Opinion on Character Loyalty

[LawAbidingCitizen]

I have a ton of respect for players who stick with their character because they have a passion for their main character. But what I'm seeing is several players sticking with a character they feel is garbage and because of this they have a very distorted view of other characters and their own.

Always use the character you have a love for I'm not saying don't have fun but you should pick up other characters that fit your playstyle and buffs out your weaknesses as a player.
There are so many interesting, cool, fun characters in MK11 and sometimes you just have to experiment with other variations. If I only played the popular variations on characters I wouldn't have a main today. Most of my favorite characters are not in this game like: Cyrax, Smoke, Reptile, Kenshi, Mileena, Sektor.
Not to say I don't like characters in the roster, they just aren't my favs with the exception of Raiden, Kotal, Terminator, Joker, Spawn and soon to be Sindel.

Even though Raiden and Kotal are in the game I don't feel they have what I need even if they are viable.
Many characters have what is known as the "Go To" best variations. I personally think they are boring. I mostly like setplay and footsies. Despite terminator having mostly brawler moves his wavedashing makes him a footsie character and his unpopular 3rd variation Final Judgment has grenade setups which are so much fun. Sure Dark Fate is easier but I feel Final Judgment fills my gaps as a player and is the funnest var with so much potential.
If any of you are playing a character you feel loses far to often I suggest picking up new characters and variations and you might be suprized. I cycled through most of the cast starting out feeling X, Y and Z characters where broken because I mained Kotal at launch to now but after learning the characters as a main/co-main I started to realize many of my perceptions of Top Tiers where wrong.

I encourage everyone to pick up other characters and use every variation at least for a week both Online Ranked and in Offline High level sets if possible. You may just find a new character that you love and a different perspective on the roster and game meta.

 

[Ram]

Kotal for life
#KatGotYourKahn

 

[Name v.5.0]

I'm lucky. I've always liked Cage's movement/buttons since MK9, and he's my favorite. Only a few other characters have that same feel (e.g. Jax) and I play as them too.

When I saw Terminator was going to be DLC, that I was finally going to switch mains, but I just cannot stand the feel of his buttons.

Edit: I also love how Kotal moves, I haven't picked him up again since the update, but I will.

 

[computerson]

liking this post. after playing basically only cassie and kung lao in KL i'm branching out a bit and enjoying the hell out of it. can't believe it took me so long to fall in love with scarlet and erron black

 

[Circus]

Ripper Kano through thick and thin baby.

Now life is way easier with him, but even when times were hard, I understood that it was my character and not the opponent's that had balance issues. It's so easy to have gripes with the top tiers, but realistically this game is EXTREMELY balanced at the moment. To say otherwise is just silly at this point when you look at how many viable characters there are.

A character might only seem OP in the matchup that you are accustomed to playing. In the grand scheme of things, just because that character has a few more winning matchups than some other characters, that doesn't mean they are OP.

 

[Sugarwatermixlegit]

Cassie will always be my favorite MK character, I fell in love with her in MKX, but I realize that at the moment at least, I've had the most success with Terminator. So, I'm going to continue to play both! I think you should just play who you want, character-wise or gameplay-wise. I could never stick to one character for a games entire life span because I just get attached to characters so fast lmao.

 

[LawAbidingCitizen]

Ripper Kano through thick and thin baby.

Now life is way easier with him, but even when times were hard, I understood that it was my character and not the opponent's that had balance issues. It's so easy to have gripes with the top tiers, but realistically this game is EXTREMELY balanced at the moment. To say otherwise is just silly at this point when you look at how many viable characters there are.

A character might seem OP in the matchup that you are accustomed to playing, but in the grand scheme of things, just because that character has a few more winning matchups than some other characters doesn't mean they are OP.

I completely agree. I also liked your thread "It's Ok To Be Mid Tier"
Now we need: "Its OK to be Top Tier" the only time I feel characters need nerfs is if the character can keep the roster from playing the game and from what I've learned using the roster is no character can do that.

 

[Agilaz]

I feel some of this post is directed at me lol

Not gonna lie, I know how it comes off sometimes, but i don't feel Shang is "garbage". No character in this game is truly garbage, not even Raiden. However I felt the nerfs he got were completely unjustified, especially in the light of others characters getting seriously buffed when they didn't need it to that degree.

It's just frustrating for me since it's been the story of my life with NRS games. Every time I decide on a main they turn out to be bad, or they start off good but then quickly get nerfed while others continue their reign of terror. MK9 was the first game I delved into on a more competitive level so I didn't have a true main - Sektor, Shang and Quan Chi were who I played the most.

In MKX, I just didn't like the roster so much. It took a long ass time for Goro and Kenshi to be good, and by then I had dropped the game. Triborg was super neat, but again, a bit too late.

In this game, I started off with Shao who - surprise surprise - was very lackluster on release. So I bear with him, knowing Shang is on the way and dude, words cannot describe how happy I was. Excellent visual design, gameplay that clicks with me, decent frames, good damage. CHT VOICING HIM??? HELL YES.

And then they nerf him. Just like that. Back to playing a character that can't afford to make mistakes cause he has no comeback factor, as well as suddenly being more forgiving of his opponent's mistakes.

I really wanna pick up Skarlet of Noob, but truth is I just don't like them AS MUCH as characters. Yet I could see myself dropping Shang for them since they're the same archetypes, but both Skarlet and Noob have an easier time killing their opponents. Just doesn't feel so good.

That said, I generally like the roster so much more in this game so of course I will end up with multiple characters. Terminator seems really fun atm, even if some MU's make my brain melt.

 

[Wam-Zlay]

I actually always have 2 characters. I play my main, which is noob in mk11 and the other character is rotating.

I played a little bit geras, Jacquie and since NW release i play him.

When you only play one character, your way more specialized. I think that is a good thing. Playing 4-5 characters half hearted sucks

 

[Zer0_h0ur]

I really wanna pick up Skarlet of Noob, but truth is I just don't like them AS MUCH as characters. Yet I could see myself dropping Shang for them since they're the same archetypes, but both Skarlet and Noob have an easier time killing their opponents. Just doesn't feel so good.

That said, I generally like the roster so much more in this game so of course I will end up with multiple characters. Terminator seems really fun atm, even if some MU's make my brain melt.

Regarding the OP, this is exactly how I started playing Kollector. I was like fuck it, lemme learn a random character I'd never give a chance otherwise, and I ended up loving him, as well as getting better at spacing and neutral as a result.
But like Agilaz says, theres characters I don't like, to such a degree that I will never learn them beyond labbing strings and learning the match up. Geras, for me.

 

[MagicMan357]

Its all about play-style archetypes and the character movement. No matter how bad people would say kano was im so used to his play-style every game that its muscle memory to play him.

I make sure i play all characters in the game to get the gist, but nothing is like being a loyalist. This is actually why MK needs to become a legacy game.

This game is super balanced so loyalty will pay off.

 

[LawAbidingCitizen]

Regarding the OP, this is exactly how I started playing Kollector. I was like fuck it, lemme learn a random character I'd never give a chance otherwise, and I ended up loving him, as well as getting better at spacing and neutral as a result.
But like Agilaz says, theres characters I don't like, to such a degree that I will never learn them beyond labbing strings and learning the match up. Geras, for me.

Yeah there are several characters I won't main because they are either to simple or just not fun with no depth.
I used most of the cast but had no passion for most of them because they lacked what I wanted in depth and needed tools to fit my gameplay cracks.
Jade, Raiden, Baraka, Sonya, Sub Zero and Scorpion are good examples of characters that lack the tools and depth I needed.
Terminator Final Judgment
Cassie Sups OD/Yaas Queen
D'Vorah Buzzed
Kotal Ascension/Buluc
Shang Tsung Spellmaster

These are good examples of Setplay characters that fit some of my needs. Many lacked in areas I needed as a player but Terminator FJ and Cassie and Kotal fit the bill having Footsie and Setplay but only Terminator has godlike AAs, good pokes, good mids, good range, great setups and very unique abilities setting him apart from others that just clicked for me.
Honestly I can't wait till Sindel, Joker and Spawn is released. I love testing new characters and tools out. One if my favorite things to do is experiment with new tech in the lab and seeing it come to fruition in sets.

 

[Agilaz]

Shang Tsung Spellmaster

How do you feel about him? I tried giving him an honest go but it felt somewhat off, mainly cause I just couldn't find a good use for DF3. Screaming Soul and its cancels were alright, but that's about it

 

[LawAbidingCitizen]

How do you feel about him? I tried giving him an honest go but it felt somewhat off, mainly cause I just couldn't find a good use for DF3. Screaming Soul and its cancels were alright, but that's about it

I liked the heals from setups and cancels but he lacked in many areas and was only useful in specific MU's. Not sure after the patch where he stands though.

 

[Agilaz]

I liked the heals from setups and cancels but he lacked in many areas and was only useful in specific MU's. Not sure after the patch where he stands though.

Patch didn't change Spellmast IIRC, but agreed, his usefulness was limited to a select few MU where things like amp Screaming Soul had a clear use

 

[Arqwart]

Loyalty be damned. When I saw how Kitana played in MK11, I dropped her like a bad habit immediately. I'm more loyal to movesets than anything else which is why I've been stuck on Kabal, Jade, and D'Vorah since release. There's not any others I've tried that I've enjoyed using enough to keep playing.

 

[HeavyNorse]

As long a character appeals to me, I'll continue playing them. I think Jade is fun and cool... so I play Jade. ^^
Doesn't mean I don't play other characters on the side though.

 

[VSC_Supreme]

I usually find character loyalty hard to do, but this game its been Kotal mostly. I dabbled with Geras but was brought back to Kotal.

Terminator is definitely enjoyable, and I'm looking forward to Spawn. I can't see myself switching off unless my original favorite character comes back in the future.

 

[thlityoursloat]

I've loved Jax in MK9, MKX and now MK11. I wish he played a bit more like his MKX form but whatever. I loved Kano (cyber and commando) in MKX but I think that had more to do with his archetype of just very solid honest footsies with the odd bit of offensive dirt. Now Kano is just d1 d1 d1 kano ball and f1 plus frames into d1 kano ball. Complete botchling.

 

[DeftMonk]

Agilaz I know exactly what u mean. I was trying real hard to decide on a main when the game came out between jax cage and liu. Even tho liu would’ve been my first pick, somethin told me nerf hammer incoming and I just let that one slide. Didn’t wanna get all that muscle memory down just to have parts of my gameplan get changed up. It’s ok to be top tier just beware of the nerf hammer for mighty is he.

 

[Synesthesia Z]

It's funny, in mkx i've used multiple chars on and off because i could never find the 1 character as main. In MK11 i started with sonya, liking her playstyle only and still playing her almost exclusively were it not for baraka spiking my interest the last few days

 

[EarlyReflections]

Raiden. Every storm cell connecting gives me pure happiness

 

[DC King]

Character loyalist here and I hate swappers.

 

[Gunnxr]

I would love to be a character specialist but I've only been playing since MK9. My main in MK9 was Rain and my main in MKX was Takeda. I was lost going into this game, had no clue who to main. When the character reveals started, I thought I was going to main Noob for sure and Kollector.

Now, I have experimented and found some things that I enjoy in a character. I have fallen in love with Jade and should she be in MK12, I will definitely use her.

However, I have difficulty sticking to one character, which has led me to also start playing Kabal, Skarlet, and Frost. But if I just need a win, I go with Jade because she is who I feel comfortable with. I look forward to using her in future games

 

[Kiss the Missile]

In the current era of streaming, character loyalty is so much more valuable than it used to be. I used to think like Sanford's "Pick a Top Tier" video, but now that sponsors are a thing, attention is almost as important as results. Of course nobody is gonna care if you placed 80th with your Raiden, but placing high and using a character people don't often see can lead to people tuning in just to see you play your character. Like Biohazard's Bane, HookGangGod's Piccolo or EyeMusician's Yoshimitsu. And all that attention can lead to sponsors trying to throw some cash your way.