Things I've Learned from my Alt Account

[Inyo]

Okay, I made an alt account today to practice using Chargers and Blasters without being murderized constantly, and I've learned a few things during my travels through the lower levels:

1) Lag is CRAZY in very low level rooms. More teleporting rollers than I've seen in a long time.

2) The matchmaking is totally insane. It took me about 4 games before I was put into Level 50 rooms, and keep in mind that I was using the Charger the whole time (a weapon I am very bad with) and wasn't doing all that well with it. I suppose the matchmaking does this to keep those of us with alt accounts from stomping the lower levels all we want, but man, I went from getting nine splats a game to getting three or four or zero.

3) Not having the power to re-roll abilities or add slots on gear is really, really weird. I'm so used to being able to tweak gear, but the lower levels have to stick with what they have. Granted, I think the game is fun and can be played just as well without "perfect" gear, but still, for an OCD gear monger like me, it's a different world.

4) It takes forever to unlock new Chargers. I mean, you get the broken as hell (sorta) Tentatek at like level 4, and you don't even get the Squiffer until level 7 or so.

 

[Twonkerbell]

I'm assuming you're playing turf war? I don't see how lower levels could be more laggy than the higher levels, maybe it was just you being unlucky with who you got paired up with :p

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

Nah, it makes sense to me. There'd be a lot of laggy players at the lowest levels because if their experience continues to remain laggy, they're likely to stop playing before they reach higher levels.

 

[PolygonGeorge]

I can confirm your findings. Just made an alt this week, he's at A+ level 20 now but man, the C rank lobbies were the laggiest I have ever seen. People disappearing and teleporting EVERYWHERE. As soon as I broke into B lobbies (same session) these things were not occurring.

There were some hilarious sights though. I'm actually going to make a video on it on my YT channel. I couldn't not record some of it :P.

As for 2), remember reading an interview on how Nintendo groups people in turf: they put people who splat with other people who splat, and those who don't they stick together. Meaning people who just cover turf tend to get put with other people who want to do the same. I think as a protection method for more peaceful players.

 

[jsilva]

I created another account after deleting my main account (long story), and after that I created another account which is suppose to be my fun account. I played enough on both accounts to get them up to rank S.

1) I didn't see any difference in lag in turf up to level 10 (when I abandoned turf) in either account and in ranked. I'm guessing your experience was cooincidence rather than related to level or rank.

2) I personally believe Splatoon uses sophisticated metrics for determining skill level and how well a person is playing. Perhaps you are exhibiting traits that show you're a more experienced player even though you may not be getting many splats. On both of my new accounts I was quickly matched with level 35-50 in turf and never went back to being matched with newbies.

3) I'm not a gear monger so I didn't care :) I rarely reroll anyway unless I'm really unhappy with the sub abilities.

4) You may get the tentatek early on but it's not like newbies can really make use of it. The first charger you get can be pretty deadly too. My son recently created a second account in order to get good at sniper weapons and quickly became really good at the charger. Once he got the splatterscope he improved even more and won't switch back, but the charger is still a great weapon in the right hands.

 

[DekuKitty]

I can confirm your findings. Just made an alt this week, he's at A+ level 20 now but man, the C rank lobbies were the laggiest I have ever seen. People disappearing and teleporting EVERYWHERE. As soon as I broke into B lobbies (same session) these things were not occurring.

There were some hilarious sights though. I'm actually going to make a video on it on my YT channel. I couldn't not record some of it :p.

As a C rank I can confirm this. The reason why I'm still stuck here other then my lack of ranked play due to parinoia is because when I do play my team members just love to disconnect, so I'm left fighting a loosing battle with a bunch of low levels that have no idea what they are doing.
"What, we're supposed to take the rainmaker to the opponents base, not ours?"
-facepalm-

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

Nah, what I see oddly often in peoplewho just start playing Rainmaker is that they mistake the countdown over the Rainmaker for the goal and attempt to run off somewhere remote the moment they grab it (usually towards their own spawn point) to hide.

 

[PolygonGeorge]

As a C rank I can confirm this. The reason why I'm still stuck here other then my lack of ranked play due to parinoia is because when I do play my team members just love to disconnect, so I'm left fighting a loosing battle with a bunch of low levels that have no idea what they are doing.
"What, we're supposed to take the rainmaker to the opponents base, not ours?"
-facepalm-

Totally know what you mean. You really have to carry your team at that stage. Don't be afraid though! Once you get to the B's your team gets a lot more helpful :P.

 

[Ninwaifu]

I had the same problems when I started playing with getting dropped in with high level squids as early as lv 3. Making it impossible to win or get splats. It was extra bad when all the low level squids were on a team against high level squids. I swear I was on a team with a lv 9, 6, 10, and 16 vs a lv 50, 45, 30, and 40. It was horrible. I honesty have no idea how I did not rage quit the game.

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

Once you get to B, though, replacing the people who don't know what you're supposed to do are the people who want the glory for none of the risk. My sister has been stuck at high B for a while now, between 50 and 90, because she kept finding teammates who refuse to pick up the Rainmaker until she does, and then they either scatter like kittens, or they will bunch together about fifty feet behind her, waiting for her to get splatted so they can go burst the Rainmaker and pick it up.

They WILL fight back if the opposing team has the Rainmaker, and they're pretty good at it. And when the Rainmaker is lying there, they will burst the shield, and they're pretty good at that too. But when the Rainmaker's shield is down, they will stand wherever they are. If an opponent gets the Rainmaker, they will shoot at them and almost always splat them within 3 seconds, as well as all of their backup, and never, ever pick up the Rainmaker, regardless of how safe it is (except when one minute remains, and then they get desperate). But when my sister nabs the Rainmaker, they do not back her up or cover for her--they ink ground only for mobility and only fight back to defend themselves.

I suspect these are people who really want to carry the Rainmaker to the goal, but they don't want to be the one to take the initiative. They believe that the safest, most sure way to do it themselves is to have somebody else carry it sufficiently close to the goal, then pick it up and carry it the rest of the way.

There was also one person, I saw, with an N-Zap '89 who wanted to play Inkstrikes. They would go far, far away from the action, setting up Sprinklers and inking ground in remote areas, and there'd be the occasional Inkstrike. Problem is that this player either has very bad aim with the Inkstrikes or assumes there's always someone carrying the Rainmaker or attacking. A pattern I noticed as I was watching is that this player always aims the Inkstrike about thirty feet away from the Rainmaker in the direction of whichever base is closer, regardless of which team has the Rainmaker (or if it's unclaimed). If they're trying to aim it where they predict attackers will be, it wasn't working.

 

[Cyanidegunner]

Ive just recently reached rank C+ And there does tend to be some lag here and there, can't say much about rainmaker I usually wait til splatzones is on and then use it to rank up, as its what I'm best at

 

[Award]

2) I personally believe Splatoon uses sophisticated metrics for determining skill level and how well a person is playing. Perhaps you are exhibiting traits that show you're a more experienced player even though you may not be getting many splats. On both of my new accounts I was quickly matched with level 35-50 in turf and never went back to being matched with newbies.

I'm glad to see someone else mention this unrelated to my posts. I'll spare the details since we've been discussing it in a few other threads, but I've come to that same conclusion and am extremely convinced this is true.

From my earliest levels I was paired with lvl30+ most of the time in TW. By the time I hit lvl20 I've been paired almost exclusively with lvl40-50. The other Wii U in the house is consistently paired with level3-15, and is played by a not so great player. In ranked, I'm most often paired with a team that is close to useless, while the enemy is a coordinated killing machine with advanced strategies.

The game knows I'm decent (but thinks I'm better than I am, unfortunately), and pairs me in ways I'm expected to carry the team. (I lucked out the other day in ranked and got a solid team for once. Gained a rank in an hour.)

My guess is it measures your movements and reaction times somehow and establishes a play skill somehow. except in my case it over-established my skill.

Once you get to B, though, replacing the people who don't know what you're supposed to do are the people who want the glory for none of the risk. My sister has been stuck at high B for a while now, between 50 and 90, because she kept finding teammates who refuse to pick up the Rainmaker until she does, and then they either scatter like kittens, or they will bunch together about fifty feet behind her, waiting for her to get splatted so they can go burst the Rainmaker and pick it up.

They WILL fight back if the opposing team has the Rainmaker, and they're pretty good at it. And when the Rainmaker is lying there, they will burst the shield, and they're pretty good at that too. But when the Rainmaker's shield is down, they will stand wherever they are. If an opponent gets the Rainmaker, they will shoot at them and almost always splat them within 3 seconds, as well as all of their backup, and never, ever pick up the Rainmaker, regardless of how safe it is (except when one minute remains, and then they get desperate). But when my sister nabs the Rainmaker, they do not back her up or cover for her--they ink ground only for mobility and only fight back to defend themselves.

I suspect these are people who really want to carry the Rainmaker to the goal, but they don't want to be the one to take the initiative. They believe that the safest, most sure way to do it themselves is to have somebody else carry it sufficiently close to the goal, then pick it up and carry it the rest of the way.

There was also one person, I saw, with an N-Zap '89 who wanted to play Inkstrikes. They would go far, far away from the action, setting up Sprinklers and inking ground in remote areas, and there'd be the occasional Inkstrike. Problem is that this player either has very bad aim with the Inkstrikes or assumes there's always someone carrying the Rainmaker or attacking. A pattern I noticed as I was watching is that this player always aims the Inkstrike about thirty feet away from the Rainmaker in the direction of whichever base is closer, regardless of which team has the Rainmaker (or if it's unclaimed). If they're trying to aim it where they predict attackers will be, it wasn't working.

I think a lot of B's are trying to play smart and wait for the more skilled RM player to pick up the RM. I refused to touch it after splatting the shield for a long time and waited for someone else more skilled with it to grab it (and/or to wait for reinforcements since I'm often the first to the RM.) Not until I picked up chargers did I get comfortable enough to wield the RM myself. But then usually the rest of the team would drop it near the goal so I'd have to rush in rambo style and finish the job. It wasn't so much glory seeking as "well, I'm the only one left..." But then I started getting impatient with nobody running it that I just started doing it myself from the start.

 

[jsilva]

The game knows I'm decent (but thinks I'm better than I am, unfortunately), and pairs me in ways I'm expected to carry the team. (I lucked out the other day in ranked and got a solid team for once. Gained a rank in an hour.)

My guess is it measures your movements and reaction times somehow and establishes a play skill somehow. except in my case it over-established my skill.

Or maybe you're better than you think :)

I think maybe you're on to something about carrying a team. I've been wondering that recently, that maybe it will match you on a weaker team specifically to develop better skills in carrying a team and creating opportunities for your weaker teammates.

 

[BlackZero]

Once you get to B, though, replacing the people who don't know what you're supposed to do are the people who want the glory for none of the risk. My sister has been stuck at high B for a while now, between 50 and 90, because she kept finding teammates who refuse to pick up the Rainmaker until she does, and then they either scatter like kittens, or they will bunch together about fifty feet behind her, waiting for her to get splatted so they can go burst the Rainmaker and pick it up.

They WILL fight back if the opposing team has the Rainmaker, and they're pretty good at it. And when the Rainmaker is lying there, they will burst the shield, and they're pretty good at that too. But when the Rainmaker's shield is down, they will stand wherever they are. If an opponent gets the Rainmaker, they will shoot at them and almost always splat them within 3 seconds, as well as all of their backup, and never, ever pick up the Rainmaker, regardless of how safe it is (except when one minute remains, and then they get desperate). But when my sister nabs the Rainmaker, they do not back her up or cover for her--they ink ground only for mobility and only fight back to defend themselves.

I suspect these are people who really want to carry the Rainmaker to the goal, but they don't want to be the one to take the initiative. They believe that the safest, most sure way to do it themselves is to have somebody else carry it sufficiently close to the goal, then pick it up and carry it the rest of the way.

There was also one person, I saw, with an N-Zap '89 who wanted to play Inkstrikes. They would go far, far away from the action, setting up Sprinklers and inking ground in remote areas, and there'd be the occasional Inkstrike. Problem is that this player either has very bad aim with the Inkstrikes or assumes there's always someone carrying the Rainmaker or attacking. A pattern I noticed as I was watching is that this player always aims the Inkstrike about thirty feet away from the Rainmaker in the direction of whichever base is closer, regardless of which team has the Rainmaker (or if it's unclaimed). If they're trying to aim it where they predict attackers will be, it wasn't working.

It could be that they want the credit, or they might simply not be comfortable with carrying the RM. I'm a defense/support player. Personally, I'd rather escort an RM carrier because that fits with my style of play. I don't want the RM because it's better suited for an aggressive player, which is the polar opposite of my own play style. So, I can either grab it for the sake of grabbing it and completely fail to get anywhere, or I can let someone who's much better at playing aggressively carry it while I escort them. If that person dies, of course I'm going to grab it. I'm not going to sit there and let the other team have it, am I? Ymmv, but it has nothing to do with being a glory hound. I'm very happy to never touch the damn thing. But if I'm escorting someone and they drop it, I can either grab it to keep it away from the enemy or I can leave it for the other team to grab so I don't steal the credit from the original carrier. Which is more helpful?

Same with Tower Control: long-ranged weapons like the H. Splat and Charger don't do well in cramped spaces where melee attackers will pop up right beside you. The tower platform is better suited for melee/Aeros who can handle enemies in their face better than ranged weapons can. If no one is on the tower, I might jump on to keep possession of it, but I usually don't stand a chance the minute the first roller or brush get on. For support weapons, it's better to follow the tower and use your range and firepower to clean enemies off of it and keep enemies away so that your close-quarters specialists can ride the tower. As with RM, I'm happy if I never have to get on the thing. If it comes down to "stealing someone's glory," or leaving the tower vacant, I'm going to do what I have to so that my team keeps control over the tower and maintains forward momentum rather than falling behind.

 

[Award]

Or maybe you're better than you think :)

I think maybe you're on to something about carrying a team. I've been wondering that recently, that maybe it will match you on a weaker team specifically to develop better skills in carrying a team and creating opportunities for your weaker teammates.

LOL, maybe. I've thought of that. But it seems far fetched that I'm as good as it thinks I am! I often get placed against S rank players in TW (they show up in my Plaza and I check them out, at least the ones with phonetic names or arrangements of Kanji characters I can manage to remember despite not being able to read them) and I know for sure I can't match their strategies in early aggression and base occupation without getting splatted, and I can barely hit them with their inhuman random movement patterns and perfect aim...so I can safely say I definitely wouldn't belong in S rank! Then it's hard to say what side of lag I'm on too. I see a lot of teleporting players, hit people in the face with a roller 3x and nothing happens (before they splat me), get a lot of trades where I attack, turn around, get splatted, then my opponent splatted, etc. And I'm most frequently playing on a Japan based host. Maybe it takes the measurements based on what SHOULD have happened rather than what did happen, and in that score I do better than my real result?

I've definitely thought for a while it's intentionally placing me on a team I must carry, but I never viewed it from the angle that they do it as a teaching mechanism. It would make sense. The Japanese are noted for fantastic teaching ability, and the Splatoon team is no exception since they stated the design of the solo campaign was designed as a teaching tool (and when you look at it from that angle, it's masterfully done.) , You could be right about the purpose for it. Though it still breaks down if it overestimates my skill and pairs me too often with teams that will just get spawncamped 0:40 into the match :( I'm used to it but I had one devastating round in Depot for TC where we were fully spawncamped (with a 4 player team) for almost the whole match. I'd dispose of the enemy, go for tower, and when I inevitably respawned they'd have spawncamped the rest of the team again...

In testament to my team leading skills it expects me to have, I don't think they landed a knockout, but it was still an undeserved loss due to grossly mismatched teams supposedly sharing a rank.

 

[Award]

For support weapons, it's better to follow the tower and use your range and firepower to clean enemies off of it and keep enemies away so that your close-quarters specialists can ride the tower.

I agree with most of your post...but this line, I can tell you're not on one of my teams. If you were on my team you'd just spend the time scuba diving off the cost of Mahi or something. ANYTHING but actually watching the tower go by ;)

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

I think a lot of B's are trying to play smart and wait for the more skilled RM player to pick up the RM. I refused to touch it after splatting the shield for a long time and waited for someone else more skilled with it to grab it (and/or to wait for reinforcements since I'm often the first to the RM.) Not until I picked up chargers did I get comfortable enough to wield the RM myself. But then usually the rest of the team would drop it near the goal so I'd have to rush in rambo style and finish the job. It wasn't so much glory seeking as "well, I'm the only one left..." But then I started getting impatient with nobody running it that I just started doing it myself from the start.

Yeah, it happened with me too--everyone wants to play support, and when that happens, nobody gets anything done. I got so sick of seeing nobody getting on the tower or picking up the Rainmaker and letting the opponents take the victories that I decided I'll do it myself whenever I can.

But I think it's also partially the fear of getting splatted. I see incredibly apprehensive behavior in Turf War too, especially in Splatfests, and I'd bet I find these people a lot.

It could be that they want the credit, or they might simply not be comfortable with carrying the RM. I'm a defense/support player. Personally, I'd rather escort an RM carrier because that fits with my style of play. I don't want the RM because it's better suited for an aggressive player, which is the polar opposite of my own play style. So, I can either grab it for the sake of grabbing it and completely fail to get anywhere, or I can let someone who's much better at playing aggressively carry it while I escort them. If that person dies, of course I'm going to grab it. I'm not going to sit there and let the other team have it, am I? Ymmv, but it has nothing to do with being a glory hound. I'm very happy to never touch the damn thing. But if I'm escorting someone and they drop it, I can either grab it to keep it away from the enemy or I can leave it for the other team to grab so I don't steal the credit from the original carrier. Which is more helpful?

Same with Tower Control: long-ranged weapons like the H. Splat and Charger don't do well in cramped spaces where melee attackers will pop up right beside you. The tower platform is better suited for melee/Aeros who can handle enemies in their face better than ranged weapons can. If no one is on the tower, I might jump on to keep possession of it, but I usually don't stand a chance the minute the first roller or brush get on. For support weapons, it's better to follow the tower and use your range and firepower to clean enemies off of it and keep enemies away so that your close-quarters specialists can ride the tower. As with RM, I'm happy if I never have to get on the thing. If it comes down to "stealing someone's glory," or leaving the tower vacant, I'm going to do what I have to so that my team keeps control over the tower and maintains forward momentum rather than falling behind.

The thing is that it's pretty clear when someone's escorting the Rainmaker holder or the people on the tower: They'll either follow closely ahead or behind, or they'll take up positions and attack opponents who come near the people they're guarding or themselves. These guys will hide inside their ink a short distance behind her and not make any attempt to attack any opponents unless they themselves are under threat or the Rainmaker holder has been splatted. They will always make sure the Rainmaker holder is between themselves and their opponents. They're basically playing Turf War ambush.

This resulted in a series of losses where if my sister was not there to get the Rainmaker (and she is a long-range automatics specialist and is good at splatting, meaning she'd be excellent support if they weren't such a dominant player type), the opponents will carry the Rainmaker to the goal, or at least close to it.

 

[Award]

Yeah, it happened with me too--everyone wants to play support, and when that happens, nobody gets anything done. I got so sick of seeing nobody getting on the tower or picking up the Rainmaker and letting the opponents take the victories that I decided I'll do it myself whenever I can.

But I think it's also partially the fear of getting splatted. I see incredibly apprehensive behavior in Turf War too, especially in Splatfests, and I'd bet I find these people a lot.



The thing is that it's pretty clear when someone's escorting the Rainmaker holder or the people on the tower: They'll either follow closely ahead or behind, or they'll take up positions and attack opponents who come near the people they're guarding or themselves. These guys will hide inside their ink a short distance behind her and not make any attempt to attack any opponents unless they themselves are under threat or the Rainmaker holder has been splatted. They will always make sure the Rainmaker holder is between themselves and their opponents. They're basically playing Turf War ambush.

This resulted in a series of losses where if my sister was not there to get the Rainmaker (and she is a long-range automatics specialist and is good at splatting, meaning she'd be excellent support if they weren't such a dominant player type), the opponents will carry the Rainmaker to the goal, or at least close to it.

Notice the enemy team never has a shortage of players who will grab the objective and push it, while your team has nobody that will run it if you don't run it? We're definitely in the "oh, you're an S ranked player in sheeps clothing" matchmaking nightmare.

TW ambush isn't a bad tactic in RM, actually. One and only one player gets splatted, sacrificial lamb, 3v4 ambush wins by surprise, then advances the RM. Of course it's only a good tactic if they don't suck at it :p

RM specifically I can understand fear of the RM namely that the thing is basically an on-the-ground eliter that fires inkzooka rounds. If you suck with eliter, you'll suck with the RM. It's a little unfar and i'd argue that a player like me that's maining chargers and an aggressive close range weapon is probably ideal for running the RM. Go aggressive to reach it, but switch to your eliter mindset once you get it. TC on the other hand, there's no valid reason to not get on the tower UNLESS you have a charger. That's just people afraid of being splatted.

 

[SupaTim]

Okay, I made an alt account today to practice using Chargers and Blasters without being murderized constantly, and I've learned a few things during my travels through the lower levels:
...
2) The matchmaking is totally insane. It took me about 4 games before I was put into Level 50 rooms, and keep in mind that I was using the Charger the whole time (a weapon I am very bad with) and wasn't doing all that well with it. I suppose the matchmaking does this to keep those of us with alt accounts from stomping the lower levels all we want, but man, I went from getting nine splats a game to getting three or four or zero.

I did the same thing. I wanted to practice with a charger so I made an alt to have a chance and build some confidence. Unfortunately, as soon as I hit level 4 and I bought my charger I was placed in level 30+ lobbies and was basically where I was on my main.

I thought about just grinding to level 10 then doing ranked, but then I realized I already had decent charger gear on my main, so why bother punishing myself with my alt?

Also, the splatterscope isn't even unlocked until level 13! What's the deal with that?

 

[Inyo]

I have learned that Ranked is WAY more fun as a Charger than Turf, especially low level Turf where nobody knows what they are doing (I don't judge, I didn't know what to do back then, either)