPG.com

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
edited January 2019 in News & Features Discussion

imageHands-on with The Division 2’s Dark Zones and Competitive PVP - MMORPG.com

Last month, Ubisoft flew us down to the Red Storm offices in Cary, North Carolina for a sneak peek at The Division 2. We went hands-on with the game’s new PVP gameplay and are here with a first look of the game in action and our thoughts on the changes. You won’t want to miss it.

Read the full story here



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Comments

  • DrunkWolfDrunkWolf Member RarePosts: 1,701
    I just dont understand the hype with over the shoulder view like that. i feel like its playing with my left eye closed, i cant see who is on the left half of my screen.
  • maskedweaselmaskedweasel Member LegendaryPosts: 12,195
    DZ PvP was okay in the original, though crazily unbalanced, at least initially. Being fully kitted out in gear at the beginning would make you a damage sponge that could kill other players in seconds. 

    In this one, and maybe I missed something, but with the multiple DZs the question is going to be, what's the point of the different zones, what's the loot  look like from the first two to the third?  Why would people even join the third unless they did so out of curiosity?

    I feel like everything should have a purpose. If there are three zones, and two are similar, one forces you to PvP but all are pretty much the same loot wise, then aren't you just splitting the population in what is supposed to be a shared world experience?
    [Deleted User]EvilGaming



  • BitterClingerBitterClinger Member UncommonPosts: 439
    I've been holding off pre-ordering until I found out more about PVP and Dark Zones. It's not exactly what I wanted, but I guess it's good enough to pull out my credit card.
    [Deleted User]
  • EyefireEyefire Member CommonPosts: 1
    I played The Division when it released but quit the game when all the hacks and cheat were exposed. You could 1 man "raids" and what not. BUT before all that, i had a great time and found it really fun. Is there any info on how they are handling hacks and cheats in The Division 2? (might already be fixed? havent played it since)
  • Octagon7711Octagon7711 Member LegendaryPosts: 9,004
    I started playing D1 after the major problems had been worked out and had a great time. Looking forward to D2 and it sounds like they listen to their playerbase. Three dark zones one with flagging and a another with a hardcore mode sounds pretty good. For me zones and flagging offers the best play as it provides something for everyone.
    MrMelGibson[Deleted User]d_20

    "We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa      "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."  SR Covey

  • GameByNightGameByNight Hardware and Technology EditorMMORPG.COM Staff, Member RarePosts: 811


    DZ PvP was okay in the original, though crazily unbalanced, at least initially. Being fully kitted out in gear at the beginning would make you a damage sponge that could kill other players in seconds. 

    In this one, and maybe I missed something, but with the multiple DZs the question is going to be, what's the point of the different zones, what's the loot  look like from the first two to the third?  Why would people even join the third unless they did so out of curiosity?

    I feel like everything should have a purpose. If there are three zones, and two are similar, one forces you to PvP but all are pretty much the same loot wise, then aren't you just splitting the population in what is supposed to be a shared world experience?



    There are activities throughout the first two and missions to complete. They also have balancing to keep players who've been at it for longer from destroying newcomers (normalization, etc). The third removes that balancing and offers the best gear.
    maskedweaselOctagon7711MrMelGibsonMadFrenchied_20TacticalZombeh
  • SamhaelSamhael Member RarePosts: 1,534
    More focus on the Dark Zone means less focus on the other parts of the experience. I'll wait for post-launch reviews... especially a couple of weeks after launch when people are at end-game. Not that I particularly care about end-game for a shooter but Div 1 had some real issues that didn't really get come up until then.
    [Deleted User]
  • axulthrullaxulthrull Member UncommonPosts: 42
    Ubi fooled me last time.

    1 month minimum after launch before i even consider giving them money.
    SamhaelGdemami
  • MadFrenchieMadFrenchie Member LegendaryPosts: 8,505


    DZ PvP was okay in the original, though crazily unbalanced, at least initially. Being fully kitted out in gear at the beginning would make you a damage sponge that could kill other players in seconds. 

    In this one, and maybe I missed something, but with the multiple DZs the question is going to be, what's the point of the different zones, what's the loot  look like from the first two to the third?  Why would people even join the third unless they did so out of curiosity?

    I feel like everything should have a purpose. If there are three zones, and two are similar, one forces you to PvP but all are pretty much the same loot wise, then aren't you just splitting the population in what is supposed to be a shared world experience?



    There are activities throughout the first two and missions to complete. They also have balancing to keep players who've been at it for longer from destroying newcomers (normalization, etc). The third removes that balancing and offers the best gear.
    Maybe I've just been missing them, but this is the first article I've seen you write outside of hardware reviews in a while (assuming I'm not confusing staff member names here).  I enjoyed it.

    Let's see more! :+1:

    image
  • druezdruez Member UncommonPosts: 120
    I loved the Division 1 and have played it pretty solid since release. The Dark Zone was and is my thing. This new Dark Zone sounds lame. The idea of flagging in a dark zone isn't what I'm after. This just became a no go for me.
  • JayFiveAliveJayFiveAlive Member UncommonPosts: 601

    Eyefire said:

    I played The Division when it released but quit the game when all the hacks and cheat were exposed. You could 1 man "raids" and what not. BUT before all that, i had a great time and found it really fun. Is there any info on how they are handling hacks and cheats in The Division 2? (might already be fixed? havent played it since)



    They are using the same anti-cheat system as Fortnite, "Easy Anti Cheat." Not sure if that means anything to you. I have no idea how good it is.
  • 3dom3dom Member RarePosts: 889
    edited January 2019
    3 zones = bad design since two will be empty and two will have crappy loot (one of them safest - will be the most populated).

    > weapons and gear are now normalized

    Great. But it doesn't matter much since people will hunt for loot and there will be zero to none fights anyway.

    And request to Christopher or anyone with the access to the game - could you show character creator video, please? All types of faces available if possible.

    edit: So I've watched the videos. Holy carp, they've made it look worse than the first game. It's like I'm watching a bit improved version of Defiance. Degraded animations, degraded light scheme, stupid giant Ninja-Turtles backpacks, sunny environment (nothing like post-apocalyptic atmosphere). No wonder they didn't want to release this product on Steam with its 30% refund margin.

    Anyway, I'm glad I didn't pre-order, I'll stick to TD1.
    Post edited by 3dom on
    [Deleted User]maskedweaselGdemami

    Thank you for your time!

  • AlbatroesAlbatroes Member LegendaryPosts: 7,671
    This just sounds like a way for them to get more money for the game the original should've been. Could've easily been an expansion imo.
  • d_20d_20 Member RarePosts: 1,878
    edited January 2019

    In this one, and maybe I missed something, but with the multiple DZs the question is going to be, what's the point of the different zones, what's the loot  look like from the first two to the third?  Why would people even join the third unless they did so out of curiosity?

    I feel like everything should have a purpose. If there are three zones, and two are similar, one forces you to PvP but all are pretty much the same loot wise, then aren't you just splitting the population in what is supposed to be a shared world experience?
    Not sure about this, but according to the speculation in this video, the zones will rotate rulesets. 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y93V5R30Gfc

    So, you'll have a chance to pve in all three zones during specific periods, if that's true.
    [Deleted User]maskedweaselTacticalZombehMrMelGibson


  • seratinseratin Member UncommonPosts: 17

    Red Storm told us that they want it to be about skill, not the gear you picked up


    It's going to be about numbers like every other open world pvp system.
    Gdemami
  • GameByNightGameByNight Hardware and Technology EditorMMORPG.COM Staff, Member RarePosts: 811








    DZ PvP was okay in the original, though crazily unbalanced, at least initially. Being fully kitted out in gear at the beginning would make you a damage sponge that could kill other players in seconds. 

    In this one, and maybe I missed something, but with the multiple DZs the question is going to be, what's the point of the different zones, what's the loot  look like from the first two to the third?  Why would people even join the third unless they did so out of curiosity?

    I feel like everything should have a purpose. If there are three zones, and two are similar, one forces you to PvP but all are pretty much the same loot wise, then aren't you just splitting the population in what is supposed to be a shared world experience?






    There are activities throughout the first two and missions to complete. They also have balancing to keep players who've been at it for longer from destroying newcomers (normalization, etc). The third removes that balancing and offers the best gear.


    Maybe I've just been missing them, but this is the first article I've seen you write outside of hardware reviews in a while (assuming I'm not confusing staff member names here).  I enjoyed it.

    Let's see more! :+1:



    Thank you for saying that. That made my evening :-)
    MadFrenchieMrMelGibson
  • GameByNightGameByNight Hardware and Technology EditorMMORPG.COM Staff, Member RarePosts: 811

    3dom said:

    3 zones = bad design since two will be empty and two will have crappy loot (one of them safest - will be the most populated).



    > weapons and gear are now normalized



    Great. But it doesn't matter much since people will hunt for loot and there will be zero to none fights anyway.



    And request to Christopher or anyone with the access to the game - could you show character creator video, please? All types of faces available if possible.



    edit: So I've watched the videos. Holy carp, they've made it look worse than the first game. It's like I'm watching a bit improved version of Defiance. Degraded animations, degraded light scheme, stupid giant Ninja-Turtles backpacks, sunny environment (nothing like post-apocalyptic atmosphere). No wonder they didn't want to release this product on Steam with its 30% refund margin.



    Anyway, I'm glad I didn't pre-order, I'll stick to TD1.



    Unfortunately this was all done for us at the event. I'm curious too but we currently don't have access to the game. Hopefully soon!
    3domMrMelGibson
  • GameByNightGameByNight Hardware and Technology EditorMMORPG.COM Staff, Member RarePosts: 811


    Alright, so went through chunks of the videos... tough to watch, he's already a self proclaimed snowflake, and this just made it worse... lol



    Video 1 is mostly straight up pve, there is an embarrassing pvp battle at the end of the video, starting around 15 minutes, I don't know if I saw another one other than that.



    Video 2 is mostly pvp it seems, also looks like you can see of some of the casual DZ everyone is friends pve happening without pvp to complete a mission.



    Hey! After my embarrassing bits, I got a few good kills in there! In my defense, I'm not half bad with a mouse and keyboard. Force me to use a controller and I may as well play with one hand, lol.
    Octagon7711[Deleted User]
  • linadragonlinadragon Member RarePosts: 589
    To bring up the "third" thing. The area that is the non normalized dark zone pvp area cycles between the three dark zones that exist and will be called something like Occupied Dark Zone or something like that.
  • acidbloodacidblood Member RarePosts: 878
    The Dark Zone in The Division is a certain kind of fun, and the PvP aspect creates a tension that just doesn't exist in a purely PvE environment... at least when things are relatively balanced*, which I suspect they were for this press demo.

    It's good to hear that The Division 2 will have gear normalisation, but hopefully it also avoids the 'god-tier' set bonuses (and the insane grind to get them) that made The Division Dark Zone something only worth entering for weeklies.

    * i.e. All players have a reasonable chance of killing each other; see Counter Strike, Unreal Tournament, Quake, etc.
  • KajidourdenKajidourden Member EpicPosts: 3,030
    Looks as crappy as the first.
  • MikehaMikeha Member EpicPosts: 9,196
    The 1st game looks better to me. I will keep and eye on this one but not impressed so far.
  • GruugGruug Member RarePosts: 1,794
    Taking a pass on D2. Liked the PvE in D1 but got very tired of the bullet sponge combat. The DZ was great in concept but never did I find it what it was advertised to be. What the vids I have seen have shown, not just these, is that it is much the same as before. No intention to go back.

    Let's party like it is 1863!

  • jitter77jitter77 Member UncommonPosts: 518
    I loved the division, but it got to a point where I couldnt progress.  I would go into the DZ solo and try to team up.  Sometimes it was successfull, but most times it was just frustration.  A member of your team could go rogue and just melt you down.  Also getting ganked at the last second waiting for extraction was rage inducing.  Every PUG I tried for the higher level incurions or whatever they called ended in failure.  I think it would have been much better to have a solid group of friends to play with.  I will still be getting the second one because I enjoyed the leveling up and the lower level "dungeons". 
  • ellobo29ellobo29 Member UncommonPosts: 423
    Fool me once shame on me... fool me twice...? I played The Division and it was so full of hackers I just gave up playing it. One shoting raid bosses... teleporting players. Thanks but no thanks.
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