Originally Posted by
RaG nuh RocK
Go to original post
Every single time the game is "patched," the Dark Zone becomes more difficult for Solo Players. This is idiotic, because the vast majority of the core playerbase of this game is made up of, you guessed it, Solo Players. Do you think this is hyperbole? Why don't you go play in the Dark Zone for a week or two as a Solo Player, then come back here and report your experience.
Let's be honest with ourselves, how do you REALLY feel about playing Solo in the Dark Zone? You're asking yourself that question and you're probably frowning or shaking your head, or both. You know that its pointless, that its suicide.
The developers at Massive are no doubt professional and experienced game developers. And I'm an expert, experienced video game player. I play these games that these sorts of developers create. Hence, I am in the best possible position to thoroughly examine and offer critique of these sorts of games. Shooters. That's my thing. For whatever amount of time any individual person working for a developer dedicates to a game, I dedicate at least as much time to playing their game as they do to making the game. Go ahead, look me up on divisiontracker.com, you'll see that I have 29 days played, which places me in the top 8 percentile in the world for time played.
I make that point because I want it to be known why the core aspect of this game (the Dark Zone) is a terrible, terrible experience for your average player, which is a Solo Player by definition. We have been sold this idea, this game, the concept of a PvEvP game (figuratively and literally) where people both collide and team up in an arena where players can kill each other or NPC's while getting loot. I'm pissed because in reality, this game doesn't actually function successfully in that fashion.
As a Solo Player, ask yourself, how many Dark Zone levels have I lost since the 1.2 patch was forced upon us? How many DZ keys? How many deaths have I incurred via other players compared with the time before patches were "released?" How many times have I left the Dark Zone or shut off the game because it was no longer fun to play? Are you just playing The Division for lack of a better game at this time?
In my view, the most glaring problem with the Dark Zone and for the Solo Player is that the ENTIRE game is designed to be played with a team, as opposed to designed with a team AND a Solo Player experience in mind. The Solo Player must do things that are designed for a team of players to complete. To farm the Dark Zone and defend yourself with any decent level of success from other players, you MUST team up. There is no other way to play this game. Sure you COULD try to go it alone in the DZ, but who are we kidding? If all you're going to do is avoid other players, you may as well load up an Incursion or an HVT, which also require a team. In which case, you may as well be playing a true RPG, like Dark Souls 3. Or if you've got some slick strategy for avoiding the constant threat of a Manhunt team of players grouping up and enacting a tyranny over Solo Players by using Conceal or 2 piece Final Measure, you're deluding yourself. You're not actually playing the game, you're intentionally missing and avoiding a fundamental aspect of the Dark Zone. You may as well play Incursions and get loot for... Nothing. Get loot to... Farm for more loot so you can farm for more loot, or wait for the next DLC to drop so all of your gear could become obsolete just to begin the process again. No, the entire point of getting loot in a game where PvP is encouraged is to play against other players. That's what makes this RPG shooter stand out from other RPG's. People come here to play The Division because they can play an RPG against and with other players. The only problem is that only one of those things is realistic for a Solo Player, and it isn't playing against other players. The game needs a separate Dark Zone for Solo Players with the difficulty (NOT the loot drops) tuned to what is realistically acheiveable for a Solo Player. As it is now, the Dark Zone is only playable if players team up.