The Division

If there are and you're still that worried just ask for some friends from the pause menu. Matchmaking is that simple.

Even the nastiest and most ambitious player killer will shy away from a group roaming around together.

And whether it's PVP or not depends on the temperament of your fellow players. Usually nobody pays each other any mind and you even help one another.

I would also guess, since it's got RPG elements rather than being a pure shooter, it's not like Day Z or something where you can be OHK'd by a sniper from 300 yards away.

And yeah, it hadn't really occurred to me that people won't automatically want to kill you in a PVP zone.

Yep, even the higher end sniper rifles can't down a player character in one headshot.

Bit immersion breaking in such a realistic looking setting with real guns in a Tom Clancy game but it works out pretty well if you can get past that.

I'm totally fine with it from a pure gameplay perspective, though I get what you're saying about breaking immersion. I also just realised I don't think I've ever actually played a Tom Clancy game before, so I have no attachement there. I was under the impression his name had just kinda been slapped on this anyway. Any shooter where numbers appear when damage is dealt can't be all that realistic :P

I've been playing the beta today. It's pretty fun. I like the role you're thrusted into. Instead of being a walking one-man army, a lá Halo or Battlefield or other FPS games, I feel like the role of "slightly compromised field agent for black ops quasi-state agency" feels very real.

THE NUMBERS MASON WHAT DO THEY MEAN

edited 1st Feb '16 1:12:25 PM by Inhopelessguy

It means stop aiming for their lower extremities and aim for the head to maximize damage.

Also hi son!

edited 1st Feb '16 1:13:36 PM by LeGarcon

HI DAD

CAN WE PLAY THE DIVISION TOGETHER

I KEEP BEING PAIRED WITH RANDOS WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO OPERATE A META-FICTIONAL FIREARM

What is happening?

Uhhh

We are talking about The Division, obviously. 😜

Yeah sure thing. I could probably use a buddy for my Dark Zone expeditions.

Nice. I'll send you a message on PSN.

Gault: Given all the thugs dress the same right down to the face concealing bandanas shoot at you on sight even if you don't aim a weapon at them or are just passing by, constantly kidnap emergency personnel and civilians, I watched a pair execute a JTF guy in the street and start looting his body. So yeah it is pretty easy to tell. Oh and your average civilian doesn't pack full auto-assault rifles, automatic SMG's, sniper rifles, machine guns and start blazing away at complete strangers for no reason other then them walking by. There is not really any ambiguity there.

The various rioter types also made sure to kill quite a few people in the stadium for no reason other then being there and take the medical staff hostage. The Cleaners have shut off the cities water feeds so the fires they start can't be put out and are a bunch of loony fanatics.

To be fair to Gault I think the same dress thing is also just part of them being easily recognizable as baddies for the player's benefit than any sort of in universe uniform.

But like I said before, Martial Law is in effect so all looters are to be shot on sight. Especially if they're armed. Plus anyone attacking the JTF is also liable to be killed on the spot under Martial Law.

And like Tuefel said, there's no moral ambiguity to be had. The enemies you fight are dicks. So far.

I do get the sinking feeling that we're not the upstanding good guys we claim to be. That radio guy might be getting to me.

edited 1st Feb '16 4:40:51 PM by LeGarcon

Garcon: That and they waste no time in being hostile, amazingly well armed for your average street hoods complete with body armor, and have managed to pretty much raise hell everywhere.

It is rather curious how well armed they are.

I overheard chatter in the home base about the Russian Consulate being a fortress and largely unaffected by the apocalypse.

I'm probably reading too much into stuff and expecting too much from the story but I find that awfully suspicious.

edited 1st Feb '16 5:24:50 PM by LeGarcon

There may be something to that but we shall see. It is kind of odd that they seem to be so well equipped with things like RPK-74' for example? They have no shortage of grenades at least tear gas you could write that off as coming from police and less lethal JTF stores. But the machine pistols, full auto assault rifles, and even machine guns has me thinking there is something else we won't get wind of until we get the full game. Listening to enemies is interesting to if you can sneak up on them. Its how I know the cleaners are a bit nutso.

Speaking of Machineguns I managed to set off machine gun enemies back pack.

I imagine that as people started dropping dead several gun stores got smashed and grabbed. Possible that angry people hit police stations or national guard barracks if it was that widespread.

Also who knows how many "militias" moved into the city for whatever reasons - paranoia about it being a FEMA thing, hate of the federal government, for the lulz.

Looking at it, there probably will be an element of destabilisation and foreign actor sponsorship - probably the Russians as they're acceptable targets again now.

What does irk me is something total biscuit mentioned and you guys have touched on. There is a thing called the law of armed conflict and rules of engagement. Many games brush over it, for example, but ultimately, even if someone is armed you still have to identify yourself. Only in war do you have a certain amount of fire first leeway.

In a civilian environment, even with martial law, you still have to ID yourself as someone in authority - otherwise, if that guy has friends and they see another hobo opening fire, it descends into a street war.

Basically, there's a TONNE of violations of the LOAC - you aren't wearing Uniforms, you are not readily identifiable as agents of any particular agency, you don't announce yourself or seem to act with any real jurisdiction. AND you can shoot other members of your organisation in the back in a specific zone.

Now, if you were PMC people contracted in and with a broad and murky mandate, that'd be better.

Marginally.

Yes, it's a game, but it's contemporary and on native US soil, glorifying an element of "shoot first, question later". If you could capture people, or have an element of being able to make NP Cs surrender at lower levels (maybe using that extraction mechanic to capture people for a different set of rewards...?)

Otherwise it seems a bit tired as a formula, not really exploring the potential for deeper story challenges in an MMO.

Got around to watching Total Biscuit's video there. Somewhat offputting, even if his criticisms were mostly subjective, and (hopefully) more specific to the beta rather than the full release.

I think Total Biscuit's complaints are legitimate. This really isn't a Tom Clancy game in any way, save for the fancy gadgets and the semi-plausible near-future terror plot. I'm thinking his name was just stuck on for the sake of brand recognition and sales.

The enemies are bullet sponges capable of surviving multiple headshots, depending on levels and gear they can potentially be near impossible to kill, you grind and level up, one of the game's overall meta-goals is to collect loot, etc. Yes, the Clancyverse has been getting more and more unrealistic over the years ever since Rainbow Six Vegas and Splinter Cell Conviction, but even they tried to make an effort to enforce realistic behavior and tactics, whereas here it's mostly just a third-person cover shooter.

I'll pass on this one - Destiny didn't live up to my expectations anyways.

The Tom Clancy thing doesn't bother me, but that dissonance TB mentioned between gameplay and the setting might be something I don't like, and if it really is just a bit empty, then that is offputting.

I think I'm going to wait until reviews are in.

Ubisoft can now do anything they want with a dead man's name.

Well you are a sleeper agent, I'm pretty sure The Division has some 5th Freedom rule like 4th Echelon.

And given the way Rick the radio man speaks I wouldn't be surprised if all those problems with rules of engagement are brought up. Then again given how most other Tom Clancy games ignore things like national sovereignty and so on maybe not.

I was also apprehensive about Tom Clancy's name on it but the I was swayed over by the gameplay in the beta so I'm definitely buying it.

And we already know that NPC spawns and encounters were turned down for the beta so that issues all cleared.

edited 2nd Feb '16 12:27:26 PM by LeGarcon

Again none of the looters will think twice about shooting at complete strangers for doing nothing more then walking by. Never mind all the other stuff they overtly do. ROE tends to frown on you being shot at by random hoodlums. No you don't have to ID yourself especially in the presence of overtly armed enemies especially if they are overtly preying on the populace, JTF, and emergency personnel. Oh hey look that is exactly what they all do including kidnapping and random murder in the street. I hate to tell you folks under all but the most strict of ROE that is weapons free.

Militia or not does not explain the abundance of automatic weapons and body armor. Full auto L-85's, RPK-74's, SMG's, select fire assault rifles, and the abundance of other uncommon fire arms that are at most uncommon or in the event of automatic weapons, rare inside the US. Yet we seem to bump into them quite a bit in the hands of rioters who are oddly organized and pretty heavily armed for some supposed street thugs.

I hate to the burst the no true Scotsman bubble but this is very much a Tom Clancy game. Oh no it uses different game mechanics except it has everything else a Tom Clancy game is expected to have. Different mechanics doesn't mean it is not a Tom Clancy game.

edited 2nd Feb '16 3:55:57 PM by TuefelHundenIV

It's definitely a Tom Clancy setting but it is a radical departure in terms of gameplay. Such a departure that had I not played it for myself I probably would have passed on it.

And not all of the looters seem too well armed. Largely handguns and Tec-9s and the like. It's not until you get to higher difficulties and see the purple and yellow bar baddies that they have serious hardware.

The one boss in the story mission, Hutch, having an RPK-74 was hella suspect though.

And the Cleaners are entirely too well trained and armed for what is basically a death cult made of blue collar nobodies.

Really I'm unsure how much of a disconnect there is between gameplay and the story.

I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Also it seems someone at Xbox Italy dropped the ball and leaked information of a second beta that might start later in the February.

Supposedly that one will be open.

edited 2nd Feb '16 4:09:28 PM by LeGarcon

Garcon:

This is also not the first time there was a notable departure in a Tom Clancy title either. End War and HAWX and even to a certain point Splinter Cell. The Rainbow Six series was largely focused on squad tactics as was Ghost Recon.

True most of the thugs you find at random in the street are just hand gun wielding but in side missions and the mission in general they were definitely better armed. Even then for SMG's and Machine pistols full auto is rare. Even knocking over a police armory wouldn't yield that many full auto weaons. It would yield a ton of hand guns, shot guns, and an assortment of other fire arms. If they were getting the weapons from the JTF how come we are not seeing more M-4's and M-9's?

The Cleaners are even more notable in that all the ones I encountered all had full on select fire Assault Rifles with their flame throwers attached. Their flame throwers look home made which would make a fair bit of sense given the US doesn't really stock them anymore and instead uses other weapon systems.

The little bite of the story we are given and the side missions comes across as over arching story goal with side missions that only help it out. Like restoring comms, turning city water back on for a location, freeing various hostages, and in general trying to restore order.

The brief bit of the intro seems to suggest the break down was a bit more then angry rioters given the one eyed gal in the chopper describes the previous wave are dead or missing and a hefty military presence seems to have been easily over run. I think the big disconnect will be the side and optional missions vs main mission. Though some of those intel side missions had me a bit curious. Like the crashed drone.

edited 2nd Feb '16 4:25:23 PM by TuefelHundenIV