Splatoon

[Flabyo]

Some sort of event this weekend?

[Scrustle]

If I remember correctly, this is the event where players choose one of two teams and the whole playerbase competes against each other for points for their team. How well you do during the event and how well you team does overall gets you rewards in the form of the Super Sea Snails, or whatever they're called. They can be used for either opening up new skill slots on clothes, or re-rolling skills that have already been unlocked. It also changes the whole game to have that night time theme with the concert happening, and I think there are some special maps too, as shown in that trailer.

[Flabyo]

Sounds like it broke the servers in Japan so they've postponed it for the other territories until they can find and fix the issue.

Still, there's another new map in the rotation now.

[Scrustle]

That might be just for the American event. For us in Europe it was always supposed to happen next weekend anyway. I don't know if that's postponed as well. They don't seem to have been very clear about exactly what's going on with this whole thing.

[seansthomas]

Still loving this. Might be my favourite game on the console. Got to the final boss in single player, tried the new map and attempted Ranked battle last night. Really need some gear with 3 slots but held my own and won all bar one match. Have added about 8 guys from here to my friend list but never see any of you online? Still playing it?

[Flabyo]

Still playing, but not in long bursts. It's become my 'oh, I have 30 minutes to kill' game.

[Flabyo]

As expected, there's a lot more time released content to come...

Is this preferable to having it as free DLC? I know there's often controversy about 'locked' on-disc content, but they don't appear to be thinking of charging for any of it, just time releasing it to get people to not trade their copies in.

[seansthomas]

Hands up, I had some issues with the way it shipped and limited options available, but it's worked brilliantly.

They've introduced new weapons (which importantly suit the new maps) at the right times and I have no issue with content being held back and drip fed as it just keeps giving me a reason to log back in. If it was all there day one, maybe we'd all have forgotten about it already with Batman: AK and The Witcher 3 around?

Think this release and MK8's DLC were updates done right in my book, but Nintendo could have maybe saved themselves some of that initial lukewarm reception by being more open about that plan. Though that is just a general comment about their whole company!

There are still features not yet working which DO seem ridiculous, mainly matchmaking with friends (can take or leave voice chat personally), and I sorta wish the other modes of play were available to mix things up.

But all in all, I really like the way the game has focused your attention on certain areas at select times.

[Scrustle]

I've never really had a problem with the way they're rolling out content. They're not charging for it, so they're definitely doing it for a reason other than cynicism.

I also think it has a lot to do with why I can't agree with a lot of the criticisms the game has gotten, although I do understand them. Splatoon is a shooter for people who don't play shooters. It's not only designed to be approachable to kids, but it's also trying to create something that hasn't been done before. Nintendo were intentionally trying to not go by what everyone expects of the genre, partly to ease people in to the game. So by that logic, criticising the game for not being like other online shooters is missing the point somewhat.

So far it's worked really well, although I think they could have perhaps started off with a few more maps. I'm also eager for them to put a third map in each rotation, as the UI seems to imply will happen at some point. But neither of those things have stopped me loving the game as it is.

[Scrustle]

The EU Splatfest has been rescheduled to the 4th of July, at 6PM UK time.
https://twitter.com/NintendoEurope/stat ... 1672078337

You also get a cool outfit for whichever team you decide to align with (rock vs. pop):


I'll be going for team rock!

[dezm0nd]

New mode tomorrow! Tower Control!

[dezm0nd]

Splatfest this weekend!

[Flabyo]

The EU splatfest is Rock vs Pop, the US is still getting the one they should've had last week, Cats vs Dogs.

(This is in case you're wondering why the EU miiverse is full of rock and pop puns at the moment)

[dezm0nd]

Ah man, I want the Cats Vs Dogs!

[seansthomas]

Anyone played Tower Control mode yet?

Again, really love it! Shame you can't choose whether you want to play Ranked Battle with it turned on or off, but suspect that'll come after its been around a while.

Stupidly didn't think to choose a better weapon so struggled with the first few battles but like the mode a lot. Managed to get to it first last night, ride it to within 1 foot / inch / whatever! of our base and got taken out. On another map, my team were getting killed from high up and losing 45 to 74. So whilst they all raced off to get to the platform, I snuck around the back covering all their ink (so that it'd take them aggggeeesss to get back to the platform) and took out 3 of their snipers from behind. Team took the Tower, took the lead 44 to 45 and then we fought for a minute more, just edging it. Proper adrenalin pumping stuff...

So yeah, give it a go! Up to C+ now.

[Scrustle]

I really like the new mode. It's really intense and fast, but doesn't feel like it happens too fast to react to either. The platform naturally slows down the closer you get it to the goal just by virtue of having a stronger defence to fight against. I've been in a bit of a rut with Splatoon lately, but this new mode pulled me out of it again. I've found using the custom Aerospray is good for the mode too. Rapid fire and short range lets you get up close to the tower, the Inkstrike lets you take control of the platform from afar and help out your team, and the mine allows you to set a trap on the platform for anyone who tries to jump on and push you off.

I think it is a bit odd that this mode is now the only ranked mode available. I was wondering how they were going to put together both this new mode and Splat Zones. Turns out they just didn't. I guess it makes sense with how everything in the game is rotating, but I really do hope at some point they do add more to the level of variety there is at any one time. Hopefully that'll come in the August update.

[Scrustle]

I wanted to talk about this game again because of my experiences with it lately. I'm probably being a bit overly dramatic, but for some reason I've been finding this something that's gotten me kind of down for the past few weeks or so. As I mentioned before, I haven't really been having the best time with the game lately, and it's actually worrying me somewhat.

Basically the game has suddenly just become impossible for me. Just out of nowhere I've started being totally crushed in almost every single match I've had. I really can't think of a decent reason for it either. It started happening when nothing in particular changed about the game or how I was playing it. Just one day I stopped winning anything, and now don't stand a chance in the vast majority of matches I play. It's made the game a miserable experience. It's not that I'm especially competitive either. In fact, part of what I really like about the game is how carefree is generally is, and how you can feel like you're contributing and having fun without having to be the absolute top-tier, keeping on the cutting edge of the metagame or anything like that. That feeling is lost. Right when I was on a pretty good winning streak too. One day I was doing really well, then the next everything was hopeless. That basically hasn't changed since then.

I've tried to stay positive about it and just think of it as me not having a good day. But it seems like every time I play now is a "bad day". The Splatfest and the addition of the Tower Control mode actually changed it for a bit though. I felt like I was actually able to have some fun and win some matches there. But as soon as the Splatfest was over and I tried going back in to normal Turf War, it seems I'm back to being a total loser again. I've tried briefly to go back in to both ranked modes when they've been available, and it's still the same story. Although I haven't tried so hard on those as honestly I've started to feel less motivated to make myself go back to the game.

So I can't help but feel really deflated about this. Even a little betrayed if we're being melodramatic. I adore the game, and was playing it a lot. But it's only been out just over a month, and now I'm being forced out of the fun for good? The most likely reason I can think for it is that people have "solved" the game, and it has become too competitive for me now, and I just don't stand a chance unless I try to delve in to some insane strategies that I probably couldn't even pull off. That doesn't seem to make sense with how sudden this shift has been, but it certainly doesn't have anything to do with balance changes or gear I've been using.

Or maybe it's something to do with matchmaking? I've read that it works by matching you with people who are as aggressive as you are with splatting people. I mean, maybe that could be it, but what am I supposed to do about that? Just never fight back when I'm shot at? I'm pretty much getting destroyed every time I get in a fight anyway, since everyone seems way more accurate than me now. Maybe it has something to do with my rank. I suppose this stuff did start happening just after I hit B rank. But why would your rank affect matchmaking in non-ranked modes? Honestly I hate even having to consider this stuff. While the game was, and I suppose still is, very interesting how much depth it can actually provide, I'm starting to wonder whether it's a double-edged sword, meaning that what I've experience is inevitable and that the fun was just destined to be sucked out of it at some point by people trying to game the system.

So... is anyone else even having this problem? This seems like a completely silly topic to even be considering, but it really has put a damper on my mood this past week or so, to have something that brought me so much joy of late turn to something the opposite of that. I don't want to have to put the game down. Especially when it looks like it has such a big future ahead of it. I don't want to miss out on what the majority of what this game has yet to offer because the player base has decided I'm not allowed to join in the fun any more (more hyperbole).

[Flabyo]

I did find the level of play to be a lot higher during the splatfest, I put that down to it folding all the A rank players in with everyone else as there was no ranked mode active during it.

But afterwards the unranked mode seemed to go back to how it was.

People are better at it now than they were, but I still seem to be in the top two on my team most games. You say you go out and splat players a lot? That's not that vital a thing to do in Turf War, indeed you're likely losing games because you're splatting players not painting the level.

I'm also seeing a new rush of new lower level players, and a team where everyone except you is lower than level 5 is at all significant disadvantage due to not having good weapon variety available (and also those players not knowing the maps etc...) I quit out of one lobby I was playing in because I was 10 levels or more higher than every other player in the match and I was consistently dominating, which is equally unfun.

They have actually been fiddling with the game balance a lot as well, you'll often find that when a new weapon comes out they've also adjusted the damage and range on everything else too. Could be they've gone past a sweet spot recently, their analytics will tell them if they have.

[Scrustle]

I actually found the Splatfest was way easier than I've been finding normal matches lately. When that was going on I found myself being about as successful as I was before I started this losing streak. Maybe not as good as I was at my best, but still winning a fair amount and not feeling like I couldn't have fun. I was generally among the highest ranked in my teams too.

In more recent matches there isn't a consistency to where I am in my team rankings though. Sometimes high, sometimes low. I never get a particularly great score though, as I don't get the chance to do that a lot of the time. Every match seems to be the same. No matter whether I try to push up quickly, stay back to get more thorough coverage, or sneak round an alternate route, the enemy team is always controlling every area I try to go, and crushing me every time I try to get past them. It seems a lot of people find dominating more fun than you do, and that's exactly why I'm worried about the future of the game.

As for splatting people, I guess I do it quite a bit, but I don't feel like I do it more than necessary. I don't go out of my way to do it. I put up a fight if I come across someone, or if I need to get past them, but it's not my priority. As I said, I'm generally not low ranked in my team when it comes to points most of the time. Especially before this started happening, I was almost always the highest ranked on my team, or a close second. Same thing when Splatfest was on. In terms of the number of splats I get compared to my teams, I tend to be somewhere in the middle to upper-middle range. It's rare that I'm top ranked, and if I could work it out, I'm sure my K/D ratio probably isn't that impressive.

This started happening before the 1.3 patch. That was the first where they actually changed the balance, right? New weapons and stuff unlocking has just been content on the disc becoming available. I don't know what 1.2 did, but I definitely didn't notice any balance change when it happened. The only think I can think of changing to start this was when I went up to B rank.

[Flabyo]

Most Turf Wars rounds I have 0 or 1 kills, regularly over the 1000 point mark. I do utterly suck at Splat Zones though, I haven't found a weapon set I like for that yet.

If they're pressuring your spawn area then it means they're not defending the back half of the map, and nearly all the maps have routes out of the spawn area that the opponents can't easily get into (this is why I like the oil rig one, your spawn area is completely unreachable by the other team). With the exception of Walleye Warehouse it's impossible for a team of 4 to have every area pressured, the maps are too big for it. Kelp dome in particular you can spend the entire round and never see an opponent, there's so much area to paint near where you start. Find a way behind then use the 'to me' message, if your team aren't utterly maverick then they'll respond. Using the map is key to finding a way past opponents, even if you can't see them on the map you can see the map changing colour which lets you know where they are.

Try out a bunch of the weapons you've not used much, there's a 'test' arena you can use that lets you change your weapon on the fly and get a feel for how they actually play. Some weapons I know people love I just find odd to use, I've settled on two or three I really like. Most of the time I'm using the paintbrush, although I think my gamepads right trigger hates me for it (it's tap attack is way more useful than holding the button down and painting like you do with the roller).

To be honest it sounds like the best thing for you to do it step away for a few days then come back to it fresh, maybe next weekend when the next splatfest is due?

(In terms of balance, as it's an online only game it's easy to balance patch on the fly, every time you connect to the server it can pull down updated rules, you don't need to patch any code if they're written it sensibly. Code changes will most likely have been fixes to the network code, performance stuff. Modern video games do an awful lot with online analytics and patch file downloads, something we've learned from mobile games)