With the Devs hard at work on Update 1.4, we wanted to take this opportunity to provide some insight into key aspects we are looking at in order to improve the overall experience.
Time to kill: With recent updates, the time to kill has increased as the NPCs have gone up in level. While higher levels should bring increased difficulty and effort required to kill an NPC, it’s important that it still feels natural to your character’s progression and that we move away from just changing health and damage when scaling difficulty.
Difficulty scaling: Currently the progression between certain difficulties is too harsh, namely the jump between Hard and Challenging. There should be clear progression steps as you journey from being a fresh level 30 Agent to one with min-maxed gear of the highest gear score possible. To ensure smooth progression and make these steps clear, we need to look at the current scaling and resdesign the system so it feels like a more natural jump in difficulty. It’s also worth noting that the gap between our most “geared” players and those that we would consider to have an average loadout is far too big. This is something that we will need to adjust as well.
Loot Rewards: To continue taking steps to improve the progression systems we need to address the way loot rewards are handled. As a player, you should be able to play at your appropriate difficulty and acquire loot that allows you to progress to higher difficulties. You should also be able to obtain loot by doing the activities you enjoy doing. This isn’t supported very well in the current system and it’s important we address it.
Shooter: As the game has progressed, some of the core shooter elements have diminished. It’s important that you feel the impact of gun handling and that it’s factored in when you are considering which gun to use. We want to bring back and improve upon the importance of gunplay along with the cover based elements so the experience you have while leveling is consistent throughout the entire game.
The features addressed in Update 1.4 are not only limited to those listed above, of course. In order to bring a better balance to the game play experience, NPCs aren’t the only factor we need to look at. Player power comes with it’s own imbalances and we will be looking at a number of criteria that impact that like, for example, attribute scaling, skills, talents, etc. This means that while some stats may change, the end result will be a more balanced and fun experience.
Public Test Server
We are very excited to announce that the first technical test for the Public Test Server will start on Thursday, September 15th. This will be used to test the infrastructure of the server and ensure its stability. For this, the invites will be limited to PC players who sent in an application to the Elite Task Force, as a token of appreciation for your dedication to the game.
If you are on PC and didn’t apply to the Elite Task Force and still want to take part don’t worry! We are planning on making the Public Test Server available to all PC players who own a copy of the game on Monday September 19th. There will also be no NDA so you will be free to discuss it with others.
Finally, we’ve published an FAQ that may answer some of your questions! Check it out here!
Elite Task Force
The Elite Task Force arrived at Massive yesterday and have already jumped into their packed schedule.
These are some of the activities covered in their agenda
Current State of the Game
Update 1.4 discussions and the rebalancing effort
Testing and feedback
Discussion and workshops
We also want to shed some more light on the selection process. We did invite and select a few YouTube/Twitch personalities as they are powerful voices and came highly recommended by the community, however, a large number of the participants are regular players that were selected based on their application. In order to make that selection we examined certain player profiles such as those that played largely in groups, solo, casual, hardcore PVE, hardcore Dark Zone, and so on. This was done to ensure that we have representation from every part of the community so that every perspective is taken into account.
During their visit, a lot of great ideas and suggestions will be shared, however it will not be possible to act on all of them. For this reason we have asked the participants not to share any details on the discussions that occur during their visit, as it may set the wrong expectations. They will be able to share some of their experiences however so be on the lookout for that!
I have to say I'm blown away by all the effort they have recently put into improving this game. I was convinced that Ubisoft had already dismissed this game as a failure and would only do the minimum required to get the remaining DLCs out the door and be done with it. I'm honestly surprised they've decided to invest more into the game. Looking forward to these changes.
Note: the test server was delayed. The fact that they're still at this stage in making the end game fun does not impress me. No it's the other word, the mean one.
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Sirialisof the Halite Throne.Registered Userregular
edited September 2016
My friend loved this game but that Underground DLC and its same'ish grinding broke him.
I just want the last achievements and be done with it.
If they just made players 1000 times stronger and cut the rep needed to reach rank 40 in Underground, I'd be okay with it.
This game had a lot of potential. Unfortunately the execution was poor. The game play while level was top notch imo, atmosphere was great and the customization was spot on.
Then the grind begins and your forced into playing the same stuff for not much of a chance at anything.
They should have included a weekly invasion or something that allowed you to fight over terriroty and use that awesome world more. I haven't played in so long as it lost my attention after the first xpac.... so sad that it flopped so hard
I saw a kid get handed a JB poster by who I presume was his parents outside my store today....he tore it in half infront of his horrified parents.....There's hope for our youth yet!
+4
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DietarySupplementStill not approved by the FDADublin, OHRegistered Userregular
If anyone is still actively playing, I was out of the country for almost the last month but I still like to play a few nights a week... I still find it fun.
My friend loved this game but that Underground DLC and its same'ish grinding broke him.
I just want the last achievements and be done with it.
If they just made players 1000 times stronger and cut the rep needed to reach rank 40 in Underground, I'd be okay with it.
I really enjoyed underground but christ what a grind and shooting bullet sponges is a real pain in the arse. If they fix that shit then I will probably reinstall and have at it again.
I like the invasion idea that canuckont mentioned, the High Value Targets and Bounties added some replayability to the massive and beautiful PVE topside they made but it still needed more. Having the factions push into areas and lock them down. Once you did all the PVE missions that zone just seemed so lifeless.. needed more civilians to save, heck have supply drops in the PVE world that you have to get to distribute to civies, heck upgrade safezones not just your mainbase.
darkmayo on
Switch SW-6182-1526-0041
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Sirialisof the Halite Throne.Registered Userregular
edited September 2016
I would very much like that the developers only set the "Recommended Gear Score level" on things they were personally able to beat themselves while at that level.
Because lets face it, those "recommended" averages are just completely bullshit in The Division.
I got most of my fun out of the beta, running around in the DZ when all of my friends couldn't outlevel each other and when there was a hard cap on how powerful griefers could be. That was an excellent, excellent time. Too bad it got worse with launch rather than better.
I'd put 90 percent of the game's issues down to the bullet-sponge design. The game is fun when it balances on the edge between a traditional shooter and an RPG.
When the design gives you a couple more seconds to make tactical decisions in a firefight, it feels amazing. It's when you spend a full minute pouring bullets into a single enemy or die helpless against another player because of HP Mountain that it gets unfun.
+2
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Sirialisof the Halite Throne.Registered Userregular
Also that some of the stronger massive hp sponges have attacks that can basically one shot you, max armor or not.
Especially Snipers, Flamethrowers and Shotgunners.
I assume that 99% of the gear dropped as loot is worthless still?
with the current meta, yes. Still only a few talents/perks that are worth a damn and only a few weapons that are worth using. hopefully 1.4 will shake that up.
Switch SW-6182-1526-0041
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ObiFettUse the ForceAs You WishRegistered Userregular
1.4 sounds like it could be enough to bring me back
Gonna have to be really good to take over the single player loot shooter spot from Borderlands 2 which I just discovered.
I loved this game when it first came out, here's to hoping 1.4 can deliver.
The Dark Zone was the primary reason I bought the game. I've always found single player games to be pretty boring unless they have a compelling story. I can count the number of FPS single-player campaigns that I've finished on all the fingers of one foot. I think the furthest I've ever gotten in a single-player game is the one time that I might have gotten about 30% of the way through a Halo game.... On the other hand, I've burned hundreds of hours playing silly multiplayer FPSes like TF2 and Destiny.
Uh... you would be months of progression behind in the DZ now. From highly geared alts to highly geared normals, going to the dark zone will be an adventure for you.
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
I assume that 99% of the gear dropped as loot is worthless still?
with the current meta, yes. Still only a few talents/perks that are worth a damn and only a few weapons that are worth using. hopefully 1.4 will shake that up.
I just read the exploration of some of the changes in the latest State of the Game. It does not fill me with confidence unless they specifically announce a complete revamp/retooling of the entire weapon/armor perk system. To me it just sounds like a preference modifier so that if you use SMGs a lot, more SMGs will drop, and if you are GSxxx, you'll see more GSxxx+1 gear rather than GSxxx-1.
I assume that 99% of the gear dropped as loot is worthless still?
with the current meta, yes. Still only a few talents/perks that are worth a damn and only a few weapons that are worth using. hopefully 1.4 will shake that up.
I just read the exploration of some of the changes in the latest State of the Game. It does not fill me with confidence unless they specifically announce a complete revamp/retooling of the entire weapon/armor perk system. To me it just sounds like a preference modifier so that if you use SMGs a lot, more SMGs will drop, and if you are GSxxx, you'll see more GSxxx+1 gear rather than GSxxx-1.
They made mentions of changing how weapons handle and they will have to nerf/adjust gear to fit along with how they will be changing health pools and such. Get the game back to how it felt before you hit level 30. Of course we will see if they can actually pull that off.
That would be great, it was just silly that by level 30 you were pretty much able to get perfect stats for weapons, so I had no idea how they planned to make "better" weapons except for damage output. Everything had 100% mags, laser accuracy and so on.
Oh, awesome. Figured I'd pop in to play the game a little since I've been itching for a little 3rd-person shooting with modern guns...and the game is unplayable. Right from the splash screen, there's massive frame-rate stuttering (to the point where I could have sworn the game was non-responsive). Basically, every half-second or so, the frame-rate goes up to 22fps or so, and every other half-second, it drops back down to 1. I've tried every possible fix (toggling: Shadowplay overlay, Steam overlay, reverting Geforce Experience "optimizations"...the only option that I didn't try disabling was Gsync on my monitor, but I'm not sacrificing a $400 feature for the sake of a $60 game (price at time of purchase)).
Thanks Ubisoft...you've cured me of playing your game (even if I actually did want to play it).
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
So... an update on the 1.4 stuff. (Just grabbed their TL;DR)
Recap of gear changes:
All gear in World Tier 2 and higher will have all three base stats – Firearms, Stamina, Electronics – on them, one of these stats will be higher than the others.
Other bonuses, like crit chance and headshot damage, will be scaled down to fit the new game balance.
Gear will lose their skill bonuses, but backpacks, holsters and knee pads will gain new performance mod slots, making them easier to customize to fit your build.
Gear Sets will have their Gear Score adjusted to the same levels as High End gear.
Stat overlaps between Gear Scores have been removed.
edit2: also, they're going to redo all the weapon mods/skills and the old stuff will not be grandfathered:
...
In order to prevent overpowered “legacy” weapon mods, we’ve had to make these changes affect your current weapon mods too, which effectively means that all your weapon mods will be rerolled.
Damage bonuses like headshot damage, crit damage, armor damage etc, are becoming additive instead of multiplicative...
also this (skills are all being reworked entirely):
Recap of skill changes:
Electronics will be the main source of Skill Power.
Skill Power will not scale linearly anymore, instead it will follow a curve of diminishing returns.
Certain skills are currently much more popular than others. Some skills are overpowered, others underpowered or bugged.
Skills have been rebalanced to fit the new game balance or to bring them up to par, in the hopes of creating a more varied meta.
First Aid no longer allows for multiple heals, since those happened due to a bug. First Aid’s healing has been increased to make up for this fix. It will now heal instantly.
Smart Cover and Pulse have been reworked. Smart Cover is now more defensive and Pulse’s high damage boost has been lowered to make it balanced with the new enemy health.
Ballistic Shield and Support Station have been given more health. Support Station’s healing has been increased.
Many bugs associated with skills have been fixed.
tastydonuts on
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
I get stuttering if I run it in borderless windowed, so I have to go fullscreen if I have gsync on.
Going back to this: turns out uninstalling/reinstalling fixed it. Still running borderless windowed, all settings stayed the same...just a reinstall. 0.o Oh well, whatever Ubisoft/Massive...
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
Note that most of these changes will be retroactive. You won’t be able to save overpowered “legacy” weapons, instead you will see a direct change to the items in your inventory. While we realize this might come as a shock to some, we’re sure that the overall gameplay experience will be much more satisfying and simply more fun after these changes have been made.
Division 1.4 will pretty much be an entirely new gameplay experience, if they get it right.
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
Ugh...weapon mods being rerolled makes me unhappy. I mean, I know there's no real elegant way to do it given the sweeping changes being made...but knowing my luck with RNG, I'll end up with crap rerolls.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
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DietarySupplementStill not approved by the FDADublin, OHRegistered Userregular
Ugh...weapon mods being rerolled makes me unhappy. I mean, I know there's no real elegant way to do it given the sweeping changes being made...but knowing my luck with RNG, I'll end up with crap rerolls.
You mean if you re-roll them? Because any existing are staying as-is, it looks like...
Ugh...weapon mods being rerolled makes me unhappy. I mean, I know there's no real elegant way to do it given the sweeping changes being made...but knowing my luck with RNG, I'll end up with crap rerolls.
You mean if you re-roll them? Because any existing are staying as-is, it looks like...
From one of Tasty's edits:
...
In order to prevent overpowered “legacy” weapon mods, we’ve had to make these changes affect your current weapon mods too, which effectively means that all your weapon mods will be rerolled.
Erlkönig on
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
I don't think they'll reroll them in the sense that you'll end up with a different mod entirely, but rerolled in that some mod skills are gone... all stability bonuses are rolled into one generic stability modifier, and all accuracy ones are rolled up into one bonus too, and stuff like that.
+damage is going to be additive though. That's a big one.
tastydonuts on
“I used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw...”
Yeah, they were mentioning on the stream that people might want to stock up on weapon mods so they have higher chances at good [re]rolls. I came back and started a new character over the weekend and I've been enjoying the leveling process again.
I don't think they'll reroll them in the sense that you'll end up with a different mod entirely, but rerolled in that some mod skills are gone... all stability bonuses are rolled into one generic stability modifier, and all accuracy ones are rolled up into one bonus too, and stuff like that.
+damage is going to be additive though. That's a big one.
The mods that I'm most worried about are my magazines. Every single one in guns that I actually use have +mag capacity and +fire rate. With my luck, I'll likely get the lowest rolls with mag cap combined with crit chance.
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
I hope we won't need that 100 percent mag mods anymore I really dislike shooting my AR like an LMG.
I have no faith but I'll be happy to see it become the game I thought it was going to be
I saw a kid get handed a JB poster by who I presume was his parents outside my store today....he tore it in half infront of his horrified parents.....There's hope for our youth yet!
I hope we won't need that 100 percent mag mods anymore I really dislike shooting my AR like an LMG.
I have no faith but I'll be happy to see it become the game I thought it was going to be
I mean, it wouldn't be so bad if my gun looked like a G36 with the scrotal looking drum-mag...
EDIT - huh...what do ya know. Looks like the C-Mag is compatible with more than just the G36. So my Liberator would be able to equip it. Come on Massive...give us differently modeled mag mods based on capacity!
Erlkönig on
| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
I hope we won't need that 100 percent mag mods anymore I really dislike shooting my AR like an LMG.
I have no faith but I'll be happy to see it become the game I thought it was going to be
I mean, it wouldn't be so bad if my gun looked like a G36 with the scrotal looking drum-mag...
EDIT - huh...what do ya know. Looks like the C-Mag is compatible with more than just the G36. So my Liberator would be able to equip it. Come on Massive...give us differently modeled mag mods based on capacity!
Mag pull also makes I think a 50 round mag that is just really long. Beta c mag is super heavy irl.... just saying it breaks my immersion but what are you going to do vidya games lol.
I'd honestly like to see a more realistic model of ballistics where single shot was king for ARs but that's never going to happen. Nothing beats popping guys in the head with a quick shot behind some cover.
I actually love this game and was disappointed none of my friends enjoyed the post leveling game. The grind really made it apparent of how not fun somethings were
canuckont on
I saw a kid get handed a JB poster by who I presume was his parents outside my store today....he tore it in half infront of his horrified parents.....There's hope for our youth yet!
Been playing a little bit on my level 14 guy, the DZ at that level is largely empty atm so I can get in and have some fun without getting ganked by shitheels.
I think the real problem is the best PVE in the game is in the DZ. Nowhere else is there a place where you could be shooting it out with a crowd of cleaners only to have some rioters roll up behind and engage you and the cleaners. When you finally get topped off you run over to an extraction point.. clear out any NPCs then defend the point as you wait for the helicopter to arrive.
Underground is fun but you dont really get item rewards until the very end... open world is empty and quiet, no roaming packs of enemies barring the HVT and intel mobs.
My experience with the 1-14DZ was that the entrances (from the low level zones) were guarded by 4 or 5 asshats (at erach entrance) that shot pretty much anyone that wasn't level 14 on sight. Just getting IN to the DZ was a bit more difficult than it should have been.
Posts
This week: Complete 5 Underground missions on Challenging Difficulty.
I don't have the recommended 200 gear score... so... nevermind. Who thought that was a great idea for a weekly?
http://tomclancy-thedivision.ubi.com/game/en-US/news/152-266801-16/state-of-the-game-september-8th-2016
With the Devs hard at work on Update 1.4, we wanted to take this opportunity to provide some insight into key aspects we are looking at in order to improve the overall experience.
Time to kill: With recent updates, the time to kill has increased as the NPCs have gone up in level. While higher levels should bring increased difficulty and effort required to kill an NPC, it’s important that it still feels natural to your character’s progression and that we move away from just changing health and damage when scaling difficulty.
Difficulty scaling: Currently the progression between certain difficulties is too harsh, namely the jump between Hard and Challenging. There should be clear progression steps as you journey from being a fresh level 30 Agent to one with min-maxed gear of the highest gear score possible. To ensure smooth progression and make these steps clear, we need to look at the current scaling and resdesign the system so it feels like a more natural jump in difficulty. It’s also worth noting that the gap between our most “geared” players and those that we would consider to have an average loadout is far too big. This is something that we will need to adjust as well.
Loot Rewards: To continue taking steps to improve the progression systems we need to address the way loot rewards are handled. As a player, you should be able to play at your appropriate difficulty and acquire loot that allows you to progress to higher difficulties. You should also be able to obtain loot by doing the activities you enjoy doing. This isn’t supported very well in the current system and it’s important we address it.
Shooter: As the game has progressed, some of the core shooter elements have diminished. It’s important that you feel the impact of gun handling and that it’s factored in when you are considering which gun to use. We want to bring back and improve upon the importance of gunplay along with the cover based elements so the experience you have while leveling is consistent throughout the entire game.
The features addressed in Update 1.4 are not only limited to those listed above, of course. In order to bring a better balance to the game play experience, NPCs aren’t the only factor we need to look at. Player power comes with it’s own imbalances and we will be looking at a number of criteria that impact that like, for example, attribute scaling, skills, talents, etc. This means that while some stats may change, the end result will be a more balanced and fun experience.
Public Test Server
We are very excited to announce that the first technical test for the Public Test Server will start on Thursday, September 15th. This will be used to test the infrastructure of the server and ensure its stability. For this, the invites will be limited to PC players who sent in an application to the Elite Task Force, as a token of appreciation for your dedication to the game.
If you are on PC and didn’t apply to the Elite Task Force and still want to take part don’t worry! We are planning on making the Public Test Server available to all PC players who own a copy of the game on Monday September 19th. There will also be no NDA so you will be free to discuss it with others.
Finally, we’ve published an FAQ that may answer some of your questions! Check it out here!
Elite Task Force
The Elite Task Force arrived at Massive yesterday and have already jumped into their packed schedule.
These are some of the activities covered in their agenda
Current State of the Game
Update 1.4 discussions and the rebalancing effort
Testing and feedback
Discussion and workshops
We also want to shed some more light on the selection process. We did invite and select a few YouTube/Twitch personalities as they are powerful voices and came highly recommended by the community, however, a large number of the participants are regular players that were selected based on their application. In order to make that selection we examined certain player profiles such as those that played largely in groups, solo, casual, hardcore PVE, hardcore Dark Zone, and so on. This was done to ensure that we have representation from every part of the community so that every perspective is taken into account.
During their visit, a lot of great ideas and suggestions will be shared, however it will not be possible to act on all of them. For this reason we have asked the participants not to share any details on the discussions that occur during their visit, as it may set the wrong expectations. They will be able to share some of their experiences however so be on the lookout for that!
I just want the last achievements and be done with it.
If they just made players 1000 times stronger and cut the rep needed to reach rank 40 in Underground, I'd be okay with it.
Then the grind begins and your forced into playing the same stuff for not much of a chance at anything.
They should have included a weekly invasion or something that allowed you to fight over terriroty and use that awesome world more. I haven't played in so long as it lost my attention after the first xpac.... so sad that it flopped so hard
I really enjoyed underground but christ what a grind and shooting bullet sponges is a real pain in the arse. If they fix that shit then I will probably reinstall and have at it again.
I like the invasion idea that canuckont mentioned, the High Value Targets and Bounties added some replayability to the massive and beautiful PVE topside they made but it still needed more. Having the factions push into areas and lock them down. Once you did all the PVE missions that zone just seemed so lifeless.. needed more civilians to save, heck have supply drops in the PVE world that you have to get to distribute to civies, heck upgrade safezones not just your mainbase.
Because lets face it, those "recommended" averages are just completely bullshit in The Division.
When the design gives you a couple more seconds to make tactical decisions in a firefight, it feels amazing. It's when you spend a full minute pouring bullets into a single enemy or die helpless against another player because of HP Mountain that it gets unfun.
Especially Snipers, Flamethrowers and Shotgunners.
with the current meta, yes. Still only a few talents/perks that are worth a damn and only a few weapons that are worth using. hopefully 1.4 will shake that up.
Gonna have to be really good to take over the single player loot shooter spot from Borderlands 2 which I just discovered.
I loved this game when it first came out, here's to hoping 1.4 can deliver.
Oh.
Still hoping to get my money's worth out of the Gold edition/Season pass I bought. Maybe one day!
Uh... you would be months of progression behind in the DZ now. From highly geared alts to highly geared normals, going to the dark zone will be an adventure for you.
I just read the exploration of some of the changes in the latest State of the Game. It does not fill me with confidence unless they specifically announce a complete revamp/retooling of the entire weapon/armor perk system. To me it just sounds like a preference modifier so that if you use SMGs a lot, more SMGs will drop, and if you are GSxxx, you'll see more GSxxx+1 gear rather than GSxxx-1.
They made mentions of changing how weapons handle and they will have to nerf/adjust gear to fit along with how they will be changing health pools and such. Get the game back to how it felt before you hit level 30. Of course we will see if they can actually pull that off.
Thanks Ubisoft...you've cured me of playing your game (even if I actually did want to play it).
So... holsters get their mod slot back.
Source
edit: fixed misread
edit2: also, they're going to redo all the weapon mods/skills and the old stuff will not be grandfathered:
also this (skills are all being reworked entirely):
Going back to this: turns out uninstalling/reinstalling fixed it. Still running borderless windowed, all settings stayed the same...just a reinstall. 0.o Oh well, whatever Ubisoft/Massive...
Division 1.4 will pretty much be an entirely new gameplay experience, if they get it right.
You mean if you re-roll them? Because any existing are staying as-is, it looks like...
From one of Tasty's edits:
+damage is going to be additive though. That's a big one.
The mods that I'm most worried about are my magazines. Every single one in guns that I actually use have +mag capacity and +fire rate. With my luck, I'll likely get the lowest rolls with mag cap combined with crit chance.
I have no faith but I'll be happy to see it become the game I thought it was going to be
I mean, it wouldn't be so bad if my gun looked like a G36 with the scrotal looking drum-mag...
EDIT - huh...what do ya know. Looks like the C-Mag is compatible with more than just the G36. So my Liberator would be able to equip it. Come on Massive...give us differently modeled mag mods based on capacity!
Mag pull also makes I think a 50 round mag that is just really long. Beta c mag is super heavy irl.... just saying it breaks my immersion but what are you going to do vidya games lol.
I'd honestly like to see a more realistic model of ballistics where single shot was king for ARs but that's never going to happen. Nothing beats popping guys in the head with a quick shot behind some cover.
I actually love this game and was disappointed none of my friends enjoyed the post leveling game. The grind really made it apparent of how not fun somethings were
I think the real problem is the best PVE in the game is in the DZ. Nowhere else is there a place where you could be shooting it out with a crowd of cleaners only to have some rioters roll up behind and engage you and the cleaners. When you finally get topped off you run over to an extraction point.. clear out any NPCs then defend the point as you wait for the helicopter to arrive.
Underground is fun but you dont really get item rewards until the very end... open world is empty and quiet, no roaming packs of enemies barring the HVT and intel mobs.