hectohertz
Smash Ace
I'm troubled by the general disregard Nintendo seems to have for its users. With this game, they have created an online system depriving us of all the things that an online system should have.
Grievances:
Friend Codes/With A Friend - *shudder* I'm not sure who at Nintendo thought this would be a good idea. It's not. 16 random numbers??? There is no way to interact with your friends within the system either. You can't challenge them, you can't message them. You can't play anyone 1 on 1, or in any sort of intentional fashion, unless they are your friend. And they limit you to 64 friends. Pathetic, absolutely pathetic. A textbook example of how not to design a system.
Voice Chat - There is none! There is no (good) way to communicate with fellow players. So much of the fun of smash is the feeling of playing a fast paced game with people. Nintendo has managed to take that away.
With Anyone - There is a complete lack of options here. You cannot set it to stock. You cannot play 1v1's. You, have, no, choice. If I play a player I want to play again, I should be able to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. I understand that some players may want to play anonymously (that should be an option. what a stunning idea: options!), but making the entire system is anonymous is just ridiculous. I am sick of it. Nintendo continues to infantilize us.
Lag - Lag is a huge issue with this game. Look around this forum: user after user complaining of lag. I have yet to play an online game at a speed where I felt it was enjoyable. And I know my internet is good, low ping latency, static ip, dmz, etc... I'm not asking for anyone to offer suggestions. The problem is with the game/nintendo's network.
Ranking/Tournament/Organized Play of any sort WITHIN the game- There is none. There should be. But that is so far from priority, that I'm not even going to get into it.
The fact is the whole system is incredibly flawed. An online system should allow anyone to jump right into a game without knowing anyone (waiting 3 minutes is annoying, but compared to all the other flaws, I'm willing to let it slide.) Players should be able to TALK to each other. If the players enjoyed the match, they should be able to friend each other. Players should be able to add a friend just by knowing their name, and should be able to message them (audio, or text, or just some sort of CHALLENGE feature) to get a game going. The gameplay should be fast paced, the gameplay should be fun. The gameplay should not feel like the matrix, there should not be HUGE button lag, and it should not be dominated by whoever spams "big" attacks the most. The online play takes ALL the skill out of smash. I have yet to be able to play a game in which I could execute a F-Tilt to U-Smash (with sheik). All advanced play is GONE in online, forcing me to rely on smashes and dash attacks.
How did nintendo manage to mess this up so badly? Every match I play I find myself spending most of the match mentally penning angry letters to Nintendo. I cannot decide which I am more angry about: the poor design of the online system or the unplayablity of the online game. And what really saddens me, is that there are so many people who are passionate about this game. We waited for YEARS for this. They bumped it and bumped it and bumped it. Ever since Melee, I wanted online. XBox had it. PS2 had it. With the next round of consoles, I was excited. I was optimistic. Wii had built in WiFi. But still, Nintendo has managed to screw over all of us. XBL is a sophisticated service that does all this. Whatever the PS3 system is called, from the minimal encounters I have had with it, it seems to satisfy. But Nintendo gives us something called "WFC" which is at least a decade behind. I am disgusted with them. This game is supposed to be their gift to us fans. So why is it that the online system is designed in a way that NO GAMER WANTS?!?! I am angry, frustrated, and disgusted. But more than that, I want the game I deserve! That we, as the community of people who love smash, deserve! If Nintendo allowed its users to patch the game (I know they never would, I'm just making a point), I have no doubts that we would have a fully functional online service. I find this incredibly frustrating and saddening.
So what can we do about it? We need to send a message to Nintendo. What I ask you, fellow board members, to do, is to help me come up with some way to reach Nintendo. Let us brainstorm some strategies to try to make some change. Mass email writing? Continously calling the complaint/comments number? Online petition? I'm not sure what the best method of attack is. What I do know is that there are many, many, many of us frustrated with this game, and we want change. With the online abilities of the Wii, I see no reason why the game cannot be patched (a patch would likely be very small, as it would be only code, no graphics or maps, and thus, could likely fit in the Wii's internal memory. Also, the majority of the "patch" would likely be server-side, meaning nothing would have to be downloaded to the console.) If anyone has any sourced information on the feasibility of patching (Sakurai saying "no DLC" does not count), please post it. Otherwise, please, please, as a community, let us come up with a way to reach Nintendo. Are they likely to do something? Impossible to say. What is definite is that they are more likely to do something if 10 or 100 thousand people complain. All they have for information right now are incredibly high sales numbers. They need to hear our voices.
Smashers, To Arms!!!
Grievances:
Friend Codes/With A Friend - *shudder* I'm not sure who at Nintendo thought this would be a good idea. It's not. 16 random numbers??? There is no way to interact with your friends within the system either. You can't challenge them, you can't message them. You can't play anyone 1 on 1, or in any sort of intentional fashion, unless they are your friend. And they limit you to 64 friends. Pathetic, absolutely pathetic. A textbook example of how not to design a system.
Voice Chat - There is none! There is no (good) way to communicate with fellow players. So much of the fun of smash is the feeling of playing a fast paced game with people. Nintendo has managed to take that away.
With Anyone - There is a complete lack of options here. You cannot set it to stock. You cannot play 1v1's. You, have, no, choice. If I play a player I want to play again, I should be able to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. I understand that some players may want to play anonymously (that should be an option. what a stunning idea: options!), but making the entire system is anonymous is just ridiculous. I am sick of it. Nintendo continues to infantilize us.
Lag - Lag is a huge issue with this game. Look around this forum: user after user complaining of lag. I have yet to play an online game at a speed where I felt it was enjoyable. And I know my internet is good, low ping latency, static ip, dmz, etc... I'm not asking for anyone to offer suggestions. The problem is with the game/nintendo's network.
Ranking/Tournament/Organized Play of any sort WITHIN the game- There is none. There should be. But that is so far from priority, that I'm not even going to get into it.
The fact is the whole system is incredibly flawed. An online system should allow anyone to jump right into a game without knowing anyone (waiting 3 minutes is annoying, but compared to all the other flaws, I'm willing to let it slide.) Players should be able to TALK to each other. If the players enjoyed the match, they should be able to friend each other. Players should be able to add a friend just by knowing their name, and should be able to message them (audio, or text, or just some sort of CHALLENGE feature) to get a game going. The gameplay should be fast paced, the gameplay should be fun. The gameplay should not feel like the matrix, there should not be HUGE button lag, and it should not be dominated by whoever spams "big" attacks the most. The online play takes ALL the skill out of smash. I have yet to be able to play a game in which I could execute a F-Tilt to U-Smash (with sheik). All advanced play is GONE in online, forcing me to rely on smashes and dash attacks.
How did nintendo manage to mess this up so badly? Every match I play I find myself spending most of the match mentally penning angry letters to Nintendo. I cannot decide which I am more angry about: the poor design of the online system or the unplayablity of the online game. And what really saddens me, is that there are so many people who are passionate about this game. We waited for YEARS for this. They bumped it and bumped it and bumped it. Ever since Melee, I wanted online. XBox had it. PS2 had it. With the next round of consoles, I was excited. I was optimistic. Wii had built in WiFi. But still, Nintendo has managed to screw over all of us. XBL is a sophisticated service that does all this. Whatever the PS3 system is called, from the minimal encounters I have had with it, it seems to satisfy. But Nintendo gives us something called "WFC" which is at least a decade behind. I am disgusted with them. This game is supposed to be their gift to us fans. So why is it that the online system is designed in a way that NO GAMER WANTS?!?! I am angry, frustrated, and disgusted. But more than that, I want the game I deserve! That we, as the community of people who love smash, deserve! If Nintendo allowed its users to patch the game (I know they never would, I'm just making a point), I have no doubts that we would have a fully functional online service. I find this incredibly frustrating and saddening.
So what can we do about it? We need to send a message to Nintendo. What I ask you, fellow board members, to do, is to help me come up with some way to reach Nintendo. Let us brainstorm some strategies to try to make some change. Mass email writing? Continously calling the complaint/comments number? Online petition? I'm not sure what the best method of attack is. What I do know is that there are many, many, many of us frustrated with this game, and we want change. With the online abilities of the Wii, I see no reason why the game cannot be patched (a patch would likely be very small, as it would be only code, no graphics or maps, and thus, could likely fit in the Wii's internal memory. Also, the majority of the "patch" would likely be server-side, meaning nothing would have to be downloaded to the console.) If anyone has any sourced information on the feasibility of patching (Sakurai saying "no DLC" does not count), please post it. Otherwise, please, please, as a community, let us come up with a way to reach Nintendo. Are they likely to do something? Impossible to say. What is definite is that they are more likely to do something if 10 or 100 thousand people complain. All they have for information right now are incredibly high sales numbers. They need to hear our voices.
Smashers, To Arms!!!
so I won't talk about it).
