What you think is the real reason of the variations?

[CCVengeance]

Also I think he idea of variations is pretty simple, when you have a horrendous matchup all you have to do is use another variation instead of having to learn a completely different character and counter pick, variation counters will happen but it's still the same character so it won't be that different

But my fear is that there will be matchups so bad it wont matter if you uave variations your character would get bodied 9-1 always.

 

[Fred Marvel]

But my fear is that there will be matchups so bad it wont matter if you uave variations your character would get bodied 9-1 always.

as long as all of the characters variations arent the same or very similar archetypes that wont happen

 

[CCVengeance]

as long as all of the characters variations arent the same or very similar archetypes that wont happen

I wish I had that enthusiasm.

 

[Vilén]

Obviously the point of the character variations is to make me start referring to this game as Melty Kombat.

 

[xenogorgeous]

experimental innovation attempt ..... NRS will try to come with some new stuff, even if minimum ..... this way, trying to make this game differ from their direct "competitors" (specially Ultra SF IV and KI)

this variation idea it is interesting, and I think that has big chance to be well accepted and fits properly in MKX .....

so they have a big challenge ahead : promote/marketing the game with something "new" that differ this game from others, and make this change appear logical and cool inside the gameplay mechanic.

 

[juicepouch]

The real question is: With all of these variations, are @FOREVER KING and @MITDJT going to still play the entire cast??

 

[Dirtylova]

Lol "stay over there"

LOL that would be fuckin hilarious if he said that.

 

[YOMI MITYEAP]

The real question is: With all of these variations, are @FOREVER KING and @MITDJT going to still play the entire cast??

i'll put in lots of time with scorpion cuz he is my favorite, but I will probably still manage to play multiple characters lol.

 

[Big Pampering]

My only hope is that this doesn't become a big chase-the-tail counterpicking fest of musical chairs. But typically in situations like this, not every variation is as good as the others; so people might just settle on something they like.

This is what I am afraid of. It might turn out that way and make it a even more counterpick heavy game.

 

[Treadmill]

This is what I am afraid of. It might turn out that way and make it a even more counterpick heavy game.

I'd rather counter pick variations then watch someone like dizzy have to drop their character entirely for 9-1 match ups.

 

[GrandMasterson]

This is the real reason for variations. I didn't make this.

Spoiler

 

[TarkatanDentist]

I doubt that the variations will have an equally variant effect on every single character. I reckon that there will be some characters for whom variations make next to no difference (some only appear to add one or two special moves, which may well turn out to not be too useful), whilst others will have their variations cause huge differences in gameplay (I reckon Scorpion will be one of these...)

I'll be very surprised if this doesn't cause a disaster with matchups lol.

 

[eddsol]

To me this is nothing new, If you look back to Mortal combat Armageddon, Deception, and few Others before, Each character had a about 3 variation, that you could switch during the fight, not before the fight. Like the weapon option, and different fighting styles. The just enhanced it a little more by changing the characters costume.
In my opinion the only cool thing about this "new" characteristic of the game is to have 3 different looks for each character.
In think this will be use in the story line, we will get to see the same character with 3 different looks depending on whats going on in the story line.

The xray in my opinion is also getting old. There isn't nothing new so far about this game, in my opinion. the only thing im looking forward is for the new characters and the story line.

 

[VenomX-90]

To me this is nothing new, If you look back to Mortal combat Armageddon, Deception, and few Others before, Each character had a about 3 variation, that you could switch during the fight, not before the fight. Like the weapon option, and different fighting styles. The just enhanced it a little more by changing the characters costume.
In my opinion the only cool thing about this "new" characteristic of the game is to have 3 different looks for each character.
In think this will be use in the story line, we will get to see the same character with 3 different looks depending on whats going on in the story line.

The xray in my opinion is also getting old. There isn't nothing new so far about this game, in my opinion. the only thing im looking forward is for the new characters and the story line.

You are right about that, but since its a 2D game and not a 3D game its enitrely different in the way the game is played, MK 3d era didnt feel in MK for me. Except MK4.

 

[eddsol]

You are right about that, but since its a 2D game and not a 3D game its enitrely different in the way the game is played, MK 3d era didnt feel in MK for me. Except MK4.

I agree with you but if you think about it there's still nothing new because the only thing they did was go back to 2D and go back by adding the variations that already existed in 3D MK games. I bet you that in the future they will go back to 3D.

 

[Immortal Reaver]

I think part of it is for matchups. Ed Boon had an example that was like Scorpion (A) VS Raiden (B) or something along those lines.

 

[themagiccan2]

I can't help but keep thinking that with variations your missing out on moves. If a character has 2 unique specials per variation, that would mean 4 specials that you could have but don't.

 

[VenomX-90]

I agree with you but if you think about it there's still nothing new because the only thing they did was go back to 2D and go back by adding the variations that already existed in 3D MK games. I bet you that in the future they will go back to 3D.

Yeah but then it would be "Ahhhh fuck!"

 

[EarlyReflections]

To me this is nothing new, If you look back to Mortal combat Armageddon, Deception, and few Others before, Each character had a about 3 variation, that you could switch during the fight, not before the fight. Like the weapon option, and different fighting styles. The just enhanced it a little more by changing the characters costume.
In my opinion the only cool thing about this "new" characteristic of the game is to have 3 different looks for each character.
In think this will be use in the story line, we will get to see the same character with 3 different looks depending on whats going on in the story line.

The xray in my opinion is also getting old. There isn't nothing new so far about this game, in my opinion. the only thing im looking forward is for the new characters and the story line.

C'mon…. Nothing new so far? They reinventing the game so much to the point it seems completely different from MK9
About the "variations"presented in older games, you have to remember that these days MK was not about high lvl competitive gameplay. 2 different martial arts and a weapon stance. The thing they try to present now is completely different.

 

[Shark Tank]

C'mon…. Nothing new so far? They reinventing the game so much to the point it seems completely different from MK9
About the "variations"presented in older games, you have to remember that these days MK was not about high lvl competitive gameplay. 2 different martial arts and a weapon stance. The thing they try to present now is completely different.

The vairations in 3D mk's didn't have an iota of thought behind what the move sets were and how the were used for the characters that had them. They were just put together and thrown on whomever and then switched around for the next game. When I herd of variations coming back I had nightmares.

As for the topic at hand, I'm assuming the main reason was to try and be different why also adding a "useful" gameplay mechanic to try and lure people over. It's been used in some other games (anime games) but not in a more grounded game, and it's not like their fanbase plays that many other fighters, if any at all so it'll seem newish to them.

My main fear now was said in another topic, Imma go dig it up.

Spoiler

Actually this guy put it well enough

It's all going to hinge on how serious they take this . 72x72 matchup charts are a fucking nightmare in any game, and most games with rosters/options like that only have a few options-

1. Fuck balance and hope(the mvc2 approach). I doubt they'll get that lucky, and in this day and age you aren't going to get the kind of dedication MvC2 got to find out that "yeah theres a real game hidden behind all the trash picks"

2. Limit the differences, which they don't seem to be doing much of. Hellfire scorp seems pretty drastically different from the other scrop. Obviously they'll all share some "core" idea, but if they're going to be that different they'll essentially need to be considered new characters for balance purposes.

3. Accept the differences. Essentially the idea that no character should have a 9-1 matchup across all 3 styles vs ANY other character/style combination, but may have one or two styles that do. So hellfire scorp has a few 9-1 matchups, but all of those are at least viable with sword scorp, who maybe has 9-1 matchups elsewhere. This leads to character picking issues however.

4. False choices. More hardcore version of the above. Basically they just balance assuming a 24 character roster, and assume that each character has a "real" style which they do all their balance around, and then make sure the other styles are inferior enough to not screw that up. Safe, but obviously heavily flawed and probably eat some backlash.

The one thing they've got going for them is they sorta seem to handle balance patching responsibly. I'm not going to say MK9 or Injustice were even close to perfect, but they are receptive to the idea of balance patches. How often games like this should be patched is something you could argue to the end of time(they did seem to overreact to non issue stuff, and then leave serious issues stuff like Kabal) but one very realistic option is to get the game playable through beta testing, and then do a sort of gamma test(stupid name I know) which is basically just taking serious notes for the first 3 months. No matter how good your Q&A and beta testers are, 3-4 months of REAL play with thousands to millions of casuals + tournaments is going to show you more about your game than you ever knew, and if they're smart they'll learn from it and do one big "final polish" patch at the end of 3 or so months(barring "fix now" issues)

 

[EarlyReflections]

The vairations in 3D mk's didn't have an iota of thought behind what the move sets were and how the were used for the characters that had them. They were just put together and thrown on whomever and then switched around for the next game. When I herd of variations coming back I had nightmares.

As for the topic at hand, I'm assuming the main reason was to try and be different why also adding a "useful" gameplay mechanic to try and lure people over. It's been used in some other games (anime games) but not in a more grounded game, and it's not like their fanbase plays that many other fighters, if any at all so it'll seem newish to them.

My main fear now was said in another topic, Imma go dig it up.

Spoiler

Actually this guy put it well enough

My main fear on the other hand, is only the TONS of new characters REPLACING Classic characters. But we'll see..

 

[VenomX-90]

My main fear on the other hand, is only the TONS of new characters REPLACING Classic characters. But we'll see..

I hate to admit this but NRS is trying to introduce MK to a new generation, and NRS is saying to their long time fans "Hey, its time to let go of the old characters and keep going forward" it is hard to let go though...

 

[EarlyReflections]

I hate to admit this but NRS is trying to introduce MK to a new generation, and NRS is saying to their long time fans "Hey, its time to let go of the old characters and keep going forward" it is hard to let go though...

Let's be positive. They know what they are doing now, and surely don't want to repeat past mistakes: Interactables, RUN, too many new characters, and "stances"
are things they 've already tried before and didn't work so well... To me it seems they have the formula now.

Also, i'd like to add that the whole " we killed many characters in MK9 to create space for new ones" seems fishy.
So you killed iconic characters like Liu and Kitana, but let less popular like Sheeva and Kano still live? For the sake of new ones? C' mon...

 

[VenomX-90]

Let's be positive. They know what they are doing now, and surely don't want to repeat past mistakes: Interactables, RUN, too many new characters, and "stances"
are things they 've already tried before and didn't work so well... To me it seems they have the formula now.

Also, i'd like to add that the whole " we killed many characters in MK9 to create space for new ones" seems fishy.
So you killed iconic characters like Liu and Kitana, but let less popular like Sheeva and Kano still live? For the sake of new ones? C' mon...

Seems they are trying the whold "Zombie Liu Kang" thing again, meaning its cool how in MK9 you can put on the Kombat Code and make your characters zombies in a match but haveing a Zombie character like that defeats the purpose of that code. Juist saying, I do hope Reptile Lives through that and some of the original villains lived as well b/c we do need a mix of both old heros and villains in the game and the rest of the cast a new characters.

 

[EarlyReflections]

Seems they are trying the whold "Zombie Liu Kang" thing again, meaning its cool how in MK9 you can put on the Kombat Code and make your characters zombies in a match but haveing a Zombie character like that defeats the purpose of that code. Juist saying, I do hope Reptile Lives through that and some of the original villains lived as well b/c we do need a mix of both old heros and villains in the game and the rest of the cast a new characters.

2 of my favorites are already there, and I'm also sure Raiden and Kitana will make the cut. As for my most favorite who is Jade, she probably won't be there, but fuck it. 4 out of 5 is a good ratio already.

Now about the talk of Variations representing various "palette" characters( a cyborg who is Cyrax/ Sektor/ Smoke, or a girl ninja consisting of Kitana/ Jade/ Mil) JUST NO.

to comment on thread finally, I suppose the variation system is there to support the "character loyalist" idea, and also help MKX to avoid get dominated by Kabals and Kenshis.