Improvement for Lag

[Foxus]

This is mainly a opinionated piece, but thought I'd share my idea on lag.

Getting the awkward gorilla out of the room, I have no tolerance for lag. This is not the late 90's or the early 2000's when peer to peer networking was still fairly new. I have proposed before that Nintendo issue much more stringent network requirements that are required in order to go online. But since that doesn't seem to be a thing, I'll make the suggestion that please, to ensure a pleasurable gaming experience for everyone, check your internet connection and, if need be, reset your router PRIOR to connecting the the Nintendo Network. Stop streaming services like Netflix, or ask others to do so. No, that doesn't include YouTube.
The argument that some people cannot help their lag I find difficult to believe mainly because again, peer to peer networking isn't a new thing. And the technology is available to combat such problems. If you have a limited network connection, or 1-2 bars, don't go online. I have a feeling this is, for the most part, why the online lag exists. Just be courteous and check your internet connection PRIOR to getting on, not after.

What do you think? Do you think people need to be reminded, until Nintendo can implement much more strict requirements, to check their connection prior to getting on? And what other ways could lag be put to a end to ensure smooth, pleasant gameplay experiences?

 

[David Wonn]

Unfortunately a lot of input lag will still exist between two players with great connections for one simple reason: Geography. The speed of light is simply too slow to traverse the world if you happen to be playing someone on the other side of the planet. It blows my mind that Mario Kart 8, a game that doesn't need to be as frame accurate, has regional settings while Smash 4 does not. Until Nintendo gets their act together and implements regional settings, this game will remain mostly an offline game for me, with the occasional friend room match online.

Like you, I also have zero tolerance for lag of any kind, hence why I prefer traditional CRT ("tube") TVs as well, but that's another topic.

 

[GooberGaming]

This is mainly a opinionated piece, but thought I'd share my idea on lag.

Getting the awkward gorilla out of the room, I have no tolerance for lag. This is not the late 90's or the early 2000's when peer to peer networking was still fairly new. I have proposed before that Nintendo issue much more stringent network requirements that are required in order to go online. But since that doesn't seem to be a thing, I'll make the suggestion that please, to ensure a pleasurable gaming experience for everyone, check your internet connection and, if need be, reset your router PRIOR to connecting the the Nintendo Network. Stop streaming services like Netflix, or ask others to do so. No, that doesn't include YouTube.
The argument that some people cannot help their lag I find difficult to believe mainly because again, peer to peer networking isn't a new thing. And the technology is available to combat such problems. If you have a limited network connection, or 1-2 bars, don't go online. I have a feeling this is, for the most part, why the online lag exists. Just be courteous and check your internet connection PRIOR to getting on, not after.

What do you think? Do you think people need to be reminded, until Nintendo can implement much more strict requirements, to check their connection prior to getting on? And what other ways could lag be put to a end to ensure smooth, pleasant gameplay experiences?

Sadly, most people are not going to do that.

I think the easiest way to filter through people with poor internet connection is to add the "Ping" value underneath players name tags. This way you can avoid a lagging match before the match starts be viewing the "ping" value as soon as you are matched up against someone.

 

[Fluorescent]

Honestly, while it may be the user fault that they're lagging and your above mentions help combat the lag of others, I do believe that Nintendo should be adding better network compatibilities for Online Smash.

Thing like: a ping indicator, your opponents ping, location identifier, etc.

Anything that helps visualize the user that they're 'lagging' or the match may 'lag'. Honestly, things like the scoreboard in Call of Duty did this from what I remember in which it showed everyone's ping through bars, the first time I saw this was like in COD 4 which was released in 2007.

The step up from Brawl's wifi matchmaking was greatly improved on in Smash 4's online but, we still face issues of lag when we don't even know about it and it saddens me that there's no indicator for this in an amazing game.

 

[Foxus]

Honestly, while it may be the user fault that they're lagging and your above mentions help combat the lag of others, I do believe that Nintendo should be adding better network compatibilities for Online Smash.

Thing like: a ping indicator, your opponents ping, location identifier, etc.

Anything that helps visualize the user that they're 'lagging' or the match may 'lag'. Honestly, things like the scoreboard in Call of Duty did this from what I remember in which it showed everyone's ping through bars, the first time I saw this was like in COD 4 which was released in 2007.

The step up from Brawl's wifi matchmaking was greatly improved on in Smash 4's online but, we still face issues of lag when we don't even know about it and it saddens me that there's no indicator for this in an amazing game.

Well, the thing is I wouldn't want to give out my exact location to just anyone over the internet.

I do think when it is continuously buffering, it should just disconnect and declare a "No Contest."

 

[1FrameLink]

The tourneys are region locked as far as I can work out. The ones the servers create, standard I think they're called. Whenever I'm watching streamers like the LoF lads or HBox doing tourneys I try to join but the lists of available tourneys are entirely different. However, it also seems to be based ONLY on geography since my connection is able to handle playing against MD/VA, Florida, Tristate etc players without any significant lag. Sadly, tourneys are entirely dead in EU so I have to use Anther's to play stages other than FD with people online. You should use Anther's and set your region to try ensure fast connections. If you're still having issues and you know for sure it isn't a fault in your own connection, then quit the game and submit a report about it.

Also, if you don't have a LAN adapter, you need to get one and delete your connection settings for wifi connections. The Chinese knockoff LAN adapters are every bit as good as the licensed ones. You can get them for a tenner on ebay or Amazon.

 

[lunaticz0r]

Sadly, most people are not going to do that.

I think the easiest way to filter through people with poor internet connection is to add the "Ping" value underneath players name tags. This way you can avoid a lagging match before the match starts be viewing the "ping" value as soon as you are matched up against someone.

that would be a very good thing for them to do...nice thinking

 

[FamilyTeam]

Do you know what would be nice?
If a match had too much ping (>100, 150), you'd get a notice at the end of it saying that it won't be recorded in your stats. When you're playing the game at a third of the FPS and with a whole second of input delay, then why should it count?
Better yet, if the game is lagging so badly, then why can't it just automatically disconnect you and count it as a No Contest? Yes, I know that the game actually does that, sometimes, but it only seems to do it when there's a massive lag spike that lasts too long, else it seems to try to make you endure a to the end as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

 

[lunaticz0r]

haha well I'd rather have the char select indicate a ping, then you wouldn't have to even connect!

 

[Foxus]

The lag this morning was so bad, I swear I don't know why it decided to keep buffering. Two minutes turned into five minutes.