Home Gaming The Division has microtransactions – but only for vanity items

The Division has microtransactions – but only for vanity items

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DivisionMT

The Division is out, and its servers are slowly starting to stabilise after a rocky start. When the game was initially being hyped, its designers stated that the game would not have microtransactions – instead being monetised through its initial sale, and through post-launch DLC.

When asked by Eurogamer last month how the game would continue to monetise – through DLC or microtransactions – creative Director Magnus Jensen said the game would be bereft of microtransactions.

“It’s definitely just the one – the DLC,” said Jansen. “I don’t know if there’s a globally agreed definition of the word microtransactions, but you don’t pay to win or advance or anything like that. We have DLC plans – which we’re not talking about now – and obviously you’ll pay for that, but in addition to that there’s no microtransactions, as I define them.”

While that may have been a bit of wayward verbiage, Jensen is mostly right. The game does have microtransactions of a sort though. They’re not available inside the game itself, but if you head to a digital storefront, you’ll find outfits for the game, available for £3.99, or R73 a pack. These costume packs do little other than add cosmetic items, so they don’t increase your characters stats, and certainly aren’t the “pay to win” sort.

These, I find, are the best sorts of microtransactions. They’re completely pointless – but people do love their vanity items, and many will happily scoop them up. Fools and their money, and all of that.

It is worth noting that Destiny was also released without microtransactions – but as its popularity has waned, developer bungie and Activision surreptitiously started putting them in the game.

Also, Ubisoft says that “All services have resumed normal operation on all platforms” – so you should be able to play the game just fine when you get home from work.

Last Updated: March 8, 2016

106 Comments

  1. Captain JJ the "saviour"

    March 8, 2016 at 14:06

    These clothing MTs are like vanity plates on a car….and most of the time the car is worth less than the plates.

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      March 8, 2016 at 14:07

      Does that apply to you and your cosmetics too, Cleo? *run*

      Reply

      • Captain JJ the "saviour"

        March 8, 2016 at 14:08

        because I’m worth it!

        Reply

      • RinceThis

        March 8, 2016 at 14:23

        Oh ouch!

        Reply

        • Alien Emperor Trevor

          March 8, 2016 at 14:25

          How would you know?

          Reply

          • RinceThis

            March 8, 2016 at 14:27

            I’ve seen him without makeup? 0_O

          • Captain JJ the "saviour"

            March 8, 2016 at 14:27

            You ask almost like you care.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            March 8, 2016 at 14:28

            So close!

          • RinceThis

            March 8, 2016 at 14:38

            You are BAD!

  2. Alien Emperor Trevor

    March 8, 2016 at 14:07

    I’m perfectly happy for cosmetic stuff to be bought separately via MTs so long as there’s also a fair amount of customisation included in the game you bought. That said, MTs being added in after the fact is a seriously shady business practice.

    Reply

    • Captain JJ the "saviour"

      March 8, 2016 at 14:08

      It’s Ubi. What else did you expect?

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        March 8, 2016 at 14:09

        I didn’t expect much. If it makes money they’ll do it. 😉

        Reply

        • Captain JJ the "saviour"

          March 8, 2016 at 14:10

          Probably why we haven’t seen anything like Child of Light or Valiant Hearts again.

          Reply

  3. Ottokie vs the forces of Evil

    March 8, 2016 at 14:08

    That’s fine and all, but don’t go making me look like a hobo due to in game items after buying a AAA

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      March 8, 2016 at 14:10

      LOOK AT MY SHINY OROKIN CAPE!

      Reply

    • Captain JJ the "saviour"

      March 8, 2016 at 14:12

      Aren’t all Ubi customers hobos though? Uplay runs like a hobo client.

      Reply

  4. Ottokie vs the forces of Evil

    March 8, 2016 at 14:12

    In the open beta I could not for the life of me find any head/hat cosmetics 😛

    Reply

  5. Francois Knoetze

    March 8, 2016 at 14:14

    It’s working!? YAY!!! happy wiggle behind office desk.

    Reply

    • Ottokie vs the forces of Evil

      March 8, 2016 at 14:15

      *starts hitting the ball and chain with a stapler

      Reply

      • Francois Knoetze

        March 8, 2016 at 14:18

        These chains shall not hold us!! You need something stronger! Use my Macbook pro!

        Reply

        • Captain JJ the "saviour"

          March 8, 2016 at 14:18

          Best use of Macbook ever!

          Reply

        • Ottokie vs the forces of Evil

          March 8, 2016 at 14:19

          lol. strong and macbook in the same sentence xD

          Reply

          • Francois Knoetze

            March 8, 2016 at 14:19

            It beats a stapler by two paperclips 😛

  6. Captain JJ the "saviour"

    March 8, 2016 at 14:22

    “I don’t know if there’s a globally agreed definition of the word microtransactions”
    This is exactly what they discussed in their meetings.
    They were probably saying it should be a good enough excuse to announce there aren’t any MTs, then later bring MTs.
    Your shady business practices doesn’t fool me Ubi.

    Reply

    • Jan Prins

      March 8, 2016 at 14:29

      Come on. These are cosmetic purchases. Surely these guys should be able to make some cash somehow? Those servers don’t fund/maintain themselves, you know?

      Reply

      • Captain JJ the "saviour"

        March 8, 2016 at 14:31

        I don’t mind that. Actually I couldn’t care less.
        But they did say there weren’t going to be MTs, so they can’t pretend now that this wasn’t the plan from the start. Still shady.
        Typical Ubisoft business ethics.

        Reply

        • Jan Prins

          March 8, 2016 at 14:35

          What good’s a mind if you cannot change it? Nothing shady about a company deciding to add more stuff to their product and charging for it.
          Capitalism and all that.

          Reply

          • Captain JJ the "saviour"

            March 8, 2016 at 14:36

            They didn’t “suddenly decide” to add it. It’s been the plan from the start. I know how companies like these operate.

          • Jan Prins

            March 8, 2016 at 14:37

            Oh I am so sorry Charles Xavier! Quick! What am I wearing???!!!

          • Captain JJ the "saviour"

            March 8, 2016 at 14:39

            Don’t be naive man. That’s all I’m saying. We all know how Ubisoft operates.

          • Jan Prins

            March 8, 2016 at 14:46

            No, what I am saying is stop being a whiny little SOB every time a game does MT’s. (And not only you. Seems like 75% of the gaming world does it.)
            If this was pay to win I would have been all up in arms myself.
            But this is to make you look pretty.

          • Captain JJ the "saviour"

            March 8, 2016 at 14:48

            I said I have no issues with the MTs, I said it just a few comments ago.
            My point is shady fuckers like Ubi screwing over their customers by “changing” their minds, when we all know they planned right from the start to include MTs. It’s bad business practice to be dishonest like this.

          • Hammersteyn

            March 8, 2016 at 14:49

            I remember these things called unlocks in games. The more you played the more things you unlock. It was all inclusive with the game you bought with your hard earned cash. Now companies ask, do you want sprinkles with that? And they charge you extra.

          • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

            March 8, 2016 at 14:55

            It’s not that they ask you whether you’d want to have sprinkles tossed onto it, it’s that said sprinkles are made of lumpy curry powder and instead of being tossed onto the the game to enhance it, it gets tossed into your face, letting you end up like a victim of a mace attack in the middle of a mall, with all of your friends pointing at you and laughing…

          • Captain JJ the Isolated

            March 8, 2016 at 14:56

            Are we talking about gaming, high school or the first time you had sex?

          • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

            March 8, 2016 at 14:57

            Look, if you get maced in the face the first time you have sex, you’re doing something wrong… That or you should rot in a jail afterwards with a bunch of “man rapists”…

          • Captain JJ the Isolated

            March 8, 2016 at 14:59

            I suppose analogies could work in there somewhere too :/

          • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

            March 8, 2016 at 15:01

            That’s true, but I’d rather steer clear of DLC as a whole, it ruins budgets…

          • Captain JJ the Isolated

            March 8, 2016 at 15:02

            Ruins my budget, yes.
            I’ve only bought DLC for a few games (a lot of them for PayDay2 – RIP), but nothing recently, actually.

          • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

            March 8, 2016 at 15:11

            I bought Dying Light: The Following and before that was TW3 Heart of Shwarmas…

          • Captain JJ the Isolated

            March 8, 2016 at 15:16

            I want to give Witcher 3 another playthrough, there are so many quests I never got to. Dying Light was excellent. So too in co-op, so The Following is really calling my name :/

          • Greylingad[CNFRMD]

            March 8, 2016 at 15:20

            My wallet already told me that my extravagant holiday will be a walk down the street and back, without stopping for snacks…

          • Captain JJ the Isolated

            March 8, 2016 at 15:23

            Haha. Sounds like mine! Good times ahead I tell you! XD

          • Hammersteyn

            March 8, 2016 at 16:21

            LOL! yes

          • Jan Prins

            March 8, 2016 at 15:02

            Oh I remember the unlocks too. Good old days. Sniff. Now you made me sad.

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            March 8, 2016 at 14:40

            “Hello gamer, this game will not include MTs. Please buy it.”
            “Yay release day!”
            “And now that you’ve bought it & we’ve got your money & you can’t change your mind, we’re going to add in the MTs that we said we wouldn’t because we changed our mind.”

            Um……….

          • Hammersteyn

            March 8, 2016 at 14:42

            Pretty much

          • Jan Prins

            March 8, 2016 at 14:44

            AND YET, and YET!!!! They do not go up to your house, hold your cat hostage and DEMAND you buy or that will be the last you see of your pretty little pussycat!

          • Hammersteyn

            March 8, 2016 at 14:45

            I don’t blame Ubisoft. Well I do partially, but mostly I blame the motherf******s that buy MTs.

          • Commander Admiral Chief

            March 8, 2016 at 14:46

            DAMN WHALES!!!

          • Commander Admiral Chief

            March 8, 2016 at 14:49

            I wish we could hunt these whales, ARRRRR

          • Hammersteyn

            March 8, 2016 at 14:51

            Sign me up. We’ll hire a Japanese crew, they’re experts in these matters

          • Kromas untamed

            March 8, 2016 at 14:52

            Yet they never seem to have a clue on how to stop Godzilla.

          • Hammersteyn

            March 8, 2016 at 14:53

          • Kromas untamed

            March 8, 2016 at 14:56

            We are not fighting Digital Jaws (That would be EA) here we are trying to stop Whales (cause those damn drunkards never do anything! … oops wrong whales. Cause my fish sticks have been tasting funny lately ….. also wrong whales. Cause kids have access to their parents credit cards! 🙂

          • Hammersteyn

            March 8, 2016 at 16:20

            Can we still harpoon those who buy MT?

          • Kromas untamed

            March 8, 2016 at 18:24

            I don’t see why not. It would have a second effect of clearing up some horrible net communities such as Dota and CoD. 🙂

          • Hammersteyn

            March 9, 2016 at 07:48

            Hehehehe

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            March 8, 2016 at 14:48

            SO NOW you’re shifting your argument from “it’s not shady” to “well you’re not forced to buy them”. Thank you for conceding the initial point that it is shady, no one argued that you were forced to buy them. 😀

          • Jan Prins

            March 8, 2016 at 14:58

            Bah! I did not concede anything. I am still adamant if a company wants to add stuff and charge you for it, just as their rights are there for them to do so, then so is yours and mine to tell them to go shaft it where the sun don’t shine.
            Unless you are a Sims player of course. We have a genetic disposition that forces us to BUY ALL THE OUTFITS!

          • Captain JJ the Isolated

            March 8, 2016 at 14:59

            I must agree with you on the Sims thing.
            It’s one of the few games that I’ve splurged on more than I’d care to admit.
            Though I haven’t bought 4 yet.

  7. Jan Prins

    March 8, 2016 at 14:24

    I cannot play The Division. Too difficult. Had it been called the Addition though…

    Reply

  8. Kromas untamed

    March 8, 2016 at 14:29

    I don’t like it. It is the same as our operators calling uncapped “uncapped” untill people find out there is a soft cap and then decide that the definition of uncapped is actually “unlimited” and now all of the sudden unlimited is not “unlimited” as defined by CellC.

    This sort of spin doctoring is bad.

    Reply

  9. Commander Admiral Chief

    March 8, 2016 at 14:37

    [watches Otto pay R1000 for a pink armour suit]

    Reply

    • Captain JJ the "saviour"

      March 8, 2016 at 14:38

      Don’t pretend you don’t love it.

      Reply

    • Ottokie vs the forces of Evil

      March 8, 2016 at 14:39

      I already forked over R600, I want my damn pink gear! xD

      Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        March 8, 2016 at 14:42

        Money well spent!

        Reply

      • Hammersteyn

        March 8, 2016 at 14:44

        • Captain JJ the "saviour"

          March 8, 2016 at 14:44

          haha
          Shots fired.

          Reply

        • Ottokie vs the forces of Evil

          March 8, 2016 at 14:46

          I need something that can stop bullets. This can hardly stop Habana

          Reply

          • Hammersteyn

            March 8, 2016 at 14:46

            It can stop women

          • Commander Admiral Chief

            March 8, 2016 at 14:47

            Morsdood

          • Ottokie vs the forces of Evil

            March 8, 2016 at 14:47

            #SPforlife

          • Captain JJ the "saviour"

            March 8, 2016 at 14:49

            Can barely stop Brandy&Coke bellies.

          • Ottokie vs the forces of Evil

            March 8, 2016 at 14:50

            A Brandy belly is a Happy belly

          • Captain JJ the "saviour"

            March 8, 2016 at 14:50

            Haha.
            True enough.
            I never warmed up to brandy myself.

          • Hammersteyn

            March 8, 2016 at 14:51

            I did, but on the rocks

          • Captain JJ the "saviour"

            March 8, 2016 at 14:51

            Yes. When I’m out of wine. 😀

          • Hammersteyn

            March 8, 2016 at 14:52

            You’re not out of whine if I read your comments 😛

          • Captain JJ the "saviour"

            March 8, 2016 at 14:53

            NEVER!
            But my wife is out of hospital after nearly three months…so the mood should start lifting..do not fret!

          • Hammersteyn

            March 8, 2016 at 16:21

            That’s great news!

          • Ottokie vs the forces of Evil

            March 8, 2016 at 14:51

            Don’t drink it from a can xD

          • Captain JJ the "saviour"

            March 8, 2016 at 14:51

            Haha

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            March 8, 2016 at 14:52

            -_-

          • Ottokie vs the forces of Evil

            March 8, 2016 at 14:54

            Huehuehue, an indirect low blow

          • Hammersteyn

            March 8, 2016 at 14:50

            Pale white belly sticking out below the pink shirt, like a hairy marshmallow

          • Captain JJ the "saviour"

            March 8, 2016 at 14:51

            LOOOL

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            March 8, 2016 at 14:51

            That’s not true, I’ll never wear that shirt.

          • Captain JJ the "saviour"

            March 8, 2016 at 14:52

            If you wear it under your Lazygamer shirt then they won’t even be able to tell what pants you’re wearing 😛

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            March 8, 2016 at 15:10

            You don’t just wear a Lazygamer tent-shirt willy-nilly.

          • Jan Prins

            March 8, 2016 at 15:03

            My Word Man! I still want to sleep tonight!!!! I blame YOU for this…

          • Hammersteyn

            March 8, 2016 at 16:16

            XD

          • Commander Admiral Chief

            March 8, 2016 at 15:05

            So wanneer ondersteun jy die Sharks?

          • Captain JJ the Isolated

            March 8, 2016 at 15:05

            Ek wil ook weet.

          • Hammersteyn

            March 8, 2016 at 16:16

            Waneer Loftus afbrand

          • Commander Admiral Chief

            March 9, 2016 at 07:02

            …soon

  10. Commander Admiral Chief

    March 8, 2016 at 14:46

    I’m very happy with what I’ve paid for The Division, and I’m happy to continue paying that amount for the MT’s

    Reply

    • Captain JJ the "saviour"

      March 8, 2016 at 14:49

      Nothing.
      I’m also happy I paid that.

      Reply

  11. Ghost In The Rift

    March 8, 2016 at 15:53

    Remind me how much The Wolven Armor, beard and hairstyle set cost in The Witcher 3 haha *runs*

    Reply

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