So why call it MK8 then? Just make a new video game franchise if that's the frickin case. Oh oh oh, what? Because it says Finish Him/Her and they have fatalities? I won't buy the game if there aren't at least 5 returning characters. Throwing out a bunch of favorites and putting in new stupid ones is what made me (and a lot of other used-to-be fans) dislike MK3.
And I don't expect anyone here to agree with me, because these used-to-be fans are obviously not around to support my claims. They're out playing Tekken, Halo, or some other shit.
Sure, they tried to patch it up with UMK3 and add favorite characters... but it was too late. I heard even more bitching from people about the new fighters in MK4 (blah blah blah who's this fujin and jarek guy? MKMSZ sucked blah blah blah). So they again tried to patch it up in MKG. And trust me, by then, it was waaaaaaaaaaaay too late to try and get everyone back into MK.

There are loads of reasons it will still be Mortal Kombat. If you took all of the characters out of Deception and replaced them with different characters (that still fit the atmosphere and theme of the game!) the game would still be recognizably Mortal Kombat from the smallest detail to the largest.

And about shitty new characters. That's why I say they should spend more time thinking carefully about what made the characters we know and love so classic in the first place, and trying to come up with new interesting characters that have their own compelling story and attitude and I hate to say it, but gimmick, that helps define the character. What we've had that's been bad about recent character creation is the team introducing a massive cast of characters that basically either just blandly rip off pop culture and cult culture, like Cobra (johnny karate kid) and Shujinko (master of the flying guillotine), and/or have nothing really compelling going for them, like Darrius, Frost (woah, female Sub-Zero!), and Taven (who joins Shujinko in the poorly thought, forced hero category). I've actually been quite happy with a lot of the other newcomers to be honest. They fit the mood of the games and had their own little thing that made them special, but they need to be more analytical in their creation phase.

That's why I feel the MK team can pull this off if they go quality over quantity. Small cast, but the replay value supported by a greatly entertaining, workable, and deep fighting system. Hell, I'd still keep playing Tekken 5 or Tag if they had only ten characters. And if the characters are as equally as compelling and cool as the nostalgia powered favorites, what's to lose?

Yeah, most fans will moan (the same fans who'll buy it anyway), but it's definitely time to lose a great deal of the superfluous characters. Maybe absolute defining faves like Scorps, Subs, and Raiden should stay, but it can still be MK without them.

I've stated it many times in the past but yes, I'm a big fan of the idea of dropping all of the characters and starting over fresh.

No offence but that's pretty stupid. If Mk8 has less than 5 returning characters, I'm not buying!

And seriously. Don't think Boon is God. The Mk team would never come up with 15 or 20 new ORIGINAL awsome fighters and everyone knows it. I agree with the one who said they ruined mk3 with all the stryker/nightwolf bullshit and not including scorpion or rayden.

I'd be disappointed and honestly would probably consider not bothering to buy the game anymore.

I don't want to sound like one of those guys who hates everything that's new...because I'm not, and truth be told, I'm sick to fucking death of most of the older characters. And I'm not saying they should bring back a lot of the current cast. I do agree quality is more important that quantity.
But I'd be very disappointed if the more recent characters like Sareena, Havik, Nitara, Drahmin, and some others were thrown away without getting a real chance. And I'll admit, there are a small handful of the older characters I'd like back. At this point though, the only characters in Mortal Kombat I'm really attached to anymore are Kitana and Sareena. I'm willing to let Kitana go, but I will be pissed if Sareena gets droppped.

If no characters were to come back whatsoever, I personally would see that as an invitation to make a clean break from Mortal Kombat...knowing I wouldn't have to care anymore. I'd still follow the production and consider sticking with Mortal Kombat....but I honestly might take it as my chance to retire from the series.

Not a fan of this idea. LIke others have said above me, there is no way they can invent 15-20 new original characters. What just add about 10 new ninjas, 5 cyborgs, and then 5 vampires? No. Sure add some new characters but please give them a good storyline. WTF is up with that Khameleon character? He was waiting in the shadows for his chance and no one knew he was there? Lame as fuck. I just don't see them adding so many new characters and fitting them into the storyline unless the world really is starting anew, then there could be new combatants, but other than that it's a no go for me.

Hell No I would not be happy! Might as well call it something like Tao Feng then

In order for a Franchise to continue, I feel that certain iconic characters must return, hopefully with better story lines as well. I also agree that some of the newer characters though not all, were pretty crappy in terms of presence and storyline, compared to the earlier ones.

p.s. Among the new characters, I think Frost is one of the better ones. The only mistake Midway made was referring to her as female Sub-zero from the beginning, instead of letting her come out as an original character.

Yeah, some of the new characters who had potential weren't given a chance. Nitara and her vampire race had a sort of cliff hanger in Radien's MKDA ending.

No, I wouldn't be happy with it. I'm one of those fans that's very much in the middle of the two extremes. I'd rather have 20-25 characters return though not all at once. Some of the other characters should live but not return while the rest should just die off.

I couldn't agree more with you and there is someone here to support your claims! I have been a massive fan of the early MK's since i was 9 years old, i am now 23. To me there is no Mortal Kombat without some old characters returning! Mortal Kombat wasn't solely about FATALITIES etc, it was about the story lines of the original combatants that every body loved and still does to this day. I truly believe that mk4, deadly alliance, deception and Armageddon ruined the franchise just because of all these stupid new characters that were brought in! i mean...MEAT...Mokap...Havik...Drahmin...Hsu Hao and i could go on and on!!! i didnt even bother reading the story lines in the Mk's after mk3 because it didnt interest me anymore...it was BORING and rushed! (using profanity!!) I personally will only buy the new MK8 if it has returning characters!
You wouldnt bring out an Xmen game or a Tekken game without the characters that made it what it is! and i will add MK died when Tobias and the others left.

This is my own opinion so keep your snappy little insult remarks to you self if you dont agree with me!

it really doesnt matter much to me. aslong as kreate a kharacter returns and it screams mortal kombat im all for it.
kreate a kharacter would solve the problem with people wanting older characters aslong as the whole kak system is done well. if kak didnt return i wouldnt be happy no...but i would still buy it because its mortal kombat.

Depends.

If there were no ties what so ever, such as the previous ones not even being mentioned, or no descendants of them, yeah that would be disappointing. But at the same time, while I think some characters are flat out awesome, some were really weak concepts, but I guess not everything appeals to everyone.

But I’d still give MK8 a shot, this time I think it has a chance to really get things right, no stress of 60+ characters (3 times the amount as average), and they can spend much more time on it as a whole. (Quality over Quantity).

So even though I’d be disappointed, I’m looking forward to seeing whatever comes up. I’ve been following this series since the very beginning, I’m about as loyal a fan as they come.

First off, MK3 was awesome with the new kombatants..Nightwolf(the best)...Stryker, Sindel, Sheeva, Kabal and so forth.

As for no returning characters in MK8....well, I wouldn't buy or play the game if it was in that state.

Bingo.

it would be interesting, no doubt about it...but to say i would be happy about it would be stretching it...i'd still buy it though

No way. Scorpion and Sub-Zero are legends in the fighting game scene and the new characters would have big shoes to fill. Also as you can see in the above posts fan base will be lost.

I agree I liked Mk3 the best of the 2D Mks and I if no characters returned I think MK would lose much of its fan base because almost every one likes other character esspecially ones like Ermac whose stories have a good continuance

Like I said...only used-to-be fans would agree that MK3 killed it.

Honestly not to sound like a negative person or anything, but I'm not so sure that the current team could come up with an entirely new cast of cool and deep characters. I mean look at the new characters we've had in the last three games. Would you really want a game with characters all that terrible? Despite how stale the older characters may be, their what keep the series afloat and from sinking more than it has. I mean think if Deception had no Scorp, Sub, Mileena, or Baraka, but every character was like Kobra, Shujinko, Darrius, or Kira. Doesn’t sound like a great game to me. I guess I’ve really just lost all faith in the current team creating new characters, I mean they had like 2 or 3 cool new characters in 3 games. Not to mention, the game will be rushed, that’s inevitable, and if it’s rushed I don’t think they’d have time to develop 15 to 20 cool new characters even if they had the ability too.

Hey I've played Mk since '92 with Mk1 and I still come home everyday and play Mk2 on Ps3. I love and will always love Mortal Kombat, Who cares if none of the Characters come back. It will still be Mortal Kombat. We might get better insight to what Happened after Armageddon and what the clans and races have done to rebuild. Even if there is no connection with the last games, I'm not gonna' pussy out and not buy it because 5 characters didn't come back... Come on you call yourselves fans? Trust The team you've been dumping your money into. They'll pull through...

Seriously, there will be returning characters. I think Sub-Zero and Scorps are confirmed pretty much. Midway just aren't that gutsy, so no worries.

No, I would not be "happy" with this.

1st: To throw everything out, would be to purposely jeopardize what makes Mk the cash cow for Midway. The fan base // client base // customer base for the series.

You don't do that if you need to make money, like Mk and Midway do. You're supposed to retain the client base, and makes small alterations over time, in order to bring in even more clientèle.

2nd: I'm with everybody else who's saying that it wouldn't be an Mk game without at least some of the staples of the series coming back. It'd be something else entirely.

I'd rather see no characters return than get another MK4, or having a small handful return and take away from the new characters.

A lot of people seem against the idea, but I really wouldn't be too distraught. OK, first of all, it makes you wonder what the fuck happened? Where are the classics? You can explain it in the story, have references to the past, etc. There are ways to make a lack of old favorites interesting.

People are underestimating the power of the Mortal Kombat name itself. You'd be surprised how many people would see the new Mortal Kombat on shelves, think "Hey, I remember playing that as a kid," pick it off the shelf, look at the back of the case, and see the violence and quality graphics, and think "fuck yes, I'm getting this." Yes, Scorpion and Sub-Zero are associated greatly with the series, but it can survive without them.

I can create 14 new characters off the top of my head. Is that enough for a new Mortal Kombat game? Throw in some good graphics, and good gameplay, and I think you'd at least have a critically acclaimed Mortal Kombat.

If you're going to have characters returning, I actually think 5 is a really bad idea. That is what people complain about all the time. You either need to shift complete focus to the new characters, or you need to go fairly strong with the old. Having a few returning will draw the sentiments that way, newer characters will seem out of place in their own game, and it will shit on by a good number of people. See: MK4. Of course, you do need to make sure the new characters are good. I think the MK Team could do this, though.

In our website we post a recent poll about the % of returning chars that the fans want to see in MK8:

-None, I want that they all are new char: 5%

-With Scorpion & Sub-Zero are enough: 29%

-A few (about 1/3 of total roster): 11%

-A Several (less than the half of the total roster): 18%

-Many (more than the half of the total roster): 34%

Well, there are the same % of people that wants 0-2 characters to return than a main base of them, and the same that want only Scorpion & Sub-Zero than a game with return characters but more based in new ones. Surely, the final decision will make one fan very happy, another pleased and the other angry.

But really, this only covered half question, because the next question is what type of returning characters want the people, because are people that will prefer only classic ones (MK1-Trilogy), people only 3D-gen (MK4-Armageddon), people that want a mix, people that want few returnings but without incluiding Sub-Zero & Scorpion, etc...