In The Division , Update 1.7 brings the Commendations. Can these lure agents back into the post-apocalypse?
The upcoming Update 1.7 this summer will bring a few new features to the agents’ lives. Global events and commendations are set to come.
Commendations refer to in-game achievements. This means you accomplish a specified goal and are rewarded with prizes. Here are four pieces of information:
- By completing commendations, you increase a total score. The higher this is, the more “bragging rights” you earn – i.e., rights to show off.
- Some commendations provide new cosmetic items that allow you to showcase your achievements in the game.
- There are plenty of commendations – some can be completed passively, while others are meant to be very challenging.
- Commendations are account-wide.
Massive has not yet provided further details about this new feature. Only a few ETF members were permitted to report on it exclusively. According to YouTuber rxlyaT, they left a positive impression on him. Commendations would represent “fun in grinding.”
Finally more to do – or?
This sounds promising. New goals in The Division to strive for. And rewards for grinding – meaning playing an activity over and over again.
However, there is a catch: New activities are in short supply. Update 1.7 focuses on enhancing existing PvE content. Increasing their replayability. Global events are supposed to add some variety to these missions with modifiers, but the missions and incursions remain the same as before.
In other words: No new activities will come, just new incentives to play the old ones repeatedly. Whether this will motivate agents in droves and bring them back into the post-apocalypse remains to be seen.
More goals = More fun?
The commendations are meant to provide long-term motivation. There will be plenty of them – and lots of rewards to earn that you can show off.
However, commendations are not new activities but merely new objectives within existing activities. A commendation could, for example, say to complete the incursion “Stolen Signal” on Heroic difficulty 20 times. This gives you a new task to keep you busy for a while – but does it increase the fun of the game long-term?
Ttime says: We do not yet have complete information about the commendations, but I expect they will be similar to the trophies and achievements that exist in every game today: Some do not care at all, others chase them eagerly and strive for platinum (on PS4), while others barely pay attention to them but are happy when they receive them.
Therefore, I think the commendations will appeal to only part of the agents and ignite the hunting fever in them – with the motto: “I must master them all!” Many other agents will think: “What do I want with this if I still get to play the same old stuff?”
The new cosmetic items are said to be “very very cool” according to ETF members. Perhaps they can indeed bring back motivation for many agents. But commendations alone might not be enough to bring the required “fresh wind” to the shared-world shooter. We are still excited to see what the future holds for players.
What do you think about it? Are the commendations just what you’ve been waiting for?
Interesting: The Division: Become the PvE Kill Machine – Striker Build 1.6.1
