Well, last night the penny dropped and I removed the disc and put Destiny back in. I'll still play it now and again but it's not a time sink for me. First off, after hitting level 30, I tried one of the dailies and the lag made it unplayable. I'm not talking about a little spike here or there, I'm talking about ploughing three mags (156 rounds a piece) into a bad guy, getting no damage numbers or hit markers, nothing. I'm also taking no damage however. About 20 seconds later, bam! Enemy falls to the ground, and I'm dead. The game basically just stored 20 seconds of activity and flung it all out in one shot. I tried about 6-7 times to find a new party, I stopped everything in the house from using the internet, rebooted my router, PS4, everything. It just happened over and over. I also noticed that by using match making, I was getting all sorts. People get in to a party, die once and leave, or just leave instantly, I get flung in to parties where there are just two of us, there were no other players joining, it was just an awful mess.
I was playing a bit with Josh who also had a few issues but they seemed to come and go. Lee then hopped in so we ran around a bit and did some side missions, killing the same shit over and over and over in the same scenery over and over, then went to another area and did the same again and then it hit me: I'm just not enjoying this. It's boring. There were just the three of us on, which although is good, isn't the same as the six man parties we have in Destiny. There aren't enough people playing this game and the devs decision to restrict who can play with who depending on their level has ruined that aspect too. Someone on Overclockers needed a hand and was level 4. I hopped in (he was doing Madison Gardens) and the enemies were level 4 as well. Went to the next area, bam, all enemies level 25. That's fucking bullshit. So I can't help anyone who's lower than me because the bad guys increase their level and just one shot the lower guys. That was quite possibly the nail in the coffin for me, "here's this awesome team multiplayer game for you to play with your friends in co-op missions which is awesome and everything is awesome" except you must be similar levels or GTFO. No. Not happening. This happened with Lee as well, I was level 30, lee was 24 or 25 and we were rolling together when all of a sudden the guys on the streets are all level 28+. Fuck. That.
I haven't even been in to the DZ yet.
I then put Destiny back in and partied up with Maz, Gary, Davey Dave, Rod, Lee, Plumber Dave, and we went and had a blast in the crucible. That right there highlighted the lack of fun in the Division. yes the game is good and pretty and all that but you know what? It's fucking depressing. The setting is depressing, the lack of variety is depressing, the samey samey missions is depressing, it's just not a fun game. Destiny has a completely different art style, much broader colour palette, interesting characters, and a fuck tonne more variety. I know we're not supposed to be comparing the two as they're very different games but the fact is that I've had some of my fondest memories in gaming on Destiny and that's what I wanted from the Division, and it's probably not going to happen.
Another niggling problem with the Division can be described in one word: Fluidity. The cover system, while really good, is clunky. The third person system is also clunky. Not being able to walk off ledges or fling myself off a building is clunky. Yes it works and you get shit done but when you've got a little niggly ledge or whatever messing with your stride every couple of minutes it really starts to stand out and ruins the moment.
Ubisoft have demonstrated that they are listening to the players however so hopefully they'll release an update which changes the game for the better because right now, as it is, it's dull and boring. Angry Joe raised a good point with the game and that it's being restricted by the Tom Clancy licence and their obsession with making everything as realistic as possible. Ditch the licence, make some mutated monsters as bosses and we'll talk. Until then, RIP Division.