I’ll try and answer everyone at once, but it might get a little complicated.
@jukesy1992 Since I know your background in KI and understand you don’t play ranked (or at least near enough as makes no matter), I can understand your point of view on the lockout timer. The only reason I’m really bringing the timer up in earnest is simply because of the fact that it’s not, to me at least, a “minor” concern. Very recently it’s become apparent to me that whenever I am locked out, the sighted playerwill go to town essentially (using both their bars of shadow meter and imediately ending the combo before I have a chance to break), capitalising on the fact that I guessed wrong and even if they hyperextend the combo, there is little chance that I’ll be able to recover other than the usual 3-way educated guess, without being locked out again because I was unaware of exactly when the lockout timer expired. You could say that they are good enough that they might not be using the timer, but when discussing this with other players they seem to agree with me that it’s a problem that should be fixed in some way at the very least regardless of why they’re using the tactics they’re using.
However, I definitely agree with your other points as well - you and I have had numerous discussions about stage ultra cues as a possibility. Though I wouldn’t say the in-combo moves would specifically need a re-balance as such, just a slightly better way of telling which moves are lights, mediums etc (it wouldn’t have to be overly obvious like SF4, just a subtle difference that you’d have to learn to work with), but that’s a pipedream of sorts that might probably get me all kinds of frustrated comments were I to actually go out and suggest it directly as an element that should be addressed for S3.
Who knows, they might work on it at some point, but until then I guess we’ll just have to put up with it. I’m still looking forward to S3, regardless of what they work on for accessibility.
@FallofSeraphs76
I’m willing to be corrected on what I’m about to say, but my only thought on your previous post is that you are actually mistaken. The way I see it, there are two scenarios to consider here - breaking combos in the first place and getting locked out and being aware of it. The first is relatively standard fare in accessibility discussions like this, as the deaf player (let’s not tie it down to an individual) can see the animations in question and break well using those (I speak from personal experience). The second scenario is also relatively standard - the player can see the words Lockout and the timer as it runs down and if they have an opportunity to break the combo after that point, they can again use their grasp of the animations in game to attempt a second breaker. If the timer was removed now, after being there for a while, admittedly there’d be a learning period, but the fact of the matter is though it might put us back on an even keel it would frustrate some players who rely on it and those commentators/streamers who use it would be confused as well. Consequently, the best way I can see to address the perceived imbalance would be to add an auditory equivalent. That way, theoretically at least, everybody wins.
@xSkeletalx
Whilst I understand your frustrated that I might be taking these ideas “too far”, I believe that if these concepts and strategies aren’t suggested in the first place, how would any of the strategies implemented into mainstream games (MKX, IGAU, Skullgirls) be worked on in the first place? For example, the audio cues you mentioned as “sonic features” were only introduced thanks to the help of the community and a suggestion by me (and possibly others before me though I don’t remember finding any other similar suggestions at the time if they did exist). The developers were willing to listen and understand how the cues might be implemented and those who were there might remember the backlash the cues got when they were first introduced due to the lack of an on/off toggle (and I can understand why that might’ve been problematic). However, now that the toggle is there (even though it’s set to 0), whenever I show it to people, they seem to, for the most part, understand how it works and realise that it could even help them in their gameplan as well.
Everyone on these forums is entitled to their opinion and the reason I say that the character colours are “worthless” as you put it, wasn’t to frustrate sighted players, it was to merely put forward the idea that other unlocks can and most certainly could be available to make the grind worth it. After all, I was surprised (as were others) that the music from KI2 wasn’t able to be used in s2’s training mode (we’re not sure about S3 yet). That and the fact that the Aria announcer wasn’t quite what people expected (I don’t think), in addition to the fact that there could potentially be even more visual unlocks, frustrates me, not specifically the fact that there are colours and accessories to unlock. If there was a way to customise your character with accessories etc in an accessible manner, I’d happily give it a go and see how the end result looked according to other players. If there were more reasons for me to keep grinding, I’d be happier with the situation as it stands. However, since the developers have stated that due to engine limitations they can’t add separate voice packs for separate accessories (at least to the console version), it would be good to have some kind of rewards that is semi-tangible and “usefull”, if you see where I’m coming form.
I’m all for new colours/accessories being in the game, I would just like to see something to make the grind worthwhile for me and those who don’t care for unlocking costume/accessories etc.
I wasn’t sure what to think when I read your post originally, particularly this line stuck out for me as a little too much on your part:
"…as though the game needs to be catered to the blind at the expense of everyone else."
I do not, in fact, believe that the game needs to cater to the blind “at the expense of everyone else”. In fact, I believe that we as Killer Instinct players should all be able to stand together and fight on as equal a playing field as possible. Introducing ui elements (audio or otherwise) that can, potentially unfairly benefit certain groups in certain situations (by revealing information that isn’t already present in other mediums) is one way of making this less of a reality. Though it cannot be said whether this would’ve actually happened, there is a distinct possibility that if the ability for blind players to see the KV meter hadn’t been added (thus re-aligning everyone in a fairer playing field, pre-lockout timer), I might have put the game down long ago and moved to other fighting titles.
I’ve edited my original post to hopefully try and get my original point across a little better, removing the idea of getting rid of the visual lockout timer.
