So much lag I just can't play anymore

[Almost OK]

So, I think I've reached the conclusion that, as much as I love this game, I have to set it aside...because of lag or matchmaking or some sort of communications issues.

Let me just say that I have a "good" ISP for in the U.S.: Comcast. I have a top tier package: 225 Mbps down, 30 Mbps up. I live in a major U.S. city, with presumably above average internet architecture, for the U.S. I've tried everything on my end: hardwired, wifi, messing with the TV settings, messing with my home internet, even moved to a new home at one point. I am also S rank, so I'm familiar with the game's mechanics.

And yet, I still seem to be experiencing issues with this game to an extent that I don't ever hear others talking about, and I want to know why. If there is any fix, I'd like to find it, before just giving up on the game, but since I'm out of options, I'd like to put this out here on Squidboards to make one last attempt at figuring out if my situation is resolvable and to see if anyone has any suggestions.

Here are some things that happen for me constantly, every match, that I hear others complaining about in a way that suggests my experience is unique, that is, to the extent that I experience it: I experience near constant frame-rate drops whenever another squid is nearby, all my weapons almost consistently require an additional shot to kill than what is stated in official literature, even for enemies without any Defense Up, with single hit weapons usually requiring two hits, I will often sink many additional shots into opponents without them getting splatted, even after a delay, Inkzooka shots don't kill, even after covering an opponent in my ink, I get the “splat sound” from chargers and blasters but the opponent does not get splatted, I experience constant and consistent mini-teleporting and choppy movement of opponents making it nearly impossible to hit them, opponents move at speeds that are beyond what gear can impart, opponents do not have ripples in squid form (even without Ninja Squid), I'm unable to even see opponents while they are in squid form if they retreat or while dropping from an obstacle in front of me or if they maneuver while I’m shooting them, I get regularly insta-splatted by even large time-to-kill weapons, I get splatted while I watch the opponent’s bullets land beside me and where I was a second ago, I get splatted while I watch an opponents’ bullets land where I was about to go but had already reversed direction from, I get splatted by an opponent with his back to me, I get splatted while I am behind a wall or after safely right-side-peaking or after safely ledge peaking, I get splatted by an opponent who has not even popped out of his own ink yet, opponents’ bombs detonate more quickly than they should, I get splatted by weapons that I am outside the range of, opponents are able to shoot through deployed inkwalls, opponents are able to swim or strafe through and out of my ink as I land shots on them, while I myself am unable to exit their ink without being splatted, opponents are able to swim though ink that I have just laid down, I am unable splat opponents with my Kraken, opponents Krakens splat me without them rolling or even touching me, I have great difficulty squidding onto the top of the Tower, have great difficulty squidding onto the top of a ledge or box without either falling back down or continuing past it, constantly falling off of ledges, etc.

At first, I thought it was my internet speeds, but I've upped them and it makes no difference. I then thought it was my wifi, so I bought a hardwired LAN adapter -- no difference either way. I then thought it was maybe only the lag that results from playing against Japanese players, but it's only slightly improved even if I play against other U.S. players. I watch people's Youtube videos or Twitch feeds, and it sure seems like they are having a gameplay experience that I don't.

So, here's my questions: has anyone else experienced constant gameplay like this? Is it the case that everyone who has (perhaps in certain regions of the U.S. or of the world) simply stops playing, leaving only those with better experiences still playing? Does anyone have any suggestions about what I might be able to do to address these issues, or do you all think that it has something to do with the local ISP infrastructure in my part of the U.S. that I simply cannot do anything about or, alternatively, perhaps something about Nintendo's matchmaking that consistently puts me with other players who have a significant latency advantage (more than, say, what appears to be the case with those who I watch on YouTube)?

I guess the big thing I want to know is: is what I'm experiencing simply a result of something outside of my control -- like local ISP infrastructure/traffic or Nintendo's matchmaking -- or is there something I can do to fix something that I might be suffering from that other Splatoon uses don't suffer from to the extent that I do?

Thanks, everyone, for any advice or thoughts.

 

[Almost OK]

I should note that sometimes, every one in a while, I will have what feels like a great connection, for like maybe a play session or two. My splat/death ratio will go from 0/4, where it usually is, to like 6/0, 8/1, 12/2, or even 20/4. Because of these brief moments of connection clarity, it often makes me think that somehow there must be something I can do to get that kind of gameplay experience more (inasmuch as know it's at least possible for me to have that kind of experience). Not sure what to make of that.

 

[kunoichi squid]

A lot of what you say, e.g., taking more shots to kill enemies and having them seemingly swim in your ink, inkzooka not killing an enemy despite hearing the sound effects or seeing the enemy covered in your ink, seems to resonate with me! I have experienced all of those! I also seem to see "teleporting squids" as I call them. I'm sure that can be attributed to lag, but I mean this has to be serious lag; I can't understand it in the slightest. I also have one of the fastest connections and live in an area that has nearly perfect connection. I may live on the outskirts of the connection zone for my actual package, but in the beginning of Splatoon I never experienced issues like we've discussed here. I don't understand any more than you and will be eagerly awaiting any future replies you may get on this. Glad to know I'm not alone in this.

 

[Almost OK]

Something else I'm noting just now is that, while I have great internet speeds (and obviously not much latency) if I send a ping to a local server, there are some parts of the U.S. which, if I send a ping to, show much slower internet speeds, like 15 Mbps down (in addition to the obviously higher latency). Likewise, if I send a ping to Japan, then, not only is the latency obviously worse, but so is the speed, which more like 10 Mbps down and 4 up.

Everyone talks about latency with respect to Japan, but I wonder if there are also relevant speed bottlenecks that impact gameplay, such that no matter how fast our local internet speeds are (like in my case 225 down and 30 up), when matched with people in certain parts of the U.S. or with people in Japan, we are gonna end up with a game that feels much more like a 10 down and 4 up experience.

It wouldn't bother me so much, if hit detection was client side (and we all just started trading when the connection or speeds or latency was bad, but I am quite positive that it's not (or, at least, that it's not simply client side, but may require some sort of handshake), because, more often than not, I do not get credit for what are clear and unambiguous splats on my end.

Perhaps what part of the country or world you live in makes a big difference, not just for reasons that pertain to latency, but because of the local infrastructure and it's own limits, and maybe there's just nothing that some of us can do. Some of us might never be able to rise above A rank or S rank or whatever because we simply are not in a geographical spot which allows us to do so. If the "tubes" I have to go through in order to play anyone on the eastern half of the U.S. or across the Atlantic or Pacific effectively limit me to a 10 down and 4 up experience on my end, then perhaps, unless I can find other local Mountain-West people to battle against, I'm simply always going to be handicapped as I try to rank up any further.

I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts.

 

[Almost OK]

in the beginning of Splatoon I never experienced issues like we've discussed here.

I'm so glad I'm not alone in this!

Yeah, I also feel like it's gotten worse. Back when I started playing Splatoon, I used a Tentatek a lot, and my Inkzooka shots always were a guarantee splat. Now, I just plan on needing two shots to kill -- one to trap 'em in the ink and the second to splat them. I really enjoyed the splat charger too, but now I just have to sink too many shots into opponents to splat them (this, along with my inkzooka experience, is part of why I'm convinced that hit detection is not solely client side). Plus, all the teleporting around makes em pretty hard to hit with a charger, since you can't predict where they'll be.

I really wonder if it would be worth it for me to identify all those places in the U.S. with which I seem to have a quick connection and then try to make Friends with people in those areas to PB and SB with. I seem to have good, fast connections from Seattle, to Denver, to Omaha, to Milwaukee, but then it's hit or miss from Chicago to New York. Haven't experimented with the southern U.S. I wonder if there's a forum on here for people in similar geographic areas and similar quality connections to meet up with one another. At the least, it'd be an interesting experiment.

All this could be a red herring, however. But I think I'll mess around with some more speed tests to different parts of the country/world.

 

[Almost OK]

Still, even with latency and with bottlenecks, I don't understand why it takes me two shots to splat someone with my inkzooka, while all my opponents have to do is get anywhere roughly near me with their inkzookas to get a splat. How come I don't experience the same thing as I see happening to them. I've checked for packet loss on my end, but I don't see any. I really wonder if hit detection is ultimately determined on whomever's Wii U is hosting. Everyone who's closer or better connected to that person gets more favorable hit detection, while those of us further away somehow get jacked. Like you said, kunoichi squid, I always experienced some degree of latency, but something else seems to have changed. I really wonder if, as we rank up, the other squids it matches us with are simply less likely to be more local or well-connected to us through favorable infrastructure or something. Certainly, the more we rank up, the more noticeable the latency becomes (since it alone becomes the biggest factor with respect to who wins and loses, who splats and who get's splatted, when everyone is really good), but I really think there's something else going on here in addition to mere latency issues.

 

[ree-ris]

I have to agree with you: In the beginning there wasn't nearly as much lag, and keeping in mind that I started around July, that says a lot.
The lag has been getting worse, although I can still manage to play. It's usually japanese players who seem to cause the lag for me, but it really depends on the day: Sometimes I can have an entire lobby with japanese players and no lag, and the other day there's only one japanese player and the game lags horribly.

Especially when there are a lot of rollers and bomb rushes on my team and/or the opposing team it's horrendous. Combine that with lagging players and it's the ultimate lag-combo.
Even though my experience is generally okay up until today I really hope something can be done about this (in one way or another). But I am seriously afraid that Nintendo is focusing it's attention on the switch and splatoon 1.5/2 right now and is going to let the Wiiu splatoon down a bit... :S
But that's just speculation on my part.

 

[kunoichi squid]

Still, even with latency and with bottlenecks, I don't understand why it takes me two shots to splat someone with my inkzooka, while all my opponents have to do is get anywhere roughly near me with their inkzookas to get a splat. How come I don't experience the same thing as I see happening to them. I've checked for packet loss on my end, but I don't see any. I really wonder if hit detection is ultimately determined on whomever's Wii U is hosting. Everyone who's closer or better connected to that person gets more favorable hit detection, while those of us further away somehow get jacked. Like you said, kunoichi squid, I always experienced some degree of latency, but something else seems to have changed. I really wonder if, as we rank up, the other squids it matches us with are simply less likely to be more local or well-connected to us through favorable infrastructure or something. Certainly, the more we rank up, the more noticeable the latency becomes (since it alone becomes the biggest factor with respect to who wins and loses, who splats and who get's splatted, when everyone is really good), but I really think there's something else going on here in addition to mere latency issues.

Glad to know that my inkzooka also takes more than one shot and other people are experiencing someone (as my brother would say) "looking at me funny" and getting killed. I still use my Tetantek/Octoshot, but it's still aggravating to know I've been killed by my own weapon and it doesn't result in a tie! It should ALWAYS be a tie if you are both using the same weapons and fire the same shots, etc.! So dumb that it doesn't often work that way any more! :(

 

[Slushious]

I'm in the worse end of this club, since we have satellite net where we live, and they just can't figure out how to get the cable lines laid down. When I started playing at the beginning of this year, we had cable (Shentel, which tbh is really great in our area and I'd sell what's left of my soul to have it again), and while there was at times noticeable lag, we could still play just fine even without the LAN adapter.

Since the move? I'm lucky if I can actually play turf once a month, as opposed to getting kicked from the lobby and then going to private...which I still sometimes get kicked out of. The console claims at random to not have any connection, or drops it at odd moments. LAN adapter, router and modem both showing plenty of connection and activity, yet lol no connection. Seriously, woo? SERIOUSLY? Now back in April when we first got here and on satellite, we could actually play more often than not. Now in November, I'm noticing we can really only slip in immediately after server maintenance.

So I'm inclined to believe there are three things going on in my case.
1: not the greatest internet connection (we can stream yt or netflix fine somehow, but sploon?? NAH), and the satellite tends to get clogged up when a lot of people are online.
2: the woo doesn't actually seem to be designed well for streaming. It barely handles netflix or youtube (we use both of those via the bluray player, which is much better). I'm wondering as well if it has a lifespan like the PS1 did, and just starts failing internally after a while.
3: Nintendo's servers. SOMETHING has to be going on there.

I feel y'all's pain, though.

 

[Ott]

What y'all are going through sounds like what happens when I'm playing and my family uses their microwave. Does anyone live in an apartment building?

 

[kunoichi squid]

Not me. I live in a house.

 

[shudder]

Same for me, I've played competitively online with a wired connection (I have Comcast, which sucks, but my internet is 150 up/20 down) for awhile but the lag has gotten worse over time, it's now at the point where it's more frustrating dealing with it than enjoyable. I'm looking forward to the Switch version but if the online isn't improved I'll probably just play it casually. Hopefully Nintendo improves that aspect, that's really the biggest thing that needs improvement I think.

 

[Slushious]

Yeah I'm in a house as well, and when we do our routine sploon time, we make sure nothing else is accessing the internet for that hour.

 

[birdiebee]

Same for me, I've played competitively online with a wired connection (I have Comcast, which sucks, but my internet is 150 up/20 down) for awhile but the lag has gotten worse over time, it's now at the point where it's more frustrating dealing with it than enjoyable. I'm looking forward to the Switch version but if the online isn't improved I'll probably just play it casually. Hopefully Nintendo improves that aspect, that's really the biggest thing that needs improvement I think.

Agree with this.
I guess its easy for me to say since I don't experience any lag. But for those who do, Switch Splatoon is just around the corner and I would be honestly shocked if the abundance of connection complaints since Splatoon's release weren't addressed and resolved in the next iteration. I mean... it can only get better, right?

 

[Gekko]

I had to register just to answer to this because this has been bothering me too lately. There are times when everything's okay and then there's times when everything is definitely not okay.

I recognize the miniteleporting - which I personally call "skipping frames" because that is what it looks like. Like there's one or two missing frames in the action or animation. Also people just disappearing - puf - and appearing - puf again. I also recognize the issue with speed like some people are moving at speeds that their gear does not able them to. I have nearly 2000 hrs of Splatoon behind me and I believe I know what's normal in that regard.

Also the issue where I'm shooting but nothing happens because evidently the game thinks I'm dead already. And soon I am. But that tuirns a trade to just a death. I'm also familiar with extremely short-fused bombs. And 90 degrees - or even behind their back - kills especially by rollers but not exclusive to them. I also see A LOT of 2HKO Tentateks/Octoshots. There are only few times when I've managed to get a 2HKO even with a .52 which I why I mostly use chargers. But getting a 2HKO feels like unbelivable: "is this how easy it should be?" And let's not even talk about burst bombs which take 3 or 4 to kill.

While the majority is accidental and unintentional, I personally believe that some part of it is intentional - like running Youtube in the background. I also think that streaming the game may affect it somewhat. Whatever the reason, it is there and it's not going away.

So yeah, you are not alone. It just ruins my fun everytime. I still can have fun with the game but recently - say, the last week or two - this has been worse than usual.

 

[chubbypickle]

i've had the same issues for around 2 months i have the best of everything internet, hard wired blah blah. I've been playing this game daily for over a year but in the last 2 months many times I just turn the game off due to lag. I'm a S and S+ player so i know the game and how it should feel. So to sum it up more often than not just too much lag for me to enjoy the game lately and i have no idea why.

My biggest example is the octobrush i just can't see the thing coming and i'm dead.

 

[Heart of Ice]

Try turning off other wireless devices before playing as they can cause interference. You could also be experiencing EMI, so if you have a motor running, fluorescent lights, or a microwave on, you should turn them off before playing.

 

[shudder]

I had to register just to answer to this because this has been bothering me too lately. There are times when everything's okay and then there's times when everything is definitely not okay.

I recognize the miniteleporting - which I personally call "skipping frames" because that is what it looks like. Like there's one or two missing frames in the action or animation. Also people just disappearing - puf - and appearing - puf again. I also recognize the issue with speed like some people are moving at speeds that their gear does not able them to. I have nearly 2000 hrs of Splatoon behind me and I believe I know what's normal in that regard..

The bolded is what I encounter regularly now, especially when playing against other squads in a competitive match or tourney, other players being hyper fast. When that occurs the best you can hope for is a trade and it makes competitive play seem fairly pointless honestly. I hardly ever experience DC's either. I just hope Nintendo is actively looking into making online play better with a better online infrastructure, net code, dedicated servers, whatever with the switch, I have my doubts though.

 

[Gekko]

Just to report the games I played just now.

I played four games. Maps: Port and Depot.

1st game: three snipers. Spawn camped at Port. No lag, just Splatoon matchmaking. Connection-wise everything ok.
2nd game: the dynamo in my team dc'd right at the beginning. Spawn camped at Port.
3rd game: got sniped very clearly behind corner. Regular stuff, not a biggie but still. Also one of my team mates was teleporting and we had a end game dc or a rage quit. Depot.
4th game: two people dc'd in my team at Port. One roller I saw standing in the leftmost lane and then went puf. About minute later another one did the puf trick - it is possible he rage quit but in the end results he had 2/0 so unlikely. And being 2vs4, got spawn camped. Again. A
5th game: never happened. I quit after the 4th and continued Phantom Pain instead.

And I'm wired.

So after games like these I'm really struggling to find the fun. There are better days but worse days are getting far too frequent.

. I just hope Nintendo is actively looking into making online play better with a better online infrastructure, net code, dedicated servers, whatever with the switch, I have my doubts though.

Yeah, dedicated servers. Or whatever helps because this really is not working out. Players are not in the same line currently.

 

[Slushious]

It's now officially been three weeks since the roommate or I have been able to actually play a game in turf. At best we get kicked with one minute or a minute and a half to spare. At worst, it's max wait time in the lobby only for it to not fill up, or in my favorite scenario it filled and the match never actually started. I sat there with the lobby full, the counter gone, for another thirty seconds or so and then the match began so laggily I knew what was about to happen. Booted ten seconds in, after apparently being the only player in motion for the first five (Troublesome Friend was also in that match and reported HE saw everyone else off the spawn pad before he could even move).

At least we didn't get booted out of private matches.

I'm still not happy with this state of affairs.