How Mortal Kombat 11's Custom Variations Will Work In Competitive Play

[CrimsonShadow]

They backtracked about amplify buttons within several weeks of reveal day, they backtracked about dash speeds two weeks ago, and your argument is "the devs know everything better than the community and we should trust them implicitly"? Really...?

They didn't "backtrack". Ed said at the start that they were testing the inputs but he was in favor of making them universal. And that's what they did.

When you play a build on the show floor (or there's one used for a demo) it's often weeks old anyway, so there's no telling when they actually made the change. This is how game development works.

 

[legion666]

First, they didn't "advertise" anything as the game's standard -- they specifically said that they wouldn't be discussing that.

And second, it's probably because variations were still in flux, and if they showed specific variations the community would go nuts trying to set them in stone and gameplan before they were even ready to go. I'll bet that they assumed that people were mature enough to handle this for the time being, while they played things a lot internally and figured out the best way to divide up the moves. Apparently they guessed wrong, and were screwed either way, as very few people understand "pre-release" and will complain endlessly if things don't end up the way they thought they would from -1 month gameplay.

What I mean is they made an emphasis on kustom variations during kharacter breakdowns on KK. They didn’t have preset variations ready? (Don’t know why that would be the case when they had been revealing ready preset variations for character reveals in MKX like 7-8 months before games release, but ok) then why not just say “the preset variations are still WIP, but the tournaments and ranked will still be the same as MKX”. Why say “we don’t want to talk about it”?! What was such a big secret? That they are doing them last minute this time around ?

 

[pure.Wasted]

They didn't "backtrack". Ed said at the start that they'd tested the inputs but he was in favor of making them universal. And that's what they did.

They brought something out, tested it, and realized they made the wrong decision in trying to change something that wasn't broken. You can play semantics games but the point is they made a bad decision and then later, thanks to community feedback, they made the right decision.

And dash speeds?

 

[LDA_DIgi]

That's not how it works. NRS will set the ruleset for their events and everyone else will follow suit. I accept that you might be new and not know this -- but this is an established thing now for multiple games running.

Lmfao im definitely not new to the competitive mk scene.

But i seriously dont believe its up to nrs or their pro tour to set rules for mk11 tournaments in stone.

I mean i could run an offline major event with good pot bonus $$ and allow kustom variations (a to's decision).

And then its up to the PLAYERS/COMMUNITY if they want to participate or not.

You have to remember lots of players actually WANT TO USE KUSTOM VARIATIONS FOR COMPETITIVE PLAY.

That is fact.

 

[kcd117]

Idk that stuff seems like recycled info... NRS has been so conservative about it, they wouldn't just throw this out like that. I'd expect a huge kombat kast going through the variations and stuff to address this. This discussion has gotten too big to be treated like this.

No official source has said anything about it until now, I just don't see why they wouldn't if this is their final word on it...

 

[xInfra Deadx]

Not surprised at all...on both accounts.

 

[CrimsonShadow]

, but ok) then why not just say “the preset variations are still WIP, but the tournaments and ranked will still be the same as MKX”. ?

Because if something changes before release, then everyone flips their lid and goes, "You said XYZ" and it's a major meltdown. That's why it's smarter to just not talk about it much until things are more set in stone.

When developers say "Wait and see" that's usually the reason why.

 

[NeonGroovyGator]

They already said they plan on releasing new moves. I think it's pretty clear they intend to support this game a bit more heavily than they did with their previous titles. Nothing's stopping them from changing stuff like this after the game's out.
NRS listens to their playerbase. They made a couple of changes for the better with the game since the reveal already. I'm pretty sure that they'll make the best decision with what they have regarding this issue. The core thing is that the tournament scene will obviously have more weight in their opinions when it comes to this, so they need to be a part of this conversation as well.

 

[legion666]

Because if something changes before release, then everyone flips their lid and goes, "You said XYZ" and it's a major meltdown. That's why it's smarter to just not talk about it until things are more set in stone.

When developers say "Wait and see" that's usually the reason why.

But why would anything change?!? They had doubts of not going the MKX root and implementing the kustom variation into competitive play? From what they said in January it doesn’t seem like it was the case.
You say it would cause a major meltdown, but look at what actually happened here. I think this is exactly it)

 

[Marlow]

The worst part is all the countless hours spent coming up with hilarious variation names, now wasted.

 

[Kroaken]

Guys you have to remember that its up to the tournament t.o's and admin to decide on the rulesets for their local, regional, online, and major events.

Nrs provides the tools, but you...the players...create the blue prints and carry it out. Now by "players", i mean tournament players.

Obviously, what im about to say doesnt apply to casual players:

If nrs creates a UI to allow players to quickly set up character's abilities to create a kustom variation, then thats wonderful. And will quickly save the most amount of time. You dont get to edit the name of the variation. It should say "kustom variation" by default (this prevents players from saying rude/lewd/offensive things titling their load out).

Having visial icons for the kustom loadout, would be nice. But its not necessary.

Well for one: not everyone will know or remember every single preset variation in the game with every character. and which moves are tied to it. U dont know or remember if unique strings or amplifiers have been added to it.

And no one expects you too.

Thats a lot to remember from over 24 characters in the game.

You play and adapt on the fly. If you did that in mkx, you surely can do it in mk11.

So the difference is, with kustom variations....you see right there what your opponent equipped...its fresh in your mind. You'll know what to prepare for.

I dont see the issue here. And you treat it just like the preset variations, you adapt on the fly.

If there isn't a UI present in the character select screen to create kustom variations:

Then that would make things take a lil extra time.

To control this the t.o gives players 20 seconds to kreate their kustom variation (only one, may counter pick with preset variation. But that means you CANNOT go back to make another kustom variation). They should also use this time to configure their controller as well and do a quick button check.

And then they're off to start the match.

But anyways, the point of my post:

Is that it's ultimately up to the tournament t.os if kustom variations are used or not in competitive play.

Any tournament i run here in racine, wi or at any major tournament that im apart of or will play in...WILL ALLOW kustom variations UNTIL THEY ARE PROVEN BROKEN/UNFAIR/UNJUST for competitive play.

I dont see any negatives in using kustom variations, other than time contraints. If we can minimize that with appropriate rules and cooperation from the players. Then everyone will win and things will go smoothly

I have to slightly disagree on it not being up in the hands of NRS. If they decide not to create the character select screen UI for kustom variations, then they do become too cumbersome for reasonable tournament play. I was hoping they would, ofc. But here we are.

 

[Afumba]

This is really unfortunate. However, whichever way they decide to go with it, ranked play MUST mimic the tournament setting. If ranked allows custom and tournaments do not this game will die in record time. Too many online warriors will be ostracized by not having a reliable way to train.

Or they could just make two ranked modes... one for fixed variation and one for customs variations with banned augments.

 

[Edmund]

This is really, really, really disappointing. It wouldn't have been hard to have in the UI on the character select screen.

Of the custom variations, I HARDLY chose the presets because I couldn't mix and match what I wanted.

Please NRS change this. I don't want to have to go into player matches and have gear matter with my custom variations, and tournament players should have variety when the game is already slower paced to watch.

 

[Circus]

75% of 2,619 = 1,964 people

 

[aldazo]

Big mistake from NRS, trying to catter to those so called "competitive" players that do not even like the game as it is, that try (and now got) to ban the freedom to choose your specials and next will try to ban interactables and God knows what else. Smh.

 

[aldazo]

... Most of the people complaining about will not travel anyways.

And how many do you think will travel, 200? 300? and how many will travel after the first 6 months, 100? 150? and dont bring evo that is a once in a year tournament. I'm talking about weekly, monthly touneys. and now because of so few people the ranked matches got butched. Smh. Btw, the game sales will surpass the 3 million mark, that's for sure.

Edit: And now I'm reading this thread and even people that used to travel or want to travel are dissapointed, smh.

 

[Kratilim]

Keep up this buzz ppl! Let NRS know!! That way we'll get nrs to reconsider.

 

[LDA_DIgi]

I have to slightly disagree on it not being up in the hands of NRS. If they decide not to create the character select screen UI for kustom variations, then they do become too cumbersome for reasonable tournament play. I was hoping they would, ofc. But here we are.

I also hope they create the UI in character select to quickly make/adjust kustom variations.

But if its not there, then that doesnt mean we still cant implement them.

It shouldnt take more than 20 seconds to quickly make a kustom variation (changing abilities only) and configuring your buttons.

And then midset, there should be a rule implemented that suggest that you cannot go back and make another kustom variation. You get 1 per set. If u have to counter pick, you use a preset variation.

 

[DDustiNN]

Big mistake from NRS, trying to catter to those so called "competitive" players that do not even like the game as it is, that try (and now got) to ban the freedom to choose your specials and next will try to ban interactables and God knows what else. Smh.

Even the real competitive players want custom variations. Take note, @Dizzy and @16 Bit and help us out here!

 

[DDustiNN]

I also hope they create the UI in character select to quickly make/adjust kustom variations.

But if its not there, then that doesnt mean we still cant implement them.

It shouldnt take more than 20 seconds to quickly make a kustom variation (changing abilities only) and configuring your buttons.

And then midset, there should be a rule implemented that suggest that you cannot go back and make another kustom variation. You get 1 per set. If u have to counter pick, you use a preset variation.

Even if they don’t implement a character select screen UI, it’s actually pretty fast. Since our variations didn’t save in the beta, I became extremely fast at quickly setting up my characters to how I had them the day before. Skins and gear and all. Once you know what you like, it is super fast and easy.

 

[DDustiNN]

@tylerlansdown not sure if you hang out here anymore, but here’s a good chance to manage the community’s feedback!

 

[Wrenchfarm]

Yeah, I don't like to jump on big outrage swells, but this is the wrong call. Custom variations are dope and with a specialized tourney UI (no fancy names, no messing around with your costume, just pick your three moves and go) it could be quick and non-disruptive in a tournament setting.

I get that they want to keep things relatively predictable and standard for tournaments, but if that was the case they should have never shown us this system. I'll always feel like I'm running a second rate version of the character if I know I could play with a more useful set of moves in the casual mode.

I mean, I played as Jade almost all beta. None of her default presets covered the spread for me. I wanted the extra strings, the low projectile, and the air glaive. If I was locked into choosing the defaults, I would have had to either use a variant without the strings and with the (IMO) less useful upward projectile, or a variant with the extra strings and nothing else I wanted. Lame.

I hope they reconsider.

 

[Trini_Bwoi]

The weird thing is they've designed this entire slot system...just for casual play...that they themselves are now constrained by when creating competitive presets. If you look at some of the MKX variations, like Ronin Takeda, dude gets like 4 new special moves and new combos. That would be way more than 3 "slots". There are conflicting design decisions at play here.

 

[DDustiNN]

Yeah, I don't like to jump on big outrage swells, but this is the wrong call. Custom variations are dope and with a specialized tourney UI (no fancy names, no messing around with your costume, just pick your three moves and go) it could be quick and non-disruptive in a tournament setting.

I get that they want to keep things relatively predictable and standard for tournaments, but if that was the case they should have never shown us this system. I'll always feel like I'm running a second rate version of the character if I know I could play with a more useful set of moves in the casual mode.

I mean, I played as Jade almost all beta. None of her default presets covered the spread for me. I wanted the extra strings, the low projectile, and the air glaive. If I was locked into choosing the defaults, I would have had to either use a variant without the strings and with the (IMO) less useful upward projectile, or a variant with the extra strings and nothing else I wanted. Lame.

I hope they reconsider.

Exactly the same for me. I liked the air glaive, teleport, and extra strings. None of the presets fully satisfied me.

Perfect example! Different strokes for different folks, yet none of the presets worked for either of us.

 

[Rathalos]

The weird thing is they've designed this entire slot system...just for casual play...that they themselves are now constrained by when creating competitive presets. If you look at some of the MKX variations, like Ronin Takeda, dude gets like 4 new special moves and new combos. That would be way more than 3 "slots". There are conflicting design decisions at play here.

Ya, the way they are designed, they are very barebones, and almost kinda pointless.

Id rather they just have one base character for ranked and tourney play if this is the route they really want to go.