[QUOTE=wolfnemesis75;368062]Downside to Stopwatch is the length of time it takes to complete both sides. There has to be some kind of Huge Dangling Carrot to entice people to play this mode AND stick around for both sides! It is the ideal mode of Brink but is not accessible enough. There needs to be some insane leveling bonus for completing both sides of a Stopwatch match. Like a 10,000 EXP bonus PLUS what you get in the match. A big bonus for winning and a bonus even for losing, like half of the winners prize for coming up short. You know what I mean?
Make it so people are like, “You know you get the most EXP in Stopwatch and can level up a character in no time in that mode!” “Let’s go play Stopwatch then. Why are we wasting our time in these other modes!” You know what I mean?
Or have some Stopwatch specific Uber Unlockable that you ONLY can get from serious Stopwatch matches. Just a badass outfit or gun you ONLY get by playing Stopwatch.
Like some demented Track Suit. With flames on it and Nation Specific customization. Only way to get it is by playing Stopwatch. U.S.A insignia on the outfit. British Flag. Etc. An all black suit with white stripes like a Nascar Driver for the Security. And Nation Specific symbols. That’d do it.
I like this idea so much I may make a new thread. Should I? Or is it a dumb idea? :)[/QUOTE]
stopwatch can be really quick. first team do it fast then the rematch only has a small amount of time to try it. then can last a while but you also get big points for the long games.
[QUOTE=EnderWiggin.DA.;367916]OP makes some good points. I don’t think the default settings should be as offensively biased as stopwatch, but I would almost immediately add 5 seconds to the defensive spawn times if I could.
I do kind of like the idea of the variable spawn timers to a point. That or smarter dynamic team balancing between maps as I suggested in a previous post. I’d much rather play a close round.
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The thing is that Stopwatch as it is uses the same maps and settings as Objective mode, so the ‘as offensively biased as stopwatch’ doesn’t make sense. That’s why I propose altering the map scripts and settings to make the maps intentionally biased for attackers, and making Stopwatch the default mode of the game. Stopwatch has been relegated to the hardcore / niche mode for far too long, I believe it’s speed and level of franticness could be hugely appealing to the mainstream audience and not just the pros. It could be Brink’s ‘hook’, if leveraged and advertised right.
I completely agree with your position on how they should test maps better. Reactor is a particularly bad example of a map I can’t believe made it through balance testing. I’d estimate that in my time playing Brink I’ve seen the second phase of that map maybe 5% of the games I’ve totally played on it. It’s not an unfair assumption to think that there are new players who picked this game up and never even got to see the second phase of that map, and I think the same will be said for Founders Tower. Ideally a map balanced for Stopwatch should have the offense completing the map 90% of the time on completely evenly skilled teams. Imbalance is a complete non-issue when both teams get to play both sides.
Unfortunately, Splash Damage has already stated on this forum that geometry changes to maps are unlikely to happen at this point. I also think they are unnecessary as changes to the maps to make them easily completable in Stopwatch can possibly be made with scripts and settings like spawn times and objective priority.
This brings up a good question, why is the automatic position for Brink that each stage of the map MUST be completed before moving on to the next? Wouldn’t it be more exciting and fun for players to play through and see the entire map every game they play, and avoid the ‘stuck in spawn’ situations? Not only would dynamic Spawn times like you and I proposed keep the game flowing and the map progressing, but there’s another option too.
What if each stage of a map just had a set time limit before it would automatically complete. Like say if on the first phase of Reactor (notorious for its tough first phase), the Vent System automatically hacked slowly over time, say it would reach 100% in five minutes on it’s own. Once there, the phase would complete and the map would change to the next phase. That way, the objective of the attackers is simply to speed up the process, and the objective of the defenders to delay it as long as possible (5 minutes in this case). Skill would still be involved since the Attackers could make a good push and hack the Vent system a lot faster than five minutes, and the defenders are trying to buy as much time so that they have as much time as possible for their turn on offense.
I disagree. In fact, Stopwatch can be much faster than a typical objective game, mainly because it is offensive oriented and speed is prioritized more than anything. For example, the Quakecon Finals game that was played recently had a 7 or 8 minute time set and then the team held the defense.
I think you are too caught up in the carrot on a stick rewards system. We want the game to be fun regardless of external motivators. If you need to entice people with XP rewards and weapon unlocks to play the game then I think you have failed in making your base gameplay fun. I think Splash Damage did right by making all the weapon unlocks in this game simple and quick to do by completing the challenges, although they still put the abilities behind an XP gate but sadly that is just the state of gaming today.
This game needs to be simply be fun for the average player and exciting enough to keep them playing. We shouldn’t have to ‘buy’ their involvement in the gametype with rewards. My proposed changes are so that when someone hovers over the Brink icon in Steam, they do it knowing they are going to play an exciting, fun and action packed game that will have last second clutch plays and absolutely no chance of them ending up stuck in spawn for 20 minutes straight.
