I'd hate for this game to die, which, despite its problems, is at core a fun experience. I've had 4 friends purchase the game. One loved it outright, another 2 didn't get it so I spent an evening with them online. I played through the game with them explaining the sublte nuances, how kills are not the focus, that each class has a role & alongside those that each gun & body type changes how you play as well. I answered all their various questions, cleared up their confusion & we had a great time. Now 3 out of those 4 friends enjoy the game. I've yet to get online with the 4th but I hope to soon.
The best way I heard it put was in a recent review. It stated that most FPS games are fairly similar to each other, based on a basic template, if you will. People expect, after playing COD or Halo, to pick up any other FPS & be able to game instantly with a fair degree of skill, knowing what to expect & adjusting to the few small changes of that new game. Brink isn't like that. It requires you to take a step back & rethink how you game; it challenges you to change.
My point is if each of us could do this with just one friend, we'd double the population overnight :celebration: The game is half price now in most places & free DLC is on its way, the lag is vastly improved & further game balancing tweaks are inbound. It's had a rocky start but its not dead yet. Just a thought
Yes! There are a couple of things that could help breath some life back into the PC version of this game (sorry consoles):
1. Give us our damned STATS!!!! Part of what makes a competitive game fun is reviewing how well you did. Where is the highlight reel? I know, SD wants to focus on the team not the individual, so give us team focused stats in addition to individual stats. Just let me see how accurate I was, how many head-shots I had, how few times I was killed, ... I have played ET with a group of coworkers since it was released. Part of what made it fun was having an in-house website that displayed the stats for our Friday games. The stats website promoted competition, gave people something to shoot for, and acted as a highlight reel. When I finish a round of Brink, what do I get? JACK SQUAT! Especially once I reach the level cap. Who gives an S how much experience I gained. The point system is imbalanced anyway. Engineers work twice as hard as medics (often harder) but you could never tell that from the big pointless XP number.
Give us the stats
at the end of each round. I want something interesting to look at while I wait for the next round to load up. Nobody watches the cut-scenes anymore. Make the UI simple and readable. The ETQW round stats UI was just terrible.
I really thought Brink was going to replace ET for my Friday game with my coworkers. We are playing it now, but it is not nearly as fun because of this massive stats oversight.
2. Open the game up to the mod community (quickly, before your funding gets cut and you have no developers to work on this). ET has lived on as long as it has for this very reason. There are more people playing ET then Brink and how old is ET, 7, 8? In game years that's like 250 years old. Open it up. Let the community start having fun with it. I suspect the ET fans are the only ones left playing the game right now, and a lot of them are anxiously waiting to mod the game.
3. Make it easy for friends to host a game and invite each other. Lucky for me I am in the software industry, so I was able to figure out how to forward ports and make this work. I should not have had to do this.
4. Fix the layout of a few maps. Container City. Everyone knows what I am talking about. It is impossible to get out of the spawn area if the Resistance team has any solid players. I don't care how you do it (get rid of the sniper spot above the barricade, give Security a second or third flanking route, whatever), just do something. Nothing is more aggravating then repeatedly dying in your spawn area for an entire match. Shipyard. Fixing the crane is on the border of too difficult. Hacking the missile is nearly impossible. These stick out as the worst cases. There may be others that need adjustment, but I do not have time to focus on this topic at the moment.
5. We all would love some DLC. But if you only have 500 people playing the game on the PC, how are you going to make enough money to cover the development? Make some important changes that will draw players back in. Then focus on DLC. I'll gladly pay for it if I have people to play with.
I would just like to add, that I was really happy to see SD getting back to their roots with this game. ETQW,
while fun, was a disappointment for me. The team dynamic was lost in the sprawling maps and vehicles. My coworkers and I tried to replace ET with ETQW for our Friday game, only to go back to ET (we seem to be drawn to playing as a tight team). As much as I plugged Brink to my coworkers as the next great ET, you would think I worked for SD. I convinced 10 of them to buy the game. I'm doing my part to keep the Friday Brink game from fizzling out. Help me out SD.
Chappy
ps. These suggestions are prioritized with 1 being most important IMO.
» Fri Jul 08, 2011 12:03 pm 
& ComptonEMT
