Certainly not. In a perfect world, the change in costume direction wouldn't be an issue at all. Making the warriors look a little more badass and a little less like empty eye candy isn't hurting or cheating anybody.

Am I the only one who finds it ironic that people are complaining about SJWs restricting the developers' creative freedom, while disrespecting their decision to make whatever change they thought was right?

More revisionist history. I called him that because he dismissed my and others' opinions because we're straight men, as if to say that our input isn't welcome, which is bigoted at best and fascist at worst. But hey, whatever fits your narrative enough to help you sleep at night :v

And I'd also like to again state that I'm not asking for tits everywhere, nor was that ever what I was asking for. I'm asking for intellectual honesty from Beran (something TomTaz touched on in great detail) and for a little more variety in the outfits since they've already decided on making all the women covered up. If that means more risque outfits, great. If it doesn't, great. I don't mind seeing skin, I don't mind seeing lots of clothes, I just want them to be honest about pandering to people who aren't buying the game anyway. Especially when said pandering comes at the expense of those who are among the biggest supporters of the series.

I'd be happy with the artistic style returning to what it was in MKX, because that was the perfect balance.

This is what it has always boiled down to for me as well. Again, I just want some middle ground. They're being dishonest and it's not hard to tell.

Very little was said in the snippet of interview quoted in the link from the original post. And what little was said doesn't sound dishonest. It just sounds like -- whether you agree with the reasoning or not -- they heard the complaints that cropped up around MK9 and thought it was a reasonable change to make. Steve Beran might just be one of potentially dozens of adult human beings who legitimately changed their minds about female presentation in video games and honestly think they're doing something right.

I mean, if he was just pandering to stop people from getting mad at him, then he didn't have to say, "I’m sure that will disappoint some fans. We don’t have bathing suit fighters, and I think that’s fine. If people are disappointed, I don’t regret making that change." He could have just tiptoed around the subject noncommittally like plenty of other creators do when they feel like they're walking a thin line on the border of outrage on all sides. Whether you agree with him or not, he took a stance and stuck to it.

It's weird how many people don't have enough imagination to believe that somebody might actually care about these things, just because they don't see the point themselves. Or maybe they do understand it, but claiming the other side is all hypocrisy is just another easy dodge to avoid having to consider another point of view might actually be right. I'm not psychic. You tell me.

God... just imagine how much of a shitfarm this whole thing would have been if he did say the "honest" thing, as you guys see it. You think things would have turned out any better?

Hmmm....

Interesting thread.

As an older female many decades long video game player of many genres, I also found it a bit refreshing to see females with full costumes on. I have always wanted more variety for female characters in fighting games. I think that the developers are trying to attract a wider base of players besides males ages 13 and up; let's be honest, fighting games are usually targeted to that audience and that audience has enjoyed a practically exclusive video game genre up to this point. This is a step in the right direction to invite more female players to fighting games. Other fighting games have proven time and time again that female characters can kick butt with fully covered bodies and look fantastic doing it.

However, I also understand that "T&A sells" (if you don't know what that term means, google it), so I expect outfits from fully covered to nearly naked. It would have been nice to see all of the female outfits the game will offer; I am still on the fence about whether or not to keep my preorder at Gamestop for this game; this *beta* is a demo in disguise so I do not have much feedback for it except for the costumes.

So, it's not the *sex* that has been toned down; it is the fact that the "sexy outfits" are not in the forefront of marketing for this game and that has thrown water onto the hornet's nest. It will be interesting to see how well this game attracts new players and retains old ones when the game launches.

Interesting. It is not just fighting games but most games for consoles and PC are aimed for males because that is the overwhelming majority of players on these systems. FPS and sports titles are among the most popular and they are mostly enjoyed by males. It makes sense to appeal to the biggest group.I do not know if making the female characters less risque will attract more female players. I have see quite a fair few women(not including myself) who are not happy about the change. Maybe it will, maybe it won't.

What I will say is that it is a very risky strategy to disregard your core fanbase and try to appeal to new one. There is no certainty that the new fanbase you are appealing to will buy your game. NRS could have done a 50/50 approach if they wanted to attract new players while keeping the core fanbase happy. They could have kept the more risque costumes and have covered up ones. They still might. We have not seen all the costumes and I think the DLC for the females might cater to such a thing, the Kold War Skarlet skin being an example. I hope so.

You're not really using the word fascist correctly, though. Most people don't, though, so... yeah.

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This whole argument here seems so off to me. I understand that we all have our opinions as well as our right to them, but objectively we don't actually need large breasts or revealing outfits. It's just a creative choice, and in this day and age, it's not a very good one. If you miss the boobs, fine. You miss the boobs. But let's not act like the games are suffering because of it.

(for the record, this is a general statement, it's not being direct towards anyone in particular)

Hmm...

Companies need and should change their marketing approaches to try to attract different types of customers. Yes, it is a risk; however, I think it is a risk worth taking. It may seem like a disregard to the core fanbase because something that have have gotten used to isn't showcased first or at all; however, if companies didn't change tactics from time to time that same fanbase would complain that the game has become boring and they want something new and different. Heh.. damned if they do and damned if they don't.

However, I do agree with you about a 50/50 costume reveal (50% covered/50% revealing); this beta demo would have appealed to me in a more positive way. If there are more skins like the Kold War Skarlet available, then this change may work out better than anyone expects.

Thank you. So refreshing to hear your point of view. Excellent points.

Sweet Jesus, give me the strength.

For the eleventh time- They...are...not...pandering...to...people...who...aren't...buying...the...game!

They are pandering to the FANS who DROVE them to make these changes.

This movement didn't start from the outside- it started inside. You just refuse to accept the fact that your community made this change.

Barb, the soccer mom from Ohio didn't walk in on little Timmy playing MK9 and go "Holy Smokes! Look at those scantly-clad scallywags!" and then proceeded to start a movement to ban hooker boots from Mortal Kombat.

Twist ending- We ALL did it.

We spoke up, we spoke loud, and NRS listened. So no, the people who they're pandering to ARE buying the game- because they're US.

Get it through your skull. Your issue is with your fellow fans.

I personally couldn't care less about how much skin is or isn't shown. Considering that MK has had battle damage for some time, and at the end of the fight, chances are, whatever female character you're playing as ends up with chunks of skin torn off and bits of bone protruding through the wounds, it's not exactly a turn on either way. But either way, Mortal Kombat has never been about that kind of fanservice for me, so personally, I couldn't care less. If that's what I wanted in a fighting game, I'd play DOA.

From what I've seen, the actual character designs are some of the best yet. Jade, with all that armor, looks better than she ever did in MK9. And, quite frankly, it's not like she, or any of the other characters are exactly conservative looking. They might be showing less skin, but their outfits are still very form-fitting, and show off their figures plenty. So I really don't see what the outrage is all about.

As for their reasoning... Is it still technically pandering if they've heard complaints (wherever those complaints may have come from), and actually sat down and gave the issue some thoughts, and decided that toning town the skin would better serve the game, or the franchise? It's not always about, "Let's give the whiners what they want," sometimes the complaining merely brings up a conversation, and at the end of that conversation, maybe they decided that it would be better to tone down the skin. Not everyone would agree with that, but maybe the creatives at the studio did. And like I said, from what I've been seeing, some of these character designs are absolutely fantastic.

And I'm sure that with the customizable outfits of this game, players will be able to have more revealing configurations, if it really bothers them so much that Jade's ass isn't showing through her thong and Sonya's nipples aren't protruding through her shirt.

Yeah, I don't see how you didn't catch this, @m0s3pH.

There were a lot of fans upset about it. Hell, I was one of those fans. That's how I know. I felt they shitted on Sindel by making her dress that way.

Mortal Kombat is an incredibly niche franchise and has a rather closed off fanbase. NRS is aware of this (even though they're doing their best to expand to a broader audience), which is why they ask for our input on social media rather often. The fans' input came in strong with MK9. They were not pleased with the boobage.

Most fans are okay with more covered up costumes for the female characters, just like most fans are okay with a MK1&2-heavy roster (much to my dismay). The people have spoken. It is up to you now whether or not you wish to deal with it.

The thing is, these guys can't possibly fathom that people in the community want different things than they do- so they have to go and create the imaginary "other" and act like it's people who don't even play these games being catered to when it's not true. We were here back in 2011- during the huge outrage over the female costumes- that shit got downright ugly and that was right here on Mortal Kombat Online and across several other MK-based forums and spaces- it was entirely in-house. Fans were OUTRAGED.

But no, they're convinced that they are the majority even though reality shows they aren't- if that was the case you'd have more revealing outfits- NRS wouldn't be doubling down just to please these phantom soccer moms and iron-fisted SJWs who just conveniently seem fine with extreme gore and devious brutality but draw the line at thongs and boobies- they don't exist. Fans however, who want their female Kombatants to actually look like Kombatants- do. But it's much easier to point outside rather than look in the mirror. So denial, denial, denial is all we'll get from these people.

What's hilarious is these hypocrites would be alright with the pandering if NRS decided to cave and give them their revealing outfits back. You can pander, as long as it's to what they want.

I want to clarify, I wasn't meaning for heterosexual men to shut up- I was saying I'd love to hear what women think, most specifically, Lesbian or Bi-Sexual women- Their displeasure (or support) for this change hasn't really been noted. I was simply saying we already know what all the outraged Hetero dudes are coming from, I just wanted to hear a different perspective and that different perspective may would actually add to your arguments.

So it wasn't just Ahnka going "STRAIGHT MEN, SHUT UP! THIS IS A WOMAN'S ISSUE!" - Not at all. That was not my intention.

I was definitely one of the people complaining about the MK9 costumes back before it’s release - as were many others on these forums. I don’t mind fan service (most of my art is very fan servicey), but the MK9 costumes were just bad from a conceptual standpoint. Sonya IMO was the most egregious, but all of them were pretty damn terrible. A costume should tell you about a character and what they are about before you even know their backstory. MK9’s female costumes really said nothing about the characters outside of them being sexy.

As a character artist, I really like what NRS has done generally with the characters this time. At first glance, you can instantly tell who Jade is and what she is about purely from her costumes (especially the one with the hood...so, so good). I wish there was more variation (some characters have similar looking costumes), but generally they’ve done a good job.

HOWEVER, I do believe there is room for fan service outfits especially if they are classic costumes. Nostalgia is valid especially given the time bending nature of the current story.

TL;DR - the costumes look good, but there’s nothing wrong with having fan service especially for an alternate look.

I don't know if anyone here watched OZ (an HBO prison show) but everytime I come across this thread I remember Adebisi yelling 'GIVE ME SOME F*CKING TITS'

I am now have a quarrel with you

I've seen several people bring up the fact that this franchise (supposedly) has an overwhelmingly male fanbase as if to imply the developers are essentially giving men the middle finger by not playing up the sex appeal of female characters in the game.

...really? I mean, REALLY?

Who the hell are these grown ass men who have been MK fans since they were kids/teens in the 90's and who will literally stop being fans of the franchise because of female characters not showing as much skin? I am sorry but I have to quote Ron Burgundy here, "I don't believe you".

Well, they straight up give you an upskirt view of Cetrion in her Fatality. So for those of you who want or need a little extra sex in the game: Enjoy!

Thank.

I think MKX had a perfect balance to be honest. I have no problem with MK11's except for some of them looking a little too samey. Like others have said one of the biggest problems with the scantily clad costumes in MK9 was every single female fighter was dressed that way. It works for some characters, doesn't for others. Sonya for example simply shouldn't have a super skimpy costume because it doesn't fit her character at all. It does fit Mileena on the other hand.

I've been playing a lot of Pokemon Go lately, and I just started drifting off to sleep while I was reading through this thread... and somehow in my half asleep addled daze, the two games began blurring together and a thought began fumbling through my head akin to, "Man these people sure are pissed about the outfits in this game... I don't even know why they're getting worked up though... Pokemon aren't even sexy they're just cute little monsters..."

Then I snapped back to semi-consciousness and realized my brain was fudging my recent memories of the wrong game on top of what I was reading.

And I thought that warranted posting.

That is all.

Gotta fight em all

Netherrealm reveal half naked woman today, that can increase her breasts to planetary sizes

and here we are in thread with 7 pages about toned down females in the game

The other side is awfully quiet now that Cetrion has been revealed.

Every one enjoying her boobs? Good. Issue solved. Lol