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Thoughts on NRS balance and design philosophy

I remember people thinking Geras was really strong, and an obvious top tier, but not broken. At least no more so than when any new fighting game launches and people obsess over 1-3 characters day 1.
I mean tier discussions are impossible as is since everyone's got their own personal definitions, and youtube/twitter never helped.

I always felt a decent system for useful discussion assumes that S is "literally game warping, major problem for the game" level stuff, so S+ to me is something like ST Akuma where if you didn't ban him a majority of the top 8's would just be akuma and entire characters would be unpickable because of multiple 10-0/9-1 matchups while MK9 Kabal is probably S- in that you can pick other characters but it often feels like that was a mistake. Inj probably had a few legit S's but I'd mostly lost interest in it by the time things like Zod and MM hit.

A game with an S tier, to me, has a MAJOR balance issue that is seriously harming competitive play. A+ is someone on that line, where maybe they aren't winning everything but they make up waaaay too much of the top 8's.

Either way doesn't matter because instead S has become "this character is really good" not "this character literally warps the game" because that's the kind of clickbait you put on your tierlist to get the most views, and being a little more positive, probably because newer players haven't palyed games with classic S tier monsters. They've played games with lopsided casts (lots of F tier unplayable stuff), but having one/two characters like MKT Noob/Rain isn't something most companies fuck up these days (shout out to for honor for the "who the fuck thought this would work" nostalgia).
 
They said it'd be their longest supported game to date, and it was. Support was actually a lot longer than, say, Mortal Kombat XL, and I suspect it was meant to go on for longer but that got messed up with the pandemic.

Having said that, it didn't go for as long as many of us expected.

Expectations and reality are often different things.
Ofcourse it's an expectation. Most of the complaints about the game stem from expectations.

Let's say that MKXL was supported for 24 months. If they came out and said that MK11 would be their longest supported game and that support lasted 25 months they would be right. But is that really what everyone would expect? I don't think so. And this is where I fault them even as someone who loves the game.

I'm pretty sure covid had something to do with it but they didn't say any of that in their end of support message. We are left to assume. Which is why I won't cut them some slack when it comes to that issue. Especially when we have seen what long support means from other fighters.

I'll defend the game when it comes to people over exaggerating or flat out lying on it but this wasn't a perfect game. And what makes me salty about it is it had the potential.
 
Ofcourse it's an expectation. Most of the complaints about the game stem from expectations.

Let's say that MKXL was supported for 24 months. If they came out and said that MK11 would be their longest supported game and that support lasted 25 months they would be right. But is that really what everyone would expect? I don't think so. And this is where I fault them even as someone who loves the game.

I'm pretty sure covid had something to do with it but they didn't say any of that in their end of support message. We are left to assume. Which is why I won't cut them some slack when it comes to that issue. Especially when we have seen what long support means from other fighters.

I'll defend the game when it comes to people over exaggerating or flat out lying on it but this wasn't a perfect game. And what makes me salty about it is it had the potential.
Absolutely, but there's a point where expectations are not realistic. I've seen enough people posting the game would be supported for half a decade plus, which was never going to realistically happen.

I was expecting about three years of support for Mortal Kombat 11, with content support generally ending later in 2021. Instead, we had support end formally about a third of the way through 2021. I also do believe more content was planned.

Mortal Kombat XL was actually supported for about 18 months. It launched in April 2015 and the final patch, as I recall, was October 2016. Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate was supported for 25 months if my count is right. The game launched late April 2019 and we got the final patch in May 2021 (correct me if I'm wrong). That's over 33% longer than the previous Mortal Kombat game.

For Mortal Kombat XL, we got the following post launch content:

  • Roll back net code
  • 8 x DLC Characters
  • 1 x Stage
  • 1 x Finisher (Stage Fatalities)
  • Misc Skin Packs
For Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate, we got:

  • The modern franchises first ever story expansion
  • Kombat League
  • 12 x DLC characters
  • 3 x Stages
  • 2 x Finishers (Stage Fatalities and Friendships)
  • Misc Skin Packs, Skins, and Gear
Again, whether you're happy about it or not, they did do more and for longer, in-spite of the pandemic.
 

Wrenchfarm

Lexcorp Proprietary Technologies
Appreciate the responses everyone. Again, I'm not trying to bag on MK11 specifically, just noting what I've observed throughout NRS games.

I'm not even arguing that they should change anything (clearly the NRS formula is working for them, they outsell the competition by an order of magnitude and carry enough cultural weight to sell t-shirts and action figures of their characters), I'm just curious about the logic behind their choices.

I think MK11's approach towards balance weirdly highlighted some of these issues. A common (and justified) complaint around here is that the game was "flattened" towards making all the characters feel kinda samey leading to a lack of expression. Part of that was throwing in a lot of universal mechanics, like meter regen, FBs all being activated the same and tied to health with the same armor activating on the same frame, KBs, short hops for each character, wake up U3s and U4s instead of distinct invincible reversals, etc.

So everyone works off the same tools. Fine, sure, that's one way to make a game balanced (even if it does seem a little boring). But then some character just have better versions than others. As said before, some FBs are just more useful than others and let certain characters shut down the zoning game, or punish at a distance, combo from odd trades, etc. U4 wake ups/Flawless Bs across the cast vary in usefulness.

When you flatten everything out like that, the few differences that exist stand out. It's most notable in specific instances like FBs, but it also applies to the larger game.

Like say I like playing a zoning character and I look at Jade vs Cetrion. They both offer strong zoning, great. They both have good normals, perfect. But Cetrion can convert her hits to higher damage, Jade has no way of matching her combos. Uh oh. And she also has more of a mix up game to play with, and access to a much faster/safer TP than Jade's. Eek. So unless I'm a Jade fanatic, why would I bother playing her?

And yes, absolutely this logic can be applied to EVERY fighting game and all characters. But I feel like in other games there is a bit more nuance at play, a bit more to look at than just what's on paper. Like in Strive you have Ram and Goldlewis, both characters with similar win conditions. They want to bully their opponent into the corner and crush them there with unbearable pressure and high damage combos when they do get a hit. While Ram is considered better overall, there are different reasons you might want to play GL instead outside of aesthetics/taste (maybe you value the high/low mix of his BT more than Ram's rekka mix, maybe you like dealing a lot of chip damage, maybe you just love his jump D). But the way MK11 works, I struggle to really come up with reasons to play a "worse" character outside of personal taste and character love.

I don't know, I think it's odd.
 
Appreciate the responses everyone. Again, I'm not trying to bag on MK11 specifically, just noting what I've observed throughout NRS games.

I'm not even arguing that they should change anything (clearly the NRS formula is working for them, they outsell the competition by an order of magnitude and carry enough cultural weight to sell t-shirts and action figures of their characters), I'm just curious about the logic behind their choices.

I think MK11's approach towards balance weirdly highlighted some of these issues. A common (and justified) complaint around here is that the game was "flattened" towards making all the characters feel kinda samey leading to a lack of expression. Part of that was throwing in a lot of universal mechanics, like meter regen, FBs all being activated the same and tied to health with the same armor activating on the same frame, KBs, short hops for each character, wake up U3s and U4s instead of distinct invincible reversals, etc.

So everyone works off the same tools. Fine, sure, that's one way to make a game balanced (even if it does seem a little boring). But then some character just have better versions than others. As said before, some FBs are just more useful than others and let certain characters shut down the zoning game, or punish at a distance, combo from odd trades, etc. U4 wake ups/Flawless Bs across the cast vary in usefulness.

When you flatten everything out like that, the few differences that exist stand out. It's most notable in specific instances like FBs, but it also applies to the larger game.

Like say I like playing a zoning character and I look at Jade vs Cetrion. They both offer strong zoning, great. They both have good normals, perfect. But Cetrion can convert her hits to higher damage, Jade has no way of matching her combos. Uh oh. And she also has more of a mix up game to play with, and access to a much faster/safer TP than Jade's. Eek. So unless I'm a Jade fanatic, why would I bother playing her?

And yes, absolutely this logic can be applied to EVERY fighting game and all characters. But I feel like in other games there is a bit more nuance at play, a bit more to look at than just what's on paper. Like in Strive you have Ram and Goldlewis, both characters with similar win conditions. They want to bully their opponent into the corner and crush them there with unbearable pressure and high damage combos when they do get a hit. While Ram is considered better overall, there are different reasons you might want to play GL instead outside of aesthetics/taste (maybe you value the high/low mix of his BT more than Ram's rekka mix, maybe you like dealing a lot of chip damage, maybe you just love his jump D). But the way MK11 works, I struggle to really come up with reasons to play a "worse" character outside of personal taste and character love.

I don't know, I think it's odd.
This was probably the first game where I saw an abundance of moves that were not useful. It's like they were there to be improved upon or something.

I think the universal things were a step in the right direction. With universal system mechanics it opens up crazy potential for insane moves to be balanced and cool as hell. For example Geras' rewind move would be BROKEN in MKXL. But here it's balanced bc of the system in place.

What characters needed was clear styles and archetypes which is why I don't want to see variations anymore. Give back the old iconic moves and build on them. Also add new moves. I think they needed more time with this game.
 

M2Dave

Zoning Master
Again, whether you're happy about it or not, they did do more and for longer, in-spite of the pandemic.
Yes, more content was added and more support was provided for a little longer, but there was an attempt to improve and alter Mortal Kombat X's meta. Run cancels required more stamina, launching attacks with armor were removed or required two bars, combo breakers reset neutral, some overhead attacks were changed to mid attacks, and the block and hit advantage for some moves was reduced. Obviously, Mortal Kombat X remains a highly offensive game that I personally could never play for too long, but I give NRS credit for at least trying to address people's concerns and problems at the end of the game's lifespan. On the other hand, no such attention or effort was ever given to Mortal Kombat 11. Nothing was done to address complaints about the wake up system and the vast majority of krushing blow requirements while very little was done to address complaints about fatal blows. The solution to breakaways was supposed to be the anti-armor moves, which had a horrendous implementation as they were impractical for one third of the roster, and even more on release. The meta had never changed and remains stagnant to this day. For this reason, almost all top players quit the game as soon as they heard that support would cease.

Like say I like playing a zoning character and I look at Jade vs Cetrion. They both offer strong zoning, great. They both have good normals, perfect. But Cetrion can convert her hits to higher damage, Jade has no way of matching her combos. Uh oh. And she also has more of a mix up game to play with, and access to a much faster/safer TP than Jade's. Eek. So unless I'm a Jade fanatic, why would I bother playing her?
Because Jade has a unique way to ignore projectiles, one of the best amplified special moves to use for block strings and hit confirms, and an aerial projectile that offers frame advantage on block. While Cetrion is the superior character, Jade certainly has distinct attributes that separate the two characters from one another. The contrast that you have made between Ram and Goldlewis can easily be made between Cetrion and Jade too.

I despise Mortal Kombat 11, but I believe that you continue chasing shadows with your critique on balance and character designs. To me, none of your arguments have made any sense whatsoever because they can easily be applied to any fighting game ever created.
 

CrimsonShadow

Administrator and Community Engineer
Administrator

M2Dave

Zoning Master
Ah, Twitter (and Reddit)... where you can find an example of anyone complaining about anything to support your argument.

Imagine complaining about Oro in Street Fighter 5... :laughing:

The people who continue excusing Mortal Kombat 11 to this day seem to rely on two strategies....

  1. Sarcasm
  2. False equivalencies
As demonstrated in this thread.
 
Yes, more content was added and more support was provided for a little longer, but there was an attempt to improve and alter Mortal Kombat X's meta. Run cancels required more stamina, launching attacks with armor were removed or required two bars, combo breakers reset neutral, some overhead attacks were changed to mid attacks, and the block and hit advantage for some moves was reduced. Obviously, Mortal Kombat X remains a highly offensive game that I personally could never play for too long, but I give NRS credit for at least trying to address people's concerns and problems at the end of the game's lifespan. On the other hand, no such attention or effort was ever given to Mortal Kombat 11. Nothing was done to address complaints about the wake up system and the vast majority of krushing blow requirements while very little was done to address complaints about fatal blows. The solution to breakaways was supposed to be the anti-armor moves, which had a horrendous implementation as they were impractical for one third of the roster, and even more on release. The meta had never changed and remains stagnant to this day. For this reason, almost all top players quit the game as soon as they heard that support would cease.
7 months in term's of modern game design and development is actually more than a "little" longer. That's over a third of the length of time Mortal Kombat XL was supported.

You are generally correct re: the game's overall meta. The meta changes they did were the aforementioned Armour Breakers, as well as reducing the damage of Throws and the minor changes to D1's. Overall what that tells me is that, in-spite of criticism they were receiving, they were happy with the overall balance and design of the game. As the designers that is their right. Whether they were planning another patch and what changes it would have contained, we'll never know.

What you're describing again are expectations. You and many top players weren't keen on the meta so you expected it to be changed.

That has no bearing on the length of support the game received and that they did support it for longer than they have before. It simply wasn't the level of support you were looking for/expected.
 

M2Dave

Zoning Master
What you're describing again are expectations.
Expectations as set by other fighting game companies and developers.

Street Fighter 5 players complained for years about the game's lack of defensive options so Capcom implemented V-Shift.

Tekken 7 players complained about the game's high wall damage output so Namco increased scaling on wall combos and adjusted the biggest culprits individually.

I am certain that games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Dragon Ball Fighter Z underwent similar processes.

All these games received content, support, and balance patches and hotfixes despite the pandemic.

Your personal expectations seem very low for Warner Bros. and NRS, but I will hold them to the same standards as other major fighting game companies and developers, and I do not believe that I am being unreasonable.
 

Swindle

Philanthropist & Asshole
Geras & Cetrion were easily Day 1 S+ tier & arguably Scorpion.

D’Vorah & Shao Kahn were considered shit Day 1 but there’s other characters who were considered bad but ended up actually amazing or not as bad after NRS started to allow customized variations in tournament.
I spoke with Chernyy, and he says Scorpion was a terrible, flawed design and obviously an unfinished character. If you were winning with him, it was because you were playing him wrong.
 

REO

Undead
Can we take a moment to promote and admire fighting games in 2022 that don't have stellar netcode, demand the player base to purchase and buy frame data, and / or expect people to purchase extra game modes?

I wish NRS would be more like other fighting game developers in 2023 and take notes. We want you to sell us frame data, make us buy new DLC training mode options, and we also want you to put less obsession into the netcode for the game. Because apparently netcode isn't a detrimental flaw when glamorizing which fighting games are the ultimate creation. And for the love of Earthrealm, can we please get Mortal Kombat 12 bowling for $19.99 in the next game as a DLC mode?

Also it just hit me, but I hope one day we can see a merge of the best fighting game creators come together and create the ultimate fighting game that will be so amazing, it will put fighting games as #1 on the video game map, above shooters and mobas. The hype will sky rocket and soar with the best video game minds coming together to bestow upon us the monumental fighting game. What if they called it Street Fighter vs Tekken or something? Damn, a man can dream..
 
Your personal expectations seem very low for Warner Bros. and NRS, but I will hold them to the same standards as other major fighting game companies and developers, and I do not believe that I am being unreasonable.
Not at all. I keep my expectations quite realistic for any developer/game. I pay attention to business models and expect from there. As I mentioned, I expected about 3 years of support for the game, but we got well below that. I also do suspect more things were planned, but got nixed. Whether I'm right and for what reasons, we may never know.

All these games received content, support, and balance patches and hotfixes despite the pandemic.
Coincidentally so did Mortal Kombat 11. During the pandemic we received:

  • The Aftermath Expansion, the first story expansion in modern franchise history
  • Six additional characters
  • Three additional Stages
  • Two additional Finishers
  • Kustom Variations being kompetative-legal
  • Several Skin Packs, additional Skins, and Gear
  • Multiple balance patches
That is a fair bit, though whether it's to your liking or not is subjective.
 

CrimsonShadow

Administrator and Community Engineer
Administrator
It’s true.. People in this community don’t complain that perfectly normal top tiers are ‘broken’, or elevate strong characters that they don’t like fighting against (and that don’t win many tournaments) into S++++ tier.. Absolutely nothing like these tweets.

Wait.. Haha.

Yeah. The truth is that people can talk about false equivalencies all they want, but it’s exactly the same core behavior in every fighting game community. Players in each community likes to portray the balance of their game as being worse than it is, and portray the top tiers (or just the ones they don’t like to fight) as being nearly unbeatable or braindead. No one is ever truly happy with what they have, and the grass is always greener ‘over there’.

Every game has top tiers, mid tiers, bottom tiers, and "annoying meta" characters (vortexes/mix, tools that force opponents to wait for an opening, unique mechanics that others chars don't have, etc), and the same exact complaints come from people play against/use them.
 

M2Dave

Zoning Master
Coincidentally so did Mortal Kombat 11. During the pandemic we received:

  • The Aftermath Expansion, the first story expansion in modern franchise history
  • Six additional characters
  • Three additional Stages
  • Two additional Finishers
  • Kustom Variations being kompetative-legal
  • Several Skin Packs, additional Skins, and Gear
  • Multiple balance patches
Half of the content has nothing to do with the meta of the game. Furthermore, none of the content has anything to do with addressing concerns and complaints that most top players communicated to NRS for a year and longer. The specfic content that was designed to address complaints about breakaways included a half-assed implementation of anti-armor moves that were useless for half the cast upon release.

Speaking of top players, particularly the highest echelon, the vast majority quit as soon as they found out that support had ceased and subsequently moved on to playing Guilty Gear. Players like Ninja Killa showed up at CEO yet refused to participate because "the game is bad and boring". I have been playing fighting games and following the FGC for over 20 years and I am unable to recall another such instance for another major fighting game without its successor being released yet. Perhaps Street Fighter X Tekken and Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite are the closest examples that I can think of.

In any case, while Mortal Kombat 11 has sold very well as any high production Mortal Kombat game always will, the gameplay is objectively a tragedy, irrespective of the fact that the game is actually balanced, because of reasons that are very well-documented and well-defined by now.
 

CrimsonShadow

Administrator and Community Engineer
Administrator
Speaking of top players, particularly the highest echelon, the vast majority quit as soon as they found out that support had ceased and subsequently moved on to playing Guilty Gear.
And then quit Strive within a month, even though it's still being supported, because it supposedly wasn't deep/interesting enough. The irony here shouldn't be lost on anyone.
 

M2Dave

Zoning Master
And then quit Strive within a month, even though it's still being supported, because it supposedly wasn't deep/interesting enough. The irony here shouldn't be lost on anyone.
Neither should statistics and data.

Guilty Gear Strive: 740

Mortal Kombat 11: 251

Top players may complain about the lack of depth, but they still play the game. At least for now they do.

Although I highly doubt that 251 people actually played Mortal Kombat 11 at CEO, I must admit that the number was higher than I had anticipated.
 

CrimsonShadow

Administrator and Community Engineer
Administrator
Neither should statistics and data.

Guilty Gear Strive: 740

Mortal Kombat 11: 251

Top players may complain about the lack of depth, but they still play the game. At least for now they do.

Although I highly doubt that 251 people actually played Mortal Kombat 11 at CEO, I must admit that the number was higher than I had anticipated.
That's not what your comment was about. Out of all the 'upper echelon' NRS players who were playing streaming Strive day one, how many of them are still competing in or streaming Strive?

I can think of one.. K7 Showoff, that's it. It's not Strive that's the issue; it's that those same people apparently decided that the game wasn't interesting or deep enough, despite receiving full support from ArcSys. And in truth, I am not the least bit surprised, as it's exactly what I predicted would happen.

This is why you have to look at people's actions, not just their words.
 

M2Dave

Zoning Master
That's not what your comment was about. Out of all the 'upper echelon' NRS players who were playing streaming Strive day one, how many of them are still competing in or streaming Strive?
I am not sure because I do not follow the Strive scene closely.

It's not Strive that's the issue; it's that those people apparently decided that the game wasn't interesting or deep enough, despite receiving full support from ArcSys.
I am fully aware of the game's criticism, but the reality is that players, NRS or otherwise, are still playing the game and are willing to travel during a pandemic to compete. Strive did have the most participants at CEO.

If the developers at Arc System Works refuse to address concerns and complaints about the meta long term, they ought to be confronted with harsh criticism just like NRS, or any other fighting game developer for that matter.
 

CrimsonShadow

Administrator and Community Engineer
Administrator
I am fully aware of the game's criticism, but the reality is that players, NRS or otherwise, are still playing the game and are willing to travel during a pandemic to compete. Strive did have the most participants at CEO.
I think you're misunderstanding my point here. My point was that it's not about the game — Strive is doing well (despite the complaints). You made a point specifically about NRS top players switching to Strive. And I brought up the fact that, if you look at both Twitch, Twitter, and tournament brackets for Strive, those players were nowhere to be found after a month. And it's not due to support, because Strive is actively being supported.

That reinforces the point that the very same players often claim the grass is greener in other titles, until they actually have to play them; then many of the same 'issues' pop up, and suddenly within a couple months, they've realized that things are not what they thought they would be, and they find reasons to quit those games too, much faster than they quit ours.

When the next hot thing is out in a few years, and Strive is no longer pulling 700 per event, those players will do the same thing, again, as they did with DBFZ, SamSho and KI.

This has been a pattern for nearly a decade at this point, and I don't see it changing any time soon.
 

M2Dave

Zoning Master
This has been a pattern for nearly a decade at this point, and I don't see it changing any time soon.
This pattern primarily exists for NRS fighting games, which begs the question: Are top NRS players the most spoiled and the most hypocritical in the FGC, as you seem to imply? Or is there another component worth discussing? While I do believe some of what you post to be accurate, the reality is that NRS creates shallow fighting games whose meta never advances past the first year of release. Warner Bros.' entire business model prioritizes quantity over quality, which you already know to be true, but you choose to only focus on the community and its players, trivial arguments, and false equivalencies because you (and REO) have convinced yourselves that Mortal Kombat 11 is a "good" fighting game. LOL.
 
Half of the content has nothing to do with the meta of the game.
You are absolutely correct, and you realize you're also proving my point. You're now focusing specifically on the meta and upper level of balancing, instead of focusing on support (in general) and whether content was added through the pandemic (which it was).

What was added simply doesn't seem to be the kind of support and content that you wanted (which is fine). These were all based on expectations, only, and not on actual sources or statements.

So again: NetherRealm Studios did support Mortal Kombat 11 for longer than any other previous title, certainly longer than any other previous Mortal Kombat game. They did add additional content, including balance patches, throughout the game's post-launch support and through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whether you, and others, like the support that was provided is subjective.
 

M2Dave

Zoning Master
You're now focusing specifically on the meta and upper level of balancing...
Obviously. The vast majority of people who intended to play Mortal Kombat 11 long term could not care less about story expansions and towers of time challenges. They care about aspects of the game that was going to change or advance the meta (i.e., balance patches, hotfixes, DLCs, etc.)
 

CrimsonShadow

Administrator and Community Engineer
Administrator
This pattern primarily exists for NRS fighting games, which begs the question: Are top NRS players the most spoiled and the most hypocritical in the FGC, as you seem to imply? Or is there another component worth discussing?
I think that our community is pretty young, and that many of the players playing now didn't grow up competing in the less patch-heavy era of fighting games.

This is pretty different from Capcom, where they have a legacy of sticking with and supporting with games that would be considered subpar by modern standards, for long periods of time. Even if someone's younger and didn't, they're constantly surrounded by legends who are still playing and attending events that did.

More importantly the dev cycles are longer, so if you don't like the current Capcom game, it's not like you can just wait a couple years for the next one to come out. You're either going to be out of commission for an extended period of time, or you're going to have to stick it out regardless. That's bolstered by the fact that the FGC weathered a ten year drought between 3rd Strike and SF4, an 11 year gap between MvC2 and MvC3, and played UMVC3 for six years as-is until Marvel Infinite killed the hype.

Our players have been trained to just quit and wait a few months for the next game's announcement. It doesn't matter if you completely trash your game, because it won't be around long anyway.

With that said though, some of those same players from other scenes did indeed express intent to play other games (like DBFZ and GG) and quit pretty quickly. And have also played our games and done the same after a few months. So as I said earlier, it's not something that's exclusive to our scene. Just something that's more pronounced here.