In The Division, we present the 10 biggest concerns, disappointments, and suggestions currently present in the community.
The developers of The Division are currently on vacation. For three weeks, agents have had to do without the weekly situation reports from Massive, which used to be held by community developer Hamish Bode with various guests in livestreams.
In these three weeks, not much has happened. No new content, no new announcements. Only player numbers and interest have steadily declined – a trend that we can also observe. For PS4 agents, the underground content was unlocked at the beginning of August, but one cannot speak of fresh content there.
However, starting next week, things will get going again. Massive will resume work, and Bode has already announced that he will reveal new information in the livestreams. On this occasion, the YouTuber Skill Up created a current “situation report” in which he captures the mood of the community from his comments and from reddit.
He emphasizes that he cannot of course reflect all agent opinions in it. The community is full of individual voices that can speak for themselves. But he has still created a list of 10 aspects that he believes are currently being discussed particularly frequently and intensely among the agents.
Since Skill Up has been able to speak directly with Massive several times and has done livestreams and videos with the developers, he wants to bring the following things to their attention, which Massive can then tackle in the near future. This video is therefore intended to simplify the dialogue between the developers and the community to make The Division a better game.
The NPCs are too strong
A problem that is often mentioned: NPCs can take much too much damage and deal too much damage themselves. Especially in the Dark Zone in DZ06, agents face overwhelming odds. Here, agents agree: a rebalancing is needed. Massive had previously commented that they were looking for a solution. However, this can only be changed with the next client patch, with update 1.4.
Shotguns are too strong, especially in combination with “Call of the Watch”
In the Dark Zone, players are frustrated, not only because of the too strong NPCs. Because far too often, they are taken out by other agents with shotguns in just one shot. For a tactical cover shooter, it should not be intended that one can take out other players with one shot. Especially when you are in a squad where someone carries a “Call of the Watch“, the shotguns are overwhelming.
A Dark Zone just for PvE
In the forums, the demand for a Dark Zone that only has PvE can be heard repeatedly. Many agents like to farm their items in the Dark Zone. The idea of a large area through which one can roam, take out enemies, and loot good items is well-received. However, some players feel disturbed by the PvP aspect in it. Skill Up leaves this demand uncommented, but he noted that it is repeatedly seen.
The Recovery Set needs to be revised
This is a topic that has been discussed even before the underground expansion was released. Is the Recovery Set too strong? Especially in PvP, it is imbalanced, as it provides you with unlimited explosive projectiles, allowing you to stagger other agents. They can barely defend themselves. This is not fun.
The PvP in general
Now let’s talk about the general PvP aspect in The Division. According to the community, it needs to be fundamentally reworked and balanced. The current PvP is unsatisfactory. As it is now, it is not fun. However, it will be very complicated for Massive to adjust all the necessary dials to reshape the PvP.
The endgame reward system
With the loot system in endgame, there is also dissatisfaction. One can play endgame activities for hours and still not receive items that are needed to improve. Skill Up cites the underground as an example.
Another problem here is also the gear sets. Some of them are really strong, while others are practically useless. For example, if you only get FireCrest set pieces, many agents are unhappy with their loot. Again, the balance needs adjustment.
The gear score system
For many agents, the gear score means too little. Perhaps a reference to the light level system from Destiny could be a solution. Because the gear score alone says little about your agent’s power but only grants access to certain activities. It may happen that top agents with a lower score are kicked from a squad even though they could advance the whole squad with their skill set. But agents focus too much on this value, although it is less meaningful than some think.
Item farming at the Four Horsemen
In the Dragon’s Lair raid you can efficiently obtain high-quality items by repeatedly defeating the Four Horsemen. This works. And nobody complains about it. However, there should also be other activities that are just as rewarding. The player experience in endgame should offer more variety.
Ammunition – You can never have enough
Every agent has probably experienced running out of ammunition. Both in PvE and PvP. One way to avoid this is to switch between backpacks and gear set pieces (Lone Wolf) to carry more ammo. However, it is not enjoyable to have to perform this procedure every time one wants to run around with enough bullets in reserve. A frustrating system.
Give solo agents more to do – with better rewards
This tenth community concern is one of the biggest. Because there are few activities for solo agents that are truly rewarding for improving the character. The jump between “Hard” and “Challenging” is simply too great. Especially these days, when significantly fewer agents are around as friends are playing other games, the call for lucrative solo activities is loud.
What do you think of these community concerns? What problems are you currently discussing?
