Ubisoft has launched The Division 2 Twitch Drops promotion which allows gamers to earn rewards just by watching those streamers who have the feature activated, but the gaming community has been reporting really serious problems with the game thus it is really hard to enjoy the new promotion. Through The Division’s Twitter the official announcement stated the very simple steps to be followed for the players to participate: connect their Twitch and Ubisoft Connect accounts, confirm the platform links, and then claim the drops before logging onto the respective platform for them to be received. This announcement’s replies, however, show a much more complicated situation which the players are experiencing frustration and thus their engagement with the game is being limited to the extent of the Twitch Drops event.
From the very beginning a lot of users claim that the game is unplayable due to huge technical problems. One of them User Xx_viga_xX expressed his sorrow at being unable to log into his account for two days. Another user pikocriss expressed discontent in the strongest way possible, saying “SORT OUT THE DISCONNECTS. THIS IS NOW INSANE” in capitals indicating that the connection problems are indeed very serious. One fellow gamer was even impolite enough to say “Why would anyone want twitch drops if the game is not playable?” which, if you think about it for a moment, makes a lot of sense. I mean, why would you spend your time watching streams just to get virtual goodies when you can’t even get into the game to use them?
Among the gamers, some have painted the system that controls the points as being utterly disordered with great detail. User bolivarfino used quite a vivid analogy that after he made the attacking forces disappear four more came just like that, thus he created what he called “a repetitive cycle” where any completed mission resulted in losing all control points. After he finished the Houndsman Bounty, he posted asking for communication as to whether this was by design or a bug because he had lost two control points and was about to get four more attacks. This broken gameplay loop really hampers the players’ attempts to progress in the game.
Along with the aforementioned problems, consolation comes in the form of additional tech issues. Joncat1 said that the ghost backpack trophy was not working and even after opening weapon boxes nothing was yielded. JavierNZ1 lost his cool with the drone’s bat sound mod, saying it is very loud and likening it to “piercing the ears with his screams” and requesting at least a fix for when you deploy the mod. The buildup of bugs has resulted in what andywhite1266 has dubbed “Deltaween” – a nod to the game’s error codes that reportedly have been terrorizing the players.
On the one hand, the Twitch Drops announcement was highly anticipated while on the other it did not get such a warm reception from the public. While Spring_27_ informed that everything went fine for them on PSN, other players were less positive. GuevaraIraq24 just said “Not worth it” and CClasher808 the one who was annoyed with the chosen platform, asked: “Wish you’d use Kick, twitch is trash.” 2village_Studio took a combative posture, demanding Ubisoft to “reward the people that don’t support @Twitch” instead of forcing them to use the streaming platform.
Some users have even questioned the entire business model of The Division 2 besides just the immediate tech issues. deogovakin admitted to having reported the “abusive pricing” of the Battle for Brooklyn DLC to the authorities in several countries, venting his frustration of having to pay for Warlords of New York only to later find it included in the base game without any compensation. This points to a general discontent with Ubisoft’s content and pricing that might last longer than just the current technical problems.
There were though, among all the whining and complaining, some players who humbly made suggestions aimed at improving things. ZerodianAxces wasted no time to put forward the addition of the SAR-21 Singapore bullpup assault rifle into the game with detailed stat suggestions and reasoning for why it would be a unique addition to the weapon rack. This shows that despite the current issues with the game, some community members still have high hopes for the game in long run development and moreover in the new content.
This whole thing is quite a dilemma for Ubisoft – at one point they want to capture players’ interest with the Twitch Drops, and on the other, some players are suffering from issues with the core gameplay systems and are unable to participate. The disparity between the joyful announcement of rewards and the flood of technical complaints that came in the replies shows the community keeps wanting to experience The Division 2 but is continuously bothered by problems. The user Tbay4080 rather straightforwardly expressed it, “Imagine another update just to break more shit. Good job Ubisoft way to not disappoint” – a comment that seems to be a common sentiment of many players who endure these unresolved issues.
At present, the players that have the ability to log in and are interested in participating in the Twitch Drops will have to meticulously go through the linking process, while those who are having technical difficulties will need to wait for patches and fixes before they can be fully involved in either the drops or the game. The entire situation serves as a reminder to the industry that promotional events can only be successful when the underlying game is functioning properly and at present, The Division 2 seems to be struggling at that most basic level, as indicated by its player base.
