Underground sucks

[TheToxicKnight]

Look this maybe just me but I personally find underground extremely tedious and boring I mean for starters it's practically like what 4 of the same areas or so every time you play and 4 or so of the same objectives every time you play I mean it's boring after a while ya know? Also leveling is such a you know what and half of the players I at least encounter join your group and leave for no logical reason what so ever then whoever is still with you are just left yawning lol. Again this maybe just me but here is my opinion.

 

[ProphetReborn]

I think you are being a little critical of the expansion when it only released two days ago, but I do think some of your points might be valid. However, how is the underground grind really that much different from anything else in this game? The entire game is a grind, so an expansion with more grind should be no surprise. I like the expansion, and I realize I might be in the minority there, but I think it has it's good points. It's challenging, it's a great place for lower gear score or players coming back to get loot, and at least it's a little different than doing Lexington 4848594 times  a row. I've run quite a bit of it since it launched and I haven't found too many recycled maps. There are recycled areas of maps, but if you have run it several times and saw the exact same map more than once I would say that's the outlier. Keep in mind this expansion was(in my opinion) there stopgap for the bleeding of the dark zone unbalance and those who don't want to pvp. This is a loot rich area with strictly pve. No worrying about getting ganked while waiting for an extraction. Every level gained gives you a chest also, more loot that they don't have to give you but they do anyway. I've already gotten 268 teal items from it, so they are not a waste by any means. It sounds to me like maybe you are either not a grinder, have a low gear score and have trouble getting groups, or both. Either way I would say go to lfg forums here and seek some people out. Or go to another site like thedivisionlfg.org. This isn't a game that hands you the keys to the castle, you have to farm and in some cases hope the RNG gods will shine their light upon you with a god rolled g36. 

 

[Rsk2mc]

I have mixed emotions. Yes the underground has gotten my gear score up (211-223, without any 268 equipped) however I have a full 268 Blind set, almost full 268 firecrest now I'm getting 268 alpha and reclaimer. Im almost level 14 in the DZ which isn't that high but could it drop some striker, some sentry maybe weapons without the worst rolls in the universe. I did get a great marksmen rifle and shotgun both 229 but the drops could start to be a little more diverse. I am not disappointed but I'm also not the biggest cheerleader. For me it's new and much better to run than the dailys, I just want some more diverse drops. With all that said I'm sure I'll run it over and over and over again tonight lol.

 

[ProphetReborn]

Sounds to me like the RNG gods have been good to you. I have gotten a few 268 pieces from the crates, but that's it. Not near enough for a full set. I'm going to focus more on leveling up the underground rank right now anyway, so gear will be secondary for the moment. I'll be picking up blueprints as I can at 240 and above as I go along, but grinding out challenging missions for the experience is sucking the life from my soul. I really like the challenge, but if you go down in there with people who aren't paying attention or have no clue what to expect it will be a long run. Or short run if you go down in less than a minute to be first shotgun runners in the first rooms encounter. Which happened last night. Twice. 

 

[Rsk2mc]

Yea I was surprised by how hard challenging is. Hard is kind of easy but hallenging is really hard there's not really an in between

 

[ChowYunFats]

I have ran UG Missions like crazy and I tried everything but Heroic I find it work's great long as who you role with and so far I think I have like a 85% rate of pulling it off with Friends and random people but that's just my own opinion on Underground we all see it differently rite

Thanks  

P.S.

Anyone looking to run any type of play on XB1 add me to your friends list I be glade to join up GT same as my name on here ChowYunFats

 

[supercat]

Yea I was surprised by how hard challenging is. Hard is kind of easy but hallenging is really hard there's not really an in between

Still like missions, I see. Not surprising, at this rate.

I'm getting more and more sure they are using dev's trainer engine when playing the game.

 

[ProphetReborn]

What is funny to me about this is that here is a huge difference between hard and challenging throughout, but from challenging to heroic it's not really that bad. Maybe it just doesn't seem as bad, but that jump is not near what hard to challenging is. 

I don't know how true it is, but I read somewhere that it's some form of a bug as to why the NPCs are so difficult. That it wasn't intended to be this way. I have no idea, I'm not a coder or programmer. I just play. 

 

[Oh. daesu]

What is funny to me about this is that here is a huge difference between hard and challenging throughout, but from challenging to heroic it's not really that bad. Maybe it just doesn't seem as bad, but that jump is not near what hard to challenging is. 

I don't know how true it is, but I read somewhere that it's some form of a bug as to why the NPCs are so difficult. That it wasn't intended to be this way. I have no idea, I'm not a coder or programmer. I just play. 

Yeah, i also find a lot the players doing Chalenges because they know they're not geared enough for heroic s. So, they're not likely to be geared for challenges either. It's better to group for heroics to avoid trying to carry a squad thru a challenge. Especially in ug where's there is no regroup whn players bail

 

[ChowYunFats]

So far I have only done Challenging twice with a pack of friends and we made it barely to the end but I done hard a dozen times in party and solo but Oh. daesu your rite if your gear score or some talent's I find are key to surviving in Underground but that's my 2 cent's I am by far even close to being a hardcore player I'm amateur at best I just seem to find trouble and love to keep going back  

 

[Oh. daesu]

Try it with only a couple of directives.

Also, take note of the objectives for each area. Sometimes you dont need to kill the ai. You can skip them and just run to where the gold diamond takes you to the next section.

 

[ProphetReborn]

If more people knew about that I would have to spend less time waiting at the elevator for my fellow group members to kill mobs that give no experience of reward of any kind. I had it happen twice recently where people stopped to kill mobs we didn't need to kill and two of them died. The other group member and myself just got to the end ourselves and killed the boss since we were so close anyway. 

It's just a little weird to me that you see people with a 252 gear score do stuff like that. You had to do so much content to get this far, how does something that simple completely elude you?

 

[Rsk2mc]

I think it has to do with just the nature of wanting to do everything related, generally the objective is to kill the NPC's so when you see them the natural instinct is to kill them. I think most people follow the dot as an after thought "ok now everyone is dead, whats next".

 

[RimBlock]

The probelm is also one of communication.  

If the group i am with noted that they can just run through then it is usually best to group up and run through as a group.

I have been there, missed the signs that we dont have to kill  the bad guys only to find the others have just run off without a word and 'activated' the enemy who are now all gunning for me.  The other common example is one or two people getting delayed doing the lonestar shuffle when getting ammo and the other members just run off leading to the same problem with run through sections.

 

[DeadSockPuppet]

It's just a little weird to me that you see people with a 252 gear score do stuff like that. You had to do so much content to get this far, how does something that simple completely elude you?

That's not necessarily true, they could have glitched and cheated their way to 252 or they could have some benefactors that are good that carry them and gift them everything they get. 

High GS doesn't mean good or experienced player. 

 

[Rsk2mc]

That's not necessarily true, they could have glitched and cheated their way to 252 or they could have some benefactors that are good that carry them and gift them everything they get. 

High GS doesn't mean good or experienced player. 

Exactly! This has been the issue with every MMO, in the WoW days you could tell an experienced player by the fact that they played a role and were content with the role. Now everyone wants to be dps and no one wants to grind. Don't get me wrong here ProphetReborn basically leveled me but I have invested a ton of time into learning the game mechanics and gear sets. I was a ranked top 200 player in WoW and I bring that same mentality to this game. I am a very casual player but having 3 kids and limited time to play I use my time wisely. So seeing an underwhelming 255 player doesn't surprise me one bit.

 

[ProphetReborn]

True they could have exploited their way to a certain degree, but I just think the basics of the game are so easy to understand you should know even if you got a power level and abused every but or glitch in the game. Just playing the game you should know certain things.

Either way I agree. It is and isn't a good metric. 

 

[RimBlock]

The problem is that no-one has been able to come up with a better workable one.

I don't kick people with low GS although it does raise questions when they join sometimes.  I have seen low GS 200s beat the crap out of the AI much better than I have with a higher GS.  Fine tuning can give massive benefits.

What beats GS though.  A metric based on Toughness, DPS & Skill Power maybe ?.  Could work but we know DPS is a poor measure and will go up and down depending on active buffs/nerfs (i.e. pulse / smart cover).  

@Rsk2mc your right about the role part.  It is hard to play a role without a regular team though.  I use the build I use partly as I have to solo a lot of the time and so have to be a 'jack of all trades'.  There seems very little interest, especially in the Underground, with people sticking together after they complete a run and even less if they fail at a run.

The reality is that most people want to play the way they want to play and not have others tell them how to play or which roles they should be, especially not randoms off the interwebz.

Maybe players should be able to tag themselves as a 'class'.  This is verified by their stats / gear (someone with a 12k skill power and GS 200 build should not be a tactician for example).  Then when matchmaking, the 'leader' can select how many of which 'class' they want in the team.  The classes should not be matched to individual gear sets but general (tac / long range / assault / tank etc).  It may also promote people to move in to builds that teams want but are not so common in the meta.

 

[quinch1199]

Another issue relating to communication is how people see the game played most often.

Take a look at Twitch, YouTube etc .. how many game plays are there where people play “correctly”?? Not many!! A constant barrage of players not bothering to take cover, obsessed with high toughness/high DPS orientated build because, let’s face it, they do work (to an extent in solo play and if you have someone to prop you up in group play) …and you get a huge player base who ONLY know that way of playing as they’ve never played pure MMORPG’s before.

The “Media” is bad…

I do wish there were class based presets though as @RimBlock said …. I 100% always gear for healing, all my talents are geared to protection and healing (Defib/smart cover/tactical link etc) and now I’m trying to buff my toughness now my armour mit is at 75% and drop my DPS a bit more.

I kinda miss WoW’s LFG chat channels …. “GS240 healer LFG” lol!

 

[quinch1199]

Maybe players should be able to tag themselves as a 'class'.  This is verified by their stats / gear (someone with a 12k skill power and GS 200 build should not be a tactician for example).  Then when matchmaking, the 'leader' can select how many of which 'class' they want in the team.  The classes should not be matched to individual gear sets but general (tac / long range / assault / tank etc).  It may also promote people to move in to builds that teams want but are not so common in the meta.

just to highlight and say I love this and WISH this game had it.