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Khaos Reigns Patch Notes 9/24/2024 (via MK's Discord)

Patch notes being posted in MK's official Discord (here). Will update with proper formatting when the patch notes go live on usual announcment page.

PC Steam & Epic Games Store
• Various fixes to improve game stability
• Added a new [High] value for the existing Motion Blur setting, with the previous [ON] setting now being noted as [Medium]
• Added AMD FSR 3 Image Reconstruction as an additional Upscaling option available
• Added a new graphical setting to disable the Film Grain effect
• Updated Nvidia DLSS Image Reconstruction plugin to version 3.7.1 and changed the Upscaling Preset used to C
• Implemented first pass of Razer RGB peripheral support for certain in-game sequences
• Reworked file structure to optimize future Patch download & install sizes (Note that additional optimization to reduce Patch install & download size is unlikely to be possible)
• Various UI fixes and improvements
• Various Mouse & Keyboard input device related fixes
• Resolved issues that occurred when using Low graphics settings
• Further optimized the PSO Shader Cache boot flow for certain hardware set-ups
• Updated PC Hardware System Spec information to reference more recent hardware and provide additional context for target Resolution & Settings

Khaos Reigns Content Update
• Additional Story Content has been added – Part 2: Khaos Reigns

Free Content Update
• Additionally, all Mortal Kombat 1 owners will have access to new Arenas, new Arena Variants, & Animalities, the fan-favorite finishing moves that haven’t been seen since the ‘90s, allowing fighters to channel their inner animals. These features will be available on September 24 as a FREE content update in conjunction with the Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns release.

General Fixes & Adjustments
• Title updated to Khaos Reigns
• Implemented file compression to reduce game size for future patch releases (Note that this will require a larger download than usual for this Patch)
• Move list corrections & Localization fixes
• AI adjustments & improvements
• Improvements to Screen Reader functionality
• Added Cyrax Fighter to Roster
• Added Sektor Fighter to Roster
• Added Noob Saibot Fighter to Roster
• Added Wedding skin for Scorpion, Empress skin for Mileena & UMK3 skin for Sub-Zero
• Added several new Brutalities for players to discover
• Fixed several visual issues during brutalities
• Added Kameo ease of use information shown during Kameo Selection
• Fixed rare situations where a successful Up Block against a vulnerable attack would result in the defender still receiving block pushback
• Adjusted distance that Fighters move when performing a buffered backdash after an attack
• Fixed issue with offline consoles sometimes not retaining hotfix data that has been previously downloaded
• Fixed issue that could cause players in Invasions to not use the latest hotfix data

Invasions
• Added Towers of Time which now resides where the Gateway Mesa was
• You can now also enter Towers of Time from the Main Menu > Towers
• Added Towers of Time Challenges & Leaderboard with placement rewards
• Added Map to Mesa Pause Menu which shows pathways & key locations

Online
• Added Warrior Shrine
• Added Online Practice Mode

Character Specific Adjustments
• Main Fighters
Ashrah
• Fixed Enhanced Light Ascension causing camera to become misaligned in certain situations
• Fixed Dark debuff lingering after Ashrah is defeated during an Endurance fight

Baraka
• (Air) Death Spin final hit now only auto-corrects if one of the previous hits connected

General Shao
• Fixed Reverse Treechopper damage scaling when interrupted using default interrupted damage scaling instead of command grab damage scaling
• Fixed sound effects missing in certain situations when hitting with Haymaker (Away + Front Kick, Back Punch)

Geras
• Factual Force (Towards + Front Kick) now causes a bounce hit reaction instead of a splat knockdown & recovers 8 frames faster on hit
• History Lesson now recovers 17 frames faster on miss

Havik
• Added new Move Nether Snatcher & Enhanced Nether Snatcher
• Added new Move (Air) Nether Stomp & (Air) Enhanced Nether Stomp
• Added new Move Enhanced Corpse Taunt
• Helping Hand & Enhanced Helping Hand now startup in 45 frames (down from 59)
• Helping Hand armor now starts on frame 6 (was frame 10)
• Enhanced Helping Hand now has a different hit reaction if used more than once in a combo
• Crucial Strike (Jump Back Punch, Back Kick) now has a different hit reaction
• Fixed issue with Enhanced Blood Bath visual effects displaying improperly in certain situations where gameplay is paused
• Fixed missing sound effects on Neoplasm when the projectile is parried

Johnny Cage
• Fixed issue with Wowing Out special move limit not being reset if a Kameo Summon is used as a cancel
Kitana
• Fixed visual issue with Fancy Flick causing ground impact effects after it has been parried

Kung Lao
• Added new Move (Air) Buzzsaw & Enhanced (Air) Buzzsaw
• Shaolin Spin can now move forward or backward while holding Front Kick button
• Enhanced Shaolin Spin has increased movement speed forward or backward when holding Front Kick button
• Enhanced Shaolin Shimmy no longer automatically performs follow-up attack on block
• Enhanced Shaolin Shimmy when blocked can perform follow-up attack for 1 bar of meter with Back Kick + Block

Li Mei
• Fixed rare issue with opponent facing incorrect direction briefly if Lion's Pounce (Cancel) (Towards + Front Kick, Hold Front Kick) is performed while they are knocked down
• Fixed issue with Sky Lantern moving to an incorrect location if used immediately before Fatal Blow

Liu Kang
• Added new Kombo Attack Volcanic Palm (Away + Back Punch, Front Punch)

Raiden
• Enhanced Lightning Port has less damage scaling and on hit disables the opponent's ability to Breaker or use a Kameo until they land
• Fixed Enhanced Lightning Port having a stricter input window compared to other special move cancels
• Fixed specific input sequence to execute Uppercut Jump Cancel causing Lightning Port to be performed instead

Scorpion
• Blazing Charge hit animation adjusted, now has 19 more frames of advantage on hit

Sindel
• Fixed incorrect attack coming out when performing a buffered attack after Bodied (Jump Back Punch, Back Kick)
• Fixed Kartwheel having incorrect frame data shown in Practice Mode

Smoke
• Increased hit region on Smoked Out (Up + Front Punch, Front Punch, Back Punch)
• Spin Kicks (Jump Front Kick, Back Kick) and Airing Out (Jump Front Kick, Back Kick, Back Kick) now will auto face
• Invisibility now goes away when hit by a parry attack
• Fixed Vicious Vapors having incorrect frame data generated in Practice Mode
• Fixed issue that could cause the camera to become misaligned if Smoke is interrupted during Everywhere (Back Punch, Front Punch, Back Punch) at certain timing

Shang Tsung
• Added new move Kameo Kopy & Enhanced Kameo Kopy
• Added new Kombo Attack Orthopedic Takedown (Away + Front Punch, Back Kick) (Old Form)
• Pulse Check (Front Punch, Back Punch, Back Kick) recovers 2 frames faster and can be 2in1 cancelled
• Snake Oil (Away + Back Punch in Young Form) starts up 2 frames slower and recovers 1 frame slower
• Operation (Away + Back Punch in Old Form) starts up 2 frames faster and has an adjusted hit reaction
• Bed of Spikes & Enhanced Bed of Spikes now appear faster
• Bed of Spikes recovers 1 frame faster on hit and 3 frames faster on block & miss
• Enhanced Bed of Spikes recovers 4 frames faster on hit and 5 frames faster on block & miss

Tanya
• Spinning Splits Kicks now has a different animation when it is blocked and no longer does follow-up attacks
• Divine Protection now parries projectiles and allows for follow-ups with max charge
• Deity Push now has a different hit reaction with increased damage scaling
• Seeking Guidance now takes 5 frames longer to charge each Guidance level (Enhanced Seeking Guidance is unchanged)
• During Heavenly Hand, holding Front Punch allows you to spend Guidance charge to increase projectile speed and damage
• During Spinning Split Kicks, holding Back Kick allows you to spend Guidance charge to become projectile invulnerable and perform all attacks on block
• During Drill Kick hit reaction, holding Away + Back Kick allows you to spend Guidance charge to perform Deity Push
• During Drill Kick hit reaction, holding Towards + Back Kick allows you to spend Guidance charge to perform Umgadi Evade
• Fixed issues with Guidance lingering in certain situations

Omni-Man
• Around The World (Towards + Back Punch) now causes a bounce hit reaction instead of a splat knockdown

Quan Chi
• Best Foot Backward (Down + Towards + Back Kick) tracking timing adjusted by 8 frames
• Fixed incorrect projectile being used by Psycho Skull after exiting Zone of Power
• Fixed visual issue with Psycho Skull causing ground impact effects after it has been parried
• Fixed visual issue with Zone of Waste lingering during brutalities

Homelander
• Fixed Diabolical Dash > The Seven Slam damage scaling when interrupted using default interrupted damage scaling instead of command grab damage scaling
• Fixed Diabolical Dash > The Seven Slam not doing additional damage against an opponent performing Up Block
• Fixed being able to move outside of the arena constraints briefly after hitting with (Air) Diabolical Dash > Vought Drop
• Fixed (Air) Delay God Complex not being possible when (Air) God Complex is performed at the lowest possible height
• Fixed issue with Flight speed being reduced after performing (Air) God Complex
• Fixed issue with endurance fights being delayed if (Air) Diabolical Dash > Vought Drop is used as the final hit on an opponent
• Fixed camera becoming misaligned during Blast Off when playing online and experiencing connection issues

Takeda
• Twisting Blades (Front Punch, Back Punch) first & second hit do 10 more damage
• Ogre Slayer (Front Punch, Back Punch, Back Punch + Back Kick) does 20 more damage
• Rising Suns (Towards + Front Punch, Back Punch) first hit does 10 more damage
• Ryujin (Towards + Front Punch, Back Punch, Back Punch + Back Kick) does 20 more damage
• Falling Moon (Towards + Front Punch, Back Kick) second hit does 20 more damage
• Gate Splitter (Away + Back Punch) has 1 more active frame and had its hitbox adjusted
• Temple Razer (Away + Back Punch, Front Punch) has 1 more active frame and had its hitbox adjusted
• Serpent's Tail (Towards + Back Punch) has a different hit reaction and can now be special cancelled
• Sparrow Strike (Jump + Back Punch, Back Kick) does 40 less damage
• Shooting Star does 10 more damage
• Smart Shuriken explosion does 10 more damage
• (Air) Rushing Nimbus Attack first attack does no damage scaling
• (Air) Enhanced Rushing Nimbus Attack does 30 more damage
• If an allied Kameo interrupts Takeda after Smart Shuriken has touched the ground, the Shuriken will no longer disappear
• Fixed clipping issues when Enhanced Rushing Nimbus Attack is performed near Frost (Kameo) Ice Wall
• Fixed missing visual effects when more than six Smart Shurikens are used in rapid succession

Kameo Fighters
Cyrax (Kameo)
• Self-Destruct no longer lingers when the round ends
• Fixed Horizontal Kopter Chopper chosen hit direction not working in certain circumstances during juggles

Darrius (Kameo)
• Ground Invitational and Army of Two can now be performed after Volleyballistic
• Fixed Army of Two attack going in the wrong direction under certain circumstances
• Fixed Heelturn being possible for an extended period of time if the opponent remains idle after being knocked down
• Fixed several situations where Darrius would not take damage or cause recharge delay when he is interrupted
• Fixed situation that could cause Volleyballistic to be possible from very far distance from his partner

Frost (Kameo)
• Fixed Ice Krash & Frosty's Revenge not being possible as a reversal
• Fixed visual issues that could occur with Ice Krash when performed on The Pyramid Arena Top Variant

Goro (Kameo)
• Fixed Punch Walk cancelled into Shokan Stomp causing slight damage to Goro's Partner
• Punch Walk can no longer be cancelled into other Kameo moves while Kameos are disabled

Jax (Kameo)
• Added new move Gotcha Grab

Kano (Kameo)
• Eye Laser now has multiple hits when blocked & has a longer recharge delay

Kung Lao (Kameo)
• Added new moves Orbiting Hat & Wobbly Hat
• Spin can no longer sometimes auto face during the first few frames
• Buzz Saw can no longer sometimes auto face during the first few frames

Motaro (Kameo)
• Fixed issue when Reflect parries a non-reflectable projectile that allowed the opponent to block punishes during their recovery
• Fixed rare instances of missing visual & sound effects when Motaro is hit by certain attacks

Sektor (Kameo)
• Added alternate Fatal Blow attack by pressing R1 during startup
• Activate Homing is now performed by holding R1
• Tele-Punch starts up 2 frames faster
• Fixed visual issue with Up Rocket causing ground impact effects after it has been parried

Shujinko (Kameo)
• Added new move Kingdoms Krumble
• Added new move Waterfall Chop
• Fixed interrupting Shujinko during Death's Embrace (Ermac) causing an excessively long recovery for his partner

Sonya (Kameo)
• Added new moves (Air) Ricochet Dive Kick & (Air) Bicycle Kick follow-up attack
• Sonya is now vulnerable for 17 more frames after Leg Grab misses

Sub-Zero (Kameo)
• Added new moves Deep Freeze & Iceball Special
• Fixed visual effects issues when partner misses with their Fatal Blow

Stryker (Kameo)
• Low Grenade Toss & High Grenade Toss have different hit reactions and less damage scaling

Tremor (Kameo)
• Crystal Wall Punch is now mid (was high)

Khameleon (Kameo)
• Added new move Alternate Disguises
• If either of the first two hits during Roll are Up Blocked, the final hit will not come out
• Fan Toss can no longer sometimes auto face during the first few frames
• Fixed issue with Glaive return attack not using correct hit reaction facing if the opponent jumped over

Mavado (Kameo)
• Fixed animation issue with Nomad's Touch when performed near corner while roster fighter has their back to the screen

Ferra (Kameo)
• Torr Stance: Slide! has 2 more recovery frames on block
• Ferra is now considered airborne during Yo-Yo Throw, Swings!, & Potato Sack Toss

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Comments

So, do you try to sound like an insecure angsty 14 year old with no friends or personality, or is that something you can't help? These are not good jokes, you're not making anyone mad, it's pretty pathetic, actually.

This type of banter is comically juvenile, uncreative, and makes me think you weigh 400lbs and live with your mom or are angry at the world for some reason, are you out irl? If not, this joke may even be a bit homophobic. But you got me, I guess.

Please, grow up and shut the fuck up.
He must have got you on a bad day to reply like this to that comment! :laughing:
 
I mean, I gotta assume UNISYS was outsold like a bazillion to 1 by MK1 and a lot of people never even heard of or seen this game and it had more Evo entrants.
But Mortal Kombat is a niche fighting game franchise!

LOL

The reality is that Mortal Kombat 11 and Mortal Kombat 1 are kusoge. They top the list of shitty modern fighting games.

WB and NRS are capable of better.
 
In fact, Mortal Kombat X had more participants in its second year at EVO (713) than Tekken 7 had its first year at EVO (549).
MKX actually had solid numbers and was beating Tekken at events, and now Tekken has literally 8-10x the amount of entrants at events. Something went wrong here.
Ufff ... this argument is for the stupid rat catchers ... and it makes me mad.
Please guys, do your homework. But I will help you to think ...

Evo july 2016(!)
MKXL 713
Tekken7 549

Here is the secret, Tekken7 console release june 2017.
Now the golden question. How many people do you think enter a serious tournament when only very few places in the world can even play the game (arcade)? How do you even practice? You watch YT Tekken videos and enter evo? You seriously believe it?

Evo july 2017
MK, no title at all there
Tekken7 1,278

(And if you now want to tell me, but MK does not exist in asia. MK franchise sold worldwide more to begin with, and an American tournament is on top also homeplay for MK, less travel distance, more potential people ...)

ps: I love MK and Tekken, just saying ...
 
But Mortal Kombat is a niche fighting game franchise!

LOL

The reality is that Mortal Kombat 11 and Mortal Kombat 1 are kusoge. They top the list of shitty modern fighting games.

WB and NRS are capable of better.
Lol nah I think MK1 had an all-time worst launch and was borderline unplayable early in, but the game has gotten way better since then. From the patch before this one I would say it's pretty good/fun. Not the glory days of MK9/Inj1 broken mess of diversity fun, but easily better than MKX and MK11 fun. I think because it got off to a rough start it's carrying that same stigma even after it has improved. Kinda like how some people refuse to play Cyberpunk now even though it's significantly better these days because of the rough launch. If anything, I think you yourself would actually enjoy the current version playing someone like Sektor.

Ufff ... this argument is for the stupid rat catchers ... and it makes me mad.
Please guys, do your homework. But I will help you to think ...

Evo july 2016(!)
MKXL 713
Tekken7 549

Here is the secret, Tekken7 console release june 2017.
Now the golden question. How many people do you think enter a serious tournament when only very few places in the world can even play the game (arcade)? How do you even practice? You watch YT Tekken videos and enter evo? You seriously believe it?

Evo july 2017
MK, no title at all there
Tekken7 1,278

(And if you now want to tell me, but MK does not exist in asia. MK franchise sold worldwide more to begin with, and an American tournament is on top also homeplay for MK, less travel distance, more potential people ...)

ps: I love MK and Tekken, just saying ...
MK is such an enormous franchise they shouldn't need international sales. They quite literally ALREADY outsell everyone without it. The best selling FG on the market had 600something showed up at Evo and had less entrants than a game most people haven't even heard of. There's no way to spin that as a "competitive" success. Financial, absolutely. I'm sure they'll make even more money with the expansion. But competitively, the numbers are critically low. In fact, the fact that the majority of sales are NOT international means you should be expecting EVEN MORE domestic tournament goers because the ratio of American players compared to other games is much higher.
 
My issue with this is that I believe something has gone terribly wrong when it comes to competitive MK between MKX/MK11/MK1. MKX actually had solid numbers and was beating Tekken at events, and now Tekken has literally 8-10x the amount of entrants at events. Something went wrong here.

SF6 and Tekken scoring more numbers isn't that big of a deal to me because they are great games with loyal fans in a general sense, it's having less participation than games like GranBlue and UNIST that bothers me the most. I mean, I gotta assume UNISYS was outsold like a bazillion to 1 by MK1 and a lot of people never even heard of or seen this game and it had more Evo entrants. That's the type of stuff that's unacceptable to me. I actually do think the game is a LOT better now than the launch version, but something is happening that's stunting the numbers. I dunno if community needs to rise up and get people involved better, top dogs need to add more money to competition, NRS overhaul the game, etc, I don't really know what, but something went wrong to be what I consider a "Big 3" of FGs getting less numbers than a game half the people here would have to Google to know what UNISYS even stood for.
The way I see it, a lot of the top players competing in offline tournaments for Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition and Mortal Kombat XL are no longer competing at that level, if they're competing at all. This is for a host of reasons.

The pandemic also greatly affected the offline scene and we saw a whole rise of new players when everything shifted to online, and the offline scene just hasn't been the same with the new blood since.

Overall, it seems things have just changed and what the current crop of players wants have changed from a decade ago.
 
As someone who quit playing MK1 early on and is just coming back, the game seems to be much better and frankly more representative of what the launch version of the game should be.

My character, Sub-Zero, felt incomplete at launch and it was very bizarre why he was seemingly passed over. However, cameos like Ferra and Kham make it seem like they were waiting on their launch because they knew what they’d do for SZ. It’s like he was being held hostage waiting for their release. Seems like he’s gonna be a lot of fun. I might be being too charitable with NRS, which is rare for me, but MK1 should hopefully be able to make a comeback.
 
My issue with this is that I believe something has gone terribly wrong when it comes to competitive MK between MKX/MK11/MK1. MKX actually had solid numbers and was beating Tekken at events, and now Tekken has literally 8-10x the amount of entrants at events. Something went wrong here.

SF6 and Tekken scoring more numbers isn't that big of a deal to me because they are great games with loyal fans in a general sense, it's having less participation than games like GranBlue and UNIST that bothers me the most. I mean, I gotta assume UNISYS was outsold like a bazillion to 1 by MK1 and a lot of people never even heard of or seen this game and it had more Evo entrants. That's the type of stuff that's unacceptable to me. I actually do think the game is a LOT better now than the launch version, but something is happening that's stunting the numbers. I dunno if community needs to rise up and get people involved better, top dogs need to add more money to competition, NRS overhaul the game, etc, I don't really know what, but something went wrong to be what I consider a "Big 3" of FGs getting less numbers than a game half the people here would have to Google to know what UNISYS even stood for.
And all of this is exactly what we are saying yet so many people gloss over it and dismiss it as nothing
 
Also, I think it's important to note that MK1 doesn't have the kind of prize pools MKX and Injustice 2 did, nor do they have the kind of prize pools SF6 and Tekken do.

I'd wager if there was more money, there'd be more entrants but this is a very divisive game, there's no denying that.
3rd Strike doesn’t have big money in it and it destroyed MK1s numbers. The money is not the problem.
 
The way I see it, a lot of the top players competing in offline tournaments for Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition and Mortal Kombat XL are no longer competing at that level, if they're competing at all. This is for a host of reasons.

The pandemic also greatly affected the offline scene and we saw a whole rise of new players when everything shifted to online, and the offline scene just hasn't been the same with the new blood since.

Overall, it seems things have just changed and what the current crop of players wants have changed from a decade ago.
I don't buy that either. The pandemic impacted EVERY scene, not just the MK one. Other games have lots of their top players retire too due to age, family, career, etc. Other games have some elite online warriors too. None of that applies exclusively to MK.

While all of this has happened, the other top FGs have seen their community and turnouts soar to unseen heights, literally as in the highest turnouts in FG History types of heights, while MK has seen it's turnouts drop consistently. There are too many examples to list about that, but even consider something like Combo Breaker, that was once considered the NRS game home field advantage, and legit is called Combo Breaker because of MK, had these turnouts in 2024:

-SF6: 1438
-Tekken 8: 1634
-GGST: 867
-MK1: 277

-GranBlue: 675
-UNISYS: 605
-Killer Instinct: 140
-XRD Rev 2: 237
-BlazeBlue: 158

This is what I mean when I say inexcusable. Okay, they didn't hit thousand plus like SF6 and T8, okay, they didn't hit 600s like GranBlue and UNISYS, very bad but okay, BUT, their numbers are on par with ancient old games and last version of games on their home turf. How on earth can MK1 have only 40 more entrants than XRD at COMBO BREAKER??? This is just ridiculous. They should AT LEAST be putting up GGST types of numbers let alone more.

We can say the game is fun, we can say the players are elite, but we can't say that expectations on turnout shouldn't be SIGNIFICANTLY higher than this for a game like MK the way FG scenes have grown. Clearly something has happened here, the conversation should be around what happened and what can grow the community more, not that nothing has happened and everything is normal.
 
I've already addressed my theories as to why. And a recurring theme throughout a lot of top player's complaints during MK's 1st pro tour leading up to Final Kombat was the small prize pools.
I do think that if prize pools were raised turnout would increase. Especially now with all the improvements in the game. Capcom Cup is putting out $1Mil and such, with a 0.001% chance to win it but it entices more players to travel.
 
The fact that the game isn't playable in the most competitive FGC regions or that it is very difficult to monetize as a content creator are not as insignificant of factors that people make them out to be.

The low numbers are primarily due to the obvious things. MK1's launch was BAD. No clear or timely communication from Devs, lack of basic features. No good will from the previous title. Bare bones ranked mode and sub standard online experience. . .the list goes on.

Money keeps people playing a game they don't like, or brings in competitors who have a real shot at the money. But that is a minority of tournament entries. Probably less than 10% of the people entering a game at a large tournament like EVO actually believe they have a shot at topping. Look at EVO with 600ish entrents. You think more than 60 of those people had a shot at topping? Or actually believed they could? No chance.
 
Sometimes you just never know. After all NRS did name the garbage launch-version variation of MK9 style Kenshi in MKX "Balanced" (lolz). No one can tell me some lingering salt wasn't attached to that.
That + Sub-Zero = part of my slightly farfetched theories for why you shouldn't put tournament players with grudges in charge of the games they used to compete in.

Too many Vince McMahon types out there that will take something they're supposed to be the best at and do it in a purposefully terrible way out of malice and spite for particular individuals and fanbases they look down their noses at.

But that's just a theory.

:coffee:
 
That + Sub-Zero = part of my slightly farfetched theories for why you shouldn't put tournament players with grudges in charge of the games they used to compete in.

Too many Vince McMahon types out there that will take something they're supposed to be the best at and do it in a purposefully terrible way out of malice and spite for particular individuals and fanbases they look down their noses at.

But that's just a theory.

:coffee:
But if they don't use former pros, people on this site complain that they need people that understand the game at a high level to test it.
 
I do think that if prize pools were raised turnout would increase. Especially now with all the improvements in the game. Capcom Cup is putting out $1Mil and such, with a 0.001% chance to win it but it entices more players to travel.
Increasing the prize pool could increase turnout, but I don't know if that would help the scene that much. If the gameplay is in a good state now and people don't want to play it, then throwing a bunch of money into the ring is only going to attract people who don't like the game into the scene. If NRS adds a million dollar prize pool and 1,000 people show up, but 800 of them think the game sucks and are only there for the money, is that worth it?

Personally, and I could be wrong, I just think NRS did a poor job cultivating a competitive scene and the main root causes are the Injustice games cannibalizing MK games (MK9 and MKX), and the lack of legacy gameplay causing people who liked a previous game competitively to drop out because the new one plays different and isn't as fun or is just too different. The way they do things, each game is going to have competitive players drop off, and the new gameplay needs to be good enough to replace those numbers and then some. If the goal is to cultivate a large and thriving competitive scene (which it isn't), then it's a losing strategy.
 
Personally, and I could be wrong, I just think NRS did a poor job cultivating a competitive scene
This is where I think people fundamentally misunderstand the FGC. None of this was built by the developers. Smash didn't become the biggest game because of loving support and care from Nintendo. In fact, they actively tried to kill Melee as it was growing. But the community didn't use that as an excuse.

Fighting game communities are built by the people in them. Anime games were second class-citizens at FGC events for years, but they brought all their own stuff to events, and had pride in their scenes even if they were side games. Now that DBFZ combined with the death of Marvel created this huge bubble, they can capitalize on it.

The MK scene did the exact same thing before MKX (we didn't even have streams at some majors unless the players/fans did it themselves). But when the MKX money hit, people started feeling like they were owed something.

The recipe for a healthy fighting game community is pretty simple: spend more time building your community (and your competitive players) up than you spend tearing it down. Once that balance gets off, and people become more concerned with clickbat views than with supporting their scene, the community will suffer for it.
 
Increasing the prize pool could increase turnout, but I don't know if that would help the scene that much. If the gameplay is in a good state now and people don't want to play it, then throwing a bunch of money into the ring is only going to attract people who don't like the game into the scene. If NRS adds a million dollar prize pool and 1,000 people show up, but 800 of them think the game sucks and are only there for the money, is that worth it?

Personally, and I could be wrong, I just think NRS did a poor job cultivating a competitive scene and the main root causes are the Injustice games cannibalizing MK games (MK9 and MKX), and the lack of legacy gameplay causing people who liked a previous game competitively to drop out because the new one plays different and isn't as fun or is just too different. The way they do things, each game is going to have competitive players drop off, and the new gameplay needs to be good enough to replace those numbers and then some. If the goal is to cultivate a large and thriving competitive scene (which it isn't), then it's a losing strategy.
I agree that it's hard to maintain a community game to game when they all play so drastically different. Each new game will obviously be a new batch of peoples' first game and set their expectations for what MK is, so the next game being incomprehensible will be a turnoff for some.
 
Ufff ... this argument is for the stupid rat catchers ... and it makes me mad.
Please guys, do your homework. But I will help you to think ...

Evo july 2016(!)
MKXL 713
Tekken7 549

Here is the secret, Tekken7 console release june 2017.
Now the golden question. How many people do you think enter a serious tournament when only very few places in the world can even play the game (arcade)? How do you even practice? You watch YT Tekken videos and enter evo? You seriously believe it?

Evo july 2017
MK, no title at all there
Tekken7 1,278

(And if you now want to tell me, but MK does not exist in asia. MK franchise sold worldwide more to begin with, and an American tournament is on top also homeplay for MK, less travel distance, more potential people ...)

ps: I love MK and Tekken, just saying ...
Injustice 1 beat Tekken Tag 2 at EVO 2013 and 2014 after Tekken Tag 2 had been released on the PS3 in September, 2013.

The reality is that certain franchises have progressed while certain others have stagnated, if not regressed, competitively.

Irrespective of the negativity in the FGC, if players have faith in the fighting game and in the company developing the fighting game, they will show up and play. For very obvious reasons, Mortal Kombat 1 has neither, which is why the game is losing to niche anime fighting games despite selling ten times more copies.

The excuses must not continue.
 
Injustice 1 beat Tekken Tag 2 at EVO 2013 and 2014 after Tekken Tag 2 had been released on the PS3 in September, 2013.
I mean it's pretty clear that releasing closer to EVO is a big advantage.

This year, MK1 was the game to release in September of the previous year, and the results are similar. You can look at the numbers a year into any NRS game (including Injustice) and see that trend.

The reason is that players from the other bigger communities who play our games only do so for 3-4 months, after which they drop them (just like all of our top players who played T8/SF6). After that, we're left with the true MK fans, instead of the players who try out the new hot thing.
 
Injustice 1 beat Tekken Tag 2 at EVO 2013 and 2014 after Tekken Tag 2 had been released on the PS3 in September, 2013.

The reality is that certain franchises have progressed while certain others have stagnated, if not regressed, competitively.
What is this here right now? It's a MORTAL KOMBAT discussion, why would I care for Injustice? I never liked it and tt2 is under fans problematic. I loved tt2 many other think it's too "complex" or just don't like team based fighters.

It is not about who is the best here, it's about you said, MK in the past defeated Tekken and that is just not true. Now you tell me stuff about injustice? Come on, man ...
 
This is where I think people fundamentally misunderstand the FGC. None of this was built by the developers. Smash didn't become the biggest game because of loving support and care from Nintendo. In fact, they actively tried to kill Melee as it was growing. But the community didn't use that as an excuse.

Fighting game communities are built by the people in them. Anime games were second class-citizens at FGC events for years, but they brought all their own stuff to events, and had pride in their scenes even if they were side games. Now that DBFZ combined with the death of Marvel created this huge bubble, they can capitalize on it.

The MK scene did the exact same thing before MKX (we didn't even have streams at some majors unless the players/fans did it themselves). But when the MKX money hit, people started feeling like they were owed something.

The recipe for a healthy fighting game community is pretty simple: spend more time building your community (and your competitive players) up than you spend tearing it down. Once that balance gets off, and people become more concerned with clickbat views than with supporting their scene, the community will suffer for it.
This, money is put where community is
Balance and QoL is put where cummunity is.

MK community it's a shadow of its former self, there is almost not interest at all from dev team to pay attention to it, can't blame them.

It's very clear they have shifted their aims long ago.