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Good morning Agents,
Now, this suggestion isn't new or original, but more so, in my opinion, a deeper look into its implementation. I had planned to write this thread a while back when I asked the question: 4 v 1s: Is this stopping you from going into the DZ? I had to put it on hold because I became busy, but here it is now because I won't have time for it later. TL;DR at the bottom in red.
I wanted to think about the practicality of this suggestion. Solo dark zone servers had to be more than just "sounding good", for the sake of just having them in the game. Outside of the DZ, I will use matchmaking like no other. However, once I step into the DZ, I prefer to play solo. This does not mean I don't like PVP. I can enjoy PVP, but what I can't enjoy is 4 v 1. That's just not fun.
Unfair and Lawless
But that was the first challenge to the solo dark zone server suggestion. Solo dark zone servers is an attempt at "evening" the playing field in regards to PVP in the dark zone. Every player in the server would be solo, so theoretically, there would be a lot more 1 v 1s than there would be 4 v 1s, making it fairer on some ground before gear and the acquisition of that gear is factored into the equation.
But that brings me to this point: the dark zone is an unfair and lawless land. This means that 4 v 1s are pretty much legal and any attempts of fairness would contradict the dark zone's forte. Yet, there was another question I thought about: is the dark zone meant to be unfair and lawless. or is it just known to be unfair and lawless?
If it's meant to be unfair and lawless, then throw the solo dark zone servers suggestion in the trash. However, if it's just known to be unfair and lawless, meaning it can be sometimes and other times not, who says that unfairness and lawlessness can't still organically occur in a solo dark zone server? You could still get ambushed by an opposing solo player who went rogue on you out of thin air. You can be a rogue running from a non-rogue player or two, and then suddenly find yourself facing two other non-rogue players who so happened to have come around a corner. After unofficially teaming up to kill you, one of those players go rogue.
Though, even with the examples, it seems as if that would still apply if the dark zone was meant to be unfair and lawless, no? This may be a confusing section, so to put it simply, does solo dark zone servers contradict the unfair and lawlessness of what the DZ is?
Improving PVP: An Abstract Concept
This is the core to the solo dark zone server suggestion. PVP is an ever-changing experience, and because of that, there's no one thing that will "fix" it 100% that will satisfy everyone. Unfortunately, in order for solo dark zone servers to be truly implemented and being more than just sounding good, PVP has to be improved. The reason why is because when PVP would occur, it would be in a state that is tolerated by all parties involved. A fight being 1 v 1 would already establish some base level of tolerability as opposed to 2 v 1, 3 v 1, 4 v 1. Course, this is a best case scenario thing because, again, improving PVP is abstract.
But it has to be done before implementing solo dark zone servers. Think about it. If the game were to receive solo dark zone servers, but PVP was still poor and unbalanced, would solo dark zone servers even matter? No matter if you absolutely despise PVP and don't do it, call anyone who partakes in it expletives, hate Redstorm's guts, you have to absolutely want it to be improved in order to get solo dark zone servers. I mean, I'm sure most of us want PVP to be improved, anyway... right?
I'll leave that thread to someone else, mainly because I'm not PVPing right now 
.
Again, it's an abstract concept, but for the sake of the next section, let's assume that the state of PVP is brilliant and the community is enjoying it.
Dark Zone Incentives
I have to look back a bit for this one. In Division 1, I personally enjoyed the blueprint exclusivity grind that the dark zone brought us. To me, it felt like true progression towards something good. Like many of you might have, I was always eagerly anticipating what the DZ vendors would have in stock upon reset (I hope something like this comes to the current vendors and settlement upgrades in Division 2).
But then that got changed.
The Tommy Gun was once a supply drop only reward. That made every supply drop announcement exciting to me. I remember grinding endlessly in the DZ for supply drops, then one day it finally dropped for me in a DZ02 supply drop, one block away from Kalkesse. So much hype. I guess this was enjoyable because PVP was probably tolerable then.
Once 1.8 rolled around, what kept me in the dark zone was DZ07. Landmarks were in close proximity of each other and once Global events were over, DZ07 was my go-to grind spot for Classifieds. Classifieds aren't 100% an exclusive thing to the DZ, because I could have waited for a global event to come around or try Resistance, but DZ07 was what kept me in the DZ.
With really no "blueprint-like" exclusivity, I personally have no motivation to play in the DZ in Division 2. Sure, there might be a named item exclusive to the DZ, but is that enough? It's just a stat increase of an existing talent on an already existing brand set. For me, I need to go after something that's more than just a stat increase. I may like PVP, but it doesn't motivate me enough to go into the DZ and partake in it. And, due to latent learning, even if we know how to do something, we may not want to do it if we have no motivation to do it.
Assuming PVP is of quality (keyword is assuming), solo dark zone servers would allow DZ exclusivities to return. You might not PVP, but understand that the grounds would be fairer if you have to in order to defend yourself simply because you'd likely be in a 1 v 1 and not outnumbered, and there might be more non-rogues than rogues at an extraction.
As rogue player, however, you have to accept and expect to be outnumbered. I'd say that would add to the thrill in a solo dark zone server. Reminds me of taking over GTA online servers by myself on 360.
Let's look at targeted loot for a second. I always believed that targeted loot is a seed planted for the future of the game. It was good to include it early in the game's life because when more loot gets added - gear sets, weapons, and potentially new brand sets - the general loot pool will increase. But, because of targeted loot, we will still have separate loot pools of gear slots and brand sets. I believe solo dark zone servers would allow for a different result, but in the same way.
I'd expect solo dark zone servers to attract a lot of players to it, and if the dark zone were to regain exclusive loot, I expect there to be a lot more comfortability with it simply because you are unlikely to run into a "group" that might cause an unfun experience for you.
So to put it in perspective:
Targeted loot: new items gets added and the general loot pool increases -> we will still have separate loot pools of gear slots and brand sets
Solo servers: exclusive DZ loot gets added -> not as bad as it might seem because solo dark zone servers would exist and PVP interactions would, in theory, be fairer.
But, solo dark servers is the absolute LAST thing, in my opinion, that can happen to the DZ because anything after that, you're pretty much talking disabling PVP, and that's impractical.
But once again, the core component of this suggestion is improving PVP, because even if you add new and exclusive loot to the DZ and the state of PVP is still bad..... do you see what I'm saying? The gameplay that you might have to partake in, in order to get that new exclusive item out, would void any interest, no? So again, you have to root on PVP being improved, even in you don't partake in it.
Also, I only have one DZ project. Wouldn't solo servers allow for the expansion of DZ projects or even commendations?
Incentivizing Group Play
We can't forget about group play. Let's say solo dark zone servers are in the game.
It would obviously be more attractive than group play, which means group play may suffer. This is where I think increasing the frequency of rewards would come into play. Scaling loot quantity based on group size could be a solution to the potential shift in DZ activity. You open a chest as a group of two, boom, you get an extra item. You open a DZ chest in a group of three or four, boom, you get two or three extra items, respectively. This should also include increased DZ resources, landmark named boss drops, supply drops, typical green loot case drops.
With the combination of the incoming improvements to loot quality, assumed state of manageable PVP, loot quantity scaled to group size and DZ exclusive loot (whether as random drops or purchasable via DZ resources), I think this would provide a balance between having solo dark zone servers and still wanting group play to be healthy. This could also include expanding DZ objectives to include group based objectives and commendations.
Actually, that might make group play a lot better because you'd have more chances at having the new loot drop for you due to increased reward slots.
Server Type and General Measures
Let's think about the type of servers that would be present. There are two possibilities:
1. It's pretty standard. Solos, and then a server consisting of every other type of group size.
2. This an attempt at trying make every PVP encounter fair, but this might cause a ceiling effect if rewards scale to group size. Meaning those who like group play would probably just play in a group of four.
Separating servers would also cause a player count issue, so I'd go for solo servers -> everyone else servers, but it has to be done in order for the DZ to accommodate solo servers.
Additionally, if there were separate servers for solos and groups, increasing the maximum DZ player count to 16 for the group size server wouldn't be too bad if it does not cause too much trouble with lag and the quality of the server connectivity, and keeping the solo server at 12 wouldn't be too bad either. There is one issue with group servers and we have to take a look back at an old Division 1 dark zone trailer:
Skip to 4:19 incase the video doesn't do so automatically.
This would have to be accounted for in some way. Solo dark zone servers could be a menu option in the settings. That way, players have a choice to continue to either venture into group based servers (and continue to do so if they were to drop group) and play as a solo player, or exclusively play in solo servers. Obviously dropping group should also scale rewards down to avoid loot exploits.
We also have to think about things like VOIP and in-game chat. In a solo server, it seems best to outright disable both to avoid any brewing of multigrouping plans. However, I don't think you can really stop the possibility of two players who have each other added as friends who so happen to be in the same solo server, and can message each other outside of the game. Despite not being in a group, I'd add a multigrouping report option, but then that might be a tough thing to judge in a solo server, so that's up for debate.
Questions
There are still some things to think about with this entire solo dark zone server suggestion:
Conclusion
This thread may turn some of you off because I'm speaking in hypotheticals, but I think solo dark zone servers is one of the ultimate options that can be done in order to improve the DZ, and that's because of how many things it can lead to and not because it just sounds good to have. You add solo dark zone servers:
You'll likely get more players in the DZ because you mediated the types of PVP interactions (1 v 1s, 2 v 2s, 3s,, etc)
That then leads to incentivizing the DZ with better and exclusive rewards, PVE activities, tasks, and objectives because PVP in more tolerable / inviting
You can then incentivize group play by scaling rewards to group size
But... this entire suggestion relies on improving PVP. There is no way around this. Although, I will say you will need both improved PVP and solo servers to REALLY improve the DZ:
You improve PVP, but a player is still getting outnumbered, is that still fun?
You add solo servers, but PVP is still bad, is that still fun?
Now, there are things like increasing DZ map size, etc., but I think we should start somewhere practical first. Really none of this stuff is new, but I wanted to look at it all in perspective.
TL;DR - Improved PVP = solo dark servers
Now, this suggestion isn't new or original, but more so, in my opinion, a deeper look into its implementation. I had planned to write this thread a while back when I asked the question: 4 v 1s: Is this stopping you from going into the DZ? I had to put it on hold because I became busy, but here it is now because I won't have time for it later. TL;DR at the bottom in red.
I wanted to think about the practicality of this suggestion. Solo dark zone servers had to be more than just "sounding good", for the sake of just having them in the game. Outside of the DZ, I will use matchmaking like no other. However, once I step into the DZ, I prefer to play solo. This does not mean I don't like PVP. I can enjoy PVP, but what I can't enjoy is 4 v 1. That's just not fun.
Unfair and Lawless
But that was the first challenge to the solo dark zone server suggestion. Solo dark zone servers is an attempt at "evening" the playing field in regards to PVP in the dark zone. Every player in the server would be solo, so theoretically, there would be a lot more 1 v 1s than there would be 4 v 1s, making it fairer on some ground before gear and the acquisition of that gear is factored into the equation.
But that brings me to this point: the dark zone is an unfair and lawless land. This means that 4 v 1s are pretty much legal and any attempts of fairness would contradict the dark zone's forte. Yet, there was another question I thought about: is the dark zone meant to be unfair and lawless. or is it just known to be unfair and lawless?
If it's meant to be unfair and lawless, then throw the solo dark zone servers suggestion in the trash. However, if it's just known to be unfair and lawless, meaning it can be sometimes and other times not, who says that unfairness and lawlessness can't still organically occur in a solo dark zone server? You could still get ambushed by an opposing solo player who went rogue on you out of thin air. You can be a rogue running from a non-rogue player or two, and then suddenly find yourself facing two other non-rogue players who so happened to have come around a corner. After unofficially teaming up to kill you, one of those players go rogue.
Though, even with the examples, it seems as if that would still apply if the dark zone was meant to be unfair and lawless, no? This may be a confusing section, so to put it simply, does solo dark zone servers contradict the unfair and lawlessness of what the DZ is?
Improving PVP: An Abstract Concept
This is the core to the solo dark zone server suggestion. PVP is an ever-changing experience, and because of that, there's no one thing that will "fix" it 100% that will satisfy everyone. Unfortunately, in order for solo dark zone servers to be truly implemented and being more than just sounding good, PVP has to be improved. The reason why is because when PVP would occur, it would be in a state that is tolerated by all parties involved. A fight being 1 v 1 would already establish some base level of tolerability as opposed to 2 v 1, 3 v 1, 4 v 1. Course, this is a best case scenario thing because, again, improving PVP is abstract.
But it has to be done before implementing solo dark zone servers. Think about it. If the game were to receive solo dark zone servers, but PVP was still poor and unbalanced, would solo dark zone servers even matter? No matter if you absolutely despise PVP and don't do it, call anyone who partakes in it expletives, hate Redstorm's guts, you have to absolutely want it to be improved in order to get solo dark zone servers. I mean, I'm sure most of us want PVP to be improved, anyway... right?
I'll leave that thread to someone else, mainly because I'm not PVPing right now .Again, it's an abstract concept, but for the sake of the next section, let's assume that the state of PVP is brilliant and the community is enjoying it.
Dark Zone Incentives
I have to look back a bit for this one. In Division 1, I personally enjoyed the blueprint exclusivity grind that the dark zone brought us. To me, it felt like true progression towards something good. Like many of you might have, I was always eagerly anticipating what the DZ vendors would have in stock upon reset (I hope something like this comes to the current vendors and settlement upgrades in Division 2).
But then that got changed.
The Tommy Gun was once a supply drop only reward. That made every supply drop announcement exciting to me. I remember grinding endlessly in the DZ for supply drops, then one day it finally dropped for me in a DZ02 supply drop, one block away from Kalkesse. So much hype. I guess this was enjoyable because PVP was probably tolerable then.
Once 1.8 rolled around, what kept me in the dark zone was DZ07. Landmarks were in close proximity of each other and once Global events were over, DZ07 was my go-to grind spot for Classifieds. Classifieds aren't 100% an exclusive thing to the DZ, because I could have waited for a global event to come around or try Resistance, but DZ07 was what kept me in the DZ.
With really no "blueprint-like" exclusivity, I personally have no motivation to play in the DZ in Division 2. Sure, there might be a named item exclusive to the DZ, but is that enough? It's just a stat increase of an existing talent on an already existing brand set. For me, I need to go after something that's more than just a stat increase. I may like PVP, but it doesn't motivate me enough to go into the DZ and partake in it. And, due to latent learning, even if we know how to do something, we may not want to do it if we have no motivation to do it.
Assuming PVP is of quality (keyword is assuming), solo dark zone servers would allow DZ exclusivities to return. You might not PVP, but understand that the grounds would be fairer if you have to in order to defend yourself simply because you'd likely be in a 1 v 1 and not outnumbered, and there might be more non-rogues than rogues at an extraction.
As rogue player, however, you have to accept and expect to be outnumbered. I'd say that would add to the thrill in a solo dark zone server. Reminds me of taking over GTA online servers by myself on 360.
Let's look at targeted loot for a second. I always believed that targeted loot is a seed planted for the future of the game. It was good to include it early in the game's life because when more loot gets added - gear sets, weapons, and potentially new brand sets - the general loot pool will increase. But, because of targeted loot, we will still have separate loot pools of gear slots and brand sets. I believe solo dark zone servers would allow for a different result, but in the same way.
I'd expect solo dark zone servers to attract a lot of players to it, and if the dark zone were to regain exclusive loot, I expect there to be a lot more comfortability with it simply because you are unlikely to run into a "group" that might cause an unfun experience for you.
So to put it in perspective:
Targeted loot: new items gets added and the general loot pool increases -> we will still have separate loot pools of gear slots and brand sets
Solo servers: exclusive DZ loot gets added -> not as bad as it might seem because solo dark zone servers would exist and PVP interactions would, in theory, be fairer.
But, solo dark servers is the absolute LAST thing, in my opinion, that can happen to the DZ because anything after that, you're pretty much talking disabling PVP, and that's impractical.
But once again, the core component of this suggestion is improving PVP, because even if you add new and exclusive loot to the DZ and the state of PVP is still bad..... do you see what I'm saying? The gameplay that you might have to partake in, in order to get that new exclusive item out, would void any interest, no? So again, you have to root on PVP being improved, even in you don't partake in it.
Also, I only have one DZ project. Wouldn't solo servers allow for the expansion of DZ projects or even commendations?
Incentivizing Group Play
We can't forget about group play. Let's say solo dark zone servers are in the game.
It would obviously be more attractive than group play, which means group play may suffer. This is where I think increasing the frequency of rewards would come into play. Scaling loot quantity based on group size could be a solution to the potential shift in DZ activity. You open a chest as a group of two, boom, you get an extra item. You open a DZ chest in a group of three or four, boom, you get two or three extra items, respectively. This should also include increased DZ resources, landmark named boss drops, supply drops, typical green loot case drops.
With the combination of the incoming improvements to loot quality, assumed state of manageable PVP, loot quantity scaled to group size and DZ exclusive loot (whether as random drops or purchasable via DZ resources), I think this would provide a balance between having solo dark zone servers and still wanting group play to be healthy. This could also include expanding DZ objectives to include group based objectives and commendations.
Actually, that might make group play a lot better because you'd have more chances at having the new loot drop for you due to increased reward slots.
Server Type and General Measures
Let's think about the type of servers that would be present. There are two possibilities:
- Solo servers -> everyone else
- Solo servers -> duo server -> trio server -> quartet server (had to google the word describing a group of four)
1. It's pretty standard. Solos, and then a server consisting of every other type of group size.
2. This an attempt at trying make every PVP encounter fair, but this might cause a ceiling effect if rewards scale to group size. Meaning those who like group play would probably just play in a group of four.
Separating servers would also cause a player count issue, so I'd go for solo servers -> everyone else servers, but it has to be done in order for the DZ to accommodate solo servers.
Additionally, if there were separate servers for solos and groups, increasing the maximum DZ player count to 16 for the group size server wouldn't be too bad if it does not cause too much trouble with lag and the quality of the server connectivity, and keeping the solo server at 12 wouldn't be too bad either. There is one issue with group servers and we have to take a look back at an old Division 1 dark zone trailer:
Skip to 4:19 incase the video doesn't do so automatically.
This would have to be accounted for in some way. Solo dark zone servers could be a menu option in the settings. That way, players have a choice to continue to either venture into group based servers (and continue to do so if they were to drop group) and play as a solo player, or exclusively play in solo servers. Obviously dropping group should also scale rewards down to avoid loot exploits.
We also have to think about things like VOIP and in-game chat. In a solo server, it seems best to outright disable both to avoid any brewing of multigrouping plans. However, I don't think you can really stop the possibility of two players who have each other added as friends who so happen to be in the same solo server, and can message each other outside of the game. Despite not being in a group, I'd add a multigrouping report option, but then that might be a tough thing to judge in a solo server, so that's up for debate.
Questions
There are still some things to think about with this entire solo dark zone server suggestion:
- Can group scaled rewards actually be practically implemented?
- Is there any unforeseen exploits with rewards scaling to group size?
- Does solo dark zone servers contradict the concept of the DZ?
- Is a solo dark zone server an invisible force that breaks continuity or the organic encounter nature of the DZ?
Conclusion
This thread may turn some of you off because I'm speaking in hypotheticals, but I think solo dark zone servers is one of the ultimate options that can be done in order to improve the DZ, and that's because of how many things it can lead to and not because it just sounds good to have. You add solo dark zone servers:
You'll likely get more players in the DZ because you mediated the types of PVP interactions (1 v 1s, 2 v 2s, 3s,, etc)
That then leads to incentivizing the DZ with better and exclusive rewards, PVE activities, tasks, and objectives because PVP in more tolerable / inviting
You can then incentivize group play by scaling rewards to group size
But... this entire suggestion relies on improving PVP. There is no way around this. Although, I will say you will need both improved PVP and solo servers to REALLY improve the DZ:
You improve PVP, but a player is still getting outnumbered, is that still fun?
You add solo servers, but PVP is still bad, is that still fun?
Now, there are things like increasing DZ map size, etc., but I think we should start somewhere practical first. Really none of this stuff is new, but I wanted to look at it all in perspective.
TL;DR - Improved PVP = solo dark servers