The Division 2 - Catch All

vypre wrote:

Anybody else feel like the graphics were a bit dated? I played on PS4 last night and was thinking it looked a lot more like a PS3 game, but I didn't take the time to boot up D1 to compare. I get it's still beta and graphics may not have their final polish - I'm just wondering if I was the only one to think so.

On PS4 (Pro), I had a lot of texture issues that made the game look more dated than it probably will in the final version. Lots of blurry, unreadable signs; big splotchy textures on walls where graffiti would go; really low resolution foliage; that kind of thing.

I think the fallen D.C. setting also just isn't as visually engaging as Christmastime New York, which I think lends itself to a dated feeling. Honestly, it looks so much like The Last of Us that I started to wonder when I was going to get ambushed by mushroom people.

Played about an hour last night and really enjoyed it. Going to try and check out the end game stuff tonight if my schedule and kids cooperate.

I have a couple Xbox beta invites if anyone needs one - just PM me.

I think they traded weather for weathering and night. The game is unbelievably cluttered and the overgrowth abounds. I just think it is just two different ways of providing atmosphere. Another way to look at it is the former's use of ambient stray dogs matched with the sequel's use of deer.

Another thing the sequel does is make use of elevation and nook and cranny cover. The added clutter really adds to the challenge of solo play especially because the enemies are more occluded. So they move cover to cover more easily and can swarm you more organically. Add to this that they have tweeked the randomness of bullet trajectory making it harder to plop infinite headshots. Other things they have addressed is being able to pick off enemies in full cover by shooting an exposed boot or hand or even sliver of hat or shoulder. Rifles are still the bomb BTW so no worries. They just aren't cheap kill machines.

I had 3 disconnects in 7 hours of play. But to be fair, 2 of those happened within a couple of minutes of each other. There were glitches for sure. The already mentioned hair transparency and some lighting glitches and inverted collision boxes were what I noticed.

I am loving the private beta so far. I feel like they took everything they learned from the first, updated it with new graphics, new story, new location, etc. The graphics looks great on the PC, ultra wide, ultra settings. Runs buttery smooth compared to the Anthem beta.

I am in day one. Debating if I should get the ultimate edition instead of gold edition.

Balthezor wrote:

I am loving the private beta so far. I feel like they took everything they learned from the first, updated it with new graphics, new story, new location.

I so agree (though I miss the snow)

Balthezor wrote:

I am in day one. Debating if I should get the ultimate edition instead of gold edition.

In day one too for standard edition.... You say Gold or Ultimate, which I guess would mean you'll be playing Day minus three?

Apart from the early access and a couple bits of gear what is included for the extra £25-£35 over here... Basically what exactly is a Year 1 Pass?

Unfamiliar with most Ubisoft games and how their pricier editions work.

Bubblefuzz wrote:
Balthezor wrote:

I am in day one. Debating if I should get the ultimate edition instead of gold edition.

In day one too for standard edition.... You say Gold or Ultimate, which I guess would mean you'll be playing Day minus three?

Apart from the early access and a couple bits of gear what is included for the extra £25-£35 over here... Basically what exactly is a Year 1 Pass?

Unfamiliar with most Ubisoft games and how their pricier editions work.

It basically has the season pass.

Balthezor wrote:
Bubblefuzz wrote:
Balthezor wrote:

I am in day one. Debating if I should get the ultimate edition instead of gold edition.

In day one too for standard edition.... You say Gold or Ultimate, which I guess would mean you'll be playing Day minus three?

Apart from the early access and a couple bits of gear what is included for the extra £25-£35 over here... Basically what exactly is a Year 1 Pass?

Unfamiliar with most Ubisoft games and how their pricier editions work.

It basically has the season pass.

See that's what is confusing me, I thought season passes usually contained the upcoming paid dlc... I've tried searching today and best I can make out is everyone will get the fresh episodes / content or whatever for free, only real difference with Year 1 Pass is getting that content a week earlier than standard.

It doesn't look to me like Year 1 Pass contains any of paid dlc that comes along.

Is it me or are they deliberately vague about it or am I just being dense?

Edit. I won't be offended if anyone confirms that I'm being dense

Anyone know what the key is to use first aid for PC?

Balthezor wrote:

Anyone know what the key is to use first aid for PC?

click 4 and it will use whatever you have selected.

hold 4 brings up a wheel that allows you to pick what you want selected.

wrong game...

i rebound mine so not sure...

I think it's 'v'.

Its press and hold V to repair armor.
Its F to revive someone.

Ok looks like I was overthinking it.

Good for the main content with standard. Can cope with waiting an extra week for expansions.

Bubblefuzz wrote:

Ok looks like I was overthinking it.

Good for the main content with standard. Can cope with waiting an extra week for expansions.

If I am not mistaken, they did the same Year 1 pass with the original game and it's basically a time limited season pass.

I decided to go with the standard edition, I figure if I want expansions, I can always buy them later (which I haven't with the original game - even though I liked the game a lot, played 80+ hours of it, I didn't feel the urge to pay for DLCs, got distracted by other games, etc.).

Division 2 gives me the weirdest deja vu feeling - it looks and feels so similar to the first one, I keep expecting to see some bits of Manhatten when I turn a corner. The game kind of changed and it kind of feels the same. Weird.

I like it, even though I am much more excited about Anthem. Division 2 beta is much more stable than Anthem demo. Thursday was awful stability wise, lost connection a dozen times but Friday was very smooth - only one disconnect between the three of us over 5 hours.

[edit] Their web site infrastructure sucks though. Even though I was playing their beta, I couldn't invite any friends until today - the web page didn't recognize that I have pre-ordered. It's working now though, I have 2 invites I can give away, PM me if you want one. Also friend me on UPlay to get the invite, my name there is Hedinn-GWJ.

Game feels great, and as a beta is far more stable than Anthem's "demo". One of my main points of interest is I used to live in D.C., so I'm looking forward to the power of geographical nostalgia and all. So far, it's pretty amazing in what I recognize.

I tried out the endgame content today. I'm not sure I get the concept in general; any of these sorts of games I've played in the past, I play the campaign, get to max level, and feel like I've gotten my money's worth and am ready to move on. What I played of The Division 2's endgame did not persuade me that I've been missing out. It was a normal mission but way harder. But not necessarily more challenging, just tons more bad guys. I think any more time I spend in the beta will be with my regular character.

Lol, their friends invite thing still does not work for me. I've invited a friend and for some reason they've got an invite for PS4, even though neither him nor I have ever played any Ubisoft game on PS4. The PC UPlay client does not show beta anywhere, their account management page also doesn't show it.

Tried the Dark Zone solo. Got wrecked by 2-3 people at a time. Other times I took out camps of NPC's with another guy and we didn't bother each other. Was fun but just like Division 1, going solo can be fun but when you come across teams, it's tough since you can avoid them until extract.

I have to disagree with you guys about missing the snow. By the end of the first game I was pretty sick of that environment. Wouldn't be happy if it was the same this time around.

As far as the beta I played about a 1/2 hour and it seemed pretty familiar. That's not really a bad thing but as I pretty much only enjoyed the original game playing through with my friends I'll probably hold off until they decide to pick it up.

I'm getting a "player requesting assistance" audio cue roughly every 4 seconds...they're going to need to put some sort of limit on how often you hear those. I don't want to turn them off altogether, but one every couple of minutes should be sufficient.

mrlogical wrote:

I'm getting a "player requesting assistance" audio cue roughly every 4 seconds...they're going to need to put some sort of limit on how often you hear those. I don't want to turn them off altogether, but one every couple of minutes should be sufficient.

The UI for those is pretty opaque. I have no idea where to see these requests for assistance, so I could help, even if I wanted to. Might dig through the settings and turn them off.

I think it reads on screen to press L3 on PS4 controller to do something with those agent requesting assistance shout outs... but pressing it doesn't seem to do anything right now.

Game is amazing on PC. Very cool to see landmarks I see every day. I'm like hey I walked by there or that's my metro stop etc... Anyone figure out a way to increase FOV? I wish I had a chance to play earlier, going to be a long wait until March. The sad/funny thing is I work for a Counter-WMD organization and I kept thinking, we dropped the ball on this one.

SpyNavy wrote:

Game is amazing on PC. Very cool to see landmarks I see every day. I'm like hey I walked by there or that's my metro stop etc... Anyone figure out a way to increase FOV? I wish I had a chance to play earlier, going to be a long wait until March. The sad/funny thing is I work for a Counter-WMD organization and I kept thinking, we dropped the ball on this one.

I left the D.C. area in 2005, so my memory is excessively fuzzy at this point anyways, but even I keep having the same things. You think we can convince them to add Northern Virginia? Like, out to the Beltway or so? I lived in Falls Church and Annandale and I want to find my old houses.

I'm going to pick up Anthem for the sci-fi silliness and all, but, at this point, I'm definitely looking forward to this more. There's something about the deliberate pace and tactical approach that I'm craving at this point.

SpyNavy wrote:

Game is amazing on PC. Very cool to see landmarks I see every day. I'm like hey I walked by there or that's my metro stop etc... Anyone figure out a way to increase FOV? I wish I had a chance to play earlier, going to be a long wait until March. The sad/funny thing is I work for a Counter-WMD organization and I kept thinking, we dropped the ball on this one.

Ha ha. yeah I can't wait to venture into the Metro tunnels - I haven't seen a way to get very far in on the Beta, but I did get a glimpse of those distinctive honeycomb concrete ceilings in one of the stops at the very edge of the Beta map.

I love how the developers are taking care of the PC version. Ultrawide support, no crashes, looks great on PC.

I wonder if the lack of unarmed civilians wandering about is a beta limitation. There are civilians, but they're fulfilling the role of the JTF patrols from the first game, in that they're armed and roam about shooting at the bad guy factions.

I suppose it makes sense in the game world, since this is several months (years?) after the first game and the unarmed civilians have mostly retreated into defensible communities. I like the community spaces actually, they kind of remind me of the subway station communities in the Metro games, complete with random guitar-strummers in corners and lots of little vignettes of life.

Played a little more to level 5 - I really like how exploring rewards with loot. You definitely can not be stationary nearly as much as you were in the 1st game. Multiple enemies will flank you quick. Finding good cover and terrain - including high ground and choke points is rewarded. I think the grenades this time, on the enemies is a bit overkill. The near constant grenade launcher spam can get you killed quick. Im hoping they tone that down some.

Yeah, I agree with that. So many grenades! But it was nice to feel a need to keep moving and pushing forward instead of sitting still in a shooting gallery.