Plenty of 3DS owners have been enjoying Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS over recent weeks, though it's not been without its hiccups. We're already up to version 1.03 as the development team updates the title to eradicate glitches and improve balancing.
It seems a small number of gamers, meanwhile, have been particularly unlucky in incurring the wrath of the automated online moderation system. In principle the idea is sound, as those that play unsportingly, rage quit or otherwise disrupt the experience are given temporary bans. The trouble is that some are experiencing a glitch that's prompting a 136 year ban, which could be down to a simple coding error that's distorting a value that should be far lower. It appears to be a punishment for targeting another player excessively in online 'For Fun' matches in four player brawls; as that mode is designed for light-hearted, accessible matches, it's no surprise that the game is dishing out bans. It's also hitting people that rage quit — it seems clever enough to not punish those whose internet connection drops — but clearly the ban length is an error.
This seems to be a rare glitch at the moment, but is clearly no fun for those affected. The key advice is to avoid targeting one player in For Fun online and to not rage quit, which are both standard rules; it wouldn't surprise us if there's an update 1.04 in the relatively near future to address this issue, however.
Thanks to Aeruon for the tip.
[source reddit.com]
Comments 134
That's...just extreme, even if it is a glitch.
@ThomasBW84 It seems using certain characters in For Glory mode (e.g. Bowser) sets off that ban too, I think the best advice would probably be not to play online until it's fixed.
Another reason to avoid playing For Fun
I'm not playing online on 3DS version anyways, all my online fun will come once the Wii U version arrive. I just don't like having to use the circle pad for movement. It just feels awkward. Hopefully Nintendo fix this glitch though. This game has been long in development, there shouldn't be this kind of glitch in the final release.
Oh jeez!
Holy jesus, that's basicaly a life time ban.
If you play little mac online, you deserve to be banned for this long. I'm sorry but smash has never had a character problem till this game, little mac should be banned in online play till he gets nerfed/balanced properly.
But otherwise yeah this is crazy and I won't be playing online till its fixed.
Stupid game ! I'm disapointed already this happend to me and now I can't play any online mode at all. I don't really know how long I was banned I just see like a million minutes that I can wait and that is stupid. Agggg !! I'm going to sell this crap as soon as I can! I was so excited....
It's unrelated to Smash but I've played MK8 last night on the new rainbow road, we were only 6 players. At the start of the 1st lap just after the first jump (where your glider opens) and I was in 4th place, the race suddenly ends with me celebrating at 2nd place. It's like a 10-sec race. Could it be a server glitch? Maybe Nintendo's servers need maintenance.
Only 136 years? That does not sound like a sufficiently long ban. It should be at least double that length. Or triple.
@RedKnightXIII Why should people who use little mac be banned? Half the people who uses him in online just spams his specials and still lose and the rest of them are actually great with him.He's great but not unstoppable.
So, you play League of Legends, @RedKnightXIII?
I'll just stay offline until it's fixed. I try not to quit matches, but sometimes I get called or my dog needs to go out or something, so I have to leave matches at times. It's still a shame Nintendo punishes people who quit in For Fun matches. What's the point of a casual mode if you can't leave when you feel like it? Other Multiplayer games like Call of Duty let you leave a match at will, with the only penalty being a loss on your record.
I can understand For Glory mode since it's a serious mode, and nobody should be quitting even if they are losing.
But if people are getting these bans while playing a For Fun match, then maybe Nintendo needs to remove the bans for quitting a For Fun match. I feel that 10 mins is too much as it is, but a lifetime ban?
I like the concept of the system, but Nintendo needs to avoid glitches like this. Imagine the bad press if things like this affect the Wii U version.
@RedKnightXIII Little Mac only does good on flat stages, that's why he domiantes for Glory.mode. He's less dangerous in for fun when he's forced to deal with stages with platforms, ones that move, or others that weaken his great ground game.
I don't say ban him or nerf him. His air game is pathetic and his recovery is likely the worst one in the game. You nerf his ground game, you leave him with nothing. I think the best thing is to update For Glory to allow certain stages to have platforms like Battlefield.
@RedKnightXIII Little mac can be annoting, but I don't think he's cheap. His recovery really helps balancing issue. I personally think that bowser needs a bit of nerfing, but I don't their going to do that.
@RedKnightXIII You just need to learn how to fight him, he's not the Meta Knight of Brawl.
Oh my god I'm so scared, I don't want this to happen to me... If it is from For Fun mode then I'm safe because I only do For Glory... and dominate!
FALCON PUNCH!!!
Wha?! Wow, that's nuts! Hopefully it gets fixed soon. I think I'll be fine, since I haven't gotten a ban or anything yet. I've had to try a bit hard sometimes to not quit matches with a ton of lag, though. I mean, you get infractions if you SD on purpose, exit the match, or not move at all, right?
@RedKnightXIII Little Mac's fine. I don't think he needs to be nerfed or anything. He's the best on flat stages, and unfortunately there aren't any platform stages in For Glory (which would have been nice), so you'll have to pay close attention and find other ways to get him. Always fight near the ledge, or somethin'.
@RedKnightXIII Uh, Mewtwo, Pichu, Jigglypuff, Pit (Brawl) and Sonic (Brawl) ALL say hi there.
I don't play online for the 3DS version anyway. So, i'm okay. I do hope that Nintendo Falcon punches that glitch out of the arena for everyone that uses online though.
I am one of those unlucky people, at first I was only banned 10 minutes and then it goes to 7 million minutes. Hopefully it gets patched within a week.
im not going to play online anymore until it gets fixed. just gives me more time to unlock all the charachters :3
The time set is the max value a 32-bit unsigned integer can hold (in seconds). Seems like a bug/glitch imo.
(2^32)-1 seconds ~= 136 years
That'll learn ya!
Hey this happened to me! Banned for 7000000 minutes!
Absolute bullox!
Little Mac is a breeze and I own him all the time. But hes a noob character so no suprise that hes favored.
The only reason I say he should be banned is because of tourney play, most matches will be played on flat stages, the fact that you can 90% assume a person will win because if character specific choice is ridiculous.
and regardless of the ones that suck with him or for people that know how to counter his moves, I'm just tired of seeing him Consistently in online play it's like a broken record.
It's one thing to fight your buddy with the same characters over and over, it's another thing when it's a random person spamming 1-2 moves.
@RedKnightXIII Sonic and Pit say hi again. Everyone spammed Sonics homing attack and Pits bow and arrows and spinning sword thingy moves in Brawl.
@Dipper723 I could still deal with meta brawl better than him. I'm also still salty from this game being overall being insanely unbalanced compared to brawl/M
I'm playing online right now... Best get off right after the match..
@kamifox1 once again those are under powered and easier to deal with in brawl still, over dealing with little mac in sb4.
@RedKnightXIII Not if you're being spammed with a homing attack or Pit keeps flying/using arrows from far away/using the spinning sword thing to deflect long range moves.
wait or just go with Smash Bros 56 by then. XD
To those who are talking about unbalance in Smash Bros., first off, that's always been the case. Secondly, it's normal for a fighter to have a certain level of unbalance. You can't have everyone with the exact same stats and abilities. The trick is to take advantage of the characters strengths and weaknesses instead of just pummeling them and hoping you'll win somehow.
Anyway, on topic. HERE, HAVE A BAN FOR LIFE AND THEN SOME!
A ban so long that even our great grandchildren will be old, senile people by the time the ban is lifted! Hoo!
Contacting Nintendo would be the start of the solution.
There is no reason for a 136 year ban from anything.
I don't care if you can't beat Mac or Meta Knight, they are still beatable and don't deserve a nerf or to get players banned.
Hopefully this is only a glitch, because this is just ridiculous.
That'll show 'em.
Who would live for that long?
Wow, that literally is a "band4lief".
@Mega719 I WOULD!...BUTT undead...
Unreleated to the actual article, but
The National Championship yesterday was amazing, thanks for the free tickets guys.
When you were announcing names for the Nintendo Life invitational, the first group of people there was someone Davies, and Nick someone. I thought there was no way they were then going to call out Nik Davies. LOL. Thanks for proving me wrong. It was awesome to be up on stage.
Most Little Mac players aren't too hard to beat as long as you play well.
It's the Link/Toon Link players that I've constantly been coming up against, spamming projectiles and taking full advantage of the lag, are who I've been finding annoying to play against.
@BensonUii It happened to me too, in the beach race.
@RaphaBoss Yeah, "basically".
For Fun or For Glory should now be change to For Ban or For Glory
This is no glitch, this is Sakurai's wrath!
Too short of a ban for rage quiters.
That's a pretty crazy glitch right there!
if i went out and bought this I would probably end up getting the ban glitch, getting really pissed off, and basically demanding a refund for the game....glad I decided to wait for the most the bugs to be updated before getting this.
@BenAV Link's just spamming projectiles when you face them online? Welcome to the club.And that's the same thing with Megaman players they stay in one place and spam everything they got,extremely annoying.
@NintyMan Ohh i really hope the Wiiu version doesn't have these types of glitches cause this is just crazy to happen in both versions.
@BenAV
I seriously hate to face against Link or Toon Link players so much, they just keep throwing the arrows and boomerangs and bombs then run over to a side of a stage then repeat... That's so cowardly
Hopefully Nintendo will unban these players because if they don't allow them to ever play online again due to a glitch in their own moderation system then shame on Nintendo.
@midnafanboy
At the very least many of the glitches will be snuffed out because of all the one they're finding in the 3DS version before the Wii U's release (Day-1 patch is very likely). As much as I've hated on the 3DS version it does seem to have the one good use of being a glitch buffer .
People who rage quit should have their console destroyed and banned from all gaming as they clearly shouldn't be playing gam. Theyre pathetic.
Equally so people who insist on still using autoblock in street fighter iv even they've been playing it for ages and have raised they're rating over 10,000. It should become unelectable once you hit 1000 as you shouldn't neeed it then
@RedKnightXIII Oh go home ya sod.
ANOTHER reason why i don't play online. i hope they fix this unfortunate glitch
ANOTHER reason why i don't play online. i hope they fix this unfortunate glitch
@Discostew you beat me to it! I was working out the calculations to see it matches up and it does perfectly.
@RedKnightXIII Honestly people need to stop complaining about little Mac he's not that bad just wait by the edge back throw and gimp simple. However 4 player matches could be a different story.
Looks like Sakurai wont be having a holiday any time soon.
With good behavior you'll be out in 60 years. You only do two days anyway — the day you go in, and the day you get out.
@RedKnightXIII Little Mac is free win! He can't get back on the ledge for anything. Just give a grab, throw him into the air and whack em' off.
The OP ones are Sonic and Rosalina.
Rosalina is straight up op but people hardly play her.
And Sonic just moves so fast and just runs around and grabs people. Dumbest and most boring strategy ever but it works. SERIOUSLY WHY IS HE IN THIS GAME?!?!
i plan on getting both versions and avoid online for the 3ds for the time being
LoL!
Something tells me that this is not a glitch
...
I doubt this is a glitch, it is probably their version of a perma ban. But the rules seem so strict as it is, I just won't ever play online. To me, these rules sound like they were made by people who are just sore losers.
@Manaphy2007
What makes you think that the 3DS is the only one with problems?
@ikki5 never said it was, i was saying i will avoid playing online in certain modes with certain situations until a patch arrives, should the wii u ver. have the same problem then i will also do the same. it wont make me not play, bugs will always appear no matter how near perfect a game is. plus i dont have the 3ds version yet as i plan on getting both on x-mas week.
@RedKnightXIII Learn how to grab. He is crippled by grabs EVEN on For Glory.
Wow, 136 Years? Welp, I won't be going Online at all until this is fixed.
Hope this gets fixed
@RaphaBoss Your GRANDCHILDREN still won't be able to play online! X3
Dr. Who is like, "136 years? Whatever."
@TheGreatBrawler
Really? About 95% of the Link's I run into never do any of that stuff.
I wouldnt mind. I suck so much. I literally lost 20 games and only won one. that one time was cuz he went afk. people are so damn good I was shocked. I dont wanna play again
@Discostew
Impressive knowledge. So it's kind of like when I give someone a blank cheque but only have £136 in my account, so that's all they're going to get?!
@Justaguest
I feel your pain.
you hear people complaining about no one moving but according to the rules all you can do is defend yourself. good thing it never lets me connect
"Son... I won't be living that long... but I want my grandchildren to use this 3DS to avenge me."
@StephenYap3 I wish every game ever had rules like this - I really hate rage quitters and cheesers - seriously - Madden is impossible to play online if you like to have fun. Once in a while you run into someone that isn't a jerk and you both notice it and its awesome. Playing respectfully is the best..... then there's Mario Kart where its no holds barred.
@vitalemrecords True, but still...
This is sadly a symptom of rushing a game, not taking breaks, & not trusting your team to help carryout workload. Not saying that this particular glitch is for a fact, in existence b/c of that, but that taking breaks, not rushing any of the development processes, definitely not (rushing) the programming, & trusting your team to help w/ the workload can counter these kinds of things. Still, as Manaphy2007 above said, "...bugs will always appear no matter how near perfect a game is". This is fact.
I wonder though, if it is a permaban, or glitch? I would assume that since Smash (in particular) is a fighting game, & just playing the game, or any game(MK8 for instance), you would have to pro-actively try to get permabanned, b/c while you can, & are in a technical sense, able to harass other players by targeting only, or @ least mostly them, it's not directly harassment like sending hateful messages on Miiverse, as it is more of just playing the game, & targeting a specific opponent.
i think the problem, or perceived problem(if this is not a glitch, but intended), could be easily solved by allowing one of the selectable rules of online matches to host, or join be/allow host players themselves to have access to choosing a pre-designed "rule set" for the match, on what is acceptable, & what isn't. Think of the possibilities, if that were handled correctly. Edit: I emphasize "pre-set" so it would be easier for the servers to handle, & easier for players/ppl to get accustomed to; everybody has what they want.
While I fan understand the reasoning I think a ban THAT long is a bit much! Hopefully it is shortened soon.
sometimes my internet fails really bad, without going longer last night i lost a lot of points in mario kart 8 because of that and i'm afraid to get banned on super smash bros wii u because of that lol. let alone 136 years hahaha...
woah woah woah... WHAT?!
I am one of these unfortunate people... Hopefully one day my great-grandchildren will be able to play...
Apparently its ok to rage quit if you do it after the screen says "GAME!"
I did it a few times with no penalty.
@Capt_N
Its not entirely because the game was rushed. This happened to the new 1.0.3 update regarding online.
Its a simple mistake that leads to this dire consequences of the glitch.
People seem to be taking this a bit too seriously. Yes, it's an exaggerated ban; but it's clearly a bug. Surely it wouldn't take -too- much time to solve if people being affected by it contact Nintendo about it. It's as if this is the first time anyone ever heard of a bug in a video game.
Oh boy, this better stay for Pikachu. I would like to see Pikachu fans be banned for life from playing Smash Bros! Mwahahahaha!
@kamifox1 or dirty link online spamming arrows and bombs
@SuperiorTech
5% of the Link (or Toon Link) I run to never does that stuff either
well, lets see how many people sold their 3ds'es after this glitch happened. i swear, people are like that in this world.
136 years sounds good to me!
Why so long? It doesn't make sense; about 6 years should be enough, because after that they're stopping online for 3DS anyway... And people wouldn't be freaking so much, becase they wouldn't realise that anyway.
(Just look at the DS - they stopped online after about 9 years and 3DS is here about 3 years, so 6 years remains. Roughly estimated.)
@Caryslan That seems like a good idea: after all, in tournaments you can use stages like Battlefield and Yoshi's Island, so allowing more stages would balance the game. Maybe you could select which stage you want out of a limited selection, and there would be a 50-50 chance that it would select that stage for the match.
Also, why are the FD versions of stages different to the actual FD? For example, in the FD version of 3D Land, the bottom of the platform is flat, which means you can easily get caught in it when you try to recover. In the FD version of Wily's Castle, there is no space below the surface! Why can't they all just be exact clones of FD with a different background?
wow if this is happening in this version now imagine the bugs that might show up in the Wii U version :/ sigh but as someone else mentioned this shouldnt happen any more on the final release of the game if anything normal mode glitches but not stuff like that =S
Wait... It doesn't make sense because the 3ds won't be online that long???
Yeah...that's the major issue with trying to play smash in 136 years
On a separate note, I'm amazed at how many people are moaning about players online always playing in a certain way. If you've really worked out exactly how they play in their "cowardly" style, then you should have little trouble beating them.
Also, this is an eye catching story due to the funny length of the ban, but it's not exactly ruined the game, and I'm sure it'll be patched in the next day or two. Problem solved, everyone can enjoy smash online again, including the relatively small number who were affected.
While we're on the subject of updates within a game, anyone know what the Shantae and the Pirate's Curse update was all about? Or what it was trying to fix? It was a surprisingly lengthy download, for a game that just released.
@Laethnes The DS and Wii online stopped because their servers weren't actually Nintendo (it was GameSpy) so the Gamespy shutdown was the sole reason for it going offline.
Pffft, big deal. Just wait 136 years and you can play online again. Simple fix.
I would say 15 days would have been enough. 136 years is basically the same thing as forever.
Wow, that is a long time.
@Grumblevolcano I know about the Gamespy thing, however, for example, Pokémon Dreamworld was shut down even before that happened (only one year after B/W 2 were released). Yes, I know Gamefreak is separate company, but it works very closely with N. (Btw. there is no need to explain me that servers as costly etc.; in fact, that is one more reason why I don't trust them to support the network much longer after new generation is released.)
(Well, in fact, Nintendo lost my faith during last few years - it's not like they care - e.g. I don't take that they will support 3DS network tomorrow for granted.)
the shortest nintendo game i have ever played and most i play over and again
I'm glad to hear that people who's internet drops won't be affected but a 136 year ban for rage quiters? An incentive to scare unsuspecting quiters out of doing so perhaps?
i don't understand 'you attack one person too much' rule. the game is a fighting game but i am to hit each one differently? sakurai is such a wuss and probably can't even play his own game. glad he admitted nintendo is kids only and once you play you are a kid too
That 136 year ban should come with the message
"Please Understand"
@RedKnightXIII Bro. Little Mac is one of the easiest characters to kill. Just hit him off the stage and meteor smash him. DeeDeeDee is X400 harder to kill than Lil mac
This sort of thing being possible to happen is the main reason I am against DRM. (Somebody else's fault).
Who said it is a glitch?
@TheMagus Indeed. XD
@BenAV i agree completely, i stay rockin' geefs with young Cpt. Flcn
That is so lame! Even against the CPU, I always target an opponent until I can smash them. That's the point of the game. Target an opponent until you smash, them, not hit them every now and then and hope you can eventually smash them.
I think this is their version of a permanent ban. I doubt they would have such an obvious online glitch. (Other than the Peach thing)
Does this glitch happen with game development for, let's say, the F-Zero series as well?
And this is why I only play online with my friends...
At least when the Wii U version hits all this sillyness will be gone..
@Caryslan
if you have something important to do and accept a loss, couldnt you simply leave the 3ds alone instead of disconnecting ?
If you ask me, that's a feature not a glitch.
Quit being a jerk and you won't get banned in the first place.
This is why I only play in friend rooms, if I get banned on with everyone, I wouldn't be able to play on friend rooms... My friend left a game once because it was lagging so much he couldn't continue and got this glitch and now he can't play with me on friend rooms, it sucks.
No need to fix this, their great grandchildren can enjoy the game later.
Eh. Playing games online with strangers was never really that good an idea to begin with, as I see it.
@adrenochrome I think the game punishes you for being idle, so it's the same result in the end.
I only play For Glory because I hate stage disasters and items online. But I hope this gets fixed VERY SOON because eventually there won't be a lot of people to smash with.
Hope the Wii U version won't have any problems like this
If you rage quit on Glory, you should be stripped from Glory period. Stick to Training mode lol no but seriously.. These are stat whores and they think people are stupid in thinking you never lose ? If kids start rage quitting ima put them on blast, gamer tags and user account, trust me a video will going up in the description ~
Im an adult so i sometimes swear, so you kiddies skip this video. Just an example.
I'm saving my Super Smash Bros online experience for Wii U.
I just play single player games on 3DS
@RedKnightXIII Has never had a problem.... Have you even played Brawl? Pit and Meta Knight were broken. Little Mac is easily killed, just knock him off far enough.
@retro_player_22 I dunno, seeing as there would have been no one playing the game online when it wasn't even released to show that the glitch was there, it seems like it could easily be there without their knowledge. However, they know now and will probably try and fix it.
@YerTheBestAROUND They had local online networks all across Japan, there's no reason for them not to test the online play first before the final release.
@retro_player_22 The Japan release would have been the final release. When they released this game in America and everywhere else, they gave you the same game the Japanese got, but with English text and an update removing the Peach glitch. If none of the Japan players experience this problem, then they won't know about it to fix it. How can you test something you don't have any way to know about?
@YerTheBestAROUND Yeah but like I said they could had online test play it first to see if there's any network issues. They did not do that, instead they release it to the consumer hoping something like this would happen so to fix it later on. Also the Japanese launch could not had found this problem because most of the people there local play against one another rather than using online since the whole world didn't get Super Smash Bros. 4 yet. There were no point in playing online at the time which is why the glitch was never encounter. Like I said had Nintendo test the online play out, this would had never happen, if NOJ sent a copy of the game to NOA and both test the online function before the launch release and doesn't found any issue then that'll be a good thing but Nintendo did not do that. They could had use the entire month of September (the month which the 3DS version should had been release) to do that. Anyways let's hope they find a way to patch this up.
How do you test something you can't know about?! You keep saying they should have tested and claiming that they didn't test even though they probably did but how are they supposed to test for something they can't know about unless something goes wrong and it happens?
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