The Division 2 - Catch All

This was a very different beta experience from Anthem's recent betas. I come away from it much more confident about what I'm getting, but also less excited or curious. I think it will be good, but definitely just more of the first game with some tweaks. By Sunday evening I didn't feel especially compelled to play more of the beta, not because I didn't like it, but because I know what this game is and am going to be playing it eventually anyway. For me, it has a much higher floor than Anthem, but also probably a lower ceiling.

I will say that the beta for this game has instilled a lot more confidence in me that this'll be solid at launch in just over a month. Anthem releases at the end of next week, and the demo only made me nervous that it won't be ready.

Absolutely--if the Division 2 launches in the same state I encountered it over the weekend, while not ideal (there were some bugs, some disconnects, some pop-in issues) it'd be fine. If Anthem launches in the same state it was in in the betas, that's going to be a big problem. But Anthem also had a lot of open questions that I could imagine being resolved in interesting ways, whereas I'm not expecting to be especially surprised by much in The Division 2.

True. Anthem has the potential to be more surprising, but that also makes it feel mushy and uncertain. I have the feeling it'll spend a few years veering wildly between different ideas of the game to try to make everyone happy, like Destiny.

Of the two, I think I'm far more likely to get this game. It might not be as novel, but I don't think there's a risk that the things I like about it will get nuked in a few months to placate Reddit, either. My bigger issue with this game is that since I didn't put a lot of time into the first, I'm almost inclined to get it for $10 and tour the content, although I don't know how lively the servers will be after this game comes out.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

My bigger issue with this game is that since I didn't put a lot of time into the first, I'm almost inclined to get it for $10 and tour the content, although I don't know how lively the servers will be after this game comes out.

Just wanted to let you know that the first one is current on 90% sale on Steam and the deal expires in like an hour.

I waited nine months to play the first Division and was pretty happy in the areas it ended up being improved in that time frame. Even with all the improvements it was just a solid B game for me. One that I didn't much enjoy playing solo but had a blast playing with friends. I'm pretty much planning on doing the same thing with this one.

With Anthem I'm willing to hop in early despite the issues because I really liked the novelty of how it felt to control the Javelins. My urge to play it is more immediate I guess? Odds are much like the first Destiny I'll fizzle out within a month or two but I'm fine with that.

Hedinn wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

My bigger issue with this game is that since I didn't put a lot of time into the first, I'm almost inclined to get it for $10 and tour the content, although I don't know how lively the servers will be after this game comes out.

Just wanted to let you know that the first one is current on 90% sale on Steam and the deal expires in like an hour.

Thanks for the heads up. I'd be playing on console, and it looks like it's also steeply discounted on PSN for another week.

I have a little more positive outlook for the game.
I agree with all of the points aside from the performance issues that I did not experience.
I had 1 CTD and 2 or 3 "Delta-03 Disconnection" errors.
I had 0 animation errors, 0 skill issues and saw 0 hacks.

1- The side missions are like mini regular missions which is an awesome change.
2- The weapons have all been re-worked. I especially like the changes to shotguns.
3- The controls from the special uses of skills are awkward. Some of them like the ability to assign a specific target are more straightforward. But the bombardment drone thankfully does a lot of area damage but choosing the correct angle is a crap shoot.
4- Bullet sponges ARE better but they never bothered me in Div 1 so I am biased
5- The bread crumb story bits out in the world are just as numerous but less diverse. They are no longer separated by cel phone, downed drone, briefcase or file folder. They just are hot spots that you activate.
6- The trade off to not having cel phones, etc out in the field is that you get gun lockers and equipment lockers for exploring and from mini mazes out in the field.

fangblackbone wrote:

I have a little more positive outlook for the game.
I agree with all of the points aside from the performance issues that I did not experience.
I had 1 CTD and 2 or 3 "Delta-03 Disconnection" errors.
I had 0 animation errors, 0 skill issues and saw 0 hacks.

While i don't always agree with him. I think the video is overall positive.

While i didn't have the performance issues he did. "Yet". They're definitely valid concerns after the first one.

The big point in all of that i think is that while it looks to be more of the same it has enough different about it to warrant the 2.0

I loved The Division, and I am confident after the private beta, that I will love this one as well.

One thing I really enjoyed, was how DARK it was at places - so few games dare this (Far Cry Primal tried, but ended up a mix between blue and dark) but this? At times, it was REALLY dark in some places, like how it is in places with no electricity which is kinda awesome.

REally looking forward to this

(OH - World of Warcraft actually had a dark zone..that gothic one, the first few years, were it was REALLY dark- Of course, that got nerfed!)

Razgon wrote:

One thing I really enjoyed, was how DARK it was at places - so few games dare this (Far Cry Primal tried, but ended up a mix between blue and dark) but this? At times, it was REALLY dark in some places, like how it is in places with no electricity which is kinda awesome.

As long as it’s used intelligently. I remember in AC Unity there was a mission in a dark area involving a two story house and you basically could not find your way around the environment (or at least I couldn’t .) Primal did use darkness and night well and, thankfully, it looks like the Division 2 will as well.

You like dark? Try Ashen. Significant chunks of the game take place in caves and other underworlds lit only by your puny lantern.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

You like dark? Try Ashen. Significant chunks of the game take place in caves and other underworlds lit only by your puny lantern.

It's an awesome atmosphere! Agreed

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ClockworkHouse wrote:

You like dark? Try Ashen. Significant chunks of the game take place in caves and other underworlds lit only by your puny lantern.

Well, you were right about Xenoblade 2 being a great game, and I do love immersion in games, so ok!

Day two of the past Beta my screen would whiteout as though I was looking at the sun while I was running around DC. The menus were fine and it only happened while I was playing. It looked good but I am not sure it showed me enough to jump in right away. Will see in a month.

Medmey wrote:

Day two of the past Beta my screen would whiteout as though I was looking at the sun while I was running around DC. The menus were fine and it only happened while I was playing. It looked good but I am not sure it showed me enough to jump in right away. Will see in a month. :)

That used to happen to me in Div 1 even after the 1.8 update.

ranalin wrote:
Medmey wrote:

Day two of the past Beta my screen would whiteout as though I was looking at the sun while I was running around DC. The menus were fine and it only happened while I was playing. It looked good but I am not sure it showed me enough to jump in right away. Will see in a month. :)

That used to happen to me in Div 1 even after the 1.8 update.

Playing Div 1 on PS4 - if memory serves I'd assumed that was an intentional effect.

Bubblefuzz wrote:
ranalin wrote:
Medmey wrote:

Day two of the past Beta my screen would whiteout as though I was looking at the sun while I was running around DC. The menus were fine and it only happened while I was playing. It looked good but I am not sure it showed me enough to jump in right away. Will see in a month. :)

That used to happen to me in Div 1 even after the 1.8 update.

Playing Div 1 on PS4 - if memory serves I'd assumed that was an intentional effect.

Nope... graphical bug.

ranalin wrote:
Bubblefuzz wrote:
ranalin wrote:
Medmey wrote:

Day two of the past Beta my screen would whiteout as though I was looking at the sun while I was running around DC. The menus were fine and it only happened while I was playing. It looked good but I am not sure it showed me enough to jump in right away. Will see in a month. :)

That used to happen to me in Div 1 even after the 1.8 update.

Playing Div 1 on PS4 - if memory serves I'd assumed that was an intentional effect.

Nope... graphical bug.

Well I never

Razgon wrote:

One thing I really enjoyed, was how DARK it was at places - so few games dare this

I absolutely hate when competitive multiplayer games do low lighting areas. I have to turn my brightness/gamma way up so that I can fight the other kids who do it in the dark areas, and consequently whenever I'm not in a dark area the game looks washed out and sh*tty.

Good fun for PVE, but I hope they keep it the f*ck away from the Dark Zone areas. Or do the implementation for real, and don't even render stuff outside your "vision radius," so turning up brightness won't make any difference.

I don't think I'm even going to bother with the public beta on this one, unless I see any evidence that there's some sort of special unlock to be had that I haven't already earned from the private beta. I feel like I've seen what I need to see here.

I will also probably pass on public beta for similar reasons. I know I like the game and I already purchased. Nothing more to know or see really.

escher77 wrote:

I will also probably pass on public beta for similar reasons. I know I like the game and I already purchased. Nothing more to know or see really.

I endorse this message

See you in March!

Is this going to be a new download for the public beta? Or a patch to what I already downloaded?

I'll probably take the public beta for a spin just to see what it's like on Xbox instead of PlayStation.

Happy Dave wrote:

Is this going to be a new download for the public beta? Or a patch to what I already downloaded?

I'd say, most likely, the same download will work for both probably with an update patch.

I'll give the pubic beta a little go. I missed out on seeing what the side missions were like.

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Agents With Jobs will be there