Phase 3 stability:
This phase was rough, too many Delta errors and general instability, made it hard to test stuff, so prioritize fixing this otherwise it’s going to be unplayable.

Countdown:
I like that the mode is balanced according to the number of players, I tested it with my friend (so tested in a party of 2) and compared to Phase 2 it’s way more manageable in terms of number of enemies.

Other than that, I have some QoL changes that I feel are necessary to improve the mode further:
-         Reduce the enemy count for VIP Escort task, way too many of them before the hounds come out
 
-         Make the objective type description more noticeable on the map, maybe right above the little yellow maker. I feel that in the top left corner can be easily missed since you are trying to optimize how much time you spend on the map before choosing what route to take/objectives to do
 
-         Give us a “grace period” when the main objective ends, so we have time to loot enemy drops and the final chest, most of the time I see people skipping it since they want to get to the extraction as quickly as possible. The 4 min countdown could start when hunters spawn

Expertise:
Let’s talk about xp gain. I noticed that while playing in groups I was gaining more xp than in solo play. If this is actually the case, could you tweak the xp gained in solo play?
Maybe you could add a perk at the quartermaster to gain more Expertise xp (mind you that we still have some unused SHD tech point in our inventories) maybe adding more SHD tech caches around the map.

Other than that, the rewards are not that worth the grind, unlike Keeners watch.
A possible rework could be:
When you reach max expertise level, you can choose what to put on the weapon/gear from the list of in game attributes: crit chance, crit damage, armor regen, etc… so it makes sense that you would want to invest materials in different pieces of gear since you are using them in different builds. This is all said by someone who doesn’t play pvp, so if this can be considered balanced is obviously up to the dev team.

The system could be a lot better, so if you can, it would be good to take more time developing it, maybe launch it with the specialization rework, because at this point is all a giant grind for ultimately little reward.
 
It’s been fun to test it all, not so much in phase 3 to be completely honest, so good luck to the dev team, keep up the good work, I cant wait for the future updates both in terms of content and narrative!

@big_iron223
let’s fingers cross that the next time good content comes and not again more gear, next progression system, next mode …

@gnarlyatol1793
Do you have suggestions if new gear, more progression options, and a new game mode are not good enough content for you?

@arthurfriend you are wrong - its not a new CONTENT!!
New game mode its not a new end game activity or new content
The same about new gear and progresion system - whe we need this ??? most of us finished current the end game 2 years ago! yes 2 years ago because there was nothing
I complete all legendary missions and raids 100 + times
What do I need new expertise system ? for what purpose ?? for finish current end game 5 mins earlier?? , the same about gear ?? why do i need more gear when i have my own 5 loadouts well optimized - that's why everyone is writing all the time on forums, twitter that we need new content /Dlc and new end game activities or Legendary ++ , new legendary missions

@inv_dalerium
I couldn’t agree more!!!

@arthurfriend
Dear Arthur, I made several posts in the last month with several detailed proposals here and in Reddit with regard to:

• low hanging fruits, means improvements with limited efforts
• improvement of missions to make use of mission maps for multiple use instead that single and 100% linear use only and to increase replay value
• make better use of the existing open world map by adding some realistic and motivating tasks which contribute to the story and by making use of existing areas, buildings, tunnels and locations which have been used only to place thousands of nonsense loot crates and the like only

I dont want to repeat everything because I must type with my smartphone but give you some examples below, some easy others more complex but I assume the new Countdown mode with a new map was a much bigger effort, which probably is of interest of the minority of the player base.

But before, my motivation: I love both division games , because of different reasons, division one my clear favourite, no game I played that intensively and therefore was of good hope when they announced last year that they want to add further content to division 2 which kept me playing, especially after all the great feedback and proposals from people here and in Reddit.

I was deeply frustrated when they made the announcement last year, I couldn’t get into my brain what they wanna do after all this feedback here and in Reddit. That was my start for posting here and in Reddit, never posted something about a game before. When I like a game then I play it and accept as it is (like Read Dead Redemption 2), if I do not like it then I deinstall (like Breakpoint) but do not post in internet, I have a demanding job, family, children, friends and other problems.

But with Division it’s different. I was absolutely stunned when I started Division 1 few years ago, starting in Brooklyn with the view on Manhattan bridge, simply great atmospheric visuals, still love it. Just started my 4th campaign. I played half year darkzone in division 1, great time as well, still play it but division 2 currently more.

When I first time started Division 2 (played the campaign 2 times, currently at SHD 7.500, therefore quite some playtime) my emotion was different: shock, I couldn’t believe what I saw, an emotion a lot division 1 lovers faced. A lot good friends from division 1 did not continue playing division 2 because of that. I overcame my frustration and somehow accepted over time and continued playing.

What I love about division: the great open worlds, the details that can be found everywhere, the great visuals of missions, the steering of the character (what is a mess in RDR2), the great feel of shooting.

But to phrase it clearly: I care a [censored] about loot, grind, attribute, talents, skills, mods, exotics, … , aparell … modes, seasons, manhunts …. I had to, to a certain extent, otherwise I can not play in endgame, especially not PvP. That’s the part I accepted and I have no trouble when they are further adding in this technical category of the game.

Nearly all my friends in both games feel that way and I even get this response mostly from randoms I ask. Yesterday I met a new guy with SHD 12k, his reaction was exactly this. Therefore I cannot believe that these kind of Division lovers are the minority.

Therefore I do not care at all about new gear, new progression and a new mode.

My frustration is that they are focussing for years on these things.

But to be fair, I was very happy when they added the outskirt missions and WoNY, despite the same lacking atmosphere (mostly).

But my frustration started already in Division 1 because of their additions. I was happy when a new area popped up (the piers) but was frustrated from the blunt endless mode, the frustrating blunt incursions and resistences … at the time people were begging for endgame content for this great map which is basically dead in endgame. Addition of good open world content and expansion of the base game instead of all these modes would have been great. Survival great though, Underground great looking but … boring mode, play it sometimes a bit.

Why are all the additions something different then the great base game? Why not building on this, even not partially?

Back to Division 2 and here it continuous with that technical and mode focus.

As said before, I am fine when they are adding in the technical category but not with ignoring the other side of the coin for years.

Some of the multiple proposals from others and me:

• Improvement of open world content: exclusion of the nonsense tasks like the millions public executions and propaganda (yes farmers love it but I am talking about gameplay here) and adding realistic and motivating tasks instead which contribute to the story. Current open world activities are nothing else than a blunt mode, people playing mostly because of farming but not because of the activity itself. With limited efforts that can be reached. There are not always big things necessary. The are million possibilities. To make one example: an officer in base of operations tells you that an important scientist is missing. It is not known where he is. You get the task to search for information in a certain area (finding information in a certain computer or from a certain person). You do not get the exact location (depending on difficulty, a certain area, street, building) requiring to search in open world and facing random NPC encounters, the information you get provides you with hints for your further search in open world (varied depending on difficulty) leading finally to a secret laboratory (eg the one in the contaminated building south East mall) where you find the scientist, unfortunately dead but in that area you recognize further dead scientist and hints that some have been taken by a fraction and you find hints where to search for them … finally rescuing them and escorting them to base of operations, chased by the fraction with intense fights. These kinds of simple tasks can be designed in multiple mini story’s, making use of existing maps and locations of the open world, mission map locations, even the great looking safehouse can be involved and others, see below
• making better use of the open world: making use of all the locations used in side missions which are locked now or not used (eg the great old bunker at navy hill, underground area of City Hall, Secret laboratory near White House, the outside area at Pentagon …), the multiple locations/buildings/tunnels only used for hiding the useless loot crates, SHD crates, collectibles, make use of the great and atmospheric looking contaminated buildings which have been designed for few minutes playing during campaign only … such a nonsense and waste …
• base game expansion with existing maps: for example the Survival mode uses the same map as the base game. Therefore it is technically possible to make use of the same map for different purposes (in early days the three darkzones were used for side missions during campaign). Therefore: make use of the existing two raid maps, the five conflict maps, the three darkzone maps, Kenly, even Summit building and the new Countdown map for expansion of the base game, means with the same functionality as it has been done when the outskirt missions have been added. The current modes stay of course for the mode lovers.
• missions: damn Ubi, integrate the classified missions into base game (happy to pay for this expansion but not for the current nonsense)
• Missions: turn the 100% linearity into open mission map design (like Kenly or the Conflict maps) allowing for a bit variance in the gameplay and for making use of these improved mission maps for multiple use (eg smaller side missions, projects). Eg Pentagon: super great looking but due to the linearisation basically a long tunnel. Think about how great this would be if this would be opened up a bit to the left and right, here and there, and making use of the outside area, used during campaign only for few minutes. Would be a much better mission map that could be also used for small tasks instead of onetime use
• missions: several programmed mission maps have been reduced for the purpose of the linear gameplay by inserting these artificial looking linear hedges and blockades. The actual mission map is often bigger, these existing areas can be used, even for simple tasks only. Examples: the non-used Coney Island area which is as big as both Coney mission maps together, the non-used area of Camp White Oak, Capitol outside area, Pentagon outside area and multiple more
• the 3 darkzones: a) keep current PvEvP set up as a mode which is great from my perspective, b) make use of the three darkzone maps for PvE base game expansion as mentioned above, 3) add a bigger PvEvP darkzone as in division 1 as a mode by making use of (part?) the WoNY map.
• Here and there some visual tweaks , reducing the cartoonish kitchy elements and adding a bit drama to improve the atmosphere a bit towards the story

Well there are much more things possible with the existing game, but the things above are the ones I am interested in, which are basically an improvement of the existing game and use of existing map(s) but of course a paid dlc like WoNY is pretty much appreciated. I pretty much prefer Ubi/Massive working on improvements like above and an expansion like WoNY and asking for money instead of wasting resources on free content with limited use.

Best
Gnarly

Dear Arthur, I made several posts in the last month with several detailed proposals here and in Reddit with regard to

No, you've just repeatedly spammed your wish list to other people's threads talking about other topics. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if your comments are ignored as it's always the same thing.

-         Make the objective type description more noticeable on the map, maybe right above the little yellow maker. I feel that in the top left corner can be easily missed since you are trying to optimize how much time you spend on the map before choosing what route to take/objectives to do

I agree that readability/clarity of objectives could do with improvement. Not just the title, but clearer/easier to read markers. The combination of time pressure, a visually dense environment, and random matchmaking can make it really difficult to figure out what needs to be done next.

@suschunga
what do you want? He asked me. The capability to read helps. Simply ignore my posts as I do your nonsense contributions.

(...) - low hanging fruits, means improvements with limited efforts
- improvement of missions to make use of mission maps for multiple use instead that single and 100% linear use only and to increase replay value
- make better use of the existing open world map by adding some realistic and motivating tasks which contribute to the story and by making use of existing areas, buildings, tunnels and locations which have been used only to place thousands of nonsense loot crates and the like only

I am afraid I have to agree that what you wrote is actually an interesting wish list, but not a list of actually implementable features and improvements.

Don't get me wrong – I do like some ideas, like re-opening some of the map's areas which were only used during side missions. But most of the ideas listed are not even remotely close to a "low hanging fruit". While it's totally fair and ok to have a list of things you wish for, it is not fair to just repeatedly claim that those were actually realistic suggestions.

Because most of the mentioned ideas would have much bigger implications on the whole game than just "make use of this map and that map". The open world we are having in The Division 2, for example, is a pretty complex eco-system with an equally complex system of how and where what enemies spawn. Of course it would be more fun to have more spawn points during some activities, but each and every spawn points needs to have certain behaviors, limits and values matching the current kind of activity, the faction, difficulty setting, group size etc. ... in order to have a gameplay experience that we as players can perceive as "balanced" or even "fun". Thus you can't just say "add activities to this map, make an open world out of that map". I don't say that this would be impossible – but it would be a pretty huge workload to do just this. And we're talking expansion-size here, not a low hanging fruit.

The same is true for pretty much every single wish of your's... for example having open world activities which appear to be more like procedurally created, scripted or at least guided side-missions inside the complete open world. Creating, balancing and embedding such missions in only the DC would probably be as much work as creating the Underground for The Division 1. To make this absolutely clear: just because you envision this to be easy, it not automatically is easy. Because it isn't. (And I'd even doubt that players would fancy having to regularly replay such lengthy quests while having to run around in circles...)

@noxious81
Dear Noxious, I agree that most of the proposals are no low hanging fruits. I am fully with you. But the selected items I put into this post are not all meant to be low hanging fruits, it’s simply a selection of dreams I have. Sorry if my post reads like a low hanging fruit post. Of course, I only studied chemistry and economics and working in M&A business, therefore I cannot really judge what it’s rather easily implementable.

Further I do not expect that Ubi/Massive would realize something of it. Most of the items mentioned were proposed by the people regularly for years and they had years to implement things like these and of course not everything.

To make one example: I assume Countdown was a big work for them, even preparing a new map for it but again for this mode only. This map could be an expansion of the base game with a normal story mission on it or 2 like the later added outskirts like Pentagon was an expansion of the base game. So the countdown map could be a comparable expansion of base game as well with the Countdown as mode on top. Comparably like Survival is a mode on top of the base game map in division 1. Everyone would be happy, the base game lovers and the mode/grinder fans.

You are not interested in the base game and in modes only, fine, but not me and a lot others also not. You dont see value in base game expansion, additional missions, I do, I do not see value in modes. A lot longterm players I know still playing the missions and open world content regularly, some even every day since release, but only few play raids, for example. The same I see in Division 1. For me replay value is not increasing playing the same mode with the same tasks again and again and also not for the purpose of getting new gear pieces or to further optimize, others are motivated by that, which is fine. I am not saying delete Countdown or raids or summit or incursions or resistances or ….

You are tired reading proposals like these, well I am also tired reading, I want a percentage changed here, I want different buff here, I want different talent, I want less material to optimize and the like. But I do not complain and offend people.

One of the low hanging fruits might be the integration of the classified missions in base game, of course its work, but Countdown was a lot work as well. Would be 8 (?) additional missions for the base game.

Low hanging fruit would be also by making use of one of the raid maps for expansion of base game comparable to an outskirt mission. Yes, it’s work, but the map is already existing. You dont see value in these things, I do, much more then in the combined new pack of new gear, Expertise and Countdown.

Example for a low hanging fruit in open world: well, I love the open world of both games, unfortunately dead in division 1 and despite I dislike the blunt mode-like tasks in open world in division 2, especially the countless propaganda and public executions, my biggest part of play time is in open world.

Few month ago I found a secret place at the Brooklyn bridge when a robot forced me to retreat and I was suddenly in the East River where you can walk over a sandbank which I never recognized before. Over the hardly visible sandbank one can reach a huge bridge pillar in East River and jumping over a big crate you can reach the back side of the bridge pillar. What you can find there is crashed bridge parts, a wrecked ship, a dead body with some board games (whatever the sense of this is) and of course some useless loot crates. I assume that was a lot effort to design and to develop this, but for what?

Now my example: this dead body could be a father and you find in the neighborhood hints that he has a wife and a daughter. After some searching in the area you find hints that they might be kidnapped with hints for a certain fraction and where they can be found. These kind of realistic tasks with small story contributions would be limited effort from by perspective because no additional map, buildings, locations need to be developed, no new enemies, no new mechanics. You are not interested in these kind of tasks? I am, much much more than playing the same blunt tasks again and again only to get a named item or exotic or to optimize … The task matters and has the clear priority for me over with what gear and stat I do a task.

Best
Gnarly

@gnarlyatol1793 this forum is for discussion about what was in the PTS, not your pipe dreams. That's what "General Discussion" is for. It's also why this section of the forum will disappear once TU15 goes live.

I've said it before - start your own thread in general discussion and get support there. Derailing the PTS conversation just worsens the signal/noise ratio, and reduces the chances that good points are visible.