In a way it would be bad as it would turn into a popularity contest

Yeah it would be a bad idea. Fans really have no clue on how to make games. They'de be terrible in it.

I hate to say this, but I don't think many developers take fans' opinions into consideration for much of anything. Of course, that could have a lot to do with 98% of gamers not being able to spell "cat" properly, and coming up with some of the most asinine and pathetic ideas they'd like to see implemented in future games.

If I were a developer, after having read so many "THIS IS MY IDEA 4 MORALT KOMAT 8: SHAU KEN'S REVENJ (BLOOD AND KILLING DARK AND EVIL!)" threads, I'd hate my own fanbase.

It's a good question, Pred, and I've often thought about it. Particularly when MK:A came out. I looked at all my favorite characters and I weeped at the fantasy that somehow, in a parallel universe, I could sit down with Boon and just have him listen to me for five minutes, thus changing a lot of the crappy things in that game.

I think this idea of yours is actually very good, but also very dangerous. If handled carefully, it could be a great thing that would make a game that much better. Why? Because when you have a team making a particular game, they're only concerned with making a GOOD game. As unfortunate as it is, the person creating the (I.E.) storylines of the game might pay more attention to some character he/she deems more important, and less to ones he/she sees as "background" characters. The same goes for other aspects of a game such as gameplay, looks, etc.

Let's take Mortal Kombat into perspective.

I think it would be a great thing if the MK Team would stop to listen to a few fan ideas. BUT, one very, VERY important thing is WHO they listen to. We'd seriously piss off the MK Team and make them hate us if we were to send some fanboys to talk to them. Just imagine Boon giving one of us a chance to talk about Scorpion, and all he hears is "SCORPION SHULD BE DA MULST POWERFUL CHARCARTER AND BEAT EVERYONE!!!11"

If we were to somehow transfer ideas of some users to Boon and Co., the fans would have to be chosen very wisely. We'd need to pick the fan of a character whose "drive" isn't only making his/her character be the best of the game, but the best the character him/her/itself can be. Take the orgasmic Myself, for example (lol, stfu). You already know I'm a big-ass Sonya fan, and I can honestly say that if I could talk to Ed Boon and he'd listen to me, I would turn the current Sonya into a revamped, very enhanced new version of her old self. I'd plan out the best possible ways to make Sonya not the most awesome or well-liked character of MK:8, but the best Sonya we've seen yet. The same goes for any other character: the "chosen" fan would need to have not only a liking for their favorite character, but also a good mind that pays attention to all other aspects of the game, a mind that is aware of the other characters and their importance, and a mind that knows that, for a good story to work, every character cannot be the most ________ character of all.

So yes, bottom line, I think it's a great idea that I wish could happen, but it would need to be handled oh, so carefully.

You're so WRONG....as always,obviously you've never read any threads from some users here where they give good ideas in general about the MK games to make them better.

I think the programmers and developers of games do listen to the fans,sad thing is the MK Team listen to the wrong fans,who only care about stupid things like his favorite characters and fluff....


Good thread Predator.

hm...Looks like a question of "Who" more than anything else.

You know, I thought about how dangerous something like this could possibly be if it were exercised improperly(great chance right?), but I'm still really interested in the content of this idea. Looking into the "How", I figure using things like a vote, and or a poll would eliminate alot of the unwanted concepts and kind of, lead final "fan representatives" in a general direction the rest of us want received by the team. So they know what to take with them(so to speak).

Say it went down like this: (still not inffering, just talking some shit.)

1. Hold a site-wide vote, or nomination for candidates to go pitch concepts, and constructive criticisms to the MKTeam?

I figure, that if a vote is given some time(2-3 monts or so) to elect "the best talent" from a site like MkO, and at least notable members are participating in the vote, the chances of knowing who's good to vote for is at it's best. I think this part right here, could have alot to do with eliminating the fore-mentioned "popularity contest". Simply because you gotta know who's done excellent things, and be able to reference people to those things around this site(or elsewhere).

It'd also provoke members who have been here a long time, to re-introduce who they know for being good at what they have done around Mortal Kombat "fan stuff"...that the newer members might not be really familiar with.

For instance, not many people know who HDTran or Satyagraha are. Two of a few people that I learned some really exact information from, about gameplay and fighting mechanics.

Also in this section of a vote(since I sorta mentioned it already), specific category placements for whom you vote for could be put in place. For instance, it wouldn't really make sense to vote someone like Aculeus for story stuff. It'd be more productive to vote him for Art, or most specifically, like alternate costumes for Scorpion. Cuz that's what he's good at, and we've all seen what he has done with Scorpion. Even though he could probably do any character to excellent quality.

So, since I'm only talking about the cosmetics stuff of MK, we'd only have a couple categorys to vote people for.

a. Alternate costumes (like I was saying, maybe 3 max to be submitted and looked at by the team.)

b. Story analyst//Bio(like character background and character depth. "Where they were or came from before Mortal Kombat effected their life in reasonable detail. What or Who they like//don't like, or, Things they like, or don't like to do. Even their power potential could be explained in this area. It doesn't have to always be animated out and shown in the game all the time, we just wanna know these kinds of things about a fav character. One good, maybe....2//3 page submission is enough from fan representatives per, the character at the time.)

c. In game characteristics(like a couple special moves, fighting style recommendations, possible fighting stances, victory poses, maybe a couple fatality concepts..ect. We've seen in MK, that none of these things have to "be right" in order to make sense for a character to have. These things don't need to be "exactly" Shaolin Fist style for them to look or feel like Kung Lao)

You know? The little shit fans have always "bitched" about. Not rightfully complained, not constructively criticized...but just straight up "bitched" about.

2. Hold a site wide poll//vote for the best ideas on the site, so that the fan representatives take note of them when they speak to the MKTeam. See, once you have the fan representatives, all you need is a general sense of what the rest of the fans want...per whatever character you're talking about.

This part, is more tedious. But, we have all kinds of idea threads laying around here. I don't think it be much to have some of the mods//sub mods like myself go around to the ones we remember being truely good, inventive, original ideas, and linking them so everybody can see them....and vote on them.

I don't think it's too much work....as a matter of my opinion, I think it kind of brings more meaning to the rank. You'd likely see more users, let alone "upper ranked" users online during this kind of thing. See what I mean?

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At the end of the thing, you'd be sending the most talented users from the site to submit a few pure fan contrived ideals to the MKTeam.

All the while they'd(the MKTeam) has control over everything else. They wouldn't have to show any part of a new game, they wouldn't have to release any new information, they don't have to let anyone play or see a new game during it's creation. Everything is totally simplified by the time it gets to them. Might cost them....maybe an hour of time(per character they accept submissions for) outside of concentrating on a new game.

All they'd probably do is take a look at the art, listen to the representatives, or read some notes that we sent...via the internet. They could have a lacky do that much. lol

What say you now, eh?

still not worth it. Even if MK fans had the correct knowledge of what to do, thye still couldn't imput it into the PC's that make MK games. You need to go to school for these things. It doesn't happen overnight.

I think you may be reading me wrong. I'm not saying "apply" any of these things directly to the game itself. I'm not even saying, send some fan to "tell them what to do". No, not at all. What I'm talking about is like.....

This Metaphor:

Giving the MkTeam a plate of assorted foods and letting them take what they want off the plate. Or take it all, or take nothing.

The "Plate", represents an in-development-stage, Mortal Kombat game(it's their "plate" already, so to speak). The "Assorted Foods", represent fan ideas(there are alot of fans, so there are alot of things to sort out in order to send the MkTeam "good food" too choose from.). What they "take" from that plate, is up to them because, they would//should know what is reasonable to consider...if they took anything.

But what I'm getting at, is a way to present "fan stuff" to them, allow them to see more clearly what fans are generally concerned with, and have them consider these "issues" specifically. Without screwing with anybodies job, the production of a coming game, or anybodies money.....and get a game fans had more to contribute to, than just "bitching" after the fact.

See what I'm saying? The point you've brought up...Yea, I totally agree, and I know better than to go that route in this idea....

The only variable I can think of right now, is that saying:
"Fans will always bitch about something."

My thing is, this idea has already worked once before with MasterMalone and the implementation of the Wake Up game in MkA. Nobody really "bitched" about that, after the fact. There was criticism, but nobody I saw had "shit-to-talk" about it.

I keep wondering, what would happen if that kind of fan-developer relationship worked on more places in the game than one? And hypothetically, how could we go about it?....

All hypothetic.

Alright agreed. Sometimes fans can be a good imput into the MK team.

I agree totally! I think if fans TRUE fans had good ideas then the programmers should implement them. old buddy outworld222.

The most intelligent thing this deserves is a Fuck no! from previous experiences..mainly Armageddon.

I think that this would be a great idea, but I'm not sure that I understand the idea behind submitting it to the MK team. It's not like the winner would just be able to walk into Midway Games in downtown Chicago and head up to Ed Boon's office just because a bunch of fans on a fan site liked his/her ideas.

Any clarification on that Pred?

I also think that it would be difficult to find someone that has the imagination and the know how to present their ideas. I've seen people that have great concept art but they don't have the imagination to bring the character off of the page, so to speak. Conversely, I've also seen people with amazing ideas on everything from the overall gameplay to the minutiae of story elements for an individual character, but they can't draw, paint, or use art programs to save their lives.

Sure, it's possible to find one person that embodies all of the best of this site, and I think that it could be a great idea, but given the fact that we're kind of in the hibernation phase for alot of MK fans (you talked about HDTran, I haven't seen him, FL Style, Versatile etc for some time on this board), your proposal seems to be somewhat difficult.

Who knows though. Personally, I'd love to take a character and develop a story for them. I'm sure alot of other people would as well. I don't see the harm in this at all. If you don't like what someone says or does, then you don't vote for it. To me, it's that simple. The voting system would get rid of all of the "MaKe ScoRPSSSS baDaZZZZZZZZ w00t w00t!!!11! mK 4 lyfe1!1!" people. If enough people like one person's ideas, pics etc, wouldn't it go to reason that maybe the person isn't just a mindless fanboy? I dunno, the system couldn't be perfect, but for the purpose of the idea, I think it could work.

On a side note, Chrome, you said that this would be a horrible idea due to MK:A. What did you mean by that? Just curious.

I think it's an interesting idea, whether it would work or not wold depend on the talent involved. If it's truly talented users doing this then, of course, it would have a possible chance.

Then the question would be: does the MKTeam even listen to fan ideas like this? Which, I don't believe they do. But then again I really don't know the Team so I can't speak for them.