I think NRS' biggest mistake was forbidding certain special moves and variations to make it into competitive play. That decision seriously crippled the creativeness of the players and hurt the game. They should remove this ban asap. If certain moves are OP, they could always nerf them next year, or buff the weaker ones.
NRS biggest mistake is dumbing down the games to begin with. By trying to apply to this "phantom audience" they are killing off their pro scene, which literally carries their game. I mean... shit. Multiple pros like Tom Brady, Reo, etc ranted about MK11, before it even came out. How do you mess up so bad, that even pros, the guys who should know better than mouth off before games come out, are ranting about how much your MP will suck.
And they weren't silenced. They are disappointed right now and they made it clear, that systems like Fatal Blow have to go. Or have to be modified.
Their message overall is clear. Make the game harder. But NRS won't do it. WB doesn't want to even hear it. And why? Cause they have this idiotic mentality. Easier game = more money.
No. Just no. 35k people at launch on PC alone. Cool you got your massive sales. But now you barely can muster 2k, while consoles players are also trading MK11 for other games. 6 months after launch the game will be probably "dead" (as in relevance, not player count).
Shit you can see it right now this very moment on EVO. Samurai Shodown = 50k viewers. Tekken 7 = 40k viewers
MK11? 10K viewers on main NRS channel while 4k on evo channel. It is a brand new game, but barely anyone gives a shit. And EVO is the biggest and the most public place for fighting games. So what's gonna happen next? Simple. EVO will be the last biggest show for MK11. After that, we will have same shit as we had with MKX. Barely any players competing and barely anyone caring to watch the tourneys. I mean... a 4 year old game is beating MK11. It is that bad.
And it is all, because WB/NRS are thinking. "We gotta make it easier, so Jimmy here, can play with SonicFox in ranked"
The f%^king Jimmy is gonna play MK11 for 2 weeks at best, he will get tired of it, and will leave the game. And most likely will SHIT ON IT as well. MK games now have 6 months to a year lifespan. Because they don't build them to last. They build them for short term profit. But you can't run business on short term profit. People get tired of that shit. Just make one big MK game like Tekken 7 or Street fighter and make it able to run for years, by making gameplay challenging, add random modes so casuals could be happy and hang out a bit longer and separate Jimmys from Competitive players. Give casuals buttons for basic combos, so they can do cool shit in online with their friends, and give "manual controls" for competitive/pro players. Here. Solved the business issue. Good sales and long term profits with secured player base. It is that easy.
But nah instead, let's make MK into Call of Duty series and pump them out every 2-4 years.