I'm what you'd call a veteran "hardcoe" Brink player. Been on the Ark since day one, and like any of us who've played the game since launch...I know all of the tricks of the trade. I know all of the hiding spots. All of the kill boxes. All of the less obvious choke points. I know the strengths and weaknesses of every weapon, and how to optimize maneuverability on all the maps for all body types. Suffice to say...I'm a damn good Brink player. Most of us who've been around since day 1 are. That brings me to what I've noticed the last month. With BF3 and MW3 on the horizon, I've noticed on my console the PS3, the number of new players on Brink isn't decreasing...it's INCREASING. This is kind of strange since the release of a pair of decidedly and VASTLY superior FPS games are just around the corner. Am I complaining about this? Hell no...to an extent. I mean, it would have been nice if this boom of new players emerged in July rather then September-October. But hell, better late then never, eh? A lot of the people I play Brink with are devoted Brink players, and will continue to play Brink along with their choice of "The Big 2" (I'll be picking BF3...as I loath the CoD with a passion). Pretty much the same way a lot of them still to this day play MAG as a "break" from Black Ops and BC2. All in all, even if Brink doesn't see any more support past the next update and clan play, it seems on PS3 at least, the battle for The Ark will continue on well pass the release of BF3 & MW3.

On the subject of the new jacks, I notice another trend...this one actually in game. The wholesale gulf of skill between the veterans and the rookies. You can pretty much tell a vet from a rookie in how they play. A vet is going to keep moving, engage only when the advantage is there, stay close to objectives...and use the AI and rookies as meat shields. Whereas rookies are the ones all over the map, not using their class abilities properly, camping, and getting mowed down by vets from the other team. A game I played last night saw me and three other players...one on my FL, the other two friends of his who I hadn't played with before on Security against a team of 7 on Resistance. We were on Refuel, and the 7 on Resistance couldn't even make it TO the Storage Depot let alone plant the charge. We were the ones out numbered, but WE had them walking on eggshells trying to figure out how to get pass us. A team of 7 vets would have breezed through the 1st objective, but it took my team FALLING BACK to the hangar with 43 seconds left on the clock and LETTING them plant the charge for them to clear the objective. And why did we beat them so badly? Because while there were 7 human players on the other team, we'd encounter at the least 1-2 of them at a time. Whereas me and my team mates were all within meters of each the whole time. Essentially, we played as a squad, they played as lone wolves, and we owned them. By the time the clock was running down for them to deliver the Hydro, 4 of the guys on the other team quit. And we weren't being campy at all. We didn't set a mine field in the hangar or the storage depot. Hell, we didn't even set up turrets. It was all gun play and our ability to work as a group.

It's for the reason above that I'm personally as far a Brink goes going to join more random matches and not join my friend's games, so that I can land in matches with randoms...potentially rookies, and school them in how to become masters of The Ark. Just this morning I played a quick match before going to run errands. I dropped into a game on CCity. 5 players on Res, 4 on Sec including myself. The bot was halfway down the final stretch and disabled, and they set up light defenses around it. Me using my Medium Op/Engi, before I even run into a fight...I asses the battelfield. I see what classes my team mates are, and what classes the enemy users are. I see where they're positioned, and devise a gameplay on how to eliminate the enemies closest to the bot to give my Engi's a chance to repair it. So I take out an enemy bot, Comms Hack & Disguise as him, and go to work. One of my team mates, an Heavy Engi figures out what I'm doing without me even saying it (since he didn't have a mic) and decides to trail me (I know this because as I was running he gave me a damage buff). I manage to slip behind two of the enemy users guarding the bot, and break disguise. I open up with my Rhett on one side, and as they turn around to try and defend themselves, here comes Haevy Engi with the Chinzor and rips them to shreds. All it took was one person to out think the other team, and we cruised to with from there. Games and experiences like for a rookie make them better, because it makes them have to think outside of the conventional FPS train of thought of being a one man army. Clearly my team needed to be "lead" by example, and that's what I did in a completely not invasive way. I simply joined the game, and played Brink as it should be played. And they saw this, and followed me rather then run all over the place. Eventually the other two guys were along side me and the Heavy since I guess they realized being closer to other users is probably a better tactical plan then running around solo and getting murdered.

Basically, to sum this whole post up...I'm happy that even with better games on the way, people are giving Brink a try. Perhaps it's because they want a game to play along side the big 2 when they come out. Perhaps it's because the game is dirt cheap now, and buy it is a no risk investment now. Whatever the case, new people are coming to the Ark, and it's on us Ark veterans to help them get a little better. I know I'll continue to do my part.