CrazyFingers
The Power of Lame Compels You
SO! How goes it everyone now before I get into the meat of this thread I want to preface this with a couple of things. Firstly I am going to attempt to make beneficial to the community as possible. That means in general keeping the atmosphere of the thread as one of criticism and not outright antagonistic propaganda. I want to be helpful to everyone and getting angry helps literally no one. Secondly I am going to tell you right now, I do not have the answers to the problems that will be presented here. I have decent knowledge on the topics I am going over but at the end of the day issues with a community will always be very VERY hard to correct. Without further ado let's get into this shit show.
The Word "Community"
Now before we go into this we have to go over what this word means. Mostly because, if you ask different people you'll get different answers. There are two different definitions in the English language for the word "Community" and they are as follows
1: "a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common."
2: "a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals."
These two definitions are usually the majority that you will get from people when you ask "what is the FGC?" with the obvious added details about fighting games and whatnot. To some it's simply the first one with minimal amount of emotional connection to the idea of being part of the community and more finding meaningful connections with people who just happen to be FGC. To others the very fabric of the community is meaningful connections with people who share the same hobby as you, that being fighting games. Regardless, like any community, the FGC has a plethora of sub-sections and cliques associated with it that at times can make the entirety of it feel disconnected in some parts. For full transparency I am of the opinion that the second definition of community is what the FGC should strive towards. Now I say strive towards because in its current state we have a LONG way to go before it feels like a fellowship with others. I bring all this up because the NRS scene is one of those sub-sections of the FGC so understanding that, and subsequently our position in the FGC, is important for the thread.
NetherRealms Studios Fighting Game Community
That is the community that most of you hold yourselves to be part of, myself included. We love Mortal Kombat and the stories it has given us over the decades of its existence. However some negativity, arguably a lot of negativity, can be carried with this name among the rest of the FGC. Here we will go into why that may be.
The Under Dog
This is how I see the vast majority of people within the NRS community view itself. We're seen as a small community that is constantly having to struggle for what we 'deserve'. Not a very complex idea and I'm sure many of you reading this right now share the same opinion and to an extent, you're right. There are moments where we get treated a bit poorly. Almost like the redheaded stepchild of the FGC but are we really that persecuted? There have been a ton of events that have been pointed to as the NRS community getting the shaft from having to fight for FT3 tournament standards to being given poor timings on stream schedules (whether too early or too late) but none seem to be as volatile as when big events don't run with 'True NRS Guys' and I think you know what I mean by this. Two examples come to mind and the first of which was IPS ELeague Finals.
IPS ELEAGUE Finals Event
This event featured a ton of commentators, high production value and overall a level of quality that would be considered by most to be high. However an outrage occurred when the commentators were announced due to some of them not being NRS born and raised kind of people. This prompted many people to fall back into the idea of 'Look see? We're always getting screwed over.' and to an extend I can get why but ironically enough, every commentator for the most part was on point with knowledge and efficacy of commentating. Not to mention still featuring people who love our games. So why was there so much initial hate? Well a large chunk of it can probably be chocked up to blatant lack of knowledge. Sajam and UltraDavid, both of which were on the Eleague commentator bill, were constantly referred to as if they were outsiders to NRS games. People going so far as to call Sajam "The Street Fighter Guy" which is laughable considering Sajam began in NRS games and UltraDavid has been a constant supporter and advocate of NRS titles for as long as I can tell. The concerns with Rip and Zhi are whatever, I personally thought they did a great job but that's not the point. The point is a large chink of anger came from "Why is that Street Fighter guy there instead of such and such or so and so?" Taking all of that into account we got an event that never needed to happen, paying out a good chunk of cash for the winners and was being handled in a very professional manner. What was the problem again?
Summit Of Time
Forewarning, this is current and is a very volatile topic right now so if you're in the business of getting angry at me for my opinion, here's your favorite part probably. SO for those who don't know, the Summit is an invitational that happens in multiple games usually around when they are first released. Tons of cool stuff is done and eventually, the game is played in a tournament style till someone wins (duh). A set amount of people are invited but a set amount of people can also be voted in via community votes. Overall the concept is super cool and recently they announced they were doing an MK11 invitational to celebrate the game's release. Pretty cool right? Well a lot of people immediately took issue to this event. Now why you may ask? The following list of names.
Firstly and most obviously, do you see the sheer number of NRS legends on that list? SonicFox, Dragon, DJT, Tyrant, King, Hayatei, Tekken Master, Foxy, Scar. All these people have racked up top 8s/Major wins in their days and are, as you may have guessed, solid players. More importantly, however, every person on that list have wins in Mortal Kombat titles. I will repeat, MORTAL KOMBAT TITLES. The argument presented is "Our EVO winner/Our current dominant NRS players should be in that Summit." and to an extent I can agree. Let's use Tweedy and Rewind as an example since they were definitely the two names thrown around the most seeing as they were the most dominant in IPS Season 2. Tweedy has multiple major wins with top 8s in almost if not every single major he attended. Rewind has a similar track record with the added bonus of winning EVO 2018 for Injustice 2. A really heavy set of results on both of them, showing clearly they are players are extremely high caliber. So why shouldn't they be invited to the summit? Well it's simple, their success is in Injustice 2 which in case you were not aware is not a Mortal Kombat title. "CrazyFingers, isn't that a bit nit picky though? Like come on, that seems unreasonable" is it? Is it unreasonable Mr. Straw-man I made for this bit? The Summit events are specifically designed to celebrate and bring attention to the game put on display. They get money from votes, the company gets money from potential new buyers and overall its a win win situation. Its an exhibition event and has never been a serious tournament event so the people chosen are chosen with the specific game in mind. As rude as it might sound, casual MK goers do not give two shits who won EVO 2018 for Injustice 2. They wanna see all the players they saw in MKX or even as far back as MK9 return and duke it out in the new game. We knew who Rewind and Tweedy were in MKX because we are the competitive scene and we paid attention towards the end of the game's life and we're gonna watch the Summit ANYWAY because of the majority of people on this list. No casual/MK Exclusive person is probably going to have any connection to the names Rewind and Tweedy. So it makes sense to have these people instead of them even when they are extremely strong players in their own right.
So why was there so much outrage? Well to put it shortly, no one actually knew the list. Yup, most people who I talked to that were angry became immediately confused at the anger when I showed them the actual list. One big figure in the community got uppity about not getting on the list and immediately "we're being underrepresented!" when that's clearly not even close to the case.
So What's The Root of the Issue?
The very root of the issue is that we have perpetuated the idea that we are this underdog constantly fighting to get the table scraps of the FGC when this statement, is just factually incorrect. We are so much better off than a large chunk of what the FGC gets nowadays. Perhaps once upon a time we were down in the dumps, having our own 'summit' esque events in hotel rooms with the pot bonus of a bag of chips and a soda but in this current generation, we are top dogs. Our events are so vibrant and filled with competition that increases every year. We get developer sponsored events for a LOT of money, more than most even and our big events like ELEAGUE, like the Summit, are not only sufficiently representative they are even above and beyond representative every time.
So why is this perpetuated so hard? Where's the victim complex come from? This is the maximum amount of antagonistic I will get so get your pitchforks ready. It's the big names in the community. If that applies to you, I'm talking to you directly. Communities carry a very VERY large mob mentality with them and anger will always be easier to stir up than positivity because that's just how that emotion works. If you haven't been perpetuating this idea then good for you, keep that up i'm clearly not talking to you then. But you, yes you the guy who says "back in my day we had to fight for the right to sit in chairs during top 8" I'm talking to you. This isn't 20011 anymore. MK9 hasn't been played predominantly in actually 8 years, STOP. This idea being perpetuated has so many repercussions that you might not realize so let's get into those shall we?
Entitlement
It's very strange how "woe is me we get shoved" can transform into a sense of entitlement. Entitlement turns grown people into babbling children essentially. Now if even one little thing isn't completely to someone's liking it immediately becomes 'SEE? LOOK WE'RE GETTING SCREWED OVER AGAIN.' and 9/10 times this just isn't correct. Now everything must be perfect or we're being oppressed by the big bad FGC (Us vs Them is something I will be getting to so if you want that scroll down a bit) And it spreads to more than just tournaments. This sense of entitlement leaks into the community itself as seen with the Summit debacle or when roster discussion occurs. I deserve what I want and if I don't get it that just wont fly.
Us Vs Them
The BIGGEST issue that creates such a fissure in the community between NRS and the rest of the FGC that sometimes you will be assumed to be a shitty person from playing NRS games. No, this is not another example of us getting fake shoved this one is ALSO our fault. Since we've had such a long history of feeling oppressed and forgotten it has made people actively hostile to anyone that even takes a peek at our games. We preach that we are accepting and welcoming but then we just jump down peoples throat for the dumbest shit. Take for example someone being really excited to potentially, POTENTIALLY, get into MK11. Let's say this person is a fairly big name in a different community and is getting really excited and welcomed to MK11 and by extension, the NRS scene as a whole. Game comes out and this person just can't get into it for whatever reason. They don't like it and so they stop playing it because why would you play a game you don't like? Now those same people who were welcoming and encouraging will turn around and scream "Oh god of course you just came into our scene on the hype of the game and then dropped it a month in. Why were you even here? This always happens people just ditch the game immediately." now put yourself in that persons shoes. Would you even bother trying the next game? At all? Would you ever want to interact with an NRS player again after that? Probably not right? Yea that scenario happens CONSTANTLY. To names big and small, it doesnt matter who this scenario is way too commonplace. Stop making people our enemy and if you have a voice, damn that kind of behavior. It's toxic to the growth of our community and in general makes people look at the NRS community negatively. It's not Us vs Them. Make the FGC a we.
Closing Thoughts
I love this community with all my heart. I have met so many wonderful people in the NRS community and I'm tired of having the good and the bad lumped into all bad because a few loud people are being entitled paranoia gremlins. I know, and I'm sure a lot of you know, the NRS community is wonderful and full of great people. There's obviously issues outside of the NRS community that exacerbates the issues presented but we can't help those, we can only help what we are doing as a community. This isn't stuff we will fix overnight or even over a year but every bit of effort counts. I'm sure the comments of this thread will turn into a cesspool of anger but to those still reading and that aren't angry, please try to make this community a more welcoming place for everyone. Thank you for reading, catch you all on the flip side.
The Word "Community"
Now before we go into this we have to go over what this word means. Mostly because, if you ask different people you'll get different answers. There are two different definitions in the English language for the word "Community" and they are as follows
1: "a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common."
2: "a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals."
These two definitions are usually the majority that you will get from people when you ask "what is the FGC?" with the obvious added details about fighting games and whatnot. To some it's simply the first one with minimal amount of emotional connection to the idea of being part of the community and more finding meaningful connections with people who just happen to be FGC. To others the very fabric of the community is meaningful connections with people who share the same hobby as you, that being fighting games. Regardless, like any community, the FGC has a plethora of sub-sections and cliques associated with it that at times can make the entirety of it feel disconnected in some parts. For full transparency I am of the opinion that the second definition of community is what the FGC should strive towards. Now I say strive towards because in its current state we have a LONG way to go before it feels like a fellowship with others. I bring all this up because the NRS scene is one of those sub-sections of the FGC so understanding that, and subsequently our position in the FGC, is important for the thread.
NetherRealms Studios Fighting Game Community
That is the community that most of you hold yourselves to be part of, myself included. We love Mortal Kombat and the stories it has given us over the decades of its existence. However some negativity, arguably a lot of negativity, can be carried with this name among the rest of the FGC. Here we will go into why that may be.
The Under Dog
This is how I see the vast majority of people within the NRS community view itself. We're seen as a small community that is constantly having to struggle for what we 'deserve'. Not a very complex idea and I'm sure many of you reading this right now share the same opinion and to an extent, you're right. There are moments where we get treated a bit poorly. Almost like the redheaded stepchild of the FGC but are we really that persecuted? There have been a ton of events that have been pointed to as the NRS community getting the shaft from having to fight for FT3 tournament standards to being given poor timings on stream schedules (whether too early or too late) but none seem to be as volatile as when big events don't run with 'True NRS Guys' and I think you know what I mean by this. Two examples come to mind and the first of which was IPS ELeague Finals.
IPS ELEAGUE Finals Event
This event featured a ton of commentators, high production value and overall a level of quality that would be considered by most to be high. However an outrage occurred when the commentators were announced due to some of them not being NRS born and raised kind of people. This prompted many people to fall back into the idea of 'Look see? We're always getting screwed over.' and to an extend I can get why but ironically enough, every commentator for the most part was on point with knowledge and efficacy of commentating. Not to mention still featuring people who love our games. So why was there so much initial hate? Well a large chunk of it can probably be chocked up to blatant lack of knowledge. Sajam and UltraDavid, both of which were on the Eleague commentator bill, were constantly referred to as if they were outsiders to NRS games. People going so far as to call Sajam "The Street Fighter Guy" which is laughable considering Sajam began in NRS games and UltraDavid has been a constant supporter and advocate of NRS titles for as long as I can tell. The concerns with Rip and Zhi are whatever, I personally thought they did a great job but that's not the point. The point is a large chink of anger came from "Why is that Street Fighter guy there instead of such and such or so and so?" Taking all of that into account we got an event that never needed to happen, paying out a good chunk of cash for the winners and was being handled in a very professional manner. What was the problem again?
Summit Of Time
Forewarning, this is current and is a very volatile topic right now so if you're in the business of getting angry at me for my opinion, here's your favorite part probably. SO for those who don't know, the Summit is an invitational that happens in multiple games usually around when they are first released. Tons of cool stuff is done and eventually, the game is played in a tournament style till someone wins (duh). A set amount of people are invited but a set amount of people can also be voted in via community votes. Overall the concept is super cool and recently they announced they were doing an MK11 invitational to celebrate the game's release. Pretty cool right? Well a lot of people immediately took issue to this event. Now why you may ask? The following list of names.
- SonicFox
- Dragon
- DJT
- Chris G
- Tyrant
- King
- Hayatei
- Tekken Master
- Foxy
- Scar
Firstly and most obviously, do you see the sheer number of NRS legends on that list? SonicFox, Dragon, DJT, Tyrant, King, Hayatei, Tekken Master, Foxy, Scar. All these people have racked up top 8s/Major wins in their days and are, as you may have guessed, solid players. More importantly, however, every person on that list have wins in Mortal Kombat titles. I will repeat, MORTAL KOMBAT TITLES. The argument presented is "Our EVO winner/Our current dominant NRS players should be in that Summit." and to an extent I can agree. Let's use Tweedy and Rewind as an example since they were definitely the two names thrown around the most seeing as they were the most dominant in IPS Season 2. Tweedy has multiple major wins with top 8s in almost if not every single major he attended. Rewind has a similar track record with the added bonus of winning EVO 2018 for Injustice 2. A really heavy set of results on both of them, showing clearly they are players are extremely high caliber. So why shouldn't they be invited to the summit? Well it's simple, their success is in Injustice 2 which in case you were not aware is not a Mortal Kombat title. "CrazyFingers, isn't that a bit nit picky though? Like come on, that seems unreasonable" is it? Is it unreasonable Mr. Straw-man I made for this bit? The Summit events are specifically designed to celebrate and bring attention to the game put on display. They get money from votes, the company gets money from potential new buyers and overall its a win win situation. Its an exhibition event and has never been a serious tournament event so the people chosen are chosen with the specific game in mind. As rude as it might sound, casual MK goers do not give two shits who won EVO 2018 for Injustice 2. They wanna see all the players they saw in MKX or even as far back as MK9 return and duke it out in the new game. We knew who Rewind and Tweedy were in MKX because we are the competitive scene and we paid attention towards the end of the game's life and we're gonna watch the Summit ANYWAY because of the majority of people on this list. No casual/MK Exclusive person is probably going to have any connection to the names Rewind and Tweedy. So it makes sense to have these people instead of them even when they are extremely strong players in their own right.
So why was there so much outrage? Well to put it shortly, no one actually knew the list. Yup, most people who I talked to that were angry became immediately confused at the anger when I showed them the actual list. One big figure in the community got uppity about not getting on the list and immediately "we're being underrepresented!" when that's clearly not even close to the case.
So What's The Root of the Issue?
The very root of the issue is that we have perpetuated the idea that we are this underdog constantly fighting to get the table scraps of the FGC when this statement, is just factually incorrect. We are so much better off than a large chunk of what the FGC gets nowadays. Perhaps once upon a time we were down in the dumps, having our own 'summit' esque events in hotel rooms with the pot bonus of a bag of chips and a soda but in this current generation, we are top dogs. Our events are so vibrant and filled with competition that increases every year. We get developer sponsored events for a LOT of money, more than most even and our big events like ELEAGUE, like the Summit, are not only sufficiently representative they are even above and beyond representative every time.
So why is this perpetuated so hard? Where's the victim complex come from? This is the maximum amount of antagonistic I will get so get your pitchforks ready. It's the big names in the community. If that applies to you, I'm talking to you directly. Communities carry a very VERY large mob mentality with them and anger will always be easier to stir up than positivity because that's just how that emotion works. If you haven't been perpetuating this idea then good for you, keep that up i'm clearly not talking to you then. But you, yes you the guy who says "back in my day we had to fight for the right to sit in chairs during top 8" I'm talking to you. This isn't 20011 anymore. MK9 hasn't been played predominantly in actually 8 years, STOP. This idea being perpetuated has so many repercussions that you might not realize so let's get into those shall we?
Entitlement
It's very strange how "woe is me we get shoved" can transform into a sense of entitlement. Entitlement turns grown people into babbling children essentially. Now if even one little thing isn't completely to someone's liking it immediately becomes 'SEE? LOOK WE'RE GETTING SCREWED OVER AGAIN.' and 9/10 times this just isn't correct. Now everything must be perfect or we're being oppressed by the big bad FGC (Us vs Them is something I will be getting to so if you want that scroll down a bit) And it spreads to more than just tournaments. This sense of entitlement leaks into the community itself as seen with the Summit debacle or when roster discussion occurs. I deserve what I want and if I don't get it that just wont fly.
Us Vs Them
The BIGGEST issue that creates such a fissure in the community between NRS and the rest of the FGC that sometimes you will be assumed to be a shitty person from playing NRS games. No, this is not another example of us getting fake shoved this one is ALSO our fault. Since we've had such a long history of feeling oppressed and forgotten it has made people actively hostile to anyone that even takes a peek at our games. We preach that we are accepting and welcoming but then we just jump down peoples throat for the dumbest shit. Take for example someone being really excited to potentially, POTENTIALLY, get into MK11. Let's say this person is a fairly big name in a different community and is getting really excited and welcomed to MK11 and by extension, the NRS scene as a whole. Game comes out and this person just can't get into it for whatever reason. They don't like it and so they stop playing it because why would you play a game you don't like? Now those same people who were welcoming and encouraging will turn around and scream "Oh god of course you just came into our scene on the hype of the game and then dropped it a month in. Why were you even here? This always happens people just ditch the game immediately." now put yourself in that persons shoes. Would you even bother trying the next game? At all? Would you ever want to interact with an NRS player again after that? Probably not right? Yea that scenario happens CONSTANTLY. To names big and small, it doesnt matter who this scenario is way too commonplace. Stop making people our enemy and if you have a voice, damn that kind of behavior. It's toxic to the growth of our community and in general makes people look at the NRS community negatively. It's not Us vs Them. Make the FGC a we.
Closing Thoughts
I love this community with all my heart. I have met so many wonderful people in the NRS community and I'm tired of having the good and the bad lumped into all bad because a few loud people are being entitled paranoia gremlins. I know, and I'm sure a lot of you know, the NRS community is wonderful and full of great people. There's obviously issues outside of the NRS community that exacerbates the issues presented but we can't help those, we can only help what we are doing as a community. This isn't stuff we will fix overnight or even over a year but every bit of effort counts. I'm sure the comments of this thread will turn into a cesspool of anger but to those still reading and that aren't angry, please try to make this community a more welcoming place for everyone. Thank you for reading, catch you all on the flip side.
