Not the Character, The Player

[Puchi]

NOT THE CHARACTER, THE PLAYER! (with exception of Tanya...)

 

[MadeFromMetal]

OP, I feel like you're not taking into account the fact that the game is only two and a half months old. We've all been playing it so much that it seems like years, but it hasn't been. (Even though my girl would argue otherwise.) We're seeing a lot of the same styles because there simply hasn't been enough time to develop effective new ones.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe MK9 Sonya was considered low-mid tier for the first couple YEARS of the game, and then someone (Fox or DJT, was it?) busted out a brand new playing style, made everyone see the light and it catapulted her tier status. That was with only 30 characters. There are effectively triple that in this game. While it may lead to more chances for someone to find a breakthrough, I have a feeling the opposite will happen due to the fact that most characters have a preconceived "best" variation and it might be a while before someone finds some truly game changing dirt to alter the playstyles. DJT most recently did it with Fisticuffs and we saw what happened there.

 

[iamShorteh]

While it may lead to more chances for someone to find a breakthrough, I have a feeling the opposite will happen due to the fact that most characters have a preconceived "best" variation and it might be a while before someone finds some truly game changing dirt to alter the playstyles.

This seems to be exactly what the OP is concerned about. From his posts it seems that he strongly believes that because only a few characters in specific variations are being publicly displayed using similar playstyles at tournaments/top tier play, it actively kills the game because the community following them doesn't experiment with other styles/variations/characters. People are overwhelmed by the amount of variation that is possible, and instead of taking it to 'the lab' many will mimic what others have found. It's normal in the fighting game communities, and not new or exclusive to MKX.

I personally believe it's far too soon to make such a strong and bold statement. The game has only been out for some months, and behind the scenes many players are trying to optimize new ways to play characters that we currently wouldn't/couldn't even think of using.

 

[Yes_Zir]

OP, I feel like you're not taking into account the fact that the game is only two and a half months old. We've all been playing it so much that it seems like years, but it hasn't been. (Even though my girl would argue otherwise.) We're seeing a lot of the same styles because there simply hasn't been enough time to develop effective new ones.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe MK9 Sonya was considered low-mid tier for the first couple YEARS of the game, and then someone (Fox or DJT, was it?) busted out a brand new playing style, made everyone see the light and it catapulted her tier status. That was with only 30 characters. There are effectively triple that in this game. While it may lead to more chances for someone to find a breakthrough, I have a feeling the opposite will happen due to the fact that most characters have a preconceived "best" variation and it might be a while before someone finds some truly game changing dirt to alter the playstyles. DJT most recently did it with Fisticuffs and we saw what happened there.

Yeah, it was touched on with another person that posted in this thread about it being early so there's a lot more to find and I look forward to it. And that's all this thread is about. Those new things that can be found if a player were to look for them.

 

[Yes_Zir]

Ya belly full off that haterade huh?! Lmao. Go to a tournament, or offline event and play how you feel the game should be played. If you start winning playing your way you might be able to change things. More power to you, but this is a hating ass thread lol.

I don't whine about these things. It's a game and I enjoy it. I don't need to go to tournaments to enjoy it (though the experience would be nice). However, I do feel that the community, with time, can afford to experiment a bit more before designating the best variation or the absolute best play style for a character. That depends on the player and the effort they want to put on though.

No hate here, Dude ^_^

 

[GAV]

I haven't been able to figure out how to create a new post, but I have a noteworthy idea - so I'll post it here. If anyone can redirect it, that would be tremendous.

In the past, I have offered ideas to developers of Madden. Some of these ideas have made their way into the game. This year, they are adding in multiple user catch buttons - which was a suggestion I made years ago.

I have a suggestion for Mortal Kombat that will move the game forward considerably. Right now, we have a block button and there are two kinds of blocks - high and low. Having trained boxing and martial arts for most of my life, I know that defense has many more layers to it than that. So, I would like to suggest that blocking get more layers to it.

I had first thought to have defense be played through the R stick. Tapping back on it would trigger a block. Tapping down and back on it would trigger a low block. Both of these would have a certain amount of active frames and you would have to tap back again to block again. Blocking is an active skill in reality. Now, it isn't all just more to do, but tools are coming as well. Aggressive blocking - or counters or parries - would also be added to defense. In order to aggressive block, you have to tap up forward (for an overhead), forward (for a mid or high), and down forward (for a low). Now, these more aggressive options will have more frames of startup than their more passive blocking options.

This could also be used to further diversify the cast. Some fighters block more quickly. Others may block a little more slowly, but have more active frames in blocking. Some fighters could have counters while others would get parries. A defensive fighter like Sub Zero would naturally be better at blocking and defending than an offensive fighter like Scorpion. It could be one more tool to balance the cast - and add depth.

Now, I know a lot of players use sticks - which do not have an R stick. It's not a problem. Stick players simply have a block button and use their stick to access all of the same blocking options. Players who play on a pad would also have the option of using the block button as well instead of using the R stick.

I understand that adding this to MKX would be a ridiculous endeavor, but it isn't a ridiculous endeavor to add it to Injustice II. It would make the game feel considerably more visceral and that feeling has a tendency to get around and drive sales even further.

If anyone who agrees with me would tag the appropriate people, that would be good.

 

[GAV]

Just to add, there are many types of active defenses. Wing Chun, which is what Kung Lao uses, has one would be particularly useful to get Lao's offense going...

There are plenty of examples of attacking defenses in martial arts and they would work seamlessly into this game's fighting engine.

I want nothing, but a better fighting game. My ideas are yours if you want them.

 

[Rebelo]

Okay. That I get. But I wasn't gearing the discussion as a means of saying you shouldn't use a character's best tools, but that they have the potential to be used differently (ex: how Tom Brady uses the clone versus how Rebelo and DJT use the clone). It was meant to discuss the fact that characters have so much more potential, but players would rather try and emulate this type of "this is what's best" general consensus when approaching a character and his/her play style because of what they see versus going into the lab and trying to find a play style of their own. I understand people want to win, but the game as a whole runs dry when you have the same thing all the time, just because it works. The longevity of a game lessens because there's nothing new if everybody feels like "This is the winning play style, so I have to do only this". Competitive fighting games last longer when players have different approaches regardless of using the same character.

Hey guys thanks for the love and all its pretty awesome I play subzero just cause the way he looks he's just awesome I play character based on them looking cool to me in mk subzero was that guy in ki tj combo is that guy in injustice gl was that guy in sf was that guy but the one difference between mk games and those games is it's really hard to do well with a mid to low teir character in mkx I can see me doing as good as like maybe top 8 at a major with sub but I honestly don't think it's possible to full out win a whole tournament with just playing sub like I've done with gl (mid teir) guile (mid teir) tj combo (topish teir) ki just a really balance game it so hard to set tiers in that game lol I kinda look at at Mkx like marvel if you ain't using top teir life will be really hard you may do well but to full out win is a long shot I use cap task doom in marvel by the way my team was pretty mid teir except for doom witch was top