Are Japanese Players Just Better/More Dedicated?

[Mr. 9]

Hey all, so this thread owes itself to a very interesting thread posted earlier by HySquid. (http://squidboards.com/threads/shou...bout-matchmaking-and-regional-gameplay.27031/)

Early on in my Splatoon ranked experience, there were many non-Japanese players in most of my battles. However, when I started moving up in the ranks, the proportion of Japanese players in the room increased steadily. By the time I got to S, seeing a non-Japanese player in the lobby became unusual. Now that I’ve reached S+, I can say that the occurrence of non-Japanese players is rare.

This raises some interesting questions, and I'd like to hear your answers:

1) In your rank, how many Japanese players do you generally see?
2) Do you think that Japanese players, in general, exhibit superior skills?

It seems that at this point, the Japanese player base may be larger than that of other countries, which may explain the increased abundance of Japanese S/S+ players. However, that does not explain my general observation that the lobbies in ranked become increasingly populated by the Japanese community as the rank of those lobbies increases.

A couple of notes: I don’t believe that Japanese players cause more lag than any other players around the world, which is supported by the fact that during past regional Splatfests I’ve experienced even worse lag than usual (is your experience different?). Also, I admit that I don’t speak or read Japanese so I can’t be sure that in my lobbies the players that I assume are Japanese aren’t from somewhere else in Asia. Finally, I hope (and believe) that I don’t have to say this, but no racism please.

 

[Cuttlefish]

just so everyone's on the same page, the only alphabets you will see in Splatoon lobbies are Latin script, Japanese Kana and some various Greek Symbols. there's no support for Korean, Chinese, Russian, etcetera. so if you see non-latin script in Splatoon, its likely Japanese :p

anyway, I don't think its as deep as it seems. more players are from Japan (because of course), more of those players are dedicated, more of those players will actually make it to high ranks. conversely, I don't know about you, but most players in Europe seem to be REALLY casual, to the point its super difficult to find players at all. or maybe there just aren't that many? but anyway

I think its just a correlation sort of thing rather than a big conspiracy. Splatoon is bigger in Japan.

but to answer.

1) I will say there are more in higher ranks, yes. but I play in weird Europe times and often our times just match up, so I'm not sure I'm reliable.
2) honestly? I don't know. I don't think so. I see every player as the same, most likely because I can read their names fluently, it doesn't really occur to me that they're Japanese at all. I don't think there's any reason they WOULD be inherently better, it doesn't really make sense beyond their obvious dedication.

 

[Elecmaw]

1. Generally 6 JP players per 2 non-JP players, depends on the time i'm playing though.
2. Yes, it might sound biased as there are certainly skilled people from the west, but my last time when JP was off having splatfest i noticed teams were far less skilled than usual, people were more keen on playing team deathmatch than to pursue an actual objective. They usually lag a lot more than the JP players, too.

 

[Cuttleshock]

1. In S, I get... a great majority of JP players, to be sure. Can't say the exact ratio, but it's not uncommon that I can't read any names in the lobby other than my own. It also feels like I see more Latin names in TWs. I play... right now, in the holidays, more or less any time from 12:00 to 01:00, UTC+1.
2. I dunno about that. In my experience, someone with a Japanese name is about as likely to dominate a lobby as someone with Latin characters.

Russian

Are you sure about that? I'm almost confident that I've seen some Cyrillic characters before... I guess they could've been Greek, though.

 

[Aori]

It's entirely possible (with some effort) for an american player to get a japanese display name too, and I'm sure me and my friend are not the only one that did it so it's probably a bit more difficult to figure out who's who unless you see them posting on the english miiverse or something. Ultimately with my experience Japanese players seem to play more seriously, but they're just as likely to party.

Despite this, I don't play ranked... so I can't really say much on that part. I'm just going off my experiences with Japanese players in turf wars.
I can guarantee they're a lot more vocal with booyah and c'mon (without partying) when everyone on their team has a japanese name though. It's actually pretty nice to see.

 

[G1ng3rGar1]

It's entirely possible (with some effort) for an american player to get a japanese display name too, and I'm sure me and my friend are not the only one that did it so it's probably a bit more difficult to figure out who's who unless you see them posting on the english miiverse or something. Ultimately with my experience Japanese players seem to play more seriously, but they're just as likely to party.

Despite this, I don't play ranked... so I can't really say much on that part. I'm just going off my experiences with Japanese players in turf wars.
I can guarantee they're a lot more vocal with booyah and c'mon (without partying) when everyone on their team has a japanese name though. It's actually pretty nice to see.

Wait, you can? How?

And I don't play ranked much, but when I do I'll update

And yeah, they're more likely to party. When I do run into squid parties, they're with Japanese players. I enjoy this a lot.
I guess I find them hard to face (sometimes)
One example being when I tried to use a set a character used with a weapon I am unexperienced with
The game put me in a Japanese lobby (which I'm fine with except that time) and I got rekt

 

[Aori]

Wait, you can? How?

Really you just have to save a japanese player's mii. If you're looking for a specific one, you can search the user on your activity feed on your computer, follow them, then block them on your wii u. From your blocked list, you can save their user mii. For mine, the one I saved happened to allow copying for edit so I made a copy and changed it to look like my usual Mii, ultimately giving me a japanese display name. At least it's safer than hacking your entire wii u just to get a display name in a language that the english one doesn't have a keyboard for... for some reason.

I don't see why they couldn't have just included all region keyboards everywhere.

 

[Ryuji]

I don't see why they couldn't have just included all region keyboards everywhere.

Because the average person outside Japan can't read Japanese, obviously :p

As for my thoughts on what the OP said, Splatoon is much, much more popular in Japan. This can probably be attributed to cultural differences. Splatoon originated in Japan so it's no wonder. Outside Japan Splatoon is seen as a shooter game with lolis, relegating it to a supposedly childish perception of it. This is assuming they even know about the game. But I digress, I dont think Japanese players are inherently better at the game. It just seems that way because they make up the majority of the playerbase. In the few rare instances during Splatfests where Japanese can't take part, I must admit it does seem easier playing against NA players. But then after a few matches you realize you're not doing any better than you would if you were in a lobby with Japanese players. You haven't notably gained or lost any points either way. At least that's been my experience. Whatever the case, I love Splatoon and am grateful that there are so many Japanese players, even more so because they are on 24/7. Without them finding a lobby would take forever.

 

[Cuttleshock]

Because the average person outside Japan can't read Japanese, obviously :p

But I guess the point is that that's still no reason not to do so; they could just put them in in an extra tab in the generic keyboard interface. Possible issue is that no insignificant amount of people who know no Japanese might use those characters because they 'look cool' (I mean, they do) and accidentally type in rude stuff... ? I'm trying to get behind Nintendo's thought process here and that's all I can come up with.

 

[BinaryAlto]

I think they play better than the average American player because they play more and for longer periods of time. They also watch a lot of videos....that helps players get better. (I watch competitive play from time to time.) Games are like anything in the world. If you do it more you can only really get better at it.

 

[Aori]

Because the average person outside Japan can't read Japanese, obviously

There are native japanese speakers in america, probably. It seems kind of sad if they wanted to use their native language- though imported Wii Us might just do the trick for that if they want to be on the japanese miiverse as well as have the japanese name. I personally prefer japanese not because of weebish reasons (i hope) but because I genuinely wish to be bilingual and there's much more i'm interested in there- the food, the way that I wont be around people that call games like Kirby a "baby game", i'll admit there's more game merch i'm interested in...

As for my thoughts on what the OP said, Splatoon is much, much more popular in Japan.

geez everything is really more popular there.
American fans probably just don't get that japan likes cute things more than fps gorey death shooters.
Not that I don't like those, I just prefer the cutesy games that everyone here would claim is for children.

Japanese players probably adore splatoon because it's cute and fun. It's a shooter, but for the most part nothing is blood or gore- things "die" but they always come back. There's probably the hardcore shooter fans in japan too, but I bet I'd see them less than I do here.
I could be wrong though.

 

[Cuttlefish]

Splatoon was made by Japanese people for Japanese people, it does definitely have international influences but a lot of it is pretty grounded in Japanese culture. it's just familiar and appeals to them. not to mention, it's marketed SO much more over there, Splatoon is absolutely everywhere, they're very proud of it it seems :p

i think if Nintendo pushed Splatoon more over here (i.e. a marketing campaign that didn't just end after the game was launched more or less, or maybe actually giving us merch) it would probably have a bigger audience.

 

[Dessgeega]

I don't think that the Japanese players are necessarily better or more dedicated. There's just a heck of a lot more of them relative to us.

 

[Ansible]

As someone who spends the majority of my ranked matches in the solo queue, I say it's just a perception based on numbers. There are just so many Japanese players and Japanese accounts that the overall skill level ranges all across the board no matter their rank (for better or worse).

 

[BinaryAlto]

But I also go against a lot of the same players. Especially in S+, and at all hours of the day. That's why I said what I said.

 

[Hero of Lime]

It's a person by person basis I feel. I think they really dedicate themselves to the game more, but just in the same way anyone from any part of the world will do with online games.

As others have pointed out, there are so many more of them, the amazing ones are numerous enough where you see them quite often. I run into many non Japanese players who are incredible, or at least are very good at the game. No one is inherently better at a game based on where they come from, they get better by sheer practice of the game.

I think you as say as a regional player base, they are better, but not in skill, but in dedication to continuing to play the game. We all know that these days, Japanese players are the clear majority. Splatoon has gotten them hooked into an online shooter which hasn't really happened before. Though Call of Duty for example would actually sell well in Japan back when it was super successful several years ago. I guess Splatoon not only provides a fun online shooter, but also has the aesthetic they prefer, as @Magolor said.

 

[Mr. 9]

Great replies all, thanks!

My two cents: certainly the Japanese player base is much larger, however, my (personal, and perhaps mistaken) observation that Japanese players become increasingly represented as the ranks move up makes me think that they have more dedicated players overall. This can't occur due only to differences in player-base size, since if 10% of all nation’s players made it to S+ (or whatever), then their representation percentage in the S+ (or whatever) lobbies would not change. Since it does, I think it’s a great explanation that this is due to the greater promotion of the game in Japan, and culture differences as well (though I don’t know a ton about their culture honestly). Anyway, I see so few non-Japanese in ranked these days (solo queue, S+), which doesn’t matter (it’s still super fun!), but is interesting to me.

 

[birdiebee]

Chiming in as I work in a Japanese high school and interact with teenagers on a daily basis. As a foreign teacher I mention my hobbies a lot as an easy way for often-shy Japanese students to find ways to engage me in conversation, so of course gaming is something I frequently bring up--especially Splatoon since it is my favorite game and I'm aware of its popularity in Japan. Students asking me what weapons I like to use and what rank I am is always fun, and breaks down cultural barriers because we can find a common interest. They're always so impressed to hear that I am S+! Most of the students I talk to are S rank. Few of them are lower, though. So I think the suggestion that Japanese players are more dedicated holds true in my personal experience of interacting with students. (Also for the record, the most popular mains among students I've talked to Splatoon with happen to be E liter, Luna and Octoshot. "SASUGA~")

However, one point that may be interesting to learn is that traditional "western" shooters like Call of Duty are just about equally popular. I've asked kids what their favorite games are and often get things like Call of Duty, Battlefield, Metal Gear (edit: I realize this is a japanese game, just throwing it in for the sake of the list), and even Grand Theft Auto. (Minecraft, Pokemon and Smash frequently come up too, less surprisingly). American-y stuff is definitely considered kakkoii among young Japanese people, and our games are no exception. Of course, Japanese people notoriously love Japanese things as well, so I think there is less bias against cartoony cutesy Splatoon-y stuff like there is in the West. I don't think there's any stigma against cartoony things being "casual" in Japan.

Spoiler: spoilered for being off topic

One final point I wanna make, which is slightly tangential to the original point, is with regards to gendered marketing. It's no secret that Japan goes to great lengths to keep boys masculine and women feminine. But Splatoon is very progressive in a culture lacking in making a product equally accessible to boys and girls. So many young Japanese girls love Splatoon, and have probably been pressured against playing shooting games prior to Splatoon, as they are "only for boys." I've never spoken to a female student who has played Call of Duty, but many of them play Splatoon, and I think its great that they finally have an entry point into the genre which they won't feel stigmatized for enjoying.

 

[Ansible]

Chiming in as I work in a Japanese high school and interact with teenagers on a daily basis. As a foreign teacher I mention my hobbies a lot as an easy way for often-shy Japanese students to find ways to engage me in conversation, so of course gaming is something I frequently bring up--especially Splatoon since it is my favorite game and I'm aware of its popularity in Japan. Students asking me what weapons I like to use and what rank I am is always fun, and breaks down cultural barriers because we can find a common interest. They're always so impressed to hear that I am S+! Most of the students I talk to are S rank. Few of them are lower, though. So I think the suggestion that Japanese players are more dedicated holds true in my personal experience of interacting with students. (Also for the record, the most popular mains among students I've talked to Splatoon with happen to be E liter, Luna and Octoshot. "SASUGA~")

However, one point that may be interesting to learn is that traditional "western" shooters like Call of Duty are just about equally popular. I've asked kids what their favorite games are and often get things like Call of Duty, Battlefield, Metal Gear (edit: I realize this is a japanese game, just throwing it in for the sake of the list), and even Grand Theft Auto. (Minecraft, Pokemon and Smash frequently come up too, less surprisingly). American-y stuff is definitely considered kakkoii among young Japanese people, and our games are no exception. Of course, Japanese people notoriously love Japanese things as well, so I think there is less bias against cartoony cutesy Splatoon-y stuff like there is in the West. I don't think there's any stigma against cartoony things being "casual" in Japan.

Spoiler: spoilered for being off topic

One final point I wanna make, which is slightly tangential to the original point, is with regards to gendered marketing. It's no secret that Japan goes to great lengths to keep boys masculine and women feminine. But Splatoon is very progressive in a culture lacking in making a product equally accessible to boys and girls. So many young Japanese girls love Splatoon, and have probably been pressured against playing shooting games prior to Splatoon, as they are "only for boys." I've never spoken to a female student who has played Call of Duty, but many of them play Splatoon, and I think its great that they finally have an entry point into the genre which they won't feel stigmatized for enjoying.

Was wondering/hoping you show up for some embedded(?) perspective. (Now if some of the other players in Japan can also chime in.) And I especially like your thoughts in the spoiler tags. It's something I've regularly wondered about the game partly because of the animation models, its design, and developer statements that the inkling boy was something of an afterthought.

Much appreciated.

 

[Smashling79]

They're more dedicated than us I guess. Definitely more than me. I stopped playing because it just got kinda boring and I'm a level 49 A rank. Sucks I never got to S but whatever....