Re: Balance means nothing when the game is incomplete
This tells me why there are so many missing elements in the game that to me seem huge, but aren't actually getting any attention or even acknowledgement. So much of what I value and enjoy in an MMA game may have already been dismissed as "flash" or "fluff". So much of what I see missing shows a lack of understanding and perspective when it comes to the sport, as well as many aspect of grappling just not being cared about or considered as grappling continues to be ignored, tacked on, and diminished.
All of the attention has been on striking and it's obvious that grappling has been kept on as a sidenote. When I realized in the beta that strikes on the ground had no effect on opponent's stamina it made no sense to me for many reasons. Whether you think the stamina mechanic is good or not, it's still ridiculous to have it present in standup and missing on the ground. The edges between striking and grappling are so jagged that there are even two separate stamina bars which only further complicates things unnecessarily, goes as far away from reality as possible, and shows how much of an afterthought grappling is.
If the grappling isn't going to be touched in 2 years at least have it work seamlessly with the new striking system that got all of the attention; this clearly isn't the case. Takedowns, another area where striking and grappling meet, are also a huge complaint right now. At release there was absolutely no transition between striking and takedowns as you would have to pretty much exit "striking mode" before you could even attempt a takedown which also had little interaction with your opponen't actions. The takedown logic is also ridiculous and is the main reason I can't play this game right now. You can still shoot on a fighter's only standing leg as they are in the middle of a whiffed headkick and they will somehow consistently be able to defy physics and stuff it with two legs because the game said so.
To say that many of these things are "flash" sounds ridiculous to me as many of the aspects of the game that people feel are missing, misrepresented, or unsatisfying are things that would ultimately add more realism and are also just FUN. Struggle takedowns are not only closer to realism, the mechanics are FUN. It's way more satisfying to go for a takedown, think I landed it, see my opponent starting to get out and having to continue to work before they can rip their last leg out until we hit the mat and I can relax, THAT'S FUN. I press takedown, I know he didn't press his button to stop it, I know I landed it as soon as I connect and now we both wait 6 seconds until something happens that we both know is going to happen the exact same way every single time. That's NOT FUN.
I used to love setting up certain submissions in UFC 2 just so I could switch to another sub I'd rather have halfway though the first one. I haven't even seen that happen once yet in UFC 3. If you aren't going to improve the ground game why take fun mechanics out? Why is it still possible to infinitely punch your opponent without the possibility of a stoppage from certain ground positions?
So much in terms of realism and variety seems to be going backwards. On the ground it feels like there are less positions and options as elements are removed, changed, or nerfed out of use which makes certain positions, fighters, and playstyles completely useless.
It's not like this is the first MMA game attempted and at this point its starting to feel like the genre is years behind where it should be by now compared to the history of other sports games. We've had too many great MMA titles over the years to still be at starting point 0 with so many important core aspects of the sport.
This tells me why there are so many missing elements in the game that to me seem huge, but aren't actually getting any attention or even acknowledgement. So much of what I value and enjoy in an MMA game may have already been dismissed as "flash" or "fluff". So much of what I see missing shows a lack of understanding and perspective when it comes to the sport, as well as many aspect of grappling just not being cared about or considered as grappling continues to be ignored, tacked on, and diminished.
All of the attention has been on striking and it's obvious that grappling has been kept on as a sidenote. When I realized in the beta that strikes on the ground had no effect on opponent's stamina it made no sense to me for many reasons. Whether you think the stamina mechanic is good or not, it's still ridiculous to have it present in standup and missing on the ground. The edges between striking and grappling are so jagged that there are even two separate stamina bars which only further complicates things unnecessarily, goes as far away from reality as possible, and shows how much of an afterthought grappling is.
If the grappling isn't going to be touched in 2 years at least have it work seamlessly with the new striking system that got all of the attention; this clearly isn't the case. Takedowns, another area where striking and grappling meet, are also a huge complaint right now. At release there was absolutely no transition between striking and takedowns as you would have to pretty much exit "striking mode" before you could even attempt a takedown which also had little interaction with your opponen't actions. The takedown logic is also ridiculous and is the main reason I can't play this game right now. You can still shoot on a fighter's only standing leg as they are in the middle of a whiffed headkick and they will somehow consistently be able to defy physics and stuff it with two legs because the game said so.
To say that many of these things are "flash" sounds ridiculous to me as many of the aspects of the game that people feel are missing, misrepresented, or unsatisfying are things that would ultimately add more realism and are also just FUN. Struggle takedowns are not only closer to realism, the mechanics are FUN. It's way more satisfying to go for a takedown, think I landed it, see my opponent starting to get out and having to continue to work before they can rip their last leg out until we hit the mat and I can relax, THAT'S FUN. I press takedown, I know he didn't press his button to stop it, I know I landed it as soon as I connect and now we both wait 6 seconds until something happens that we both know is going to happen the exact same way every single time. That's NOT FUN.
I used to love setting up certain submissions in UFC 2 just so I could switch to another sub I'd rather have halfway though the first one. I haven't even seen that happen once yet in UFC 3. If you aren't going to improve the ground game why take fun mechanics out? Why is it still possible to infinitely punch your opponent without the possibility of a stoppage from certain ground positions?
So much in terms of realism and variety seems to be going backwards. On the ground it feels like there are less positions and options as elements are removed, changed, or nerfed out of use which makes certain positions, fighters, and playstyles completely useless.
It's not like this is the first MMA game attempted and at this point its starting to feel like the genre is years behind where it should be by now compared to the history of other sports games. We've had too many great MMA titles over the years to still be at starting point 0 with so many important core aspects of the sport.
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