I figured this forum was a good place for this (as opposed to Splash Damage's forums where I normally hang out) as possibly there are lots of people here who aren't familiar with Splash Damage's previous games. To get to it, I was recently inspired by a comment from a forum member who wanted to see a TDM mode added to Brink. In the discussion that followed he asked the question "what, I should buy Brink just because of it's objective style?" The inference was that there were a lot of things more important (such as SMART). My answer was yes, it's because of the objective style that you should buy Brink, not because it has SMART, or character customization, it's the objective style that is the heart of the game.

Anway, like I said, I was inspired so wrote http://brinkcountdown.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/what-makes-a-splash-damage-game-tick/.

It's kind of long, and it has a couple links to supporting detail, which is why I didn't just post it here, but I thought it might help some of the people here have a better understanding of the udnerlying mechanics of the particular objective style play they can expect whith Brink.

I've played both of Splamage's games before, and I'm pretty sure a lot of people here have. Hell, I still play W:ET. I read the threads there, but I only post very rarely because of the amount of people who just do meme jokes rather than actually respond.
Great article. I agree that SD are masters at objective multiplayer and encouraging teamwork. I think BRINK reflect SD better than their other games to far. You pretty much hit the nail on the head.

I haven't played any of SD's games before, but know that they're all about objective based gameplay and a really good at it just by reading on these forums. Oh, and welcome to the forums. :turned:

Brink's main thing going for it is the ultra-realistic graphics, SMART system, and customization. Buying it for being an objective game would be dumb to promote, because why would they buy Brink instead of ET:QW? ET:QW has same objective type feel to it. People should focus on Brink's innovation, not something previous game have.

while true this view would likely increase those looking for innovation in the TDM area of shooters. which for the most part on these forums is viewed in a negative light.

it would be far preferable to look at the game as a whole, rather than the game-style or innovations related to said game-style. those without previous knowledge of SD titles would not realize the method and reasoning behind it. and so we end up with the lovely threads "respawn time is too long" or "this game needs TDM" in which those who post insist that the game must be a cod-clone with the innovations in order to be successful stating the units sold for aforementioned cod as the reason why it is a good game... and yet fail to realize no matter how many people tell them, that if said cod, was so good that them looking for a new game was completely pointless.

so while the innovations of brink are good to be included, it must also be known for its game-play as true team-based game-play is rare in today's shooter market.

Yes, but why not give something to those who generally prefer TDM? Some such as I mainly play due to the SMART system, since it makes the gameplay fast paced. Of course I'll be playing campaign mainly, but I know there will be times where I end up with awful teams and would want to just go play TDM with a friend or two and just carry for the win, since it's very difficult to carry in objective games. It's not the game really, but mainly the fact that there will be many times where every room is filled with people who lack skill.

Wonderful and should be right up there with the Compendium and the unofficial Faq.

Also a tool for people trying to wrap their head around Brink.

The graphics are not ultra realistic, but I agree that they are unique and are probably more of a selling point (at least as far as marketing is concerned) than the objective style play. SMART and customization are both cool, and they are indeed selling points as well. But I would disagree that those are not the main things it has going for it, the main thing will be how the game plays, how fun it is.

The point isn't how to sell Brink, it's for those who may never have played a Splash damage game before to understand, really understand, how the objective mode works, and why it's implemetation results in such fun gameplay. It's an answer to guys who say things like "there should be spawn on squad leader", or "the timers are stupid, it should be based on tickets" simply becasue that is what they are used to and they don't understand the deeper context of why it's done differently in Brink.

I didn't even read the article yet and I can already agree.

While SMART, the customization and the overrealistic style are unique and refreshing, it doesn't make me buy the game.
I never got why people buy games for anything else than the gameplay. Look at minecraft, it looks like crap, but it's fun, that should be the reason for buying imho.
[/end rant]

SMART is very much related to gameplay. The word I meant to use was hyper realistic, as they do in a recent interview.
http://techland.time.com/2011/02/01/how-to-build-an-awesome-world-brink-devs-on-narrative-and-visuals-part-2/

And I'm not talking about how to sell Brink, I'm talking about how to increase community and playerbase by adding another gametype that can be simply added to the game, and would be beneficial, since some don't like the concept of objective based missions, and would only be flamed for playing the game like a TDM instead of doing objective.

If my introduction gave you the impression I was slamming the question about TDM that started the discussion, then I wasn't clear. The question that inspired me was one in which the person who asked it seemed to think Brink was all about SMART and that the objective style gameplay wasn't a big deal at all, and really not even worth considering as a determination of why he should buy the game. My point is that it IS the game, it is what Brink is all about at it's core, and it's what will make Brink fun. All the other stuff will help, obviously it's all a rich tapestry So that's what this is about, a better understanding of the mode that WILL be there, that's all.

And yeah, I realise I'm biased for this particular style of objective mode (as oppsoed to say, Rush in BC2), that's kind of the point as well, it's an explanation of why I am biased.

So yeah, different modes are a different topic, lets not take this thread down that path please because I'm sure there are other threads already about it.

Well more than half of the OP is about that.