They should've introduced him in this game since he was alluded to numerous times in MKX. I think the next MK game needs to be the final one and it needs to include everyone like Armageddon, that way they can put a final bow on the franchise and have the characters go against the ultimate boss in The One Being. I honestly feel like they don't have a story to tell anymore and i'd rather they end the series instead of further ruining John Tobias' work.
I was never a fan of Shinnok but Quan Chi was always cool. The problem for me when it came to Shinnok is that he felt like a step down from Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn, and I think that NRS knows that he doesn't test well with the fanbase. The reason why I want them to end the series is because I don't want another MKX disaster, MK9 was great but its ending set MKX up for failure. I also don't like how Boon is so determined to change MK just for the sake of change. Street Fighter & KOF are 2 of the most popular fighting game franchises because they keep the rosters virtually the same with minor changes, Boon gets rid of fan favorites to force his new characters on people that are more miss than hit.
MK9 had the best roster because it was basically the MKT/UMK3 roster. I agree with your assessment about keeping the roster the same and just alternate DLC. Fighters like Kai, Havik, Sareena, & Kenshi have a big enough fanbase to where they should never be left off a game. I'm hoping all these Havik references in MK11 are a sign that he'll be added at some point.
The Street Fighter roster rarely ever changes, and that's because of the backlash they got from the New Generation disaster. Tekken has gotten criticized a lot too for not bringing back fan favorites like Jun or Bruce. The problem Netherrealm has is that they've decided that they only want a certain amount of characters in the games, and it comes at the expense of the fan favorites. MKX got a ton of shyt because of its pathetic roster, and it could've all been fixed just by making the story mode characters playable.
