Save Scumming in the competitive environment

[ch0wchilla]

Each to his/her own, but I would personally not save-scum for either rank or gear. In the case of the latter, you're exploiting a quirk of the system to give you an edge (albeit very slight) in the competitive arena. If rolling on gear was just to change it's colour or something, and had zero effect on the actual game, I wouldn't object.

Ultimately though, I think the responsibility to sort this out rests with Sakaguchi and co. - I'm not certain if they can simply patch it out. If the ability to backup a game save on the system is the root cause, it won't be an easy fix right? Maybe one of y'all with more technical insight could shed some light on this?

I personally think they should simply try to make it less desirable to save-scum gear. For example, increase the rate of favoured sub-abilities appearing for a given brand. Maybe so that it works out that 15-20 snails is on average enough to get a triple of the favoured sub for a piece of gear? Instead of the current 36 or so.

 

[TheMH]

I personally think they should simply try to make it less desirable to save-scum gear. For example, increase the rate of favoured sub-abilities appearing for a given brand. Maybe so that it works out that 15-20 snails is on average enough to get a triple of the favoured sub for a piece of gear? Instead of the current 36 or so.

This.

Another idea would be an option switch gear's main abilities or brands in order to get combinations which currently are very rare (e.g. Ink Resistance + Damage Up subs or Cold-Blooded + Run/Swim Speed Up etc.).

Patching save scumming in general will be close to impossible (and not a need if the gear system was spruced up). They'd either have to implement online-only savegames or get in touch with the Wii U firmware dev team.

 

[FlyingInk]

I don't agree with save scumming for equipment or ranks, however it doesn't really bother me if people do either. The best equipment isn't going to replace lack of skill. If I ever get to S rank, it's going to be on skill and other S ranks will know it ;)

 

[ShadowSlash17]

I'm pretty new to Splatoon, and I'm reaching a point where I'd like to have dedicated gear for my weapon choices. The guide mentioned earlier is really good on how to do save scumming effectively and I honestly wouldn't consider it cheating for gear. I've been rather lucky in my subs as before I even knew about brands I acquired multiple shiny/1 pure gear without sea snails. Now I just want to get the clothes I like with abilities I'll actually use, and it seems save scumming is a great way to save time.

On the other hand, save scumming for rank seems pointless to me. I wanna earn my rank. If I have to derank because I'm playing badly then I need to git gud. Scumming for rank would just be hollow and if you ever stop you'd go straight back to the rank you truly belong to.

 

[Damandatwin]

Well I mean it is cheating by definition; you're doing something that isn't following the rules laid out by the game. It's just that most people here don't really care because having to roll 36 times on average for one piece of gear is really stupid. Like IV breeding in Pokemon.

 

[mozeurphok]

As far as I'm concerned I don't like the idea of using an exploit to get what you want in an online competitive game as it gives an unfair advantage to save scums toward people playing the game "legit" (aka "how the game is supposed to be played") and people not having heard of this method yet.
I'd rather keep my old ordinary messy gear forever than exploiting to get what I want, RNG is a b*tch but it's how the game was meant to be, I don't mind people using it as I don't need a "perfect" gear to beat opponents with fancy pure gear, but this method just doesn't seem fair to me as I explained above.

As for rank farming, it's just pathetic, where is the feeling of self accomplishment when you reach a rank you wouldn't have reached otherwise? And even if someone reach S+99 with that method, it will not fool anyone in the competitive world of Splatoon.
I know the horrible frustration to loose a game because of a disconnection a few seconds before the match end while your team had the lead, but it's life, I'm pretty sure it happened at least a few times to everyone of us as those DC's can be server sided, so as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't justify using the saving scum method for this purpose either.

I can't believe this exploit haven't been fixed already, and hope in the near future there will be a way to get the gear you want from Spyke with gold, and not by having to praise RNG god.

 

[Dreamy Luigi]

I think the rolls would be a bigger issue than the rank, but even that isn't much to fuss over.

First off, why do you care about someone else's rank? It's a half-meaningless letter and I don't mean that to be cliche, long story short you get 3 people to work with you every match in Solo and it's luck based whether they know what they hell they're doing or if they're making sure the Squid Beacons at your base are staying nice and tidy. Squads is fitted better for the system but this mode forces you into Solo if you want to rank up to S/+.

As for the rolls, well... another luck based element in the competitive environment. Save scumming fixes that huge issue even though it'll give the scummers an advantage while the people trying to get good rolls legit are left at a disadvantage. But this will probably be more of a short term issue than a long term issue anyway, we probably won't be thinking about this 1 year from now.

 

[LockeExile]

First off, why do you care about someone else's rank? It's a half-meaningless letter and I don't mean that to be cliche, long story short you get 3 people to work with you every match in Solo and it's luck based whether they know what they hell they're doing or if they're making sure the Squid Beacons at your base are staying nice and tidy. Squads is fitted better for the system but this mode forces you into Solo if you want to rank up to S/+.

Because in a game where the most useless player in a match generally has a greater influence than the most useful player, it's not fun to have one in your group (as an ally or an enemy). Climbing ranks is all about being the most influential player in the group, not getting "lucky" by having bad players as opponents.

 

[flc]

First off, why do you care about someone else's rank? It's a half-meaningless letter and I don't mean that to be cliche, long story short you get 3 people to work with you every match in Solo and it's luck based whether they know what they hell they're doing or if they're making sure the Squid Beacons at your base are staying nice and tidy. Squads is fitted better for the system but this mode forces you into Solo if you want to rank up to S/+.

do you not see the connection between rank that is save scummed and people who play below what is expected of their rank?

I care about what rank people are because I'm sick of dealing with garbage players who got boosted or cheated to S after no doubt blaming their team for their own failings. I care about what rank people are because when I see a S+ in my game, I expect them to pull their weight, not go 2-11 with a ****ing deco every game and make me lose 8 pts from the resulting 3v4 (or gain 1 because I or someone else on the team managed to carry said 3v4).

 

[Sol64]

Because in a game where the most useless player in a match generally has a greater influence than the most useful player, it's not fun to have one in your group (as an ally or an enemy). Climbing ranks is all about being the most influential player in the group, not getting "lucky" by having bad players as opponents.

Unless you happen to be the Dynamo on stages like kelp dome and such then yes, it's usually the player who does the least that ends up hurting you team the most.

The saying goes "Your team is only as strong as your weakest member" still applies and often if an individual cannot break an opposing member then the rest drowns.

 

[Kittyy]

My boyfriend saved scummed. But it's not like he went from C- to S+. He went from S to S+
He spent 30 hours trying to get S+ only to get to around S 85 or so, then terrible team mates would make him lose it. He never lost his S during that time, so I know he is a good player. He didn't do it competitive wise as he did it to 100% the game entirelly as he feels incomplete if its not fully finished with rank as well.
I do not approve of people just doing thatg from C- to S+ That's foolish.
I'm a B- myself, and I earned it. may be higher if I actually played more. But eh, I think save scumming from lowest rank to highest is pretty sad. From my own point of view. But I dont care enough as im not a big ranked player.

 

[Flying_Tortoise]

My boyfriend saved scummed. But it's not like he went from C- to S+. He went from S to S+
He spent 30 hours trying to get S+ only to get to around S 85 or so, then terrible team mates would make him lose it. He never lost his S during that time, so I know he is a good player. He didn't do it competitive wise as he did it to 100% the game entirelly as he feels incomplete if its not fully finished with rank as well.
I do not approve of people just doing thatg from C- to S+ That's foolish.
I'm a B- myself, and I earned it. may be higher if I actually played more. But eh, I think save scumming from lowest rank to highest is pretty sad. From my own point of view. But I dont care enough as im not a big ranked player.

Ehhh idk. Ive been to S-96 only to then lose 3 matches in a row with a k/d of 18 and 6. Super annoying but it just meant i needed to get better to carry harder. I feel if you to S+ then you either earned it or got it during a japanese splatfest ;)
But honestly if your bf can keep the s+ without save scumming then its fine.

 

[Agosta44]

As far as I'm concerned I don't like the idea of using an exploit to get what you want in an online competitive game as it gives an unfair advantage to save scums toward people playing the game "legit" (aka "how the game is supposed to be played") and people not having heard of this method yet.

You would never know the difference between someone spending 15 hours savescumming for a perfect roll and someone who got lucky on their first. There is no unfair advantage. Like I've said before, Splatoon is designed in a specific manner to keep the players playing. RNG is one of those methods. There is no 'legit' or 'cheating'. You're backing up a save file and reloading it if you get the middle finger.

My boyfriend saved scummed. But it's not like he went from C- to S+. He went from S to S+
He spent 30 hours trying to get S+ only to get to around S 85 or so, then terrible team mates would make him lose it. He never lost his S during that time, so I know he is a good player. He didn't do it competitive wise as he did it to 100% the game entirelly as he feels incomplete if its not fully finished with rank as well.
I do not approve of people just doing thatg from C- to S+ That's foolish.
I'm a B- myself, and I earned it. may be higher if I actually played more. But eh, I think save scumming from lowest rank to highest is pretty sad. From my own point of view. But I dont care enough as im not a big ranked player.

I lost S+ earlier tonight after 15 dcs took their toll. It took an hour to get back to S+. Instead of blaming his team he should look at his play and how to improve it. If he doesn't think he can carry on a certain rotation then wait it out for something more comfortable. If he wasn't able to get to S+ in 30 hours it's not his teams fault.

 

[Njok]

You would never know the difference between someone spending 15 hours savescumming for a perfect roll and someone who got lucky on their first. There is no unfair advantage. Like I've said before, Splatoon is designed in a specific manner to keep the players playing. RNG is one of those methods. There is no 'legit' or 'cheating'. You're backing up a save file and reloading it if you get the middle finger.

^ this.

The rng element in splatoon is NOT designed with a competitive splatoon scene in mind, which is what we're talking about here. If anything, i'd say the person getting the 1/55.000 roll thanks to rng would have an unfair advantage in competitive play, instead of the other way around.

As for the boyfriend scumming from S to S+, i couldn't care less and i am not judging him (just saying it, before i start some flame war), but let's just call it what it is, he still cheated. Especially if his goal was to 100% the game, i'd feel unhappy about that but oh well.

 

[Damandatwin]

My boyfriend saved scummed. But it's not like he went from C- to S+. He went from S to S+
He spent 30 hours trying to get S+ only to get to around S 85 or so, then terrible team mates would make him lose it. He never lost his S during that time, so I know he is a good player. He didn't do it competitive wise as he did it to 100% the game entirelly as he feels incomplete if its not fully finished with rank as well.
I do not approve of people just doing thatg from C- to S+ That's foolish.
I'm a B- myself, and I earned it. may be higher if I actually played more. But eh, I think save scumming from lowest rank to highest is pretty sad. From my own point of view. But I dont care enough as im not a big ranked player.

scumming from S to S+ is still kinda dumb because you aren't really at the mercy of your teammates as much as some people would like you to think. the same logic applies as in any other rank; if you carry hard enough you will eventually get to S+. a real-world example of this is @ThatSrb2DUDE who got to S+ 99 yesterday by just being really good and minimizing his team's chance of ****ing up.

 

[Sol64]

I lost S+ earlier tonight after 15 dcs took their toll. It took an hour to get back to S+. Instead of blaming his team he should look at his play and how to improve it. If he doesn't think he can carry on a certain rotation then wait it out for something more comfortable. If he wasn't able to get to S+ in 30 hours it's not his teams fault.

Exactly this, I dropped to A- from S one time and then decided it wasn't going anywhere and waited for Splat zones.

The next thing I knew I was swamping teams with Dynamo and reclaimed my S rank the same day.
Not sure how many people actually wait out certain rotations but it's common sense to stop if you keep losing in any case (unless you're really persistent).

 

[chrisblass1]

My boyfriend saved scummed. But it's not like he went from C- to S+. He went from S to S+
He spent 30 hours trying to get S+ only to get to around S 85 or so, then terrible team mates would make him lose it. He never lost his S during that time, so I know he is a good player. He didn't do it competitive wise as he did it to 100% the game entirelly as he feels incomplete if its not fully finished with rank as well.
I do not approve of people just doing thatg from C- to S+ That's foolish.
I'm a B- myself, and I earned it. may be higher if I actually played more. But eh, I think save scumming from lowest rank to highest is pretty sad. From my own point of view. But I dont care enough as im not a big ranked player.

Aye save scum done right, you cant really tell the difference between A through S+ players because they all play the same. Most S players ranked up from being A+ before the update and S+ players are people who plays Splatoon more yet still play like A/A+ players. Rank is legit 25% skill and 75% luck

 

[Lyre]

S+ players are people who plays Splatoon more yet still play like A/A+ players. Rank is legit 25% skill and 75% luck

I reached S+ with only 41ish hours spread across two months, with 6 hours being Splatfest. Amount of time played can only impact how skilled you are the game. A good player can definitely tip the scales into their team's favor.

 

[Agosta44]

Aye save scum done right, you cant really tell the difference between A through S+ players because they all play the same. Most S players ranked up from being A+ before the update and S+ players are people who plays Splatoon more yet still play like A/A+ players. Rank is legit 25% skill and 75% luck

This is false, and one of the reasons why bad players think they deserve a certain rank. My last 2 sessions in ranked total 26-2. I'm not sure where you're pulling this statistic of 25/75 but I think it's because you're blaming your team for your losses.

 

[chrisblass1]

This is false, and one of the reasons why bad players think they deserve a certain rank. My last 2 sessions in ranked total 26-2. I'm not sure where you're pulling this statistic of 25/75 but I think it's because you're blaming your team for your losses.

False? S+ player play like A+ since it was the the highest rank before the update, there isnt a huge skill gap between them. I never blame my teammates unless i know they are garbage. 25% skill (me) 75% luck (3 other teammates) whether they want to work like a team or charge deep into enemies base is up to them.