Do we know if equipment that can be used to customize characters (masks, clothes, etc) provide any sort of stat benefit (like mass effect 2) , or is it purely aesthetic (halo 3 + reach)? Thanks.

It is aesthetic. No "+1 to speed" in this game.

purely aesthetic, since they share my opinion, that customization with stats isn't customization, but merely armour

Very true, it leads the player away from unique and towards conformity.

It's basically just for looks so people can't make equipment that would be the "Best" for a certain role. Because I personally don't want to see a 1000 heavies wearing the same set of heavy armor because it gives them the best stats for tanking.

true, so no excuse not to be creative!!!!

Yeah I prefer it to be purely aesthetic. I'd hate for Brink to be a game where there is a best weapon, the best perks, the best class, etc. At least I know now there will be no best items or armor. If anyone has played Red Faction Guerrilla you know just how rewarding a purely aesthetic thing can be, which is something we hopefully get to experience in Brink.

On another note, giving equipment small bonuses to stats actually is possible to balance, it just has to be done carefully and correctly. I know Mass Effect 2 is a single player game, but in that game the bonuses on the armor pieces were so small that they didn't make or break you character, yet they allowed you to specialize in certain areas to give some rhyme and reason to character customization beside purely aesthetics, for instance, some armor gave you more shields, or health, or weapon damage, etc. None of which are better than the others.

No. The only armor bonuses I want is "+3 to badassness"

But there was a best piece of armor in each class. Which means that, end game, everyone who wants max shields has one type of armor, everyone who wants weapon damage has another. By having armor with no effects on stats, each person will pick a different combination of clothing and features and colors, creating psudo-unique characters.

Don't forget epic +2. :shifty:

I don't think armor stats should be added. There are already soo many factors to take into account: Body size and buffs, which is already pretty unique to an FPS. I think it would become an MMO more than an FPS is we should add armor stats.

I prefer armor for customization only.

Winning should be based on skill and the ability set of your character, not that his armor prevents him from getting headshots.

Damn you TF2 polycount pack!

I'm against the conformity of having generic "The Best" armor-decked-clones running everywhere. However, if they implemented it smartly, it just might add that other uniqueness to Brink. And if they did implement this, they should have, for example, 15 pieces of "The Best" armor, with the same stats, just different aesthetics. If this were to be implemented though, there should only be two stats on the armor: Protection and Movement. Rainbow Six Vegas 2 implemented this very well. Beginning sets of armor were heavy allowing more protection and a higher survivability rate for a newcomer to get used to the game. However, their toll was the weight, allowing a slower and less "smoother" escape from a room. "The Best" or top tier armor in this game had virtually no Protection, but a high Movement count allowing you to escape sticky situations but failing to do so at such a high level cost a re-spawn timer upon the screen due to lack of Protection.

In Brink, Movement would affect how effectively S.M.A.R.T would interact with the environment. So a Heavy with little Protection and lots of Movement freedom could possibly jump that extra 2-feet required to jump that ledge, while the Heavy in a thick armor piece with lots of Protection but little Movement would watch his back. Both would have their positives and negatives. A Heavy in heavy armor (no pun) would be prone to gang up's although still have a chance to survive, while a Heavy in light armor would die faster, but may be able to have more escape route options available. And no piece of armor should be maxed...and the two pieces that would actually contribute these stats would be Chest and Legs. Anything else customizable should be strictly aesthetic.

In the end, I'd prefer Brink now as it is, but if they could refine and perfect this idea and implement it, I'd be satisfied too

The amazing thing is that they can sell those hats at $18 a piece and get enough sales to warrant such a high price. Or maybe that's just the cost of ruining the economy of their game, they aren't willing to sell out for any less than $18.

Which leads me to my next question. With customization being the focus that it is in brink, do you expect them to start selling different stuff to make you look cool via DLCs? Normally I'm against such things, but since it wouldn't affect gameplay I see nothing wrong with it.

At least there aren't subliminal messages (World of Warcraft :whisper: :thumbsdown:)

I'd support DLC for extra customization items, as long as they purely customize a character and they release the content in large packs. I'm not going to pay five bucks for a new outfit, but if they offer an ton new outfits/archtypes/voices/tattoos, I would be more than willing to lay ten bucks or so down for them.

And don't make items tradable. I don't want another multiplayer game where people join a room only looking for trades.

I don't think trading really applies to unlocks. Each item is given by a specific achievement or milestone, or is purchaseable with whatever the currency is. So if someone wants a certain item, they know what they have to do. Its not like TF2 where someone could play for a year and not find the hat they want.

I was thinking more of the challenge missions....there's going to be some sad, sad, case who can't beat the challenge and really wants the gun from completing it. He'd whine and tell people he'd buy them DLC for the gun. But I digress. Brink will not have this problem. It just makes me so upset when I hear of people paying 250 dollars for an unusual hat in Team Fortress 2. How wasteful can a person be?

You preorder brink from 4 different stores, and get all 4 bonuses, and still have change left over for that price. Then you could turn around and sell the extras, or just the CD keys.

Some people are ridiculously amazing. They don't think things through, or are so stupidly rich that they don't know what to do with their money.

I came across someone in Crossfire that has spent $1000 on in game currency, and had every weapon in the game, even the ones with a %1 drop rate from crates.

My general experience is, that every single game with DLC/microtransactions involved became worse than games without. Soley for the purpose that you had to pay additional money to get the full content. Capitalism will take over in that game. Additional content will be produced soley for the DLC/microtransactions.

That's why I only want one large pack of DLC including maps, weapons, skins, etc. That way it truly is additional content, and not, "we'll throw this in for a buck"

I don't even want DLCs. I want a proper add-on which I can buy in a box, just like the game. Which adds new (elements to the) story, (perhaps) new weaponry, more customisation, more options, a theatre-mode.

Add on's > DLC > crappy excuse for DLC > nothing