The Division Iceberg EXPLAINED

hey everyone Rog gold here and welcome to the division Iceberg if you don't know what these are Iceberg charts are a popular Trend used on well established franchises and IPS as a way to rank and categorize information how it'll work we'll start at the top of the iceberg covering some of the most well-known and iconic things about the division franchise and as we move down further into the chilling depths we'll be covering much lesser known obscure and some dark secrets this has been a lot of fun to put together and I think that even the most dedicated fan of the franchise might be surprised by what awaits down in the darkness steal yourselves here we go we begin at the tip of the iceberg with a collection of things that have been immortalized in the division's history and by beginning with this section we honor their legendary status starting with the bullet King when the division one launched several open world bosses populated the various districts of Midtown Manhattan and while it was intended for them to have a lengthy respawn timer upon defeat players soon discovered an exploit to allow these bosses to be immediately and infinitely respawned the bullet King was the boss closest to a player spawn point that being the Autumn's hope safe house and therefore he quickly became the prime target of this exploit Farm in this time the bullet King quickly Rose to fame even more so when the first patch to fix this glitch didn't resolve his specific exploitation and it took an additional maintenance with the servers going down to finally finish him off after his Reign graffiti art was installed near his spawn location to commemorate the whole thing and in the Years since this occurred players have continued to spread his Legend even going so far as to illustrate his royalty much later on in the division 2's Warlords of New York expansion the bullet King was canonically immortalized with the introduction of the bullet King exotic lmg famous for its perk of never needing to be reloaded and its flavor text reads from the bullet Queen and other boss players facing a side mission for the expansion so for as long as there's those left to remember long live the king coward's Corner another division one classic this infamous spot went by many names coward's Corner camper Corner every group had their own name for it it refers to a specific location within the dark Zone that was massively popular in the game's first year of content this being because of its physical layout the spot itself was a rather small enclosed rooftop space only accessible by a very long singular ladder at the end of a long alley with no cover to speak of this meant that it was the perfect spot for Manhunt targets to hold out at back when the Rogue system ran on a timer based clear mechanic as opposed to later iterations this spot in the dark Zone has likely racked up more deaths than anywhere else in the franchise's history as multiple squads of Agents would attempt to flush out the campers but often with little success and when people did manage to make it through the flame turrets and gunfire things up in the corner would get unbelievably chaotic this spot along with a few other locations that the devs deem problematic got a big Geographic revamp in the game's 1.6.1 update creating scaffolding to fit the previously empty alley allowing a sent to the corner not only by ladder but also a staircase and the Corner's back wall got hollowed out with a tunnel leading to another nearby area after this change the spot lost the majority of its appeal however if you're ever curious to see its original iteration that version does still exist within the survival game mode map as a relic to a long lost Battlefield they got Alex this iconic phrase is likely one that you've heard probably several times even if you've only played the division 1 for a short amount of time it was a piece of dialogue sometimes referred to in game development as a bark used by the rider faction when facing them in combat we got Alex we got Alex Lo your FL we got Alex this phrase was repeated so often in gameplay that players quickly caught on and began using it across internet discourse and they still have to this day since it was discovered the devs have immortalized Alex inivision lore releasing one very fitting audio log you know what this reminds me of the day we took down Alex that was a good day no kidding that guy was huge must have been 6'5 240 all muscle oh wait guy yeah guy I'm talking about Alex that's funny I thought Alex was a woman short for Alex man hell of a shot too picked off a couple of Agents of range no no no no no Alex was a guy are you sure we're talking about the same Alex I don't know could there have been more than one it was later explained that there were recorded lines for various other names for the factions to call out in shock for however due to a bug the system always picked the first name on the list and so was borne Alex they also cited that bugs like this one were a major motivator for them to work to eliminate these kinds of issues during development on the division 2 state of the game this phrase has been used by many live games over the years to provide updates on well the state of the game but for the division it holds extra significance from April 2016 up until December of 2020 the Developers for the division at massive entertainment hosted a new show titled state of the game its Cadence would fluctuate but at it tight they held these streams weekly going through busy news periods and slower patches alike to provide the community with consistent updates in a status report on the game current issues and future content for better or worse they ran these streams when the game was flourishing and in times when players were rather disgruntled all with the goal of maintaining communication no matter what and it was regarded by many in the gaming industry as the gold standard for how to handle consistent communication with the live game Community unfortunately state of the game's final episode aired back in 20120 and ceased production due to a few compounding factors such as the development team sizes reduction the imminent content drought and the longtime host heish soon to be departing Ubisoft state of the game may not be around anymore but it's Legacy across the years with different hosts and guests lives on and many players keep the hope alive that it could be revived in the future with the division 3 having been confirmed to be in development earlier this year single file Line This refers to a moment that quickly Rose to fame right at the launch of the division 1 the tutorial area for the game is set in Brooklyn New York and visiting the one and only Safe House in the zone is one of players very first objectives when booting up the game because of this and the high volumes of players logging on right as the servers went live it made things a bit claustrophobic in the safe house so much so the player soon found it difficult to physically reach the desk inside which had a laptop sitting on it that was required for you to interact with it in order to progress your game because of this Safe House occupants quickly developed a useful strategy that of the single file line pictures were documented around the world of Agents lining up starting at the desk and leading back to the entrance in order to prevent the clustering and inevitable blocking of this necessary objective without a doubt one of the more wholesome items on this list and a memory that any day one player is sure to never forget negative Ramos another highly iconic quote from the franchise this refers to a line spoken during one of the division 1's most popular missions Lexington Event Center and this became so iconic due to Lexington's popularity the mission not only had highly desirable exclusive rewards like the Barrett vest exotic but it was also one of the most efficient missions in overall spots in the game as far as time spent clearing it versus the reward granted so whether it was grinding it out during Global events or just general speedruns to rack up XP Lexington was farmed on Loop so often that the encounters and dialogue were quickly memorized and one objective in particular stood out to players it involved rescuing one jtf Sergeant Ramos about halfway through the mission and doing so would trigger a somewhat lengthy discourse between he and faao their exchange ending with we've got this and hun down this line quickly caught on with the player base and has retained its Fame throughout the years leading to the developers leaving some nods to it in the sequel graffiti the division franchis has gained much respect from fans and observers over the years for its painstaking attention to detail and its authentic Rec creations of New York City and Washington DC one element that contributes significantly to that authenticity is the graffiti and other street art that can be found in both games and particularly for the division 1's development the developers went the extra mile to ensure that these pieces of art would be portrayed as accurately as possible they collaborated with real life Street artists not only commissioning them to make designs to be featured in the games but also Consulting them on where specific pieces should be placed for instance determining that larger and more complex pieces are more likely to be found on high up easily visible walls for maximum exposure whereas back alleys are more likely to have random tags the Midas like any live game the division franchise has had its fair share of metas overpowered items and just straight up broken interactions but for many one of the first ever ones to arise is particularly memorable and that happened back in the days and first weeks following the launch of the division 1 players discovered and looted one of the rare Nam high-end weapon drops in the game the Midas which was a goldplated t821 SMG the gun itself was fine a very strong Contender but it wasn't like it had outlandish damage or anything there the problem came with its talents it rolled with the talent trained which at the time granted the user 4.6% signature skill resources AKA cooldown reduction on every critical hit landed this was problematic for two reasons for one the gun being an SMG critical hit chance and damage were much easier to make make a build around and two signature skills were the equivalent of ultimate abilities in the division one allowing players to choose between huge healing waves a long period of damage reduction and combat Effectiveness or a big damage handling an RPM boost abilities that would normally take several minutes to reset took mere seconds thanks to the Midas and its talent and the results were devastating particularly in the dark Zone and PVP the gun and its Talent were patched relatively quickly but its Legend had already been cemented and while I personally never got my hands on one pre Nerf I will always have fond memories of this era of the Midas primarily because I used it as a complete fabrication where I'd go open mic into a packed extraction point in the dark Zone claim that I had one in my bag and watch as chaos unfolded the hunters easily the most iconic faction of the franchise the hunters were first introduced in the division 1 Survival game mode not only were they physically imposing with their expressionless Bel bistic masks razor sharp axes and the displays they leave you once you reach the dark Zone but they were an immense gameplay challenge as well featuring smarter AI faster movement an expanded Arsenal and the ability to hack friendly skills while jamming the rest combine this with the fact that survival saw you scringy used in the franchise thanks to their popularity particularly in the division 2 where we've also begun to learn more about their origins The Mystery of their appearance and actions led to widespread theories and speculation around the community for years but back in season 9 of the division 2 it was finally revealed that the hunters are a part of Homeland Security led by Calvin mcmanis what exactly their objectives are are still unknown but they're sure to play a big part in the larger story to come and they will forever give players a reason to watch their back when out in the world this takes us to the shallows things in this section aren't likely to be known by a wider gaming audience or even some casual division fans but if you've played you've likely heard about these at one point or another Central Park in the early months of the division 1 players discovered several locations where they were able to glitch out of the map primarily in the north and Western sides of the map boundaries this allowed players to explore unfinished areas that would become real zones years later but perhaps the most famous landmark from these Expeditions was Central Park in the game's lore Central Park is supposed to be a mass burial site filled with mountains of body bags dumped there early in the outbreak similar to the scenes we see up in dz09 in game however players were met with an empty expanse of trees some rooted and some floating there were hopes that this area would be added to the game later on as DLC especially when people discovered that some changes had been made to the terrain here in later updates however eventually all access to Central Park got cut off and it was never added in the division 1 the closest official look we ever got was when DZ North got added and you can explore the massive wall bordering Central Park as well as see its trees poking out from above drone tablet concept this refers to the fact that for a long period prior to the division 1's release Ubisoft for marketing a unique feature of the game that being that there was going to be a companion app for the game on mobile devices in which players could boot it up and squat up with their friends on Console or PC from the app you'd be able to control a drone delivering healing canisters to your allies and dishing out devastating payloads to enemies unfortunately this feature got cut sometime before the full launch of the game massive sighted the cut to difficulty they found in balancing the game for teams who had a drone companion versus those who didn't but I imagine this technically was also a nightmare to try and make work especially back in the early 2010s when things like crossplay were unheard of Anna any player of the division is sure to be familiar with Isaac our AI voice and system that guides all augmented reality and HUD related elements in game but fewer know of Anna Isaac's counterpart or at the very least they're unaware of just how important she is to the divisions World her introduction came at the tail end of the division 2's Warlords of New York expansion revealed to be the AI system used by Rogue agents but it wasn't until lore entries unlocked several years later that we truly began to understand her Origins and significance both AIS were developed by Ortiz robotics yet Anna was developed before Isaac and is said to have even greater capabilities in field tests the developers found that operators were uncomfortable with Anna's vast intelligence her personality and wit and her open-ended suggestions in combat and other scenarios so Isaac was then created an AI with no personality or other identity and one with binary morality giving operators more concise instructions when out in the field April kellerer the division franchise has had many iconic and recurring characters but none quite like April having two novels centered around her and having a presence in both the division 1 and two April kellerer story and her journey of survival have become rather iconic she began as a resident of Manhattan and right as the outbreak began she witnessed the murdering of her husband more on this later consumed by the belief of his death being tied to a larger conspiracy she traveled around the island coming into contact with several well-known characters and being featured in many other important events and Echoes she eventually is led to Ann Arbor Michigan the heart of research being done to develop broadspectrum antivirals to combat the green poison virus after the facility is assaulted by the Black Tusk she narrowly escapes and TS to Washington DC to inform the division what has transpired that is a very brief recap on April's story and doesn't even begin to mention her encounters with the likes of Aaron Keener Bon schaer and more the last confirmed sighting of April was early on in the division 2 story but many players believe it's only a matter of time until we'll see her again maybe even in the division 3 scrapped item designs games like the division are bound to have weapons gear and other Concepts that never make it through development however across the division's history there have actually been a number of cases where items made it into players hands only to be whisked away and never seen again some of these include the Seeker gear set originally meant to come with the division 1's 1.6 update this gear set was stupidly strong its bonuses included 10% body shot damage 30% critical hit damage and its unique talent guaranteed a critical hit on every third body shot landed the developers recognized this sets imbalance after running on the public test server said they'd be pulling it from the update to rework it and reintroduce it later on down the line yet it never returned there was also a time when gear sets were actually going to directly synergize with guns the blind set which was later reworked into the well-known Banshee set from the division 1 originally had an indirect pairing with a high-end weapon when they were released with update 1.3 the blind system battle rifle was a new AR players found in the update and it came with the unique talent of distracted which granted 100 % increased damage to blind and deaf affected targets now this could be used on its own but it was most effective when paired with the blind gear set focused entirely around blinding enemy Targets this concept was totally unique and new to the game at the time but it didn't last as previously mentioned the gear set got reworked the following update due to ineffectiveness and the gun the first single shot AR in the game disappeared until the 1.5 update where it returned as the legendary Urban MDR speaking of that gear set rework blind got re bed into Banshee for update 1.4 now originally Banshee granted users a 20% movement speed buff while not Rogue that was until it was discovered that the game was unable to render fast enough while players ran at this speed meaning going in One Direction long enough would leave you in an open Abyss so the perk was reworked and that bonus never returned and lastly the M249 saw this high-end lmg appeared in the 1.6.1 pts and it dominated the scene particularly in PvP players expected this weapon to be rebalanced and still released yet after the testing phase this weapon vanished and never returned original Division 1 map it seems to be pretty wide knowledge that the division 1 first presented at E3 2013 was quite different from the game we got at launch but I think many players don't realize just how much content was cut the best instance of this can be seen right at the end of that aention D3 trailer as the map zooms out you don't even see the portion of the map that the final version of division 1 took place place in instead you see the entirety of lower Manhattan Brooklyn and areas near Williamsburg all being playable accessible and fully populated even featuring three separate dark zones in this image alone it's unknown how complete these areas were before being cut or how much greater the scope of the game could have really been we did visit some of these areas later on like Brooklyn in the division 1's tutorial zone lower Manhattan in the division 2's Warlords expansion and we're going to explore even vaster areas of Brooklyn in the sequel 2024 DLC but the mystery of what could have been for that original vision of the first game is likely one will never fully uncover Noble Squad division agents often don't travel alone typically they're part of a tight-knit squad or cell and while there are many in the division's lore none are quite as well known as Noble Squad the story of noble Squad can be discovered through a series of Echoes in the division one and the squad members included Cecilia Anne Tony garia Akil hoopster and Doug Sutton as m MERS of the first wave these four were boots on the ground in Manhattan during the early days of the outbreak and upon hearing word of escapes from Riker's Island the squad set their sights on investigating the matter while Doug was split off from the rest to gather Intel the other three were ambushed in an alley under Relentless assault by the recer convicts all three agents were sadly killed Doug arrived back too late and is quickly consumed by a fire for vengeance he tracked the recer squad down found them holed up in an apartment complex with one April kellerer as their hostage dou blazed into the unit and took out the entire group of combatants during the fight he was severely wounded and once the shooting ceased April stayed with him until his last breaths she recovered his gear laid him to rest and set out knowing that the last of noble Squad had saved her life Noble Squad eventually received some recognition in the division 2 as well with an entire apparel event being dedicated to each of the four members allowing players to suit up in their iconic outfits yanic the beard many bosses names within the division games contain references to various people and things and often unnoticed by players these are sometimes directed at the developers one very notable exception is yanic the beard a secret Hunter likee boss that can be spawned underground in the division 2 the name directly references yanic somebody has been on the division's development team for a very long time he began as a community developer on the first game a year before its release in 2015 and through various promotions and roles today he is the creative director on the division 2 serving as the primary guide for all current and future content plans for the game the nickname The Beard comes from well his beard but that tag to my knowledge originated back from his days on the community team when he regularly appeared on state of the game Easter egg food for decades games have included Easter egg serving as respectful and fun nods to certain people other games or notable events depending on each franchise the division has had more than its fair share of those but one that stands out to many players is a certain food related Easter egg in the division 2 these food trucks can be found in multiple places across the world this one in particular is just outside of Checkpoint Charlie in DZ South and it serves Smoky North Carolina style barbecue what this is in reference to as is evident by the trucks menu is redstorm entertainment as seen where you can order barbecue Red Storm style Red Storm entertainment is the division franchise's foremost support Studio they work closely with massive entertainment on the division 1 and 2 most famously being in charge of the game's dark zones in PvP experience and their curent currently working on the development of the franchise's first AAA spin-off Heartland so if you're ever feeling hungry don't forget that you can get a pretty sweet deal here on A6 tray of redstorm barbecue Elite task force the division has had its fair share in setting the bar when it comes to communication and player involvement as previously covered with state of the game but another very sacred element to that strategy is the elite task force beginning with update 1.4 on the division 1 back in 2016 ETF Alpha was assembled a self volunteered group of players willing to go the extra mile in helping the developers understand player wishes and give Next Level feedback this group was comprised of content creators some who preferred PVE some PVP as well as everyday players ranging from both the hardcore and Casual variety this all with the goal of these ETF groups representing the larger Community as best as possible across multi-day in-person Summits at massive studio and virtual sessions the ETF program has stretched for many years across the division 1 and two with alpha bravo charlie Ekko and foxtrot teams coming together to help shape the future of the game at its most fundamental levels dedications can be found in both games to commemorate different ETF teams and to this day the program lives on and the developers have stated many times how much they value the ETF when it comes to their process for developing the game it's also a program that I'm proud and honored to be able to say that I'm a part of and it's yet another example of how the division team spares no expense to try and do Best by their players agent John if you were around on social media television really anywhere with marketing back in 2019 you likely saw at least a few advertisements for the division 2 and on nearly all of them this agent was constantly under the spotlight his name is Brian Johnson and served as the engine for the division 2's marketing campaign but despite this huge presence he had appeared in a few comics and other media ever since the game itself released his in-game and lore presence has gone mostly cold leading many to wonder about his status well he he recently finally reappeared nearly 5 years after the game's release in the games year 5 season 2 update but due to the circumstances of his return and lore entries that have come out since many are questioning Johnson's motivations wondering if this once Beacon of Hope For The Division and the game's marketing could now be poised to be its latest villain division one secret mission the division franchise is no stranger to Secrets whether it's clever lore bits hidden away or the infamous Hunter puzzles in the division 2 but seldom do we get any real dedicated secret missions the exception is the division 1 secret but fairly well-known overtime secret objectives and Mission in the Westside Piers added in the 1.8 update the final major content update for the game this Mission saw players tackling objectives solving puzzles and unlocking some pretty sweet rewards across the new open world Zone as well as receiving which we did know at the time very possibly our first tease of the division 2 several months before its announcement the mission was rather intricate and involve many steps but on a broad stroke it involves someone on your team first collecting all of the new lore entries in the zone as well as competing to a certain level within the new resistance game mode after that you needed to coordinate with your team for people to stand on various X marked positions across the open world which would allow for a synchronized interaction then you'd have a limited time window to run two secondary X objectives synchronize again and if it was all done correctly a set of doors at an alternate location would unlock prompt you to investigate the secret room and inside a shade laptop awaited you with the following message this is it a stress call Omega priority all H please respond repeat this stress call please respond immediately we have at the city center flooding along the river contact lost with Chicago Paris London Los Angeles Ottawa Arbor NASA at Huntsville this is an distress call for all shade agent please respond the mission also awarded players with a cool encrypted commodation and treasure map patch and exotic cash and the super neat uniquely skinned weapons only available via this Quest this mission was super fun for the Community to figure out and super fun to run given the rewards so I certainly hope we one day get to see more stuff like this added to the franchise with that we arrive to the depths as we descend deeper information in this section is quite obscure and aside from the most long-term and dedicated players you're likely not going to be familiar with many of the entries in this section division 2 location scouting I'm sure it's not uncommon for game developers to do extensive research probably including real life visits to locations in order to maximize the authenticity and detail of their games but in the division 2's case the team at massive went the extra mile beyond their dedication to doing a one toone Recreation of Washington DC massive and the game support Studios sent teams to the city of Washington with several objectives in mind they explored and surveyed the streets of DC observing civilian Behavior capturing Ambiance and in general simply taking in what made Washington Washington they also met with government officials to learn what kinds of plans would be enacted in the event of a crisis in the hopes of mirroring those plans in game to reflect how things had gone wrong and in addition to all of this the sound team sent some of their people to Chernobyl yeah that Chernobyl with their goal being to observe and capture How Sound reacted in a real life apocalyptic environment including weapon noises collisions crashes and more and maybe my favorite bit in all of this a legendary picture exists of Julian G and Terry spear the creative directors at massive entertainment and redstorm entertainment respectively assembling at the White House itself stealth in the division 1 as we've already covered a lot changed from the original concept for the division 1 to release but one much lesser known part of that was that in some capacity it seems the original vision of the division included a stealth system as can be seen in this clip the agent is able to sneak up behind the enemy and do either an incapacitating or fatal takedown this clip is very old so this wasn't a system that I think made it very far into development but it's it's another very interesting look at how things changed over the course of development Stefania this refers to what I think is no doubt the most saddening entry in this video but at the same time it has a very heartwarming ending back in 2017 a 20-year-old girl from Italy named stepania tragically passed away and as it turns out she was a major fan of the division so as news of her passing reached the Deva massive they took the time to go in and add this mural to the game in her memory it's a beautiful piece of artwork and a wonderful dedic ification to our fallen fellow agent if you want to check out the artwork for yourself it can be found on the eastern wall of the dz6 safe room Isaac Alexa crossover the division has had plenty of cross promotion with other brands in the past but one of the coolest ones which can still be viewed and repeated to this day is The Crossover with Amazon Alexa if you have an Alexa device all you have to do is say Alexa activate the division Network and prepare to receive a transmission from shade command sorry I don't know that know that Sor I don't know connection with shade Network activated agent state your name Riker's backpack explosion this refers to a pretty funny albeit probably quite common example of some Game Dev magic that went into the division 1 but to us players hearing about stuff like this starts to make you realize just how much goes into making a game experience seem as immersive as it is so likely familiar to anyone who's played the division one want one of the interactive elements in targetable weak points on a Riker's heavy unit is the ammo box on their backpack once you hit it enough times and destroy it bullets start to shoot out of it in every direction meanwhile the heavy stumbles in place for several seconds opening up an opportune damage window that's at least how we see it from a player perspective but as detailed by Frederick thylander lead 3C designer on the division 1 and two the team actually had to get created for this effect to work while they have the concept of this ammo box and its destructive effect being to shoot out in every Direction they realized during implementation that they didn't have a way to make bullets spawn and shoot out of nowhere so the eventual solution they came up with was to have a miniaturized version of a Riker's heavy inside every Riker's heavy backpack ammo box and when you destroy the weak point that mini heavy begins to shoot wildly in every direction creating the effect of bullets shooting all over the place like I said a bit comical you'll probably never look at this effect the same way but it's a great example of the kinds of creative workarounds that game devs have to come up up with probably all of the time two-legged warhounds one of the most formidable and most distinctive enemy archetype editions to the division 2 over the original game was the introduction of the Black Tusk warhounds if you've spent any time in DC you've likely fought these things more times than you can count and while for the vast majority of the time they're running around on all fours aggressively tracking you down on rare occasion you can catch a glimpse of these robotic dogs performing some more unsettling interactions these include War PS being up on two legs interacting with laptops or other terminals as well as twisting their bodies to scale or descend ladders and ropes for years this was thought to either be a bug or just a rare but cool thing to witness that was until the game's descent mode released in year five season 1 and in one of the Mode's weekly collectible lore entries the leader of the Black Tusk and the top engineer at Ortiz robotics can be heard discussing the possibility of such units two-legged warhounds so it's unclear if this is just a reference and Nod to the the rare times players have witnessed this or if this is a possible tease for these to be a dedicated new enemy unit in future content to come I suppose we'll find out in due time rsse Rogue Banner this refers to what at one time was one of the greatest mysteries in speculation points in the division Community back in early 2020 after the release of the division 2's Warlords of New York expansion we began to catch wind of some pretty notable shakeups happening behind the scenes with the game's development teams pivotal people at massive entertain M such as the game's creative director and top game designer seem to be moving off of the project and we got confirmation from rsse Red Storm entertainment which was the division 1 and 2's lead support Studio that they too were no longer working on the division 2 speculation went on for months about what these developers new efforts might be going into some hoped for the division 3 but as the months dragged on that hope seemed to dwindle we later learned about massives work on a new Star Wars game seemingly killing off most big division hopes but in the latter month of 2020 and leading into 2021 people noticed when Red Storm abruptly changed their Twitter Banner which was previously some abstract Studio endorsing image but now was a division Rogue logo this sparked many a rumor at the time and while we'll likely never know for certain given the division hardland the Survival action shooter spin-off in the works at the studio was announced a month later in May 2021 it's very possible that this Banner was the first tease we ever had at the game's existence the superhero would you believe me if I told you that the division had a supernatural subplot it might seem hard to believe but it's true or at least it's very heavily implied in the division one a series of three echos can be located centering around a man named David Hawkings the only backstory we get on him is that he's a survivor of a series of freak accidents as well as the green poison and this leads him to believe that he's more than just lucky and to test this theory he and his partner Vicki scale a frighteningly tall construction site and despite Vicky's warnings David takes a dive off of The Edge the majority of people might have a guess as to how that all played out but it turns out a final Echo reveals David to be alive and well he and Vicki sit on a bench contemplating what's happened what David achieved and Vicki even States this changes everything now the division is known for its secondhand storytelling meaning given our agent is not present for the vast majority of lore we consume there's always the possibility of an unreliable narrator or other factors tampering with the truth there's also the fact that David's profile in these Echo detail how he's medicated for severe anxiety so despite the seeming evidence of his miraculous stunt there could be reason to believe that this is all somehow in his head that is until you come across this echo in the division 2 located near the Lincoln Memorial in which a wcu physics student confronts a man standing high up in a tree that man being one David Hawkings and in the dialogue he claims that he's just flown down from New York all on his own like I said division is famous for its deceptive storytelling but there's pretty substantive evidence here suggesting that the world of the division may very well have its own superhero it's also interesting to know that David Hawkins was the name of a real life psychiatrist he was well known for having an advanced state of spiritual awareness focusing on enlightenment and self-realization and it stated that he was uniquely qualified to present a spiritual path that is scientifically compelling to modern society the morovian society as already covered the division is no stranger to Side Stories puzzles and Easter eggs but this one from the division 2's Roosevelt Island mission often stands out amongst the rest as players progress through the mission you pass by several wooden carved owl statues often tucked away and off the beaten path you're able to interact and light up each one but doing so in sequential order won't do the trick after clearing the entire Mission players found it easiest to set up relay station with team members acting as fast travel points to bounce back and forth across the island in order to light up the statues in the correct order after finally doing so you're able to approach this somewhat creepy hole in the ground and descend into the tunnel through a now open gate what awaits is mysterious intriguing and Sinister all rolled into one a hollowed out cavernous room contains some fire basins a few rows of benches and one massive wooden owl statue approaching the monolith reveals an audio CU to trigger unveiling what appears to be a much larger conspiracy the gears are turning the plan's in motion we'll have to scatter to avoid detection this may be the last meeting of the morovian society we'll seal the sight until another who knows the rituals can reopen it nothing more has come out of this or the morovian society in the years since this puzzle's discovery though I think it's a concept that could easily be further developed for future content if the devs wied it so so we'll see what happens and in the meantime we can appreciate what is easily one of the franchise's creepier plot lines unsolved puzzles as previously covered the division franchise is no stranger to puzzles and other fun discoveres in its worlds but what if I told you that some Secrets remain to be uncovered there are a few documented examples of this one is the infamous supposed unsolved riddle within the division 2's Warlords expansion according to the developers a riddle was tied to a dedicated reward what happened was that the reward was claimed however the intended riddle to uncover it was bypassed meaning that to this day the riddle itself remains undiscovered and unsolved additionally things like a mysterious new hook for a hunter mask has appeared in recent division 2 seasons and even the developer have teas that not all secret masks have been discovered to track down the exact validity on all of these things and verify what's found and what isn't is impossible but it does leave you to wonder just how many secrets and other hidden gems could remain across the franchise Rick vassie if you've played the division one for any length of time then without question you've heard an episode or two of the infamous Pirate Radio podcast played it nearly every safe F in the game and most importantly at the base of operations this show hosted by Rick vassie has become biblical to the point where veterans like myself could recite entire verses of these broadcasts to this day thanks to years of their unending replays while we sat around and tweaked our builds the show focuses on the events and lore of the game with vassie covering the worsening condition of Manhattan and reports on civilian level sightings of crime information on enemy factions and speculation on division agents themselves that's the Rick velass that many know but what if I told you that there is a much much darker side to His Radio presence introduced with the game's 1.8 update the newly added Westside Pier zones contain six audio logs Under The Heading of on vassi's trail in them a woman named Ruth Massi claims she's setting out to uncover the truth about Rick vassie because as she puts it what he's saying is intended as a distraction to keep us away from the real truth the following logs detail her investigation notably how according to her digging vassi is a ghost he has no driver's license draft records employment history medical documentation as far as she's concerned his Persona is a complete fabrication being sent across the airwaves this deep suspicion remains solely with Ruth up until her final entry the following is quite chilling and it calls into question everything we think we know about the longtime host of the Pirate Radio podcast I'm giving up on the vasci story it's too dangerous it's too big bigger than you think what he's tied up in Manhattan is only the tip of the iceberg if I keep looking into it they're going to kill me maybe they're already going to kill me I don't know maybe this is too late but I am telling you whatever you do stay away from Rick vassie stay away from code name nightmare unlike similar titles in the genre the division franchise has never been big on doing limited time cont content or game modes whether it be for holidays or other notable events there was one exception to this however it unfortunately never came to pass back in late 2020 the division 2 had a featured segment during ubisoft's annual forward event in this they previewed the content and story premises for seasons 3 and four but most interestingly for most the very end of the presentation included a brief tease for a new limited time event titled code name nightmare set to arrive that winter now this was exciting for the fact of being one of the first ever pitched limited time events for the franchise but also because the teaser featured shots of Kenley College a location and mode in the game the players have begged to receive a rework ever since its release needless to say excitement levels were high for the potential of this event unfortunately tragedy struck as the launch of season 4 approached that December we got word from the team that code Nam nightmare had been cancelled the main reason cited was the development conditions due to the pandemic creating big obstacles but in retrospect we also know that this was the time in which the dev team size was being dramatically reduced so they likely just didn't have the manpower to get the event over the Finish Line no further details were ever given on what the event was meant to be or what changes it would have introduced to Kenley all we really learned was that it was likely tied to the Resident Evil crossover that the season contained from what I was told it likely would have contained some new enemy types and some pretty unique objectives taking place at the college but we'll likely never know for certain rest in peace codame nightmare we all wish we could have played you division 2 first drafts as I think everyone watching this video and probably many people who've never played as well likely know the division 2 was set in Washington DC but did you know that that wasn't guaranteed from day one that's right among many potential locations which I'm sure were floated the final three contenders for the division 2 setting were Seattle Washington New Orleans Louisiana and then of course Washington DC it is pretty wild to think about how drastically different the game might have looked or felt had it been said in either of those alternative locations and the closest we'll likely ever get to that is this lone piece of concept are that exists depicting a pretty contaminated looking New Orleans at long last we arrive to the darkness this contains the division's best kept secrets its greatest conspiracies and other information that's been long lost to time if you know one or multiple things in here it's time to admit your obsession as a fan Warren Merchant Warren Merchant is a cover name credited as the author of the infamous New York collapse Survival Guide that book and the name Warren Merchant lie at the center and encapsulate the vastness of what might possibly be the division franchise's most bone chilling conspiracy and most important storyline when it comes to the early days of the games and the beginning of the green poison outbreak this covers the events and fates of many noteworthy characters context behind the entire apocalypse and has in-game lore-based and real world significance alike so this will be a lengthy entry but let me do my best to weigh through it all it all begins with April kellerer our favorite recurring character covered earlier in the video in the early days of the green poison outbreak as Manhattan began to feel the pressure of society's cracks she headed to visit her husband bill at work as a biochemist she hopes that he can offer guidance and reassurance for how to handle the oncoming chaos when she arrives however things turn for the worst she sees him running out from his work building alongside several colleagues shortly before two groups arrive armed to the teeth one from inside the building and one from cars that have just screeched to a halt gunfire breaks out and after the dust settles April is devastated to find Bill's corpse after he' been caught in the crossfire before she can do much though another car arrives and someone steps out to hold her at gunpoint while others hastily take Bill's body away and drive off left in shock bewilderment and Devastation the most noteworthy item on her person is a book titled the New York collapse Survival Guide written by one Warren Merchant the book was given to her as a birthday gift by her husband though she mainly cons considered it to be a joke she was lucky to have it though as she would never have imagined how relevant its contents would become I interject from this story to quickly mention that this book is a real life physical companion book to the division that you can purchase it contains various Trinkets and items to give you additional information decode Secrets the book has scribbled in notes from April's time with it and it's a direct copy and representation of the words and Guide April uses in the games lore all right now back to the story after this traumatic event April is left with a harrowing physical and mental reality she begins trying to navigate the spreading outbreak growing unrest and violence while also trying to piece together what had happened to her husband questioning what he might have been involved with and endless other queries after several days of surviving the brutal winter and biohazardous streets she begins to notice something odd the survival guide her husband has gifted her predicted everything it contains hyp specific suggestions of how to navigate a viral outbreak in Manhattan predicts which organizations will form how they'll operate which a offering should be avoided even going so far as to underscore not coming into contact with money which just happens to be the primary distribution method for the green poison with her refusal to believe it's all one big coincidence she begins directing many of her thoughts and comments written in the book at the author Warren Merchant or merch for short flipping between he orchestrated the outbreak to hoping his guide was truly meant to help someone survive it she eventually notices some Oddities in the about the author page this prompts her to visit a local library where she finds the same picture used for the author page in another book upon some heavy analysis she discovers that the man in the photograph was a World War I Soldier and took on a pseudonym from his real name with this information and the details of the name translation she realizes that the name Warren Merchant is a cover she deciphers that the author's true surname is cman and discovers a clue to an address where he may be located upon arrival however she's chilled to find that instead of a man a missing person's poster is taped up with her own face on it this send her mind into a flurry of questions none of which have answers as of yet but on the back of the poster is a handwritten message where April once again deciphers a hidden message it informs her that cman is relocated and that she can find him at a hideout in the dark Zone find him indeed she does and at long last she comes face to face with one Roger Cotman the true name and author of the New York collapse Survival Guide April demanded many answers at least some of which Cotman gave he along with many others knew Gordon Amherst the creator of the green poison was up to something but because of dark ties with the Govern and Military cman was unable to do or say anything publicly without risk of being eliminated much the same as April's husband was because of that he decided to write the survival guide attempting to warn and hopefully save anyone who might come into contact with it against the impending outbreak April continued on with her journey as earlier outlined but the entire story and mystery behind Warren Merchant Amherst and everything else remains an exceptionally unsettling one April didn't get all of the answers she sought Roger coopman likely didn't have all of them to give and us as players certainly only know a fraction of what are likely the true details behind how the world of the division fell apart who is involved and what parties may still remain intact pulling the strings from behind the scenes one last fun fact for this entire bit you can actually visit Roger cutman's dark Zone hideout in the division 1 if you travel to the corner of 58th and 6th Avenue up in dz07 you can enter into the bottom floor of the nest Landmark but instead of heading up the stairs on either end you can take one of these side doors and it leads you down to this Underground bunker there's a table with a map of Manhattan on it as well as a whiteboard with several names and coordinates one being April kellerer and before anyone asks the coordinates do not lead to any additional Secrets rather they point you to the cities where different development Studios on the game are located broa faction we've already covered how much of the division 1's original scope and plans changed prior to launch but one interesting aspect of that is an enemy faction that seemingly made it far beyond conception but didn't make it to the final game that being the broa now you may very well have heard that name before that being because it's the title of a Russian mafia but in the division one there was a time when this was going to be a faction we'd encounter you can see in these early marketing images how one of the enemies on the opposing rooftop is called a broa enforcer and if you dig into the game files you can find not only Concepts and models for various archetypes of the brva but also code lines with interactions mission objectives and more throughout all of this though it is well suggested that this faction ultimately more into the Rikers there are similarities to be found in their model design and in some of the code but yeah in an alternate universe one of the division 1's core factions could have been a Russian mafia project Battlecat this refers to the pretty hard to imagine reality where there was a time in which the division had a competitive first-person shooter spin-off in development now I know you're probably thinking huh let me back up a little bit practically every in development game certainly at Ubisoft uses a code name while in development the division 1's original project name was Rogue Heartland the upcoming division 2 DLC they all have one although ones I would rather not say so I don't get in trouble and for ex defiant the upcoming arcade FPS title that draws from and blends many of ubisoft's Worlds into one experience originally at least from the leaks went by project Battlecat now the interesting part here is that when this news first broke I think at least a month or two before X Defiance reveal Outlets were reporting that a division spin-off was in the works the division battle cap and sources claim that this was a division game however it also featured select crossovers with other IPS like Ghost Recon and Splinter Cell now Ubisoft never ended up branding this as a division game first it was Tom Clancy's ex defiant now simply ex defiant But as time has gone on they've morphed it into that AFF forementioned Ubisoft IP crossover shooter there's division elements in there but they're not the focus however if you go back and look at that original reveal in the summer of 2021 it's very clear that this game started out as a dedicated division spin-off every map and weapon were from the Division World and modeled accordingly two of The Game's four factions were from the division as well even down to the death symbols they were the Rogue skull designs from the division the audio cues they used were straight from the division had it not been for the presence of Ghost Recon wolves or splinter cell's Echelon as playable factions this would have been 100% division now like I said ever since then the game has moved further and further away from that they've added more factions and maps that are not from the division they've reworked all of the UI and sounds to be original and not from the division so the idea of this being a dedicated division spin-off is long gone but from the documented evidence in its first reveal and from conversations I've had over time there was indeed a time when ex defant was planned to be a fully division firstperson spin-off before the idea to start introducing these crossovers was later pitched so that's pretty wild to think about dark winter from playing either of the division games it's clear how much of it is modeled off of our real world but when it comes to the core ideas of continuity of government government in a last line of defense like the division you might be surprised to hear how eerily similar some things really get internationally examples Trace back decades one such example coming from 1940 in anticipation of German assault the British government created a covert fighting Corp called the ghd auxiliary units they were placed in regular uniform performing regular militant duties but in the event of an invasion they were activated instructed to split off from the rest convene and resist the Invaders by any means necessary sound familiar more recently operation dark winter this of course being an event that the game has referenced before what it is was a simulated biot terrorist attack conducted by the US government back in 2001 its goal was to determine the inadequacies of our societal structure that would prove problematic in the event of a real attack and inadequacies they found indeed the simulation involved a localized small poox attack in Oklahoma City with other cases arising in Georgia and Pennsylvania and while the simulation was built to spiral out of control and be Unwin able many findings were documented such as the fact that National Security would quickly become threatened the organizational structure of our government is fundamentally antithetical towards proper management of a biowarfare attack surch capacity is non-existent in our Health Care Systems media and the distribution of authentic information and updates would become unmanageable and that any decision made to try and contain disease spreading and get a handle on the situation at large is likely to be ethically politically culturally operationally and legally challenging all without true guarantee of Effectiveness to many division players this all likely sounds quite chilling given these exact circumstances and consequences can be documented in both games and the overall lore operation dark winter no doubt played a large part in the creation of the National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive 51 signed by President George W bush back in May 2007 if that sounds familiar it's because this directive is canonically what includes the contingencies to activate the division in the in-game lore the same directive indeed exists in our real world however many of its details and annexes are classified so while Parts such as the directive's general goal of establishing a comprehensive policy for federal government structures and operations in the event of a catastrophic emergency are publicly known it's unclear whether a contingency and organization like the division could truly exist perhaps modeled off of those auxiliary units from Britain in the' 40s hopefully we never have to find out but regardless the authenticity and accuracy that went into the conception behind the world of the vision is both wildly impressive and quite frightening pre-release media secret back in 2015 marketing and excitement was growing for the original division game as it was finally set to release the following March in 2016 as part of those campaigns this in-lore newspaper article was released it covers the growing outbreak of the green poison citing president Waller's Declaration of lockdowns the historical deadliness of small poox and much more what's noteworthy about it is that according to a develop ER this article contains a link to something that was never discovered that confirmation coming years after its 2015 release what that something might be we have no idea but it further reinforces the intricacy and depth of this great franchise also a fun fact about this article is the number of fun Easter eggs including one reporter's name being yanic interviews with key characters like April kellerer and Colonel Bliss of the last man Battalion and a quote and shout out to Warren Merchant and his previously covered New York collapse survival guide the paladins this refers to the idea that the Black Tusk who are of course the central antagonists of the division 2 may have originally been planned to be presented in the original game we know this because of the presence of a faction called the paladins deep in the game files but unlike the brva which has previously covered are suggested to have morphed into the Rikers nothing quite like what is known about the paladins ever appeared in the division one and that's because the game files cite things like big dog Convoy drone helicopters healing drones suicide drones and mini tanks sound familiar yeah probably because each of those examples are well-known technology and capabilities of the Black Tusk in the division 2 we know Division 1 cut a lot of content and changed pretty drastically over time but if true this would be another level of crazy I suppose we'll never fully know what became of the paladins or if they truly were the first iteration of the Black Tusk close to a decade before we'd ever be introduced to them and with that you've completed The Descent and made it to the bottom of the iceberg you're now clear to join the ranks and become an agent of the division to anyone who made it this far thank you so much for doing so in my four plus years on this platform this video has easily become the one I've now spent the most amount of time researching Gathering media for editing Etc so it truly means the world to me for anyone out there to have listened to it all the way through and on that note I very much hope you enjoyed whether you've been around my channel before or not it's probably clear by now that I have a huge passion for the division franchise so when I was unable to find at least for my searching any video like this existing for the IP especially when so many other popular brands have several I figured I owed it to this franchise that's given me so much to Archive some of its best stories and secrets in this way that said I have to give a huge shout out to ngn a fellow content creator of mine here on YouTube during the research phase of this video I reached out to him to see if he would be willing to consult with me on some ideas and not only did he do that and provide me with the context and knowledge I was lacking on certain subjects but he also linked me some invaluable information and pitched many ideas that ended up being some of my favorite things on this list that we covered so an undying thank you to him this video would not have been the same without and if you would all be so kind I would endlessly appreciate you heading over to his channel and leaving a thank you comment on his latest video maybe even subscribing if you're so inclined the link for that will be down in the description and yeah immense gratitude on my part ngn thank you that said now it's my turn if you did enjoy this iceberg deep dive I would be incredibly thankful if you would consider clicking the like button subscribing if you aren't already as I said this video took an insane amount of work but I would do it all again truly it was so fun to brush up on all of these topics and revisit some of my best memories from the franchise and I'm beyond glad that this Relic now exists online for all future viewing I think that's just really neat I'm going to cut things off here though before I ramble on too long once again thank you so much for your viewership and support on this can't say that enough and I will see you all in the next one Rogue gold [Music] ow

Channel: RogueGold

Views: 122,625

Keywords: division, division 2, division 3, the division, the division 2, the division 3, roguegold, rougegold, division game, the division game, division 2 game, tom clancys the division, tom clancys the division 2, the division iceberg, iceberg, iceberg video, division 2 guide, division 3 gameplay, division 3 trailer, division heartland, division resurgence, the division heartland, division 2 gameplay, division 2 warlords of new york, division 2 lore, division 2 story recap, div 2

Id: jENq0aQbkxo

Length: 57min 31sec (3451 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 30 2023