So, after watching the gameplay vids for about the fiftieth time, a couple of things dawned on me re the 2013 vids and I couldn't find any answers elsewhere.
- the civilian on the left lights up red as "contagious". What does this mean, exactly? Can the player be infected by these people?
- for one, what are civilians doing walking around in the DZ, and two, can they be treated with med packs?
- he's trotting around the DZ with no respirator. Can the player become contaminated from the environment?
As an aside - is that a second computer on his backpack in the 2014 vid?
Just a piece of advice - don't use anything as a reference that is released before 2015 - they are nice tech-demos what The Division could be but they have little to now relation to the final game - and therefore questions like these are hard to answer, because this is probably not even in the game anymore. (
As of now the virus is just here as natural border - if you go into an area that is contaminated and your gear is not good enough, it will just kill you. This is the only answer i have a quote to - the rest would be pure speculation.
There are contaminated areas both inside and outside of the Dark Zone. There will be objects such as cars that will be labeled as contaminated. As for the civilians, there will be quests inside the Dark Zone from what we were told, and possibly vendors as well. So there will be more to do than just PVE and PVP in the Dark Zone itself.
As JokerUnique said, the story has developed and changed from the initial videos, so it may be different in the final game. However I'll help clear things up anyway!Originally Posted by Tihocan Go to original post
In 2001, several senior high-ranking officials within the US government staged a fictional terrorist attack called "Operation Dark Winter", where biological weapons were supposedly released into the US population, and then they watched the results, as the lower-ranking officials tried to control the situation. This was a real event. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Dark_Winter)
In The Division, the government took it one step further, and released a biological weapon on Manhattan Island.
As the contagion spread out of control, the army were called in to start quarantining the worst effected areas. Then as society slowly broke down within these areas, mob rule took over and the army lost control. These areas became "Dark Zones". Areas of lawlessness, where the army had left some of it's most powerful weaponry.
The civilians you see walking around, inside and out of the Dark Zones may all be contagious to varying levels. Initially, the Dark Zones were going to be fluid places that could move and be effected as the game went on. The player could then interact with the highlighted civilian (given meds / water / a bullet) in order to try and limit the spread of the virus, and in turn, reduce the effect of the Dark Zones.
Part of the initial video was the team of Agents taking out a mob, and liberating a police station. Originally, the player would do this to both potentially find better weapons (which I believe is still a feature), and to affect the Dark Zone - eg: Police would move in, therefore less "Mobs" (like the Cleaners, Rykers etc.), but I think this effect has been removed from the Dark Zone (there is also only one Dark Zone now.) I don't remember where the Dark Zone started or finished in the initial video, but I think he was trotting around without a respirator because it was the edge of the Dark Zone, and therefore less contaminated?
I'm not really sure about that last one, but I hope this helps answer most of your questions regarding what was going on in those initial videos that were released!
They were already in the Dark Zone in the first video, and the reason why he doesn't wear a gas-mask, is the same reason, why this should not be used as a reference - it is a nice demo in an unfinished world.
And based on latest comments, there will be little to none civilians in the Dark Zone except maybe the Dark Zone Vendors - but that has been very vague.