Brink Impressions/Suggestions Series

[allparish12]

Hello all…just wanted to say that I have been a fan of this game since the E3 trailer I saw last year, and I wasn’t let down (well not totally true). I have been playing this game since launch and have weathered the storm with the lag issues that plagued the launch period. However, for the past maybe 3-4 weeks, I have been getting some VERY good connections with human players and I think may have encountered one or two lag sessions, but they didn’t last for long.

My hope for starting this post was to share some of my ideas of how to improve on this games potential. I am not naive to believe that a lot of people feel lied to or betrayed, but at the same time, if you put your frustrations aside, you will see that this is actually a game with tons of potential. I may only get one person to read this, and if that turns out to be the case, then I’m glad I finally posted my opinions instead of staying in the background not saying anything. These are my experiences based on me playing the 360 version.

I will try to cover EVERYTHING I liked and didnt like and make suggestions as well. I’m talking everything from actual gameplay, mechanics, and even aesthetics. Some of my ideas have already been discussed by fellow Brink players from what I have read so far, so I hope to not try to sound like a broken record. With that being said, as I think of something, I will try to update this post. Here we go.

CUSTOMIZATION 7/20/11
One of the things that initially attracted me to Brink was how the devs or PR folks were just going on and on and on about the level of customization in the game, and to a certain extent they were right. I am a customization junky and was hoping I would spend just as much time editing my character as I would playing the actual game, and while you could customize your ammo clip magazine, your scope, attachments, etc…this area fell short because, well, you really didnt “customize” anything in the traditonal sense of the word.

When I’m told I will be able to customize something, to me, that says I will be able to choose my color and maybe create some text or something to go along with it. If I want to have a blue SMG, let me have it…If I want red, let me have it. But having presets for everything isn’t customization. Was that a deal breaker?? Certainly NOT…but I just felt there should have been a little more freedom when it came down to it. Im not sure if it had to do with the limitations of the current gen of consoles, but still, let me have a gun and call her “Purple Poison” b/c its a purple gun.

I did like the different color selections with the outfits though, BUT again, they were presets. How about adding a color palette wheel?? If I want to have a green hat with red pants, then let me have it.

As far as the characters go, again, kudos for a job well done, BUT it would have been nice to have some sort of slider bar so that I could make my nose as big or as little as I wanted. I understand this was not meant to look like me in real life, but again, when you release blog after blog, video after video about customization, and everything is already pre-rendered, it kinda defeats the purpose. The hair was probably the only thing I didnt have a problem with.
My point for saying all of this is let me have TOTAL control of how I look.

Suggestions:
Make it so that you arent selecting pre-rendered anything. That goes from outfits, to faces, to weapons. Let the user have control of how they want to look. Again, I’m only suggesting things that are possible within console limitations, but just break everything down by category. e.g. Hats, Facial equipment, pants, shoes, shirts, vests, accessories, etc…

[Zanchile]

bumping to get spammers thread off front page

[allparish12]

Ok, I see some people have viewed it, which is good…but i’ll just continue on

WEAPONS 7/21/11
In my opinion, I dont think there were enough weapons, and then with the amount of weapons there were, there was no clear distinction between one smg from another. In other words, All of the weapons fit into one of two extremes. There didnt seem to be any middle ground. Either you liked a gun or you didnt, and just judging from browsing the forum the past week, it seems like everyone uses the same 3-4 weapons. Then people start thinking guns need to be nerfed or patched or whatever, but there just needs to be more parity between the guns.

This is also another area where there was no difference between the Resistance and the Security. They had access to the same weapons. One would assume that well because the Security are the Security, they would have access to more sophisticated weapons, but that’s not entirely true. Everytime I would watch a dev blog or read an article, they kept talking about how the Resistance would have to make due and just create stuff out of things that were around the Ark. Why couldnt this same approach be applied with the weapon selection. The Comand & Conquer series comes to mind where you may have the russians having weapons the americans didnt have, but the americans had a counter for the russian weapons and the russians had counters for the american weapons. I saw that as a pre-order bonus at Amazon IIRC, that you would get a soda can pistol suppressor…I thought that was pretty neat…even if it was just an asthetic, it really showed what i just mentioned. That the Resistance literally used anything they could find to make a weapon attachment.

As, I mentioned earlier, all the SMGs shot the same…the only thing that really distinguished them imo was the magazine capacity, but they all sounded the same when they were shot. I am not a weapons expert, nor do I claim to be, but at the same time, no two weapons should fire or sound alike when fired. The Sniper rifles dont really sound like sniper rifles, but more like toned down shotguns. The shotguns dont really sound like shotguns, more more like blown up mines. Basically the weapons need to have more personality and distinction.

The attachments didnt really seem to make that much of a difference either imo. Even with attachments on one weapon, I would still find about the same level of sucess with a weapon that wasnt altered from its default state. But i could be alone in that aspect so…

Grenades…something needs to be done with their weight or something…they seem to just bounce off things with ease. I dont really have a problem with them bouncing off, but they seem almost rubber like in how they bounce. Im not suggesting that they should stick as soon as they hit the ground, but imo, they dont appear to have any weight to them either that would influence how they bounced off different things in the environments.

Flashbangs…absolutely loved them

Anyway, this concludes my impressions on weapons. I will try to do another one this evening if time permits…

until next time
“we must escape the ark brothas”

[AmishWarMachine]

[QUOTE=allparish12;359466]Ok, I see some people have viewed it, which is good…but i’ll just continue on

Grenades…something needs to be done with their weight or something…they seem to just bounce off things with ease. I dont really have a problem with them bouncing off, but they seem almost rubber like in how they bounce. Im not suggesting that they should stick as soon as they hit the ground, but imo, they dont appear to have any weight to them either that would influence how they bounced off different things in the environments.[/QUOTE]

Totally agree with this. A grenade currently has a chance to “double-bank” which is kinda silly. After the first bounce, any subsequent bounces should be exponentially fractional of the first.

[SinDonor]

Totally agree with this. A grenade currently has a chance to “double-bank” which is kinda silly. After the first bounce, any subsequent bounces should be exponentially fractional of the first.

I wish the Lobster grenades wouldn’t bounce so much after hitting a body. It’s like the penalty for landing a perfect first shot that hits the enemy is that the grenade bounces out of harms way back to the shooter. If anything, a Lobster grenade that does hit an enemy should barely bounce back and instead drop at the enemy’s feet.

I used to aim the Lobster at people’s torsos, but now I’d rather aim it at their feet so they get damaged by the blast better.

Only time I actually aim at people is if there are a group of baddies, then I aim for the guy in the back. Then, the grenade bounces forward and blasts the guys in front too.

[AmishWarMachine]

Yeah, grenade bounce should definitely take into account the surface off of which it’s bouncing. Walls are hard and sturdy, the human body is soft and squishy… no way should grenades bounce off of both the same.

[snoopycat]

I agree with the grenade thing too. Today i shot a guy with the launcher, it knocked him down, bounced back and knocked me down, then the guy i shot got up and killed me. : (

[nephandys]

I had a guy throw a grenade at me the other day, it bounced off my face and back at him, blowing him up. While I thought this was extremely funny myself, he probably didn’t. Grenade bounce is out of control.

[gooey79]

Wasn’t the bounce. It was your Brink characters big chin. It’s like a lacrosse stick, throwing the 'nade right back towards him.

[thesuzukimethod]

has anyone else had the experience where the grenade plunks someone in the head and it actually knocks them down? (either with a tossed nade or with one of the launchers (excluding USGL))

[allparish12]

Today’s topics will cover (this will be done in two parts):

GAMEPLAY/GAME MECHANICS-STORY 7/22/11

PART 1
Game mechanics-Story
I thought the premise of Brink was pretty good. It certainly didnt reinvent the wheel in respect to the Good vs. Evil subplot, but it was definitely a different take on the concept. There is also a lot of potential for future titles depending on if this were to get a sequel (which im kinda optimisitally hoping, but not holdign my breath…I will touch on this in another post). But my biggest gripe was the campaign or lack of it. During the videos, at least as it pertains to me, there seemed to be a main antagonist and protagonist, but in the actual game, it really is just this side vs. this side with no leadership.

Sure you get someone talking through a dispatch, but who are the men behind the curtains. This would have gone a long way in establishing how there came to be two sides in the first place. The in game characters are cool. I dont mind playing as them, but I really dont feel a sense of purpose for doing anything to be honest. Its as if they just woke up one day and decided they didnt like each other. There HAS to be someone giving orders imo. Especially if you have someone like the Security who are thought of as the enforcers…they have to take orders from someone right??

I mean, even your character could have been someone who was up in the ranks and was trying to achieve some second in command type of position or something. It would have been nice to have some sort of character development. E.g… The only thing we know about Nachav (sp??) is what was told to us by the voice prior to the start of the match. Im not saying he should be a central character, but a little backstory would have gone a long way to really showcase why it was important for both sides to be interested in him or why they felt it was vital to either rescue him or kill him…But i just think this area could have been a developed a little better to add another level of immersion to the overall arc of the storyline. Doing the campaign as either side was fine, but there was really no difference between the experience. You just basically switched sides and went from defending to capturing.

As far as some of my issues with the game mechanics (again, i will say that my experiences are based on the 360 version…no need for platform wars)…but I understand that when you are down, it becomes a side objective for the medic(whether they are bots or humans) but it would be nice if you had an option for you to be able to “page” them so to speak so that they can be made aware to come and revive you. My reasoning for that is b/c sometimes you are down, and no one has it as an objective to come save you. You will just be sitting there waiting until you either decide to no longer wait, or someone comes and revives you. But if you were to maybe click down on the right analog (similiar to what you do when they throw you a syringe, you can page them to come and revive you…Also, can the spawn times either be shortened or give the player the option to respawn at will.

Better AI Logic
Because Im one of the few people who have the game in my circle of XBL friends, I mainly have to play with bots which is ok sometimes b/c they appear to better than human medics when it comes to reviving you…BUT can something be done about determining how the cpu selects its class? I.e. When the match first begins, most of the bots are whatever the primary objective calls for at that time, but as soon as that has been achieved, they spawn to the next needed class for the next objective. I dont need a team of 4 operatives including myself, b/c i will do a better job of hacking the device on my own.

It wouldnt bother me as much if for instance, I needed a couple of engineers to back me up and they actually went towards the objective…but too many times they are out placing turrets in the craziest places that have nothing to do with the location of the objective…If i could have one of them lay cover fire for me while im Hacking, planting a charge, disabliing, etc…that would be sweet, but sometimes they act like greedy human players, and only go for XP. It also would be nice if they did a better job of buffering human players at the spawn spot…I have to go John Rambo on my own, only to die b/c im not getting proper buffs. This seems to be a problem mainly with the Medic…They dont buff me coming out of the spawn, but just buff me at the most inopportunistic times when its almost too late. Soliders sometimes also suffer from this as they dont buffer my gun or give me Kevlar when i want it.

Another peeve of mine is when it seems like im the only one going for the main objective. All of my AI bot teammates seem to be having their own civil wars away from the objective which makes it even harder for us to capture anything b/c I have no backup

[allparish12]

PART 2
Map Design
Some of the maps have some of the most unfavorable designs depending on the assignment. I understand the concept of a choke point, but my goodness, on some maps, it is damn impossible to breach it once they have set up shop with turrets and high vantage points. Container City comes to mind because imo, the main gate is too close to the spawn point. The other team doesnt get penalized b/c the undestructable turrets are too far back, so all they have to do is literally shoot between the gates, or stand on top of canisters and grenade spam you to death. I dont care if you have a competent team of Human players, if the other team sets up shop, you have no chance of escorting that machine to the gate. If by some miracle you are able to open the gate, get ready for the next worst choke point on that map when you have to a) keep the machine moving forward and b) killing enemies simulataneously where they have about four places they can pop out to shoot you. I’ve played against players who have had guys with gatling guns and just a guy pumping ammo behind them. Its like an unlimited clip almost…you have NO chance!!! Even with medics reviving folks, they are killed themselves shortly before or after the revive…

Terminal is another one i hate. The room where the operative has to hack is the worst place for a device. Again, even with throwing bombs and flashbangs…if they have landmines set up and turrets, you have no chance of hacking. They also place turrets on the luggage conveyor belt so when you jump down, good bye. It doesnt help that all the glass is bullet proof so its literally who can get their first. I dont mind the concept, I just disagree with the execution.

Aquarium is just as bad. Why does the captive run so slow? Im not saying they should be sprinting, but maybe some randomize pattern where they stagger along the path instead of having to be revived…again, with turrets set up and competent teammates, you have no chance of getting him to the chopper/boat.

While i feel the game does a good job of balancing, the three maps i named make the balanced weapons seem unbalanced.

Other Suggestions
Try rewording the objectives. i.e. If my objective is to capture an objective, it shouldnt say defend it. Sometimes I get confused as to what exactly Im supposed to do. e.g. On container city, as the Security, the objective should be to Destroy the main gate, not defend it. Defend seems to be used ambiguously because it is not explicitly implied what you should be doing on some objectives.

Level cap…should have never been at 20

Weapons…more of them (as I previously mentioned) and more distinction between them

Parkour System…Before I begin, let me state, I’ve never played as the heavy body type so if you are reading this, and I say anything that is not true, please let me know…but assuming he can, the heavy body type should not be able to parkour. Im almost leading towards he shouldnt be able to slide either.

MG Nests…it would have been nice if you could aim down the sights for better accuracy.

Forward Spawns…i saw someone mention this in another thread…i’ve also read they exist…well if they do, that needs to be emphasized more b/c half the time I feel like most of the match is spent leaving the spawn traveling to the point of action. How about letting me spawn off one of my teammates who is still alive…assuming Battlefield doesnt have that copyrighted.

Next up: Classes

until then
“we must escape the ark brothas”

[allparish12]

7/25/11
Today’s discussion will be about the Classes in two parts…

before I begin, I want to give a shoutout to Community Member “Scumbag”…I was reading a thread earlier, and he made a VERY good suggestion that should have been taken consideration into the game or it should be included if a sequel is in works…But basically he was talking about how the game essentially takes place on an island, yet, you dont do anything as it pertains to the environment. No swimming, no water based vehicles, etc…This would have really added another level of combat to the game…

But back to the topic for today…Classes…First up…

Medic:
PROS
I immediately took a liking to the medic. I always seem to get paired up with the Rambos of the FPS genre…I used to complain, but now, I benefit from it b/c I can gain xp from reviving them and buffing their health. Having the pip meter maxed out can be really beneficial to a team of Rambos b/c you are constantly having to keep them alive for the good of the “team”.

CONS
I really dont have any cons for the medic. I thought and thought some more and cant seem to come up with anything that was a dealbreaker. If I had to be nitpicky, I guess I would like the medic to possible hand out revive syringes prior to your teammate getting downed. If Im a medic and trying to defend an objective, but my other teammates are having trouble making it to the defned point, that means I have to decide on leaving one spot to hopefully revive nearby teammates who arent too far from where I am.

Another nitpicky thing about the medic would be the amount of XP the medic can earn. As I said earlier, someone has to keep the teammates alive long enough to get the objective, but you can easily get 10K worth of XP just from reviving people…So maybe a slight decrease in the amount of XP gained.

Solider:
PROS
My second favorite used to be the solider…I like that these guys replinish ammo, provide Kevlar, and buff weapons. A very useful teammate to have on the battlefield.

CONS
If I had to find anything negative, it would be the choice of grenades the solider has at his disposal. The Malatov is cool, but I would have loved for some more personality to been included. I perceive the Solider to be a master of weapons, so this also could have allowed the opportunity for some cool attachments to come with the gun selection that would be unique to only the Soldier.

[allparish12]

Engineer:
PROS
I like the engineer because he can set/disarm charges. The fact that he can also lay mines and turrets is also a bonus.

CONS
What I like about the engineer is also what I kind of dislike in the same breath. While his job is VERY important, it just seems like he still isnt really utilized a lot in the match if you get an area where the opposing team has camped the objective and prevents you from setting/blowing the charge. If you dont have competent teammates, then you can kiss it good bye. I would have liked for the Engineer to add another wrinkle to the battle to help combat with some of the issues I just mentioned. My only problem is, I havent quite figured out how to implement such a thing without causing balance isssues.

Operative:
PROS
Let me start off by saying that I absolutely HATED the operative in the beginning. I had become so used to self buffing, and then when i saw that the operative didnt have ANY pips, then i immediately dismissed him. Then in an attempt to unlock some other achievements, I eventually had to go the operative route and I havent looked back SINCE!! Man o man is it fun to play as the operative…I love hacking the enemies location from downed enemies. Hacking disguises is cool too, but sometimes it gets frustrating b/c the opponent turrets can still detect you…but other than that, its cool

CONS
My dislikes about the operative have nothing to do with his lack of buffing ability but more of missed opportunities imo. e.g. Maybe the operative could have the ability to post cameras around the battlefield, and a small camera feed would appear in the top corner of the screen so that teammates can see where the enemy is posted up and taken position.

This would help tie in better with the hacked enemy locations b/c frankly, the HUD doesnt really give away enemy position, it just shows a bunch of red dots lumped together. Other operatives could destroy the camera or hack it but this would be something very unique to the operative, and could gain small amounts of XP for the amount of time it is active in the match.

Also maybe operatives could see through flashbangs…idk about this one, but it seems like to me, there would be something distinct and unique about him, so maybe to balance it, he is damaged more by the molotov coctktail or something

[allparish12]

In summary, the classes should be more unique in the way they are represented on the battlefield…how about some class specific clothing for each side? I mean, how about a Security Officer with a Medic sign on his beret or some other type of signature piece of clothing to distinguish the classes from one another.

As I mentioned about the Soldier, the Engineer to me is a class that should be a mastery at building things…maybe they could add certain things to their turrets or something like that. I saw this earlier…(I forgot the community members name so please forgive me…I dont credit this idea as my own) but he suggested that you be able to place proximity mines on walls…that was also add another wrinkle to the battlefield…

Until next time
“We must escape the Ark brothas”

[nephandys]

[QUOTE=allparish12;359884]PART 2
Try rewording the objectives. i.e. If my objective is to capture an objective, it shouldnt say defend it. Sometimes I get confused as to what exactly Im supposed to do. e.g. On container city, as the Security, the objective should be to Destroy the main gate, not defend it. Defend seems to be used ambiguously because it is not explicitly implied what you should be doing on some objectives.
[/QUOTE]
Not saying your wrong on your point, but I wanted to provide some info to you. Pretty sure the objective always says Defend when your on Defense and Guard if you are on Offense. Anyone else feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

Also each side is only on Off/Def for 4 maps a piece (so you can tell whether your on off/def based on the map itself, unless it’s SW mode I suppose):

Sec Off/Res Def:
Aqua
SY
CC
Term
*Founder’s Tower (based on stat site description Sec forces are being deployed)

Res Off/Sec Def:
Resort
Refuel
Reactor
Sec Tower
*Labs (based on stat site description Res forces are attacking to get Arkoral)

[allparish12]

[QUOTE=nephandys;360854]Not saying your wrong on your point, but I wanted to provide some info to you. Pretty sure the objective always says Defend when your on Defense and Guard if you are on Offense. Anyone else feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

Also each side is only on Off/Def for 4 maps a piece (so you can tell whether your on off/def based on the map itself, unless it’s SW mode I suppose):

Sec Off/Res Def:
Aqua
SY
CC
Term
*Founder’s Tower (based on stat site description Sec forces are being deployed)

Res Off/Sec Def:
Resort
Refuel
Reactor
Sec Tower
*Labs (based on stat site description Res forces are attacking to get Arkoral)[/QUOTE]

Thanks for your input. I was typing off the top of my head, so I may have misworded some things, but I will check out what you posted the next time i fire it up to see if I spoke incorrectly.

[Smoochy]

[QUOTE=allparish12;359145]Hello all…just wanted to say that I have been a fan of this game since the E3 trailer I saw last year, and I wasn’t let down (well not totally true). I have been playing this game since launch and have weathered the storm with the lag issues that plagued the launch period. However, for the past maybe 3-4 weeks, I have been getting some VERY good connections with human players and I think may have encountered one or two lag sessions, but they didn’t last for long.

My hope for starting this post was to share some of my ideas of how to improve on this games potential. I am not naive to believe that a lot of people feel lied to or betrayed, but at the same time, if you put your frustrations aside, you will see that this is actually a game with tons of potential. I may only get one person to read this, and if that turns out to be the case, then I’m glad I finally posted my opinions instead of staying in the background not saying anything. These are my experiences based on me playing the 360 version.

I will try to cover EVERYTHING I liked and didnt like and make suggestions as well. I’m talking everything from actual gameplay, mechanics, and even aesthetics. Some of my ideas have already been discussed by fellow Brink players from what I have read so far, so I hope to not try to sound like a broken record. With that being said, as I think of something, I will try to update this post. Here we go.

CUSTOMIZATION 7/20/11
One of the things that initially attracted me to Brink was how the devs or PR folks were just going on and on and on about the level of customization in the game, and to a certain extent they were right. I am a customization junky and was hoping I would spend just as much time editing my character as I would playing the actual game, and while you could customize your ammo clip magazine, your scope, attachments, etc…this area fell short because, well, you really didnt “customize” anything in the traditonal sense of the word.

When I’m told I will be able to customize something, to me, that says I will be able to choose my color and maybe create some text or something to go along with it. If I want to have a blue SMG, let me have it…If I want red, let me have it. But having presets for everything isn’t customization. Was that a deal breaker?? Certainly NOT…but I just felt there should have been a little more freedom when it came down to it. Im not sure if it had to do with the limitations of the current gen of consoles, but still, let me have a gun and call her “Purple Poison” b/c its a purple gun.

I did like the different color selections with the outfits though, BUT again, they were presets. How about adding a color palette wheel?? If I want to have a green hat with red pants, then let me have it.

As far as the characters go, again, kudos for a job well done, BUT it would have been nice to have some sort of slider bar so that I could make my nose as big or as little as I wanted. I understand this was not meant to look like me in real life, but again, when you release blog after blog, video after video about customization, and everything is already pre-rendered, it kinda defeats the purpose. The hair was probably the only thing I didnt have a problem with.
My point for saying all of this is let me have TOTAL control of how I look.

Suggestions:
Make it so that you arent selecting pre-rendered anything. That goes from outfits, to faces, to weapons. Let the user have control of how they want to look. Again, I’m only suggesting things that are possible within console limitations, but just break everything down by category. e.g. Hats, Facial equipment, pants, shoes, shirts, vests, accessories, etc…[/QUOTE]

unfortunately the colour palette would be very open to abuse. imagine loads of resistance running around in blue outfits! or security in red.

i too think they have created a great new IP that unfortunately didnt do as well as they hoped. i think thats mainly down to impatience, the ATI issue and some people not being intelligent enough to play team games. so many selfish FPS people out there. im well used to team games so i like it. and i find it the best teamwork game ive played in many years.

im hoping them can build on it and improve. maybe add in TDM for the brainless?

[allparish12]

[QUOTE=Smoochy;361109]unfortunately the colour palette would be very open to abuse. imagine loads of resistance running around in blue outfits! or security in red.

i too think they have created a great new IP that unfortunately didnt do as well as they hoped. i think thats mainly down to impatience, the ATI issue and some people not being intelligent enough to play team games. so many selfish FPS people out there. im well used to team games so i like it. and i find it the best teamwork game ive played in many years.

im hoping them can build on it and improve. maybe add in TDM for the brainless?[/QUOTE]

thanks for the input…

but whats wrong with that? Can you elaborate a little bit more? If i have dedicated squad of buddies I play with and we want to call ourselves “the black mambas” then why not let all of us create black themed outfits?

Maybe my idea was kinda simplistic, but i was just trying to introduce another concept to the creation side. Being able to color guns would eliminate the need to have unlocks for skins imo.

As much as i hate to agree, i will have to about the TDM part…for some reason, it seems people cant wrap their heads around the idea of team based combat and not a team of rambos trying to 1up the rest of the team by worrying about their K/D ratio…tbh, i still havent checked my stats b/c frankly i dont care…but thats another thread…

[AmishWarMachine]

If i have dedicated squad of buddies I play with and we want to call ourselves “the black mambas” then why not let all of us create black themed outfits?

I’m all for all-black outfits (both sides)… then I could make my characters look their namesake.