The reason why online fps shooter games get played for months or even years after they are played is because of the replay value. People are competitive and want to win something or play for something.

HALO REACH: you have arena which ranks you as well as ranks in public multiplayer ( general, Noble, Eclipse)

COD series: they introduced the prestige to where there are ten huge levels and ranks within those levels. Most people that i know that play FPS shooter games religiously lose interest after they hit that final level which is why the halo series and COD series have rediculously high ranks

My dilemma: I am already a rank twenty and i can't go up anymore so what is the point of playing, what am i suppose to play for because i don't win anything. there is no such thing as bragging rights and to see a kill death ratio you have to go online and look.. that sounds very lazy.

Is this a big deal to you guys what are your thoughts on how they can fix it

This game was honestly awesome and such an innovative idea but after a week im bored with it.

Make a new character?

It's BRINKs version of Prestige and re-leveling

This.

The point is not to keep unlocking things to have fun. I don't get on BRINK and say, "Hey i can't wait to grind through these matches so i can unlock that new stuff!" I go on BRINK thinking "Can't wait to play a awesome game with some friends and a great time"

You don't play to unlock new things, that's the problem with todays gamers, you should be wanting to have fun, and enjoy those uniqe epic moments. Like in a game where you need to escort the hostage to the extraction point, and the resistance nearly win and you come in at the last second, kill the guys guarding the hostage while your freinds distact the rest of them, quickly revive and get him to the point in the last second, winning the game. Those are the epic moments, that's why you play BRINK. Not for rewards.

Back in the day, games didnt even have unlocks, you just found a spinning, hovering weapon on the ground, pick it up, and play.

Unlocking things may be a fun goal, but its not the only goal. And when you get everything, it does not mean you cannot replay. You can replay with all the skills you wanted, all the weapons you wanted, and play as you wanted. With all the options open to you. But if you really want to unlock everything again, make a new character. Easy and simple.

Due to new characters and different classes I get a lot out of my play time, I get a lot of good games and I still have yet to get to 20

Last second wins are the best! Had one today, won at 0 time left I had a smile going ear to ear. I have great times playing this game.

why do people play to level up? I play for fun. Doesnt matter if im lvl 2 or 20. Personally I would be fine with no levels.

Beautifully worded my friend, could not agree more. However unfortunately there is a catch to all of this, namely the Skinner Box. Here is a link to a video explaining the concept and its use.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/extra-credits/2487-The-Skinner-Box

In my personal opinion, games in general are damn fun if you can mentally escape those unlocks and xp, even if they have slight skinner box methods in use. But its the ones that use it as an addictive way to reinforce poor gameplay which you should avoid.

I agree. For a game touting competitive gameplay they sure didn't give players much incentive to play.

creating a new character is stupid because you don't gain anything from creating it. If I don't get a perk or bonus, why would I want to level up another character?

short answer is i wouldn't.

Then don't, play the character you already have. You don't need the game giving you something extra for making a diffrent character with a diffrent look and diffrent skills.

And if you got a perk or a bonus just for leveling up another character then it would cause imbalence. i could sit offline playing matches against easy bots all day and level up 10 characters fully, and then i would have bonuses that many others do not have becauase they were playing the game and not grinding through it.

If you want stuff like that, this game is not for you. BRINK is for enjoyment not for getting rewards for leveling up. Playing the game is its own reward.

That was quite intresting, just about all games nowadays use this. Classic games people play over and over such as counter strike or W:ET or anything of the sort don't really have that skinner box effect and are very fun to play. I count BRINK as one of these now, but people conditioned to this skinner box effect will be more inclined to playing games such as Call of duty, and they won't get bored of the series because there is a new one released every year. So there is somewhat new stuff to unlock and levels to reach. Even tho Co is getting stale fast and is basicly the same game within diffrent time eras and new looks. But that is a diffrent story.

Hopefully games will start to STOP using this effect, but i guess devs are just getting lazy and want to use something easy to sell.

This.

When it comes to this whole leveling/unlockable situation I just divert to a title I believe did it exceptionally well: Bad Company 2. For those poor souls out there that never played the game, it did have a leveling system that reached up to rank 50, but all of the weapons and equipment were open to the player at the halfway mark (assuming you put even minimal effort it utilizing each class). From that point on, it became much harder to level up, but the levels themselves carried no reward outside of prestige. I feel that works to the benefit of both the people insisting leveling/unlocking is some kind of plague on the genre (after you unlock the weapon, you never have to do so again) and to the more rpg-minded who want a constant goal to work to.

As it stands now Brink's leveling system is a joke, because it serves no real purpose. If ranking is going to be implemented, don't half-*** it and make it not only possible but incredibly easy to max out a character in a day's playtime. Similar to complaints I've made about the story in other threads, either go all the way and make a full system or don't have one in there and nullify expectations outright.

I like that it doesn't take you all that long to unlock all your options as a character. I still feel like I earned my character's abilities but I still get to play all my options in the game fairly quickly. I'm pretty sure that the ranking system in Brink is just for matchmaking purposes and ability unlocks, not prestige. I also don't really see the point in getting further ranks or levels with no abilities. I don't think competition has anything to do with how fast you level up your character, or whether your character is level 1 or level 20. I mean, when you beat the opposing team you win the match because you've been competing. If you win, you have bragging rights (if you really want to exercize your right to brag).

I'm on the fence still, unfortunately.

Sure, games shouldn't be played for unlocks. I still remember Quake 3 and UT2004 and although those were my gaming baby steps against bots I still enjoyed every minute without the need to constantly unlock the next item. Fast forward to my Xbox (/360) days, where you could play Halo, Gears of War, and the early COD games with little if any unlockables and still enjoy the game. Then comes COD 4... now, that certainly isnt the only culprit, and I did enjoy the game at the time, but what it's done to the whole industry is only ever going to be bad. Now, on every new game, you MUST be able to Prestige or else there's 'no replay value!' shouts from every corner.

At the same time, there is an argument in the fact that if it is so quick to rank up, and the only reason for is it is to restrict powerful abilities, you might as well release them all out of the box and just restrict the amount of credits you can spend on such abilities. This isn't Fallout or any such RPG game where you feel like you're playing an RPG because the levels actually effect gameplay quite heavily, here they just allow bigger and better buffs, which you might even argue is unfair to newer players...

All i know is, I dont really have that much of a problem with the game the way it is.

The Reason for making an new Charakter is the different Classes. If you want every Class perfectly maxed you need at least 4 Charakters. If you want to have one or two Hybrids like Soldier/Engineer you need at least 6 Charakters. Thats the reason why I will make at least 6 of them. BUT I agree that it would be Great to have some kind of Ranking or Prestige like in CoD. Also I would like to have more Levels maybe 30 or even 50. They could give you just one more Ability for every 5 or 10 Levels after reaching Level 20. Just my 2 Cents^^

:intergalactic:

no, i think it will make me play more.

i already know i need at least 2 characters and spread the classes between them. going to do engineer/medic and soldier/operative. of course that might change, i might even just sell all abilities back instead.

i love the way you dont have access to everything so you need to think about it.

exactly man, this adds to the replay value and team tactics for me....

thats exactly how i feel and ya that game was awesome. i dont even know why they have a ranking system it literally serves no purpose.. and i don't want to start a new character and then switch characters throughout games i just want one character to be mine

The levels and unlocks are pretty much worthless to me anyways. Sure I want(ed) levels so that I can have all abilities available, but I find it funny how this generation can't play anything without a carrot on a stick. It's funny how games like CS can still be up without zero incentive to play except to have fun.

Also I don't see any correlation whatsoever between competetive gameplay and unlocks.

Glad it's not just me.

Edit: I do believe they're going to add new abilities at some point, though.

Mmm nope, doesn't bother me.

Why should I stop playing a character, or enjoy playing that character less, simply because I have all the abilities I would like to have within the game-set limits. I'm confused.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

There are 200 levels to gain before you are "finished" with Brink. There are 10 character slots.

And I don't know about you, but I've filled all my slots (though not all at lvl 20 obviously), and they all have pretty diverse set-ups. I have a Medium combat Medic, a rushing Heavy Soldier, a Medium Engineer/Soldier for ranged assault, a Medium Engineer/Medic for behind-the-scenes support, a Heavy Medic/Engineer for frontlines support, a Light version of my Combat Medic, a Light Medic/Engineer for frontlines support, a Medium Operative/Medic marksman to bolster the frontlines, a Light Soldier/Engineer for rushing and a Heavy Operative/Medic for frontlines support.

That's a lot of very different ways to play the game, imo.

This is not an RPG, i dont want it to become one.
Levels and such is one of the things i did not in any way enjoy about some of the previous "top" titles.

If i want levels i buy an RPG. In a TEAM fps i derive my enjoyment from the game itself. Winning the map against an organised team, trying new strategies etc, that is why i keep playing. It is the core of every fps.
Counter Strike had no levels, no airstrike crap, no vehicles, no 10000 abilities and people keep playing it.
It is one of the best fps i ever played, the outcome is only defined by how well your team coordinates and the skill each member of your team has.

I could go on ranting about the need of people for constant gratification but i will stop here.

I play a game because its good and have some sort of leveing system.
Once Im maxed out, I dont care, its just to get all the cookies but its nice to have the difference.
Prestige in COD, I did one or two, could not be bothered with more.
I prefered BC2 over COD, since requires more team play.

I play brink cause its fun and it requires the most team work out of any other shooter currently around.
BC2 is the only contender but that dont matter either, in Brink you MUST have various classes to complete the objectices, and they cant survive without a medic to help them a soldier to refill ammo.
In brink, another thing I like is that ammo is in short supply, making a soldier close to an absolute must have in a team.

Anyway....I see this game living for a long time once they get a DLC or two, and fix some stuff.

Again, you are missing out if you play only one character, since you cant afford it all.

I just started playing this game and already have a solder and medic at mid levels.
Next up I will do an engineer since im interested in seeing how turrets works, also the damage buff is nice.
But so far I like medics alot, but soldiers in heavy body and wielding heavy weapons are crazy tough.