The size of community.

[Big Boss]

I noticed like when Splatoon 1 first came out Splatoon forums like this and Reddit were a lot more livelier, the discord servers as well but it seems like in just two years out community has shrunk big time. I'm just wondering what lead to this happening and if you guys also think Splatoon 2 will be a revival of the community.

 

[ThatOneGuy]

Honestly, the splatoon 1 community has gotten smaller, just because the game has been out for over a year, and we know that splatoon 1 will not be receiving anymore additional DLC. It's just natural for a game's community to shrink after a while because the game isn't as fresh as it used to be. Still, I remember back in December 2015 when people were saying that splatoon wouldn't last, as the community would die out. And even people said the game died because splatfest isn't a thing anymore. But, as you can see, going into April of 2017, the splatoon community is still alive with competitive tournaments and competitive teams forming all the time.

I think splatoon 2 will be a revive the community, as it's a new game. However, I think splatoon 2 will surpass splatoon 1's community simply because it seems like the second game is paying more attention to the competitive community. Also, it's predecessor pretty much ensures the second game's success due to the amazing formula of a squid based shooter we all know and love. It's only natural that the game gets revived with the new game, because it will be brand new, and now with a team of experienced devs who know what splatoon players want to see in their favorite shooter.

 

[Big Boss]

Ditto.

Trruuuueeeeeeee if Splatoon 1 was Smash 64 then Splatoon 2 is Melee.

 

[ThatOneGuy]

if Splatoon 1 was Smash 64 then Splatoon 2 is Melee.

Except the game isn't going to be horribly unbalanced and have outdated graphics. :/

 

[Magic8Ball]

The staff has been talking a lot about the community as a whole, and here are some of the things we've mentioned.
Firstly, the people you see and the players you interact with each day on Squidboards / Reddit / Discord are only a slight portion. A lot of people that still play the game are the casual, silent majority that are lurking in the shadows. Especially in a game aimed towards a younger audience, the community won't be filled with people like us. The kids, the parents, and the casuals are people we need to take into account when looking at the community as a whole.
Secondly, remember that this is only the Western scene. Japan has a whole community of its own. If we could tap into that and communicate with them on the same level we do with each other, then these places would be incredibly more lively.
Thirdly, and this has been brought up by many community members such as Eirik, 1TwoQ, and some of the staff, there's been a major lack of entertaining content, which is driving off people as well. And to be fair, what was there to talk about for that period when Splatoon cut off updates and Splat 2 hadn't been announced? Chuggaa helped sustain a little bit, but other than that all we really have are occasional videos and competitive centered content. Like I said before, the majority that we need to open up to doesn't like to think of themselves as competitive players. They want entertainment. And so, a lot of players left to go play other things.
Splat 2 will help this mucho. Even now, I'm seeing the Welcome Center gradually picking up steam, especially when newer info comes out. Not only that, multiple people have come back to the forums, which is exactly what we need. The old faces need to come back. People have loved this game once, and they can love it again. It's all a matter of retention, in my eyes, and that is dependent upon how much the silent majority enjoys the content.
Think about Melee. There are just above 2,000 people that enter super majors. That's so incredibly small to the hundreds of thousands that tune into Twitch streams and watch the tourneys. Only a small percent are actually competing at top levels. And what is the most watched, most impressive piece of content in that community besides the game itself? A Documentary (Wombo Combo is a meme and therefore doesn't count). Not a guide, not an analysis of a match, and not even a combo video or top ten. Only around half of the stuff the top players do in terms of content is actually playing Melee. Look at how successful they've been. I'm not saying we need to become the Melee community, but some of the things they do are things we can model.

I understand how much of a textwall I just wrote, but I really want to hear everyone's opinions on the state of the community and how we can revive and retain the active player-base. I'm really glad someone made this thread before we did, because it's a bit of a problem, and it needs the community to address it.

 

[Big Boss]

Ditto.

That is true, part of what retains a community is it's entertainment value especially in a time when the game is no longer being updated which we are sevearly lacking in, I know we've attempted in the past to make the competitive scene more entertaining but that has been met with negativity as comp players do not want to be entertainers necessarily, that said there has been a handful of comp players that make entertaining content (Dude, Rocket, Hitzel, etc.) that do a phenomenal job and like being entertainers but it just doesn't seem to be enough. Hopefully Splatoon 2 is packed with more content and inspires more people to be active in the community, whether just talking with others or making their own content.

 

[SuperSmileyGaming]

Responding to Magic8ball:
I was thinking about this too how Smash has that documentary that really boomed the attention in competitive content. I've considered doing something myself, just a lot of planning would be needed and only an idea in my head right now. Was never sure if people would be interested or what exactly the focus of the "documentary" could even be.

 

[SuperSmileyGaming]

The staff has been talking a lot about the community as a whole, and here are some of the things we've mentioned.
Firstly, the people you see and the players you interact with each day on Squidboards / Reddit / Discord are only a slight portion. A lot of people that still play the game are the casual, silent majority that are lurking in the shadows. Especially in a game aimed towards a younger audience, the community won't be filled with people like us. The kids, the parents, and the casuals are people we need to take into account when looking at the community as a whole.
Secondly, remember that this is only the Western scene. Japan has a whole community of its own. If we could tap into that and communicate with them on the same level we do with each other, then these places would be incredibly more lively.
Thirdly, and this has been brought up by many community members such as Eirik, 1TwoQ, and some of the staff, there's been a major lack of entertaining content, which is driving off people as well. And to be fair, what was there to talk about for that period when Splatoon cut off updates and Splat 2 hadn't been announced? Chuggaa helped sustain a little bit, but other than that all we really have are occasional videos and competitive centered content. Like I said before, the majority that we need to open up to doesn't like to think of themselves as competitive players. They want entertainment. And so, a lot of players left to go play other things.
Splat 2 will help this mucho. Even now, I'm seeing the Welcome Center gradually picking up steam, especially when newer info comes out. Not only that, multiple people have come back to the forums, which is exactly what we need. The old faces need to come back. People have loved this game once, and they can love it again. It's all a matter of retention, in my eyes, and that is dependent upon how much the silent majority enjoys the content.
Think about Melee. There are just above 2,000 people that enter super majors. That's so incredibly small to the hundreds of thousands that tune into Twitch streams and watch the tourneys. Only a small percent are actually competing at top levels. And what is the most watched, most impressive piece of content in that community besides the game itself? A Documentary (Wombo Combo is a meme and therefore doesn't count). Not a guide, not an analysis of a match, and not even a combo video or top ten. Only around half of the stuff the top players do in terms of content is actually playing Melee. Look at how successful they've been. I'm not saying we need to become the Melee community, but some of the things they do are things we can model.

I understand how much of a textwall I just wrote, but I really want to hear everyone's opinions on the state of the community and how we can revive and retain the active player-base. I'm really glad someone made this thread before we did, because it's a bit of a problem, and it needs the community to address it.

I was thinking about this too how Smash has that documentary that really boomed the attention in competitive content. I've considered doing something myself, just a lot of planning would be needed and only an idea in my head right now. Was never sure if people would be interested or what exactly the focus of the "documentary" could even be.

 

[Magic8Ball]

Was never sure if people would be interested or what exactly the focus of the "documentary" could even be.

That's my point exactly. There isn't any story behind the gameplay. As was brought up before, most competitors don't want to have a spotlight on their backs. There's no publicity about the tourneys or their results, and quite frankly everyone outside of the competitive community just doesn't care about them. That's why I said, we don't need to follow Smash's lead, we just need to take bits and pieces of what they and so many other popular games have.

 

[Magic8Ball]

All I'm saying is, we have too much gameplay and not enough personality in the community. If we want to stay a small, tight-knit, competitive community that we are now, then sure be my guest, keep doing what you're doing. But if we want to be an E-sport, if we want to follow up the hype train that is Splat 2, and if we want more attention from Nintendo and other corporations, then we need to make a shift. These tight-knit groups don't have to go, per se, but they need to have more to do other than "let's play the game and stream it for a while". Like I said before, personality isn't all there. When we think of the community, it isn't something that's renowned. I think that should change.

 

[Big Boss]

All I'm saying is, we have too much gameplay and not enough personality in the community. If we want to stay a small, tight-knit, competitive community that we are now, then sure be my guest, keep doing what you're doing. But if we want to be an E-sport, if we want to follow up the hype train that is Splat 2, and if we want more attention from Nintendo and other corporations, then we need to make a shift. These tight-knit groups don't have to go, per se, but they need to have more to do other than "let's play the game and stream it for a while". Like I said before, personality isn't all there. When we think of the community, it isn't something that's renowned. I think that should change.

Then it's simple. We need more competitive players who want to be in the spotlight.

 

[Magic8Ball]

Then it's simple. We need more competitive players who want to be in the spotlight.

But there has to be some better way to solve this problem… like we've said, the competitive players just don't want the spotlight constantly blaring in their face.

 

[Big Boss]

But there has to be some better way to solve this problem… like we've said, the competitive players just don't want the spotlight constantly blaring in their face.

That's true. I feel there are people who would like that position but don't have access to the right equipment.

 

[RelicRaider]

I'll admit, I didn't like the look of splatoon when I first saw it come out. I wasn't really interested, but upon watching Chuggaa's let's play, I really got into it, and now I've reached level 50, am aspiring to make S rank for the second time, still, and splatoon is probably my most played game on my Wii u, maybe surpassed by mariokart 8. I think the community will continue to grow as is, with splatoon 2 giving a massive boost.

 

[Fisherman]

The thing is little people have a Wii U and even less have Splatoon and even less visit this websites. When Splatoon 2 comes out it will sell more than Splatoon 1 because it is on a more succesful console, and more people will visit this websites.