Unlockable Characters in fighting games, yes or no?

["Bad News" Hoffmann]

In the past (lets say 1995-2005) it was the standard that only like 50-70% of the typical fighting game roster was playable. There were a few exceptions like Virtua Fighter, or KOF but be it Tekken, Street Fighter, Marvel vs Capcom 2, Soul Calibur, ..the 3D Mortal Kombat games(except MKA) the most games had a lot more characters than just the bosses to unlock.

In some games like Super Smash Bros Melee it takes days to unlock them all (i think) in the most games it was possible in some hours.

Today we see a difference situation with nearly all, or all characters unlocked from the start.
And this makes a big sense for games with a focus on the online game modes, but what do you prefer?

Unlocking Characters the "oldschool" way and starting with a small roster and needing hours  to get the whole crew together, or getting everything from the start? Or do you like the mix and get everyone except the boss characters?

[Duos.act]

Fuck no, it's awful for competitive play aka the reason fighters exist at all.  Just look at SF4.

[Moon Girard]

Hsien-Ko is a boss character didn't see that coming? I think the way Tekken 6 did it was nice where for online and stuff all characters were unlocked but in the SC you had to unlock the characters to use them if games did it like that it'd be better.

[Mgbenz]

Fighting games should only have training and online mode because those are the only things that matter.

[Iced]

and only one character, the one that is top tier.


all matches would be mirror matches and you would finally know who is the very best.

[NoZ]

I am kinda torn on this but competitive play is a major factor nowadays,but for casuals sometimes unlocking stuff or characters it kinda gives you more motivation to keep playing and have more fun,but since I play competitive back where I live(Puerto Rico) I prefer everything unlocked from the start

[Titiln]

unlockable characters are okay if they don't require anything ridiculous to be unlocked. the incentive for singleplayer should be stuff that doesn't affect gameplay as much as characters do.

Yes, but i prefer it if only boss characters are need to get unlocked (MVC3 as example)

what

[SNT]

Most times unlocking characters is done by playing with certain characters through an arcade/story mode.  Without having to unlock characters like that, there's no reason to bother even trying anyone that isn't your main.  Without being forced into arcade modes I never would've found half the characters I main now.

[Nate Nukem]

^ Was going to say something like that myself.  That, and as long as I don't have to pay real money to "unlock" characters (or any other part of the game already on disc or available around the launch date), unlocking is fine by me.

Before the days console DLC was everything that mattered, I might have minded more.  But compared to today's annoyances in gaming, I welcome in-game unlocking with open arms.

[Mgbenz]

Unlocking characters is great if the method to unlock them is fun and rewarding.

["Bad News" Hoffmann]

Most times unlocking characters is done by playing with certain characters through an arcade/story mode.  Without having to unlock characters like that, there's no reason to bother even trying anyone that isn't your main.  Without being forced into arcade modes I never would've found half the characters I main now.

Heh, same experiences here, withut having to play trough the arcade mode with Kuma, in Tekken 4 and 5 i wouldnt have known that he changed a lot since the tekken 1,2,3, days and changed from just a boring jack clone to a damn fun to play unique character

[Darkflare]

I hate unlocking characters. They're just a nuisance to deal with.
It's particularly annoying if your main is an initially locked character or if you want to play over at a friend's house and he doesn't have anything unlocked.

[BrundleFly]

unlockable characters are okay if they don't require anything ridiculous to be unlocked. the incentive for singleplayer should be stuff that doesn't affect gameplay as much as characters do.

Yes, but i prefer it if only boss characters are need to get unlocked (MVC3 as example)

what

yeah exactly.  I hate ridiculous conditions.  Most of the time I wont bother to unlock them lol

[walt]

I don't have time to unlock shit. If I pay full price, I want a game that I can play.

I never had the chance (or the patience) to fulfill the conditions necessary to get Akuma or Gouken in SF4, so I never got any real experience VS said characters [other than getting my ass kicked every now and then] until SUPER.

[Iced]

there is always the snk method, pay six bucks to unlock all icons and locked chars.

[Person Man]

I personally like having unlockables in games.  There's a certain sense of satisfaction that comes with knowing you managed to accomplish something and getting rewarded for it.

But with the way the fighting game scene has evolved in the last few years, it's just not really practical anymore.  People like to have everything on the table up front, so they know what they've got to work with and what they can use.

["Bad News" Hoffmann]

I hate unlocking characters. They're just a nuisance to deal with.
It's particularly annoying if your main is an initially locked character or if you want to play over at a friend's house and he doesn't have anything unlocked.

for that reason i miss a ps3 memory card. However, werent people which didnt have anything unlocked in a fighting game worthy opponents even? My friends who played fighting games had even all mvc2  characters unlocked...i mean..playing against people who dont play a fighting game not serious ..sucks.

[rednavi -RETIRED]

Fuck no, it's awful for competitive play aka the reason fighters exist at all.  Just look at SF4.

Yeah because game genres exists solely for the purpose of satisfying the tournament players. I love how SFIV wasn't featured in any tournament because of that 

[MellyInChains]

also there's like every single tekken until 6

[Iced]

I hate unlocking characters. They're just a nuisance to deal with.
It's particularly annoying if your main is an initially locked character or if you want to play over at a friend's house and he doesn't have anything unlocked.

for that reason i miss a ps3 memory card. However, werent people which didnt have anything unlocked in a fighting game worthy opponents even? My friends who played fighting games had even all mvc2  characters unlocked...i mean..playing against people who dont play a fighting game not serious ..sucks.

... what prevents you from using the usb pen system?