Personally, I'm fully aware that the MK team doesn't know how to make a good fighting game with an intuitive system that works. I'm a Soul Calibur fan and it will probably always be my favorite fighting game franchise (followed closely by Smash Bros.). But in actuality, I like MK as a franchise far better than either of those two. Because I'm emotionally invested in it, it's a part of me, and I love it quite dearly. That's why I continue buying every game they put out and playing them for hours. Even when I don't like them so well...
A part of me wants the MK team to just keep on making games like Shaolin Monks. Because by all means that game was AMAZING. Best gameplay they've had since MKII I say. If they could combine that kind of free-strung combo system into a fighting game well...I'd just jump for joy.
But I've said it before and I'll say it again. The MK team simply doesn't know what it's doing. Thus far MKvDC feel basic to it's core. Better than MKDA's system, more fluid, but basic, unpolished, and crude. Attack, block, string into special move, repeat. Low attacks are almost all pokes, pro moves are ridiculously hard to do, and all in all I'd rather be playing Soul Calibur.
At least, I would if I were playing MKvDC for the gameplay. Which I'm not. I'm playing it because I'm a fan, I'm greatly enjoying the story mode, and arcade mode, and all the various endings. I'm loving playing as my favorite characters again and it's all very enjoyable. It's just not something I see myself playing again in a few months like I do SCIV.