News - The Division [Update 1.8.3]

Hello everyone,

I usually try and stay clear of toxic environments in gaming (and in life in general). I play games because I like the escape and the fun I get out of them.  And it's precisely because of that, the fun, and the fact that I like to help others through hurdles I started to write and discuss my favorite games online also. Now, discussion and comments are one thing but what's happening lately in The Division is another thing completely!

Ever since 1.8 a part of the community has done nothing else but complain about build and modes, not on the entire game... but always and every time about the DZ. First one to get the "complaint nerf" were Predator's "bleed" effect and then Nomad "recovery link" in 1.8.2, both didn't alter much for PvE with the except of group play for Nomad, in this last update it was time to nerf Striker.

Nomad was a group nerf so if you run it solo the build worked pretty much the same. For Predator and it's famous bleed, they decided to implement an immune, using the support station and/or medkits that most dind't complained for... until they nerfed Striker! The thing about Striker is that it can deal damage and still heal the player, so they nerfed the damage and (instead of nerfing the heal) and they also they nerfed the support station, making the drop and pop - a technique used to boost up your health, basically working as an additional medkit - no longer viable to use.

Since Update 1.8, Predator has has his "Bleed Effect" nerf, Nomad his "Nomad Luck" and now Striker had a Damage nerf in PvP.

While as this as been going on, most players (like myself) are just left on the side lines watching this back and forth of salted players raging against builds or players in the DZ (mostly), adapting our play style and making the most with what the game offers. And I really feel this needs to stop! The Division is not only about the DZ! Builds are not only for PvP trolls or Rogue groups that wanna make fun of a new and upcoming player, making Checkpoint Camps, then proceeding to the Manhunt Marathon leaving nothing but support stations and turrets behind. And when something changes and makes it more challenging they just lash out on developers and/or other players!

The nerfing of the Support Station is a good change in my view. It makes your group play a little harder (in PvP) and you can't simply run leaving a station behind basically healing your entire team. If you want to continuously troll and emote on players, you have a perfect balanced fun game for that, called Fortnite.

Ubisoft and Massive need to focus more on the overall player experience and less on the salted same old DZ gang's for The Division 2 and introduce a brand new core gameplay that's "player focus" and not "build/mode complain" focus. Otherwise this will never stop, the community will just turn toxic towards each other and players will not engage with the game or the community.

Something that I like them to focus, besides the DZ, is Survival for instance!

Survival is probably the only major DLC that hasn't had a major overall in the game. I think it may need one... for The Division 2.

I know most players don't even play Survival and for good reason, it's just too damn hard and not nearly rewarding enough but for the last few days but I've been going into Survival daily to (try) finish my Phoenix Shield. The problem is the entire game mode isn't made for players to return or enjoy, it's just made to make you stress and factually not end Survival even.

Most games start off easy and get harder as they progress, but not Survival. In Survival you start off really hard, gets a bit easier middle through and harder again at the end. You have no idea where you're supposed to go or what you're supposed to do (until you play a dozen of times) and I'm not even gonna mention the rewards cause... there aren't any really!

Now, I know that are some player that love Survival and want it just the way it is and don't want it touched in any way but here's the thing, this is a looter shooter, so it should be a loot and shoot! Yes, you can still do a complete ultimate Survival run but why not do it like in the Underground? You start off with all the same elements as when you play the game but can add directives as you go along? The higher your level the more directives you can unlock for better or more challenging survival runs? 

Directives like: No Sidearm, No Radar, Blizzard, No Skills or No Meds. Basically work from the game you play normally, to what Survival is now. Instead of this massive hurdle that most players just can't even begin to get across.

The introduction of "directives" could help most players not suffer such a hard learning curve, ultimately bringing more players to Survival still keeping the hard core ones.

I don't work for Massive and I have no idea of how many players have played or concluded Survival but I'm guessing if the learning curve wasn't has steep, maybe more players would try it and maybe even more players would engage with it trying to make the ultimate Survival run.

In their defense I did see a decrease in queue line ever since the Phoenix Shield was available so it's much easier to into Survival now then it was before and that's a plus for most players (like me) who still need a lot of practice on it. That being said, I still have no idea why yellow bar bosses in Survival can't drop yellow weapons and/or gear. That would be a great help and also a reward when you kill them. I can't tell how may times I've killed high level NPC's just to get a scarf that I don't even need.

Anyway, sorry for the big blog post but I haven't done one in a while and I had a lot to discuss. Please stay respectful, as these are only my opinions expressed to have an open discussion about the game and not addressed at anyone in particular.

Hopefully, The Division 2 will address some of this issues, making it an even better game!