Agreed.
The team has been nice enough that it gave obscure characters some chances ( Tremor, Bo Rai Cho ..) but I would be mad if Ashrah and even Havik got a spot that Sektor or nightwolf could get.

I enjoyed the 3rd games more than the average MK gamer, they however aren't as well received as the original trilogy and MK9/X. I'd rather have MK9 roster + new ones than waste slots on Ashrah and her league.

Fujin, Reiko, Havik and heck even Drahmin have interesting concept but they are just NOT POPULAR and to me are not as important as Sektor, Kabal, nightwolf and even Stryker.

No offense to anyone, but I certainly hope some of the views expressed in this thread isn't shared by NRS.

Hopefully most of us fans end up happy, not just a select group. It would be nice to express the excitement of possibly seeing a few obscure faces without being told to shut up and take a seat at the loser table. No one is trying to take your popular faves away.

LOL @ people getting mad that some one-and-done characters would get a chance over their precious MK trilogy character that has been in plenty of games already? Stryker more important hahahaha :)

It's quite greedy.

And this is something that's been eating away at this franchise for decades like a cancer. But they'll find a thousand and one ways to subvert what we're saying and pick/choose pieces of our argument and in the end- it all goes back to what I initially said- as long as they get what they want- who cares?

I want EVERYONE happy. I just want a well-balanced roster to make EVERYONE excited. Many of us do. But that is seen as being unrealistic and too demanding.

We get our populars, we get some obscure faces, we have a good ass time! Why is this even such a debate?

It's ridiculous.

Out of the millions of copies of MKX sold, how many players play competitively? Less than 0.1%. Kabal was one of the best characters in MK9 and he did not return in MKX and yet Kabal was in the bottom half of usage chart. You must be delusional if you think that most people pick anything other than their favourites in the vast majority of instances. It is the only explanation for the fact that Scorpion is the most played character across MK9 and MKX. How many events did Scorpion win? Actually I can not even remember Scorpion even being picked as a main for a pro player. Most people who buy MKX are casuals and they do not care for tier lists and only want to play as their favourites. This is the reason why Scorpion is the most played character in MK9 and MKX.

Scorpion's story is one note and is mostly garbage. He only returns because he is the most popular character in the fanchise. My favourite character is Scorpion and I even recognise this. His entire story revolves around Sub-Zero until MKDA when it switches to Quan Chi. The only characters(not Elder Gods) he has any interaction with in the orginal timeline are Sub-Zero, Shao Kahn Quan Chi, Moloch and Drahmin and most of them are fleeting.

How many people are on TYM and how many bought MKX in total? If tier lists mattered like you imply then why are the most played characters not popular at tournaments? Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Raiden etc etc have a minimal impact at tournaments. Again, Kabal was top tier in MK9 and was one the least played characters in MK9. Most people do not care about tier lists. Most people want to play as their favourite character. I will play as Scorpion no matter how good he is because he is Scorpion. That is it.

with The amount of kharacters the MK universe has now and more and more new kharacters coming, they really need to release games with minimum 30 kharacters to start to have a fair amount of new, klassic and 3D kharacters to make everyone happy. With 4 rumored new kharacters coming, that makes 12 for the last 2 games which if they kept all would leave only 18 for klassic and 3D and that’s ridiculous. The reason people still play this after 25 years is not the fatalities, it’s their kharacters

Yeah, as the choice of putting or excluding characters is up to a random guy nicknamed Lastfighter89. Lol.

The title of the thread is self-explanatory, people are concerned about the future of MK, the well-being of the franchise depends more on characters like Scorpion, Sub-zero, Johnny Cage, Sonya and Liu Kang than Havik, Fujin, Sareena or Skarlet (please note that I like the last four characters mentioned).

People are delusional if they believe that a random Cassie cage should replace both her parents, because this move would maker hated rather than loved by the fanbase.

Mk needs its Trilogy characters, plus Quan Chi and Kenshi because these characters have been the most successful world wide and could gather also the less MK fanatics.
That's it, I wish everyone to get their favorite characters in the game, just don't hold your breath though.

Eating away as a cancer?

Mk has never been so successful, not even in the early 90s.
MKX is the best selling fighting game of the generation. Not even Street Fighter, Tekken or Soul Calibur could compete with MK X in terms of sales and overall success.

Mk will live on even without your loved obscure characters, because it's the Mk1-2 characters that made MK what it is today, for sure if MKX sold more than 5 million copies is not thanks to Tremor, Tanya or even Shinnok.

It is so obvious that I wonder why are we still wasting words on something that is a given and that Ed Boon already proved to be a fact and a necessity.

You want your obscure characters? Yeah, of course you can have them, but not at the expense of more popular ones and don't expect more than 2-3 of them.
In other words, expect another MKX roster.

First off, on what data are you basing your assumption of the 0.1%?

Basically every one who plays online and puts money into it, is to be considered a competitive player.
And competitive doesn't just mean Evo and huge events, every day in North America a tournament is held.

Scorpion's popularity is such a boring matter to discuss, especially on a MK forum. It would be like questioning Ryu's popularity on a Street Fighter forum. There is no use in wasting words any longer.
Scorpion is the poster boy of MK, we can debate all you want about his story and how bad it is, it won't change the undeniable fact that he is the most popular character of them all.

Popularity is the key of the success. Scorpion was one of the most picked characters in almost every game he was in, and for sure was the most picked during the arcades.
Also, competitive wise, a player doesn't pick a character for the look, heck, MKX tournament scene has been dominated by fucking Alien and Erron Black.

Again, I suggest you to stop talking about things you obviously ignore like the tournament scene and the tier lists.

If the tournament scene is one of the key features advertised in Mk 11 previews, there is a reason.

Re-read the Gamestop leak (Which I discovered for first) and you will find a specific bullet point dedicated to the competitive scene and e-sports. Hadn't the competitive scene be so important, NRS would have just ignored it.

On the basis of copies of MKX sold. MKX is best selling MK in the franchise according to Ed Boon. MK1 sold 6 million copies so MKX sold more than 6 million copies. 0.1% of 6 million is 6000. Sounds about right in the number of MKX tournament players.

Anyone who plays online is considered a competitive player? Er no. My cousin, who I play online on MKX is 9 years old, according to your line of reasoning a competitive player. That is absurd. I play MKX online and I am not a competitive player. The competitive players are the tournament scene not casuals having fun online. Most people have an internet connection nowadays and play online, it does not mean they are competitive. Comptetitive play is the highest level of play, which is tournament level where tier lists matter, not normal casuals playing online.

I am glad you finally understand people like Scorpion because of the character being cool not because he is a good tier level character. No one is doubting that Scorpion is the most popular character in MK. What I was questioning is you were claiming this was because somehow Scorpion is/was a good tier list character which is legitimately false. People like Scorpion because they think Scorpion is cool not because of tier lists.

And that is what I have been telling you but you just do not seem to get it. Erron Black is a great character but on the usage chart he is lower than Kung Jin, Takeda and Cassie Cage and so on. According to your reasoning since Erron Black is a good tier character he should be near the top and yet he is not. The answer is simple. The comptetitive scene is small and most players are casuals who just pick their favourite characters. It really is not difficult to understand. It astounds me that I have to even explain it.

The tournament scene is good for marketing and keeping people interested but it is not the core focus, which is why NRS games are notorious for having such short lifespans in the tournament scene.

The only thing you have said which makes any sort of sense is that NRS looks at the number of times a character is used. They will be looking at the usage charts of how much each character was used and making judgements on that not how well they did in tournament/competitive play. They will see that most of the new characters in MKX did well.

Then don't expect my purchase.

You can keep that garbage. Lol

Again. You are proving time after time that you don't know anything about the competitive scene, you do not have any idea of how big it is and how important it is.

No, the competitive players are not 6000, as 5000 is just the entry level of Evo.

Plus, you seriously need to read better as I wrote that "whoever plays online and puts money into it, is a competitive player", so definitely not your 9 years old cousin.
The tournament scene has grown up to be almost even with the casual scene and definitely more important than the old MK geeks like us, it is a fact, proven by emphasis that every fighting game puts in online features.


Scorpion is popular for all the reasons I already wrote in the earlier posts you seem to ignore. All those factors come into play.
Erron Black was the most picked character in MKX until the first patches nerfed him so inglorious lyrics that even the competitive scene abandoned the character. Scorpion, Johnny Cage, Sonya, Erron Black and Kung Lao were the most picked characters online and in tournaments, but with balance patches they were butchered and, rightfully so, most of the players switched to other characters.

There are so many things you ignore or fail to take into account that speaking seems to be useless.

Keep your idea, I'll keep mine.

Not really. You have shown you know nothing and some of what you write is completely absurd.

5000 entries for Street fighter V at Evo 2016 not any NRS game. This year Injustice 2 had the lowest number of entrants out of all the games at the show with 363 entrants. Show me when any NRS game got 5000 entries at a tournament.

Erron Black has never been the most picked character at any stage of MKX lifespan. Show me where it says that. There are numerous lists which show the character usage and each time Scorpion is the most used character followed by Sub-Zero.

Since you frequent TYM so much I found it for you. This list shows the popularity of character since launch:

https://testyourmight.com/threads/mkx-ps4-kharacter-usage-updates.57139/

You keep conflating the tournament scene for the entirity of the MKX player base which is objectively false. The tournament scene is only a small part of the entire MKX fan base. The only reason why WB and NRS support it so much is because it is the only area where they do not do as well as other fighting games.

Who is Cassie Cage?!

Many fans still love the MK1 - MK3 characters bc they are better designed. John Tobias was just really good at it. The lore and characters prove that every day.

The 3D era has a few gems. they made so many new chars. That atleast some would end up with potential. (Quan Chi, kenshi, Fujin, Ashrah, Havik, li mei, Tanya etc)

3 very loved 3D era characters are Fujin, Tanja and Quan Chi, that were also designed by JT. Its almost safe to say that NRS needs better designers.

You know what?
You're right on everything.

But don't expect Mk to change drastically any time soon.
Merry Christmas to you and your family.

THANK YOU.

Excellent point on Ermac. Jade as well. No one was screaming for their comebacks until NRS took a chance and brought them back for Deception. They had a chance to get fleshed out. If it weren't for Deception Ermac, Jade, Sindel, Nightwolf wouldn't be popular. They'd still be pallet swaps.

You know what would happen if they gave that same chance to Sareeena, Li Mei, Fujin, Havik ect? The mainstream and newer fans may find themselves a new fave.

If anyone thinks MK can't afford to have a well-balanced roster then they are delusional and I have no idea why they keep fighting us on this. Especially considering there's big chance NRS will listen this time.

What will be their line of defense then?

For Pete's sake dude, how is hoping to see a few obscure characters tossed in equivalent to expecting a drastic change?

NO ONE IS WANTING OR EXPECTING A 30+ ROSTER OF 3D ERA CHARACTERS.

We just want to make sure there's some diversity mixed in alongside the populars. That's all. Nobody is here advocating for the complete removal of all MK1/MK2 characters.

There's no drastic change. My God!

I do not expect it to change drastically. However, I do expect the majority of the new characters from MKX to return in MK11.
Merry Christmas to you and your family as well.

You guys are arguing with a brick wall with this guy.

The fact that there's a precedent in this franchise for bringing back one-off characters and revamping them into a version that becomes popular is inarguable. Deception did it for multiple characters, and that is a large part of why that game is still so fondly remembered by hardcore MK fans.

That being said, I don't expect a whole slew of 3D era characters, especially if the total roster (DLC included) is less than 40 characters. NRS clearly does have a preference for Trilogy characters, especially from the first two games. But they did also throw us a bone in MKX with a couple of DLC 3D era characters who were not Quan Chi/Kenshi in Bo Rai Cho and Tanya, and of course there was Shinnok.

Step back and look at the fact that in actuality when you count DLC characters there was a total of 5 3D era characters in MKX out of a total roster of 33. That's not bad representation. I think people were frustrated with the roster more for the fact that it teased us with multiple characters who were NPC's in story mode and it didn't make a lot of sense they weren't included on the roster.

If MK11 continues the NRS trend of increasing the amount of characters with each new game then we might get a total of 40 characters in this game including all DLC/the pre-order bonus. With a roster that large it's fair to expect 5 or 6 of the 3D era characters to make it into the game as playable characters. I expect 6 or 7 MKX characters to return, 4-6 new characters, and 5-7 3D characters. You're still talking 18-20 slots for Trilogy characters there. There's room to include some characters from all eras with the roster still being half or almost half Trilogy characters.

Havik, Ashrah, Hotaru, Frost, Li Mei, Dairou all come to mind as redeemable/salvagable

I must admit that Netherrealm's occasional mentality of completely ditching newcomers after an underwhelming debut rather than actually fixing the character does get a bit fustrating. However, some surprise returns in MKX makes me a little more optimistic for MK11's roster, but I still remain cautious.

i went back and watched the mka intro. kind of interesting that in the intro they mention to many kombatants wich would affect time and the realms and mk 11 is rumored to be a time bending story

You're taking "most popular" and making it the basis of popularity itself. You're pushing it.

Fujin is in fact a popular character, particularly among MK fans. But at the very least, you were able to admit he is a well made character, contrary to most characters shown in Top 10 lists.

And for the record, Jade has been cut out of several games since her debut, including:

Mortal Kombat 4

Mortal Kombat Gold

Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance

Mortal Kombat Tournament Edition

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe

Mortal Kombat X

Four of these six games are main series games.

Tanya has also been cut from multiple games, including:

Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance

Mortal Kombat Tournament Edition

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe

Mortal Kombat (2011)

Three of these four games are main series games.

With the exception of Armageddon, where every character had to return, Tanya has been absent in ALL BUT ONE main series game since her debut. The same applies for Jade.

If you're going to make a case, know what you're talking about.

Yup. The only characters introduced after MKII who have pretty consistently returned after their debut game are Quan Chi and Kenshi. Even the MK3 characters like Ermac, Cyrax, and Sektor have failed to be consistent fixtures after their debuts.

Ermac has been in every main line game since his return in MKD, though. Probably not fair to lump him in with Cyrax and Sektor.