When is a regular throw breakable but not techable?
KI is not struggling because the juggle combos look āgoofyā. They actually attract the allure of outside watchers.
You brought up something completely different. I see no correlation to what the combos look like and how the community of the game is doing. I never said tournament numbers were just as high nor viewership. I merely am saying that if it were, itās not do to look of juggle combos.
And YOU act as if thereās any evidence that itās because juggles are āvery goofy.ā You are ascribing a phenomenon with a reasonable explanation (less interest during dry spells of content with other big releases) to your totally subjective take on the gameās mechanics.
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To that guy that said spectators are being deterred,
I hung out with friends 3 days ago that play FPS and other games religiously.
So, I brought 3 friends. Then those friends brought 5 other friends.
We played Halo, Gears of War and Overwatch for a while. I suggested KI. They didnāt know what that was.
They watched, I played.
They were ALL amazed at KI, watching it. Like, they wanted to keep watching me instead of playing FPS games. Then started asking me what does the character I played do (Was playing Kim Wu, who apparently has no cool things about her) how do you play, what do the other characters do, and such.
So I went through the roster showing them all the characters.
Characters they nearly dropped out of their chair out of sheer hype:
- Hisako
- Gargos ( A REALLY big one)
- TJ Combo (A big one)
- Saberwulf
- Kim Wu
- Eyedol (Especially this one lol)
- Arbiter (My friends nearly flipped out that he was in KI)
- General RAAM (I nearly was left for dead and they almost jacked my fightstick, they are hardcore Gears fans)
They all told me they wanted to learn this game and play so bad, because the announcer was hype, the combos looked amazing, and the characters were awesome.
One friend even said he was kinda glad that there were no āSimilarā characters, which I think he meant clone characters like Street Fighter.
And these are just a few of my friends. Imagine the other percent of the world.
- Side note: None of them have ever played a fighting game. Also, they said they were going to recommend this game to other friends.
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Thatās very awesome! 
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the fact that you disagree doesnāt mean that my thoughts donāt make sense.
Btw, you are talking about balance, Iām not. I too think the game is very balanced, thatās not the point. What I think is that there is just too much stuff to keep up with. A game doesnāt need to be very complicated to be highly competitive. The base mechanics of KI are pretty straight forward and easy to pick up thanks to the dojo. Combo system is universal, juggles are intuitive, execution is manageable and so on. What Iām trying to say is that some characters just do too much stuff and in some matchups thereās too much stuff goin on. I would like a cleaner, purer version of KI, and that would probably be the best FG ever.
Character diversity can be achieved with simplier characters. IMO there are a few characters that strike the perfect balance between being understandable while keeping the crazy KI DNA:
Pretty much all the S1 characters plus Hisako, Riptor, RAAM, Mira, Maya, TJ and Aganos. A few Others are close but not quite there. If these characters were more consistent in terms of animation/model quality and the game engine lost some extra mechanics I think the game would be almost perfect.
Donāt get my thoughts wrong, I love KI and Iām only worried cuz Iām loosing interest. I shouldnāt have to choose between being a casual player or a pro. I should be able to enjoy the game whatever my commitment to it is.
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I think this is the big thing I think a lot of people tend to forget. Literally no one I talk to outside of the one friend who referred me to the game 3 years ago had any earthly clue Killer Instinct even exists.
Hell, I canāt blame them. Iād never heard of it when I picked it up. I didnāt know it had a legacy. I didnāt know it had a competitive scene of any sort. It took me nearly a year to figure out that there was a place to discuss the game other than Maximilianās YouTube comments, let alone an official forum.
There are a few people who Iāve shown the game to who think itās absolutely great. But outside of that, 90% of people donāt know jack about fighting games apart from the fact that MK and SF exist.
The key to growing KI is education. Kinda hard for people to latch on to the game or even be deterred from it if they donāt know it exists 
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You are right, I overstated it, I should have said every top 4. But I was not only talking about players, also about what I actually seeā¦ something that is very messy, hard to follow and appreciate even if I actually play the game. Moreover, the crowd is not going as nuts as it used to, just cuz moments of player brilliance are way harder to spot.
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And it doesnāt need to be very simple to be good!
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Thatās really a cool story, I wish I had friends like thatXD but this is the problem right here. KI may attract some FG newcomers with the help of guest caracters and such. The problem is it doesnāt have much appeal among the actual FGC members.
It has to be simple enough to be exciting and clear to watch for somebody who doesnāt know what a FG is. Iām not saying that KI should be SFV simple. Just not as complex as it is right now.
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Also some real marketing money wouldnāt hurt XD
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Thatās a perfectly fair conclusion to arrive at if weāre judging how good a game is by what random stream monsters will think of it. Sort of like judging how good a book is by how much a 3rd grader enjoys it. Thereās certainly a great deal of value in books that kids like, but I wouldnāt want to be judging all books by that standard.
Also, just like how thereās evidence that kids will get a great deal of enjoyment out of books intended for a much older audience, thereās also evidence that a game really doesnāt need to be designed in a clear and simple way. League of legends and DOTA are massive, and those games are basically visually incomprehensible if youāre not deep into them.
Not to say, of course, that all complex games are good. Iāve dropped quite a few games because I looked at the options laid out in front of me and simply said, āno thanks.ā But in a world where people are still playing marvel 3 and blazblue, I think KIās level of complexity is totally fine.
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I agree. Just to reiterate, I think that is the BIGGEST thing Iāve heard talking to other people about KI.
Major ones in no order:
āWhatās That?ā
āItās Back? Since When?ā
āI havenāt seen any Ads for that game.ā
āItās been out for 3 years? Why havenāt I heard about it?ā
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The great thing about fighting games is that the could be watched and understood by everybody. You donāt need to be a boxing coach to enjoy a boxing match. I donāt need to know what a frame trap is to get hyped on a big comeback.
If you read my sentence out of context you can reply to it like you did, but itās just one thing I said among many Others.
IMO a good FG needs a few sound core mechanics and amazing presentation and characters. Anything on to should be added with measure since it can spice the game up or straight up ruin it.
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You know what, I actually canāt disagree with that.
After reading this, Iām confused by what youāre standard of ājust too much to keep up withā. Thatās a very vague wording that can be taken a number of ways. If youāre fine with the balance at hand on the combo system, the juggles, and all that, then what is overencumbering the player? Iām just confused by your wording of the whole topic, especially since character diversity and balance do go hand in hand on a lot of issues, especially regarding matchups.
Iām glad you like KI, but to have an entire cast of straightforward, no special attack patterns of any kind characters like Cinder, Rash, Arbiter, and other difficult to predict, high learning curve characters, the game would actually get dull rather quick, IMO. The reward for mastering characters with more technical playstyles and higher learning curves for big offensive abilities is the biggest appreciation of diversity within a roster. However, that also means being prepared for whatever offensive you are bound to face using your character in competition (online or offline). Unless you are willing to learn a little and be ready to meet that matchup, youāll have to accept a loss now and again. I just made the association your lack of enthusiasm came from a lack of wins online and maybe being overencumbered enough by matchup data. From there I made the suggestion if your enjoyment comes from winning, youāll need to make an effort like many of us to increase your skill level to earn those wins more frequently. If your enjoyment just comes from playing, regardless of winning or losing, then Iām not really sure why it would bother you at all.
Making all your characters super straightforward leads to dull character design and uninteresting matchups where playing against one character could easily be the same as playing against several others. It would also do nothing to make the game more enjoyable, as all your matches would eventually fall under using the same universal strategies over and again, becoming too simple to play.
So I guess just call me confused, as Iām not entirely sure where your complaint about too much stuff comes into play, because your opening statement and your response just now seems to be too vague to understand your issues with the game,and maybe slightly contradictory, if not confusing somewhat.
Iām not trying to say anything about your skill level or insult either. Iām just genuinely a little confused by what youāre saying.
Please do give numbers then.
EVO was KIās biggest number of entrants yet which was bigger than 2014 and 2015. This doesnāt support your claim.
Considering how Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat (I believe) have been the only ones as of late that have had any form of advertisement on television platform, I would say while we are slowly on our way to there, but need more time to scale that mountain.
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