Lag Rebellion - No Splatoon 2 if the lag isn't fixed

[Grflrgl]

I think it's time to tell Nintendo something clearly.

I'm not buying Splatoon 2 unless they fix the lag!

It seems to have gotten a lot worse in the last two or three months. My connection is just fine (150 down, 50 up, fiber optics), and I don't have problems with other software lagging. It's just Splatoon. And when I say that the lag has gotten worse in the past few months, I mean enough to think of giving up the game entirely. Lately, I even have trouble swimming through my own ink when no one is around.

I've benefited from the lag at times, I admit, but it seems to go against me more often than for me. But either way, it shouldn't be happening, and it doesn't happen in other games.

NINTENDO: Fix the lag, or no sale!

 

[Wothur]

I personally rarely ever experience significant lag while playing Splatoon; especially compared to other Wii U games (*cough cough* SSB4 *cough cough*)
But if you're getting lag to the point at which it become impossible to enjoy the game properly, then it's your right as a consumer to refuse to buy further products. Good on you.

But good connection is not a simple subject. Lag can be caused by an enormous variety of problems. Exactly how much lag is acceptable? Don't get me wrong, you're right; Nintendo has always been terrible when it comes to online support. But if the lag is so widespread it warrants the attention of a multi-million dollar company, then why isn't it affecting me?

and it doesn't happen in other games.

I have to completely disagree here. Compared to other games on the console (*cough cough* SSB4 *cough cough*) Splatoon has it golden.


If you're going to start a thread, please do it in a way that encourages some sort of conversation. This is more of just a rant.
If you're trying to start a movement to get Nintendo's attention, then this is basically the worst place to get started.

I just doughnut understand the point here.

 

[Grflrgl]

I just doughnut understand the point here.

Fair enough.

It is a bit of a rant, but in that regard, it could have justifiably been a lot worse.

As to the locale for this post, it's more to see if there's any interest in taking this further. This is the forum I happen to be a member of, so I came here first. If there's some interest, maybe we can express this idea differently. If not, I'll take the post down in a day or two.

Don't know why it isn't impacting your play and is mine, but I don't know why it impacts other people more often than not either. But to be honest, why is that my point to defend? I honestly think it's more Nintendo's point to defend than mine? We could ask the same question of Nintendo - why is the lag impacting me and not you? The question is better asked of them than me.

I don't have a lot of time for games these days, so my choices are few - but I don't have lag problems in the others. And I'd like to point out clearly - this has gotten a lot worse in the past few months. I had lag all along, but nothing like now. I've had Rainmaker games end with the bad guys scoring points for 5 full seconds after my time was up (and they won that game, of course). And I could give you a dozen examples. But that begs the question: If so many people from all over the world are talking about lag, why hasn't Nintendo done anything to fix it?

I strongly suspect that they've taken the same approach you have - if it's not bothering Wothur, then we don't really have a problem. But I just don't think that's the right attitude given the number of people reporting significant lag problems, regardless of how many multi-millions Nintendo is worth.

And I like doughnuts too. :)

 

[shudder]

It definitely is an issue with Splatoon, I find it interesting that some others say they have no problems with lag in the game because there have been a lot of posts and videos from the past year that cover the subject on here, reddit, youtube and miiverse. I've heard SSB is actually worse although I don't play it so I personally don't know. There are definitely issues in MK8 in regards to lag but nothing as consistently as bad as the lag in Splatoon from my own experiences.

Maybe it's because everyone was new to the game but when it first came out I don't remember much lag occurring at first but it's definitely gradually gotten worse over time. I don't think Nintendo is maintaining the servers as much now and I think the changes that have been made are to accommodate worse connections which has made the lag more common, that's my own theory.

Is Nintendo aware of the issues and are they going to improve things is the question, because if not that's a real bummer. Anyone know if DeNA is involved in the actual online infrastructure and netcode stuff for Switch? With the Switch being more wifi intensive due to it's form factor that could be a real problem if things aren't improved.

 

[aceofscarabs]

The answer to lag? Get better-quality Internet Connections. Rule of thumb: online play is only as good as the worst connection in the party. Splatoon is heavily P2P-oriented, so lagging out is clearly one or more of the players with a crap connection.

 

[Cuttlefish]

it's a weird subject. the lag varies hugely from person to person, system to system, set-up to set-up.

an example. when i first started playing Splatoon, i was running on a 10~ year old router a floor away. i disconnected and lagged just about all the time. then, we upgraded our router, and our own broadband (to 150-200mbps) and i never experienced a single disconnect, and any lag was confirmed to be on the part of other players. now i have the Wii U in my own room, tucked away behind about fifty electronic devices, and i experience spotty connection here and there. (all of this was on wireless connections, btw, i've never used ethernet for the Wii U)

same console, same copy of the game, almost exact same broadband connection, but various different set-ups affected the connection drastically. noone can really say why it is, i think? i know that some times the game's servers themselves have had issues (particularly during splatfests and holiday times), but that's about it.

just to be sure, before boycotting Splatoon 2, make sure that your set-up is as optimized as it can be. remove obstructions, remove any network traffic (i.e. devices youre not using), try ethernet, and whatever else you can think of.

i do know that despite having a connection of constant 150mbps, the Wii U can only handle up to about 12-15mbps maximum. not sure if Nintendo thought that's all they'd ever need? i guess it is most of the time, but when it comes to P2P it might benefit to have a better network card in the thing. hopefully they have seen what it takes to run a multiplayer game and have taken it all into consideration for the Switch.

 

[aceofscarabs]

I'm using a fibre pipeline in Singapore most of my lag comes from US players dealing with crap ISPs. Curse Comcast! Curse AT&T! Curse Verizon! Curse these wretched ISPs who can't provide decent Internet! Even the odd lagspikes from players in non-Tokyo Japanese locations is more manageable.

 

[Grflrgl]

The answer to lag? Get better-quality Internet Connections. Rule of thumb: online play is only as good as the worst connection in the party. Splatoon is heavily P2P-oriented, so lagging out is clearly one or more of the players with a crap connection.

Sorry, aceofscarabs, but this doesn't really fly. I've got a perfectly good internet connection. That's the point of the original post. It may well have a great deal to do with the internet architecture here in the US, but my connection works fine in other cases - why not here? Why can't Nintendo put a server in the US and another in Europe?

 

[Grflrgl]

just to be sure, before boycotting Splatoon 2, make sure that your set-up is as optimized as it can be. remove obstructions, remove any network traffic (i.e. devices youre not using), try ethernet, and whatever else you can think of.

Thanks, Cuttlefish. I have actually tried this. I talked to my ISP quite a long time on two occasions to try to sort this out. It should be as optimized as possible from that point of view.

I've even gone so far as to cut out as much potential electrical and RF interference as I can in my place. I've shut everything off but the WiiU and the TV, and it's still bad.

I just finished a game a few minutes ago where the characters weren't even animated smoothly anymore...everyone on the opposing team just jerked from one place to another. As soon as I started shooting at them, they appeared someplace else. They didn't even run smoothly. (And as a result - I got demoted...again)

 

[Grflrgl]

I'm using a fibre pipeline in Singapore most of my lag comes from US players dealing with crap ISPs. Curse Comcast! Curse AT&T! Curse Verizon! Curse these wretched ISPs who can't provide decent Internet! Even the odd lagspikes from players in non-Tokyo Japanese locations is more manageable.

I think it's more the architecture problems than anything else. Otherwise, there would be greater problems with other P2P software, but I'm not experiencing it. For example, I have to go through two other US cities to reach the west coast (my ISP is called Frontier, which was Verizon until last May), and then to Tokyo. Singapore likely has a direct link. Also, you're 5300 km from Tokyo, but I'm more than 10,000 km away. The two of these together probably mean that I'll never have a lag-free game - unless they put a server in North America. I'm not throwing the money away on v2 of this game if Nintendo doesn't even see a problem.

 

[Cuttlefish]

Thanks, Cuttlefish. I have actually tried this. I talked to my ISP quite a long time on two occasions to try to sort this out. It should be as optimized as possible from that point of view.

I've even gone so far as to cut out as much potential electrical and RF interference as I can in my place. I've shut everything off but the WiiU and the TV, and it's still bad.

I just finished a game a few minutes ago where the characters weren't even animated smoothly anymore...everyone on the opposing team just jerked from one place to another. As soon as I started shooting at them, they appeared someplace else. They didn't even run smoothly. (And as a result - I got demoted...again)

unfortunately, i think you are right about architecture problems. almost all of the severe lag i've seen has been from US players, i tend to lag really badly when in full-US rooms (or during that one EU/NA splatfest). however the Wii U (or Splatoon) handles its networking, it seems like the US' infrastructure just isn't built for it.

i can't really help there, unfortunately. we'll just have to hope that Splatoon 2 has a solution, i'm sorry that you're having such issues. if it helps, i'm suffering quite a bit of lag currently (i'm EU incase i didn't say before) so there could just be issues all around, affecting the US more.