Mortal Kombat 11

[RanceJustice]

Wut? Lot of content sure. But locked behind a shit load of grind trying to get you to pay for it.

I was to understand this has been remedied, with some grind eliminated and other made reasonable to encourage repeat play and a durable playerbase, but not the kind of obvious "if you don't pay cash, good luck getting more than one thing you want per literal day of played time" that it was at the start. Is this not the case?

That is an official licensed xbox 360 Mortal Kombat arcade stick made by PDP for Mortal Kombat 9, that works perfectly for MK10 and MK11 on PC. It connects via USB 2.0 and Win 10 has built in drivers for it.

I have a pair of them for tourneys on the projector HT setup. Its a lot of fun, and I’m glad I bought them.

I see you can get them used on ebay for about $60-$80 shipped. They were $250 new IIRC.
They are very nice quality, and open up with a latch on the front to showcase the complex innards through a plexiglass showcase. Apparently the guys who do the teardowns on these and know the components say they are well made with high quality parts.

there is one new in box on amazon for $130
Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition -Xbox 360 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004GD3NAQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_FX2KEbJQZKGJ5

Ahh I see, I was thinking it was either an official or someone going out of their way to duplicate one. Since I play other games, when I decided to build my own stick (I've also done a few custom arcade stick builds for others) I went with a more conventional layout than the "H" shaped distinctive MK style, but its neat that those who want the official MK9 sticks can pick them up relatively inexpensive. One good thing about Microsoft's ubiquitious XInput format is that even previous generation X360 era devices can work flawlessly on PC without need of converters. Prior to building my Panzer, I was using a MadCatz Arcade FightStick TE for X360 and it served me quite well on PC and is in good condition (currently for sale). Glad you've gotten use out of your MK9 sticks!

 

[vegeta535]

I was to understand this has been remedied, with some grind eliminated and other made reasonable to encourage repeat play and a durable playerbase, but not the kind of obvious "if you don't pay cash, good luck getting more than one thing you want per literal day of played time" that it was at the start. Is this not the case?

I think they lessen it but still is a grind. Still I can't support a company that so blatantly tried to screw over their customers.

 

[RanceJustice]

I think they lessen it but still is a grind. Still I can't support a company that so blatantly tried to screw over their customers.

I can understand that. I'm unsure if it is Netherrealm specifically, or (perhaps more likely) WB Publishing as this kind of thing has happened before. The most infamous example is that of the Middle Earth: Shadows of War game sequel - overall a good game, but at launch and for over a year after it was monetized in a way to incentivize grind and buying lootboxes for real currency. Thankfully, outcry eventually had an effect and the "Definitive Edition" of the game didn't just include all DLC, but also totally revamped the entire in-game economy (which was great evidence that anyone who says "lootboxes don't effect the game's economy/drops normally" is full of shit) and removed even the potential for lootbox buying, instead making all content unlockable via other means and at a far better rate/accessibility.

While I did not buy the game originally, I did make a choice to buy it purposefully after the Definitive Edition changes, to convey that even a year+ later and on discount, they can make money by doing the "right thing" and that a less exploitative practice could have been embraced far sooner. There's an ethical argument to say "Well, they did it before so I'll never give them any money, even if they change", however especially when it comes to the video game industry I've found that pragmatism is likely the best way to go when it comes to the "support via your wallet" element (note that your wallet is not your only vote - get out their and object, make noise on social media, discourage others from buying, push for legal changes if applicable etc). If these companies see "Wow, when we did the non-exploitative thing or made a change, people supported us and bought. Maybe we should just do that from the start and avoid all the bad press etc...as it appears we could do better without the moneygrab", they're more likely to make customer-friendly choices in the future. However, if it seems that if they do something objectionable and then even if they make a chance people do NOT validate it, the bean counters can say "Well see, you already offended a bunch of them so don't even bother changing things around! Even if we do, they won't buy anyway! Why don't we just exploit as much as we can as fast as we can before people get fed up? Why bother with those who object when we have a group of addicted, sycophantic, or otherwise low-effort retention we can monetize as much as possible?".

There are more than enough companies that seem to follow the second path, so while I'll always support those who do the more difficult/costly/ethical/better thing from the beginning first, those who make changes - be it issues of exclusivity like we see with the Epic Store or even Microsoft finally coming to Steam, or issues of changing monetization like Shadow of War - I'll try to vote with my wallet in support of the more ethical, customer friendly decision. Now, this does not mean that alone is enough to do, as we must must convince those watching that they cannot, for brevity's sake "screw people over, maximize that, and then expect acclaim and sales when they 'see the light' and make changes" - so it is certainly a complex issue and must be approcahed from multiple sides.

 

[vegeta535]

I can understand that. I'm unsure if it is Netherrealm specifically, or (perhaps more likely) WB Publishing as this kind of thing has happened before. The most infamous example is that of the Middle Earth: Shadows of War game sequel - overall a good game, but at launch and for over a year after it was monetized in a way to incentivize grind and buying lootboxes for real currency. Thankfully, outcry eventually had an effect and the "Definitive Edition" of the game didn't just include all DLC, but also totally revamped the entire in-game economy (which was great evidence that anyone who says "lootboxes don't effect the game's economy/drops normally" is full of shit) and removed even the potential for lootbox buying, instead making all content unlockable via other means and at a far better rate/accessibility.

While I did not buy the game originally, I did make a choice to buy it purposefully after the Definitive Edition changes, to convey that even a year+ later and on discount, they can make money by doing the "right thing" and that a less exploitative practice could have been embraced far sooner. There's an ethical argument to say "Well, they did it before so I'll never give them any money, even if they change", however especially when it comes to the video game industry I've found that pragmatism is likely the best way to go when it comes to the "support via your wallet" element (note that your wallet is not your only vote - get out their and object, make noise on social media, discourage others from buying, push for legal changes if applicable etc). If these companies see "Wow, when we did the non-exploitative thing or made a change, people supported us and bought. Maybe we should just do that from the start and avoid all the bad press etc...as it appears we could do better without the moneygrab", they're more likely to make customer-friendly choices in the future. However, if it seems that if they do something objectionable and then even if they make a chance people do NOT validate it, the bean counters can say "Well see, you already offended a bunch of them so don't even bother changing things around! Even if we do, they won't buy anyway! Why don't we just exploit as much as we can as fast as we can before people get fed up? Why bother with those who object when we have a group of addicted, sycophantic, or otherwise low-effort retention we can monetize as much as possible?".

There are more than enough companies that seem to follow the second path, so while I'll always support those who do the more difficult/costly/ethical/better thing from the beginning first, those who make changes - be it issues of exclusivity like we see with the Epic Store or even Microsoft finally coming to Steam, or issues of changing monetization like Shadow of War - I'll try to vote with my wallet in support of the more ethical, customer friendly decision. Now, this does not mean that alone is enough to do, as we must must convince those watching that they cannot, for brevity's sake "screw people over, maximize that, and then expect acclaim and sales when they 'see the light' and make changes" - so it is certainly a complex issue and must be approcahed from multiple sides.

I do try and get the word out and protest when companies try to bend over consumer. I was very vocal about a certain game that recently came out and was ignored and ok boomer about it. People are just joined by their nostalgia and gladly take up the ass. Funny thing is how much people were going ape shit over the game but now since it was released there is barely any talk about it.

 

[pendragon1]

 

[Domingo]

Those friendships really are pretty funny. Even though I'm no longer an MK player (not for a looooooong time), I appreciate what that team has done.

 

[RanceJustice]

It looks like Aftermath could include a good amount of new content. In addition to the 3 new characters, 3 skin packs (+apparently 1 extra skin pack for pre-ordering ), I really like the idea that they added a new story campaign! I hope it is of considerable length (i'm to understand the original game had a good amount of story/lore content), and hope they continue to add that kind of story/campaign related stuff in the future. Its rare enough that fighting games take the time to really offer a comprehensive story campaign (though better in recent years - BlazBlue has always been great, Street Fighter V, Soul Calibur VI, and Dragon Ball FighterZ all major campaigns and individual character stories), but even some of the best of them rarely update and add to it. This is a pity as it could be added to "season / character pass" type expansions in games such as Dragon Ball FighterZ ; an excellent campaign, but doesn't take any of the post-launch character additions into account last I checked.

For their other problems, WB's fighters notably the "Injustice" and "Mortal Kombat" series do seem to have considerable content focus on their campaigns and long-term play modes. The support of a campaign expansion alone makes me with to support MK11 Aftermath, but overall I hope it is a worthwhile amount of content - especially for the price. Price is the one thing that bothers me - Aftermath alone is $40! That is a really high price, especially considering that you can buy the Kollection which is the base game (currently $50), plus Kombat Pack season pass ($20), + Aftermath ($40) all for $60 total! This is a great deal for newcomers, but its really expensive for existing players. Owners of just the base MK11 can buy the Kombat Pack + Aftermath bundle for $50, and those who own MK11 + Kombat Pack already, have to buy Aftermath for $40.

Considering that the Kombat Pack added 6 characters + gear set/packs + 6 skin packs, all for $20 - they must be really confident in the campaign to carry such a high price. I dont' think many existing players would have thought twice about purchasing Aftermath if it was closer to $20, or if we saw there was such a huge amount of content that really makes it worthwhile, but I'm not sure we're there. Especially considering this is a title that offers some degree of microtransaction possibility, selling the expansion isn't there only revenue stream! I hope its worthwhile and just packed to near bursting with tons of new content, because I'd like to support the added chapters to the campaign mode among other features, but the price does certainly give pause. I'm sure if i look around a bit I'll be able to pick it up at considerable discount, likely $30 or less, which helps a bit - though I worry that between questionable monetization decisions in the past and this price, Netherrealm/WB may be making an error.

 

[Comixbooks]

Ever since fighting games made their way out of the Arcade they became less fun.
Really like the stiff animations...

 

[Domingo]

MK's animation has always been stiff. I think it mainly relates to move ranges. In real life, when people throw punches and kicks they don't keep their back straight and they aren't thrown at maximum distance from their body. Yet in a 2D fighting game, that's how they have to work for the sake of ranges. Ditto with the combination attacks and running moves. Real people don't or can't move like that. They have to skip certain real-life movement in order to speed attacks up, too. It makes a game like MK, where the characters are drawn in a realistic way, more jarring than Street Fighter, Tekken, and such. You get used to it, but if you hop between fighting games it becomes really noticeable.

The end of arcades has definitely been interesting for fighting games in general. I was in my teens during the mid 90's. Whenever I'd travel to a new area, I would see very distinct stylistic differences in players. People didn't have YouTube to look up optimized strategies and tech back then. That was when Cali Rushdown, NY Lame, Midwest YOLO, and ATL Tech were very real. People play based on how other people in their region did. They often didn't know how how to deal with things they'd never seen before and it was a lot of fun to be a part of that. These days everyone mostly plays the same because we have access to game footage.

 

[Comixbooks]

Mortal Combat 3 green screening from the 90s thought this was pretty neat.

 

[pendragon1]

and i just realized where all the sjw stuff with this came from...