Apples and Oranges. Characters in a fighting game are major pieces of content. They're the meat of the game. Smash would be a better comparison. While it did launch with a ton more characters, a lot of people find too many at launch overwhelming, but the DLC was not free/earnable because a lot of work goes into the characters compared to other content. I don't think expecting fighting game characters to be free and easy is necessarily reasonable for a game that is planned to have a 5+ year life where that content usually would be a paid update. That's a ton of money to give up over a long time.
That being said I think 16 is a bit low, which is probably why they are making the first one easy to obtain to get people hooked on the free to earn system. So light initially, but over time for this model I think it's reasonable.
I have absolutely zero issues with paid DLC characters in fighting games. My issue is the state SF V is launching in. It's incredibly barebones. If you're going to launch a $60 game with a light content load, I expect easily obtainable, free DLC for the foreseeable future. 16 characters at launch and only a handful of modes is completely unacceptable if free DLC isn't on the way shortly afterwards. And no, I don't consider grinding for dozens of hours to be "free". I do commend Capcom for creating a free story mode update though, which launches in June.
Capcom should have made all DLC until September completely free with little to no grinding and then started charging for characters after that point. 22 characters seems perfectly reasonable at $60.
Again, I understand that many here won't see it this way and I'm not saying you're all suckers or anything of the sort. I'm simply giving my opinion and my reasoning for why I won't be picking this up at launch, despite being a fan of the franchise.
