‘Tom Clancy’s The Division’ Year 2 Mock-Up Displays 1.7, 1.8 And 2017 Expansions

Tom Clancy’s The Division is chugging along with The Last Stand and now an interesting Year Two mock-up of the free 1.7 and 1.8 updates were displayed. Afterwards, were the “Major Expansions.” It’s quite in the format art of previous DLCs marketed by Ubisoft/Massive.

https://www.facebook.com/TheDivisionUK/photos/p.853557201414683/853557201414683/?type=1&opaqueCursor=AbpVepOlW2zg-xMUI7drJoSboqDsIZyLOuf2jxorzfGDH_B4W1t7i6ISjTX-8WXTcQFLFl8aX-cb_dj_c-ai5ylGpItCGAEq1J2-gmr2cFgP5kvcBLMqjtNUfJ2pO37FPlUZMIDOs01g9Ymyuh5B4u16rDzSRa7_u9goLKemIOQoGWu10F5SKv1Jm4Q4S1mECWPe_fjXM97vEfwqqdSsZqVIPb00eTDWgmrg7WkBE3079FViIZRUvDxa3UP2MwVkn7vqjSkd_kpHTxlGhH4asv7EAXGz5k5nZJFLr5cCGqZgqsEbO33tyNGpUXbJmIz7-XwUp1BlV0M_j7yiPMtek4aGed_lFEkc8dJYTJAcfLuB-G4H1bhzvq-ILxdJaooowws&theater

The displayed schedule marks itself from the month of April all the way to the Winter season with three DLC expansions.

• 1.7 Isolation – Free update in April
• 1.8 Arsenal – Free update in May
• Expansion IV – Retribution in the summer
• Expansion V – Ascension in the fall
• Expansion VI – Graveyard in the winter

Reddit user “theCyanideX” posted this in their forums which links back to the source image of the mock-up. A Reddit community manager “JokerUnique” made a sticky saying that it is not official.

Although this isn’t official, it is quite fascinating and believable. After all the Year One list was made official by Massive and had scheduled out these expansions in equal numbers, with the first two updates being free.

The 1.7 mock-up, “Isolation,” speaks of “loadouts, PvE Dark Zone, character recreation, and more!”

Those who aren’t into the PvP thing and never had been will probably favor this as there is nothing going on with this mode as of yet in the 1.6 PTS. Forbes reported that there will be a PvE component and the farming of bosses.

“There’s also a PvE component to Last Stand where players will be able to farm AI enemies that spawn in landmarks, who will drop currency that can be used on boosts within the mode to help their team. So you could technically be PvE farming to some extent and still contributing to your team significantly.”

Don’t forget, Massive/Ubisoft had sent out a survey that made people speculate this was a probing method by the developers for Year Two content. The Division YouTuber Skill Up is thinking that this content is being considered with the amount of job openings that Massive had advertised. Could this be another way to display The Division players’ wishes for what is desired in this game?

Also, an Environment Artist at Ubisoft Reflections had posted a curriculum of sorts regarding The Division “Year 2 DLC”, according to The Division Zone.

The survey questions had addressed the mistrust of institutions when it came to certain real life governmental organizations like healthcare, judicial, organized religion, the media, and so forth. It seems that Massive is trying to gain insight into the psychology of the gaming populace that exists outside of gaming. It bodes the question on where Massive may be going with this line of questioning and perhaps could be key into The Division Year Two content.

Serge Hascoet, chief creative designer at Ubisoft mentioned how “the game is becoming less important” and the idea of letting the players take control of where they can take the character via “anecdotally” as Ubisoft is going the way of an “anecdotal machine.”

“The idea is to give players the tools to make their own fun rather than have the developers dictate the terms from on high.”

This seems to tie into the The Division 1.8 “Arsenal” mock-up when it comes to dynamic missions and dealing with weather. It seems the idea of unpredictability of gaming elements could contribute to this. The 1.7 “Isolation” title has that Survival feel to it considering the feeling of “isolation” in that branch of The Division. So perhaps it’s a mode where you are on your own and not teamed up with anyone else?

That said, it appears that Ubisoft is steering away from a narrative type to more of a player-controlled type of environment. Not unlike Fallout 4 where it all depends on where you personally take the story. This is also not unlike those 80s “Choose Your Own Adventure” books that probably predicated the idea of choice in stories. This bodes into the mantra of the newer Open World gaming genres currently on the rise and hopefully, The Division Year Two content will play into this.

For now, Tom Clancy’s The Division and its players are taking to 1.6 and hopefully, Ubisoft/Massive’s collaboration with its fans will make for a prominent future for Year Two content.

[Featured Image by Ubisoft]