Smash Arena
Senior Squid
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2014
- Messages
- 63
I think the Catalog works well as a sort of "Bonus Meter", so an extra reward for playing the game a lot. The problem is that the update cycle is tied to it as well, making the playerbase swell every 3 months and then trail off for several weeks. Back with Splatoon 1 and 2, updates were weekly for the better part of the games' lives, encouraging players to hop on to try the new content each week. I remember all my friends and I hopping on the night the Inkbrush came out in Splatoon 1. There was so much fun in each of our reactions. I thought it was garbage because I didn't understand you had to mash with it, but my friend loved it because it clicked with him immediately. He then proceeded to draw many ding-dongs with it for years to come.I think the catalogue system is fine, the problem is more that it dictates the update cycle. If it was a simple matter of eight catalogues circling around in a two-year cycle, there would be no problem, and it would give Nintendo room to make bigger gameplay-based content closer to the end of the next game’s lifespan.
The catalogue makes for a simple, tidy goal for casual players to aspire to complete. While updates 110% should not be tied to them, their existence isn’t problematic. Especially if the devs do a good job of the FOMO aspect, which they’ve done fairly decently this time around with regards to being able to obtain old catalogues’ rewards.
Again, as an added incentive to play, I think the Catalog could work. If it was framed as a "you can get these items for free AND early by just playing!", that would be ideal because there would be no pressure to complete it. That is almost what it is now, though I think the availability of the items for in-game cash beyond the catalog period should be better communicated to the player.