Was there a recent difficulty spike?

[Zombie Aladdin]

On the whole, the more level 50 players there are, the more often us mid-level players and below are going to run into them and get totally wiped out, so much so that it's impossible to learn anything. I'm sure the top level players would rather play against folks at their own level as well, since blowing apart newbies is only fun to the most sadistic minorities.

There are also little kids who happen to be very good at the game. My experience with small children points towards them preferring huge blowouts and winning with as little difficulty as possible and with every possible advantage on their side. It's only when they get older and more mature that people start seeking challenges and enjoying close matches.

This is not Splatoon-specific, but it is something I'd bet happens in Splatoon due to a lot of little kids playing it.

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

Turf War is just as full of competitive players as ranked, and furthermore lacks Ranked's hard separation of players, so that the "tryhards" are being thrown in with the causals and the less experienced more often.

This guy knows the problem with Turf Wars.

Which is the reason why I have vouched for a "Point System" akin to Mario Kart's Online Point system.
So that the same "Player Seperation" is in Regular as well.

Especially, since Levels are still a terrible way to ascertain skills.
I said it before, and I will say it again: "Levels only show how much time and dedication you put into this game. Nothing more!"

I am Level 45, but still within the C-Ranks.
So yeah, I am far from a gaming god in Splatoon.


It used to work without player seperation. But the meta has changed, and it doesn't anymore.
And yes, I am speaking Turf Wars still.
Finding a balanced matchup shouldn't be a matter of pure luck, it should be guaranteed from the get go.


And to all the people who like the spam "Git Gud (worthless PoS)", "Survival of the Fittest" and generally tell people to just get better...
I say: DROP THE "VON KARMA" ATTITUDE RIGHT THERE!!!

Just stop, being an elitistic jerk.

 

[PrinceOfKoopas]

And to all the people who like the spam "Git Gud (worthless PoS)", "Survival of the Fittest" and generally tell people to just get better...
I say: DROP THE "VON KARMA" ATTITUDE RIGHT THERE!!!

Just stop, being an elitistic jerk.

Perfection. :(

 

[Glass Eater]

Turf War is just as full of competitive players as ranked, and furthermore lacks Ranked's hard separation of players, so that the "tryhards" are being thrown in with the causals and the less experienced more often.

I'm aware of that. However, people may not admit it but- losing your rank is one of the bigger reasons to get upset with this game, not necessarily losing games.

There isn't much that can be done about this other than (ironically) playing ranked games. If you are a C player, than fall back into the C rank.

Which is the reason why I have vouched for a "Point System" akin to Mario Kart's Online Point system.
So that the same "Player Seperation" is in Regular as well.

I'm totally ok with this as well.

 

[redacteddd]

When the game first came out, everyone was using the aerospray rg. What nerfed it? Any weapon that had longer range. The new popular weapon was the splattershot Jr. The .52 gal nerfed the splattershot jr. Then it was the .96 gal deco, then it was the splattershot pro. The Krak-on splat roller, the E-liter, and the Tentatek splattershot were both popular at the same times........until the roller, and the E-liter got MEGA nerfed. Now, less people use the Krak-on splat roller, and the tentatek splattershot. The classic splattershot was used for a short time (about a week or so), but now Inkbrushes, and octobrushes are the popular weapons.

First of all, both the provided and raw data values for the Aerospray RG and the Splattershot Jr. are identical, the Aerospray RG Just has a faster fire rate and less damage output to better balance it out. And I'm pretty both were equally popular, as they favor different styles of play

The Inkbrush is known for it's crippling short range attack and loadouts that don't give any long range weapon. It's always been a favorite, just not in the competitive scene. However, the Octobrush is starting to make it's way in as an assist based weapon.

 

[Noire]

Three things as to why it's so hard.

1. The matchmaking sucks. As stated, you can get a room but nothing with 50s once you hit level 5. Yes, that early and you're already fighting really strong opponents? Nintendo, please.

2. Most players that are still playing have been playing the game for a long time. A good part of them also use alts to play the game through again. I've seen level 5s that play like level 50s. Which means the actual ratios of players with a beginner's skills are rather low. Also, some have ragequit the game due to it's difficulty further lowering this number.

3. Splatfest is even worse when you're in the Americas or Europe, the actual amount of players are low (I've seen the same people join my room more that four times last splatfest!) and most of them are decently skilled, which means little beginners and more skilled players, which mean the game is a lot harder.

 

[JfiveevifJ]

This. Either you get better or fall behind in a lower rank. You say it's not fun, but perhaps you will have fun in the B rankings? I'm being serious, nothing is wrong in losing a rank if it's needed.

I main Turf War, and I'm not opposed to losing Rank if I need to, but I've never seen it confirmed that losing rank will adjust who you're matched with in Turf War. Anyone know the answer to that?

 

[Inyo]

I main Turf War, and I'm not opposed to losing Rank if I need to, but I've never seen it confirmed that losing rank will adjust who you're matched with in Turf War. Anyone know the answer to that?

I don't think the two are related. I think a lot of our concerns can be solved with a few matchmaking tweaks, rather than manipulating our play style or anything.

 

[Smashling79]

As some have said on here already, people have been getting better, so yeah it gets harder to score. Especially when you have an analog stick that stutters when you push it forward like mine lol. Makes matches twice as hard.

 

[JfiveevifJ]

To be honest, it got harder right when Mario Maker was released. My theory is that there was a mass exodus out of Splatoon, leaving a higher majority of committed players.

At least that may be part of what's going on. Others have mentioned being matched with people based on "playstyle" (whatever/however the system determies that), and others have simply stated that matchmaking is simply broken - not disagreeing with that either.

I've really enjoyed Splatoon since I picked it up last May however it seems that the game has gotten super aggresive lately. Has anyone tried to manipulate this "playstyle" mechanic? It's not that I don't want a challenge - that's what ranked is for, but sometimes you just wanna try out some different or unorthodox setups, or even just chill and not be punished so severely for it.

 

[ndayadn]

I guess it would make sense, esp if you play a lot of turf that it would have gotten more 'aggressive.' the way the game is played changes over time. people don't fall behind the excuse of "tw is for FUN!" as often it seems, and in general people feel as if they have figured out what's good and what isn't. You don't get lobbies full of inkbrushes in random play.

keep up or get ****ed up as my grandpappy would say.

 

[LMG]

I've really enjoyed Splatoon since I picked it up last May however it seems that the game has gotten super aggresive lately. Has anyone tried to manipulate this "playstyle" mechanic? It's not that I don't want a challenge - that's what ranked is for, but sometimes you just wanna try out some different or unorthodox setups, or even just chill and not be punished so severely for it.

While I don't think it's considered "manipulation" they way I play the game usually keeps me from getting a ton of splats (unless the team plays overly-agressive or just stumbles upon the line of fire of my Heavy Splatling ;)), but even then I'm not sure if that's the reason why I tend to see a couple of low-splat, Turf-trading games from time to time. That and the fact that I avoid heavily offensively-oriented maps like Saltspray Rig and Port Mackerel so I don't have to be forced into stress-inducing matches, which is what ruined the Cars vs. Planes Splatfest for me

 

[SupaTim]

I definitely get paired with high level people who are often A rank or higher. It makes it difficult to enjoy Turf Wars sometimes, especially if I just want to relax and ink turf. It is also difficult to have a "hot seat" night with friends because they are certainly going to perform poorly on my account.

I have noticed that the game tries to put you in similar level lobbies because when I play with a buddy who's only level 16 we often get under level 30 lobbies. I can usually carry in these lobbies but I've also noticed that as he gets more experienced the lobbies get more difficult.

It kinda makes me want to make an alternate just to goof around with.

 

[Hyperorange]

I think the matchmaking is partially to blame for this, at least in Turf War. It needs to keep the extremely experienced players away from the lower ranked players better than it has been.

On the whole, the more level 50 players there are, the more often us mid-level players and below are going to run into them and get totally wiped out, so much so that it's impossible to learn anything. I'm sure the top level players would rather play against folks at their own level as well, since blowing apart newbies is only fun to the most sadistic minorities.

This is true for ranked, however, as a mid leveled squidkid you should already know a pretty good sort of info on how to deal with higher leveled players (Level 50s aren't THAT scary, you just need to know about their play style)

 

[dapperlace]

On the subject of how the game will set you up in Turf Wars:
When I started this new file, I was getting paired up with level 10s or so, maybe 15 tops, and I felt a little bad because I kind of demolished them. I left that lobby, and immediately after, the game stated shoving me into the levle 35~50 lobbies. The only real problem in this case was the gear, since mine was rather lacking, but the game does have a way of figuring out where you belong.

You may not realize how much better you've gotten over time, but the game does. If you ever want a friend to try the game in a live Turf War match, never let them use an already established file, it's not going to give them the actual starting game experience.

 

[Paragon-Yoshi]

On the subject of how the game will set you up in Turf Wars:
When I started this new file, I was getting paired up with level 10s or so, maybe 15 tops, and I felt a little bad because I kind of demolished them. I left that lobby, and immediately after, the game stated shoving me into the levle 35~50 lobbies. The only real problem in this case was the gear, since mine was rather lacking, but the game does have a way of figuring out where you belong.

You may not realize how much better you've gotten over time, but the game does. If you ever want a friend to try the game in a live Turf War match, never let them use an already established file, it's not going to give them the actual starting game experience.

Then i just have to assume the game completely misanalysed me.
Since it constantly matches me with people, that utterly destroy me.
Turf Wars at least.

Ranked is not an issue. Again, thanks to Rank-system.

 

[Zombie Aladdin]

I definitely get paired with high level people who are often A rank or higher. It makes it difficult to enjoy Turf Wars sometimes, especially if I just want to relax and ink turf. It is also difficult to have a "hot seat" night with friends because they are certainly going to perform poorly on my account.

I have noticed that the game tries to put you in similar level lobbies because when I play with a buddy who's only level 16 we often get under level 30 lobbies. I can usually carry in these lobbies but I've also noticed that as he gets more experienced the lobbies get more difficult.

It kinda makes me want to make an alternate just to goof around with.

As I joined pretty late, I can definitely say that I saw a lot of people in the single-digit levels when I was below Level 10 and people in the teens with a few single-digit people and some slightly higher when between Levels 11 and 19. Once I reached 20 though, all bets were off. This seems to apply to Splatfests too. That being said, I'd mostly find at least one outlier in the room.

Mario Kart 8 works in this way too: As my VR surpassed a multiple of 1000, the kinds of opponents I'd get changed too. The biggest difference was when my VR reached 5000, and I suddenly saw people with VRs of 7500 or more show up all of a sudden, and my races suddenly became a lot more difficult. And in the same way, I'd often see one or two people in a room with VRs much higher or lower than the others. (When they're higher, they can place pretty much anywhere, but when they're lower, they're most often at or near the bottom, sadly.)

 

[Ayasha89]

I've noticed it too, both Turf and Ranked. I'm in A- and nearly got to A, but when I was stuck in the Bs, all of a sudden I was getting thrashed when I was keeping up fine earlier. This owes to the fact that players in general are getting better, and some people make alt accounts out of boredom. So then you might encounter an S/ S+ skilled player in C, B, or A. Bad sorting doesn't help. Not when you're like me and encounter S ranks in A- with randomers.

For Turf, the same deal. Players learning or highly skilled ranked players being bored and going back to turf. It's also common knoweledge that even in this mode, if you want to win, you have to be more aggressive, react better, watch the map often and know what's going on. Know when to go to this part of the map to assist teammates or when to stay and defend the current area. Someone in another forum suggested that by this time, many casuals have moved on and there are mainly elite/ serious players left. There's also a trend of hanging back until the final minute, then pushing as hard as possibly, since the final ink on the map is all that really matters. Why go really hard the whole time and wear yourself thin. The tide can change so quickly in the last seconds.

 

[AidanC97]

I've noticed it particularly in the ranked battles. My team will always get knocked out fast, (and my team usually consists of level 29-45) so it's a spike to me

 

[blu]

I'm getting this alot in B- Rank. Once I reach the late 80's or early 90's the gloves come off. I'm paired with some really good players and they just wipe the map. Dominate. Try as I might, just can't put a dent in their team. The next match my team wins only for me to lose the next two matches to the same group of players as before. Sometimes I would get paired against the same exact team twice in a row, and in which case I would either have to stick with it, or just leave so I don't risk losing rank.

I'm considering not caring too much for my rank going forward, as there are no guarantees to up rank from this point on.