Tom Clancy’s The Division is a role-playing looter and third person shooter with open world. Dark Zone is an area at the center of the map of Manhattan. Unlike the outside with mission and exploration as the main gameplay, in Dark Zone, players get loot basically by killing NPCs on street and in buildings. Whereas, this area is not for PvE only, here are two rules determined the core gameplay: 1. Strangers are visible and attackable to each other. 2. Loots picked by player need to be extracted at extraction points so that the player can actually own the loot, and the unextracted loot will be dropped when the player dies.

 

Random and uncertain PvP gameplay due to the special rogue mechanic:

In survival games like Rust and DayZ, completely free PvP rules lead player to an optimal solution: attacking others on sight, which has the lowest risk of being killed by others. In The Divison, the rogue mechanic raised the risk by punishing(loosing DZ funds and experience) the attacker if he dies. Admittedly, many MMORPG has mechanic like this, but the particularity of rogue mechanic in The Division is that rogue status can lead to not only the punishment but also reward, which means if the player survives until the rogue status disabled by overtime or using the terminal at specific places, he will get DZ funds and experience as reward. This mechanic actually encourages player to attack others but not to attack without consideration.

 

Whether they should attack other strangers firstly depends on the evaluation of the target and the situation including all other players in Dark Zone. That means the player need to keep defeating others for a while after killing the target. Besides, players also need to be vigilant for not to be killed by others who may have the motivation. All these make players fall into suspicion before they actually fight.

 

This mechanic lead to an unique unconventional PvP gameplay which has nothing to do with fair competition: open world makes the number and skills of players uncertain when they meet each other; because of the rogue mechanic, evaluation and suspicion become a part of conflict, and players don’t know if they will get into a fight. So before players step into Dark Zone, the relationship and number of players is uncertain, conflict is uncertain, and because of the changing circumstance, the goal is uncertain, all of these are random and changing. However, the gameplay experience is highly consistent with what narration wants to deliver about Dark Zone: chaos, danger and uncertainty. The consistency between multiplayer gameplay and narrative goal gives players authentic experience.

 

Eviction of PvE players leads the game away from the intent of loot as the motivation:

­­­­The original intention of designer is trying to let getting loot be the main reward and motivation for player’s activities. Whereas, the goal is for two different kinds of players in two different ways: PvE activities, basically by killing NPCs to get loot directly; and killing other players, which means getting loot by robbing others. Actually, behaviors of PvP players will interrupt the loop of PvE activities. In addition, the last step for getting loot is extraction, and the active extraction points will be highlighted on everyone’s map in this server. So PvE players can’t avoid to have conflict with PvP players if here is any PvP players wants to rob others in Dark Zone.

 

Admittedly，this is an interesting attempt to serve different kinds of players with one content. The problem is that PvE players may enjoy cooperation with same people, but they don’t have countermeasure against PvP players especially for who don’t enjoy fighting with others. Then those pure PvE players will quit because their activities are being interrupted all the time. Without these PvE players as the base of the food chain in Dark Zone, there will be lack of source of loot, and the intent of loot as the motivation will not exist anymore.

 

Although the Dark Zone design has been, to some degree, away from the original intent of designer, the exploration of multiplayer gameplay is still quite meaningful.