Just recently, the “Episode 1” DLC brought Expeditions to The Division 2 – a new PvE activity. Now, they are already being removed from the game – much to the dismay and confusion of many players. Why – the developers at Massive have now explained.
What are Expeditions anyway? Expeditions are a new PvE activity that came with Episode 1. They take agents to the grounds of Kenly College outside of Washington and consist of 3 sections that were released weekly in stages.
Expeditions are essentially a type of puzzle activity where you must solve various tasks to ultimately clarify the fate of a lost military convoy – the last one was just on August 6.
What exactly is happening with the Expeditions? As Massive recently surprised many players by announcing, this new activity is subject to a cycle. And the first one ends today, August 13.
Specifically, this means: The Expeditions along with the corresponding content cannot be played continuously but only at certain times. Starting today, they will be temporarily disappearing. Until when exactly is unclear. All that is known is that they are supposed to return later this year.
By the way, the exotic rifle Diamondback cannot be obtained for now, if you have not already acquired it before the Expeditions disappear.
Why are the Expeditions disappearing now? This decision met with confusion and anger from many players. Especially the poor communication was widely criticized. Many only heard about it for the first time a few days ago.
In a post on Reddit, where players have discussed the removal of Expeditions, Community Manager Giuseppe Dalicante tried to explain what Massive was thinking with this decision.
They have always envisioned the Expeditions as a rotating experience that opens for a certain time, then disappears for a certain time, and later becomes available again.
Part of the plan was also that this rotating experience brings new elements for replayability. Normally, this is where the Mastery System should kick in. But since the Mastery System was not completed for Episode 1, they had to make the decision: either postpone the Expeditions as a whole or include them in a complete rotation cycle so that players could already get a glimpse of this experience.
They did not want players to get worn out by repeatedly playing an activity that currently does not offer the right replay value. Therefore, they decided to bring back the Expeditions only when the Mastery System meets the corresponding quality. In the meantime, they are open for discussions regarding the availability of the Diamondback.
What is the Mastery System all about? The Mastery System was roughly explained by Massive back in June. It was intended that in Expeditions, the 3 different sections would go live sequentially. After that, a persistent rotation was to take place. The so-called Mastery System was supposed to modify each of these sections within this rotation to provide more challenge and variety – and thus address the aforementioned lack of replayability.
What do you think? Was it the right decision? Or can you still not understand the decision?
