Hassles with Splatoon (Negative Thread)

[Poxnixles]

I hate being a downer and making a thread like this. Just wondering if anyone else shares concerns I have with the game.

Splatoon's gotten to the point where it feels like a chore for me to play. There's a bunch of reasons for this, I feel. It feels like a hassle to set up optimal multiplayer experiences, with proper voice comms, a full team, and so on. The gear system is one of the worst offenses about the game with rerolls being a huge pain in the butt to work with. I don't like stat-altering things being influenced by RNG, or even worse tied to things that grant cosmetic differences (TF2 learned quickly that this was a problem in 2010 and fixed it a bit). It's a really unfun grind to work for optimal gear, arguably worse than breeding in Pokemon (still kind of a pain even with all the improvements that franchise has gained over the years). Main abilities on gear are really annoying because that's the biggest factor involving the lack of compromise between stats and looks.

Like... I'm just not feeling Splatoon much anymore. There's a lot of merit with this game and I hope it continues to blossom into a mainstay Nintendo franchise. I just don't know how to rekindle my love or if I should even bother.

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

It sounds like you like having everything absolutely perfect and fine-tuned towards your own experiences, which means Splatoon is not a good fit for you, or at least it used to be but not anymore. You should probably play another game more geared towards your tastes. (Imagine if re-rolls weren't even in the game--it always came across to me as a last-minute addition.)

Me, I don't care to have anything optimized, I am not competitive, and I do not do voice chat in anything, so the things you state don't bother me.

By the way, I think I have more fun breeding and training teams in Pokémon than actually battling with them. That is, I'm a Johnny, whereas you're a Spike. Splatoon is a Timmy- and Johnny-oriented game with Spike as a secondary consideration (compared to most other shooters, which are Timmy- and Spike-oriented with Johnnies getting nothing or next to nothing).

 

[PrinceOfKoopas]

By the way, I think I have more fun breeding and training teams in Pokémon than actually battling with them. That is, I'm a Johnny, whereas you're a Spike. Splatoon is a Timmy- and Johnny-oriented game with Spike as a secondary consideration (compared to most other shooters, which are Timmy- and Spike-oriented with Johnnies getting nothing or next to nothing).

Can you explain what that means?

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

"Timmy," "Johnny," and "Spike" are archetypes of player behavior as categorized by Mark Rosewater, lead designer of Magic: The Gathering. He explains it here. While Rosewater describes them in relation to Magic: The Gathering, these three patterns of behavior pop up in any game with a high degree of customization, regardless of medium, and account for almost all players. These archetypes have since been used in the context of video games, board games, sports, and role-playing games.

The Timmy plays for the spectacle. He or she likes to see cool stuff happen, preferably big stuff happen, and will play towards that. While Timmy would like to win, Timmy will feel satisfied if he or she was able to accomplish the big things he or she wanted to do when a game begins, and an experienced Timmy understands what strategies need to be done and what skills to have in order to do just that. In the context of Splatoon, a Timmy plays for the splats and to use the special weapons (especially big flashy ones like the Inkstrike or Killer Wail) and is less concerned with the match's outcome (but not completely unconcerned, an important note).

The Johnny plays for the self-expression. He or she likes to play in a specific way and cares very much about leaving a lasting impression on his or her opponents in an aesthetic sense. Johnnies are the nonconformists, the ones who will purposely select an unpopular character, civilization, weapon, etc. if it means they'll stand out more. Johnnies also like to challenge themselves and win using unconventional ways. Johnnies are usually the rarest type of player in a game due to the significant time investment needed to be a Johnny, but odds are you will recognize a Johnny when you see one. In Splatoon, they're the ones using weapons few people like, like the Sploosh-o-Matic (Neo or otherwise) or the Squiffers, or they may be the ones with a set of clothing chosen strictly for their appearance (such as aviator glasses, a black leather jacket, and moto boots for an 80's biker look; or an amiibo set), or both.

Finally, we have the Spike. The Spike is the competitive player. This is the player who will look for optimal strategies, optimal builds, and watch other top players. A Spike will do whatever it takes to climb to the top, exploiting loopholes and glitches if allowed. They play to win and, in team games, do not tolerate people who they feel are holding them back. The Spike is the archetype who's the most bothered by losing. In Splatoon, but a Spike is the person who has chosen a main and has stuck with it for a long time, wearing clothing with main abilities to fit it and sub-abilities re-rolled to be perfect. If you see someone with 999,999p inked with a weapon and/or is S or S+ rank, chances are they're a Spike. (I know people who are not Spikes who have reached that high though.)

Spikes dislike Johnnies but will often appropriate winning strategies from them and are more or less neutral to Timmies because they have different goals. Johnnies, due to their nonconformist nature, dislike Spikes, who represent the hegemony, and the feeling is mutual (the "Stop Having Fun Guys" concept came about from this Johnny-Spike friction), but Johnnies like the presence of Timmies because they value a Timmy's relative innocence. Timmies predominantly mind their own business and usually don't really care what Johnnies and Spikes are up to.

Depending on the game, there could be more Timmy players than the other categories (like Smash Bros.) or more Spike players than the other categories (like Call of Duty), but Johnny games are rare. The only instance I know of a competitive Johnny game is the Pokémon Trading Card Game during Generation III, which had all sorts of crazy combinations in every set and moved too fast for Spikes to keep up with the Johnnies, but that's about it. (It oriented towards Spikes in Generation IV, however.)

 

[LMG]

One thing I learned about Splatoon early on (and I mean like Global Test-fire early) was that when the game wants to frustrate you, it will. However, about half-way through my playtime I learned to "not let the game play you" and decided to stop caring so much about stats and whatnot and just go for the fun, because at the end of the day it is a game and its purpose is to entertain. Nowadays I'm having a blast even if my team ends up royally screwing over since I still come up top in the scoreboard more often than not.

However, since I'm mostly a casual player that gets at most 6-7 rounds in a day (not counting Splatfests) with an almost-exclusively defensive playstyle I'm not quite sure how to translate it into a more Competitive scenario. I guess the most I can do is advice you to find a group of friends in the Squid Locator subforum here to play with and, if you can't get perfect rolls (which are very rare by design), try for "near perfect" and combine gear sets to have the same results (like having 2 Ink Saver (main) on a shirt and a third one in your shoes).

 

[The ΩS]

I just want to get to level 50 but feels like a mountain at this rate. That and matchmaking could use some serious reworking. Outside of that, still a decent game to poke your head in here and there.

 

[redacteddd]

Yeah as great as it is to get top tier rerolls, you really shouldn't get too into it. I keep my Camo Zip Hoodie with random abilities because i'm not too keen on having ink saver sub. Be grateful that there's at least a preference system

 

[Poxnixles]

I enjoy playing casually and all, but when you put systems like that out it just frustrates me haha