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MK11 Will Launch With 2 Variations Per Character For Competitive Play.

Gamer68

Fujin!
Seeing as Casual doesn't actually have any stat boosts like we thought, I'm kinda okay with this now. Don't get me wrong, I would prefer to have custom variations in Ranked, but at least we will have a way to play with them online without any stats shenanigans.

I just hope that:
  1. More competitive variations actually come out at a decent rate. I don't want to wait, say, 3 months after the game is out just to get a loadout that has moves that are ALREADY IN THE GAME.
  2. When they say they will "experiment with custom variations being available in Ranked", they actually mean it. Like give us status updates on whether or not it's going to happen, don't just expect us to forget about it if it isn't going to happen.
 

MadPropz101

"I still got it...but not much of it"
You’ll just never be happy.

Player matches allow custom variations and no augments or cheese. Ranked and tournament play will see variations added as time progresses. They are working on making custom variations competitively valid.

You and so many people crying about the variations and here NRS is doing right by everyone and you’re still crying. Sums up most of the critics.
I will be happy once they allow custom variations for tournaments. Fuck player match, if custom variations aren't usable in tournaments they're straight up useless.
 

omooba

fear the moobs
I think they are just doing this for balance on day one and eventually intergrating custom later on after everything is as balanced as it can be.
I don't think only having 2 variations is a good idea though. 1 man's best preset is another man's worst.

Not trying to judge a book by its cover but they say a picture is worth a thousand words. I think this could get very sloppy and underwhelming if it's only 2 variations per character and I hope it's fixed soon. Here's hoping NRS knows how to pair the right moves together!
i think this is the most idioms i've seen in a tym comment
 

Xelz

Go over there!
NRS deserves credit for good, clear communication today. Personally I like what they said. Sure, 2 presets per character is less than I wanted, but at least it’ll be consistent across the cast rather than some having 2 and some having more like was stated in the GameInformer article.

And they’re responding to the community which has voted in multiple media channels in favor of custom variations in ranked (plus support from pros, too). Adding custom variations to ranked later makes sense since NRS can see how the custom meta evolves in unranked first and then make balance adjustments before unleashing custom in tournaments. It would’ve been awesome if it was balanced before launch, but the unranked community will discover broken builds faster than an internal QA team ever could. Unranked will serve as a good beta for custom balance.
 

NothingPersonal

Are you not entertained!?
Another aspect why this is bad is that by customization you can make at least 6 different variations of a character who has at least 5 one slot moves. But the characters we've seen have more than that, so, imagine you watch the tournament where players have to choose one of two, when you could actually choose from 6 or more combinations. Just looks wrong and underwhelming imo.
 

NothingPersonal

Are you not entertained!?
2 variations only!?

What in the unholy buttfuck is that?!?? Can't wait for the duds of variations they come up with for characters.

Well, here's hoping that misery blade isn't in one of scorpions 2 just to screw him over. lol
Misery blade will be a two slotter, just watch.
 

Gofer_MK

Apprentice
Good example of how having more is not always great. MK is getting to complicated with the loadouts, slots, additional moves. There was a balance issue having 3 variations in MKX, so I am glad they are trimming it down to 2 var per character, and it would be enough for me. But unfortunately, they are copying INJ2 with the loadouts, which are limiting set variations. NRS put themselves in a difficult position. For me it should look like 2 variations, no space limit, putting in special moves as they fit. Basicly what MKX did but only 2 var per character, that would ensure better balance.
 

The Ultimate

aka CommandThrower
I'll be very interested to see what NRS ends up picking for the two competitive variations per character--to see what they think this character or that character needs.


While I'd like custom variations, I really think NRS needs to implement a way to pick the moves via the character select screen. Without that, I don't see customs being allowed in official tournaments.
 

Krankk

Smoke & Noob & Rain
That seems very little, especially if they try to go for a specific theme with a variation... Like for example a cloning-zoning Noob Saibot or a Dynamite Erron Black. You end up with a character, who is forced into a specific playstyle.
And while that isn't even an issue on its own, it becomes an issue, if the selected special moves end up being bad and don't allow for competitive matches all around.
You end up thinking to yourself that another move could make that playstyle much more viable. You end up blaming the devs for not knowing what they're doing by force-feeding you with subpar options.
 

LaidbackOne

Scrubby nice guy
Every tourney i run will allow kustom variations based on the format i mentioned earlier:


There is absolutely NO REASON NOT TO INCLUDE KUSTOM VARIATIONS INTO KOMPETITIVE PLAY.

So as a community we need to make a stand and include them in our own way that benefits everyone and that saves as much time as possible.

So this is my start with my local community.

#justdoitMk11kustomvariationsmovement
YEAH you probably know if there’s no reason to include custom variations better than the game’s designers. Fool
 

kabelfritz

Master


Announced on the Kombat Kast today, it seems there will only be 2 variations to start with for competitive play.

This pretty much ensures they will pick what they believe is the best possible.

They also mention that throughout the lifespan of MK11 that they will be adding more variations.

Additionally, they are also looking into fully kustomizable variations for the future of competitive play.
what they do is the perfect approach right now, even though only 2 variations seems a bit too short
 

LawAbidingCitizen

Bomb Setups & Ball Rolls(Mileena/Cyrax)
Custom variations was the selling point of MK11 that and customization of almost everything. There would be no point in having custom if it wasn't allowed in ranked.

I do think 2 is underwhelming when we could have had 3-5 strategically placed based on playstyles: Rushdown, Zoning, Rushdown mix, Zoning Mix and Balanced. However after announcement of it I do think this could be the best way to go about it only having two on day one before balance fixes are implamented. Less shit to sift through and fix. Later on down the road maybe 3-5 months from day1 we will have custom variations in ranked/tournament.

Have we had any word on KOTH being in MK11 or not? I remember just casual Tag Kombat.
 

Trini_Bwoi

Kombatant
Maybe this is a good strategy overall?

Run with presets for competitive, to start with better balance out of the box. Let kustom variations loose in player matches where balance is less important. We all agree that balancing kustom variations would be a monumental task, so player matches can act as crowdsourced balance testing.

I doubt NRS will leave player matches as a wild west of imbalance, since it will be the most popular mode, so they continuously balance it while adding more competitive presets. Once player matches is adequately balanced, they turn on kustom variations for competitive modes with a UI for tournaments.

I mean, don't get your hopes up but maybe kustom variations could be this game's rollback netkode.
 

DDustiNN

MK11 Pocket Guide: Koming Soon to the App Store
Until they make customisable variations available for ranked, I'm just not gonna play that mode. Simple as that.
Yep, same here. Custom abilities with no augments... that’s what I’ve been clamoring for since the Injustice 2 beta. So if I finally get that with Kasual Matches in MK11, guess that’s what I’ll be playing exclusively.