So this is the way I see things right now:
Positive things so far:
- This game has brought together a lot of people from a number of different communities. In the last 2 months I have had the pleasure of playing against, and becoming friends with, guys from the Soul Calibur Community, the Tekken Community, from SF and Marvel, Skullgirls etc. It's really neat to watch all these people come together, interact, and bond over a game.
- IGAU has taken the viewership numbers to another level for a non-Japanese built game. Seeing 7k, 10k, 12k viewers has become a regularity and that's neat.
- It brought back weekly mini-tourney scenes to a US game; it's great to see guys slugging it out every week and levelling up together at places like The Break, Wednesday Night Fights, and NLBC. This last week at WNF was a real highlight. (MK was at some of these as well, but the way IGAU brings scenes together seems to have more lasting power in the long run).
- It helped break the mold; they stepped out there and did some things like Clash and Interactibles. Love them or hate them, it gives people something to play that's different in a unique way.
- For a lot of former MK players, it gave them a game they could play more reliably online. Not perfect, but in MK9 I'd have my games randomly disconnect out on a regular basis. It's fun being able to just play people now and not worry so much.
-Arturo coming back into the fold has been major and it's been cool to see his support of the game. Also having a bunch of top players from various communities be testers was a positive step forward for the development of fighting games in general.
The mixed bag:
With MK9, there was a group of people that embraced the game early on; and it wasn't necessarily all the same people that became the strong 'MK community' that flourished after the first few months of the game. There were people competing close to Day 1, like PL, Tom, and REO, and some of these guys stayed; but when a lot of people left, we got to know guys like WoundCowboy, Tyrant, Detroit, Maxter, CD Jr, Curbolicious, Dizzy, Scar, WinterWarz, Wafflez, Forever King, Xblades etc. that all became great players and key pieces of the community. The Terry Bros and PBoard went from online to offline kings and showed up to wreck tournaments. And all kinds of people joined to build the 'MKC'.
I feel like Injustice will go through a similar transition. A bunch of people start, some stay, some go due to preferring other things. And that's when the real IGAU community will start to build itself.
Some things like heavy use of 50/50, super slow walk speed or high/mid/low fullscreen zoning are things certain people will never get used to. Other people will embrace them. It's like the Circle of Life or whatever you want to call it.
Things people want across the board:
-Reliable ground-based anti air. Hopefully fixed with the d2 buff. But seems like universally, people wouldn't mind having this.
-Balance/diversity. No game is perfect, but it seems like people in general don't want IGAU to end up feeling like MK9 or MVC2 character-wise. They want to be able to pick Bane and have a decent shot, or Lobo, or whoever they like. This takes a lot of patience and time to get right; it won't happen in 2 months. But if the game ends up with a lot of characters that can hang with the top, a LOT of people will be truly grateful for it. Especially those Jade and Baraka players who toughed it out.
-New characters that are interesting to play, rather than having obvious ways to win with 1-2 tools. Maybe 1-2 characters that have a higher learning curve and more possibilities, but become truly good when in skilled hands like Viper.
-They want interactibles to feel like an addition to gameplay, but not a domination of gameplay. The adjustments to Metro Rooftop are a positive step in that direction.
Conclusions:
Overall I think this has been a largely positive experience. There are character controversies, game engine controversies, etc. in any/every new game that comes out. It's a fact of life, some people stay, some people go, patches and arguments happen, and out of the dust of that a new community is born.
There are people that hate MvC3 with a passion or feel that SF4 ruined SF. But life goes on.
I am looking forward to the future of this game; to seeing new faces, watching people level up, start new scenes, and push characters to new levels. It's still early and there's a lot of road ahead.
More than anything, this game has produced so many exciting tournaments, full of ridiculous upsets, blow ups, level ups, and surprises than I've ever seen in a 2 1/2 month span. There are already some truly unforgettable moments, and I look forward to more.
We may argue, and everyone may not agree; but I love you guys anyway
Here's to an unknown and exciting future.
Positive things so far:
- This game has brought together a lot of people from a number of different communities. In the last 2 months I have had the pleasure of playing against, and becoming friends with, guys from the Soul Calibur Community, the Tekken Community, from SF and Marvel, Skullgirls etc. It's really neat to watch all these people come together, interact, and bond over a game.
- IGAU has taken the viewership numbers to another level for a non-Japanese built game. Seeing 7k, 10k, 12k viewers has become a regularity and that's neat.
- It brought back weekly mini-tourney scenes to a US game; it's great to see guys slugging it out every week and levelling up together at places like The Break, Wednesday Night Fights, and NLBC. This last week at WNF was a real highlight. (MK was at some of these as well, but the way IGAU brings scenes together seems to have more lasting power in the long run).
- It helped break the mold; they stepped out there and did some things like Clash and Interactibles. Love them or hate them, it gives people something to play that's different in a unique way.
- For a lot of former MK players, it gave them a game they could play more reliably online. Not perfect, but in MK9 I'd have my games randomly disconnect out on a regular basis. It's fun being able to just play people now and not worry so much.
-Arturo coming back into the fold has been major and it's been cool to see his support of the game. Also having a bunch of top players from various communities be testers was a positive step forward for the development of fighting games in general.
The mixed bag:
With MK9, there was a group of people that embraced the game early on; and it wasn't necessarily all the same people that became the strong 'MK community' that flourished after the first few months of the game. There were people competing close to Day 1, like PL, Tom, and REO, and some of these guys stayed; but when a lot of people left, we got to know guys like WoundCowboy, Tyrant, Detroit, Maxter, CD Jr, Curbolicious, Dizzy, Scar, WinterWarz, Wafflez, Forever King, Xblades etc. that all became great players and key pieces of the community. The Terry Bros and PBoard went from online to offline kings and showed up to wreck tournaments. And all kinds of people joined to build the 'MKC'.
I feel like Injustice will go through a similar transition. A bunch of people start, some stay, some go due to preferring other things. And that's when the real IGAU community will start to build itself.
Some things like heavy use of 50/50, super slow walk speed or high/mid/low fullscreen zoning are things certain people will never get used to. Other people will embrace them. It's like the Circle of Life or whatever you want to call it.
Things people want across the board:
-Reliable ground-based anti air. Hopefully fixed with the d2 buff. But seems like universally, people wouldn't mind having this.
-Balance/diversity. No game is perfect, but it seems like people in general don't want IGAU to end up feeling like MK9 or MVC2 character-wise. They want to be able to pick Bane and have a decent shot, or Lobo, or whoever they like. This takes a lot of patience and time to get right; it won't happen in 2 months. But if the game ends up with a lot of characters that can hang with the top, a LOT of people will be truly grateful for it. Especially those Jade and Baraka players who toughed it out.
-New characters that are interesting to play, rather than having obvious ways to win with 1-2 tools. Maybe 1-2 characters that have a higher learning curve and more possibilities, but become truly good when in skilled hands like Viper.
-They want interactibles to feel like an addition to gameplay, but not a domination of gameplay. The adjustments to Metro Rooftop are a positive step in that direction.
Conclusions:
Overall I think this has been a largely positive experience. There are character controversies, game engine controversies, etc. in any/every new game that comes out. It's a fact of life, some people stay, some people go, patches and arguments happen, and out of the dust of that a new community is born.
There are people that hate MvC3 with a passion or feel that SF4 ruined SF. But life goes on.
I am looking forward to the future of this game; to seeing new faces, watching people level up, start new scenes, and push characters to new levels. It's still early and there's a lot of road ahead.
More than anything, this game has produced so many exciting tournaments, full of ridiculous upsets, blow ups, level ups, and surprises than I've ever seen in a 2 1/2 month span. There are already some truly unforgettable moments, and I look forward to more.
We may argue, and everyone may not agree; but I love you guys anyway
Here's to an unknown and exciting future.
