Gear...should it stick around?
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posted01/04/2018 02:55 PM (UTC)by
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Detox
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You work with what you got...not what you hope for.

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06/25/2004 09:21 AM (UTC)
The Injustice series. While it may not set the MK fandom’s panties on fire, it has proven to be an enjoyable side project for NRS. It enables NRS to set their aging cash cow to the side for a while and give it some breathing room, so to speak. It also enables NRS to push the boundaries of their engine in ways that they may not necessarily push with Mortal Kombat. Ultimately MK can and so far, has, benefited from these experiments. Interactive arenas, the move to a more photo realistic art style, character powers giving way to the variation system. Indeed, Injustice has proven it’s worth in that, even if MK fans may not give it it’s due, it’s influence is still felt.

Now that Injustice 2 has been out for a while and had time to marinate in our minds a bit, I’m beginning to look forward to the future. I’m obviously betting hard on MKXI, otherwise there wouldn’t be much of a point to this. If MKXI is indeed the future, what influences might carry over from I2? Obviously the major innovation from Injustice 2 has been the implementation of Gear and an RPG like progression system.

I’m gonna go ahead right now and say, if these elements do make it over into MKXI, I’ll be...torn. Grinding for gear, to an extent, can be fun. However, I’ve logged quite a bit of hours into Injustice 2, and after a while, the grind just loses it’s appeal. You’ll begin to find that a lot of the gear you’re earning is just a slight variation of something you already own 15 of. Some of the cooler Gear comes in the form of Epic sets. That’s all well and good, but, in all the time I’ve played this game, I’ve actually been able to complete very few gear sets. Most recently NRS has started putting out gear set multiverse events, but after all this time, the thrill is most definitely gone. Not only that, but there are characters that absolutely do not benefit cosmetically from this system. You’d think a character like Joker would have all sorts of insane gear pieces...you’d be wrong.

Now if I just wanna lab a character and play, well, I don’t necessarily need to indulge in this kinda stuff, right? Well, not really. I find most of the vanilla character models in this game to be quite plain. For some of the more competitive players, that doesn’t matter, nor should it. For someone that sets on the fence of competitive/casual, costumes can play a big part in if I even pick up a character. Costumes, lore, special moves...matter to me. Tying two out of the three of those things to the gear grind is such a drag. Finally, randomly earning an awesome special move or gear piece should feel great, but it ends up, at this point, as just a “meh” kinda moment. I almost feel as if that stuff should’ve been there from the start.

That leaves me at a dilemma. I don’t hate the gear system. In fact, I know if you look hard enough around this forum, you’ll find a statement from me saying I’m all in on gear for MKXI. Now, I’m not so sure. I love having alternate costumes. I prefer seeing the artist’s vision for a character as opposed to bits and pieces cobbled together. Sure they can be hit or miss(looking at you “Brazil skin pack”), but that’s kind of the point.

Well, I guess that’s my two cents. I’d like to see anyone else’s comments on the system, good or bad, and maybe even some suggestions on how you’d like to improve on it, should you want it to stay.
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JasonVPred
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... here's your Subzero, now plain zero.

10/16/2017 04:46 AM (UTC)
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Injustice's gear works well because of the roster's long-standing lore which endears us to those different character costumes: MK's gear by comparison would have far less significance.

Killer Instinct for example, has such an outlandish group to customize, that their gear is more varied and therefore its better all round. So I will enjoy MK gear more when there is an influx of monsters or less Earthrealm fighters present within MK:XI.
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JohnBoyAdvance
10/17/2017 07:55 AM (UTC)
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I'm in two minds.

I like original costumes.

I do like customising characters though.

I'm gonna take the Joker as an example. 99% of his gear is trash. There is a lack of "suits" for him But by god if you want codpieces, batman masks and dynamite vests you are sorted my friends.

So yeah. Maybe if I can have better stuff.
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MrMephistopheles
10/17/2017 01:06 PM (UTC)
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JohnBoyAdvance Wrote:
I'm in two minds.

I like original costumes.

I do like customising characters though.

I'm gonna take the Joker as an example. 99% of his gear is trash. There is a lack of "suits" for him But by god if you want codpieces, batman masks and dynamite vests you are sorted my friends.

So yeah. Maybe if I can have better stuff.

I have to agree with this. I think it would be a better idea for MK where they have so many different costumes to choose from and nobody really has one specific iconic look. I would love mixing parts of classic MK or Deception with MK9 and MKX. Random junk for DC heroes not so much.
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immortalkombat
10/17/2017 01:52 PM (UTC)
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I think a lot of the problem with I2 is WB/DC wouldn't allow such drastic costume changes, there was many pieces of gear and shaders in the beta that never made it to final product because D.C. Said no

If they did it with MK they would have artistic freedom on gear pieces, imagine being able to choose a gear set for Sub Zero that was MK2 style and then being able to have another set that was like his MK Deception shredder one etc

Bring it on! It's a much better idea than the variation system
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JohnBoyAdvance
10/18/2017 01:08 PM (UTC)
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My problem is also - The gear just looks over designed and finicky as well.

Also the nature of randomised drops for gear.

And stats.

And as another example - Why are there two epic gear for Superman which is the Red Son Superman shield. I can't see any visual difference between them and there they are. (Their names are "Red Son Battle Crest" and something like "shield of the winter palace") Thats the most obvious one to me of Gear literally being copied and pasted.

For some characters the gear system is great though, Most of them are fine. Its just odd anomalies like Joker and Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman's best costume is her movie gear.

I find it weird if DC blocked costume/gear ideas. Especially when most of the characters have more than one iconic look.

Going back to Wonder Woman, she has worn corsets, heavy armour, hot pants, leather jackets, skirts, full jumpsuits. And in the game there feels so little variety for her. Joker is the worst though, like everything he wears feels like a costume for a plan he is doing and there is barely anything that looks good.

I think if the gear system kinda worked more like genuine new costumes that you can mix and match rather than minor changes on the same two or three bits of clothing for a character.

Im gonna try and stop.
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Detox
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You work with what you got...not what you hope for.

10/21/2017 02:17 AM (UTC)
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JohnBoyAdvance Wrote:
My problem is also - The gear just looks over designed and finicky as well.

Also the nature of randomised drops for gear.

And stats.

And as another example - Why are there two epic gear for Superman which is the Red Son Superman shield. I can't see any visual difference between them and there they are. (Their names are "Red Son Battle Crest" and something like "shield of the winter palace") Thats the most obvious one to me of Gear literally being copied and pasted.

For some characters the gear system is great though, Most of them are fine. Its just odd anomalies like Joker and Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman's best costume is her movie gear.

I find it weird if DC blocked costume/gear ideas. Especially when most of the characters have more than one iconic look.

Going back to Wonder Woman, she has worn corsets, heavy armour, hot pants, leather jackets, skirts, full jumpsuits. And in the game there feels so little variety for her. Joker is the worst though, like everything he wears feels like a costume for a plan he is doing and there is barely anything that looks good.

I think if the gear system kinda worked more like genuine new costumes that you can mix and match rather than minor changes on the same two or three bits of clothing for a character.

Im gonna try and stop.


I’m with you on pretty much all of this. The more I think about this, the more I think I just wanna go back to set costumes. Ultimately, though, is there any going back from here?
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frabn
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Well, you all got your Tremor now. Can we finally move on?

10/30/2017 01:49 PM (UTC)
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I, along with many, have foreve campaigned to NRS and back in the day, Midway, regarding customizable characters. Injustice finally gave us this with the gear system, but therein lies an issue.

Stats.

Frankly, I don't want stats in MK. It's fine for Injustice, but it ends up boiling injustice down mostly to gear grinding. Hunting for gear is fun...grinding for it is not. A grind is a grind, and there is nothing fun about grinding. I am not a competitive player by any stretch of the imagination (to this day I still have exactly - 0 - online matches played), so for me the gear grinding is merely a way for me to have more customization options for characters. Unfortunately, you cannot even take advantage of different looks because you need to spend Source Crystals which are practically impossible to get in any significant amount from the game through normal play.

So while NRS did live up to their promise that you will not need to spend to get good gear, they still stick you in the microtransaction sinkhole if you want skins, shaders and the ability to change the look of your character alone. I suppose I can understand the premier skins, but locking shaders behind source crystals is a new low. Less than 50% of the total amount of color variations available in the game can be earned through gameplay, which is a goddamn shame.

So as for the next MK? YES...bring gear, but NOT stats. Gear should be for customization only in MKXI. Leave stats to Injustice so that it has something else to stand apart from MK. With the stat gear system, Injustice is to MK as Tekken is to Super Mario Bros. - not even remotely related anymore. Other than a similar fighting system, the stat gear system makes MK and Injustice two games in completely separate realms of the fighting genre. And it needs to stay that way.
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immortalkombat
11/04/2017 09:29 AM (UTC)
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frabn Wrote:
I, along with many, have foreve campaigned to NRS and back in the day, Midway, regarding customizable characters. Injustice finally gave us this with the gear system, but therein lies an issue.

Stats.

Frankly, I don't want stats in MK. It's fine for Injustice, but it ends up boiling injustice down mostly to gear grinding. Hunting for gear is fun...grinding for it is not. A grind is a grind, and there is nothing fun about grinding. I am not a competitive player by any stretch of the imagination (to this day I still have exactly - 0 - online matches played), so for me the gear grinding is merely a way for me to have more customization options for characters. Unfortunately, you cannot even take advantage of different looks because you need to spend Source Crystals which are practically impossible to get in any significant amount from the game through normal play.

So while NRS did live up to their promise that you will not need to spend to get good gear, they still stick you in the microtransaction sinkhole if you want skins, shaders and the ability to change the look of your character alone. I suppose I can understand the premier skins, but locking shaders behind source crystals is a new low. Less than 50% of the total amount of color variations available in the game can be earned through gameplay, which is a goddamn shame.

So as for the next MK? YES...bring gear, but NOT stats. Gear should be for customization only in MKXI. Leave stats to Injustice so that it has something else to stand apart from MK. With the stat gear system, Injustice is to MK as Tekken is to Super Mario Bros. - not even remotely related anymore. Other than a similar fighting system, the stat gear system makes MK and Injustice two games in completely separate realms of the fighting genre. And it needs to stay that way.


There is only 2 shaders in the game that can't be unlocked for free and that's the Gold and Silver shaders that helps fund the tournament scene, I have nearly all other shaders and I have never purchased one, just do multiverse's
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frabn
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Well, you all got your Tremor now. Can we finally move on?

11/05/2017 11:42 PM (UTC)
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immortalkombat Wrote:
There is only 2 shaders in the game that can't be unlocked for free and that's the Gold and Silver shaders that helps fund the tournament scene, I have nearly all other shaders and I have never purchased one, just do multiverse's


I've done more multiverses than I can possibly count, have opened thousands of mother boxes, and still have less than half the shaders in the game. Some of them specifically say they can be earned through gameplay (I have them all). Others have a source crystal price tag, and I have never gotten one of those from normal gameplay. Either my luck is horrid, or I'm missing something here.
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immortalkombat
11/14/2017 11:01 PM (UTC)
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frabn Wrote:
I, along with many, have foreve campaigned to NRS and back in the day, Midway, regarding customizable characters. Injustice finally gave us this with the gear system, but therein lies an issue.

Stats.

Frankly, I don't want stats in MK. It's fine for Injustice, but it ends up boiling injustice down mostly to gear grinding. Hunting for gear is fun...grinding for it is not. A grind is a grind, and there is nothing fun about grinding. I am not a competitive player by any stretch of the imagination (to this day I still have exactly - 0 - online matches played), so for me the gear grinding is merely a way for me to have more customization options for characters. Unfortunately, you cannot even take advantage of different looks because you need to spend Source Crystals which are practically impossible to get in any significant amount from the game through normal play.

So while NRS did live up to their promise that you will not need to spend to get good gear, they still stick you in the microtransaction sinkhole if you want skins, shaders and the ability to change the look of your character alone. I suppose I can understand the premier skins, but locking shaders behind source crystals is a new low. Less than 50% of the total amount of color variations available in the game can be earned through gameplay, which is a goddamn shame.

So as for the next MK? YES...bring gear, but NOT stats. Gear should be for customization only in MKXI. Leave stats to Injustice so that it has something else to stand apart from MK. With the stat gear system, Injustice is to MK as Tekken is to Super Mario Bros. - not even remotely related anymore. Other than a similar fighting system, the stat gear system makes MK and Injustice two games in completely separate realms of the fighting genre. And it needs to stay that way.


There is only 2 shaders in the game that can't be unlocked for free and that's the Gold and Silver shaders that helps fund the tournament scene, I have nearly all other shaders and I have never purchased one, just do multiverse's
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Detox
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You work with what you got...not what you hope for.

01/04/2018 02:55 PM (UTC)
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Kinja gear post

Post does a great job of explaining how much of a drag the gear system turned out to be.
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