There were a couple of topics on the SD forums which had people up in arms about recently (well, besides the "red/blue outlines" thing).

It caught my eye because I didn't realize these kind of things were a big deal---especially to those who are competitive and want to do
competitive matches or those who are more casual and don't want to "grind" in games, etc.

One was not being able to change certain things once you are in a match.

The second revolves around the if you want to re-spec (I think it's when you choose another ability instead of the one you "bought" or when you want to
"refund" an ability or something like that, I guess?), you would have to lose one level of experience.

Here are some direct quotes from the topics:
"As it stands now this is what can and can't be changed mid-match:

Bodytype and/or skills and abilities = no
Class and/or weapons = yes
....to further clarify the "weapons = yes", you can change loadouts you want to carry but you cannot actually modify the weapons themselves while in a match." (Maadawg)

"There is no 24 hour trial period. If you want to respec you can at any point for the cost of one level of experience." (Exedore)

Topics are http://www.splashdamage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23738 and http://www.splashdamage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23761, if you are interested in seeing what all the fuss is about. ^_^

How do you feel about this and what are your thoughts?

I personally do not care about the not being able to change bodytypes or abilities. I feel like for this kind of game, you either adapt or die. Also, it keeps
the game unpredictable (which is fun about random matches) if you don't know much about what abilities or classes the enemy has, etc. I understand that
it would be a pain if you found out that the enemy has an advantage, but I would think changing your class and then adapting to the situation is more...dynamic
and interesting gameplay for me.

Or maybe I played too many RPG's, so this kind of "permanent" character abilities and the game penalizing you whenever you
want to change drastically is something I'm used to, I guess?

Yeah, i think it is going to be a bit of a pain not ebing able to change abilities mid-match because if you have enginineer abilities, your stuck as an engineer. If you do change class your abilities are useless so its like not having any abilities at all and that puts you at a major disadvantage. Im not too bothered about respeccing concequences as i think im going to think long and hard before buying each ability and hopefully i wont need to respec them

As someone who used to, and still does, play a fair amount of RPG's, this doesn't bother me in the slightest either. In my opinion, if you want to take a mulligan on your character's abilities, the loss of a single level is a small price to pay. And your bodytype is a huge part of your individual role on the battlefield as well as a large part of the individuality of your character. Not something that needs to be changed on a whim every two minutes.

Having very high respec costs does actually bother me. Because before I know what to do with my second character I want to see what I could do, using my first one.


Not being able to change my skill-selection during a game doesn't bother me at all, on the other hand. It's a gamble. Either you go with a balanced setup or you specialise in one or two classes. You will always be at a possible disadvantage in some situation.

I suspect we'll see a lot of people who choose a fairly safe load out for one or two classes and more specialized load outs for the rest - this way if their focused Operative build isn't going to cut it they can easily change to something more balanced.

Given the ability to change classes I don't think the inability to re-spec mid-match will be a problem. If one couldn't change I think that would be problematic, but that isn't the situation we have here.

Eh, I adapt. I'll stick with whatever I have, and I'll make it work.

Besides, I'm better at this whole thing than to not prepare ahead of time. No worries.

Neither bother me in the slightest.

Not being able to change your spec in game "forces" people to learn to play a role or learn to build a character to fit their need to change roles.

Not being able to respec pre/post game without penalty is a little different, but doesn't bother me because I'll just make my other 15 characters and if I fill them out I'm not going to be worried about losing a level because I won't be XP gaining anyways.

Quick note: They've recently told us that we actually only get 10 character slots instead of 16.

Yes, this.
And I think (unless it changed again) one of the devs also said that we can NOT transfer XP from character to another. They said they originally wanted this
but they had to cut it out because the game is coming out in May and they do not have time to balance that out or whatever.

So, choose your abilities/skills wisely, my padawans. ^_^

Well so much for farming easy XP off a level 20.

I know, right? I was totally going to do that. Well, now I have to really think what kind of abilities to choose.

I think I'm going to try out to specialize as part-medic and part-soldier and then maybe have a separate character for the other two classes (Engineer and Operative)
and then a third character who's a more rounded out character with a little ability in everything. :goodjob:

You can still experiment, you just have to be a little cautious and think carefully. If an ability's not great, then it's okay to re-spec it.

I don't think just one level down is going to be THAT big of a deal because you still can kill with a gun no matter what level, lol.

(Now, in an RPG where you have lots of stats, then it would really matter because many spells and special attacks require certain levels and stats).

Not really a heavy blow. I didn't expect to really fill up 16 character slots that quickly, if at all.

16 is a lot! I'm usually pretty invested in my characters (like I said, I play mostly RPG's or non-FPS games), and if there were lots of characters
to choose from (like in a fighting game that allows you to choose [or make if it's Soul Calibur games] from many characters), I usually end up
with about 3 at the most I would specialize in. The rest, well, I would stink at playing, lol.

Well that's a bit of a bummer, but still leaves me feeling rather indifferent to the issues of in game and out of game respecs. Just means I've got to be certain what guys I want to work on and what guys I'll be skipping.

1 of each class is 4, 1 of each size is 3, so that still leaves me room to really try some stuff.

EDIT: See I like making characters with as many differences as I can to fill looks and styles so I never get bored, I have near 40 in Soul Calibur.

Exactly. If you spread yourself too thin over a whole mess of characters, you open yourself up to getting confused in the middle of the game. That's actually why I always play games by their default controls, so no matter where I go or who I play, I can start playing without messing with intricate control schemes.

I really just plan on having one of each class and a secondary Oppie. Each character is gonna focus on the combat and his objectives independently. If I'm ever getting run down by a team of heavy soldiers, I can switch it up. If they just wanna snipe, I can adapt to that, too. I'll have all my bases covered and not need to remember much at all of "ok, what can and can't I do with this guy?"

With only a few characters, customized to be like day and night, I won't have to think about anything before I do it.

Which is why i'm relying on the two or three day delay on the delivery of my copy of Brink. That way, players who go crazy on the midnight release will hopefully spread the word to the Brink Wiki and I'll be able to plot out my character(s)'s abilities in advance without fear of having to respec because I choose poorly.



I'm thinking my main will be part-Engineer and part-Operative the way yours will be part-Medic and part-Soldier. Once I establish him and more information is revealed about the rest of the classes as players continue to unlock things, I'll plan out other characters accordingly.



I sometimes play DDO and I respec'd all the time... it svcked, until I bought the insta-level-4 "Veteran Status", which helps a lot to experiment how skills and abilities worked together and such.

I'll try to balance the abilities out for my char. if not I guess I'll make another char.

I like the Idea of when respecing you lose a level of XP, that way you can gain it back and have points for specing, and it also might increase play value.

Speak for yourself I fully intended to have one of each of each class and body type, that was 12. Can't do it now. Wraith is sad.

And don't forget the 4 guys designed to mix classes. Now I have to figure out which classes I am less interested in at which weight and merge a few of my concepts.

It's ok Wraith, you'll figure out what to do because you're Wraith.
Here, have a dancing bunny. :bunny:

Even so, you're only giving up 2. You would still have at least two characters you just didn't use much because you just never needed them. Plus, with as much work as it'll take to max out a character to lvl 20, you'll be working for a looooong time to get ten characters to lvl 20. This new lack of experience transferring will ensure that.

I mean, a light soldier isn't going to be very useful. Yea, he can do things medium and heavy soldiers can't, but the trade-off isn't vast.

Very true, I can only see a Light for everything except for a Soldier.

Funny because a Light Soldier is one of the first things I want to try out. They get a bunch of cool grenades, remember? Can't wait to rain fire down upon my enemies, then clean up with a super fast RoF SMG, which I can refill the ammo for just about any time I want.

I don't. Yes he won't be able to easily place a HE charge while under lots of enemy fire. Unless he rushed it first before they got into position. Ammo boost just like the light medic this guy would be in and out giving you want you need and if off to other things. Tossing nades from a roof top seems like a good opener to a counter attack.

Oh and don't bother saying he's useless at the shielding its no longer in the game.