Matchmaking question specific to AUS/NZ region (or perhaps in general)

[Benton]

Hi, Just joined up here...I did post this in the AUS/NZ region group but just realized there has not been a post there since 2015 (it seems that way to me?), so hopefully its ok to ask this here...

Does anyone know the best times to get into matches when playing from New Zealand, specifically ranked mode?

I had a Euro copy of Splatoon2 originally but made the switch to a AUS/NZ copy last Friday (so I could take part in splatfests easier since they are region locked). Have restarted from scratch since saves don't work between versions and as a general observation have not seen any real difference in matchmaking quality...in turf war at least.

Made it to ranked again, which I love...but can't seem to get into any games at all now. Have only managed to get into maybe 5 matches total over 3 nights, otherwise its all time outs (you know its going to happen if you are the first payer in a lobby/match room)
Really frustrating, as with my euro copy there weren't near this many time outs with ranked mode...had no real problems getting into ranked matches at all actually.

As mentioned I made the switch due to splatfests being region locked for matchmaking, so hopefully that still works out better than my euro version...(which actually mirrored my current experience with ranked mode now) but for the time being its really annoying trying to play ranked mode (especially because my game time is super limited).

Is there any kind of region locking happening in ranked, or different ping priorities for ranked mode as compared to turf war? (i.e I can often get into a turf war match within seconds, but ranked just times out constantly).

Is it a timing thing? I'm mainly playing around 8pm to late...a lack of low rank players available at that time maybe?
Doesn't really make sense when I had no problems just a few days before on my Euro copy getting into ranked matches...regretting deleting my save for that version now!

Still love the game but spending more time watching a countdown timer (in ranked) than actually playing is terrible.....really makes me hesitant to start paying for the switch online service when that starts.

Other online games are fine though...Mario kart switch is always working no problem online. I could even jump back over to splatoon 1 on wii u and play a few matches while my switch version times out waiting for players :/

Thanks for any info!

 

[calamaro]

i would say evenings in your time zone would be your best bet. Pretty sure all modes in splat2 are regional.

 

[swimmingknife]

This seems pretty odd. 8pm where you are would be 4-6pm for the bulk of Oceania (or the segments of it likely to be online for Splatoon, anyway), and I can generally get games pretty well within that timeframe (I'm in Western Australia, for reference). If anything, I'd have said that 8pm-late was probably the optimal window for finding games in New Zealand.

Out of curiosity, how many Japanese players do you see in the games you do get?

 

[Benton]

Quite a few Japanese players actually! Same thing when I was using the euro game card version, would see Japanese players frequently. Perhaps more so now though.

Yeah overall it is odd, as on my Euro version I really did not have this issue at the same times in the evening at all.

I ran some "tests" last night as I found that if I am the first one in a ranked mode "searching" lobby I get a time out 99% of the time (in ranked only) however if I am not the first, then I generally get into games either very quickly, or slowly, but still get into them.

I also found that say if someone did connect to the same ranked lobby when I was the first one in (usually this is only one other person) and then it inevitably times out, if I wait a little while to try again (like 10 seconds instead of hitting try again instantly), then I sometimes connect to that same persons game who was just in my lobby (who has also obviously hit try again), and since they are the host, the games generally do fill up and eventually start.
I also found waiting a little bit after a completed ranked game helped with this, so that I wasn't dumped first into a lobby as the host (which seems to happen if I hit try again right away)
Though all this went out the window about midnight last night when the game modes changed and I could no longer get into a ranked match at all again.

Some of this points to maybe my internet connection is to blame...but then again, I have ZERO issues with turf war or salmon run, nor did I have these issues with ranked on my euro version so...?

 

[swimmingknife]

Well, that's my best guess gone. I was thinking that New Zealand might be a bit too far from Japan to get players from there, which would certainly lead to a lot of empty lobbies. Even in Australia we struggle to fill lobbies without Japanese players. But if you're getting a fair few of them, then that can't be the case. Though even that would have been pretty weird, because New Zealand isn't that much further from Japan than most of Australia's southern cities.

Based on this new info, I can't really imagine what the problem might be. If you're only having problems with one game mode, then it's obviously nothing to do with your internet connection or geographical location. It might be worth sending Nintendo Australia an email or something, they might be able to offer some solutions. Especially if there are others who've had the same problem.

 

[Benton]

Ok, after a weekends worth of playing on my AUS/NZ version I can say the issues I see on weeknights must be down to a mix of low player base/rank levels and a bit of ping mixed in to cause the issues.

Over the whole weekend, sampling all times, the only time I encountered a lobby time out in ranked mode was once or twice early Saturday morning, and once late Sunday evening...otherwise I had no real issues finding ranked matches at all. Even when I was the host as mentioned above as being an issue, the room filled up (though a bit slower than if I wasn't)

Will be interesting to see if tonight, back to a weeknight, the matching turns bad again...

Even had a Japanese player add me as a friend...my sole friend on my list now, ha! (don't know anyone irl that has a switch). Must have done something right in that match. Would be cool to try league mode at some point.

One odd occurrence though, one time in a completely full match lobby, the game still timed out. Really weird.

 

[Reila]

I know a person who plays with the EU version of the game and he says he always have trouble with some modes in the game. Rainmaker, for example, according to him, the lobbies are never filled in time. That lead me to wonder if the "regional lock" is regulated by the region of the the copy of the game, which is kind of silly, if that is the case.

 

[Benton]

That is sort of the reason I ended up buying a local NZ/AUS version...for splatfests.
As far as I can find any information on the subject, the only "mode" that is actually region locked are the splatfests....and yes its by the region of the game:

Splatoon 2 has three, hard coded versions, Japan, US+Oceania, EU. Game cards are region free and work worldwide, but have separate coding set up for their region for Splatfest and some other stuff like language/stage times.
Australia/NZ is apparently in the US+Oceania region for Splatoon 2 splatfests.

The switch even sees each version as a separate game, and patches them separately (saves between versions are also incompatible).

Even then I don't think the splatfests are completely region locked, as on my Euro copy of the game playing from NZ, I managed to get into maybe 3 splatfest matches over the whole day I was playing.
Otherwise it was terrible empty lobby after empty lobby/time out (hence switching to a NZ/AUS copy). It must just strongly favour ping in your games region or something.

Other modes like turf war/salmon run and ranked all ran/match made perfectly fine on my Euro copy from NZ....for the most part. There were still times where it was dreadfully slow.

 

[Benton]

...he always have trouble with some modes in the game. Rainmaker, for example, according to him, the lobbies are never filled in time...

You might be on to soemthgin here. Where was your friend playing from? Also New Zealand?

On Monday evening I had no issues with getting into ranked matches (splat zones & tower control) whereas last night (Tuesday) I started playing just after 9pm, and it was rainmaker....and all I could get where lobbies empty except for me, that just timed out. Over and over again, right up until about 15 mins before the modes swapped and I got into two games, then no luck again after that.

Then when the mode switched to splatzones right after that, there were no serious issues getting into matches...a bit slower than the weekend but got into as many as I wanted to. (maybe one time out).

I wonder if there is soemthinf up with Rainmaker matchmaking, and if my previous bad experiences coincide with mostly rainmaker match ups (if i look at my (poor) ranks ,im B- in splatzones, C+ tower control, but have not made it out of C- in rainmaker yet due to the lack of matches. (which wasn't a problem on my euro version at all).

Will keep an eye on this so I have something solid to talk to...I guess Nintendo Australia about if it continues to be a specific issue with Rainmaker.