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Splatoon 2: online Salmon Run only playable during timed events

Nintendo continues to make really weird decisions. Hopefully it's either often enough to not matter (it'll still be annoying), or they'll cave ans have it available 24/7
 
If they don't want to change it, that's fine. That's their right. But they are selling a product, so making it look and act as best as it can be is their agenda. It's a video game you are buying.

Developers change things with patches all the time. Hell, Nintendo did it with MK. THey don't just make a game and not give a shit about the consumer afterwards.

Whatever. I hope to see you employ such passiveness when another developer does something dumb.

Its up to people to vote with their wallet Splatoon IS gonna sell and if its such a HUGE anti-consumer move by Nintendo then there will be outcry to them. Splatoon 1 used this same method of "blocking" content and while annoying didn't really bother me to write articles about it. Its just the way this game functions. If the game bombs then you can blame Salmon Run being limited. Im gonna buy this day 1 full price so I guess im giving them a "pass" but I also play Overwatch and SFV. I play what I like and spend money on what I like.
 
I never said they did...and I never said there was an industry standard. Nor did I ever say this was the best way to handle it. The other person asked if Nintendo cared about variety, why we have map rotation. The answer is that it allows us to play a variety of maps over the long haul.

If Overwatch does it differently and it works as well, cool.

I will almost always see more maps playing an hour of Overwatch or Titanfall than I will playing an hour of Splatoon 2. Claiming it's done for variety's sake just doesn't make sense.
 
Its up to people to vote with their wallet Splatoon IS gonna sell and if its such a HUGE anti-consumer move by Nintendo then there will be outcry to them. Splatoon 1 used this same method of "blocking" content and while annoying didn't really bother me to write articles about it. Its just the way this game functions. If the game bombs then you can blame Salmon Run being limited.

Sales don't have to be a gauge. People can just get a conversation going and Nintendo can change it. Again MK sold well but Nintendo fixed a bunch of issues. I don't see how this could be any different.
 
Sales don't have to be a gauge. People can just get a conversation going and Nintendo can change it. Again MK sold well but Nintendo fixed a bunch of issues. I don't see how this could be any different.

Right if you feel so strongly about it start a twitter campaign or something that will get Nintendo's attention again some people were annoyed by this on Splatoon 1 but the outcry wasn't big enough to warrant change, it didn't damage or ruin the game. I and others play/played it for years with maps alternating.

Games like SFV are different beasts they HAVE to change because their sales are so low they must get as much players as possible. Sales do matter and can define change in a franchise. Same with other online games like Rainbow Six Siege.
 

Kusagari

Member
Nintendo putting these dumbass time limits in their online games is infuriating.

If it's an event it's one thing but they just put random limits and times because they can.
 

Renna Hazel

Member
I will almost always see more maps playing an hour of Overwatch or Titanfall than I will playing an hour of Splatoon 2. Claiming it's done for variety's sake just doesn't make sense.

But what if you play a year of Splatoon 2? You're likely to see every map often. For the long haul, it forces dedicated players to play a variety of maps.
 

Pandy

Member
Then allow Salmon Run to be played via private match only on off-days. Or can it be? Seems like an easy solution.

And I've honestly never heard of a PvP/PvE split in something like Gears or Destiny splintering the userbase to such a degree that measures like this would be necessary.



Titanfall 2 and Overwatch don't use map voting. There's no industry standard for the execution of this stuff.

In so far as I could tell, you can set up a private match with friends anytime you like.
I do wonder if you can still get the full-rewards in a private match, or whether it's just practise for the 'real' thing.

The Destiny thread was full of people complaining about changes to the matchmaking lobbies whereby certain PvP game modes were lumped in with other game modes, I think just for people who hadn't kept up with all the DLC.
Also, half the bloody game is on a Daily/Weekly timer to prevent people repeating lucrative tasks over and over again.
 
I wonder if the rewards for salmon run are objectively better (especially on the higher difficulties) then stuff you can randomly buy in the shop. Maybe they don't want people having infinite time to grind out max level gear. I imagine salmon run is where you'll be able to get the currency needed to customize gear.
 

Renna Hazel

Member
In so far as I could tell, you can set up a private match with friends anytime you like.
I do wonder if you can still get the full-rewards in a private match, or whether it's just practise for the 'real' thing.

The Destiny thread was full of people complaining about changes to the matchmaking lobbies whereby certain PvP game modes were lumped in with other game modes, I think just for people who hadn't kept up with all the DLC.
Also, half the bloody game is on a Daily/Weekly timer to prevent people repeating lucrative tasks over and over again.

Can you actually do this online? I was under the impression that you couldn't. If you can, I'm fine with this restriction.
 
Right if you feel so strongly about it start a twitter campaign or something that will get Nintendo's attention again some people were annoyed by this on Splatoon 1 but the outcry wasn't big enough to warrant change, it didn't damage or ruin the game. I and others play/played it for years with maps alternating.

Games like SFV are different beasts they HAVE to change because their sales are so low they must get as much players as possible. Sales do matter and can define change in a franchise. Same with other online games like Rainbow Six Siege.

That's fine it didn't ruin it for you. Other people have stated differently and everyone's opinions are valid. Not saying sales don't matter but developers take care of the consumer even when a product is selling like gangbusters m. Which MK did and is my point.

I sent a tweet to them a few minutes ago. I don't know what to tell you
 

Effect

Member
Can you actually do this online? I was under the impression that you couldn't. If you can, I'm fine with this restriction.

No just locally it seems. Outside of local mutiplayer there is only the normal online version that has the every other day limit.

There has to be a reason why it's being limited and I still think the rewards might be one of them. As suggested they might not want people grinding them out all the time.

They also could be doing even more specific things with them.

However no way in hell this should be a deal breaker for anyone. That also makes no damn sense.
 
But what if you play a year of Splatoon 2? You're likely to see every map often. For the long haul, it forces dedicated players to play a variety of maps.

I don't follow. I will always see more maps in a two hour session of Overwatch when compared to a two hour session of Splatoon. How does this change over a long period of time?

There has to be a reason why it's being limited and I still think the rewards might be one of them. As suggested they might not want people grinding them out all the time.

Daily limits on currency earned or gear drops from Salmon Run would be an easy solution to this, if it's really a problem.
 

guggnichso

Banned
These dates seem pre-release dates. Did they explicitly SAY that this will be so in the final game? Or is this just a misleading screenshot of their internal testing schedule?
 

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
Nintendo taking a page from MMO and mobile gacha games - them timed Raid events. Making sure people meet up and prepare for these Runs.
 

Renna Hazel

Member
I don't follow. I will always see more maps in a two hour session of Overwatch when compared to a two hour session of Splatoon. How does this change over a long period of time?

In a 2 hour session of Splatoon 2 you will see 4 maps. Over the course of a year with Splatoon 2 you will see every map many times. This provides variety in the maps dedicated players see. It's as simple as that.
 
These dates seem pre-release dates. Did they explicitly SAY that this will be so in the final game? Or is this just a misleading screenshot of their internal testing schedule?

They specifically said in the Direct that Salmon Run is only playable at certain times. It's possible the length of time will be different in the final game.
 
Can you actually do this online? I was under the impression that you couldn't. If you can, I'm fine with this restriction.

No, private/friend battles can be set up at any time. These are public times for random matching

Also, looking at the times, these are almost every day, back to back with a few breaks in between. Also we can see from the first time they can potentially have it going for MONTHS
 
In a 2 hour session of Splatoon 2 you will see 4 maps. Over the course of a year with Splatoon 2 you will see every map many times. This provides variety in the maps dedicated players see. It's as simple as that.

Over the course of a year with Overwatch you will see every map many times. You will also see more maps in a given time period in Overwatch than with Splatoon. So I don't think it's that simple.
 

Waji

Member
These dates seem pre-release dates. Did they explicitly SAY that this will be so in the final game? Or is this just a misleading screenshot of their internal testing schedule?
The first date is like February to July and then there's one to 3 days of pause here and there.
So either the first one is completely random and only the July days matter, or the whole thing is not clear enough.
 

Renna Hazel

Member
No, private/friend battles can be set up at any time. These are public times for random matching

Also, looking at the times, these are almost every day, back to back with a few breaks in between. Also we can see from the first time they can potentially have it going for MONTHS

Conflicting answers to this question. So I CAN setup a private Salmon Run match and play with my friends online? Just getting games with randoms is timed?

Over the course of a year with Overwatch you will see every map many times. You will also see more maps in a given time period in Overwatch than with Splatoon. So I don't think it's that simple.

It is simple. The Splatoon rotation method allows players to see a variety of maps, that's why it's there. I'm not sure why you keep talking about Overwatch...
 
I didn't buy Splatoon 1 because of the restricted limited amount of stages (I believe only 3?) for four hours. Although Salmon run being up for 24 hours on select days is a bit better, I wonder why the Splatoon team wants to control the online experience with an iron fist so badly.
 
It is simple. The Splatoon rotation method allows players to see a variety of maps, that's why it's there. I'm not sure why you keep talking about Overwatch...

Because it's a popular shooter that doesn't use a voting system for maps. Titanfall 2 is the same, if you would prefer that.

Splatoon's rotation allows players to see a variety of maps at a slower pace than if every match was randomly assigned an equally-weighted map. The real defense for Splatoon's system is that since matches end so quickly, it allows for more consistent practice and strategizing on certain maps. Saying it promotes variety is counterintuitive when considering other shooters that do a better job with that.
 

Pandy

Member
Can you actually do this online? I was under the impression that you couldn't. If you can, I'm fine with this restriction.

I went back to the video to check. Not 100% sure, but it does seem like it.

The bit about the app talks about using it to invite people to private games.
The bit about The Shoal is the bit that talks about setting up local games, and is the screen that has the Salmon Run option on it. It has a separate option for Private Battle.

It sounds a lot like it'll be fine, but we can only say for 100% sure that a private Salmon Run can be run locally. Being able to do it online is an inference.

I didn't buy Splatoon 1 because of the restricted limited amount of stages (I believe only 3?) for four hours. Although Salmon run being up for 24 hours on select days is a bit better, I wonder why the Splatoon team wants to control the online experience with an iron fist so badly.

So that people don't quit a match when they get maps they don't like. If a map you don't like is in the 2 map rotation, you're more likely to just not play. If a map you don't like is in a 12 map rotation, you're likely to play, but then quit and leave your team a squid short when you land on the map you don't like.
 

Renna Hazel

Member
Because it's a popular shooter that doesn't use a voting system for maps. Titanfall 2 is the same, if you would prefer that.

Splatoon's rotation allows players to see a variety of maps at a slower pace than if every match was randomly assigned an equally-weighted map. The real defense for Splatoon's system is that since matches end so quickly, it allows for more consistent practice and strategizing on certain maps. Saying it promotes variety is counterintuitive when considering other shooters that do a better job with that.

Well there are obviously other reasons, the team has said in the past that they want users to know which maps they'll be playing so they can set their weapons and equipment for the maps. They've also said it was to increase the variety in the maps. Just because another game does it better doesn't mean that isn't one of the main reasons. It succeeds well enough at doing that.

Whether or not you prefer something else is a different argument altogether. I personally prefer something else...that doesn't change that the Splatoon method still accomplishes it's goal of getting users to play all the maps often.
 
This is dumb, especially because it is available locally at any time. Local multiplayer isn't as popular/feasible in the US, not to mention multi-system local multiplayer. There just isn't really a good reason to do this with one of the major modes in the game
 

nubbe

Member
it's psychology

something that you can't do anytime you want has more value
will make people gather when it's available
 
The decisions around the splatoon franchise are some of the most boneheaded things Ive seen a video game company do in a long time, up there with Konami. Its a shame cause the base gameplay of splatoon is great.
 

shingi70

Banned
This is dumb, especially because it is available locally at any time. Local multiplayer isn't as popular/feasible in the US, not to mention multi-system local multiplayer. There just isn't really a good reason to do this with one of the major modes in the game


It's not that dumb. Trails and Iron Banner are timed events in destiny and work out just fine.
 
I don't understand the problem. Many multiplayer oriented games use a similar timed system like this for certain modes. Play another mode, another game, go outside, go on a date? Seems like complaining just for the sake of it.

Girl: How about a movie?
Guy: Sorry, I can't. The Salmon run is tonight, how about tomorrow night?
Girl: No can do, have to work. The day after?
Guy: Ummmmm...
 
It's not that dumb. Trails and Iron Banner are timed events in destiny and work out just fine.
Those aren't unique modes, they're unique rulesets for existing modes, it's not the same.

A more fitting comparison would be making strikes only avaiable during certain days.
 

spelen

Member
Smart from Nintendos persepctivr. It'll get ppl to check the app and load up the switch regularly especially if the game mode is amazing.
 

TheJoRu

Member
I paid for it, so it should be accessible at all times. This is just another form of anti-consumerism and It's a sad day when Nintendo is another cog in that machine.

No, you didn't. You paid for a license of Splatoon 2, and Nintendo are free to put restrictions inside that product. The important thing is that Nintendo discloses this so consumers are aware of it. If they didn't it might've made it appear as if it was always available, which would've been deceiving.

Oh, and please don't use the term "anti-consumerism" like that. Anti-consumerism would be to only allow Salmon Run to be played outside allotted times for a real-money fee, for example. It's of course fair to dislike and criticise it, that's very understandable. But it's not anti-consumer, and I think it's extremely dangerous to misuse the term like that, because it neuters it and makes it meaningless in cases of real anti-consumerism.
 
Whether or not you prefer something else is a different argument altogether. I personally prefer something else...that doesn't change that the Splatoon method still accomplishes it's goal of getting users to play all the maps often.

If I cared at all about variety I would prefer a system that allows me to play the widest array of maps in the shortest amount of time.

It's not that dumb. Trails and Iron Banner are timed events in destiny and work out just fine.

Crucible exists every day whether or not Trials and Iron Banner are active. This is like if strikes were only available every other day.
 
It's not that dumb. Trails and Iron Banner are timed events in destiny and work out just fine.
Those are modifications to already available modes, not entirely new modes. Splatoon already has limited time events, no need to turn the new, selling point mode into one.
 
I went back to the video to check. Not 100% sure, but it does seem like it.

The bit about the app talks about using it to invite people to private games.
The bit about The Shoal is the bit that talks about setting up local games, and is the screen that has the Salmon Run option on it. It has a separate option for Private Battle.

It sounds a lot like it'll be fine, but we can only say for 100% sure that a private Salmon Run can be run locally. Being able to do it online is an inference.



So that people don't quit a match when they get maps they don't like. If a map you don't like is in the 2 map rotation, you're more likely to just not play. If a map you don't like is in a 12 map rotation, you're likely to play, but then quit and leave your team a squid short when you land on the map you don't like.

I see. I guess this game isn't for me then. Shame cause base gameplay is fun.
 

Macka

Member
Wait, what?! Why?

Seriously, what could the explanation for this be?

That's super fucking annoying. It's hard enough to coordinate schedules with my friends so we can get online at the same time, and now you're telling me this might randomly be unavailable when we do? Absolutely ridiculous. The map rotation in general is already bad (and something I was hoping would be gone considering they're asking for paid online now), but this is even worse.
 

NotLiquid

Member
If it's daily that's not too bad, not that I even think it's necessary in the first place. It just strikes me as really weird. Maybe a way for them to incentivize people to return and not spread the game modes too thin? But Splatoon is big enough now that it doesn't need that much of a broad restriction. The Ranked Mode shuffle made sense but this seems just obtuse for the sake of being so, especially since it easily looks like the most exciting new addition to the game.
 

Cartho

Member
It's a flat out, pants on head moronic decision. People say "oh but it's available every other day that's fine" but in which case, why limit it at all? Overwatch gets away with it because it's available so rarely that it feels special when it is live. This won't feel special, it will just feel breath takingly irritating if it's not available on an evening when you want it to be.

There is zero good justification for this and to say "oh it's to tie in with the lore" is mental. Don't let your lore interfere with the core MP game design to that extent.

They need to just make it up all the time. This is just one of those "oh Nintendo" ridiculous online game decisions which they still, sadly, seem to make.
 
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