I don't know what this forum was originally intended to be for before I joined. I only signed up here under the impression that it was a place to just talk about Mortal Kombat in general. Midway forums was gone, WB's version of their forums became a ghost town, so eventually I found that TYM was very huge around that time and that's what convinced me to look at it as a great alternative. However, it seems to go beyond that for most of the staff and the members here(old and new) and that's fine. People come to a fan site for different reasons all the time.
All I know is from my experience first coming here, it seemed like a place where all forms of discussion regarding the franchise was open. From speculation, to leaks or just talking about the state of the franchise in general. I'm not saying this is when the site was perfect, but it was still good enough to be an enjoyable experience to just come talk and have fun about MK, even if we didn't agree on everything or despite the occasional troll/cesspool posts.
Most people here will say that criticism is fine, but if the criticism is becoming more active than usual or it gets more attention than the positive feedback, then that's when it becomes an issue all of sudden. Now it becomes "whining, complaining, crying, etc" because apparently it's overshadowing the things they like to talk about and causing their inability to discuss on the site. For whatever reason, I guess finding/or creating another thread to avoid a certain topic they don't like is not enough. Nonetheless, if the negativity surrounding the game is what's driving you away, then that's your prerogative.
But you have to understand the reason why a community constantly acts the way they are or the space seems like it's "no fun", it's mainly because the company is not really giving them what they want. And if it's true that NRS does look at this site, then that kind of public engagement is crucial and it should not be censored whatsoever. A change in the product really makes a difference in the community's attitude.
I know this because as a wrestling fan, when WWE was ran under Vince during his later years of power, the company would get so much shit across different online platforms because of how stale it was. Now that Triple H is in charge, you barely see any toxicity or negativity anymore. And if you do, it's only from a small portion of the fans.
Not every fandom section you like to be apart of is going to remain on cloud nine forever. When a company changes, people change. That's just the way it works. If you want a stable community, your frustrations should go to the higher ups, not the fans.
