Do you play fair if the opposing team has a DC'd player at the start?

[Chaos_Knight]

You see both teams come in, but someone on the other team disconnects before the game even begins. What do you do? Do you play fair and sit the game out to balance the match? Or you don't care and consider it as a free win and hammer on them hard?

 

[Gameboy224]

Would they play fair if one person DC'd on my team?

Spoiler

No.

 

[LiX]

In Ranked, when I see the enemy has a DC early on, I instinctively don't push the KO immediately. I'm a gentleman like that. But I am no fool, thus I try to maintain tight control of the battle. Once a minute or two passed, I go all in again and it usually results in a KO, as of course in S+ lobbies having one player too few means to lose. After the aforementioned time span, I just think it's fair to take advantage, as Nintendo will most likely take the DC into account then.
Of course it's not always possible to be fair: When the enemy fights back like crazy and does serious attempts to KO us first, you're gonna have to wipe them and end it. Everyone has something at risk in ranked and as pointed out by Gameboy224, most people will use any chance they can get to grab that easy win.

But on the other hand, there's exceptions to that. Here's a nice story that once happened to me in Rainmaker:

We were on Pumptrack and a mad battle broke lose around the rainmaker in mid. I'd punch two of the enemies with my roller, another guy with a Splattershot takes two of our team aswell. In the same second as he took my teammates down, I hear the remaining lad despawn next to me. The distraction resulted in me getting splatted. We're wiped, enemy has two on field and the Rainmaker barrier was burst. While we respawn simultaneously, they already sped towards our volcano and are about to dunk. Suddenly I see the dude who got the Rainmaker to 2 break his push, speed to the ground and jump with it into the abyss. He stopped to give us a chance to have our DC being taken into account. A great dude.
We then fought a brave battle until 1:30 left. Then my two mates were down again and they were close to our volcano. I returned the favor and stood still as I granted them the KO. The DC was taken into account and we lost nothing but had a great and fair battle. I've never experienced so much sportsmanship in one game of Splatoon before.

 

[SilverBrick]

I don’t bother. They aren’t losing rank this game, and managing to lose because you weren’t playing seriously enough is a dumb risk to take. Besides, the sooner you crush them, the sooner everyone can move onto something productive. Playing ‘fair’ feels too much like playing with your food.

 

[Amarae]

I generally don't play much differently if there are Disconnects either way. If It's on my team I give it my all but I have to consider my approach being a man down. I also become okay with just preventing a knockout rather than going for the win only.

If the DC is on the enemy team, I don't mess around with giving it less than my usual. I figure they will either deserve to beat us 3v4, or they will appreciate us ending it quickly.

 

[LiX]

Honestly, it would be much easier if Nintendo always took disconnects into account. Nobody would have to worry about anything then.

 

[Jimmys1000]

I think I become more aggressive when our team is up a player. I try to finish the game as quick as possible and move on to the next game.

 

[Leronne]

coming from both ends of a 3 v 4 comeback, no, never. You never know if the opponent team has an absolutely incredible player or if the 3 has incredible team coordination. I remember winning a 3 v 4 (being on the team of 3) on saltspray rig splatzones (my worst map btw) in splatoon 1. Heck sometimes i go in harder if it's a 3 v 4.

 

[Cyan]

It's already been said, but it depends on the situation. If the player has disconnected in the opening cameras/sequence just end it as fast as possible so they don't have to suffer, if they lose one partway in at least try to give the match enough time to not penalise the other time for losing the match because a member disconnected. You can't go easy on people in Ranked because that's how matches get lost anyway in regular 4v4s. Too many times I've been in a match where my team has got a really good lead at the start in Tower or Rainmaker then they get complacent, stop pushing as hard, and go on the defensive more often. What happens then is the other team is still playing as aggressively and you steadily lose ground until the lead is eventually lost in the last minute or they KO you. If it's Turf War, then sure go easier on them, it doesn't matter if you lose there. Splatfests are again different, the match has a designated length and losing against the opponent team can add up if plenty of others do likewise and give them wins to playing "fair" on them which could cost said team the Splatfest victory (yes it's a few snails, but you do normally want to win for the team you believe in or whatever). Disconnections are part and parcel of the online world, it sucks, but you just have to deal with it at the end of the day and hope you or the enemy don't get rank penalties as a result of it.

 

[Dessgeega]

Expecting the enemy to show mercy is a fool's gamble in ANY game. I take matches seriously whether the enemy has more or less players than me. Unless, of course, my teammates give up. Not a lot I can do in that situation.

 

[Saber]

For me in solo queue
On the occasion that i notice it I will try and play fair an keep near the objective without attacking...but if an enemy player keeps trying to splat me... well then all bets are off.

I also will be a little more callous if I am close to ranking up or about to lose rank cause I not taking the risk of a loss due to an overly aggressive teammate

 

[MeTaGross]

This shouldn't be a question in ranked; in ranked you do whatever you can to win, so when I see the opponents have a disconnect I just try to get it over quickly. When my team has a disconnect I just try to prevent a KO.

In turf war you would have to be a complete **** to push like you do in ranked when the opponent has a DC. I play a lot of turf war because I enjoy it more than ranked, so when my team has a DC it is very frustrating to get spawn camped. If the enemy team has a DC I will cover our base and mid while staying in mid to prevent any wild push, but I will never push for a camp.

 

[Elecmaw]

Nah, don't wanna lose a 4 vs 3 game lol

 

[J'Wiz]

It depends on the mode.

If it is Turf, yeah I'll generally take it easy on the opponents if they have a DC. I'll just hold mid and paint corners. If my enemies end up seeming like a real threat despite the disadvantage, I'll fight more seriously.

In Ranked or League...no. Losing a 4 v 3 isn't only humiliating, but I'm costing my teammates points/rank meter. That, and if I go ahead and try to get the knockout, the enemies will get another chance to play without a DC.

Strangely enough in Ranked, I once ran into a fella that took it easy on us when we started with a DC. He was jumping around, so I jumped around a bit infront of him to show appreciation, and I went on with the match. My teammates were death gods, so we curb stomped the enemy team.

 

[SAHSWAMPY]

depends on how many disconnects, if it is only 1 then I play as normal since I've seen 3 v 4's many times where the 3 side has won. If 2 or 3 disconnected however I'd be more willing to just let them win since it'd be an incredibly unfair match.

 

[zzmorg82]

I remember this one game in TW; we had 3 disconnections on the opposing team, so it was just us 4 vs one solo dude.

Needless to say, my teammates gave that dude no mercy.

 

[RocketsTail]

In turf, I play less aggressive unless they keep coming on our side. In ranked, I play as I normally would.

 

[Parsnip]

Just win, end it as fast as possible. Free the 3 players up to move onto a game where they don't have a disadvantage, if they manage to legitimately hold you up or beat you all the better for them.

Easing up, you are just prolonging the game, wasting their time and toying with them unless you seriously intend to allow them to win through your easing up.

 

[Padre]

Its usually 3v3 anyways, as my team has AFK or two. So no. Thats part of the game now. Its out of meta to hold back. You can still enjoy the game with less players and losing. Just be creative and try new things. Even defending spawn can be enjoyable, trying to break free and letting team-mate superjump to flank to wreak havoc for a while.

Also sometimes miracles happen.

 

[Roo]

In turf war I may ease up slightly, but in ranked, its every squid for themselves.