@DarthNocturnal Halo might. And obviously things like Sea of Thieves, persistent world games can't function without them. I don't think anyone would even mind payments to use "dedicated servers and persistent world online play" as it supplants MMOs to a degree. Even have XBLFree access P2P but step up to XBLG for access dedicated servers. That seems fair. Though some like Yorumi are always eager to point out that these same games on PC require no such payment..... which is a valid point. Why is EA, Ubisoft willing to provide servers for free for a platform on which they charge less while Sony and MS can't do it for a platform you bought from them? What's wrong with the pricing model?
Most games are just P2P though. I miss Quake in the 90's with tons of dedicated servers. Though most were really just stealing bandwidth from universities and such.
@YummyHappyPills I don't think I ever said they did? I did say in the comment before my last though that a website reported that it was delayed until Fall 2018 after spotting a change on Nintendo's Italian site.It was soon corrected and I think most just assumed it to be a simple typo as it was originally down for Fall 2017. Easy mistake to make for sure but now we know the real date, I think it's safe to say it was a slip rather than a typo.
As for the online date, it looks like that website that reported it was delayed until Autumn after spotting an update on the Nintendo Italia site was correct.
@OorWullie you did say "delayed to Fall", when in fact it wasn't. It was a slip up but it wasn't a delay from the prior info.
When that error was posted on Nintendo Italia, the previous confirmed window for launch was 2018. Just the year, not even a quarter, so I fail to see how narrowing it down within that window can be considered a delay, for both that Fall 2018 slip, and this new date?
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Now Streaming: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
@NEStalgia I don't think the 3rd parties have a choice. If they charge only on PC then there'd be outrage from the PC community but if they charge on all platforms there'd be outrage from the console community because you'd have to pay twice so they don't charge at all which ends up a compromise that people are fine with.
@Octane It definitely makes a difference. From observation I think I've worked out overall that the way Splatoon networking works is thus:
Players are paired in twos as synchronized clients. This is why most of the time when one player drops, two drop. Then there is 1 player designated as host to which all the others sync which also hosts the inkmap.
This has a myriad of effects.
1: Matchmaking is NOT based on player skill alone. It is also based on the networking requirements of the lobby. Meaning you may be more likely to get mismatched player skill because they suited the hosting needs and were available. It also delays matchmaking until suitable network/skill partners are located.
2: Assuming you're on perfect gigabit fiber with a 4ms ping to nearby servers, you are likely to be the server if enough players are near you. However if the other players are mostly not near you (think a twin league lobby with 6 Japanese players) the server will be one of those players, and your connection is now laggy.
3: Your upload to the server player is only as good as the synced client you're sharing your session with.
4: The host player ALWAYS has a significant advantage. Their actions are delayed to ALL other players, and other players actions are delayed to them. So they can react fastest. If you have "that one player" in your lobby that seems to just be faster than everyone else, odds are, they're the server.
5: Right now, victory favors the lagger. Splatoon appears to use a predictive AI based player movement system, much like a racer, to make gameplay appear always smooth and fluid. it GUESSES where players are when it doesn't know, which is why you see players doing weird things or teleporting (the infamous, they jumped off the ledge, then jumped off the ledge, then jumped off the ledge again, then killed you from above) When players are close to disconnecting it has them doing weird motions and gestures and patterns. To the host player, their actions will simply be delayed and sporadic. To other players who deal with latency from the lagger to the host and then whatever latency from the host to their player pair, you end up with quasi-invincible players who can suddenly accelerate faster than everyone else as the AI predicts their location for longer periods. Different players then have the potential to see DIFFERENT predictive results. And you can end up with situations where a player kills you AFTER you kill them. Because the different hosts had different results at different times. Minor jitter in Splatoon is extreme. At the S+ levels that matters substantially.
Dedicated servers GREATLY reduce those problems because there is one tier-2 hosted server tracking all 8 players independently, so the server knows who killed who first based on when it received the data without round robin guesswork. It still involves guessing the lagger, but the server knows who the lagger is rather than round robin guessing who the lagger MIGHT be. Thus the lagger will suffer for being laggy, instead of everyone else suffering for NOT being laggy and getting free movement. The server can update coordinates based on tracking the 8 players rather than the client determining coordinates based on likely outcomes of the last partial updates from the pool.
Part of that is splatoons clear re-use of MK netcode. Racer netcode does the AI based predictive stuff to keep it smooth. That works in racers because you're not actually racing other players, you're racing the clock. The other players don't actually matter much. That does not work for shooters because absolute positioning matters. Compare the "AI smoothed" netcode to Dissidia FF which is old school. Notice how choppy the framerate is? The game runs in stops and starts with frequent stalls. It's not smoothed out artificially like splatoon, you're seeing the ACTUAL lag as you wait for the players to update. And it reveals just how bad the internet is for PvP in general. BUT your positioning is always absolute. There are no phantoms and guesswork. But it's bad P2P play still. The game was designed around LAN play in an arcade....
IMHO, PvP should be confined to LAN and friends in general, while PvE works fine online.
There's the flip side: Gravity Rush 2, an offline game, had dedicated servers for odd content (some small bits of online only play.) They're shutting down the servers. Bye bye goes that content forever. And it's not even an old game. All for $60/yr.
@Grumblevolcano The issue is there's a few takeaways: 1) Online DOES cost money but due to politics of PC they can't charge, so console players are subsidizing leechy PC online play. 2) Online doesn't cost enough beyond margin to warrant paying for, so console players are being gouged. Either revenue for online is important and one group is paying for the other, or it's not important the group paying are being duped. Either way we have the platform that pays less for the game ALSO not paying for the online while the group paying more for the game also pays for online. Makes one wonder why they release on PC at all? I mean it can't be profitable, right?
@NEStalgia "1) Online DOES cost money but due to politics of PC they can't charge, so console players are subsidizing leechy PC online play."
Err, no? PC players are not leeching on anyone. You pay to MS or Sony. The costs of online are being payed by devs/publishers. The only leeching being done is by Sony and MS. Why should you need to pay to play for example battlefront 2? They haven't developed the game, the servers are maintained by EA. The only thing they do are the matchmaking and voice chat.
@YummyHappyPills You're correct in saying that it wasn't actually delayed again but I didn't put any thought into that part as it's irrelevant to the point I was making, which was it likely wasn't just a typo like many suspected after all. Their headline read "Paid Nintendo Switch Online Service Delayed To Fall 2018" so like I said, they reported it was delayed.
@Therad On the surface it's true. Below the surface it would take a lot of bribe money and some heavy drugging to convince me that the big publishers are not getting a cut of that subscription money and/or are not they key instigators behind it. Little ones like Psyonix? Not a dime. EA and Activision? You bet they get a cut. Whether it's a blanket tithe, or a per-user-per-session royalty or however they've arranged it, I'd be stunned if it were NOT happening. If I were to make a guess (complete speculation, not inspired by any known rumors I've heard of, just my own opinion), Microsoft started throwing money around to them with their XBLG requirement to lure publishers into supporting them as they established the XBox brand. And learning to enjoy the new royalties, the publishers began to pressure Sony and presumably Nintendo to provide the same. Once Sony began, it became "pay us or else you don't get our games" for Nintendo. So basically a protection racket run by the big publishers, though inspired by MS's generous bribe money last gen.
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2. Baldur's Gate 3
3. Bully (Rockstar)
4. Person 4 / Golden
5. Sonic Adventure 2
6. Xenoblade X
7. Ape Escape 2
8. Animal Crossing: New Leaf
9. James Bond 007 Nightfire
10. Persona 3: Reloaded
Switch Friend Code: SW-5070-3616-4044 | My Nintendo: Aozz101x
@NaviAndMii It turns out that Dragon Ball FighterZ is indeed quite popular! The fastest selling Dragon Ball game ever and it sold over 2 million copies in less than a week. I didn't expect that either!
@Octane Yeah, fair play - have to hold my hands up and say that I was wrong about all of those games! There hasn't been anything that's been released that has grabbed me so far - very early days though! (..I've still not even managed to get around to playing Odyssey quite yet, so I'm in no rush either )
I know the article looks at the length of the lifespan of Gamecube, Wii and Wii U, but it really should be looking at handhelds. The 3DS is 7 years old.
@scubydo
I have yet to see a single game release on Switch that didn't have a downloadable version.
@Grumblevolcano
You just find transfer in the options and follow the prompts, similar to past console transfer processes.
@Eagle9
Couple announced for Japan, nothing in the west I'm aware of. There was 1 actually coming west but cant remember the name. But all that'll probably change in 2018. Danganronpa 3 will likely come via NIS since they're dumping EVERYTHING they can on Switch. And I think a retailer already listed it in Brazil as I recall.
Psalms 22:16 (1,000 yrs before Christ)
They pierced My hands and feet
Isaiah 53:5 (700 yrs before Christ)
He was pierced for our transgressions
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