Pandawa Strike Force Began in Virtual New York
Hello there, hope you had a great weekend. Here is a simple piece sharing about a game called Tom Clancy's The Division and how I viewed it in the early days. Perhaps I will write more about my adventures with the Pandawa Strike Force. It could be interesting writing about our sessions in a more narrative way. Anyways, thanks for being here! have a great week ahead!
Every special occasion is filled with some kind of sale in a game store online. Last winter (that was December 2016 for details sake), a sale showed this game called Tom Clancy`s The Division. It was an interesting game to me because in general I like looter shooter. A game where you kill enemies and get some kind of equipment dropping from those enemies which you can use for your own character. Something about slowly becoming powerful is a staple in almost all available games, but looter shooter is something that interest me most. Comparing equipment drops, seeing numbers change, feeling more powerful from micro or macro decision making is something that calls to the endorphin-producing section of my brain. In addition to that, it had an interesting cover-based movement system that, at that time, seemed smooth enough to enjoy casually.
I was a cautious buyer. I read various game reviews and watched videos about the game. As the sale timer counts down, I delayed buying it too soon, thinking I might find something I did not like about the game if I just dug deeper. At that time, a lot of corners of the internet said bad things about the game too. Lack of support, buggy experience, unpleasant person-versus-person mechanics and a seemingly bad vibe from it being made by a triple-A company. The game was definitely at a questionable state. Then I saw that Carrel and Cedric already had the game and I decided to ask them about it. They generally recommended it and I was like, eh, might as well. Soon after apparently Calvin bought it too. Awesome! so there`s an exact 4 to play with.
The game was amazing. Let us remember that at that time, I only just recently obtained the adequate computer capable of playing this game with magnificent performance. For me, that was the most beautiful thing I can ever play. By now, some games have definitely surpassed it, but the feel of desolate New York was something that I could really absorb and have a special place in my mind until now. The basic premise of the game was, people in New York was hit by a kind of disease and thus a breakdown in society happened. People just lost all sense and wreck chaos everywhere. Then apparently, some secret agents have been planted in the society in case of such breakdown occur, and we are those agents!
See, at this moment, it seems ironic for me to tell the story because I am all about the immersion in the game. For me, playing this game was so much fun and I could imagine myself as those agents. Some people may argue it is hard to be immersed in The Division because, well, the enemies are bullet sponges. Meaning, they look like normal humans, but we kill them by forcefully planting hundreds of bullets into them, which is, well, not realistic at all. But that`s the thing about me, I am immersed in the universe and for me, anything that is unrealistic in that world is just a special part of it and something that I enjoy. It took very little effort for me to enjoy The Division.
Soon, often Calvin, Cedric, Carrel and I met up online and wander around virtual New York like dumb agents. Shooting enemies that were stronger than us and made us feel that our initial equipment were basically pea shooters. When I started playing, they were at a higher level than me, but I caught up soon enough. Looter shooter RPG games kinda clicks in my head. Finding the right combination of equipment, and the right use of agent skills (there were several to choose, from explosive roller balls to "technologically advanced" suitcase that heals agents in a certain area) to make the game fun.
And the missions...oh wow the missions.. With good communication with the team, this game was so easy to dive into. Each knowing what kind of agent they like to be and how to synergize with the other. One becomes the tank to take attention of enemies, another to flank and kill them. One to heal others when necessary, or to immobilize enemies with a well placed sticky flashbang. And during all that we just had fun with each other. Calling out how Cedric just always move too forward for his own safety (and indeed he ended up needing a lot of healing). Or how Carrel was just too good at shooting that he probably did not need us there at all. Or how enemies suddenly died from Calvin`s sniping skills. While I basically just went in and pull everyone`s attention to shoot me with the shield.
Our roles also evolved over time. As the missions change, the difficulty gets varied. Different skills are needed but we tend to stick to our own play styles. One time, after several missions, we felt that the game was getting too easy. So, when we were not maxed level, we arrogantly decided to increase the difficulty level above the recommendation by the game. And that was so much fun. Every stage of the mission we had to repeat several times. After each failure we would actually, seriously, discuss where to go and what to do. After several failures, I suggested that perhaps we should just reduce the difficulty, but none of us actually agree to do it anyway. So we persevered, repeated the thing so many times. It was glorious failure after glorious failure. Being shot down, exploded by so many grenades, cornered by over-leveled enemies and repeating the segment again and again. But we kept on until we actually finished that stuff.
It was after that mission that we started to began casually calling each other agents. But not yet the Pandawa Strike Force, that comes in a later game.
It is this kind of immersion that I love from Tom Clancy`s The Division. Being able to try different things together with friends. I am thankful I have friends that somehow likes similar things, because it really adds another layer to the fun that comes from the game. Don`t get me wrong, various corners of the internet will say that the Division have their faults. Meta skills (skills that are obviously strongest) that works every time and is probably the best to use anyway which makes it boring and too grindy (which is the word that means playing similar things just to get better equipment). But that is not the fundamentals on why I play the game. I play because I want to experience the universe, and in that game, the feel of being a group of secret agents trying hard to defend what was left, and that does not sound easy. I like immersing myself in the moment, and thinking how that moment comes from various moments before and may lead to interesting future occasions, virtual or real. I guess that helps me in the real world too. Immersing myself in the moment, when I can, and I do try my best to always do, gives me the excitement in my daily lives. And boy oh boy, that has helped me so many times already in real life, but perhaps that comes on another blog.
If you are a gamer, you will see that at the time of this publication (January 2018), Tom Clancy`s The Division is actually getting a lot of positive press. They have updated the game in such a way that makes it so much more exciting and better in general. I am genuinely pleased at that and sincerely hope this game will have a long lifespan. If you think you will enjoy it, please try it out. They often sellit at discounted price lately. At the slight chance that you do, see you around agents.
Every special occasion is filled with some kind of sale in a game store online. Last winter (that was December 2016 for details sake), a sale showed this game called Tom Clancy`s The Division. It was an interesting game to me because in general I like looter shooter. A game where you kill enemies and get some kind of equipment dropping from those enemies which you can use for your own character. Something about slowly becoming powerful is a staple in almost all available games, but looter shooter is something that interest me most. Comparing equipment drops, seeing numbers change, feeling more powerful from micro or macro decision making is something that calls to the endorphin-producing section of my brain. In addition to that, it had an interesting cover-based movement system that, at that time, seemed smooth enough to enjoy casually.
I was a cautious buyer. I read various game reviews and watched videos about the game. As the sale timer counts down, I delayed buying it too soon, thinking I might find something I did not like about the game if I just dug deeper. At that time, a lot of corners of the internet said bad things about the game too. Lack of support, buggy experience, unpleasant person-versus-person mechanics and a seemingly bad vibe from it being made by a triple-A company. The game was definitely at a questionable state. Then I saw that Carrel and Cedric already had the game and I decided to ask them about it. They generally recommended it and I was like, eh, might as well. Soon after apparently Calvin bought it too. Awesome! so there`s an exact 4 to play with.
The game was amazing. Let us remember that at that time, I only just recently obtained the adequate computer capable of playing this game with magnificent performance. For me, that was the most beautiful thing I can ever play. By now, some games have definitely surpassed it, but the feel of desolate New York was something that I could really absorb and have a special place in my mind until now. The basic premise of the game was, people in New York was hit by a kind of disease and thus a breakdown in society happened. People just lost all sense and wreck chaos everywhere. Then apparently, some secret agents have been planted in the society in case of such breakdown occur, and we are those agents!
See, at this moment, it seems ironic for me to tell the story because I am all about the immersion in the game. For me, playing this game was so much fun and I could imagine myself as those agents. Some people may argue it is hard to be immersed in The Division because, well, the enemies are bullet sponges. Meaning, they look like normal humans, but we kill them by forcefully planting hundreds of bullets into them, which is, well, not realistic at all. But that`s the thing about me, I am immersed in the universe and for me, anything that is unrealistic in that world is just a special part of it and something that I enjoy. It took very little effort for me to enjoy The Division.
Soon, often Calvin, Cedric, Carrel and I met up online and wander around virtual New York like dumb agents. Shooting enemies that were stronger than us and made us feel that our initial equipment were basically pea shooters. When I started playing, they were at a higher level than me, but I caught up soon enough. Looter shooter RPG games kinda clicks in my head. Finding the right combination of equipment, and the right use of agent skills (there were several to choose, from explosive roller balls to "technologically advanced" suitcase that heals agents in a certain area) to make the game fun.
And the missions...oh wow the missions.. With good communication with the team, this game was so easy to dive into. Each knowing what kind of agent they like to be and how to synergize with the other. One becomes the tank to take attention of enemies, another to flank and kill them. One to heal others when necessary, or to immobilize enemies with a well placed sticky flashbang. And during all that we just had fun with each other. Calling out how Cedric just always move too forward for his own safety (and indeed he ended up needing a lot of healing). Or how Carrel was just too good at shooting that he probably did not need us there at all. Or how enemies suddenly died from Calvin`s sniping skills. While I basically just went in and pull everyone`s attention to shoot me with the shield.
Our roles also evolved over time. As the missions change, the difficulty gets varied. Different skills are needed but we tend to stick to our own play styles. One time, after several missions, we felt that the game was getting too easy. So, when we were not maxed level, we arrogantly decided to increase the difficulty level above the recommendation by the game. And that was so much fun. Every stage of the mission we had to repeat several times. After each failure we would actually, seriously, discuss where to go and what to do. After several failures, I suggested that perhaps we should just reduce the difficulty, but none of us actually agree to do it anyway. So we persevered, repeated the thing so many times. It was glorious failure after glorious failure. Being shot down, exploded by so many grenades, cornered by over-leveled enemies and repeating the segment again and again. But we kept on until we actually finished that stuff.
It was after that mission that we started to began casually calling each other agents. But not yet the Pandawa Strike Force, that comes in a later game.
It is this kind of immersion that I love from Tom Clancy`s The Division. Being able to try different things together with friends. I am thankful I have friends that somehow likes similar things, because it really adds another layer to the fun that comes from the game. Don`t get me wrong, various corners of the internet will say that the Division have their faults. Meta skills (skills that are obviously strongest) that works every time and is probably the best to use anyway which makes it boring and too grindy (which is the word that means playing similar things just to get better equipment). But that is not the fundamentals on why I play the game. I play because I want to experience the universe, and in that game, the feel of being a group of secret agents trying hard to defend what was left, and that does not sound easy. I like immersing myself in the moment, and thinking how that moment comes from various moments before and may lead to interesting future occasions, virtual or real. I guess that helps me in the real world too. Immersing myself in the moment, when I can, and I do try my best to always do, gives me the excitement in my daily lives. And boy oh boy, that has helped me so many times already in real life, but perhaps that comes on another blog.
If you are a gamer, you will see that at the time of this publication (January 2018), Tom Clancy`s The Division is actually getting a lot of positive press. They have updated the game in such a way that makes it so much more exciting and better in general. I am genuinely pleased at that and sincerely hope this game will have a long lifespan. If you think you will enjoy it, please try it out. They often sellit at discounted price lately. At the slight chance that you do, see you around agents.
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