⚠ CONSUMER WARNING ⚠ - MK11 RNG grind walls worse than Injustice 2's

[You Kissed a Boy and Liked It]

"Character augments are these little gems that you can slot into your gear that give you passive bonuses. Here are some examples of bonuses.
Gem 1: 9% extra damage on raiden Superman
Gem 2: +20% poison resist, 3% overall damage
Gem 3: 4% less damage to the whole team in AI battle

On paper, the augments sound pretty good, and honestly they’re not hard to come by. They are fairly common rewards in towers of time and the Krypt. While these are randomized for the character they drop for, you can focus on your character by summoning a character tower and getting augments for your main from there.
What sucks, however, is the amount of preparation and RNG you need to even use a gem. These gems aren’t one size fits all. Just like the infinity stones, they come in different shapes and colors. I don’t have the game in front of me right now so I cant remember the exact names , but there are 5 types of gems, and for this example, let’s say two of these types are chaos, and order.
Say you’re a Noob Saibot player, and you want to use Augments for Noob, here’s the process for start to finish.

Step 1: Get augments for Noob Saibot either randomly or through Character Tower

Step 2: Level up your gear to unlock the gear slots on your current equipment. Those gear icons you see in the preview footage at the end of fights with the little xp bar at the bottom left? Yup this is it. Your gear has xp. It takes about 25 wins to level up all your gear once and unlock the first augment slots on them the it goes exponentially higher for other slots. Each gear piece has upto 3 slots for augments that you can unlock, but you can only equip two augments per gear piece. Also this xp is tier to the individual gear piece. So if you just leveled up the “Brother of Kuai" mask for Noob to level 3, and find a cooler mask that you swap out for, you gotta level up the new mask from scratch.

Step 3: Match the slots on the gear, with the type of augment. Remember how augments are one of 5 types? Your level 3 mask might have 2 slots for chaos augments, and one for order augments. But all the chaos and order gems you have may not even be for the mask. Your order gems might be for the shadow and chaos for the sickle. So not only do you have to match the type of gem to the slot of the gear, but the gem itself should be for that gear piece. If the gear piece does not have the slots to match the augments you have, you can pay coins to reroll the type of slots in the gear piece in exchange for coins. I don’t know the cost yet because I believe rerolling only works on max level gear.

Step 4: So now everything is set. Your Noob mask is level 3. You’ve rerolled it so that the augment slots match the types of augments you have for the mask, and you just placed the augments into the mask. However you just realized that the bonuses these give you don’t really match your current load out. The poison resist gem isn’t going to help you in this tower with blood damage, and the special move bonus that the augment is giving you is for a special you haven’t equipped in this variation. Oh well, hopefully you get another augment soon and you better hope it’s for the mask and matches the slots on the mask, otherwise you gotta reroll again.

Step 5: You just found a sick looking new mask, sickle, and shadow gear. Aw s*** here we go again. Oh, and we cant just let you remove your augments from your old gear for free. Freely swapping would be too friendly. You gotta pay 1000 coins for each augment you remove from your old gear. Shao Kahn needs his tribute!"

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/253573-mortal-kombat-11/77654769

tl;dr --
All content -- skins, clothing parts, augments etc. -- are tied to an RNG system that has more layered RNG systems therein, increasing grinding requirements exponentially, relative to "gear" level -- a process that is compulsory for unlocking more and more content, as NRS's infamous cheatbot A.I. necessitates the continual increasing of char. attributes to "overpowered" degrees, so as to allow for progression / continued content access (*it's not a skill-based system where players can simply "git gud" to surmount CPU encounters).

Also, all unlocking of content must be verified via server connection / check (so as to "ensure you're not getting what you're not supposed to" -Derek Kirtzik, NRS developer),
Thus, Internet connectivity is effectively compulsory for accessing the content that consumers have already paid a triple-A premium price for.

Lastly, still no mention of whether or not customisation will be usable offline (i.e., P1vP2), outside of throw-away versus-dumbot modes ... So, all this MMO-esque grinding for content we already paid for and own, may amount to nothing for most players who want to play either traditional offline versus mode/s (the meat and bones of all games in this genre), or even "competitively" online (where "variations" have replaced whatever "customisation" the game offers).

PS: Suffice it to say, all these grind walls placed to lock players out of using the content they paid for and have been tantalised with for months, can be circumvented instantly by spending more money and buying the game's in-game real-world currency surrogate / "zenny", "Time Krystals". 👌

[Impact Fontaine]

it is single player only like in towers where they have augments and tag team NRS has made this clear multiple times

Even the example you gave said in AI battle unless you exclusively play single player you lose nothing not pay to win at all

you can unlock costumes and gear which have no effect on game play by doing tutorials and tower modes

quote=KripTed;1681441347876492794]That's the point I was trying to make guys. This game shouldn't be having paywalls and etc. I agree. I mean I play Guild Wars 2 so you can imagine the things that may be locked behind a paywall. But a grind like that makes sense in a game like Guild Wars or WoW, not Mortal Kombat.

It's like Mortal Kombat is trying to be Overwatch or something. Even their end fatalities remind me of outro's seen in Overwatch. Why are augments even a thing? Why is there even in game currency? Like seriously. This is wrong and this is not Mortal Kombat. I don't support games that are 79.99 CAD then want to add micro-transactions. I hate to say it but the gaming industry needs to crash, so we can have a real change. But you know, sheep. [/quote]


maybe do research and not just listen to what you're told before calling people sheep

[Ouroboros]

Escrito originalmente por FrenchToast:

Even the example you gave said in AI battle unless you exclusively play single player you lose nothing not pay to win at all

you can unlock costumes and gear which have no effect on game play by doing tutorials and tower modes

Right, since the augments are for single player, its not pay to win. But it IS pay Extra to play with convenience, and without frustration.

Maybe someone doesnt like multiplayer and all they want is to play single player (like maybe they have a physical disability such as hand cramps which make them prefer to play single player with the option to pause). They should have a reasonably rewarding and fair game play experience.

Until recent decades that was to be expected. Grind walls started to be introduced to frustrate people en mass, in order to get a small number of whales to pay out.

[EdgarAllenPathOfExile]

What I'll do is buy my main's best outfit that I like, and then grind the rest out in my own time.

[blackfirefly]

I cant belive Mortal Kombat, one of my favorites game franchises has become something like this...

[Eyescream]

This honestly doesn't bother me one bit. Many games out there are like this and it's just another one. Crying for no reason IMO.

[maskedlord76]

jesus, what has happened to the once great MK!? I hated this system in Injustice 2 where you had absolutely no control over what you unlocked. A simple fighting game turned into such a pain

[You Kissed a Boy and Liked It]

Escrito originalmente por Ouroboros:

Getting everything immediately without any effort is not fun.

That's wholly subjective, and if that "effort" = the grinding of mindless, repetitive tasks for hours on end, that would likely not equate to fun more most of the species. Also, if players do, if fact, want to be rewarded for "effort", why do they always cry for everything to be simplified, homogenised an dumbed-down to their level...?

Would it not be more fun to hone one's skills, wrought new neural pathways (staving off degenerative brain disease in the process) and to simply "git gud", than to be barfed up insulting throw-away e-trinkets in exchange copious, irreplaceable hours -- stuff that THEY ALREADY OWN AND HAVE PAID FOR? 🤔
---

Escrito originalmente por blackfirefly:

I cant belive Mortal Kombat, one of my favorites game franchises has become something like this...

Star Wars -- Disney. E.A. / Activision -- anything. Warner-a-brother -- Mortal Kombat 👈

See the pattern?

[Seizure Storm]

Why not just play ranked where the stat stuff is disabled

[You Kissed a Boy and Liked It]

^ Why pay for content that you can never access?... And why play "ranked" when customisation is disabled for that mode?

[Seizure Storm]

You just defeated your whole point if it's disabled for the main online mode (ranked). Then the only exposed are people who actually want to play FIFA ultimate team fighting game edition.

[ThatOne_ArabGuy]

I feel like a good chunk of people here not being bothered by it haven't played IJ2 and aren't aware how important stats are when it comes to progressing in single-player towers. Or they just don't play single-player which hey, lucky you, probably won't be effected much by this. I personally dug the IJ2 system, but this sounds like a way more inconvenient and frustrating version of it, mind you that system was already pretty grindy as it was.

[Scorpio]

So that's how breaking my own rules of no preordering ends up, huh. I even suspected why MK11 will require constant online service FML.

Krypt will be so grindy you will blow your brains out sooner than unlock everything without paying them more money and judging by how unlocking itself works it is in fact a "lootbox", "randomised" crap you unlock with GaMeCuRrEnCy or one paid with your real money just to gamble in hopes you will get something you actually want. That or pay more likely a price of a full game just to unlock everything. Absolutely disgusting. Also if anyone thinks you will be able to do other modes than online without "consumables" if you "git gud" is delusional. They will ramp up stats of your AI opponent to the point it will probably 3 shot you if you have no "gear".
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHH

Now I almost hope it's gonna flop in some way even tho I spend my money on it, what a disaster. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ liers.

[Kuriishi]

Lame.

[You Kissed a Boy and Liked It]

Escrito originalmente por ThatOne_ArabGuy:

I feel like a good chunk of people here not being bothered by it haven't played IJ2 and aren't aware how important stats are when it comes to progressing in single-player towers.

...Or they're shills who will accept anything to justify their purchase of a fawned-upon product.

Or they just don't play single-player which hey, lucky you, probably won't be effected much by this.

Which is possible... Albeit, rather strange -- given offline versus play is central nub of longevity for any fighting game.

I personally dug the IJ2 system, but this sounds like a way more inconvenient and frustrating version of it, mind you that system was already pretty grindy as it was.

I found IJ2 system a blatant scam to push people into buying their "Source Crystals" (just as MK11's "Time Krystals" seem to be) and punished those who only wanted access to the content of the few chars. they actually played for any length of time. Moreover, with the content in that game being locked to player-1's profile only, the offline component of the game was forever gimped and left effectively incomplete.

The entire IJ2 experience felt like an insulting rip-off to me... and MK11 seems worse, in this respect.

[Xcogumelo]

From what I understand the grind is all about the gems right? You dont actually have to grind for hours or some ♥♥♥♥ like that o unlock cool looking gear right? Just want to know because I dont care for these gems, but if things like cool looking gear, shaders and moves are Behind a grind/paywall is pretty ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥♥♥♥