Which body type is your favourite? (part 1)

(Mustang) #61

A thought that just came to me
Based from more of an MMO stand-point

Rather than trying to finetune until every class/weapon/combo is in balance
How about periodic updates that shift the balance every so often
So instead of always having the same counters all the time
A dynamicly evolving meta-game concept can be established

Keeps teams thinking up new tactics and strategies all the time
It might not be feasible in Brink, as typically an MMO will have a hell of a lot more combinations
But it is an idea at least

(darthmob) #62

[QUOTE=Mustang;200047]A thought that just came to me
Based from more of an MMO stand-point

Rather than trying to finetune until every class/weapon/combo is in balance
How about periodic updates that shift the balance every so often
So instead of always having the same counters all the time
A dynamicly evolving meta-game concept can be established[/QUOTE]A not so positive yet hilarious way to describe it. I’d say no thank you sir.

(tokamak) #63

Indeed. MMO’s are actually NOT interested in achieving absolute balance, as an equilibrium would mean that players eventually got bored playing their character instead of levelling up the newest faceroll class.

Shooters need an absolute balance. Sure some combinations are stupid, some combinations are highly specialised and only work in rare occasions and some are just mediocre all round. That still means that there’s not one single combination that is the best at all occasions (not like the deathknight+ paladin arena team in wow, or the G36k gun in Raven Shield).

When all options are valid in their own way, it comes down to who uses them in what situation.

(Tapout Tyrant) #64

I would have to pick medium do to the fact that I like to be quick, but I also like to pack a punch.

(Jeebs) #65

I will use all body types, always like to be able to fill any role :smiley:

(tokamak) #66

Being able to switch body types would make the whole point of having different body types in the first place irrelevant.

(Mustang) #67

Come on, I can’t see people changing characters everytime they reach a command post
It just offers that flexibilty of switching without disconnecting, changing character, and reconnecting

Not an obvious decision though, both ways have pro’s and con’s
I’d actually like to try it both ways before deceiding which would be preferable

(Rahdo) #68

Yeah, there was actually a fairly good discussion on the pros and cons of it a few weeks back. All I can say is that the jury’s still out on this one at the moment…

(tokamak) #69

[QUOTE=Mustang;200566]Come on, I can’t see people changing characters everytime they reach a command post
It just offers that flexibilty of switching without disconnecting, changing character, and reconnecting
[/QUOTE]

Which means you would be advancing a different character, with a different amount of experience and different unlocks. I like that, that means people who switch characters often don’t advance as fast as the people who bite the bullet and stick with their body type.

Maybe that would be a proper middle ground. Allow players to switch characters inside the game, but just bar the option of giving your character plastic surgery altogether, just don’t do it.

But then again, that’s only fun until everyone has fully decked out their characters. It would ruin the ‘end-game’ of Brink. Hm. Maybe not.

(stealth6) #70

lol “bite the bullet and stick to their body type” aka stubborn?
if a game offers the advantage to do so at no cost, it would be your own fault if you didn’t use it.

(RoryGreen) #71

My favourite will probably be light for the agility. But it depends on how well the SMART feature is implemented.

(tokamak) #72

[QUOTE=stealth6;200608]lol “bite the bullet and stick to their body type” aka stubborn?
if a game offers the advantage to do so at no cost, it would be your own fault if you didn’t use it.[/QUOTE]

Exactly my problem. You would be forced to switch body types when the situation demands you to do so. For classes that makes sense, for body types it does not.

In WoW players used to be able to switch their gear, so every time they encountered a fire mage, they put on fire resistance gear, frost mage, frost resistance, warlock > shadow resistance etc etc, and yes, you would be stupid if you didn’t go with the trend. Luckily they locked your gear in those arenas.

(stealth6) #73

hmm, I don’t understand why not.
Sure it’s not realistic, but you could just cover it up by saying you went for a “pitstop”
or actually respawning isn’t very realistic either, so in some games they say everytime you respawn you are a new character, but because of engine limits they can only cycle 5 models.

This isn’t WoW (I hope) so what’s the bother?

(tokamak) #74

I didn’t actually use realism as an argument at all, it’s purely the tactical gameplay that I’m concerned about here.

And sure it’s not WoW. But there are definitely similarities, the point is that certain things should not be adjustable on the fly, and I think body type, a factor that merely controls your effectiveness and not your purpose in the game, should not be changeable.

If you allow that, then certain body-type/class combinations will be become the status quo and you’re a retard if you don’t pick them. However, if you allow only the class to change, then you will see all combinations being used, making for a far more diverse game.

(Brandmon) #75

I’m going to guess Medium but it is too soon to tell. I am not sure if there are weapon limitations for the small class and I am guessing so. Thus I would go medium for some of the better guns :slight_smile:

Heh but ask this question again after we get our hands on the game and the result would be completely different I would bet.

(tokamak) #76

Yes the bigger you are the more weapons you have available,

(Brandmon) #77

Cool, thanks for confirming that. Than I would most probably go medium. A bit of skill with the weapons combined with some mobility would certainly suit my style. But in the end, no single class would be the best, or so I am hoping.

(Jamieson) #78

I’ am a big fan of movement, I believe standing still = dead so I was tempted to vote for light but I think light might be to weak so I voted for Medium as I believe it will have a decent trade off for power and mobility.

Heavy just doesn’t appeal. I prefer quick fast paced fighting and enjoy running and gunning. It doesn’t matter how much fire power I have if i cannot move quickly i will just get frustrated and feel like im missing out while the rest of the team is at the objective.

(Sssaap) #79

Light body type for me - speed is definitely a major factor that kept me playing SD’s games for years.

In this case the complexity Quake Wars brought to ET simply meant that tactical insight became a factor alongside twitch reflexes, the former was nearly absent in W:ET.

Have you ever played W:ET competively - even on an avarge level?
It’s without a doubt one of the games that rely the most on tactics…
(Yes I AM playing/testing - in the means of beta testing, not just playing it once - a lot of different shooters)
I think I already pretty much made my point about the change of body size in the other thread so no need to start it all over again.
(Just to point out the obvious: not being able to change your body size is plain stupid - for competitive play at least - since you can not react on different situations. If you for example have the opponent wiped out your team - you all repsawn as partially heavies partially as lights you arrive on different times - which means a part of your team becomes useless.
Now you might argue with: “well you’re free to plan this in up front” but if you think about it this would just mean that you’d have to have all people be either move at the same speed or choose the same size - whilst the first option would in the end equal the second one, apart from you having the benefits the bigger sized bodies offer. Right now talking of critical situations, but you could pretty much apply this to any situation given.)

(Jamieson) #80

(Just to point out the obvious: not being able to change your body size is plain stupid - for competitive play at least - since you can not react on different situations. If you for example have the opponent wiped out your team - you all repsawn as partially heavies partially as lights you arrive on different times - which means a part of your team becomes useless.

I think it is pritty interesting, im guessing most of this stuff will be limited anyway. I can easily see comp play being restricted to mediums only or maybe only 1 heavy or light etc.

In quake live you have offensive and defensive power ups like scout which makes you run faster = light body type. Teams just adapt and put the scout at the front of the attack followed by slower attackers etc. It just became part of the tactics.

I don’t know though i havn’t made my mind up on this issue. In WET and ETQW it was extremly important to make coordinated pushes or you would get slaughtered perhaps if teams were limited like i suggested then the team would have to push up while the heavy slowly moved up and timed his arrival perfectly to take out the other team but then that would make it easier to defend an obj so many problems.

i do agree It would be interesting to see the option to change body type in comp matches only though as this would lead to some very strange and interesting tactics etc. Everyone switches to light to get to transmit objective quickly etc.

I don’t think it would be appropriate for pub or ranekd gameplay etc though.