Pro or Con? - Regional Matchmaking

[Hero of Lime]

I would not be against it, but I would probably stick to global matchmaking. Sure, I would definitely win more matches, as I do very well when there are less, or no Japanese players. But, they aren't that much better than the average western player to begin with. Lag may be an issue, but that certainly is not a Japanese exclusive trait.

There is the consensus that Japanese players are overall better, that's exactly why I like to battle them. I have a nasty habit of wanting to prove myself to others. No player is automatically superior or inferior. Don't let anyone tell you that being from a specific region or country makes you better or worse.

 

[Noire]

Okay, first things first, I edited my old stuff because it doesn't make any sense now that I look back on it. And two I agree with you completely. Just to let you know, we're on the same page, okay?

I fail to see how that justifies accelerating the inevitable.

You're right. Let's disregard that.

Don't fall in that classic logic trap. Overleveled, overskilled, 360 noscope players are not an exclusively Japanese resource, and neither are low-level players a western export. You would go from overleveled lobbies with names you can't understand to overleveled lobbies with names you can understand and that take longer to fill themselves.

Again, you are correct. It doesn't matter what region you are from, there will be very powerful opponents you will face. Just because your opponent is a western player doesn't mean they are easy. I completely forgot that when I posted, forgive me. I should have stated my main complaint is the Matchmaking, not the Japanese. But my English is confusing, and it even confuses myself. I am very sorry for upsetting you, if I did.

Again, going back to my previous post:

This isn't like Mario Kart where you can have incomplete lobby games (and have the lobby fill with partially more people while you play). If one of the regions doesn't let you fill a lobby your only chance would be global matchmaking, where you'll still run into trouble since now people in other regions are divided between regional and global matchmakers.

I did not play Mario Kart 8 online so I have no idea and I actually forgot the game can start with only two people minimum. Compared to this game where you must have a full room to even play, so I understand the fear completely.

So in the end, I actually do agree with you. Splatfest is a lagging nightmare and if that's what we'll get if we have regional servers, then I'm against it. Maybe the sequel can fix these online related problems. And again, I don't want to embarrass myself with those old posts when I was in the wrong here so I edited all of them, sorry for arguing I don't like arguing with people, it gets to my chest.

 

[rndethan]

If it was to go regional it would suck for me as there's not that many Australians/New Zealanders that have a Wii U... lol

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

Australians and New Zealanders are with EU servers.
So that wouldn't be a problem. :p

I really can't see just how bad regional matchmaking can be.
Sure it might take a little longer to get matched up, but that is to be expected.

I dunno why you people had such a bad time during Splatfests.
I am EU-player and never had a problem with them.
Always found matches with little trouble.

Yes, there are also good people among our regions. Nobody denies that.
But the distance-lag can hardly be denied. And because of that asian players are that much more likely to lag, than people in our own region.
Sure they will always be people with bad connections. Nobody can prevent that completely.

But with asian players, we also have the distance to deal with, adding to the lag.
I don't see what's wrong with killing that issue.


And again, the amount of people are really nothing to worry about.
At least I personally always found people to play with during Splatfests.
Admittedly, it can take longer to find people.

But like I said earlier, this is not only due to the fact that it is regional, but also due to the fact that the whole regional playerbase is split up into two fronts.
Of course that makes matchups even harder for the game to handle.
But during normal play, that wouldn't be an issue.

 

[Noire]

I want regional, I really do. But it can't work right now.

The problem is that there are not enough players to make regional happen correctly. If there were regional, the Japanese would play each other and we'll find it very hard to start a room, especially at 12AM P.T. The game requires a full room to start the game at all unlike MK8. The reason Splatfest works is due to a different coding in the Matchmaking which makes it even possible and even then, there's a lot of lag and disconnections. I don't trust NOA to put up a decent regional server when the last Splatfest was extremely laggy.

If the Wii U sold more and more people bought this wonderful game, we'd be at a different outcome.

 

[rndethan]

Australians and New Zealanders are with EU servers.
So that wouldn't be a problem. :p

I was just joking around.

My real issue with regional servers though is the fact that I get more lag when playing with European users than Japanese users....

 

[CoCo]

If the Wii U sold more and more people bought this wonderful game, we'd be at a different outcome.

I'm pretty confident that if the NX is marketed aggressively like Splatoon and Mario Maker, we could see not just regional matchmaking but additional options that've been discussed in other threads if we're ever blessed with Spla2n. I won't go too far and say that Nintendo held back on these features (voice chat, matchmaking, leaderboards etc.) on a new IP in an effort to save resources in case the game bombed because we still got a pretty rad game despite these limitations, Now that the waters are tested and a fanbase has been established, it's safe to assume that they'll be willing to go all out at its launch with all these bells and whistles (assuming there's a sequel to begin with).

Who knows? They might even add appartments and pets or whatever foolishness Miiverse comes up with today :p

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

I want regional, I really do. But it can't work right now.

The problem is that there are not enough players to make regional happen correctly. If there were regional, the Japanese would play each other and we'll find it very hard to start a room, especially at 12AM P.T. The game requires a full room to start the game at all unlike MK8. The reason Splatfest works is due to a different coding in the Matchmaking which makes it even possible and even then, there's a lot of lag and disconnections. I don't trust NOA to put up a decent regional server when the last Splatfest was extremely laggy.

If the Wii U sold more and more people bought this wonderful game, we'd be at a different outcome.

Nobody said anything about doing it right now.
But even so, I can see it working right now. It just a matter on how it is handled.

If the game really can't fill the room with 8 people, just either make it go with any even number and let people play 1v1, 2v2 or 3v3...
... or fill the missing spots with people from other regions.
They need to be more flexible, when it comes to matchmaking.


I didn't know Splatfests were that unbearable in the US.
But here in the EU, from my perspective at least, they work really well.
Hence my experiences with Splatfests.

I was just joking around.

My real issue with regional servers though is the fact that I get more lag when playing with European users than Japanese users....

I didn't know that was a thing.

But given how far apart Europe and Australia is, I guess that makes sense.

 

[Noire]

Nobody said anything about doing it right now.
But even so, I can see it working right now. It just a matter on how it is handled.

If the game really can't fill the room with 8 people, just either make it go with any even number and let people play 1v1, 2v2 or 3v3...
... or fill the missing spots with people from other regions.
They need to be more flexible, when it comes to matchmaking.


I didn't know Splatfests were that unbearable in the US.
But here in the EU, from my perspective at least, they work really well.
Hence my experiences with Splatfests.

Yeah, NOA set up a really bad server this time around for the last Splatfest. I'm on a wired connection, but the amount of lag and disconnections on our end was awful and there was some people I'm fully convinced was running Dial-Up. Glad to hear Europe's was a lot smoother.

If Nintendo can figure out a way to get regional working with the limited Western playerbase I'm all for it, but It's a "let's see what happens" at this point. But I do like your ideas.

I'm pretty confident that if the NX is marketed aggressively like Splatoon and Mario Maker, we could see not just regional matchmaking but additional options that've been discussed in other threads if we're ever blessed with Spla2n. I won't go too far and say that Nintendo held back on these features (voice chat, matchmaking, leaderboards etc.) on a new IP in an effort to save resources in case the game bombed because we still got a pretty rad game despite these limitations, Now that the waters are tested and a fanbase has been established, it's safe to assume that they'll be willing to go all out at its launch with all these bells and whistles (assuming there's a sequel to begin with).

Who knows? They might even add appartments and pets or whatever foolishness Miiverse comes up with today :p

I hope whatever the NX is, it'll sell well. I knew the moment Nintendo called Project Cafe: Wii U I knew it was done for. The Wii was criticized for it's name at launch. And I will admit, it was a fad with really amazing games. But when the Wii U rolled around most people thought it was an accessory to something they already had in the attic. It's a darn shame because I'm having a blast on it.

The NX needs to have aggressive advertising and prove itself to the hardcore crowd somehow. And of course a Splatoon game will be on it. I'm sure they fill it with a bunch of awesome new features to not only get you to buy the game, but buy the system too. And we'll need more Splatoon players for the next game if we want something like regional, and just more people to fight worldwide.

 

[Sunstone]

I'm going with con.

My night shift job means I usually play between 5am to 10am EST. I'm usually the only player without a JP name, but I don't wrangle with lag as many would assume.

I even bump into JP players during NA primetime, which is telling on where the player base is located.

Global servers solves the problem of too few players for everyone. Splatoon is just too small to properly support regular, regional play.

ETA: Splatfest is always a challenge in the NA and super lag and DC happy. I'm actually a bit jealous you don't have issues in EU!

 

[Brunosky_Inc]

(...) I dunno why you people had such a bad time during Splatfests.
I am EU-player and never had a problem with them.
Always found matches with little trouble.

(...)

And again, the amount of people are really nothing to worry about.
At least I personally always found people to play with during Splatfests.
Admittedly, it can take longer to find people.

But like I said earlier, this is not only due to the fact that it is regional, but also due to the fact that the whole regional playerbase is split up into two fronts.
Of course that makes matchups even harder for the game to handle.
But during normal play, that wouldn't be an issue.

The argument of matchmaking working during Splatfest is another thing I brought up in my aforementioned previous posts:

Splatfests are events out of the ordinary. They take place during the weekends, which is naturally when more players are available, and by their very nature they attract more players than usual. Splatfests are far from being representative of what would happen during valley hours in player count when you include regional matchmaking.

And there's a good reason the Americas get the short end of the stick during regional matchmaking:

America... oh boy, America. That place is huge, and with a particularly high concentration of potato connections (dumb monopolies in the US, a respectable number less developed countries in Central and South America). As I said, Splatfests have been the times I've faced my most ridiculous cases of lag during my playtime, and without a really significant increase in game performace.

Adding to that there's the issue of valley hours in player count. Splatoon is pretty much the only shooter I can play late into the night, and all thanks to global matchmaking. In other shooters, and in many other games for that matter, servers become ghost towns after a certain time.

Okay, first things first, I edited my old stuff because it doesn't make any sense now that I look back on it. And two I agree with you completely. Just to let you know, we're on the same page, okay?

(...)

So in the end, I actually do agree with you. Splatfest is a lagging nightmare and if that's what we'll get if we have regional servers, then I'm against it. Maybe the sequel can fix these online related problems. And again, I don't want to embarrass myself with those old posts when I was in the wrong here so I edited all of them, sorry for arguing I don't like arguing with people, it gets to my chest.

*Sees changed sig* Whoa... hehe... I'm glad I could help in bringing this change of heart. :)

I'd be happy to join your matches if you're Turf Warring your way back... unless miss schedules and mister differing time zones mess this up, that is.

 

[Noire]

The argument of matchmaking working during Splatfest is another thing I brought up in my aforementioned previous posts:

Splatfests are events out of the ordinary. They take place during the weekends, which is naturally when more players are available, and by their very nature they attract more players than usual. Splatfests are far from being representative of what would happen during valley hours in player count when you include regional matchmaking.

And there's a good reason the Americas get the short end of the stick during regional matchmaking:

America... oh boy, America. That place is huge, and with a particularly high concentration of potato connections (dumb monopolies in the US, a respectable number less developed countries in Central and South America). As I said, Splatfests have been the times I've faced my most ridiculous cases of lag during my playtime, and without a really significant increase in game performace.

Adding to that there's the issue of valley hours in player count. Splatoon is pretty much the only shooter I can play late into the night, and all thanks to global matchmaking. In other shooters, and in many other games for that matter, servers become ghost towns after a certain time.




*Sees changed sig* Whoa... hehe... I'm glad I could help in bringing this change of heart. :)

I'd be happy to join your matches if you're Turf Warring your way back... unless miss schedules and mister differing time zones mess this up, that is.

Part of my reasoning for my lack of online play is due to an event in the past, but I want to put that behind me. But it will take me a couple of days of anxiety and getting my butt kicked, but I'm more prepared for that at this point.

And sure, I'll love to play some turf war with you, I'm usually up from around noon PST to about 12AM PST sometimes later, you'll definitely find me online at those times. I also have a brother who is very invested in this game so I don't get a chance to play some days.

 

[Agosta44]

Pros:
English players only!

Cons:
More lag
Lower skill level
Less players

I'll take the one where I trade sometimes. It makes me feel like I'm cheating when I play western teams.

 

[Citrus]

It'd be a nice option but I would just play worldwide. Tbh other westerners lag more for me than Japanese.

 

[Yellowkirbyguy]

I think i might go with con

Since Splatoon is an online game, lag is pretty much inevitable. Regional wouldn't solve lag completely either, sure you'd get players from your region, but you can't deny the possibility of lag. Not only that, you may not even get any players, well an exaggeration but it'd be a bit slower finding players i'd imagine.

But if you want to focus on something other than lag. Regional gameplay would be alright for some occasions like if you're home sick in a gaming sense or something. But i just think that Splatoon is great the way it is, you get to battle practically everyone in the world who has the game and internet. I wouldn't want to gain experience from those only from my region, i'd like to be able to play against or with lots of different playstyles, Ahh, well that's just my opinion anyway.

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

I am running into plenty of non-asian people, even in the middle of the week.
But of course, it would be hard to find anyone to play with in the middle of the night.
That is common sense really.

I really don't think the non-asian playerbase is as small as you make it look like.
It might not be as big as in Japan, but definitely not as small that it would become unplayable.
Unless of course, you choose Regional when everyone is sleeping.

Whatever the case, I can hardly follow the reasoning of "More lag with Regional".
It is the other way around over here, Splatfests talking.

And yes, there are people on our side too, who have bad connection.
But on my end, I am mostly running into lag, when playing with japanese people.

 

[Ink Gunner Emily]

There are more cons to Regional than pros as it stands right now. The lack of lag being a obvious pro to it, but it's more that there are much fewer in players in the regional United States. This maybe not an issue in other countries however. Regional would be fairly dead during morning and night hours specifically. Even if there is a large group, it maybe more squads than simply singular players. Eh... I've not got much else for it atm. Just an opinion though.

 

[Inky Corruption]

The Pros of regional servers:

• Lower latency
• (That's all I got)

The Cons of regional servers:

• Split player base
  • This would further disrupt the skill levels between regions
    • Which further discourages worldwide matchmaking
• Potential matchmaking issues when there aren't enough players

Things that remain the same:

• Europe and Oceania would probably remain in the same match-up (see: Miiverse)
  
  • Meaning the latency spikes between e.g. England and Australia would remain an issue
• Players with poor bandwidth still exist regardless of geographical location

Verdict:

Regional servers wouldn't provide any benefits to the playerbase at large, at best reducing the latency between the players for more "accurate" field plays. The downsides are clear: if the playerbase is particularly low then you will face matchmaking issues outside of peak times and those that are looking into the competitive scene or even migrating to worldwide lobbies may find that international players' skill levels are inconsistent with the relative regional skill level.

Players with bad connections will never cease to exist no matter how much you limit the matchmaking pool so outside of creating a regional ranked ladder (which is still a bad idea because of the same points) there isn't enough of an incentive to introduce regional lobbies.

 

[Brunosky_Inc]

I am running into plenty of non-asian people, even in the middle of the week.
But of course, it would be hard to find anyone to play with in the middle of the night.
That is common sense really.

I really don't think the non-asian playerbase is as small as you make it look like.
It might not be as big as in Japan, but definitely not as small that it would become unplayable.
Unless of course, you choose Regional when everyone is sleeping.

Problem: "Non-asian" player could mean anything from European, North, Central and South American, an Asian dude who thinks western words/names look cool, or anywhere else, really. The lack of names you can't read is not a sign of how healthy the player base would be.

Whatever the case, I can hardly follow the reasoning of "More lag with Regional".
It is the other way around over here, Splatfests talking.

And yes, there are people on our side too, who have bad connection.
But on my end, I am mostly running into lag, when playing with japanese people.

Well, of course European Splatfests don't have as many problems. Europe is relatively close knit, but there are less overall players. It's likely regional matchmaking would work like a charm... when it actually manages to find enough players in reasonable timeframes, that is.

 

[Sunstone]

I feel like you may be over estimating US internet, Paragon-Yoshi. I don't know if it's as bad in other NA regions, but all over the US, you can deal with giant gaps in internet quality from street to street basis.

Mine is really good from living a few doors down from a school, but my friend accross town is lucky to get half the speed I do. Same provider, too.