The Division 2 |Let's Talk About Seasonal Characters| Tom Clancy's The Division 2

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[@derekmclellan7337]

People are pissed because they were promised brand new content and were offered the exact same thing ... but somehow worse. This is nothing to do with builds, talents or gear. We're bloated with gear and sets already. We don't need more. We just need new stuff to do. Instead, we are just being offered more grind with increased focus on store bought items and any new development focused on bringing in new players. Absolute nothing for the veterans. Nothing. The games being wound down and they are milking the teats for all its worth. And all they are doing now is seeing just how much they can gouge the player base with a view of passing it on to Div 3.

[@d15p4tch6]

I agree! Especially on the gear portion - we need the current gear to all be viable first before we get new gear. I'm also hoping for a new incursion, though I think they said that isn't happening. The devs have repeatedly said, however, that seasons 2.0 WILL be NEW content. Remains to be seen whether it will actually be new, or just rehashes of what we've already gotten.

[@derekmclellan7337]

@@d15p4tch6 the Devs say lots of things. The prediction on downtime for patches being my favourite indicator of quality of their predictions and statements. Maybe your optimism is correct and it will be. I just don't share this optimism. Och ... maybe I'm wrong. Wouldn't be the first time. I enjoy your videos and the indepth look you go into. Glad you're back and I'll continue to watch you regardless.

[@d15p4tch6]

@@derekmclellan7337 much respect, thanks so much for the encouragement!

[@brianjamesward2150]

16:46 Temporary stash becomes active with the intermission (so 2 weeks before end of season). It appears it can theoretically last as long as you want, but as long as it does you won't be able to make a new seasonal character. Presumably as soon as you delete the character you lose access to the temp stash until the next intermission. As for reactions, I do agree that some of the player's reactions is a little extreme. That being said I don't 100% agree that everyone needs to wait to see how seasonal characters are implemented before judging. Some people are simply entirely against the concept regardless, and that's fine. For me personally I'll wait to see exactly how this new progression system (that they've been frustratingly silent on) actually works. They've said they expect it to take 15hrs to level seasonal characters. I'm hoping that's just their usual being out of touch with how the player base actually is, and that it's quicker, because I don't relish spending that much time on a new character every single season. Hell Star Wars Outlaws entire campaign is supposedly only 30 hours.

[@d15p4tch6]

Key word is "appears". XD The temp stash and characters that you have to delete just sounds like a recipe for bugs and/or user error to wreak havoc. I respect your opinion! I think the community is probably mostly right, but I wanted to explore all the ways it could pan out. The 15 hours issue could be a very good thing if the content is *actually* new. Seasons are pretty long, so that give you a lot of time to do them. If the content is basically the same as old manhunts, that is going to be a LOOOONG 15 hours.

[@grumpyoldman6503]

@d15p4tch6 im *highly skeptical* given what we've seen lately out of this version of the dev team, that they have the skill and manpower to deliver something super compelling for the upcoming season 'content', whatever that means. If it's like a new directive, consider me unimpressed. we know it won't be new maps etc., so it's already kinda doomed from the onset. best case scenario is they make the changes we've all been asking for in existing sets and talents, or dial some existing thing up to 11, like they do in diablo so everyone uses that until they get bored. I can't wait until they force you to use the flavor of the season, and that flavor is something like Tip of the Spear, but with an extra zero tacked onto the end of the buffs it gives.

[@d15p4tch6]

​@@grumpyoldman6503agreed. The buggy track record makes it pretty hard to get too excited about anything, even if it *did* sound good

[@markhettenbach3141]

Maybe if the Devs actually communicated we would have real information lol

[@d15p4tch6]

Well, they said there would be... "Scouts!" So that explains everything... /s lol

[@blakemorris2753]

Great comment about exotic talents, I myself have always been in the camp that exotics are best done when they are not simply just the baseline most powerful item of a certain archetype but rather unlock unique talents/playstyles that you cant get otherwise. I think items like Mantis, Chameleon, and Ravenous are great examples of exotics

[@grumpyoldman6503]

sure, there are things that are too niche however (acosta's knees say hi). and there are things where they are fine/good but are gimped by slot tension (eg acosta bag vs memento) or general power of mechanic they buff (eg- collector chest unfortunately buffing grenades, which suck and don't scale). others are just gimped because devs are clueless and could be great with very minor changes- eg backfire (just change stacks to decay vs poof) or ridgeway's pridge (get rid of range limitation). and then there are just truly uninspired and overall bad exotics that missed an opportunity to be better- things like Vindicator (should have held back for release with breaking point and it should have not highlighted legs, didn't need a nerf, and could have had synergy with achilles pulse specifically- buff/reset mechanic ala Mantis) or Waveform (needed to be Total Skill Damage, and have some interplay with the oscillation to manipulate the timing or interact in some way with skill cool downs, it's just on average +15% skill damage in a slot we might only get 10% from a brand- so exotic!) things like oreo and elmo don't really have great talents- they just sh*t on all the other options because they are so strong out of the gate. an example of a great exotic IMO is Vile or a gun talent like Pesti (both versions). Mantis I also think is a good talent and Dread Edict as well, but not as long as determined and headhunter synergy exist. But I also don't think determined is the problem per se, but rather both the jankiness of sniping in Div2 coupled to the way MMRs have been completely balanced around 100% headshots with headhunter crutching them into a useful place in the hierachy vs complete irrelevance.

[@blakemorris2753]

@@grumpyoldman6503 I mean, sure, I generally agree with everything you posted here; none of it is really contradictory with my own statement on very high level exotic design

[@d15p4tch6]

​@@blakemorris2753I agree with both of you 😊

[@grumpyoldman6503]

@blakemorris2753 wasn't trying to be contradictory but IMO its kinda sad I can see these things and fix them off the top of my head (not being a professional game dev) and that these kinds of changes would give *ME* many more seasons of happy fiddling until the DLC is delivered, vs a season restart from lvl 1. During which I presumably just grind out the same things I already have and would have been doing otherwise, just with less optimized gear etc. And the exotics are still bad. ☹️

[@blakemorris2753]

@@d15p4tch6 yeah grumpyoldman is definitely on point here, there are a lot of exotics that do actually do something unique , and even might potentially pretty decent, but are rendered kinda useless by their implementation

[@rico-zb1qt]

I believe they had something bigger in store and it got cancelled and this is all they have to work with. Also any ideas they had for d2 got cancelled to and the saving it for d3 and I dont think the dlc we get is gonna be big like it was supposed to be.

[@d15p4tch6]

Possible. I've heard the opposite theory though: that the devs are trying a bunch of random stuff to see what might work for div3

[@reganheath]

I suspect.. the reason the changes sound complicated and confusing is that seasons are actually just them spinning up a completely new/separate backend server environment with the new season code for each season. And.. the complexity they have described is actually just what "falls out" from doing that, plus the decisions they have made about what they need to copy to/from each environment, and how to show it in the client. I suspect that at "intermission" the season code is deployed to main, and seasonal characters and stash copied over, and the seasonal backend is terminated, in prep for the next season to be deployed and tested. But.. I am just guessing here.

[@d15p4tch6]

Sounds like you know a thing or two about coding! I would love to be able to peek behind the scenes

[@reganheath]

@@d15p4tch6 Yeah.. I'm a software engineer, in games, developing live services :P I have a lot of sympathy for the 3-9 hour upgrade windows :D

[@wesking1419]

1:49 this is asking for chocolate cake and getting vanilla that’s not even cooked good and they don’t need to balance. The people I play with always help new players

[@d15p4tch6]

lol good analogy

[@TuxedoBandido]

Totally agree about exotics. And striker. Sadly. Too late to nerf. But new gear should be “interesting” enough to sway us away from same ol strikers- at least.

[@d15p4tch6]

I know agents always complained about the inevitable nerfs after new gear released too strong, but I'd take that any day over the weak trash that we've gotten for the past... Year

[@alphaelite1861]

I got a four thought points. 1: I think their doing seasonal characters is because expertise is broken/OP. Also they're giving more stats with seasonal characters so people don't feel nerfed compared to non seasonal characters (mains). 2: I don't think non seasonal characters will share SHD lvls with seasonal characters. U will be able to share non seasonal character's blueprints with seasonal characters. 3: There are people that think seasonal characters are a nerf to their mains. If u look at it like a mule, it's not a nerf. It actually may be a buff. 4: The only things that seasonal characters do is story and using the new items. The season modifiers may or may not be new mechanics.

[@d15p4tch6]

3. IDK if it's about a nerf or a buff but just the fact that you can't do the seasonal content with your main until the very end of the season. 4. I'm excited to see what these new modifiers are going to be. They might be one of the only bright spots in this upcoming season.

[@caliginousmoira8565]

i'll just take a realism mode like ghost recon.... and ai that knows it's going to die so it can't just t800 it's way to kill you

[@lennartdelarambelje1154]

I miss Sam Fisher…

[@markhettenbach3141]

We all do.

[@simontaylor9362]

Personally I'd like to see the return of classified gear, we've got quite alot of them that they could balance and finally add an interesting layer too, other than that another raid and more incursions maybe even a second countdown.

[@d15p4tch6]

Meaning you'd essentially want a 6-piece gear set? Definitely a second countdown map or a procedurally generated map OR even just changing the map up a bit would be great.

[@simontaylor9362]

@d15p4tch6 yeah I think the 6 piece worked in div 1 and they were far more interesting and balanced so could be a great way to go.

[@grumpyoldman6503]

I don't think they are trying to 'solve' any problems beyond how to milk the user base (mostly anyone that comes back due to the reset in season) via MTX until they deliver Div3 with the minimum possible expenditure of dev resources.

[@d15p4tch6]

They apparently are trying to make it easier for new players... maybe they're counting on new players paying MTX? It would definitely be a shame if you're right and the game just becomes a storefront. Honestly though, if this were the case, I think they'd just let the power creep go wild and make every new exotic and gearset overpowered - to make the veterans dive into the game and pay more. Either way, pretty pessimistic view.

[@grumpyoldman6503]

@d15p4tch6 oh its absolutely a pessimistic view. Not much reason to be optimistic about lately given recent seasons and gear.

[@RonaldJapenga]

I have maxed out all my characters so there isn't really a need for my Seasonal character to hand anything over. It sounds like getting to 40 will be fast and getting gear in this game is (too) easy as well. I'm wondering how the Seasons will keep me entertained because what I won't do is spend hundreds of hours farming my builds again. It will probably be a Damage, Hybrid and Heal as all my chars have by default. The ONLY thing I want is content. Not the same content, new content with a high difficulty that ideally requires a mix of builds.

[@d15p4tch6]

Word.

[@andygreener3130]

I feel like their ‘balancing’ is aimed towards player balancing, to allow new players (like there’ll be a sudden influx!!😂) to run content during the season on a par with veterans. WHY? Players rarely interact within seasonal content because it is all PVE. They’re doing this for the same reason they always change stuff….to encourage more PVP, which most of us hate anyway. This won’t change that standpoint. I can’t wait to see NGN’s end of season story recap…. “After Kelso joined Keener last season, the Agent received a message requesting a parley but first had to overcome a few trials as a test of faith. After meeting and joining forces with Rogue number One, the Agent checked his inventory and resources, decided that he’d got a good pension pot, took off his gear and sat his tired arse on the sofa. He watched as some other agent with no name or worthwhile identity ran around for a few months struggling to do everything he’d spent 5 years doing and laughed to himself quietly. Looking across the room at his dusty old, but perfectly functional gear, he switched off the lights in his apartment and walked into the street, never to be seen again.”

[@keithmiles4415]

All I want them to do is bring survival from division one to division two and if you want to change from snow just put rain have us go and stop a nuclear bomb of one of the factions that they have and we have to design it that’s all I want not the stuff that they put it in a game they’re going to lose a lot of players because they do not know what they’re doing

[@d15p4tch6]

Lots of people have been asking for survival AND for snow. Who knows, maybe they'll come up with something for div3!

[@aaronfilipowich3877]

So I'm one of the rare few who don't have an issue with seasonal characters. Blame it on being a longtime D&D DM and enjoying making characters/npcs. I have a ridiculous amount of agents with backstories made up I'll never get to use lol. So then I just used the current lore to explain seasonal characters. Your main agent is now recruiting new agents from the local communities in an effort to bring up agent numbers to fight the up coming war with the Black Tusk, the Hunters and possibly Keeners rogues. With the current state of things current agents are could be either Rogue aligned or Hunters so fresh blood is needed for loyalty to be assured. So your agent, Cindy McAllister the militia recruiter, Manny and Wally all develop a training program using the Descent program to train the new recurit using data from your agents watch on missions they did. Once training is complete they get a final real world test and then after 4 months of training they get assigned to somewhere outside Washington DC where needed. It could be it small town, city or infastructure necessity (oil rig, electrical plant, water treatment plant, supply route). See if the Devs did that then more people would be able to see it as a side project and connected to the story while making your main agent important and driving the story forward. But they won't and they don't take unsolicited ideas either (trust me). But yes they are currently making quantity over quality of exotics just to get some out for each season pass. Missions will never really be "fixed" or made more exciting without something like the manhunt mission changes. But really for a looter shooter I don't really expect them too, nature of the beast. The watch and the expertise system are pointless if your going to normalize attributes in PvP and has no overwhelming difference in PvE since I'm guessing the bulk of folks still play solo for the seasons and manhunts. Then there's the always present meta for any game and the folks who are religious about the meta being the only proper way to play. That's a whole diferent hornets nest I'd prefer not to kick today. But for myself I refuse to play strikers meta, end of story. For the price of a cutscene and starting seasonal characters at the Castle it makes much more sense storywise.

[@d15p4tch6]

Well said, that's a really good idea. I think people would find it hard to deviate from the current main story, even if it was backed up by the lore. It would definitely be plausible, though, since the DLC might be the next big story beat... lots to think about...

[@mustafalang]

How bout get rid of the CHEATERS!!

[@d15p4tch6]

Yes please! Seems like cheaters are dominating pretty much every game these days... Pretty sad

[@D4RT-one]

Yes, we don't have enough info about this, but all the backlash and criticism is there because devs can't be trusted, they've fucked up too many times

[@d15p4tch6]

Honestly, bad communication (even with talents in the game) and bugginess throw a lot of doubt onto anything the devs say. It's a shame.

[@robbolen3663]

Quit worrying about this game. And focus on the new title we've been told about. Heartland and 3.

[@d15p4tch6]

Heartland got cancelled broski and 3 is at least 3-4 years away. Good idea to do more videos about Div3 tho!

[@rubenhargis5454]

Basically this game is dying

[@d15p4tch6]

Vets are probably going to keep playing because they played through 2 years without content, but maybe?

[@mustafalang]

Leave striker alone.

[@d15p4tch6]

Nah dude, it needs a bit of a tune down. Which of course means Heartbreaker might need an adjustment as well

[@mustafalang]

@d15p4tch6 I just think that's what makes striker what it is. I mean, the stack goes down pretty fast. I used to use striker a lot until I learned to build a bit. Now all I have to do is learn to pvp.

[@d15p4tch6]

@@mustafalang if you're trying PVP, be prepared for a lot of pain

[@AhnoldRunningMan]

the watch and expertise ruined it for us lol

[@d15p4tch6]

What do you mean? Genuinely curious!

[@AhnoldRunningMan]

@@d15p4tch6have you seen and read the whole QnA yet I think you made this video before they released it.

[@AhnoldRunningMan]

@@d15p4tch6 have you gotten the chance to read the QnA they released?

[@d15p4tch6]

@@AhnoldRunningMan yeup!

[@AhnoldRunningMan]

@@d15p4tch6 I hope you make a video further discussing it there's a pivotal Question to everyone's dislike. So the only drastic change the Seasonal Characters is the watch and Expertise are out which easily gives the devs more possibilities to challenge us as we would be on an even playing field with the general PVE content. So it begs the Question was Expertise and the Watch a mistake?