By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - Battle time!
It has been less than a month since Splatoon 3 launched on the Nintendo Switch, and I already have over 100 hours or more play time. That's quite a lot. I've been playing Splatoon 3 obsessively. That said, on the first day it launched, there was a big problem I pointed out (and had funny video evidence of):
“And so I decided NOT to import my data. This was my first Turf War experience:
[video of a disconnect happening shortly after the battle began and then being told that's what battles are like]
My next match? Also a disconnect almost right away. This kept happening. In Splatoon 3, unlike Splatoon 2, when someone disconnects the match, it'll end in a draw and you return to the lobby. (The disconnector gets a loss.) In Splatoon 2, the team with the lost player would have to fight a 3 vs. 4 match, and that whole team would certainly go and lose. This new way of approaching it is more fair, but it also means that I can't level up from Level 1 if I can't ever play a match to completion.”
The errors were so consistent that every time I turned the game on and went to do a lobby match or a Salmon Run job for the first time in that rotation (every two hours), there would be a communication error. I just considered it part of the game's load time. But on September 29, Splatoon 3 got updated to version 1.1.2, which has many fixes for these errors:
“Implemented additional measures to reduce the frequency of communication errors following battles and job shifts.
Because this update patch focuses on additional fixes to connection-related issues and fixes to some control and battle-related issues, we have prioritized its release.
We identified an issue where communications with the server are interrupted during a battle or job shift due to settings on the player's network equipment and their internet provider.
We have implemented measures to reduce communication interruptions and reduce subsequent errors after a battle or job shift even if an interruption does occur.”
Nintendo basically is saying that they have a lot of balance-related issues (as well as future additional content) they want to implement through patches, but it's a bigger priority for them to get Splatoon 3 actually working and not being a disconnect-filled mess. For comparison, Splatoon 2 doesn't (and I'm pretty sure didn't) have this amount of issues. There's something special about Splatoon 3 having these problems.
Fortunately, after the update, I'm no longer getting the immediate disconnect errors whenever I start playing. In fact, I can sometimes manage to avoid them entirely.
 |
| First try! And the whole Turf War happened without any disconnects. ...And my team lost in a landslide on Mahi-Mahi Resort. |
Now, this doesn't eliminate disconnects altogether. I still got a bunch of connection issues when trying to Salmon Run past 02:00 right after this September 29 patch. Perhaps this has to do with no one else being awake where I live and then being matched with people across the planet (or universe) and that doesn't work well. Or maybe a lot of people were genuinely disconnecting. Much more than once have I been playing videogames online with people in, say, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in a Battle Arena, and there's a disconnect mid-match. If I have the opportunity to ask why that happened, it's often because they were using their Nintendo Switch undocked and then it ran out of battery life and died.
While I haven't tried playing Splatoon 3 undocked, according to people who have, it's an improved experience trying to play Splatoon 2 undocked, which was a very bad experience. (You're motion-controlling your Switch for controls while also trying to look at the same thing you're physically moving because it doubles as your screen.) Perhaps that's connected to why there's disconnects. You'd think people wouldn't keep playing when their Switch is at 10% or less battery life, but people absolutely do this. Don't underestimate people's stupidity.
But in most normal cases, Splatoon 3's connectivity issues are... mostly fixed. Please enjoy it.
Let Ludwig know if you keep experiencing these connection issues. He won't be able to fix your problems, but he can at least listen to them.
Ludwig's own issues aren't actually ALL fixed, leading him to wish for the first time ever for a convenient turn off/restart command on the Switch.
I've never gotten disconnected in Kirby Dream Buffet, although the game has slowed down to a point where its frozen for 30 seconds and then everything suddenly resumes in an instant. I'm stuck wondering if this has happened to all the players or if i was the only one gets the shaft. I know this doesn't relate to Splatoon 3 but i don't have that game so i cant really comment much relevant. In other news, I like frogs, I am now one of those frog enjoyers.
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure when that happens, it means someone else disconnected from it (perhaps their Switch's battery died) and the game needs to process that for a while. So that means the freeze also happened for the remaining players as well.
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