Brink needs more role-playing elements, not less. Like, it’d be cool to have Speculation a la AD&D. Like you’d be able to put more points into an ability and expand your class. Or enable you to make a Rogue (a Hybrid or Thief or dual-class version of Operative). Exp: take an ability from Soldier like Scavenge but it cost 2 ability points more than it would for a soldier. Or you could say, comms hack faster or if you were a Specialized Engineer, you could build a better turret or one that had a longer sensor. Just more refinement, but at the cost of higher or more ability points. For example. it takes 3 ability points to get the Heavy Turret. With specialization, lets say once you’ve used those 3 ability points, now you are required 2 ability points (rather than 1 ability point) to increase the range of your turret or its hit points. So that, it makes you weak in other areas requiring you to spend more ability points. 
Specialization
If it was an RPG/MMO, I’d agree with you. Since it’s a FPS I reckon it would be a bad idea and would be incredibly hard to balance for FPS multiplayer gaming.
balance. people would manage to abuse it. nice idea though. it would let you specialise the character to how you play. or buff your weaknesses.
Persistent upgrades are one of the things which ruin the game.
Agree
Specialization to some extent is OK, but you shouldn’t have to grind at all to change your specialization. Even the 1-level penalty for resetting your attributes in brink is way too much. There should be no penalty at all for re-specing.
If done right, it could be a very cool concept. Perhaps make it so there are abilities for all classes that anyone can get (like the ones already in the game) but when you choose to specialize in a class, it opens up a whole new set of skills. Maybe make it come with a price, like whatever class you choose to specialize, that is the only class that character can ever play.
I’d would be nice to have added layers to character customization, but this idea would kill hybrid builds and the notion of spending points in more than one class. Those who are hybrids would be at a disadvantage against players who have dug in deep into their respective classes. IMO the game would shift towards single-class characters almost exclusively. I don’t think I would mind it, being that I pretty much play soldier exclusively, but I don’t think the game as a whole would benefit from such a radical change. You’d have too many people disgruntled over the significant shift in character building. This would have to be something implemented in a future release from SD.
^I am here. It would have to be done right and with serious balancing. Which is why I suggested that you could purchase an ability outside your class like Scavenge, but it would cost an additional ability point plus what it already costs. Or if you specialize within your own class, it costs extra ability points. Like an extension of Universal Abilities. Perhaps only rank 3 or lower skills are available to specialize or dual-class in. Just brainstorming.
That’s right, BRINK NEEDS more of that ***** heaped on to IMPROVE!! GREAT IDEA! Why didn’t I think of this before?! Think of how balanced it will be with MORE RPG ELEMENTS!! AD&D on 8v8 maps WITH BOTS!!!
[QUOTE=Cynix;362687]Agree
Specialization to some extent is OK, but you shouldn’t have to grind at all to change your specialization. Even the 1-level penalty for resetting your attributes in brink is way too much. There should be no penalty at all for re-specing.[/QUOTE]
I disagree, whats the point of being able to respec whenever u want? Knowing that I have to be careful with my hard earned points gives me attachment to my characters. Thats why I have four of them.
Oh and deeper specialization would be awesome. Mag pulled it off and so could brink.
No, No, No.
Brink is fist of all an multiplayer game - bots is training -mode.
If everyone is completely specialized there wont be any balanced games !!
Its absolutely nessecary to be able to change class if needed - and to be able to do the job needed. Otherwise the game is messed up . Just imagine you are in a team with specialised soldiers and medics and it comes to a map where you need an op.
Specialising like it is at the moment is as much as the game can take. more would be killing the game.
-> this is NOT an RPG !!!
Maybe make it come with a price
the direct and fastest way to kill the game forever-.
I disagree, whats the point of being able to respec whenever u want? Knowing that I have to be careful with my hard earned points gives me attachment to my characters. Thats why I have four of them.
There shouldn’t be “hard earned points” in an FPS; that’s for RPGs. An FPS should be about skill, not about how long you’ve spent grinding the game.
I’m not against specialization, it adds a level of strategic complexity to the game. I am against all persistent unlocks and all penalties for respecing. These “features” are a plague on modern FPS games that discourage high skill players from playing the game competitively.
At the very very least, it should be possible to configure the server to unlock all abilities and allow unlimited respecing during competitive matches.
Yeah, but typically skill is achieved after countless grinding away at a game and honing your craft. Which is one of the reasons that it surprises me that so many believe that skills they have in other games should automatically transfer to Brink. Regardless, specialization is a concept at least worth discussing, even if it may or may not fit Brink. As far as grinding away, I am definitely in favor of more RPG elements, or unlocking Badges, and other kinds of rewards so that you are not getting zeros at the end of a match once you reach max level. It could always be a feature that’s ignored if it doesn’t float somebody’s boat, but as a way of adding longevity to the title, I’d be all for it.
Adding RPG elements to a MP FPS doesn’t necessarily eliminate the skill involved. As long as you don’t add “random” factors, like dice rolls, the skill is there - You still need to aim, you still need to shoot, you still need to use tactics and strategy. For those worried about it turning into a grindfest, just keep a matchmaking system in place like Brink already has. If a player is grinding away trying to unlock skills and lvl up, he will only be able to play against players of his level. You could take it one step further and make it so every character has a single and multiplayer level, so players can’t grind in offline bot matches and use the xp he acquired online.
Dear RPG Fans,
as soon as you can “earn” abilities, that give you somthing special useful, something to “level up” you character in a certain class its NOT about skill anymore but about “time played”.
Thats complete nonsense wow crap !!
If you add things to your character that are nothing more than decoration and ouitfits… its fine. If you like you can do it , if not you don´t get an disadvantage from it.
Remember W:ET / ETQW : everybody starts, depending on the class he playes, with the same abilities, same weapons and equal playing level field. During a campain on a server you can level up and get some goodies but as soon as you leave the server or the campain of maybe 3 maps is over you start at zero again. THAT is skillbased.
In Brink its a sligtly different approach in having the posiibility to suite you Char to your personal playstyle and individualize it a litte But the most important bottomline is that eveybody has the same and equal level playing field - thats what makes balancing brink such a hard job. ( its gonna take some while until this progress is done, but SD alreasy said, they keep focussing that !
So this part of the suggestion is a Brtink-killer.
If you like RPG then play RPG !!!
Brink is no RPG <- like it or not: thats fact .
So to come to more specialisation:
That may be a nice idea for solo playing with bots or for pubbing with friends.
But its completely nonsense for competitive gaming and Pubbing with strangers !!!
remember: Brink is firt of all an Multiplayer-Team-Shooter.
Playing with Bots is kind of Training-Mode and not what this game is designed for.
On a Pub:
Its useless to be over specialized because you dont know what the specialisations of the other players are. You may play the game with an completly useless team.
Cometitive Gaming:
Well thats obvious. Over Sprcialized Chars = No fair comairison = No competition at all.
NOW: changing Characters during a game :
If you are able to change you Char during the Game the whole Character-Thing is absurd.
Its would be the same like having all Abilities of all Classes in one Character - the whole Character individualisation could be repealed.
Again - so that it won´t be forgotten:
Brink is NO RPG.
If you wanna play RPG go for WoW.
neg0ne
PS: this whole discussion reminds me of the complains in the beginning of Brink:
" why is Brink not like TF ? "
" Brink sucks because its not like CoD"
" Plz make Brink more like the BF- series"
Now you guy start with: "We want Brink to be WoW "
There are so many ideas from the community and the dedicated people should be able to make them come true!
Why fight like children “this is my brink!”? Why not embrace the opportunity and create diversity? Let the people develop their mods. What will be popular, will be popular.
And dont come with this splitting community stuff, we can use every player that wants to play brink. Be it a hardcore mod, rpg mod, comp mod or whatever.
My perferct Brink is a different one then for others, but thats no reason to say theirs is worse. Let them have their perfect Brink and let me have mine.
GIVE US A SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT KIT! GIVE US THE SDK !
[QUOTE=Cynix;362795]There shouldn’t be “hard earned points” in an FPS; that’s for RPGs. An FPS should be about skill, not about how long you’ve spent grinding the game.
I’m not against specialization, it adds a level of strategic complexity to the game. I am against all persistent unlocks and all penalties for respecing. These “features” are a plague on modern FPS games that discourage high skill players from playing the game competitively.
At the very very least, it should be possible to configure the server to unlock all abilities and allow unlimited respecing during competitive matches.[/QUOTE]
Thats why u should be able to change characters in a match. Sure changing classes helps too, but If I’m being eaten alive at a particular choke point, it would be nice to bring out my level 13 heavy as opposed to being stuck with a level 20 skinny. Re specing mid match would waste more time than it’s worth. And as far as grinding, thats just how it goes, I’m sorry but if ive been playing for a year, your not gonna have a chance on your first match. I mean look at any competitive fps, all the powerful unlocks are in the higher levels.