In The Division 2 , Massive initially wanted to raise the Gear Score to 515 – but has now changed its mind. This is the decision for the harder path, says our author Schuhmann. A decision that says a lot about Massive’s plans.
That’s why the increase of the Gear Score seemed so obvious: It was actually planned to raise the maximum Gear Score to 515 with the next update of The Division 2. With this, The Division 2 wanted to solve a main problem:
- Hardly anyone plays the Dark Zone, the PvP of The Division 2 is unpopular
If players were promised 515 loot in the Dark Zone, it would have been a bait.
Even if players weren’t interested in the Dark Zone, they would have gone in, gritted their teeth, and cursed and complained while getting the best loot in The Division 2. That’s just how players in loot shooters operate.
Additionally, Massive would have followed the usual conventions and easily solved other problems:
- In the raid, there is the best gear – and the best gear is the one with the highest item level
- As the game progresses, there is stronger equipment – players then have to exchange their items, are motivated to do something new, and stay engaged
Therefore, it remains at Gear Score 500: Massive has now opted for the clearly harder path. They are not raising the Gear Score:
Massive provides logical reasons for foregoing the Gear Score, emphasizing how important the “Build Building” is in the game.
Massive states:
- Increasing the Gear Score would render the previous builds useless
- and they don’t want players to just look for “stronger” gear; they should find gear that fits their play style
What the decision means now: The easy solutions are no longer an option.
- If Massive wants to revitalize the Dark Zone, it must really be “fun” – they want to achieve this through some changes
- If there is to be the best loot in raids to motivate players to raid, then the loot must have abilities that are better or distinctly different than normal loot, but in a clever way and not just through “more power” like with the DIY king
This is interesting: Massive is not purist in this case. The Division 2 still works with “enhanced rewards”, so they assure that players will receive more items with item level 500 and that the items can be farmed in a planned manner.
However, they are holding off the actual “upgrade” of the Gear Score for a later time, when more time has passed to make the increase in Gear Score more significant.
This is the signal: This decision is an investment in the longevity of The Division 2 and shows that Massive has confidence in its ability to motivate players without resorting to the “cheap” method of simply tweaking the numbers.
We expect that the update will go live on Thursday, May 16.
