Supporting Splatoon Competitively

[Hi_C]

As the month comes to an end, and the release of Splatoon nears, there are a lot of things that we will have to keep in mind as the game grows. One thing that I haven't really seen very much talk about is the fact that we as a community need to support this game. This forum is a wonderful place to talk about content and whatnot, but if the community itself doesn't support each other, the game is going to struggle. I know people probably don't want to hear the comparison between Melee and Splatoon, but I for one think it is a fair one. Melee is a game that has survived this long entirely from the players itself. Melee had seen periods where the game appeared to be at its peak or at the brink of death and every time, the community pulled itself together and became stronger. If we don't see that same type of support from the players, this game may struggle in the competitive aspect. I know it is unfair to judge how competitively viable the game will be from a 3 hour demo, and I for one think it will be fine in that aspect, but if we don't band together and have a standardized way of playing, the community will be split and problem will ensue. That is just my two cents. Feel free to add or even critique this as I would enjoy having a good discussion about the topic.

 

[RespawningJesus]

This can be said for any new game trying to find a compeitive scene. The good news is that Splatoon already has interest of a lot of people. Both competitively, and not.

We definitely need to stand together and find a common ground to stand on. However, we can't find that common ground at this moment; no one has really sunk their paws into this game yet. We don't know what is in store for us. We'll have to experiment. We'll have to disagree. We'll have to agree. So long as we go about it in a mature way, it will work out.

We can make this grow.

 

[SuperAliceinWonderland]

I think we have a uphill battle with only five maps and no lobbies at launch. I don't think this will become the next esport and I kinda see overall interest peaking mid September. That said, I do see the makings of a small but dedicated group of players similar to the early days of melee. I think some people are gonna love this game for years to come. It should happen naturally we can't force the game to become big it either captures and KEEPS attention or not.

 

[Lyn]

We do need to support it, yes. But Splatoon needs to support us enough to give us things like lobbies and maps to support. You can't have a competitive game with no competitive depth, unfortunately.

 

[Cloudy]

With all the free content Nintendo plans to release after the game comes out we won't really have a problem with that. But as a community who knows what will happen. Fortunately there's a ton of people that are hype so that's good!

 

[DaKid]

Ever thought I'd get so tired of reading the word "competitive."

 

[Pivi]

It's really just a matter of grabbing everyone's attention come August, no one expects anything as soon as launch arrives but when the time comes, we should be ready to go with squads and streams all that mess

Though personally I'm gonna love splatoon regardless of how others perceive it lol

 

[Ryuho]

Along with others have said I think another thing that is vital if this is going to survive is the community not to crusade against competitive play and its players. Smash has a major problem that I have seen where more casual players have developed a hatred of advanced tactics and competitive play in general and view them as taking the game away from them in some way(this wasnt helped by Sakurai either with his condemnation of them during the release of Brawl).
So the fanbase can be very split on things. Smash is a big enough series where even with that split each group can do their own thing and it will still be successful. Something like that happening here would destroy this fledgeling community though I think. The community as a whole has to be ok with the game evolving past what it is day one. Advanced techniques might end up being developed and become more common in competitive play and we have to make sure that doesnt split our community.

Sorry for the mini rant but I feel like this is something that will need to be nipped in the bud quickly.

 

[RespawningJesus]

Along with others have said I think another thing that is vital if this is going to survive is the community not to crusade against competitive play and its players. Smash has a major problem that I have seen where more casual players have developed a hatred of advanced tactics and competitive play in general and view them as taking the game away from them in some way(this wasnt helped by Sakurai either with his condemnation of them during the release of Brawl).
So the fanbase can be very split on things. Smash is a big enough series where even with that split each group can do their own thing and it will still be successful. Something like that happening here would destroy this fledgeling community though I think. The community as a whole has to be ok with the game evolving past what it is day one. Advanced techniques might end up being developed and become more common in competitive play and we have to make sure that doesnt split our community.

Sorry for the mini rant but I feel like this is something that will need to be nipped in the bud quickly.

Good news is that there really hasn't been any advanced tech discovered yet, and I highly doubt anyone would discover something that is difficult to do or anything like that. If anything, how you move in and out of ink will determine your skill in the end. That, and your teamwork with your squad.

 

[Chhipz]

Competitiveness has a part to do in a game's tournament presence, but even far more important is the game's popularity. And it has to not only have a good sized active fan-base, but regularly updated content to hold people's interest. Fortunately it seems that the developers for this game are going to support it for a long time to come. Even if the competitive scene remains as a small percentage of players, I still see the casual audience keeping this game alive for a very long time.

 

[Reila]

Along with others have said I think another thing that is vital if this is going to survive is the community not to crusade against competitive play and its players. Smash has a major problem that I have seen where more casual players have developed a hatred of advanced tactics and competitive play in general and view them as taking the game away from them in some way(this wasnt helped by Sakurai either with his condemnation of them during the release of Brawl).
So the fanbase can be very split on things. Smash is a big enough series where even with that split each group can do their own thing and it will still be successful. Something like that happening here would destroy this fledgeling community though I think. The community as a whole has to be ok with the game evolving past what it is day one. Advanced techniques might end up being developed and become more common in competitive play and we have to make sure that doesnt split our community.

Sorry for the mini rant but I feel like this is something that will need to be nipped in the bud quickly.

If you want the community to not be split, pray to god advanced techniques aren't discovered. If you think I am the only one who doesn't like them, think again. Posts like yours do more harm than good, by the way! The game isn't even out yet and you are already trying to dictate how others should behave.

And I doubt casual players will crusade against competitive players if competitive players leave them alone.

 

[Ryuho]

If you want the community to not be split, pray to god advanced techniques aren't discovered. If you think I am the only one who doesn't like them, think again. Posts like yours do more harm than good, by the way! The game isn't even out yet and you are already trying to dictate how others should behave.

And I doubt casual players will crusade against competitive players if competitive players leave them alone.

This is part of the problem I was talking about. :/ Just dont use advanced techniques if any are developed if you have such a hatred of them, dont push other players away for not sharing your hatred. And Im sorry but "we need to work together for the good of the community" doesnt sound as harmful as, "I hate advanced techniques....because and stay away from me if you want to use them." :/
This attitude is actively promoting segregation of the community if things dont go your way....

 

[suavevillain]

Streams, Content. Exposure and Community Events are the way to go.

 

[Hi_C]

Read through some of the posts and one thing that people think might split the community is AT's. Personally, there is always going to be a split between the casual audience and the competitive one. Its like that for Pokemon, Smash, and almost any game period. Most shooters hardly have any advance techniques. The only one that I can think of that has omething that takes a bit more skill is Halo with crouch jumping and Gandhi hopping. Other than that its focused on teamwork and callouts. Granted, this is a totally different game than Halo or any shooter for that matter as netting the most kills isn't the main goal.

 

[Knightlitespeed]

I don't think that we'll run into the same issues as something like Smash for a number of reasons, one of the biggest being the fact that there is a competitive mode built into the game. Even if ranked play is not going to have the same level of competition as top teams, having a mode like this to entice players to improve and raise their rank could lead more players to discovering a competitive community. In addition, having players largely separated by skill due to rank is a great way to keep lower level players from becoming too frustrated, and that's if they even bother with ranked at all.

 

[Ryuho]

I don't think that we'll run into the same issues as something like Smash for a number of reasons, one of the biggest being the fact that there is a competitive mode built into the game. Even if ranked play is not going to have the same level of competition as top teams, having a mode like this to entice players to improve and raise their rank could lead more players to discovering a competitive community. In addition, having players largely separated by skill due to rank is a great way to keep lower level players from becoming too frustrated, and that's if they even bother with ranked at all.

True enough. Here's hoping

 

[Chhipz]

Read through some of the posts and one thing that people think might split the community is AT's. Personally, there is always going to be a split between the casual audience and the competitive one. Its like that for Pokemon, Smash, and almost any game period. Most shooters hardly have any advance techniques. The only one that I can think of that has omething that takes a bit more skill is Halo with crouch jumping and Gandhi hopping. Other than that its focused on teamwork and callouts. Granted, this is a totally different game than Halo or any shooter for that matter as netting the most kills isn't the main goal.

Halo also had double and quad shotting, BXR, melee canceling/ double melee, double grenading, nade spots, sticky launching, weapon spawn times, specific jumps, etc. So it did have a lot more AT than the casual observer may think. And that's not counting the map knowledge of callouts, setups, pushes, and several other factors.

I do completely agree that competitive and casual players naturally shift from each other in every game. Why? Simply put, the people who want to get good at the game will learn to tighten their game (better decision making, consistently landing their shots/ abilities) while adding techniques and tricks to their arsenal giving them a winning advantage.

Some people are over exaggerating this "split" there will be. From what I've seen, this community is very friendly and helpful, and I'm sure both sides will be respectful to each other. There will be bad apples here and there but that's true for every community. If we do what we keep doing and build a healthy foundation before all the players flood in after the game comes out, they'll follow our good example :)

 

[Swanner]

I think the most important thing we can do to make this game thrive is host lots of events. I can't stress this enough.

While Nintendo has incorporated competitive play into the online game modes, tournament organizers need to step up to host IRL events. It's important to connect usernames to faces/names, in the context of competitive play. Making that physical connection is what truly creates a community.

 

[WaifuRaccoonBL]

I want to talk about two things. One is what I have been noticing so far, the other is defining what it means to "support."

So one thing I've been noticing is that there has been a lot of anti-movements for a while. Anit-tech, anti-similar-to-smash, etc. And while it is good to have discussion, thats the problem. There isn't any discussion going on. A lot of these anti people are simply posting things and expecting you to agree with it. And when you try to have a debate about it, they immediately stop trying to have a conversation and accuse everyone who doesn't agree of being "toxic", (which buzzwords have no place here), and only the people who agree as being "the good noble people."

The main problem coming from this isn't so much that these exist. Rather, the person who made the discussion and then hit the eject button didn't learn anything. Because of that, they usually try again and again...Which means fighting again again. And because it can be from the same user, personal issues start developing. And soon it becomes one giant mess, and a split happens which is what apparently they are trying to prevent.

Also, discussions should continue, no matter how "toxic" it gets. If it is bad, the mods will handle and decide. Claiming a buzzword is happening solves nothing.

We need to grow. So we need discussions.


Second off is the idea of supporting. Getting people to play the game and have tournament is all nice and all. But we will need more then that. We are going to need ways of getting people hype. Montages, podcasts, dedicated channels websites, tournaments. I mean, it isn't just about getting the people who like the game to continue liking it, it is also about bringing all the new people in. Getting them interested. But with that said, yes, there is a degree of "getting along," that has to be had.

 

[Swanner]

Second off is the idea of supporting. Getting people to play the game and have tournament is all nice and all. But we will need more then that. We are going to need ways of getting people hype. Montages, podcasts, dedicated channels websites, tournaments. I mean, it isn't just about getting the people who like the game to continue liking it, it is also about bringing all the new people in. Getting them interested. But with that said, yes, there is a degree of "getting along," that has to be had.

This is what I'm talking about. It's about getting streamers, TOs, Youtubers, commentators, and (especially) players to come together to tell the world how cool Splatoon is to play at a competitive level. This is what other successful esports are founded on.

The easiest way to get casual players on the hype train is to get well-known streamers or content makers to support the community. I am defining 'support' here as: content that introduces casual players to the concept of high level play (in an easily approachable way). I'll use the Pokemon VGC community as an example. Recently, a popular Pokemon streamer (Justin Flynn) uploaded a Top 10 list of current VGC players. While the video itself didn't scratch the surface of the inner workings of competitive play, that video helps to give names and faces those who play VGC. Bringing this information to an audience the size of JFlynn's (the majority of whom are casual players) will encourage many players to step up and "go pro."

In order for growth to happen, new players must be ushered in (obviously). This means that competitive players need to be accepting of these new players. I'm not seeing this to be an issue in beginning (we're all new players lol). But as continued expansion happens, we must all bear this in mind. The last thing a new player wants to enter into is a toxic community.

The first few months of play will be tough. But over time, if enough time and dedication is put into the game: players will become recognizable, tournaments will draw large numbers, and hype will be abundant.