I respect you a lot M2Dave but you must concede there is cause for the whiplash, before this Tekken talk they were talking about increasing defensive play. I agree there exists a segment of doomers but you are making a straw man argument by saying it’s ONLY fickle people who hated Tekken 7 for being defensive who are currently complaining about Tekken 8.
A lot of people, even those who get their paychecks from commenting the Tekken world Tour, have expressed weariness about what was shown.
I enjoy the game for what it’s worth, but it is in my opinion myopic to say only haters are hating and it’s not the fact that the game is changing fundamentally in a way that displeases many legacy players.
People in the community, whether they are profiting from Tekken or not, ought to wait and play the updated version of the game before arriving to conclusions.
Besides, Tekken has always favored defensive gameplay styles. As recently as Tekken 7, the meta involved selecting an infinite stage and backdashing until the cows come home. Obviously, Harada and his team analyzed this noninteractive gameplay and implemented adjustments accordingly.
Remember that I am the guy who spammed nothing but projectiles and who "punished" moves with a backdash in order to place top 8 at EVO 2012. I am also the guy who complains about the poor balance between offense/rush down and defense/zoning in Mortal Kombat 1. When I tell you that Tekken needed an offensive meta shift, I am not being a "rush down fool". I am being realistic.
Speaking of offense, I question whether Tekken 8 is as offensive as the critics claim. As a Mortal Kombat 1 player, I had to block pre-patch Kenshi for 15 seconds. Do not get me started on Mortal Kombat X.
If (the current version of) Dragunov is too broken for you, go play Fortnite, poker, chess, etc.
You lack the mental fortitude to play Tekken 8 (and most other good fighting games).
. i guess you just gotta pick an approach and bet on it.