Massive, Please reconsider implementation of RNG to micro transactions in The Division

We at Upper Echelon, along with a large amount of members from the Division community are disheartened at the introduction of an RNG mechanic to micro transactions in the popular video game, The Division.

As long time fans, players and members of this great community we come to Massive respectfully to discuss this controversial topic,

We believe this mechanic is badly designed, lacks transparency and whilst being legal, it is a shady business practice designed to take advantage of the player base.

There are many instances where this can be considered a gambling mechanic that will be available to children who play the game and are under the recommended age for said game. The Division is marketed as 17+ in the U.S. while the minimum age to gamble legally ranges anywhere from 18 to 21 depending on state. This also applies in Australia where the game is rated MA15+ but the legal age to gamble is 18.

The way this feature is designed also means players who buy the encrypted caches will then have to continue to spend more and more money in order to complete their vanity piece collection whilst continuing to receive duplicate items they already have. And whilst getting duplicate items results in a refund of encrypted fragments, the dollar spend vs refund is unfairly skewed in favour of the developer. Many games that have implemented this feature have simply removed that item from the loot pool completely or used consumables as an offset. Mass Effect 3 is a great example of this.

This is something the majority of surveyed players do not want to see in the game and have openly stated this opinion across many forums and social media platforms. We ask that Massive rethinks it's position on this change and makes the system much fairer, or redesign it completely. The loot table or percentage drop chance needs to be made transparent and available so that the player base is better informed of their chances of getting the item they want.

We don't want his system removed completely, We just want it to be modified so that vanity items can be bought from the premium vendor for a competitive dollar value and you can select the exact item you want to buy. The random caches can remain in the game as long as they are bought with Phoenix credits or a form of currency exclusively obtained by farming in-game.

To better understand our point of view can watch this video by outstanding YouTuber LtBuzzLitebeer and if you agree with our point of view please sign the petition. We would also like to encourage this debate to remain as respectful as it has across the multiple platforms so far.

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Thank you for your time.