I mean another instance/place to fight. Essentially, perhaps they thought they have the ability to extend the games longevity a bit so they are taking that opportunity. If they are ready to release, then honestly, hiring more to develop some new stuff and still waiting the time out some would be a better option than trying to suddenly release. The reason for this is marketing wise. To begin they want to have their set release date known at least a month ahead of time. This will create the hype and pre-orders necessary. It will allow their name to travel some, but furthermore, strategically it is better for them to wait a little while longer, so that the CoD hype/love or whatever the current mix of feelings are for it die down. Console players are typically 2 months I believe, and PC players are usually a bit longer (though they may die faster this time with the wreck the CoD PC version is).

So best for them to wait to that paint that people are looking for a new FPS that can actually fulfill their time.

Adding a new map would basicly mean adding a new part to the story. I doubt they will alter the story at this stage.

Hmm we don't even know how many maps there are, but its a good thought.

I don't really see them adding a new map during the beta testing and polishing phase... one new map is one more map they have to test the crap out of... I'm with the general consensus of rather have it at a later date than get it sooner and 'broken'.

I'm 99% possitive they will push a demo.

Daughtful on the new maps.

Not exactly sure what happened, but I noticed a lot of people on the SD forums saying a demo of any sort is not likely because of their bad luck with open beta/demos in the past.

i haven't followed the release of any previous SD games, what "Bad Luck" are they referring to?

Like i said, not exactly sure what happened, its just something a lot of people on the SD forums have said.

I agree that they will most likely will not be adding a new map, but was just a thought. I am leaning more toward a larger array of customization options as being a more likely. The reason is that development companies are realizing how much people enjoy customizing their own personal characters. Having a large customization collection for players to choose from will enhance peoples reason to buy and keep playing.

I am more inclined to the customization possibility due to them hiring artists. If a delay were to occur due to bugs, it is highly unlikely that more artists would be needed.

My other thought that I just realized while typing this is that they could be implementing more league functionality perhaps. While it is not on every players care for list, they may be taking the time they have to implement such features. Like I said earlier, it is better for them to continue to release in their spring time than it would be to release any earlier, as it is an opportune time to take the FPS market by storm. Therefore, if they have solved most of all problems with the base build, then I can see them adding more clan/league functionality to the game in order to gain the interest of those numbers who do look for that kind of thing. It is not every players cup of tea, but either is customization. They are smart developers and know to hit different areas rather than a niche, so instead they cover many niches.

-Team Play Oriented People
-FPS Oriented People
-Interesting Movement Oriented Players
-Story Line Oriented Players
-The New Feeling Oriented Players
-Customization Oriented Players

If you notice, not everyone cares for all of those features. Some could care less for customization in a FPS game, but it does not hurt them and draws in those who do care for it, so they same goes for clan/league functionality. That is actually reaching to the top of my more than likely to be true reason now.

That likely due to the lack of demo's SD and Bethesda present. However rink is pushing many new things that to simply say "We are doing this and this and this" is not going to draw in the casual players. SMART is something that needs to be felt ya know? Most of us know what the idea, but only a few know the feel of how it works.

Well, then steam is a good choice for them, I plan on sending out as many steam trials to my friends as I can. People that have played the game have said that its frustrating to play any FPS game without SMART after playing Brink, so steam trials should be quite effective at converting players :tops:

The way I see it, another delay seems to be pretty likely.

The release is 2-3 months away, and yet the hype train is nowhere to be seen. By hype train, I mean media surrounding the game. The last bit to come out was a cam at PAX(late sep 2010), I think. And do correct me if I am wrong. Most games usually have a steaming train this close to release, atleast in my experience.

Delays are fine if they are for the betterment for the game but when multiple delays come into the game, it's kind of stretching the fanbases' faith. Not only that but they always lead to alot of bad media wich of course hurts sales to a degree.

I am of course not certain and I hope for the best, but we better prepare for the worst (new delay).

Dead space 2 isn't even a month away, have you heard much about that? Dawn of war 2 expansion is coming out in march, along with Dragon Age 2, Crysis 2, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, and F3AR. April has portal 2.

This time of year just doesn't have all of the expos and stuff to get the word out.

About the biggest focus has been on WOW. Youtube is still running ads on Reach.

Dead space 2? Yes, they had a beta out and alot of gameplay and trailers out in dec. http://www.gametrailers.com/game/dead-space-2/12830

Dawn of war 2 expansion cannot possibly be compared to a multiplatform shooter in hype, Portal 2 was at the VGAs, and I don't think that they need media to hype that game with the sequel being a classic.

And DA2, Crysis 2 and GR:FS are pretty equal on media BUT, they have one thing BRINK does not and that is a firm date. You can argue that it is not neccesarily discomforting, but not that it is reassuring?

The release would appear to be two and a half to five months away, Spring 2011 goes until late June.

There was a ton of information released during the con season and we should expect a lull afterward. If they're aiming for mid- to late Spring we probably won't see things gearing up until they're ready to release a more specific release date and that could be three months away.

I never said that it was reassuring, just that i haven't seen much info on games releasing in a similar time period. The 3 games you say have similar coverage are also franchises, for a new IP to have compareable coverage as mainsteam sequels is quite impressive.

In nearly every expo last year, Brink was the star of the show, with wait lines twice as long as any other game, even when compared to Cod Blops, many reporters labeled it the best in show, or at least the best new IP in show. I would consider that quite a lot of hype. It's still around 1/4 to 2/5 of a year away, and its a time of year where video games don't get much press, I'm not worried, not yet at least.

The only problem with the complete lock-down of any and all new information or media for long periods of time is that you wear down the base that you may have built up to that point. Many got excited about BRINK at the shows and such, but with so little happening now to satiate the lust for anything of that base, you end up with a malaise of sorts. Then when it is finally decided to go forth with the marketing plan you have this gap of enthusiasm you have created that needs filled that didn't necessarily need to be there. It would be easier for those of us using whatever resources we have (a forum of my own in my case) to help maintain the excitement of the base, if a slow but methodical "smaller" campaign of media and info lead up to the full scale marketing.

I was hoping for a Christmas, new year release of information. Even the smallest flow of information would be appreciated (like confirming 1 ability). The con season has given us tons of information, but that's already 2 months ago and pretty much has been discussed. Look at all the returning topics. We rarely talk about something new.

Oh well, I'll be patient for just a little longer ^^

If there's no release date and they are trying to hire extra people then it most likely means they want to set that release date sooner then later. So stop crying. Crying's for girls.

I don't think anyone was crying. But I'm sure you feel really good about yourself after that comment.

I guess we will hear from them at the GDC, if not earlier.

Its not time to panic yet, in the great "lean back" to a game release, were at "paying a little bit more attention" if theyre hiring more staff if they miss May well be up to "sitting forward"

the longer they take on a game the more cleaner the game will be

e.g. Diablo 3 10 years in development? its gonna be amazing

Not neccesairly.
It depends on for how long they have been working on that current rendition of the game, aswell as how hard they are working on it.