Why the wait for any Season 3 content? Why lose the monthly model?

I have to admit, as a huge KI fan, I was extremely bummed to hear we would not see any new additions to the game until March. One of my favorite things about KI was looking forward to a new character every month. I have to admit that my enthusiasm has waned considerably now that this is not the case. The only legitimate reason I can think of to wait that long is if they are swapping out engines or something drastic like that. I mean IG jumped right in as a new developer and learned new tools giving us content right away. Why can’t they, a year later, do the same?

There are still questions I can’t seem to find the answers to:

  1. What are the official reasons for the delay?
  2. In March, we get all of season 3 at once? Or do they begin the monthly character drops in March?
  3. How do they intend to keep interest in the game that long?

Anyone that can help me understand this better? I’m truly amazed I seem to be the only one disappointed by this.

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It’s not really a delay, it’s just a different way of approaching the distribution of content. The monthly model was certainly a lot of fun, but imagine how stressful that is on the developer. I would also like to know if all the characters will be released in March, or if Season 3 “starts” in March.

A huge benefit if all the characters are released simultaneously is balancing. If Iron Galaxy introduces all 8/9 new characters at once there won’t be the need to retrofit things. Any huge inbalances or problems would be easier to catch ahead of time.

As for “keeping interest,” it’s a matter of being a fighting game. Killer Instinct Season 2 is still very active, with both a solid online and tournament presence. KI fits into the current mold of popular fighting games, but will also be ready with new content to help deter any effect SFV may have. I do see why non-fighting game fans would lose interest, but if you’re someone playing hundreds to thousands of matches it’s a non-issue so long as the community of like-minded players exists.

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In a way, I kind of feel like S2 is still incomplete - they still haven’t finished shadow mode, for example. Are things like it going to be added in before S3 hits or are we going to have to wait for those things to come in March along with S3?

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The monthly design has made the quality of the content suffer (Omen, Maya animations, Riptor music, Ranked leagues, no Ultimates)

It has been a trial by fire, where IG has emerged (mostly) triumphant. But things need to change.

Bugs, and other things have been dragging out for two seasons. It’s time to fix them once and for all, while adding new content and finish the game on a high note.

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The only bug that’s bothered me is the two gamertags logged in at a time bug. Other than that, the monthly releases are what I have loved most.

I can’t believe 2 months have passed without having answers to basic questions such as does the season start in March or is it done in March.

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I’m no developer, but these are the reasons I see S3 starting late:

  • S2 still has some work left in it. Shadows mode for the rest of the cast + Shadow Jago (who is not part of the S3 cast) still have to be released.
  • The game needs some time to breathe, so the developers know what game they actually have on their hands. It will allow people to fully explore the S2 meta, so the developers approach S3 correctly. If you jump immediately into a new set of characters that weren’t planned from the start of S2, you have less information and all your previous work doesn’t get to stand on its own for a while.
  • The developers were in crunch mode for months, and need a period to recharge.
  • They are co-developing the PC version and want to time its release with the S3 launch. This takes time.

I think they will launch S3 with 4-5 new characters, then release the last 3 or so characters in May, giving the community about two months to study up for Evo (given the S3 announcement and KI’s success at Evo in 2015, I see it returning next year). This is just my prediction.

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Pretty much what Infil said. There is still S2 content to be completed, the team deserved a bit of a break and removal from crunchtime, and the later release date will give them a chance to release with a more complete S3 roster. I disagree that quality suffered all that much (ranked leagues is awesome, I actually like Omen’s design, and the tiny bugs didn’t really bother me), but overall I think it’s better for the devs to be able to take their time and create a more polished product than to have to be in perpetual crunch and damage control modes.

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Personally, and I know I’m gonna catch hell for this, but I prefer the character-a-month method of release over a release en masse.

One at a time gives me the time to learn breaker animations, focus on learning that MU with my current character, pick up the new character (if it fits my style), etc, etc.

Were they to be released en masse, I think the quality of play from the community will drop precipitously for at least a month while everyone tries to learn all of the new characters at the same time. We’d have to learn the animations, enders, MUs, etc, for every character, all at the same time. Those characters wouldn’t even see the light of day until at least 2 months afterwards, some even 6 months because they weren’t seen in a good light.

Look at every new character that gets added in every new version of SFIV. It took forever to see them represented in tournaments. They were considered bad. You don’t get that with one character a month. We saw ARIAs in EVO pools.

Just my two cents.

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this is a good thing for the less skilled players to stand a chance instead of jumping to online and getting bodied 70% of the time.

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Well,we have Rash until Sept. 8 and he is a Season 3 character sooo…yeah lets wait for more information!

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Not really, I actually liked it too. Not sure that I liked it more than a hypothetical 4-character release and then another character every 2 months or so, but overall it was a novel and fun way to roll out the season. There are clear advantages and disadvantages to both release models. The character-a-month is fantastic for learning the whole cast, keeping up a steady drip of hype, etc. It’s a bit less good for keeping things continually balanced and swatting bugs before release.

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I liked the character a month model too. I didn’t think the quality suffered at all, although I am willing to believe it was a terrible strain on development. Lots of people complained about the constant releases and patches, and lots of those people were the tournament players who probably have the ear of MS/IG more than the masses. I suspect most of the less competitive crowd preferred the monthly release model. C’est la vie.

I was also hoping to see S3 launch this year. But you can’t “delay” a game that hasn’t been announced so this is less of a delay than a different plan for S3. So far, we have no idea how many characters are going to drop with S3 in March. It could be all of them (which would be great) but I think it’s likely there will be at least 3-4. They’re trying a new way. We will have to see what we get. @TempusChaoti has been trolling on twitter with praise for the new characters and a bit of Shadow Jago info. But the take home is “You’ll know lots more before launch – still a bit early to share the details just yet!”

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Here’s my 2 cents:

  1. Because they’re working on the PC version too, so instead of giving Season 3 to Xbox one before and then to PC, they prefer to do this all together
  2. Monthly drop, I guess. But we start from March (probably Rash is the first) and end to December
  3. By giving news, free friday stuff and tournaments (Kombo Klash and KI world cup). But it is in these moments the community should keep playing this game in order to maintain it.
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They can’t do a monthly release starting in march because then Evo would fall mid season. The game would be unpatched and not all the characters would be released, one might even be banned for being released too late.

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[quote=“DarthNos, post:13, topic:1438, full:true”]
2) Monthly drop, I guess. But we start from March (probably Rash is the first) and end to December[/quote]

Pretty sure they said they would start with more than 2 characters this time. Maybe 4.

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Their folllwong asimilar plan as seasonone. It’s safe to assume they’re doin tis because they want al the characters to have as much quality and balance as possible. I wouldn’t worry yourself though. If they follow the monthley plan with releasing info, you’ll get a chance to get to know the characters in time.

I personally didn’t mind either message they choose.

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