After playing Splatoon for months, I'm pretty confident in saying that this is a game primarily based around luck, lust like Mario Kart 8 and Mario Party 10. It still involves skill, but a big majority of your wins will be based around your team, and unless you're playing with friends that you know are good (which many of you do here), your wins and losses will be based on how well they perform, and with no voice chat, for all you know you playing with 5-7 year olds..
Don't get me wrong, it's an addicting game has a great original concept but this is its one huge flaw that will never make fall me love with it. Playing with a team just sucks. You just can't rely on other people if you're playing to rank up. That's why 1 on 1 fighting games just have a better community for games like this.
@Rexcalibr Whilst I agree to an extent, certainly in the C ranks, and in Splatfests, I find that the further up you are, the less you worry about your team, as, sure, there might be the odd match I lose due to my team, where I couldn't have done any more, the majority that I lose I solely lose due to myself not giving 110%.
I'd argue that the skill involved highly outweighs the luck. I've won several 3vs4 matches, and lost some as well, simply due to people pulling their weight as a team, and really shining. I don't remember faulting anyone's skills apart from my own in those matches, so it probably was me not giving 110%.
@Rexcalibr: It depends a lot less in "luck" than MK or MP. In fact, if you're the one who makes the difference in your team, your teammates aren't that important.
@Rexcalibr: If there is a 5-7 year old in S+ rank they definitely didn't get there by luck.
Oh and I disagree it is not even remotely near the likes of MK and MP and takes skill to climb to the top rank.
@TingLz: Well not me , just the other day a slosher disconnected , we were 2 chargers and a roller , and we won ! It was splat zones on moray towers so we were already at an advantage .
MASSIVE SPLATOON PLAYER , LOVE POKEMON, FIRE EMBLEM AND BAYONETTA SERIES .
ADD ME ON WII U : MEGAPOKEPAUL
In my opinion, Splatoon is mostly skill, and getting lucky with who your teammates are (different weapons, etc.), MK is skill besides getting lucky with items, and MP... usually only luck, with the exception of a few mini-games here and there.
@Rexcalibr: I agree with pretty much everyone else on this. As you move up, your team mates generally become much more consistent and reliable, and it's easier to pin-point what you got wrong as an individual and as a team in any match you lose. Also, as you get more experienced, you start to pick up on a lot of the subtleties that really define the game in general, as well as each map, mode and weapon. You start learning small changes in movement and play-style that consistently make the the difference between splatting and being splatted. You start to gain an understanding of how best to approach the main goal of each mode; when to push forward; when to play defensively; when to hold back and wait for your team to regroup; when to launch a surprise solo kamikaze attack; when to basically hide somewhere safe (in the knowledge that you're more valuable as a point to Super Jumped to than you are as an actual player); when to ink the map to help a teammate; when to ink the map to ensure the enemy can't make quick progress into a sensitive region; when to ink the map simply to build up to a potentially game changing Special; when to make absolutely sure not to die so you don't waste a nearly-complete Special Bar.
I could go on (a bit). The point is, no-one gets any of that stuff when they start playing. If other people are/were like me, they just into the map, tried to randomly splat people while hoping not the get splatted, and try and directly progress the main objective no matter what the situation. Playing Tower Defence? Then jump on the tower and hope you don't get splatted. Rainmaker in its bubble? Then just shoot at the bubble and hope for the best. Splat Zones? Head to the Splat Zone, shoot at it, and cross your fingers that it's enough to claim it.
None of those strategies are particularly rewarding or engaging, and can just leave you frustrated that you keep getting splatted and don't know what to do about it. There are so many crucial rhythms in the game that are not apparent when you start playing, and that can make for a pretty uninspiring experience.
If you move up to A and beyond, and what you find is a tactically rich, dynamic, creative, and satisfying competitive game.
@Rexcalibr: I disagree, because from my experience, every single player in the team can make the difference. When I have a bad game (being out of form, tired or distracted), my team almost always loses. Like games where I was too slow or got slaughtered too often, for example. It's extremely rare for 3 players to carry one bad player to a win.
On the other hand, when I have a really good game, it's almost certain that we'll win. But of course not with 100% certainty, I also had games where I played truly well but one or two of my teammates didn't make the right decisions in the most crucial moments and we lost.
But you don't have any control over this, so the only thing you can do is make sure that you bring your a-game. If evertyone does that, your team should have a great chance.
Or as Freeon-Leon put it:
@Rexcalibr: It depends a lot less in "luck" than MK or MP. In fact, if you're the one who makes the difference in your team, your teammates aren't that important.
That's why winning 3vs4 is also rare (but possible). It only occurs when everyone in the 3-player-team are at their best and play in harmony while the 4-player-team is either complacent or has at least one player who has a bad game or when the whole team just has no harmony together.
I can't imagine a 3-player-team winning against a similarly-skilled 4-player team that works really well together.
Also have to agree with what @Maxz wrote, with more experience you get a better feeling for those sublteties and for making the right decisions. It's actually pretty similar to other team sports like football. You can have as much skill as you want but if you always make the wrong decision (deciding to dribble when you should pass and vice versa, leaving you're position when you should keep it and vice versa etc) you will certainly lose. For example you could have the best aim and always have a positive K/D ratio but what good is that if you don't focus on the objective at hand and therefore lose the game because you splatted the enemies at the wrong time?
Of course luck also can have an impact, like who is on your team etc., but during the game itself, it's mainly skill, map awareness and tactical awareness that counts the most, especially on higher ranks.
Anyway, I also disagree that MK8 relies heavily on luck (but more than Splatoon, sure). People tend to overemphasize the importance of items. What's more important is that you drive better than your opponents, use all the various tricks to get a boost at the right time and make clever use of the items provided.
For example I usually play with racers between 4000-6000, but when there is a 15000 racer in the game, he always wins, no matter what. And not only that, he wins with a big lead. I once had a game where I actually came near him and was almost able to take over. But only almost, in the end I finished second, which felt like finishing second in the German Bundesliga (football) behind Bayern Munich. It's like the #1 is playing in their own league and you win the league of the remaining racers. ^^
My GOTY? Legend Of Zelda: Splat of the child. Ah no, I meant LoZ: Breath of the SPLATOOOON!
@shani: Maybe I was a bit harsh on MK8 - I'm no expert at it at all.
I think you've nailed a lot of points about Splatoon though, and I think something that can be frustrating for new players is that a lot of those crucial elements are far from explicit. For example, in Rainmaker, turf coverage technically doesn't matter; the only explicit goal is to get the Rainmaker to the opponents' goal. But if you let the enemy spread their ink all over your side of the map and don't bother cleaning it up, it's going to be far easier for them to quickly make progress when they're in possession. There are many other examples, but I've written a short essay as it is.
Does anyone know any good videos they could recommend to @Rexcalibr for tactical advice? They may be fed up with the game and not want to see it ever again, but it seems like a shame for them to leave with the impression it's just a glorified game of dice.
@Maxz: No that's okay, almost everyone says that MK is largely based on luck. ^^ And It surely has a bigger luck element than Splatoon or other titles, I just wanted to point out that you can still beat that luck element with sheer skill. I actually love the very first MK because it relied more on skill than the later titles (also, the CPU cheated all the time ).
Yeah, those crucial elements are pretty implicit, nothing in the game teaches them to you explicitly. I think the only way to learn them naturally is by making mistakes (losing) and analyzing what went wrong. I do that all the time, maybe a bit too much even. ^^ Regarding turf coverage in ranked: Yeah, I think it can be especially vital in RM, but also on the other modes. You effectively "block" the way for the enemy (or free the way for your team), at least temporarily. They have to stop and ink the ground first before advancing to the objective. It's not that vital in every situation, but in a close game it can help to stop the enemy, to take over the lead or to extend your lead so that you stay ahead at the end. The short amount of time it takes to ink your way can make all the difference between win and loss in RM. Because often it's just one action, one play that can decide the whole match (or keep your team in the game to win it later). It's quite evident why turf coverage is helpful in RM. In SZ I try to ink as much ground around the zone as possible whenever my team has captured the zone and there's no immediate danger around (e.g. when we just splatted their whole team). That way you can keep the enemy from getting near the zone (at least it takes them longer to get there and gives you an increased chance of pushing them away from the distance). In TC, it can be useful to ink the flanks so that the enemy can't easily attack/defend the tower from there. But of course, only if you don't have more pressing matters to tend to. Also, by inking the ground around you, you make sure that no one can ambush you. Or in other situations, inking the turf ahead of you may reveal the enemy, which can keep you alive. Turf coverage may not be the most important thing in ranked but it's something that one should consider during battle, by watching your surroundings and the gamepad's map. It's just one of the many tools you have to reach your objective.
I love to discuss and devise tactics (I think it's tactical cleverness and improved movement/routines that led me into A+ territory), not only in Splatoon but also in football for example. And I love writing or reporting about stuff. That's probably why these posts of mine always become so long (sorry for that). In the future, when there have been several installments of Splatoon and the game is a mainstream esports title, whenever I should become too old to play it (because of reflexes etc), I shall become a Splatoon coach. ^^
If I had a capture card, I would totally do a tactical guide. Although to be fair, maybe it should be done by someone who's already reached S+.
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