@Thanatos2k: Yes, this free update sure is expensive. I've been saving up, though, so I'm good.

Definitely popular to hate on The Division, but best I can see from all the preview footage, it's an MMORPG with shooting mechanics: lots of skill combinations, gear customization, and talent optimization in a co-op setting. If that's what it is, I expect I'll be very content and have my money's worth. I enjoyed World of Warcraft for a good number of hours, and I'm not sure I ever paid attention to the story.

That said, if The Division has an actual plot, that will be an extremely pleasant surprise.

@wowgrandpa: You could literally have a game with no story and no base...except it has a story and a base. In fact, ANY game could strip out the story the way you describe and you'd be left with only game mechanics, because story is "just a silly backdrop," but it's that silly backdrop that makes the difference between, say, Uncharted and The Last of Us. Extremely similar mechanics, very different games.

If you look at the game and don't like the story, fine. I won't judge. But this kind of negative judgment about a story you haven't heard in a game you haven't played--well, I don't buy it. Sure, wait for reviews, vote with your money, and if you don't like MMORPG's, probably don't buy this game. But your confident negativity about the narrative in this game doesn't have much basis, as far as I can tell.

@firedrakes: Um, you spelled "pity" wr--you know what, never mind. It's just a dumb mistake. (O.o)

@iohannfus2015: You also can't spell GREAT and APPEALING FEATURES without EA, so...I'm not sure I get your point.

(To be clEAr, I hEAr what you're saying, but I'm nowhere nEAr as angry as you all appEAr to be.)

@lrdfancypants: That game was called Fat Princess.

@90wushuman: So funny to me that I'm headed the opposite direction with my feelings about the game. I was highly skeptical, but the recent amount of gameplay footage has me VERY excited about the game. No Brooklyn? Doesn't bother me, if the rest of the game is full of things to do. No trading? Okay. I don't need it, if I can get access to the game's best things on my own or with a team.

The biggest factor for me is the gameplay loop, and based on the new footage, that looks solid.

[Edit for punctuation.]

@Snapdragon1: Glad you're such an independent thinker (???), but I found a source:

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2015/06/26/the-division-tense-multiplayer-in-the-dark-zone/

June 26, 2015 article on the PlayStation blog, where Executive Producer Fred Rundqvist says the game scales to solo or party play.

@putaspongeon: Not only that, but at least in this footage, the people he was shooting with a pistol were also being shot by his two friends at the same time.

Then again, couldn't see the numbers, and I don't feel too much of a need to fight for this game before I've had a chance to try it. Looking forward to the beta, though.

@Snapdragon1: Not out to convince you to like the game, but I have read in other places that there's balancing based on the number of people in your group. So with your team of 3, you're going to be seeing a lot more enemies than when you run solo.