Dear Splash Damage - The Things You Need To Do To Fix Brink For Success

[HelpfulUnicorn]

Hello Splash Damage,

I recently purchased your game “Brink” for the Xbox 360 and while I greatly enjoyed the game and think that you’re on the right track, I can’t help but feel that there are a few crucial aspects of the game that need to be fixed in order to ensure the long-term success of your game.

A little bit about my background, I have been working as a web marketer and community manager for several years for mid to large corporate brands so that’s the perspective from which I am writing this.

Lobby System - I think a lot of the community are underestimating the value of this. A lobby system ties provides a feeling of “staging” that is very important to the longevity of a game community. From the lobby the players should be able to select teams, maps, loadouts and see each other’s characters and lifetime stats (not necessarily stupid stats like K/D ratio).

I would rate the lobby system as being highly important and should be a goal within the next 30 days.

Lag and game size - The lag and performance issues really need to be addressed ASAP. I’ve seen far too many games with great ideas die due to poor performance. I know that you recently decided to limit the Xbox 360 game size to 8 players, 4 per team. This is fine for now but is not a permanent solution. Human beings are prone to comparison and if you can’t get this up to 8 vs 8 the gaming community will ultimately pass you by for companies who can make this work. I’m sorry but it’s just not acceptable in today’s day and age to only have games that can support essentially 4 v 4 matches.

Weapon Diversification - I’m pleased to report that I don’t see too many weapons in Brink as being insanely overpowered as I did with the Call of Duty series. However, with that - we could also stand to see some additional diversification in the weapons and their attachments that would more drastically give them strengths and weaknesses.

Clothing Options and Display Selections - One of the best parts of Brink is the customization. We need more ways to show off our characters and more ways to customize them in the future. I think the lobby system would help with this if we could have the option to display our characters when people mouse over or select our names in the lobbies. Or possibly some kind of avatar system where we can take pics of our characters to be displayed when in lobbies. This would go a long way to really adding some depth and purpose to the character customization in Brink.

Just a few thoughts here.

I’ll add more as I find them while playing.

Thanks Splash Damage - I’m hoping you guys can fix this ship and get it sailing right in the next 30 days! Good luck! :stroggtapir:

[Achromatis]

Im sure theyre working on the lag issues, its probably a top priority lol. And idk, I mean normal TDM in Halo Reach is only 4v4, and Black Ops is only 6v6. With both games having larger variations, but theres usually lag in the 8v8(at least there is for me) with those games as well.

Game lobbies are a must.

I agree with some new cosmetic options at some point in the future, even just new skins(not models). Or a weapon cosmetic skin system. Which may be easy to do because they likely already have a list of concept designs that didnt make it into the game for launch. Also, more beards.

Id kinda like to see some weapon specialization options that are class dependent, or possibly some class-only attachments. Like maybe a Soldier can put a blade attachment onto an AR to increase melee damage, but it no longer knocks people over and reduces weapon accuracy and equip speed. As long as its not a one hit kill.

Or Engineers can increase shotgun spread(because I love being and Eng with a shotgun) but reduces accuracy and distance. Or Ops can specialize in pistols to reduce kickback and increase accuracy but can no longer carry a knife. Class specific weapon mods would be pretty cool IMO.

Maybe some cross class abilities. Like an Op being able to hack-proof an ally turret, or an Eng being able to give Ops a harder to remove hack box.

Maybe some options depending on body type too. Like a Heavy can chose to get a bonus to Minigun damage and more ammo, but with a higher penalty to movement speed and equip speed. This is just stuff off the top of my head, I wouldnt say its all very balanced lol.

[GossamerSolid]

[QUOTE=Achromatis;306139]Im sure theyre working on the lag issues, its probably a top priority lol. And idk, I mean normal TDM in Halo Reach is only 4v4, and Black Ops is only 6v6. With both games having larger variations, but theres usually lag in the 8v8(at least there is for me) with those games as well.
[/QUOTE]

If the console players want to start seeing smoother matches, you have to unite together towards dedicated servers on consoles.

[Nail]

Dedicated servers are what ALL online gaming needs. Time Gate studios has software to run PS3 and Xbox 360 games with PC dedicated servers. Console players NEED to lobby MS and Sony to implement this access and their games will sell even more