What is going on? (the current state of ki community)

General Discussion
1

now before I start I would like to address one thing.
this is a discussion thread, not a rant, I have no intention of arguments but have a middle ground with everyone here( or whoever joins this thread) . (also if need be put this thread in feedback because my forum skills is mad sus)

ok. so to start, ive been noticing a few people are leaving/dropping the game, casually AND competitively in recent time( like more around the start of post s3). not saying the game is dead but we are very small community as is, I understand people can get burnt out which could be the case, not calling names but numerous occasions here on the forums or on youtube/twitch/twitter etc. people have/has publically announce that they are leaving because so and so.
so what I would like to know is 1. what keeps you playing ki after all this time? and 2. what should ki/ig/ms do to bring people back and make it somewhat popular as it once was or even popular than it ever was?
the combat itself for me is so satisfying, so much different from any fighter. 2 I believe its time for a sequel, I was against this in the past(somewhat) but as of right now the best they can do is come out with ki 201X and advertise it a lot instead of being on the xbox store/newsfeed, I have seen the dell alienware ad on youtube but that doesn’t suffice, more like an ad that completely focuses on KILLER INSTINCT. its how I feel

1 Like
2

It’s not a big deal. People say they leave all the time. Most come back and new players are coming in. The community isn’t in crisis.

I just watched a hot money match on Bass’s twitch channel.

5 Likes
3

Boredom and slight frustration with some nostalgia mixed in.

This is a question that varies with every single person. For me, visually, it doesn’t feel like KI. I was introduced with the fire motif in KI2 so that became the norm. When S2/3 came out, it destroyed that piece I adored without an option to return to it. In terms of gameplay, I wish it was a tad bit faster. Give me an option like in the previous games. (Only played KI2 and KIG on Ultra/Ludicrous) With the characters in KI3, it’s very inconsistent in my eyes as it’s blatant that there’s more care and polish with some characters as opposed to the others. Some animations look sloppy (Victory poses for Stage Ultras) and the victory screens for Ultimates feel unfinished. eg: Zooming in on Shago’s face instead of using an actual finishing pose. It’s just my standards but the graphics (in my opinion) look dated already. The textures are not pleasant to look at up close. This is most noticeable on Hisako’s winning animation.

My last complaint is that the music just isn’t to my taste this season. The ultra sounds in general sound wonky with the exception of a few and there’s a melody in some of them that don’t really sounds good.

I really think this game needs to finish at some point so a real sequel can be made instead of being very small budgeted.

I love this entry to death but there are times where I loath picking it up even if they’re pretty distant in between.

4

I think “a lot” is a bit of an exaggeration, a few pros or forum members are a drop in the ocean when it comes to the KI community.

6 Likes
5

So what’s “a lot”? How many have you seen? Is it more than 5? I haven’t really been paying attention so would love to be caught up with what’s going on. :slight_smile:

1 Like
6

As many or more people are playing this KI right now than have ever played it.

4 Likes
7

Do you remember when, at the end of S2, the game was doomed and people where leaving, and rained napalm, and all the bronze players were sacrified for the glory of the top 32 killers each month?

Me neither

KI has been out for… 3 years and half? And its playerbase still growns? Even if some pros(who doesn’t count as 1.000 players each) or some non competitive players lleave, there are thousands of players who stay.

Every time I play ranked I get paired with people I don’t recognize.

A really well balanced game, with a really varied collection of character archetypes(two concepts which usually don’t come together!!), fun to play, with a lot to learn, and constantly evolving.

The amount of decisions you do over a fight it’s insane, the game feels like a mind battle against your opponent, the characters oozes personality and charisma.

I could go on, you get it.

Fighting with some community friends its also fun at all levels.

I could face @KevBones10, a great player who will challenge all my skills to defeat him, focusing myself with my best chars to get the so desired victory

I could face @BigBadAndy in one of our mytical “sub fight”, where we both choose a character whom we are not familiar, and wackiness occurs, with incredible and fun outcomes, sometimes stopping to play just for taking breath of the laughs we have

I could just fight @TheNinjaOstrich for THE GLORY WHICH AWAITS US

I could fight @STORM179 to actually see a genius at work, and amaze myself about how dangerous, stylish and effective a good player can be while I try to steal some matches from him

KI and its community offers me a lot of challenges, at all levels.

How can anybody say this game/community is dying?

Even when the game stops getting updates(sadly, one day it will happen), I will still play, bringing the fight to anyone who want.

FIGHT ON

13 Likes
8

The combo system.
and of course my Riptor.

9

Ive seen 5 or more NEW forum members post in the last week than I have seen people leave or announce they are quitting.

So… all this Everyone is leaving talk is just rubbish.

3 Likes
10

That’s the thing though. Cherished forum members leaving has a bigger impact on the community than new people coming in. It’s annoying but it’s how people’s brain work sometimes and understandable. The negative stuff resound more loudly than the simple sometimes small positive stuff.

11

Thing is none of the recent ppl that announced they are leaving has truly left. Bass is still putting out content and you know he has played the game in his home since the announcement. Tiger spirit is still playing and on the forums, Vlad is still playing…no way he isn’t.

No one has truly left…I dont buy that mess for a minute. Its deeper than that, they are looking for something else and it isnt quitting KI for good.

** and no offense to Vlad or Tiger, but them leaving is not impacting the game. Bass leaving minimally impacts the game becasue all his cronies tend to jump off abridge if he does. But besides him… no one forum member is going to impact the game by leaving. Thats a bit obnoxious to think so.

2 Likes
12

I think we’re stronger in person then on one forum.

My source: Me being at Ki cup.

Just saying.

6 Likes
13

why keep playing KI?

cause its fun. Where other than KI can you play a dino vs a skelet, a robot vs a ghost girl, a fire guy vs a werewulf or a ninja vs a demon with 2 heads? (2 x 1/2 head)

This game is just amazing!

There is no other game like KI, thats for sure! :smile:

3 Likes
14

The importance of one pro or another quitting the game is far less than we make it out to be.

2 Likes
15

Its all about the tournaments now I guess.

16

Yeah I think after KIWC, we heard about Bass leaving, Sleep contemplating it (before deciding against leaving), and then there’s a few more casual players saying they’re leaving here and there, but I think that’s all rather normal. I also think that the board activity is rather normal.

Currently, we’re in this post-seasonal content phase and we’re kind of between news right now. Shin Hisako released and we’ve been enjoying her, but the next announcement of major content likely won’t be for a while, and even then, I think the vibe is kinda different now then during a season, especially when there’s a new character dropping once a month.

That’s okay though. I think that KI is still spreading. I think that more and more people are picking it up and getting in to it, which is awesome. Let’s not confuse a small amount of people and natural attirtion with a large amount of momentum. I don’t think the numbers bare that out, or at least I wouldn’t think they would.

Personally, I’d love to see a 4th season. I’d love to see it announced at E3, with the first characters revealed being Eagle and Joanna Dark. I think people would get hyped for that. I think people might talk about that and I think the eye test you might be using would tell you a far different story than it’s telling you right now.

But even then, hype slows as news slows. They keep bring out stuff that we like and we keep buying it, but with no major announcements immediately on the horizon, I think that KI will continue more of a low key growth as more people realize what an awesome game it is. That’s my hope / assumption anyways.

2 Likes
17

I hadn’t played in a while up until last night. I put a couple hours in messing around in ranked and exhibition. I had reset my rank back when kilgore dropped and climbed up to gold, last night I pushed back into killer. Anyways, I was happy to see some new silver players and a fair number of gold players whose account levels were not 50. It was a good indication to me that the game is still getting some fresh blood. Honestly (and I could be bias) I think the PC port plus the crossplay has been amazing at keeping the online community active.

3 Likes
18

Im seeing a ton of players with Player levels of 20-32 daily. Which i find odd… but your right, that means they are new players. I also see a lot of layers with level 1-8.
Thats a good sign.

1 Like
19

I played since Win10 release so I dont know how this game was before, but I heard it was hell of unbalanced, was it true?

1 Like
20

No it wasn’t true

S2 was more balanced than most fighting games.