About leaks, do they suck?

[Vslayer]

Two of my favourite FGC YouTubers made really similar videos and it got me thinking about the impact of leaks. The issue that I want to bring up is that these guys are flown to events, most of us scrubs only have the internet to experience these things and when you are prominent members of this community, you're a YouTuber who will bring good press to these games, you have to be a bit biased. And that's fine, I get it, they have to think about their career and I respect that. I'm not saying both these guys aren't genuine in their reviews of games, for the most part, I feel Max is humble and he will tell it like it is, but there is still a bias there and their situation isn't like most of our situation.

However, the majority of people are excited when leaks pop up because honestly, NRS has done a really crap job of keeping us hyped for their game. It's been almost 2 months and we've only seen a handful of officially released characters apart from what they showed at the reveal event.

It doesn't denigrate all the work NRS has done to create the game and the characters, we're just as excited and we'll even be MORE excited when we see gameplay trailers. Sure, it throws a wrench in their reveal plan but seriously, that's on them. Choosing mobile kasts over showing characters from your upcoming game is and will always be a mistake and it will frustrate fans even if we want to be patient, the reality is their schedule was less than optimal.

So, if it gets people hyped about an upcoming game, then I say leaks are great for us peasants.

What are your thoughts about this?

 

[Cassie Cyrus]

I love leaks, I just don't want story-mode leaks, they suck, I can't hold myself from watching those leaks when they are released, but after watching them, I destroy the story mode even more for myself.

I also don't care for ANY youtube-millionaire-spoiled-brat, so what they think I don't care. I like K & M a lot, but I don't care for their youtube behavior and opinions.

I do however laugh a bit in my fist about these leaks, now I know that Boon again choose not to put Rain into this game, after all that bullshit that is MKX.

 

[Slymind]

From an ethical standpoint absolutely.

Other than that it's relative from person to person. If you are dying for new information it's good, if you wanna stay in the dark and be suprised, it's bad because the chance you will end up spoiled against your will is significantly higher.

Leak or no leak, i'm hype either way so, whatever.

 

[Krankk]

Leaks are certainly terrible for the companies. It's their responsibility to keep the information sealed away. And if something still gets leaked, it messes up their plans big time.
And I think that the biggest issues are collaboration deals between the developer / publisher and other outlets. IGN for example had time limited exclusive claim rights to the Johnny Cage trailer. Imagine Gamespot gets to reveal another unrevealed secret character? Oh, will it be Noob Saibot? Or Cetrion, a character we should know nothing off? We already know all the characters. We will still watch the trailer and give Gamespot exposure, but there will still be slightly less hype. And that lessens the deals NRS and Gamespot seal.

As a consumer, I love leaks. Especially when the reveals are handled as bad as NRS does it. Before every reveal they pretty much tell you who it will be with painfully obvious "hints". That itself kills the hype right there. They leak their own shit. And then you get a mobile stream, which only 6 people care about. They reveal nothing for a whole week, but then 2 weeks before the game launches, you get a story trailer which shows 10 characters you haven't seen at all. Again, total hype killers.

And also look at how much great and solid discussion we got from the leaks. The one thread has like 1000 posts. Without such a topic we have to scratch the bottom of the something something to keep the discussion going.

 

[Vslayer]

From an ethical standpoint absolutely.

Other than that it's relative from person to person. If you are dying for new information it's good, if you wanna stay in the dark and be suprised, it's bad because the chance you will end up spoiled against your will is significantly higher.

Leak or no leak, i'm hype either way so, whatever.

Yeah and I feel like if you want to avoid leaks you just stay off social media for a few days and not click on the threads here about the leaks themselves. I mean, avoiding them isn't that hard.

 

[_CHINOCUDEIRO_]

This leaks increase the interest in MK11 of the community WAY more than kombatkast for example.
More interest---->more preorders.....I don´t think NRS has problems with that, so..... why "leaks sucks"

 

[kabelfritz]

leaks do not suck, they discharge.

 

[theotherguy]

We already know all the characters. We will still watch the trailer and give Gamespot exposure, but there will still be slightly less hype.

That's some really off logic right there.

Haven't people been saying they should have released the full roster by now? How is NRS releasing the full roster and killing hype any different to a leaked roster killing hype?!

It's the same shit, only one is official. Doesn't change the outcome of hype killing.

 

[RothVI]

I think this leak is unfortunate for NRS, but to be fair it isn't the worst thing that could've happened. There are still things we don't know about the game, like the secret mode they blacked out, gameplay, fatalities, costumes, etc. of all the characters that are shown. We've only seen the faces of the new characters, so there's still room to be surprised.

 

[xXRagingFlameXx]

I've been looking at it like this:

The game comes out April 23rd (Day before my bday hehe) I'm hype for that day. I'm hype to get my hands on it. Nothing at all is going to change the fact. Whether or not stuff got leaked or they still only show one trailer a week and keep a ton of stuff hidden, I am hyped to get the game in my hands and experience it.

However...

The lead up to that day has been the dullest and most painstakingly boring experience ever. The lead-up was not hype at all. The hype was up and down the whole time.

Reveal Event: HYPE

The time between the Reveal Event and Kabal Reveal: Not too bad, we had a lot of gameplay from the Reveal Event and thanks to Youtubers like K&M had plenty to learn.

Kabal Reveal: HYPE

Time between Kabal Reveal and Jade Reveal: Boring

Jade Reveal: HYPE

Time Between Jade Reveal and Mobile Kombat Kast: Boring

Mobile Kombat Kast: Super Boring

Time Between Mobile Kombat Kast and Johnny Cage Reveal: Intensely Boring

Johnny Cage Reveal: HYPE

Time between Johnny Cage Reveal and Leak: Boring

Leak: SUPER HYPE!

Does that make sense? It's constantly up and down. The highs are really high, but the lows...damn. The lows are too low and the lows last way too long. This could have all been avoided with two reveals a week from the jump, but they decided not to do that. Two reveals spread across a week would've given us plenty to talk about, plenty to look at, and would have bridged that boring ass gap between Kombat Kasts. Which I don't find terrible, just...boring. The trailers are hype (Which, we aren't even gonna talk about how they let us think there were gonna be two reveals when in reality it was just Johnny being revealed. That was kinda the last straw with me. I had thought the pace was finally ramping up, but it wasn't. They just can't communicate for shit.)

After the Johnny hype died down....the leak happened. I've gotten more hyped from the leak than anything NRS did in the last month, which is sad. Cause that just means they aren't doing their job right. The fact that the leak STILL has me hyped is what's major. Looking at all of these characters, unfinished or not, the thought of their moves, personalities, voices, skins/gear, fatalities, all of that is getting me as hyped as ever. I got what I wanted, which was to know who was in the game. Seeing their faces is just a bonus lol.

I feel bad for NRS to a certain degree. But, not so much that I wish the leak didn't happen. If it hadn't, I'd be pulling my hair out of my head due to boredom. I now have something to look forward to. I'm still pre-ordering the game, and I'm still hopefully gonna check out the Beta and maybe even the Stress Test if I get in. I'm more ready for this game than ever.

Before I was like: "I really just need a reason to keep caring..."

Now I'm like: "Holy shit, I can't wait to see what this character looks like in-game and what they have to offer."

I'm actually looking forward to seeing more instead of just hoping for something good to come our way.

This should've been the plan all along, and hopefully, they consider this since every roster of every single one of their games has leaked. Just, release the damn names. Nobody's gonna need to leak anything if you simply say who's in it. Maybe post the select screen to give fans a taste. Not this slow burn shit. You can still have secret characters, but let us know the rest of the cast early on.

And instead of Kombat Kasts give us a 10-minute K&M video discussing each character in-depth. I've been saying this all along. I feel like I get more information from a 10-minute Ketchup & Mustard video than an hour-long live stream. It's certainly a better demonstration of what the characters are capable of.

Overall: Leaks don't suck to me. But, that's simply because I'm a consumer. I'm sure the people who make the game feel shitty. But the people who decide when shit gets revealed need to reavaluate their lives or get fired because the way their rollout is looking is horrible.

After the Reveal Event there should have been a steady reveal of two characters a week leading up to the game. Instead they are clearly decided to go once a week until the last couple of months and then cramming a bunch of reveals into the final stretch. Which is good for the final month or so, but what about prior? I mean, come on. By the time we reached that final stretch most of us would've died of boredom.

It's not like everything leaked and I'm sure as we get closer to the reveal we're going to end up seeing another leak. (Because don't they send out physical copies to stores? I'm sure we're bound to get another leak from that. Probably story stuff. Which is why I plan to go silent before the game comes out. But I'm positive this happened with MKX)

I'm still looking forward to the game and everything it has to offer though. I only see story leaks as hype killers, cause I'm 90% in for the story.

 

[CrimsonShadow]

I think that leaks are unfortunate for companies.. But I’m also against the double standard of people eagerly consuming leak info and then rushing to post a moral crusade against leaks.

 

[Law Hero]

If we're talking specifically about fighting game rosters, I really like the leaks, especially ones that are somewhat dubious. If I'm being completely honest, hiding the roster until the last minute doesn't make me hype, it makes me just anxious. I want to be excited for my favorite characters. I want to theory fight, think of combos, and daydream about customizing them. If I don't know if they're in, instead of doing that, my thoughts are mostly, "well, I won't get excited until they're shown because then I'll just be extra disappointed when they're deconfirmed."

Knowing the roster (or most of it) does not diminish the hype for character reveals/trailers either for me. For example, I knew with 100% certainty that Johnny Cage would be in, and was not excited, but his trailer was so good I watched it 10x over and it made me desperately want to play the game. To me, being hyped for more gameplay is much more fun than waiting in this confirm-or-deconfirm limbo for months. Showing the incomplete/in-progress select screen is great too because there's tons of talk surrounding these blurry images, and people are having plenty of fun speculating.

If this was done on purpose by NRS, it's genius. If it's not, I feel bad for any employees (other than the leaker) that suffer; however, in the end, the leak has most certainly renewed my excitement for this game, and has not diminished my desire for more trailers, kombat kasts, or news.

 

[Raider]

Honestly MK11 is not the first or last game this happened to, leaks happen all the time, they are very common thing in this industry, especially in last few years. Leaks ruin that surprise and "wow" factor, that's for sure. But it's not the end of the world.

 

[Braindead]

leaks do not suck, they discharge.

It's actually both, depending on the perspective.

 

[Deleted member 59910]

Yes and no.
Yes cause an artist will never like to have his art judged before finished. And pictures from development monitors? I would be very sad if a work partner had betrayed me.

No cause I know a lot of people who pre-ordered after the leak. My hype is very high right now and everybody is talking about MK.

The important thing: as fans, we have to show support. I saw a lot of people complaining about Kotal stance, Rain not making the cut and other things. Bro, a leak isn’t supposed to be shown to you! A lot of fans (they’re not real fans) are babies crying about their favorite and acting disrespectful. Ed Boon tweeted about music and a disgusting person replied with the leaked roster picture. C’mon, are you serious?

 

[BarakaTile]

Depends on the person.

Personally I don't care about Leaks happening because it doesn't destroy my hype for a fighting game. I think this is a better starting roster than MKX. Ain't got Reptile but I can still hope for him in a possible Season 2.

Content Creators do care because that messes with their content (Max) and some even personally know the guys at NRS (Mustard) and they're showing support and sympathy.

I imagine NRS get annoyed by them since it screws with their reveal schedule and honestly I do feel bad for them because who wants to read a bunch of overemotional twitter users go "FUCK YOUR ROSTER PUT LI MEI, FUJIN AND SINDEL IN THE GAME AHHHHHHHHH!!!!" every day after said leak?

 

[Mind Flex]

I expect every NRS roster to get leaked early and I eagerly anticipate that day every time. Sucks for the studio but its not like it will go away.

As a fan, Im glad I can start the process of accepting that Smoke and others arent on the base roster and shift to looking forward to trying others.

 

[theotherguy]

If it turns out it was an inside job, hopefully they deal with the guy appropriately.

And then on the next KK start off by saying due to the leak there won't be a stream KK, cut the stream then restart it 30mins later. Just to screw around with those people that think that the leak is a big FU to NRS and their marketing decisions.

Time between Kabal Reveal and Jade Reveal: Boring
Time Between Jade Reveal and Mobile Kombat Kast: Boring
Mobile Kombat Kast: Super Boring

Surely you've got something to keep you occupied during those "boring" weeks? it may not be MK related, but yeah...

the leak has most certainly renewed my excitement for this game,

Yes, but were you buying the game before the leak? Yes? well then it makes no difference. WB is still getting your money, which is what they wanted. As much as they want you to be excited for the game, they want your money more... and if you were buying it anyway then your excitement level is irrelevant.

All the leaks do is ruin the effort the guys put into making the game and marketing it.

Do you think they wanted you to see Kano's model in a blurry photo, hell no! They'd want you to see it in all it's HD glory in their planned reveal with gameplay.

 

[Lord Snotty]

Yes for them, no for me.

 

[stokedAF]

The only thing that sucks to me is that the unlockable was spoiled. But it’s mah boy Shang so I’m not even mad. That makes me more hyped especially if it’s movie Shang.

You could show every character on the select screen and not “show them”. I’m against dishonest people ruining shit but I disagree that showing the roster is killing hype.

I agree that NRS should roll out the information at their own pace but certain things like roster will only create more hype. That roster looked great and it was half assed with characters missing details or missing pictures entirely lol. There is no reason to be missing an official polished select screen at this time imo. With it, those leaks wouldn’t have been as impactful and we are still curious about the characters.

If the presentation for the rest is like Johnny cage then it’s all unpredictable and hype inducing. For example, seeing generic Johnny cage on the select screen with no context is different than seeing that trailer and breakdown. The cage trailer had the same reaction as Baraka and he was already leaked. I like cage anyway but that is easily the best he has ever looked and played and we never would have known by looking at the select screen.

I’m more hyped about the kollector goblin than I was before. He looks awesome and he’s probably even better. So yeah, old and new characters are not de-hyped by knowing they’re in.

TLDR: Leakers suck, knowing the roster doesn’t.

 

[SaSSolino]

I don't like how they reveal characters personally, so I welcome leaks for sure.

 

[SaltShaker]

I'm gonna just say it. Not going to blame anyone as no one knows what goes on behind the scenes. However, the leaks did them a favor, as the hype build up to April 23rd has been terrible, to put it mildly.

It's March 2nd, and at this stage we should know much more about the game than we already do. There's no defending that unless your response is "they can do whatever they want", which is obvious, but irrelevant. The leaks only revealed the roster, literally only the roster, and look how much hype it brought the last two days. If we were not getting trolled by the company half the time and having them keep regular information locked up behind Fort Knox the leaks wouldn't have been so hype. For them to announce the game so late, which should have lead to the most hype lead up to date, it has been tanking. Inj1, MKX, and Inj2 had vastly superior hype trains pre-release.

In short, the leaks were the most hype in NRS history because the hype train has been the worst and most annoying in NRS history. I'm sure we'll get a ton of info soon as the game approaches, and they'll still sell around the same expected units, but there's no getting back the lost time.

 

[GLoRToR]

Two of my favourite FGC YouTubers made really similar videos and it got me thinking about the impact of leaks. The issue that I want to bring up is that these guys are flown to events, most of us scrubs only have the internet to experience these things and when you are prominent members of this community, you're a YouTuber who will bring good press to these games, you have to be a bit biased. And that's fine, I get it, they have to think about their career and I respect that. I'm not saying both these guys aren't genuine in their reviews of games, for the most part, I feel Max is humble and he will tell it like it is, but there is still a bias there and their situation isn't like most of our situation.

However, the majority of people are excited when leaks pop up because honestly, NRS has done a really crap job of keeping us hyped for their game. It's been almost 2 months and we've only seen a handful of officially released characters apart from what they showed at the reveal event.

It doesn't denigrate all the work NRS has done to create the game and the characters, we're just as excited and we'll even be MORE excited when we see gameplay trailers. Sure, it throws a wrench in their reveal plan but seriously, that's on them. Choosing mobile kasts over showing characters from your upcoming game is and will always be a mistake and it will frustrate fans even if we want to be patient, the reality is their schedule was less than optimal.

So, if it gets people hyped about an upcoming game, then I say leaks are great for us peasants.

What are your thoughts about this?

Leaks do not suck.
The way NRS communicates with their customers is what sucks.

 

[Gooberking]

On the whole, and in principle it's hard to say they are ok. There is a desired marketing strategy that gets blown up. With that said it's also hard to say this doesn't have some upsides and a marketing strategy isn't trying to ultimately manipulate people.

With as hard as it is to keep anything in the world a secret for long, they were really pushing their luck on this one. They managed to keep the game a secret up to four months before it comes out which is pretty crazy.

They have controlled the information surprisingly well but also kind of created too much pressure. The leak was kind of like the volcano erupting. I can appreciate the attempt, but there is a limit to how much you can expect people to handle the waiting.

It was a bit like putting out all you Christmas presents under the tree in August and saying nobody touch these. Well someone opened a bunch of stuff and the children went nuts. It wasn't the plan but people seem pretty happy.

That is, unless someone didn't like the roster, in which case they would have waited longer to be disappointed anyway.

That all is probably more a criticism of the strategy that got blown up than it is about if it's wrong to leak, but people still seem pretty excited, and like the effect wasn't really negative in this case. Not on our side of the fence anyway.

 

[mr_papageorgio__]

love leaks. as long as the story doesn't get spoiled it's all good. end of the day you dont have to look at them if it bothers you so much. didn't captain planet say the choice is yours?