I'm talking about art and its development. That's your opinion on "not contributing", not a fact at all. You don't have to trash someone's opinion with no argument, that's not how a discussion works. You might want to not discuss on those terms, but that's on you. I quoted artists so you can see that your point about mixing human parallels into fiction creates decay to the artwork, and this is certainly not the case in any masterwork.
Once again. What you bring in, is subjective and relevant to you. Not me. It sounds as if you're attempting to use these "masterworks" as universal standard for art, yet fail to take into consideration that I come from a different environment and how I perceive art and its development can be completely different from how you perceive it. Hence, why I brought up, that using those artists/authors is meaningless as it derails the point of the conversation, due the fact that this part of conversation is subjective.
Exactly, cupcake. Compared to Caravaggio? Maybe trash. Compared to modern game industry? Very respectful, enduring and well crafted work of art.
Once again. Completely subjective, honey.
If you wanna outline a single fraction of art, like discussing western and eastern comics with MK, they certainly don't. Was trying to actually contribute to something with more depth than "sJw'S aNd ThEiR bUrKas".
It makes conversations difficult to follow, if you begin adding elements that have nothing to do with the theme at hand. I am talking right here and now, for my personal worldview is about living here and now. Not in the past or the future. So don't be surprised if I call this out.
Well, if you can point me a work of art - cinema, literature, anything - that has absolutely no connection with reality and human relation, specially if they are considered masterworks, I will be happy. Tell you something: Orwell's 1984 was published in 1949. When I was a teenager, I heard about it. You did too. My kids will hear, and their kids will too. Saramago's Blindness was published in 1995. Same thing. I wonder those eastern revolutionary comics you're talking about in the future...
Nowhere have I stated that we have works that are completely alien to our culture/understanding/system. My point is that, if you create a world with alien society, then one should make it as alien as possible.
Also, I keep noticing a pretty strong element of arrogance OR ignorance. What is considered a masterwork by you and a specific group, doesn't mean it is considered the same by the rest of us.
Orwell's 1984 was published in 1949. When I was a teenager, I heard about it. You did too.
Wow... No. I did not. Interesting "argument" here. Once again. What YOU consider relevant, isn't relevant for me due my different worldviews that have been shaped by my personal experience and environment. I have never heard of Orwell, until you mentioned him and very likely will forget him in the near future as from what I saw, he doesn't float in the same pool I swim in. Same for "Saramago's Blindness".
As for those "eastern revolutionary comics". Most of the works are created by artists/writers that use eastern philosophy as for how nature is in constant change and there is nothing set. For what is unimaginable today, it will be the reality tomorrow.
"If you base you expectations on only what you see in front of yourself, you will be blind to possibilities of new realities tomorrow."
Hence why they works tend to be considered weird by Western culture, due the fact that someone like Japanese artists are more likely to experiment with the unconventional ideas. Ironically Eastern culture has a higher chance preserving as it focuses on flexibility, unlike Western that you try to sell (even if unintentionally) as universal standard. Hence why our views clash and the more I write, the more I realize that this entire discussion is meaningless as at this point our ideas are extreme opposites. While I have knowledge of Western culture, due growing up and studying there, I have left it for i found it stagnant. So yeah.
Yes, it does. But once again, if you don't wanna go on those terms, that's on you. It's quite easy to discuss if you want to limit an art discussion to differences like these.
Once again. Subjective. As Eastern and Western ideologies are quite different, hence for me it sounds absurd thinking that those things go beyond, then we are already talking woldviews.
And yes. I don't wanna discuss art in overall in a Mortal Kombat 11 Thread. Especially if my original point is about how Mortal Kombat's world is being shaped. Not authors/artists from different time.
Besides the lack of realm exploration, I see no problem.
And that's why I see this discussion meaningless, as two extremely views clash. Where you don't see the problem, I see a colossal failure. But again. Subjective, due our different views/values.
Demi-Gods are synonym of a "lesser god", and that's obviously the meaning they intended. That's basically regular god, considering the larger scale, nothing has changed. We must not confuse demi-gods with halods, clearly stated in the franchise (Rain, Taven and Daegon). I confess I wasn't going to answer due to the time and tendinitis, but this "wtf" made me answer because there's literally no issue on that.
Demi-God means an individual that is a PARTIAL DEITY. They posses divine abilities, but are MORTAL. Raiden is immortal and was introduced as a GOD OF THUNDER. Not the Demi-God. Demi-God thing only appeared recently. My issue is with status change. If he was introduced like this, then sure. No issues. There is a huge difference between Demi-God and full on God.
Ok, so let's see: Shang Tsung was beaten, near immortal sorcerer; Shao Kahn was defeated, a god; Shinnok was defeated, by nature an Elder God. Literally, "What's Next"? They have beaten the biggest of them all. Even John Tobias recently admitted that after MK4 he felt Shinnok was the ultimate threat to the realms, they had to come up with something bigger and go on and on. So they came with Titans. What else? Primordial gods? Maybe.
It is one of the reasons why western media is being losing ground in entertainment. Let's bring something like Star Wars.
We had Original trilogy, that dealt with a planet destroying threat. Death Star. Both Death Star and Death Star 2 were the focus points of original Star Wars. Prequel Star Wars didn't have any of that. The main point was the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker. His life prior to becoming Darth Vader. We were introduced to politics, factions, Jedi and Sith. There were no planet ending threats. It was conventional warfare and relationships between the characters that drove the plot. And even though we didn't have planet ending threats, we were still exposed to tension due conflicts happening between the said factions and individuals.
Then came Disney Sequel Star Wars and they began doing the same thing, that a lot of western authors are being guilty of nowadays. Introducing the big bad that is bent on destroying everything. In this case, Starkiller's base in The Force Awakens, then the flagship in The Last Jedi and then this out nowhere massive fleet, which was built somehow, somewhere and the Emperor has survived somehow.
If you keep constantly introducing the big bads, you soon will run out of material and story becomes predictable. Hence why a lot of people were disappointed, that MKX story revolved around Shinnok and his medallion, instead of a more interesting topic: Outworld's Civil War.
You don't need the big bad, to make story interesting. If anything the big bad villain, tends to overshadow (most of the time) the world of the said story, as the journey to the villain takes the priority over exploration. Hence why these Titans feel cheap, as you can tell that writers wrote themselves into corner and started making shit up on the go.
If there's anything you might wanna remember from this answer is: please, it's not because YOU don't care that means NOBODY gives a shit anymore. You're not everybody, my friend. You are very very far from being a major opinion (overall) about MK. You might think MK lore is shit, etc., but that's YOU. Only you. Lots of other people agree with you, but LOTS of other people, me included, disagree with you. If MK lore was so ludicrous - much like eastern fighting games treat their backstories - NRS wouldn't even bother to create a SECOND STORYMODE with DLC characters. They could just sell them like they did since 2011.
Hahaha. What? I don't think, that MK Lore is shit. I say that it doesn't exist anymore. Nothing is consistent now. Hence you can't invest yourself into it. When Deception came out, you know how much time was spent discussing just the story? You know how much material Konquest mode alone has brought in? What f%cking lore is here in MK11? What elements can we discuss here? What is to explore? You can tell me that you "give a shit", but tell me something that wasn't covered already? LOTS of people. What is that LOTS of people. 100k? 10k? Here is the sad reality. People that care about lore are in minority. Experiencing story mode and caring about the lore are two different things. You have your casual player now that just joined after MK9 or MKX. You think they know anything about previous games? About the story before? Or the comics that delved deeper into the world of MK? No. They don't.
NRS is making a STORY MODE DLC!!!! So? And? You think that is a big deal? A LOT of people are defending the price tag: But dude! 40$ is a reasonable amount for a STORY MODE EXPANSION! Let me blow your bubble. Do you know why they bother to make a second storymode dlc? Cause it is easy now. They can mass produce these expansions. You think the expenses are for the content? LOL. No. The price tag is to cover the expensive voice actors and celebrities they got to promote the game. It has nothing to do with in game content. They are actually cutting so many corners, that you can't even begin to imagine.
All those cut scenes you see in the game are now all motion captured copy-paste. In the last 5 years, game engines/motion capture had advanced enough that you barely have to do any on hand adjustments for the models and animations when you import the recorded footage. Look at the backgrounds that they use for cut scenes. It is literally the stage at a different angle (minus additional scenes, like that laughably cheap Netherrealm background with big open flat surface and Cathedral placed in the middle of it.) They built the tools that allow them to streamline the production.
The reason why they allow themselves to retcon everything and change characters so drastically to match political narrative is BECAUSE nobody gives a shit. You're literally giving them a free pass! Right here in this quote!
I dislike this kind of change, but I'd rather her current backstory than MK9's.
Ok. Good. You prefer her current backstory. What about me? I got interested into her in MK9, as I thought she will turn out into something as bada$$, as Mortal Kombat Conquest: Shadow Priest. But f#ck me and everyone else that liked her in MK9! As long as I am happy, f$ck everyone else! Nah. You don't dislike shit. You happy with what you got. Hence why you see no problems.
Sure. But we're not in the original timeline anymore.
... You do realize that it is an Original Timeline that deviated from its course once Raiden received visions in the first Mortal Kombat tournament? So everything that happened before that event, still remains the same as it was in ORIGINAL TIMELINE? Which means that Shokan culture couldn't just change in meager few years? So yeah. Point stands.
Well, what's the source? It would be nice to know.
Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins
I'm from Brazil. Here people love football. People go to stadiums, curse the players, cry, scream, discuss with their best friends, stop talking with relatives because of the sport, say they will never, EVER again watch a game, promise they won't give a shit about it after the 15th time their team go to a sub division. Next weekend, they are at the stadium doing it all over again.
If there's one things one CANNOT say about you, is that you are NOT a fan.
Completely irrelevant of what you or anyone else thinks aside NRS devs. If devs, the creators of Mortal Kombat, who I have worshipped as a teenager/in my early 20s and considered their studio as a holy ground, deemed me and people like me as not true fans, then that's it. They made it clear.
And they are correct. I am not a fan of what they did to Mortal Kombat. I am not a fan of stagnation and degradation. I am not a fan of politics in my games. I am not a fan of devs, telling me how they don't give two shits if they disappoint me or not, after i invest my time and money into their franchise. Not that I need a red carpet, but I also don't wanna hear how awesome you feel when you disappoint me or anyone else.
But I am a fan of Mortal Kombat world. I despise Mortal Kombat 11 and now the only reason why I even launch it and go through every "option" that they offer, is to remind myself on a daily basis, on how low the standards have dropped and to remind myself what a "mediocre" actually looks like, while I work on my projects.
Having said all of this, I think there is no point in continuing this discussion. Our views are completely opposite and barely have any common ground. You like what you see, because of your own valid reasons and I hate it for my own valid reasons. It is simply a difference in perspective as I follow different ideology and consider story writing of this kind cheap and stagnant.