Reply With QuoteTo be fair to Brink, the weapon unlocks are done in SP mode through those challenges.
I haven't had much time, but I'm back into Brink since the DLC has been released. I <3 the game, but I will say, I am freaking tired of unlocks. In any game. Honestly, w/ kids I just don't have a weekend, or even an entire evening to pour into into the game. I've been grinding out finishing all campaign levels, I've two-starred all challenges, and my primary character is still Rank 4/Lvl 19. I want the freaking Lazarus Grenade for my medic dammit!
Man, I hate unlocks. In single player, fine. It's all about pacing. In multiplayer, just give me every single perk/weapon/armor/ability out of the gate, and let me decide what to use and how to use it. I give Splash Damage a pass on unlocks for Quake/Wolf Enemy Territory, because unlocks were per session on a server, not persistent. I don't object to that method of unlocks. However the need to dump hours upon hours into a game just to get the cool items kind of blows. The items aren't the goal of the game for me, it's the gameplay, and using said items in matches. Graargh, it annoys me. Get your RPG out of my shooters.
To be fair to Brink, the weapon unlocks are done in SP mode through those challenges.
Unlocking characters makes no sense in fighting games.
TF2 unlock weapons are still annoying.
I can't really think of too many non-RPG games where unlocks make sense.
Even GSB I didn't want to play until I figured out I could unlock everything by changing a text file.
Last edited by Alstein; 08-08-2011 at 11:07 AM.
My only real complaint with shooter unlocks is that they pretty much tie you to the company servers. No one wants cheaters, right? The only way to keep that secure is to lock it all up using official servers.
TF2 obviously can use custom servers, but you still have to be online for official verification to play. You can't just fire it up and play against bots.
The most asinine shooter unlock was the basic medic kit in Bad Company 2. What were they thinking?
What about you finish the game, and are allowed to play with the final enemy boss? (unlock the enemy boss)Originally Posted by Alstein
I think that's alright as long as you can do it on any difficulty. Otherwise I agree, fighting game unlocks are total nonsense.
The entirety of BC2's unlock system is geared toward shafting newcomers and giving veterans an advantage, which is beyond stupid. Ditto for Section 8: Prejudice. Both games give people who have reached certain levels vastly increased options for character design (including flat-out bonuses with no drawbacks) than a new player might have access to. It took me 53 hours in S8P to get the final set of ability-boosting unlocks. That's preposterous.
I despise getting a cool multiplayer game and then you have to unlock all the MP stuff in single player. This used to piss me off when I'd rent a game for a party then find that we all have to play as the same fighter/car/whatever unless everyone spends 5 hours watching me unlock shit. :(
Oh, I almost forgot. The game with the single worst unlock system I've ever seen is Command & Conquer 4. Let's make an RTS and hide 2/3 of the units and almost all special abilities behind a ranking system.
And the ranks build separately for each faction.
Unlocks have bothered the heck out of me for some time. When I buy a game, I want to sit down and enjoy all it has to offer me. Working my way through an unlock/ranking system to have some generally better gear for a competitive edge is not part of that.
Another reason I dislike the unlock system is because I feel it has changed multiplayer communities in general. Instead of people playing for fun and for the objective, the priority is finding the best way to "farm" points for unlocks/perks/gear. This often comes at the expense of teamwork and others. It can be frustrating at times to say the least.
*cough*
http://i.imgur.com/cqIEO.png
*cough*
Promotional free cosmetic unlocks aren't a concern to me at all.
If you want it, go to Facebook and do what you need to do. It takes a second. If you don't, then no harm done.
"You have to unlock it."
"Yeah I'm 38. I unlocked it in a shoppe with a credit card. That's when I unlocked the content."
[this clip has already paid off]
It was fine for a while and for a change, but I now strongly dislike persistent unlocks in Multiplayer gaming.
I want to jump in right away not feeling like I'm at a disadvantage.
I want to have the full array of tools at my disposal so that I can "unlock" them through use and increasing proficiency, in an order and manner of my choosing.
I came to post that quote. You are now my nemesis and we are mortal enemies!
You really should get that cough checked out by now.
Unlockables can die in a fire, at a time when I have the money to be playing multiple games this is a mechanism which punishes me for doing so. I am forced to invest time in addition to money just to get to a point where I'm playing the real game.
It's a mechanism that, so far as I can tell, is designed to tie the fan base into your product and keep them away from someone elses. They need to stick with you or they'll be out levelled, and through rewards they feel they're achieving something. By the time this runs out you should have your next product on the shelves.
It's especially galling in niche games like Section 8 Prejudice where it's a death sentence.
For what it's worth, he screwed up the link.
What was the first unlockable advantage that pissed you off? In my case it was in Forsaken (the Descent clone). I mainly played mulitplayer and I guess if you finished the game on hard or something you got an ubership that was just way better than everything else with no drawbacks. Better speed, more HP etc.
I've never minded unlocking a few extra characters in a fighting game. I thought it was fun to work with friends to unlock characters with our points earned in Marvel Vs Capcom 2 (dreamcast), and unlocking a few in the Soul Caliber series was fun as well. But cases like the above where they destroy the level playing field are just bad design.
Haha. This reminds me of why I rage against Nintendo so much (Mario Kart Wii, Mario Party X, SSB Brawl... so on). I feel like Nintendo has gotten very lazy with their main franchises to the point where they don't even examine design decisions made in 1992 but just copy paste it into the modern franchise.
Who the hells wants to sit there playing Mario Kart against a rubberbanding AI to unlock fun stuff to play with friends? And Mario Party? Friggin Mario Party single player?
Why do these games have unlocks? Because the previous one did. Why did that have unlocks? Because the previous one did. The devs are just going through the motions here...
They actually took a step back with the Wii version. At least in the first Mario Kart you could unlock with a friend in MP. Wii you get to play against the AI all by yourself trying to unlock everything else.
I am not sure I have a strong emotion against unlocks other than I generally dislike them. It feels like achievements could keep the same people happy, assuming unlocks makes someone happy, instead. I typically don't care about achievements either although L4D is the one series I have actively tried to get them.
I like unlocks. Well, I like playing games with unlocks while I can still unlock things.
For example Brink - I played it during the F2P period and even bought it for the reduced price. Now my char is 25, I unlocked everything and I don't feel any desire to play anymore while not -gaining- anything from it. It's not that I don't -enjoy- playing Brink, it's just -less enjoyment- for me now that I have nothing to look forward to anymore playing that specific char - and knowing that others that I play with still might -gain- something for their chars while I do not is annoying me to some degree.
In other games, like the Project Reality mod, which has no unlocks in first place, I don't have that kind of issue.
Battlefield Bad Company 2. The unlocks are better than what you start out with in a competitive multiplayer game. So lame.
BFBC2 is just miserable w/ unlocks and BF3 looks similarly nerfed. It almost makes me want to take a pass.
Unlocks are also why I never play racing games. No, I don't want to start the game w/ a souped up Volkswagen GTI you jerks. Give me a Lamborghini (or whatever the awesome car is, I don't know much about cars) and every possible track from the moment I first pop in the disc.
I don't mind having to unlock items that don't really affect the game, like cosmetic stuff. But unlocking characters in fighting games or better weapons in multiplayer shooters is just dumb to me.
I don't mind it in racing games, however. Some of them do it well and if they have tons of available cars already, I actually enjoy winning prize cars from finishing series races. I'd much rather get special edition vehicles instead of just prize money.
I'm not fundamentally opposed to unlocks, depending on how they're implemented, but one of the most bizarre unlock systems I've seen recently was in X3:TC, where you have to progress a certain amount into the game to unlock different starting scenarios. And a lot of them aren't particularly interesting scenarios, where you get extra rewards or require deep knowledge of the game to succeed, they're just slight variations, like starting off as a different race or with a different still-weak ship.
The Gran Turismo games are some of the worst offenders. Damage modeling is an unlock?
I agree with this. Racing games can keep the unlocks, as long as there is also an unlocked "do what you want" mode so you can drive whatever cars you want on whatever tracks immediately. FM3 had that.
Unlocks are fine in a single-player campaign, and I actually enjoy the progression that comes with gradually acquiring better cars or whatever. Everything should be wide-open in multiplayer from the start, though. I shouldn't have to play SP for hours just so my friends and I can use the best cars and tracks in a MP session.I don't mind it in racing games, however. Some of them do it well and if they have tons of available cars already, I actually enjoy winning prize cars from finishing series races. I'd much rather get special edition vehicles instead of just prize money.
I didn't find the gif I wanted...
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