if everyone in a full game dies 10 times that's 160 people. and this is supposed to be on the brink of civil war? that's what eats me.

I'm fairly certain the story mode is not going to regurgitate the same 16 people over and over. It's sort of impractical to have that concern for multiplayer mode.

No Imo it only accounts for possible resistance numbers. No matter how much the population has increased (5K to 50K etc..), The security numbers will remain the same.
No one is gonna put refugees as Security (unless on the rare occasion when a few have military or police background)


I'm not certain but I think that you are with the same squad (of 8) throughout the entire SP campaign. I don't know about the resistance side but I would assume it's the same thing when you are playing as resistance.
So I would assume the only team that might have random looks/bots is the side you are fighting

Is it impossible to think that some of the refugees have joined the ranks of the security for the added benefits? Even still, if you play through the resistance campaign, I doubt you'll even wind up killing 2500 security members total by the end of it.

Why would there be 2500 security for a population of 5000 (Making the actual non security population 2500 as well) (Like I said the population would Increase not the security force)

Also before the fighting began, only very able refugees (I.e past experience) would be allowed to join security. But once the fighting starts, the security isn't going to let refugees into the security force. Come on the resistance are made up of the refugees, so why would security let in possible enemies?

This^. Brilliant answer. If you are going to be fighting pirates with Fully automatic assault rifles, you need some heavy firepower.

The refugees still make up part of the general population. It's not like it went from 5000 to 50000 overnight. They would probably add security as necessary. I would think at first, as people started arriving and seeking refuge, they would be cycled in to the general populous and lead a normal life among the others already living on the Ark. And you're also assuming that you'd need some kind of past experience to work security for the Ark, or that all security positions were designed to be combat intensive, or that everyone fighting on the security side was a trained soldier and not just a civilian who took up arms to help defend the Ark.

i told you the numbers were far screwier for something on the "brink" of civil war. assuming the story itself doesn't involve a significant level of population control we'll be doing a significant amount by the time we finish it. it plays more like the war has erupted.

you don't control civil disobedience with grenade launchers, although these ones seem to simply knock you over rather than kill you so it makes SOME sense.

They basically arrived over night, that's what Rahdo said. I know it's a figure a speech, but it means that they all arrived suddenly in large numbers. I don't see why the refugees would not join the security. Some of them might want to keep the order on the ark.
SPOILER ALERT:

I have to agree with this one. I'm sure they were aware that they would need some sort of security force keep order on a pulated Ark.

Like someone else said earlier, Pirates. Pirates these days carry fully automatic assault rifles. Taking them on requires some serious fire power. Stocking grenade launchers isn't very surprising if they want to defend themselves against pirates with fully automatic assault rifles.

That's true as well.

Yeah but that (usually) only works in a traditional (civil) war (I.e people join a side etc..). This is more like the security trying to stop an uprising (From the security's point of view)
It's not a matter of you wanting to help to security. It's a matter of security letting you help.

Once the fighting started, the security would be wary of anyone wanting to join from the refugees. (I mean come on would you want a potential resistance fighter watching your back?)
Also I wouldn't expect many (Non resistance) refugees to have fighting experience. No team/squad/army wants someone in it, that could get them all killed, cause they can't shoot straight.

Where as on the resistance side of things, anyone who believes in what they are doing and can carry a gun could join in the fight (But they also probably wouldn't let any ex-security people in)

I don't think it's like that. Ofcourse, the majority of the resistance are refugees, but I can see why certain people of the original 5000 want to join the resistance. It is impossible if no one from them want to get off the ark, and undertake a mission to reach land. The same goes for the other side. There certainly are refugees who rather live their lives on the Ark with scarce resources, rather than taking the risk to go and look for land.

Yeah that's true.
But just because someone agrees with what a side is doing in a war/conflict, doesn't mean they all run off to join it.
And just because you want to join, doesn't mean they want you (Other than cannon fodder possibly).

On the subject of guns, I heard that you don't unlock guns with Xp, but rather, by overcoming scripted challenges. http://www.fragworld.org/frag/community-blogs/brink-info-pt-3-weapons-and-customization.html

Can anyone confirm this? It is possible to earn XP slow and steady, but overcoming a challenge is strictly pass/fail.

There is supposed to be a challenge mode of some kind that is responsible for some kind of upgrades.



CHALLENGES:

*

- Challenges are how you unlock new stuff to customize your weapons. (and probably weapons in general) Each challenge has 3 levels - the 1st one is easy, the 2nd one is a bit more difficult, and the 3rd one "Is a [censored]in' [censored] to complete" (Ham's exact words) The 3rd level is designed to be hard for the developers themselves, but after you complete level 3 then there is a leaderboard to try to work your way up as well.




“Our challenges are entire scripted levels, which you can play solo or co-op. An example of one is a level we call “MEDIC!”, where you play as a medic on a team, where your only job is to keep the other team-members alive, while they complete core objectives. The trick to doing well in this challenge is being smart about who you revive, and when you revive them. If you win, you’ll unlock something cool, as well as a tougher difficulty level. And if you beat that difficulty level, you’ll unlock more cool stuff and difficulty levels. And once you’ve truly mastered all the challenges (which are fun mini-games in their own right), you’ll have unlocked tons of great stuff, and you’ll have learned a lot of the skills you need to do well online.”

- Richard Ham

*

- At PAX, Jolly and Ham said all unlockables are all on their own systems, so clothes/outfits are just unlocked from leveling up, weapons are unlocked just by completing challenges etc. and when I say "unlock" that is the same as "purchase" - you don't need to unlock something then buy it and you never have to worry about spending xp on an ability or a piece of clothing or a weapon upgrade. The stuff used to get new abilities are only used for abilities and nothing else, and the same with all the other types of things to get.

I'm pretty sure that the MAJORITY of security is made up of refugees, they are just people who want to preserve the ark and/or would like extra water rations, as that's how they are paid.

This is where dysfunction heard about "brothers fighting each other in the war" it was figurative, since refugees could be fighting their neighbors.

Still.. I guess my point was that security wouldn't let any new people join, once the fighting started. As you wouldn't know who to trust except the already established security force.

A giant, OFFSHORE, research lab, with the materials needed to make a nuclear reactor, and a place that during the time of global prosperity, was filled with celebrities... sounds like a profitable heist for pirates, terrorists and other nations alike. You'd want to bring at least lighter weapons to keep control on a daily basis, but also make sure to have an armory with larger weaponry in case of an actual assault on the island.

I can see them make all the guns and ammunition up to a point.

My question is: how much material do they really have on the Ark to fight this long?

The war is only a week long, according to H0RSE's compendium.

that would make the most since. But how they describe it in the videos, it seems like the war was going on for months before you actually jump in.

Hopefully the story will clear that up.

Technically they aren't even at war yet, so HORSE's time-frame is pretty accurate. They are on the BRINK of civil war.

Yeah, not much blood has been spilled before the story starts, but both sides would be stocking up on weaponry since they know the situation could make a turn for the worse at any moment.