Thoughts On Tower Control?

[River09]

Too chaotic and cramped for my tastes. I like it but certainly not as much as Splat Zones for ranked modes. I haven't played it on Kelp Dome or Bluefin Depot yet but so far my favourite map is Arowana Mall. It honestly doesn't play too differently from Turf War in my opinion. The difference is the your forced to push forward because the mode demands it meaning your unless you're in the lead and can afford to defend which I don't think is too bad. The final choke point can be a bit of a pain though. Once I my team only had one more unit to go but the other team finally too control and we took the game to timeout. But that said it does allow for comebacks as I have experienced a lot of on this map which is needed for competitive play and makes it more exciting.

TC is fine and seems way more kill focused than others simply by how high the kill count is on most matches but it's also cramped and the tower itself leaves little room to breath. You're also most certainly gonna die on the tower. Getting on the tower is more like a punishment because your going to put under so much pressure and if you do bail the tower will just go back to neutral making all your progress not worthwhile if your trying to make a comeback. I think defending will be an especially prominent tactic in this mode leading to more timeouts than other ranked modes. Being aggressive by riding the tower is very risky and easy to defend from.

 

[Doringo]

I was kinda confused at first until I found out you actually had to ride the tower, not just ink it.
Also what I think sounds like ice cream truck music plays whenever it's moving.

 

[ProfessorKony]

I agree with most of what people are saying, but there is a reason for Nintendo making it a rotation between SZ and TC. Remember the first Japanese Splatfest? Basically everyone chose rice, so rice players were waiting for ages to get into a match. This issue was basically fixed now that players who voted the same way can have a match, but they can't do that with this. They want to make sure that no-one has to wait more than they should, which is understandable, especially when more modes come out and one starts to prevail as the fan-favourite. The playerbase in Splatoon honestly isn't large enough to make being able to choose a mode fair yet, but hopefully when it begins to become as large as the other FPS games, a choice could be implemented.

Yeah I see your point. I know that if we had the option to choose SZ or TC, I'd always pick SZ. However, 4 hours is a long time for the next gamemode so I feel that the rotation time should be cut down.

 

[Pareto]

I definitely enjoy this mode. While it is rather chaotic, it is far less centered around ink covering, which actually lets me take advantage of opponents who aren't being careful about their blind spots. I've found flanking opponents alot easier now since most players choose to assault the tower before checking their surroundings, which can really solidify an offense or a defense. Unfortunately, this mode isn't so charger-friendly but this gives me an incentive to play a Carbon Roller, which has been heaps of fun for me.

 

[Chaotix]

I'm not really a fan of tower control considering that certain weapons gives you more an advantage than others like for example Rollers imo are useless when compared to aerospray in which it's so reliable in the mode.

 

[Njok]

I'm not really a fan of tower control considering that certain weapons gives you more an advantage than others like for example Rollers imo are useless when compared to aerospray in which it's so reliable in the mode.

Wait, what?

 

[Chaotix]

Wait, what?

I say that cause I dislike that Ranked Mode.

 

[karamazovapy]

Tower Control is BROKEN. Argue whatever strategies you want. The game mode doesn't work well. It's not competitive. The gameplay doesn't work as intended.

 

[1o2]

Tower Control is BROKEN. Argue whatever strategies you want. The game mode doesn't work well. It's not competitive. The gameplay doesn't work as intended.

You can't flat out call a game mode uncompetitive without any arguments. Besides, we haven't even seen this game mode played with organized gameplay yet.

Saltspray Rig's problem isn't even about the Tower's route going near the spawn so that it's easy to defend. The problem is that when people defend it, you are essentially being spawn camped as there are only 2 ways to approach the tower, and they are SOOO easy to defend with bombs/Inkzooka. Right now, Tower Control is way more about pushing, then defending/stopping them from breaking your lead. 1 person with a special can make a significant enough push, even if their team is straight manure. Unfortunately, you can't expect to play sniper/more defensively based classes and win in this gamemode. YOU need to be the guns blazing, heavy offense pushing sacrificial lamb. Even some of the worst teams know that if one person is on the tower, spread ink and kill everyone around it.

 

[Ryuji]

Gonna rescind what I said earlier in this thread. I've warmed up to TC abit. I've since changed my strategy along with my gear and so far has been working well for the most part. Surprisingly, my thoughts on TC and SZ have been completely reversed; I'm beginning to dislike SZ and like TC more. Funny how that happens.

 

[karamazovapy]

You can't flat out call a game mode uncompetitive without any arguments. Besides, we haven't even seen this game mode played with organized gameplay yet.

Nobody has to agree with me, but I have every right to say it. The vast majority of tower control games I've played or witnessed have been incredibly one-sided. That's a symptom of an underlying problem. Maybe people will figure out ways to compensate for the inherent issues, but that doesn't mean the problems aren't there.

 

[Cobbs]

Feels like TF2 team deathmatch -- fun, but not at all catering to the strengths of the game at its core. Turf Wars is the conceptual goldmine for this game, and the other game modes are riffs and side-attractions to me.

 

[1o2]

Nobody has to agree with me, but I have every right to say it. The vast majority of tower control games I've played or witnessed have been incredibly one-sided. That's a symptom of an underlying problem. Maybe people will figure out ways to compensate for the inherent issues, but that doesn't mean the problems aren't there.

I'm not gonna argue with you here, but 90% of my SZ games are entirely one sided too, but do i say that SZ is completely uncompetitive? lol

 

[Sitri]

Nobody has to agree with me, but I have every right to say it. The vast majority of tower control games I've played or witnessed have been incredibly one-sided. That's a symptom of an underlying problem. Maybe people will figure out ways to compensate for the inherent issues, but that doesn't mean the problems aren't there.

I don't think it being one-sided is a problem with the mode, rather it's a symptom. When you lose the lead in Tower Control, be it even by 1 point: all of the progress you made up to that point is essentially erased, which makes games incredibly difficult to come back from. I've posted my exact thoughts on the mode before, so I don't feel the need to reiterate, but TC doesn't have exciting push/pull gameplay like the other maps have. To use an example, it's easier just to run out the clock if you have a 49-48 lead, because it takes so much more effort for them to push all the way back into your base than it does for them to just camp the tower and timestall.

The entire mode relies heavily on your opponents ****ing up hard, and a single mistake and spell out a loss as early as a minute into the game, despite it being dragged out until the 5-minute mark.

 

[BtheDestroyer]

IMO, it still needs some tweaking. Kraken is incredibly OP considering you have invincibility and you can 1-hit KO anyone who tries to jump on. Sure, you can't spread it to teammates like the Bubbler, but the tower moves the same speed if you have 1 player or all 4 players on it, so why does it matter if three of the players on a team are respawning if there's player on the tower is invincible and can't be approached.
Also, we need a standard tower. Having one stage hold the tower up high and another keep it close to the ground makes it hard for a player to determine which weapon they should use, as each map would require a different one even if you're the same distance away.
Finally, what's with this strange mechanic of having the previously losing team lose a point if they tie up the score but don't get 1 point over the opponent? Would it really be so hard just to have Sudden Death account for a tied score and wait for one team to get the extra point? I lost a few matches today from this odd mechanic and it's really irritating when you could have won, but the game removed a point because you only tied.

 

[Njok]

IMO, it still needs some tweaking. Kraken is incredibly OP considering you have invincibility and you can 1-hit KO anyone who tries to jump on. Sure, you can't spread it to teammates like the Bubbler, but the tower moves the same speed if you have 1 player or all 4 players on it, so why does it matter if three of the players on a team are respawning if there's player on the tower is invincible and can't be approached.
Also, we need a standard tower. Having one stage hold the tower up high and another keep it close to the ground makes it hard for a player to determine which weapon they should use, as each map would require a different one even if you're the same distance away.
Finally, what's with this strange mechanic of having the previously losing team lose a point if they tie up the score but don't get 1 point over the opponent? Would it really be so hard just to have Sudden Death account for a tied score and wait for one team to get the extra point? I lost a few matches today from this odd mechanic and it's really irritating when you could have won, but the game removed a point because you only tied.

Kraken is actually pretty easy to shoot off the tower, since it's a huuuuuge fish just laying there (same goes for bubbler, admittedly). But in case they don't manage to and you're teammates are nowhere around, it's instant death once it wears off.

Edit: shooting the Kraken off the tower is only really effective when it's not above ground of course, so this doesn't apply to all maps. Meant to say that but forgot.

With that mechanic i'm not too sure what you mean to be honest. Do you mean that the team who was in the lead will win the match if the losing team does not get it 1 point further in extra time? That seems quite fair to me. They had the lead going into extra time, so that's the extra point right there. Also, it's already in overtime when this happens so would not make sense to go into overtime of overtime.

 

[TheMH]

Also, we need a standard tower.

So much this.
It doesn't seem important when you start playing the mode, but the different heights of the tower on each map get annoying very quickly. I think the dev team did these height tweaks on purpose (obviously), though, so we'll have to learn how to deal with it.

About being one-sided: That's one thing I noticed, too. Once you are 1 point behind with a score below 40-50 you basically lost the game. Knockouts are rare in TC; the tower moves faster on it's way to the farthest point, but that doesn't help enough to start a comeback if the enemy team knows how to defend the center. Especially if they have a charger who picks everyone right from the tower, as it's hard to push the tower AND get rid of the chargers at the same time.

 

[Cobbs]

Fun for a romp with random players. Ranks gives the mode an illusion of having more on the line and being more competitive. All it is is, like splatzones, more focused and makes it easier for people to feel like they're applying a strategy to a specific situation. Turf Wars is more open and, like when learning how to play Starcraft, the strategy and tactical counterplay needed at high levels isn't evident.

 

[Egregore]

Honestly, it's my favorite game type so far. I think my particular style of play has to do with it, but I find myself having more fun in TC than SZ or TW.

 

[Cobbs]

Honestly, it's my favorite game type so far. I think my particular style of play has to do with it, but I find myself having more fun in TC than SZ or TW.

It feels like I'm playing the other shooters I have, and is focused on getting kills, so it's likely more fun for people who prefer that to the open endedness of turf war. Kinda like how people like Twisted Treeline in LoL.