Alright, so I was watching some Brink videos and considering hopping on for a bit and it dawned on me... THREE of our classes have buffs for their team mates but not one has any form of debuff.
A lot of you might not care about this, but I'm a pretty big believer of debuffs (from my love of MMOs and the likes).

We have THREE classes (Medic, Engineer and Operative) that can utilize debuffs and have it make sense. Now, to an extent we DO have debuffs, like flashbangs and EMP grenades... But we don't have anymore than that...
I think it'd be interesting to have a ton of other abilities that directly affect the effectiveness of an enemy... I've only come up with a few, some of which have been discussed here and what's-not... So I'm just going to list them here.
Keep in mind, some of these may not make much sense at first... But I thought of these skills in particular to add more versatility to our classes. It would offer up more skills, therefore, we can change our roles on the fly... And with more skills and different uses, certain un-used classes will see new life... At least that's my hope.
Also, Debuffs are just awesome... I LOVE shutdown classes. I also want to see what you guys think and what ideas you can all come up with, if the idea sticks.

STAAAAARTIIIIING... NOW!

Medic: Perhaps the most capable of delivering some heavy debuffs... Directly affecting the overall health or well-being of an enemy, but also requiring the most risk in using close-range tactics. However, my problem here is that it'd be USELESS against bots (damn psychics) and I strongly disagree with the medics having grenade based skills.
Poisons - They fill their syringes with some kind of poison that slowly drains away at the enemy's health, causing subtle damage over time (DoT)... I think to counteract this, the player need only be healed.
Health Pip Removal - Through the use of some kind of scanner or otherwise, the Medic is able to detect what enemies on the battlefield have received extra health pips from SOME manner... Through this, they're able to approach the enemy, however possible, and essentially remove the pips, thus weakening the target.
Health Sapping Beacons (TERRIBLE name, I know) - These stations effectively leech health from any enemy that passes through them, the longer they sit in its range, the more health they lose. You could place this at objectives, making the medic even more defensive and useful... It'd be interesting to see an "end-use" that scatters health pips to allies in the area, or something to that effect.
Some kind of ability that leeches health from enemies and gives it to the medic... Something like that... It'd be cool to see medics have more overall survivability and actual combat utility.

Soldier: The soldier, I think, should be the least effective with debuffs... So I couldn't think of much...
Stun Grenades - These little things act a lot like flashbangs, but rather than obscuring vision, they are able to stop (or DRAMATICALLY decrease) the movement of enemies... Including their aiming. I would expect it to have a VERY narrow range so it can't shut down a whole room at once... And like the flashbang, it has some recoil if your allies are too close to it.
Ammo sabotage? - This makes the LEAST sense to me, but I figured I'd toss it out there... Basically, the Soldier is able to throw one pack of fake ammo every now and again to an enemy, so upon their next reload their weapons deal either less damage, or no damage. This lasts for ONE clip (reload and it's gone). I don't know why anyone would accept ammo from their enemy... Maybe he slipped it in his pack or something.

Engineer: I got nothin'...


Operative: (Best for last, I love me some Operative.) The Operative's class seems to make the most sense in terms of debuffing... They already specialize in causing sheer chaos and disruption, but I would like to see this expanded on... Perhaps there guys are the most capable..?
Some kind of weapon sabotage - At first I thought this made more sense on the Engineer, but I think it fits more with the Operative's theme... He specializes in sabotage and the likes. I don't know how he would do it, but ultimately he either makes a gun completely useless (just one gun, not both) for a very short time or weakens the damage it does. Another cool idea, an alternative, is that is causes the gun to overheat and damage the user a little after a certain number of shots. Perhaps that should be its own skill?
A buff removal tool - It'd be interesting to see them use some kind of item that removes buffs on a specific target. Much like the Medic's health-buff removal. I don't know, it may be unfair for two classes to have something like this.
Bolas - These little bastards could finally tie up those pesky lights... They'd be a quick one use thing that would have to hit a target and immediately slow down ONE guy for a short period of time. It'd be great for those of us playing mediums and heavies to have SOME weapon against the lights. Either a bolas, or some kind of trap we lay down. It's more immediate than the caltrops, deals little-to-no damage and affects only one target.
Stungun/tazer/etc. - Something that could completely stun a character for just an instant... Maybe it's used as a weapon or a quick get away. The stun is only a split second, something less than one second, but it can mean the difference between life and death. Again, this only affects one enemy.
Mine hacking - We already have an effective turret control, but I would like to see something with the mines. The mines use a friend/foe program that determines whether or not to blow up (at least I would assume)... It'd be cool if Ops could hack that and turn the mine against their enemies. This would officially make the Op the Engineer's rival and nemesis. This is an indirect debuff.
Turret sabotage - Someone else suggested this awhile back, I can't remember who (I THINK it was Chaos) and it sounded nifty once he explained it. Basically, rather than hacking a turret or otherwise, you'd instead set up a booby trap on it... So when an ally approaches it (I assume to repair it), it detonates. This is less a debuff, though.
Corpse Sabotage - Perhaps this is too macabre, but I like the idea... Two classes in the game have access to bodies in this game and it'd be interesting to see more done with them. I can't think of what it would do, but I like the idea. Maybe the Op places a proximity mine that sets off a bomb with a short fuse under a body... It obviously goes away once the body disappears... So it's got a limited use. I'm not sure what else to think of for this.

those all sound great... i do think the weapon sabotage should go to engine though

Great ideas!

I'd love to use a bolas on a heavy. Slow down that fatty even more! :tongue:

The corpse bomb, however sinister it may be, was actually used extensively in Vietnam. I don't think the Resistance or especially the Security are THAT evil... I'd still use it, though.

debuff for the op would fit best imo, especially if they have to be in disguise to debuff. then they can toss out "weapon sabotages" or damage over times or what have you. since ops have no buffs and being in disguise really dosent do much since you break disguise whenever you do anything i feel it would make more use of disguising.

Yeah! That was all me! ~_^

Also, I think these debuffing abilities could make the disguise ability much more potent, as you act like you're just giving a buff, but really sabotaging. (Really dig the weapon sabotage.

Well Engineers can buff weapons, I assume it's some on-the-fly quick tinkering, perhaps they can interfere with the mechanisms of a player's weapon? Like the next time they reload, it may jam and they have to do it twice or something.

I like the idea of debuffs, you have some good ideas there.

I'd like to see SMART and abilities debuff's also

Whilst I have nothing against debuffs, finding room to fit them in as either abiliites or contextual commands (such as "give ammo to ____" but pointing at an enemy would be "Take Grenade Pin from ____" (forcing them to throw a grenade) for example) would be a challenge to say the least, as well as their uses in a firefight, it's trying enough buffing someone in the middle of a firefight, but unless you happen to get the drop on an opponent, it would be an under-utilized mechanic in the game and could potentially be overpowered.

I believe giving debuffs ONLY to Operatives would be more suited to the game as-is, because it could make the disguising element a LOT more potent than it is now (which is either 'get to area unmolested' or 'hack turret without grief') being disguised and debuffing a Medic (limiting his ability to revive allies for a set time say) works a lot better in some scenarios than simply shooting him dead. It would also allow you to get close to an enemy easier than any other class, who would have to run like lemmings just to do a minor effect. You have to remember, for the De-buff not to be a waste of time, it would have to be the same amount of time as the regular buffs, forcing them to be minor effects. Keep it simple and keep focus on the Operative would be my advice.

I don't know, it needs thought on it's application though, With the limited ability wheel you couldn't really add it to that. I mean If Brink were purely on PC I'd say go nuts, but seeing how Xbox/PS3 controllers don't have 100+ keys to work with, the idea needs refinement, narrowing down and focus to get the best out of it without making the controls unplayable.

It'd be interesting to see how they implement it.

The ultimate debuff ====> a bullet to the face

But seriously
I like the idea of debuffs, they add another layer of complexity to the gameplay, which Im all for. Id like to see all of the debuffs be able to be removed / countered by existing skills to keep it fair and encourage teamwork.
The weapon debuff sounds cool I think a disguised Op would have to physically interact with someone to pull this off. (and it could be removed when engineers buff your gun)
Id love to see the medics get a poison grenade, that could drain health as well as blur vision and slow movement speed. If not a grenade, they could use a supply pip to stab an enemy with a syringe in close quarters.
As far as removing health pips, I think this is already present in that you can remove the command posts by capturing it. I dont think the medics should be able to remove the battle hardened pip but perhaps the ones given by other medics. If it came down to it they could cause the poison to do this as well, but I think the DoT would accomplish this already. Plus if the only way to remove the DoT is to be healed this would replenish the health pips anyways making their initial loss not matter.

I dont think that the debuffs should carry over after death. Anything that allows for more strategy and that adds depth to the gameplay Im all for.

D'oh I forgot to mention my ideas for this in my first post. (12 hour day, Im tired)
I think the best way to incorporate them using the current console controls would be to use the X button interact (like you use to buff teammates) but when its used on an enemy the debuff occurs. This would limit the debuffs to one per class(active at any given time but could have several to choose from), and I think the operative would need to be a given some form of a buff that counters enemy Ops debuffs. Also this would limit the debuffs to being used at close range (unless you could hit X at range when ADSing on an enemy, but I think that would get tricky).
The obvious downside is that if someones close range, it would be better to just finish them off quickly than try to debuff them. So on second thought the debuffs could persist after death for the next respawn, but not the entire rest of the match.
They could either do this, or add utility to current abilites (for instance have the lazurus grenade revive allies, but poison enemies).

This would probably be most effective when used by an Operative in disguise. Which could be a great substitute for the fact that they dont have an actual buff of their own, if they dont add them to the rest of the classes.
My 2 cents

I appreciate your feedback, it was a great read!

However! I don't think that the interact key should be used as the debuff. If anything, I think debuffs would have to fall FIRST on your assignment "wheel" then be used in another manner. If you have to use that key to interact with them in combat it limits your reloading, which could mean life or death and THUS everyone would hate the debuffs... There would definitely have to be another way.
Secondly, I don't think ANY debuffs (just like buffs, outside of class-given ones like Kevlar for Soldiers) should carry on after death. They should cease to exist if your character completely dies. Basically when you die, you end up with a clean slate.
Thirdly, Debuffs should NOT be limited to close-range... That severely limits the actual variety in usage.

But all of your other thoughts were great.

I'm honestly a LITTLE shocked at the positive feedback this has had... Normally our community is pretty damn cynical (myself included). I would definitely love to see abilities like this implemented in SOME way.

And it's more than evident everyone loves the Op/Engineer (still getting mixed reaction on WHO should have it, though I still support the Operative) debuff, Weapon Sabotage. I'm curious, which variation do you people like more..? The version that simply weakens the weapon (may it be through bullet damage, rate of fire or sheer lack of ability to shoot) or the over-heating?

EDIT: I put up a poll too for those of us who have voiced our opinions here AS WELL as for those of us who don't chat much here. I wanna know what EVERYONE thinks.

Agreed Id really like to see these added to the game, would add an interesting twist to the gameplay.
I feel like giving the operative the sabatoge debuff over the engineer would be more balanced, I think engi's have enough to do as it is and disguised ops would have the best opportunity to make use of these abilities. I dont think the gun should lose the ability to fire completely, but the rate of fire, or the fire damage should be reduced. (have to at least give them a chance).
The only reason I thought about having them persist after death would be to increase their likelihood of being used. Personally if I have the choice of getting a quick kill or slowing someones run speed / weapon Im going to go for the kill. Death is the ultimate debuff. I could see how having them persist after death would really make it hard for losing teams to recover, if they all have debuffs (but if their teammates can remove them then this would help).

I definitely see how using the reload button could be a problem, and the idea of close range debuff spamming spinning circles trying to tie each other's shoelaces would probably make me nauseous. (but that is a pretty funny image)

However they do it, Id like to see these types of things tried out. Id love the operatives to be able to do more than just mark mines / enemies without breaking cover. Being able to debuff weapons would give more tactical advantage to remaining disguised, which is how I picture an operative.

Well yeah if you can get a kill without using anything, go for it. But the point of a debuff is, say, in long firefghts or to give your team a slight edge in a full-on war or when you're being SPAWN CAMPED (-.-;;).
Debuffs are also there for the people who aren't so great at making tons of kills and/or are too selfish/new/stupid/etc. to buff their own team... They're more inclined to use something on the enemy to WIN rather than their team, as far as I can tell (judging from their use of grenades and turrets... And stuff).
It's just another layer to the fight that you have to worry about.

I think for some debuffs the Op should have to break disguise just for balancing issues. If he never breaks disguise, he can cause way too much havok and be over-powered.

Responding to your ideas about adding a stun grenade to the soldiers arsenal Id argue that they already have enough varieties of grenades available but I think if they allowed a skill to upgrade your flashbangs so that it stunned enemies directly hit by the blast I think this would be great. Im all for adding new skill slots that upgrade current abilities, since you can only have 3 active skills at the moment.

All valid points, I like the idea of ranged debuffs because I can imagine situations where several enemies have me trapped and I hit them with a debuff, run to cover and then take them out once theyve been weakened.

Honestly I would prefer it a different skill altogether... It would add more variation to play builds.
It's like... Guild Wars. The game had hundreds of individual skills (upwards of 50 for each class) and you could be two classes at once (as well as non-class based skills)... BUT you could only equip 8 skills at a time. It forces you to think about your abilities and how you want your character to play and allows you to really tailor your character to YOUR liking. It doesn't force you into a corner with only a few skills and says, "oh you can upgrade these. Why wouldn't you..?"
I would rather have more assignable skills than upgrade the current ones... If you offer upgrades there are two problems;
1. Why WOULDN'T you upgrade it unless you're working on dual/tri speccing? You become predictable and cliche, the very opposite of the feeling the game is supposed to have.
2. It wastes a perfectly usable skill point (yes.. I HATE that it takes me three points to get Gatling Gun and two points for my "improved" buffs...)

The more variation I can see, the better. The more customization.

And also, the flashbangs can already be a tide-changing ability... Giving them a stun ability is far, far too strong.
Balancing would force it to be two abilities.
That isn't to say you couldn't throw in a flash, throw in a stun and then a heavy... You'd just be sacrificing one of your slots, which - again - forces you to THINK about your build.