After 20 pages, no one has been realistic about the situation NRS is in. So I'll say it:
Everyone has forgotten that it makes the most sense for NRS to balance games for the majority of the players that play them.
It's an issue that you can't get around, no matter how you try; what sense does it make for NRS to take a character that's not a problem in the hands of 99% of players, and make him worse. Obviously as competitively-minded players we're focused on tools that the top 1% of players can use effectively; but in reality, if a character like Kano was made better than he is, he'd completely dominate online and most matches with players of a regular skill level.
People saying stuff like 'get rid of armor' are forgetting that most of the couple million players that bought this game still have problems fighting spamming Sindels, Noobs, and Kitanas.. This is part of the reason armor was introduced, as it gives people that are not experts at making their way through 'cheap' tactics a way to fight back.
So, this is a problem that we still need some discussion around: how to make a consumer-friendly game that is still reasonable in competitive play. It's not as easy as people make it out to be.
