Ranked is a Stacker Machine.

[ZainreFang]

After about over 1000 hours of Splatoon playtime, I have come to this realization. Ranked is a Stacker Machine.

I've watched the videos. I've seen the strats. I've employed Offensive, Defensive, Support, and Objective Focused Roles. I've used all the weapons. I've gotten double digit K/Ds. I've avoided dying at all. None of these things will stop the constant losing streaks.

You notice that the developers are very concerned with keeping people playing the game? Well, Splatoon is designed with that in mind. I've noticed a pretty consistent trend of the matchmaking placing me in all around inferior teams, in terms of weapons and rank, leading to disproportionately long losing streaks. Consistently, i've seen a trend of my team being completely wiped at least 3 times a game. Why is this? Because the developers use the Ranking system as motivation for players to keep playing. They know that if players can reach S+, they will not have anywhere else to go. So the matchmaking creates a disadvantageous environment where it will put you on teams with the lowest kills/coverage/rank etc., in order to make it more likely you'll have to lose and try again. Some players are able to reach S+ because even if the chances of reaching S+ are low, they are still there. Just like how Stacker Machines still have a chance of winning. The fact is that Nintendo is a group of class-A video game designers, and as such, they know how to reach their development goals. In spite of all of these techniques,their design has grabbed me hook, line, and sinker. Kudos, Nintendo. I'll be there for another 4000 hours, hoping for that small chance i'll gain S+, just like you intended.

 

[Dessgeega]

You'd think that if they cared that much, they'd store player information server side instead of letting anyone scum their way up, at which point your whole theory falls apart.

I'm really under the impression you're massively overthinking it. They already have our money, what do they care as long as players have a good time for a while? If you want actually malicious developer behavior, take a look at the mobile space instead of basically coming up with conspiracy theories.

 

[ZainreFang]

You'd think that if they cared that much, they'd store player information server side instead of letting anyone scum their way up, at which point your whole theory falls apart.

I'm really under the impression you're massively overthinking it. They already have our money, what do they care as long as players have a good time for a while? If you want actually malicious developer behavior, take a look at the mobile space instead of basically coming up with conspiracy theories.

Its for the sake of bragging about how long people played Splatoon. Good PR.

 

[Dessgeega]

So? That's a ton of work for some meaningless bragging when most shooters get ignored by developers and fans alike after a year no matter how much the marketing department crows.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I don't believe it's quite as dire as you think. Trust me, I've been in your position, thinking it's impossible to go positive in ranked, that I keep getting beaten, despite playing well. But I don't believe the game is programed to make you fail. I'm not sure if any recent updates addressed the issue, but I think ranked could do a better job in creating teams based on each player's rank and weapon in the lobby. Like ensuring that four short range players don't have to face four long range players as an example.

Regardless, the game does not deliberately try to screw you over, as much as it feels that way sometimes. Sometimes, you get paired against super good players, it happens. But I can think of many ranked battles where I got the amazing players on my side, or I was the amazing player. Splatoon is just random with almost everything in regards to matchmaking.

All I can say is, getting to S+ takes some real dedication. If I managed to do it, I think anyone can. I remember getting there was extremely difficult, and during that time span, I was 100 percent dedicated to bettering my play. I still lost a bunch, even had matchups that were "unfair", but that's just how the game made the teams.

 

[Posso]

Play club penguin to practice your tech skill. That's what I did.

 

[R2D221]

take a look at the mobile space

This is interesting, because even if games like Candy Crush are designed to be addictive, I just plain lost interest in them. With Splatoon, on the other hand, I keep playing it no matter what. Yes, it's true that a losing streak makes you want to stop playing, but then the next day comes and you're doing great again.

 

[Dessgeega]

This is interesting, because even if games like Candy Crush are designed to be addictive, I just plain lost interest in them. With Splatoon, on the other hand, I keep playing it no matter what. Yes, it's true that a losing streak makes you want to stop playing, but then the next day comes and you're doing great again.

You'd probably lose interest in Splatoon a little more frequently if the game continued to cost money to play.

 

[ultra777]

I got my main account to S+ a while ago and I wondered if I could do it again so I made an alternate account. It took me 19 hours and this is including the turf wars to get to level 10 and a splatfest. I also have 386 hours on my main account. I don't really think they purposely match you with bad players.

 

[ZainreFang]

I got my main account to S+ a while ago and I wondered if I could do it again so I made an alternate account. It took me 19 hours and this is including the turf wars to get to level 10 and a splatfest. I also have 386 hours on my main account. I don't really think they purposely match you with bad players.

I never said it's impossible, I just said it's unlikely.

 

[TheChillyGuy]

Although some of your loses may be because of matchmaking, some of your loses might be because of your overall playing. In no way am I pointing you out as " bad " but maybe because of playing for so long, your getting progressively worse. Besides, playing a game for too long with no breaks may hurt your playing rather than making it better.

 

[Dessgeega]

Occam's razor. It's far more likely that someone had a losing streak because they and their teammates weren't up to the challenge rather then because of some nebulous hypothetical code.

Can't people just accept their losses and get on with their lives?

 

[ZainreFang]

Occam's razor. It's far more likely that someone had a losing streak because they and their teammates weren't up to the challenge rather then because of some nebulous hypothetical code.

Can't people just accept their losses and get on with their lives?

I'll keep losing until I get to S+. Like I said, I just have to wait for that small window of good luck to come through for me, because while it's unlikely i'll get a good enough team to progress, it's still possible. It's arguably comparable to an unhealthy practice like gambling, but at least it doesn't require money.

 

[Hope]

That's the problem, your mindset. It's the hardest thing to fix, but a necessary one if you want to really improve.

 

[Aristeia]

^^ Agreed. And you also can't look at the journey to S+ as a day-by-day thing. That's where all of the top-ranked players are, and to get there you need to focus on you, you alone, and take things on a big-picture basis. Thinking "I need to get S+ RIGHT NOW" is negative to your overall progress towards that rank. At least those were the hurdles that I had to overcome to get S+ rank at first. I don't have it now, but I'll keep on trucking until I get it again...and eventually get to 99.

 

[ZainreFang]

That's the problem, , our mindset. It's the hardest thing to fix, but a necessary one if you want to really improve.

Mindset doesn't fix teammates, unless we're talking Squads.

^^ Agreed. And you also can't look at the journey to S+ as a day-by-day thing. That's where all of the top-ranked players are, and to get there you need to focus on you, you alone, and take things on a big-picture basis. Thinking "I need to get S+ RIGHT NOW" is negative to your overall progress towards that rank. At least those were the hurdles that I had to overcome to get S+ rank at first. I don't have it now, but I'll keep on trucking until I get it again...and eventually get to 99.

Every teammate is important to winning the game. Focusing on "me" is a necessity anyway, considering i'm the only constant variable when it comes to solo Ranked. All it leads to is matches where I go 13-5 and steadily move down to A+, not even counting the typical connection based point losses. Occasionally I get teams that are able to actually survive long enough to push/defend the objective, and that's what i'm counting on for Ranking up.

Good luck with your S+ 99 goal. I hope that the mindset method that you implement is able to work in all the types of random situations that arise in Ranked. I'm personally not going to pursue S+ 99 at any point.

 

[Dessgeega]

Hmmm. Is there a reason you edited Hope's post to say "our" instead of addressing you?

And griping about your teammates will never get you anywhere, in this or any other online competitive title. Every game out there has bad players, trolls, or people that are just not playing at their best, and unless every last one of the call of duties and battlefields and whatever else you care to name has this hypothetical code, no, it's not something you're going to run into just on Splatoon.

Like several people have said, you need to focus on yourself. The attitudes shown in this thread will not get you to S+.

 

[Rabite]

I don't have any problems with ranked games myself. At least there the game makes an effort to match you with players at a similar skill level. I think the worst thing is it sometimes still loads your team up with a bunch of redundant weapons that hurt more than help. (Wow! 3 snipers, 1 roller on my team)

Matchmaking in turf war on the other hand is horrendous. I'm still playing B+ in ranked but TW is a perpetual slideshow of nothing but S/S+ britalizers. It's soul crushing to have to fight 20x harder in the "casual mode" when I don't feel like ranking.

 

[Airi]

When it comes to losing streaks, it stops being the fault of our teammates after a certain period of time. If you're constantly losing and struggling to win... It becomes your fault after a while. Yes, it can sometimes be the fault of our teammates that we've lost a match. However, it can equally be our fault that we lost. If you're always losing, chances are it's something to do with you as well.

If we want to improve, we cannot keep blaming our teammates for everything. We need to see where we went wrong. We need to see what we did wrong. We need to understand that YES it can be our fault we lost. It's not good to constantly blame your team as you appear to be doing right now. Look constructively at what you're doing. Perhaps there is something you can improve upon and perhaps the loss was on you. There is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with admitting we could improve. In fact, it makes a player stronger to admit it was their fault and they could probably improve.

There isn't a magical formula or anything. Ranked is just...ranked. It's like every other competitive thing. Everyone has chances to improve. Sometimes we get the players who need the most improvement.... Sometimes we are the ones who need the most improvement and are dragging our teams down. If Nintendo did design a system like that, no one would be at S+ by that logic.

If it's Turf War, I can understand blaming your teammates because Turf War as horrendous matchmaking. But Ranked? No. There's no special formula to make people lose and sometimes we need to learn to stop always blaming our teammates.

 

[ZainreFang]

Hmmm. Is there a reason you edited Hope's post to say "our" instead of addressing you?

And griping about your teammates will never get you anywhere, in this or any other online competitive title. Every game out there has bad players, trolls, or people that are just not playing at their best, and unless every last one of the call of duties and battlefields and whatever else you care to name has this hypothetical code, no, it's not something you're going to run into just on Splatoon.

Like several people have said, you need to focus on yourself. The attitudes shown in this thread will not get you to S+.

When it comes to losing streaks, it stops being the fault of our teammates after a certain period of time. If you're constantly losing and struggling to win... It becomes your fault after a while. Yes, it can sometimes be the fault of our teammates that we've lost a match. However, it can equally be our fault that we lost. If you're always losing, chances are it's something to do with you as well.

If we want to improve, we cannot keep blaming our teammates for everything. We need to see where we went wrong. We need to see what we did wrong. We need to understand that YES it can be our fault we lost. It's not good to constantly blame your team as you appear to be doing right now. Look constructively at what you're doing. Perhaps there is something you can improve upon and perhaps the loss was on you. There is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with admitting we could improve. In fact, it makes a player stronger to admit it was their fault and they could probably improve.

There isn't a magical formula or anything. Ranked is just...ranked. It's like every other competitive thing. Everyone has chances to improve. Sometimes we get the players who need the most improvement.... Sometimes we are the ones who need the most improvement and are dragging our teams down. If Nintendo did design a system like that, no one would be at S+ by that logic.

If it's Turf War, I can understand blaming your teammates because Turf War as horrendous matchmaking. But Ranked? No. There's no special formula to make people lose and sometimes we need to learn to stop always blaming our teammates.

Look, I know you guys are trying to give good advice and all, but i've read these same comments over and over again with little variation in the points being made. I'm not saying that i'm a flawless player. I'm always trying to anticipate enemy actions and find the optimal way of doing things.. But not every variable is in my control. I can't control teleporting players, disconnecting and dying teammates, bad weapon matchups etc. All I can do as a player is try to find techniques to avoid these issues, but sometimes I can't stop the entire map from exploding into the enemy color in the 1st minute of the match due to my entire team being wiped and being surrounded. If "attitude" can get me out of those situations, then we're getting somewhere.