Scar Asks: Do u feel MK11 should have variations?

Yes. Leave all that stuff in MKX. Keep Injustice as the game with characters returning movesets, back to block, etc.

I think there still should be as it did shake things up a bit and depending on the character made it to where even if the same character was represented a few people took the separate variants pretty far. I do think there needs to be some sort of overhaul or different approach to it as the biggest problem I see is that regardless of the 3 variations available to the character 1 or 2 variants made the remaining ones pretty useless or redundant. Maybe if they dropped it to two, more focus could be put on each one...like combine the two weakest ones into one and leave the strongest and then balance from there. Dunno. Bottom line I think it's still a cool system but being the first time it was implemented into an MK game it's understandable there would be faults. Let it grow/evolve a bit first before axing it.

For starters, it's gonna suck because I know I can't get BOTH Dragon Naginata and Pyromancer......
Personally, I only want variations if they keep the same variations but improve upon them and add new moves and a PLETHORA of variation specific strings. Characters can still have universals and shit, but I mean a lot is added to each variation. Honestly, this is the best idea, because they already have the variations they can only go up. The only reason they would need to change that is if a character a crap moveset like Crappui.

vegeta said:

I think there still should be as it did shake things up a bit and depending on the character made it to where even if the same character was represented a few people took the separate variants pretty far. I do think there needs to be some sort of overhaul or different approach to it as the biggest problem I see is that regardless of the 3 variations available to the character 1 or 2 variants made the remaining ones pretty useless or redundant. Maybe if they dropped it to two, more focus could be put on each one...like combine the two weakest ones into one and leave the strongest and then balance from there. Dunno. Bottom line I think it's still a cool system but being the first time it was implemented into an MK game it's understandable there would be faults. Let it grow/evolve a bit first before axing it.

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Exactly. So what if it's not perfect? This is the first MK they tried this with. They will hopefully read feedback on this issue and make it better in the next one. Probably cut it down to 2 variations (offense/defense). It's basically trial and error. Try it, find what worked/didn't work and improve on it.

DC4-3 said:

Exactly. So what if it's not perfect? This is the first MK they tried this with. They will hopefully read feedback on this issue and make it better in the next one. Probably cut it down to 2 variations (offense/defense). It's basically trial and error. Try it, find what worked/didn't work and improve on it.

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Exactly.

Also, people talk about balance, but variations or not this will always going to be an issue as far as fighting or any competitive type of game go.

If NRS can do it correctly and mak smart balance decisions, if not just revert to MK9 style.

Inb4 mk11 has "Kreate-Your-own-variation" mode

There is no such thing as "whole character". It's not like they took a character and divided his/her moveset into 3 different variations, never in any MK game characters had such a big move list. Base + one variation = complete character, other 2 variations are are filled with completely new moves MK characters never had.


I like the variations and want to see them return for next game.

Slightly Tweak the most played variation of character.

Change the second played variation by 30-40%.

Replace the least played variation with new one.

No. Nrs has proven imo that they can't accurately balance all the variations and they can't actually come up with enough cool ones for certain characters.

I feel like Variations was fine, but either more should be done to define them. That's just me though.

Yes I think it was a great concept and worked out well for some characters and some not so much. They should bring it down to two the next game so balancing would be much easier and NRS did a solid job on balancing these variations except for maybe making the top 5 a little too strong. Also for the competitive scene the winner should still be character locked but be allowed to change variations imo because being variation locked kinda makes the point of variations moot. If anything there should be more variation exclusive moves and specials for characters like reptile only has one thing different across all 3 variations that u could play variationless and you still can't tell the difference. And I'm still dissapointed that ninjutsu doesn't have any variation exclusive specials

MK11 should have 11 characters, tops. All balanced.

No. It completely shafts some characters. I'll talk about my character since he is the one i understand. Follow me here:
1. Variationless Sub-Zero sucks

2. He sucks because of how powerful Grandmaster's tools are

3. His other two variations have bad tools

4. NRS can't signicantly buff variationless Sub-Zero because if he had great offense with a shit load of plus strings, Grandmaster would be broke broke broke broke broke.

5. So his other variations, assuming that their specific tools don't get a complete overhaul, are left to burn because of what might happen to Grandmaster.

Then you have characters with only one useful variation because of how it was structured. These characters might not have only one "good" variation, but the others are redundant because of how much better the one is: D'Vorah, Mileena, Sonya, Sub-Zero, Liu Kang, Tremor, Kano, Predator, Raiden, Kung Jin, and very likely more. That's at least 10 characters that the variation system failed to do its job. There is easily more.

But of course there are characters with several good variations that the player is forced to switch between go cover all matchups: Kotal Kahn, Quan Chi, Shinnok(sort of), Kenshi(kiiiinda even tho they are all kinda bad, he does have need to switch), Jacqui, Tanya(she has to switch even tho they all suck), Triborg(kind of with Smoke and Sektor), Ermac, Ferra/Torr, Goro, Alien. That's a lot of characters off the top of my head.

To sum it up: overall, throughout most of the cast, it was a success. But for the sake of balance, it didn't work on a lot of characters. One could argue that a lot of the characters I have in the "didn't work" section are already viable and don't NEED the variation system, but still it didn't do its job. So the other, redundant variations were a waste of time that could have gone into developing other characters. I'd have much rather had the time devoted to the variation system go to creating a larger roster than we have.

There is a game called Chaos Code that has something akin to MKX. Before each match, after selecting your char, you have to select which special moves you will use from a given set, you also choose if you want to dash or run. So fo example, if this was MKXI and I want to play Kotal, I would select him, then I would select the run or dash option and finally the special moves, lets say 1 move from blood god, 1 from sun god and 2 from war god. This allows you to build custom variations that are more fitting to your playstyle than the 3 fixed set from MKXL.

Variation system is a great (but by far not new) idea that give casual or competitive players more options provided that it is properly balanced.

Pig Of The Hut said:

Inb4 mk11 has "Kreate-Your-own-variation" mode

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For MKX Kenshi it'd be "Pick though the pile of garbage."

I love the variation system, but it's not working very well... but, i'd like to see the variation system coming back in MK11 with a better balance like a legacy - buff the weak variations and nerf the strong ones.

Example: Liu Kang is back in MK11 with all his things that he has in MK10 but Dualist buffed and Dragon's Fire nerfed.

No. Variations should go. It's hard for players and developers to understand, but makings of a good game doesn't stem from how many different design choices choices there are. Sure a game needs a plethora of content, but it needs to be quality content, instead of stuffing as much as they can into one package. No one ever said, "Hey, let's play Mortal Kombat Armageddon, instead of MK9."

Simplicity rolled into a tight package is what gamers want, and what developers should focus on. This is why games like COD4 will remain a masterpiece shooter, and sequels will always take a backseat. NRS should take the core of what makes MK great, and shove it down our throats. I don't need need 26 fighters (Or whatever MKX has) with 3 variations a piece. I'd rather them balance, and perfect the current roster, and maybe since a bunch of development time was cut out because they don't need to add variations, they could give us a few more fighters instead (... and not use them as DLC, Ed.)

'Simplicity perfected' is what makes games great. Sometimes developers get it, sometimes they don't.

The simplest explanation is that it doesn't make sense that characters lose access to some of their repertoire just because it's a different "variation." It's akin to Sub-Zero in MK9 losing his ground ice, but not gaining another move in its place. Furthermore, the characters feel incomplete within each variation just knowing that if you put the three variations together, you'd have one full character. It's almost like playing KoF, but you don't get the 3 characters in the one fight. The characters lose too much of what makes them fun to play in the first place. I'd rather have 30 good full characters than 70 fragmented ones.

i'd say no variations and more characters but when i imagine mkxl without the variations it just seems so much more boring. especially for character specialists. mkxl has almost no character without a nasty variation so yeah keep em

I say it was fun while it lasted and it made MKXL what it is but it was a balancing nightmare and I really don't think it would be a good idea to implement the system again. If they do I'd be ok, just hope they learn from their mistakes.

Yes, but only two per character. Most of the third variations seem forced.
I think the series should build off the past, so previous innovations should carry through to the next generstion. Plus it's something that is very unique to the fighting game genre.

Pig Of The Hut said:

Inb4 mk11 has "Kreate-Your-own-variation" mode

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inb4 mk11 is a Super Ultra Mega Hyper Crazy Turbo mkx clone with a few more characters, arenas and a different looking x-rays and fatals.

I think the variation system has made the game infinitely more replayable and in general more interesting. It more easily allows for variety with less character slots. If they were to not have a variation system, I'd want a huge roster to compensate.

They don't need it for the game to be fun, but I think the system was a raging success.

better variations, better characters, Papa John's

I like the variation system.. i would prefer two per character next game