The Division - Tom Clancy Presents Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's The Division, By Ubisoft

[YoThatLimp]

Normally I'd get this on PC, but I have friends getting it on PS4 and the cheating stuff on PC had me a little wary, so I'm going with the console version.

Huh, have not even thought about the cheating aspect, I wonder how bad it'll be on PC.

[complexmath]

Huh, have not even thought about the cheating aspect, I wonder how bad it'll be on PC.

 

The potential for cheating was apparently terrible during the beta. All data is supplied by the client and was not checked by the server. Boosting run speed to "so fast they're invisible" levels and giving unlimited ammo was apparently trivial. In a statement released following the final closed beta, Ubi acknowledged the issue and said they'll be addressing it for launch. I've heard they'll be using FairFight on the server side to deal with this. Still, this could make or break the Dark Zone, so I really hope it gets sorted out effectively.

[prettyunsmart]

For anyone who is still on the fence about this game,

. It's not a review, but at least its a way to get a look at the final product ahead of release.

[Badfinger]

The potential for cheating was apparently terrible during the beta. All data is supplied by the client and was not checked by the server. Boosting run speed to "so fast they're invisible" levels and giving unlimited ammo was apparently trivial. In a statement released following the final closed beta, Ubi acknowledged the issue and said they'll be addressing it for launch. I've heard they'll be using FairFight on the server side to deal with this. Still, this could make or break the Dark Zone, so I really hope it gets sorted out effectively.

 

The Open Beta had none of those shenanigans. I played fewer hours in the open than the closed, but in all my time in the DZ I didn't see a single thing that I could obviously categorize as someone hacking or cheating. In hindsight it seems very purposeful that they left the closed beta wide open, and took that information for the next one. I feel quite confident about the full release.

 

Speaking of the full release, it's out soon/today/now depending on where you are and what you have.

 

CONSOLE PHYSICAL COPY - The game is out now, it released 3/8 at 12:01AM Australian. 

CONSOLE DIGITAL COPY - The game unlocks for you whenever 3/8 12:01AM local time is.

 

PC COPY - Servers go live 12:01 3/8 EST (5AM GMT). that's almost precisely 11 hours from this post.

[Dewar]

Nice. Depending on how decryption goes, I might be able to play an hour or two tonight.

 

So, I ended up with an extra copy of this for PC since I bought a video card. PM me and, if you meet my arbitrary determination of an active poster, I'll forward the email I got. It activates straight into uPlay. 

 

Edit: Taken

[Badfinger]

I wish I could volunteer to take advantage of your fantastically generous offer. That's really rad of you.

[prettyunsmart]

I wish I could volunteer to take advantage of your fantastically generous offer. That's really rad of you.

 

Seriously, super rad. It's not unusual to see people give away extra keys from Humble Bundles, but a brand new $60 game is super generous.

[YoThatLimp]

Nice Dewar!I just picked up my copy, but it's very generous to offer that up!

[Dewar]

No worries, this is one of those instances where everyone I know IRL has either already bought it, or doesn't want it. I didn't even think about the free copy coming with a video card, or I'd have just bought the card last week

 

Copy taken, btw.

[YoThatLimp]

So if everything doesn't blow up tonight (and it isn't too late) anyone keep and grouping up for a bit?

[Dragonfliet]

Hey, I shall probably be interested in gaming with folks on PC. My uplay is: Dragonfliet

 

I'll tend to be on later in the evenings, after my wife has gone to sleep and can't remind me that it is a terrible idea to put off my oppressive load of coursework for silly mmo-like games.

[Dewar]

Stuff blew up, but then I got in about an hour after launch. I played all the way up to getting your home base the first time. It looks very pretty with my new video card.

[Dragonfliet]

Ran a few missions before the servers crapped out, which allows me some time to be a responsible adult before sleep. Do add me though, for other late night adventures.

[Dewar]

Sounds like there might be some end game content that's strictly PvE?

 

http://blog.ubi.com/the-division-post-launch-plans-and-dlc-revealed/

 

Additionally, two free updates, available to all players, will hit in the months following launch. Beginning in April, the Incursions update will add an endgame activity designed for squad play, challenging teams of four players to face nigh-unstoppable enemies for high-level loot. Also coming with the Incursions update is loot trading. Players in the same squad will be able to trade loot that’s collected during their co-op game session.

[Badfinger]

I would have been really shocked to not have that be the case. The whole "it's only the dark zone at level 30" thing didn't seem at all plausible to me.

 

I'm really enjoying this game. There is a LOT of content if all you did was play the single player stuff to level 30 and quit. I mean, a lot. If anyone thought they were going to rush and hit level 30 in a day (not here, just generally), they're kidding themselves. The "i'll only ever go to the dark zone" crew is also kidding themselves. All the relevant upgrades are acquired through missions, not through levels.

[Dewar]

uPlay is Nomonel. I'm adding a few people I see on this thread.

[YoThatLimp]

Oh man, this game is pretty good. 

[Nappi]

I'm not usually into multiplayer games, but I really enjoyed playing Destiny with my friend. We completed the campaign and leveled up some more, but neither of us were interested in committing ourselves to the raids, the competitive multiplayer and all that. It sounds like this game could scratch my co-op shooter itch. I assume the missions scale with player count so that they are enjoyable even if you only have two player crew?

[prettyunsmart]

So far I've only played up to the missions that were in the beta, but I'm really enjoying it so far. Division Agent dress up is clearly the best part of this game. I found a fuzzy hunting hat and I've been wearing it proudly.

 

I'm smart.89 on Uplay if anyone wants to team up. EDIT: I'm on PC, if that matters.

[juv3nal]

ok im in on ps4 dc_juv3nal

[Dewar]

I'm not usually into multiplayer games, but I really enjoyed playing Destiny with my friend. We completed the campaign and leveled up some more, but neither of us were interested in committing ourselves to the raids, the competitive multiplayer and all that. It sounds like this game could scratch my co-op shooter itch. I assume the missions scale with player count so that they are enjoyable even if you only have two player crew?

 

Yup, it scales the main missions pretty nicely for 1-4 players. Not sure about hard modes of those missions though and I don't think the ambient missions scale much since any number of players could possibly stumble into them on the open map.

 

Edit: It was nice to see you Dragonfliet, unfortunately I had run to that safe house expressly to sell/recycle junk and quit the game for the night. I work from home tomorrow, so I might be able to be on a bit later this evening.

[juv3nal]

I am never one to play the hard version of a mission but I did the one story mission in Brooklyn with a rando and he wanted to keep hanging out but it was another 25mins until manhattan would be finished downloading so we went ahead and did the hard version of that first mission. I can't say the supposed extra in-game reward was worth it but it was fun figuring out how to exploit the AI (after many, many wipes...thankfully the checkpointing is pretty generous at least on that mission). Basically you can kite the enemies waaay back into previously cleared areas of the level (often way past the last checkpoint) in order to isolate more managable, smaller groups.

[Quak0r]

Quak0r on ÜPlay if you need someone to roll with in EU timezones.

 

I'm 20 now and expect to hit 30 by the Sunday.

[Badfinger]

I'm not usually into multiplayer games, but I really enjoyed playing Destiny with my friend. We completed the campaign and leveled up some more, but neither of us were interested in committing ourselves to the raids, the competitive multiplayer and all that. It sounds like this game could scratch my co-op shooter itch. I assume the missions scale with player count so that they are enjoyable even if you only have two player crew?

 

Yes, playing on normal at the appropriate level the missions seemed to work for less than a full squad.

 

I basically injected this game straight into my veins. I don't recommend that, but I have really enjoyed it. It appears that you can basically mainline the game and be roughly the correct level. With a little side work, you can roll through as you unlock the new districts. There is a lot of video game here even if you're ONLY playing it as a single player/co-op experience. My friend really does NOT like the "large human with lots of health" model, but I am totally fine with it. However, the structure of the missions themselves is really interesting and varied. I liked them a lot.

 

I'm interested to see the level 30 dark zone, and try the hard missions. There's also something called "challenge" missions, which scares me.

 

I definitely recommend NOT doing this like it is your drug. The side missions can be repetitive if you do 40 of them in 2 days!

[prettyunsmart]

Yes, playing on normal at the appropriate level the missions seemed to work for less than a full squad.

 

I basically injected this game straight into my veins. I don't recommend that, but I have really enjoyed it. It appears that you can basically mainline the game and be roughly the correct level. With a little side work, you can roll through as you unlock the new districts. There is a lot of video game here even if you're ONLY playing it as a single player/co-op experience. My friend really does NOT like the "large human with lots of health" model, but I am totally fine with it. However, the structure of the missions themselves is really interesting and varied. I liked them a lot.

 

I'm interested to see the level 30 dark zone, and try the hard missions. There's also something called "challenge" missions, which scares me.

 

I definitely recommend NOT doing this like it is your drug. The side missions can be repetitive if you do 40 of them in 2 days!

 

My approach has been to save the repetitive side stuff for when I'm just roaming around by myself (usually while listening to podcasts). Then I can save the meatier missions for when I'm grouped up with friends. So far it's been really great.

 

Except for that time when two of my group members who had just finished the tutorial thought it was a great idea to set a level 8 mission to hard mode our first time through. That did not go well for us.