IGN: Splatoon's lack of voice chat is "cheap and lazy"

Just watch Nintendo make the next Console a "Gaffer's Best Dream" with Voice Chat everywhere, Free Multiplayer, Region-Free, 500gb Memory, Friends List and Invites...The Whole Shebang!

...and it still bomb all over the place because people won't buy it because of "reasons".

Third-party support is missing from the list of features, so yeah. I'd skip this console, too. Gone are the days of buying multiple $300+ machines during a generation for me; I go with the one that meets as many of my wants as possible. Once I make up my mind, the other consoles are left behind.
 
You mean forcing people to use the tablet and look away from the screen as opposed to just talking to your team-mates? The Souls series is mainly a single player game and the added component of online players is nothing like a team based game such as Splatoon.

I adapted super fast to that so it only took a quick glance of the map and where I needed to be. The map is real time and interactive which is a key function if you're going to be jumping around the screen. It also has gyro which is far superior in aim and twin stick has no auto-aim function.
 
If thats what wasactually happening, then maybe you would have a point. But its not.

Splattoon doesnt offer some visual information, it offers ALL THE INFORMATION, and it updates in real time, 60fps (Or maybe 30 for the gamepad doesnt really matter).

Where your team is, what and where they are shooting, where each splotch of paint lands, in real time, where ALL your enemies are, where they are shooting, each drop of what they are covering, ALL IN REAL TIME.

It is every single peice of information that is happening, and it is updated in real time.

Anything you say as a person, is already obsolete by the time you finish saying it in comparison to the real time updating of the game pad.

I'll explain why this reasoning is flawed.

You're not looking at the mini-map at all times, but there's nothing stopping you from keeping an ear on your friends. Your friends can call your attention to the mini-map (and relevant things going down on it) when shit is going down. They can even supply you important information while you're directly engaged in gameplay, without necessitating looking away from the main screen. And there's a reason why I emphasized the reactionary aspect of having all the information on the mini-map. You can use the map to react to things. You cannot use the map to plan out any sort of meaningful teamwork with your friends when you lack the capacity for specific on the fly communication.

For example, you can't tell your friend to watch one side of the map because that's where you've noticed certain enemies tend to go. You can't tell your friend to change locations because they're painting redundantly. You can't tell your friend he's being deliberately tailed by another player. You can't engage in any meaningful map control that isn't 'four random dudes reacting to each other's gameplay on a mini-map after the fact'. You can only hope they've made the same exact observations as you've made themselves, at the same exact time as you, or at least before them having that information becomes irrelevant. Which isn't always the case no matter how much information you present the player with.

Kill/death counts dont matter, you dont get points, you dont lose points, and you can teleport to anywhere a team mate is at, or just start covering again from your base that got hosed. Killing people doesnt matter.

Killing the opposing team doesnt matter. Its fun, but t doesnt matter. All stratagems revolving around the traditional concept of engaging and destroying the opposing team are pointless for splatoon. Getting multiple people who dont understand this angry enough to waste their time getting revenge on you instead of covering ink however....
Don't see your point there honestly. That doesn't preclude teamwork nor voice-enabled bullshitting. Also, what vv Gonzo vv said. Your point here is a bit disingenuous.

And yes, again, Nintendo being your free phone service is nice. But thats all it is. Its a nice feature. I dont use on any of my consoles and I stopped using it on PC's years ago. Its just something I dont really care about anymore. When I want to talk to a freind, I will call them, most of my freinds have different hobbies that I participate in, not many play games, and those that do, dont really care for online multiplayer games. I had one person, who I would talk with, with mh, and we would shoot the shit, and it was nice. Mh4, doesnt let us do that anymore, but we still play, and we both enjoy it a hell of a lot, because its one of the best core MH experiences made.

The actual meat of a game, is something I care about very much, and seeing it being so downplayed for an arbritrary feature, is something I see as completely assinine, and I view standardization as a poison to my hobby.

The features arent the only things being standardized across platforms.

Well it's good for you I guess that you don't use voice chat, but I hardly game on Wii U with my friends specifically because we can't talk unless we tie up our phones with Skype the entire time. And then it's just us. Not my buddy Asim who doesn't have a skype-enabled cellphone and whose PC is in another room. Not my online buddies Morbus and Ubervisor because they don't use Skype at all and don't want to make accounts when literally every other platform they game on allows them to effortlessly connect with me and with one another without necessarily sharing personal details. Just myself, and Drew, the only other person I know IRL who even uses Skype regularly.

And while I can agree that standardization or moreover homogenization is a poison to this industry, I feel you have not provided a sensible reason as to why the inclusion of friend chat specifically would be tantamount to 'poisoning' the game ala design decisions like ADS, Sprint, and XP infecting shooters. Voice chat would not suddenly strip this game of its unique qualities or keep the game from avoiding feeling like every other shooter. You've just painted voice chat as a 'standardization', which must be a bad thing for reasons, right? Except not really.

No, its not, because every single person can see it happening in real time, faster than anyone could utter a description of what was happening.

I'm not the only one who's pointed out to you more than once at this point that 'teamwork' is about more than having readouts on current events in the match.
 
Kill/death counts dont matter, you dont get points, you dont lose points, and you can teleport to anywhere a team mate is at, or just start covering again from your base that got hosed. Killing people doesnt matter.

I give up. Killing people doesn't matter? Really? Even though they leave behind a giant puddle of your ink color once they get knocked out? Even though they get sent back to their base, thereby allowing you to occupy the territory while they have to wait five seconds to respawn? Now you're trying to downplay gameplay itself just to justify the lack of voice chat. Unbelievable. Nintendo should hire you for their PR team if they haven't done so already.
 
That little part at the end doesn't change the fact that you said it wasn't remotely relevant. If it weren't remotely relevant to the success of the Wii U, then no one would be using those things as reasons that they're not going to buy a Wii U over the competition and you wouldnt be admitting that they are definitely factors in why the Wii U has not been a success.

I said that these features DO have an effect and ARE relevant in the grand scheme of things after you stated that they weren't. Then you asked me to point out where you said it, and I did.

Not being remotely relevant in the grand scheme does not preclude it being relevant factors on the small scale... and in no way does this contradict your statement about it being a factor for some. I believe it to be a small factor in the grand scheme of things and, for the WiiU, so small that it had little impact on the overall end result because everything else that brought it down was many orders of magnitude more impactful and relevant (and as such "hardly relevant in the grand scheme").
 
https://res.cloudinary.com/dods/image/upload/c_fill,g_center,h_500,w_1120/v1/generic/ukip_poster_rfnbbs.jpg
Am I wrong though?

I bet you Overside is Japanese, and that's why he really appreciates what Nintendo is trying to do. He's being forced to repeat himself over, and over again, because people aren't understanding the intricacy of what he's trying to tell them. He's someone who puts game design before anything else, like Japan. You don't see fetch quests, or towers, or unnecessary attention to designing some stupid chips packet you'll see for a brief second like most western game studios focus on. Everyone arguing against him is probably white, black, or even worse, a muslim. They don't appreciate game design like Japanese people do.

Why is Japan the birthplace of gaming?

Why is Miyamoto, someone from Nintendo, the father of gaming?

Why was Final Fantasy the first RPG ever made?

Why was Mario the first platformer ever made?

What does the answer come back to?

Japan.

Right now, Japan, and Nintendo, are innovating, and people don't appreciate that. Splatoon is a new type of shooting game like Overside keeps telling you all. The developers don't want voice chat because it gets in the way, is harmful for children, and is unnecessary for this game. Does everyone arguing against him even have a Wii U? I bet most of them don't, and that all of them won't purchase Splatoon. Just like everyone was crying about Bayonetta, but then no one bought it. This is a targeted hate campaign. It's all IGN's fault.

I know you agree, because you believe yourself people will always have a reason to not buy a Nintendo product, even if Nintendo listens to everything that's asked of them. Those phantom reasons that always appear out of nowhere.
 
No, its not, because every single person can see it happening in real time, faster than anyone could utter a description of what was happening.

Do you seriously think whining at people to stop fighting and cover the map is going to stop them?

That works SO WELL games with voice chat. As in doesnt work at all.

'Come oonnnnnnn guys, its supposed to be capture the flag!!!'


Voice strategy doesn't always work but Atleast you have option to use it, and another player had the option to actually listen for the sake of the outcome of match.


Voice strats usually doesn't work with randoms but to people who are determined and actually want to work as a team to win and probably know each other or in a clan or something, voice chat is icing on the cake.
 
I adapted super fast to that so it only took a quick glance of the map and where I needed to be. The map is real time and interactive which is a key function if you're going to be jumping around the screen. It also has gyro which is far superior in aim and twin stick has no auto-aim function.

I'm not dismissing the tablet as it has its uses and some developers have done some cool things with it but why couldn't you use the tablet controller (as a mini-map) and have voice chat as well?
 
Am I wrong though?

I bet you Overside is Japanese, and that's why he really appreciates what Nintendo is trying to do. He's being forced to repeat himself over, and over again, because people aren't understanding the intricacy of what he's trying to tell them. He's someone who puts game design before anything else, like Japan. You don't see fetch quests, or towers, or unnecessary attention to designing some stupid chips packet you'll see for a brief second like most western game studios focus on. Everyone arguing against him is probably white, black, or even worse, a muslim. They don't appreciate game design like Japanese people do.

Why is Japan the birthplace of gaming?

Why is Miyamoto, someone from Nintendo, the father of gaming?

Why was Final Fantasy the first RPG ever made?

Why was Mario the first platformer ever made?

What does the answer come back to?

Japan.

Right now, Japan, and Nintendo, are innovating, and people don't appreciate that. Splatoon is a new type of shooting game like Overside keeps telling you all. The developers don't want voice chat because it gets in the way, is harmful for children, and is unnecessary for this game. Does everyone arguing against him even have a Wii U? I bet most of them don't, and that all of them won't purchase Splatoon. Just like everyone was crying about Bayonetta, but then no one bought it. This is a targeted hate campaign. It's all IGN's fault.

I can't breathe....
 
No, its not, because every single person can see it happening in real time, faster than anyone could utter a description of what was happening.

Do you seriously think whining at people to stop fighting and cover the map is going to stop them?

That works SO WELL games with voice chat. As in doesnt work at all.

'Come oonnnnnnn guys, its supposed to be capture the flag!!!'

Voice chat allows you to be proactive in planning that sort of thing or determining how to stop it vs. reactively responding one at a time as people see what is happening (assuming they aren't too wrapped up in their own stuff to notice).

Your arguments are bad and you should feel bad.
 
Am I wrong though?

I bet you Overside is Japanese, and that's why he really appreciates what Nintendo is trying to do. He's being forced to repeat himself over, and over again, because people aren't understanding the intricacy of what he's trying to tell them. He's someone who puts game design before anything else, like Japan. You don't see fetch quests, or towers, or unnecessary attention to designing some stupid chips packet you'll see for a brief second like most western game studios focus on. Everyone arguing against him is probably white, black, or even worse, a muslim. They don't appreciate game design like Japanese people do.

Why is Japan the birthplace of gaming?

Why is Miyamoto, someone from Nintendo, the father of gaming?

Why was Final Fantasy the first RPG ever made?

Why was Mario the first platformer ever made?

What does the answer come back to?

Japan.

Right now, Japan, and Nintendo, are innovating, and people don't appreciate that. Splatoon is a new type of shooting game like Overside keeps telling you all. The developers don't want voice chat because it gets in the way, is harmful for children, and is unnecessary for this game. Does everyone arguing against him even have a Wii U? I bet most of them don't, and that all of them won't purchase Splatoon. Just like everyone was crying about Bayonetta, but then no one bought it. This is a targeted hate campaign. It's all IGN's fault.

I know you agree, because you believe yourself people will always have a reason to not buy a Nintendo product, even if Nintendo listens to everything that's asked of them. Those phantom reasons that always appear out of nowhere.
I'm dying here. Verendus <3
 
No, its not, because every single person can see it happening in real time, faster than anyone could utter a description of what was happening.

Do you seriously think whining at people to stop fighting and cover the map is going to stop them?

That works SO WELL games with voice chat. As in doesnt work at all.

'Come oonnnnnnn guys, its supposed to be capture the flag!!!'
The point of voice chat isn't only to point out current information.

You can do this crazy thing called strategizing. It's something that's been used in the past a few times to great effect. Maybe you've heard of it?
 
I give up. Killing people doesn't matter? Really? Even though they leave behind a giant puddle of your ink color once they get knocked out? Even though they get sent back to their base, thereby allowing you to occupy the territory while they have to wait five seconds to respawn? Now you're trying to downplay gameplay itself just to justify the lack of voice chat. Unbelievable. Nintendo should hire you for their PR team if they haven't done so already.

Ive been reading the thread, and I agree that this baffles me. Its not like CoD TDM where a kill only gives you points; in a game like splatoon eliminating an opponent gives you ground to control and effectively puts them behind.

Its a team game with team oriented objectives. Killing the opposing team gives you leeway to dominate said objective.
 
I'm not dismissing the tablet as it has its uses and some developers have done some cool things with it but why couldn't you use the tablet controller (as a mini-map) and have voice chat as well?

I dunno. I'd be okay with friend chat as an option for everyone. Random chat sounds unnecessary though IMO. If the idea is to have less toxicity then friend chat is an okay thing to have because they'd be trusted people.
 
Am I wrong though?

I bet you Overside is Japanese, and that's why he really appreciates what Nintendo is trying to do. He's being forced to repeat himself over, and over again, because people aren't understanding the intricacy of what he's trying to tell them. He's someone who puts game design before anything else, like Japan. You don't see fetch quests, or towers, or unnecessary attention to designing some stupid chips packet you'll see for a brief second like most western game studios focus on. Everyone arguing against him is probably white, black, or even worse, a muslim. They don't appreciate game design like Japanese people do.

Why is Japan the birthplace of gaming?

Why is Miyamoto, someone from Nintendo, the father of gaming?

Why was Final Fantasy the first RPG ever made?

Why was Mario the first platformer ever made?

What does the answer come back to?

Japan.

Right now, Japan, and Nintendo, are innovating, and people don't appreciate that. Splatoon is a new type of shooting game like Overside keeps telling you all. The developers don't want voice chat because it gets in the way, is harmful for children, and is unnecessary for this game. Does everyone arguing against him even have a Wii U? I bet most of them don't, and that all of them won't purchase Splatoon. Just like everyone was crying about Bayonetta, but then no one bought it. This is a targeted hate campaign. It's all IGN's fault.

I know you agree, because you believe yourself people will always have a reason to not buy a Nintendo product, even if Nintendo listens to everything that's asked of them. Those phantom reasons that always appear out of nowhere.

Haha, this is getting better and better
 
Voice chat would allow an agreement between team members on what weapons to use... instead of randomly finding yourself in a team with 3 other Chargers.
 
I'll get bashed but here's my input. I'm far from 12 years old and one thing I hate about "competitive" pvp games is I'll be treated all the names in the vocabulary and more when I'm getting started playing CS:GO, Dota, Hon, etc. Objectively, those communities aren't welcoming to new players, and even with a mute option, I feel like shit after 3 or 4 games being called all kinds of names. So I kind of understand this choice from Nintendo, especially given their Mario-driven younger playerbase. Having an option to mute people doesn't prevent what you aleady heard.

About the fact that voice chat would make strategizing obviously better, I'll say you can't strategize with someone you muted. And if voice chat was an option, that would mean the lucky bunch who accepts being called names constantly, or who's already grouped up with friends, would have an edge. No voice chat (in my eyes) means no name-calling at all, and no disadvantage for disabling it. It's just a different even playing field.

Add to that the fact that team will be randomized in most online formats, and it seems clear that Nintendo doesn't care that much about those "competitive" formats. They're just pushing for a fun online multiplayer without the obvious drawbacks seen in most other games. And it won't be competitive, it won't be featured in MLG, and that's perfectly fine. Mario Kart isn't and that's one hell of a fun multiplayer game.
 
Voice chat would allow an agreement between team members on what weapons to use... instead of randomly finding yourself in a team with 3 other Chargers.

Teams are randomly assigned each match so that wouldn't accomplish anything. Unless the full game lets you see who's in your team beforehand and change weapons then unlike what the demo had
 
I'll get bashed but here's my input. I'm far from 12 years old and one thing I hate about "competitive" pvp games is I'll be treated all the names in the vocabulary and more when I'm getting started playing CS:GO, Dota, Hon, etc. Objectively, those communities aren't welcoming to new players, and even with a mute option, I feel like shit after 3 or 4 games being called all kinds of names. So I kind of understand this choice from Nintendo, especially given their Mario-driven younger playerbase. Having an option to mute people doesn't prevent what you aleady heard.

About the fact that voice chat would make strategizing obviously better, I'll say you can't strategize with someone you muted. And if voice chat was an option, that would mean the lucky bunch who accepts being called names constantly, or who's already grouped up with friends, would have an edge. No voice chat (in my eyes) means no name-calling at all, and no disadvantage for disabling it. It's just a different even playing field.

Add to that the fact that team will be randomized in most online formats, and it seems clear that Nintendo doesn't care that much about those "competitive" formats. They're just pushing for a fun online multiplayer without the obvious drawbacks seen in most other games. And it won't be competitive, it won't be featured in MLG, and that's perfectly fine. Mario Kart isn't and that's one hell of a fun multiplayer game.

They could try implementing a feature that some games have had since 2007 and give players an option to disable voice chat if they want.
 
No, its not, because every single person can see it happening in real time, faster than anyone could utter a description of what was happening.

Do you seriously think whining at people to stop fighting and cover the map is going to stop them?

That works SO WELL games with voice chat. As in doesnt work at all.

'Come oonnnnnnn guys, its supposed to be capture the flag!!!'

I would try to respond but I know if I wait and let you continue you'll do a better job against yourself then I ever could.
 
I would like to say that I think that voice chat should absolutely be an option for players to use if they want. However, I don't agree how necessary it is for a game like this. Yes, it would be useful, but I am skeptical of how much of an impact it makes in the game. The game is extremely fast paced. It's only three minutes to a round, and since the object of the game is to paint as much ground as you can, there is generally no point where you don't want to be shooting at blank or opposing paint surfaces. As a result, I am almost never aware of where my teammates are because I'm so focused on my own safety and painting. I just don't think there is generally enough time to formulate a strategy to counter an opposing team or respond to imminent threat. I tried looking at the map on the Gamepad to assess the situation, but even that was difficult because tearing my eyes off the screen for a split second was disadvantageous. I couldn't even look at the screen long enough to see where I was. If I can't do that, I can't imagine telling my teammates where to go or warning them of danger if I'm not even aware of where I am on the map. Maybe I'm just a bad teammate, though, haha.

Yes, voice chat still has uses. While I am skeptical of the degree to which it helps, I certainly agree that there are times when it is helpful. And of course you should be able to voice chat with your friends at any time, which is why people complained when Smash Bros and Mario Kart did not support voice chat during gameplay even though it's even less necessary in those cases.

The whole "family-friendly" excuse of not implementing voice chat is a weak one. Just default the option to off. Having the option is better than not having one. Still, I don't think it's a death sentence to the game like some believe. The game has more problems, in my opinion. Like the map rotation policy and the lack of private match making. But I mention those in basically every post I make about the game.
 
Teams are randomly assigned each match so that wouldn't accomplish anything. Unless the full game lets you see who's in your team beforehand and change weapons then unlike what the demo had
So that's 2 idiotic design choices rather than 1.

Sounds great, I'm sure this game will light the charts on fire and cultivate a humongous community.
 
There is a defense force for literally everything on neogaf. Furthermore i can't tell joke posts from serious ones anymore. This is one hell of a thread.
 
Exactly. It's like texting while driving instead of wearing a Bluetooth headset. The chance of getting into an accident is far greater. Forcing players to take their eyes off the screen in such a fast paced game is precisely WHY voice chat is so important.

..but doesn't that add another element of strategy in itself? Having to be careful in regards to when to look away from the tv screen and towards the gamepad? Zombiu, Affordable Space Adventures , the Gamer mode in Game& Wario all use that extensively..it's a tension device and intended to make you multitask .

That distraction is a key element in a number of Wii U games. It's an intended gameplay component designed to make you take a risk.
 
I'll get bashed but here's my input. I'm far from 12 years old and one thing I hate about "competitive" pvp games is I'll be treated all the names in the vocabulary and more when I'm getting started playing CS:GO, Dota, Hon, etc. Objectively, those communities aren't welcoming to new players, and even with a mute option, I feel like shit after 3 or 4 games being called all kinds of names. So I kind of understand this choice from Nintendo, especially given their Mario-driven younger playerbase. Having an option to mute people doesn't prevent what you aleady heard.

About the fact that voice chat would make strategizing obviously better, I'll say you can't strategize with someone you muted. And if voice chat was an option, that would mean the lucky bunch who accepts being called names constantly, or who's already grouped up with friends, would have an edge. No voice chat (in my eyes) means no name-calling at all, and no disadvantage for disabling it. It's just a different even playing field.

Add to that the fact that team will be randomized in most online formats, and it seems clear that Nintendo doesn't care that much about those "competitive" formats. They're just pushing for a fun online multiplayer without the obvious drawbacks seen in most other games. And it won't be competitive, it won't be featured in MLG, and that's perfectly fine. Mario Kart isn't and that's one hell of a fun multiplayer game.

You do bring up a decent point and that is if you are not part of the team you can feel ostracised. I've been in matches where some don't use a headset and then team-mates get upset because they can't strategize with them. Or you have groups that will remove you from the lobby if you don't answer. I still prefer the scenario that at least having that option should be there especially in team based games online.
 
I don't really think it's "lazy" (I mean, does it take a lot of time, effort, or money?). I think it's just the latest in a long line of boneheaded, backwards, or difficult to understand Nintendo decisions. I don't think this game is going to do well anyway so whatever.

Wow haha. Okay.
 
There is a defense force for literally everything on neogaf. Furthermore i can't tell joke posts from serious ones anymore. This is one hell of a thread.
The problem is less, that people are okay with Splatoon having no Voice-Chat, but that others make a big deal out of it. You have an unique new title and some (including IGN) bash it, because of an missing optional option. Like the game is "cheap and lazy" without it.
 
I feel like the game could stand to use some official premade vs premade voice chat support, but I'm 100% happy with it being off for anything that's not premade groups. As it is I already disable voice chat in any online game I play, and the only times I've ever found it even remotely tolerable was in MMO Raiding for coordination, and even then there it worked best when only the group leaders were unmuted on the raid channel. It could also be that I'm just so used to using things like Ventrillo or Teamspeak that I've never cared about ingame support for voice chat.

Having it off is neither Cheap nor Lazy, it was clearly a conscious decision and not a technical limitation. Article title screams of clickbait to me.
 
People are legitimately defending no voice chat in this thread. This is actually happening.

There's always a defense force for everything, it shouldn't be surprising that a few people are defending it.

Cheap and lazy sounds about right.

You actually think it would take Nintendo that long or cost tons of money just to input voice chat into the game? This is more of a business decision, albeit a very strange one for the type of game that it is, but it's not really cheap or lazy

People think this is actually good? It's knack-level trolling at best :p

Ehh I think the first time I saw his full on sarcasm post was funny, gets kinda old though if you just keep posting like that.
 
Am I wrong though?

I bet you Overside is Japanese, and that's why he really appreciates what Nintendo is trying to do. He's being forced to repeat himself over, and over again, because people aren't understanding the intricacy of what he's trying to tell them. He's someone who puts game design before anything else, like Japan. You don't see fetch quests, or towers, or unnecessary attention to designing some stupid chips packet you'll see for a brief second like most western game studios focus on. Everyone arguing against him is probably white, black, or even worse, a muslim. They don't appreciate game design like Japanese people do.

Why is Japan the birthplace of gaming?

Why is Miyamoto, someone from Nintendo, the father of gaming?

Why was Final Fantasy the first RPG ever made?

Why was Mario the first platformer ever made?

What does the answer come back to?

Japan.

Right now, Japan, and Nintendo, are innovating, and people don't appreciate that. Splatoon is a new type of shooting game like Overside keeps telling you all. The developers don't want voice chat because it gets in the way, is harmful for children, and is unnecessary for this game. Does everyone arguing against him even have a Wii U? I bet most of them don't, and that all of them won't purchase Splatoon. Just like everyone was crying about Bayonetta, but then no one bought it. This is a targeted hate campaign. It's all IGN's fault.

I know you agree, because you believe yourself people will always have a reason to not buy a Nintendo product, even if Nintendo listens to everything that's asked of them. Those phantom reasons that always appear out of nowhere.

People think this is actually good? It's knack-level trolling at best :p
 
The problem is less, that people are okay with Splatoon having no Voice-Chat, but that others make a big deal out of it. You have an unique new title and some (including IGN) bash it, because of an missing optional option. Like the game is "cheap and lazy" without it.

There's nothing unique or new about having a game without voice chat. The rest of Splatoon looks interesting but this part of it?

Cheap and lazy sounds about right.
 
I view this as similar to how I approached Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare. I love the quirkiness of the game itself and that aesthetically its not as violent by any means as your callodoodies... But after the first 3/4 matches I muted everybody routinely. Kids whining, fans blowing into mics, screaming, cursing ,shouting. Maybe if I played with friends that would be all the difference. I was super competitive in the Uncharted 2/3 days and always had a mic for those matches. But Splatoon doesn't seem like a game where I would be wanting a mic... But hey, the option would be nice still. Just not bent out of shape that's it's not...
 
I think another flaw in thinking is assuming it's a team centric game. Sure, it's 4v4, but the game goes out of its way to mix up the team after each match, even making sure you're not in the same team as your friends. That alone tells me it's not supposed to be a team centric game at all, just a competitive game where it's easy to set goals for your own. The 4v4 aspect is there because it matches the best with the ink mechanic so you can more easily set your own goals depending on the situation, not to accommodate team play. Maybe ninty isn't making just another twelve in a dozen shooter, maybe even a shooter where voice chat is something that goes against what the game is trying to accomplish? Then again, sunglasses.

Except they are updating the game where you create specific teams with friends (and I presume a leaderboard) in august or so. Your point is moot.
 
The problem is less, that people are okay with Splatoon having no Voice-Chat, but that others make a big deal out of it. You have an unique new title and some (including IGN) bash it, because of an missing optional option. Like the game is "cheap and lazy" without it.

That's ridiculous, new and unique doesn't mean people can't criticize it. People are making a big deal out of it, because for them, it IS a big deal.
 
The problem is less, that people are okay with Splatoon having no Voice-Chat, but that others make a big deal out of it. You have an unique new title and some (including IGN) bash it, because of an missing optional option. Like the game is "cheap and lazy" without it.

Well hey, it makes sense that people who like voice chat are the loudest and most vitriolic about their opinions
 
..but doesn't that add another element of strategy in itself? Having to be careful in regards to when to look away from the tv screen and towards the gamepad? Zombiu, Affordable Space Adventures , the Gamer mode in Game& Wario all use that extensively..it's a tension device and intended to make you multitask .

That distraction is a key element in a number of Wii U games. It's an intended gameplay component designed to make you take a risk.

Even if its done in purpose to be a distraction:
That doesnt make it good.
That doesnt make it enjoyable.

Its not because something is designed in a way that it should be.
 
There's nothing unique or new about having a game without voice chat. The rest of Splatoon looks interesting but this part of it -

Cheap and lazy sounds about right.

It was a decision made by the dev though. In fact his words echo the same things the devs for Hearthstone said. Yes, completely different games but it was a conscious decision to make it safe and appealing to everyone online.

There is no debate that it was cheap or lazy. It was thought about carefully. I would like to see an option of friend chat though, which is the only thing people can seem to agree on but we don't know what's going to happen with that.
 
I'll get bashed but here's my input. I'm far from 12 years old and one thing I hate about "competitive" pvp games is I'll be treated all the names in the vocabulary and more when I'm getting started playing CS:GO, Dota, Hon, etc. Objectively, those communities aren't welcoming to new players, and even with a mute option, I feel like shit after 3 or 4 games being called all kinds of names. So I kind of understand this choice from Nintendo, especially given their Mario-driven younger playerbase. Having an option to mute people doesn't prevent what you aleady heard.

About the fact that voice chat would make strategizing obviously better, I'll say you can't strategize with someone you muted. And if voice chat was an option, that would mean the lucky bunch who accepts being called names constantly, or who's already grouped up with friends, would have an edge. No voice chat (in my eyes) means no name-calling at all, and no disadvantage for disabling it. It's just a different even playing field.

Add to that the fact that team will be randomized in most online formats, and it seems clear that Nintendo doesn't care that much about those "competitive" formats. They're just pushing for a fun online multiplayer without the obvious drawbacks seen in most other games. And it won't be competitive, it won't be featured in MLG, and that's perfectly fine. Mario Kart isn't and that's one hell of a fun multiplayer game.

This us the first decent point that I've read in defense. Not wanting to be at a disadvantage against a team that's using voice chat. I still firmly believe that it would improve the game, but I at least understand where you're coming from.
 
Reposting my question:

What is this in reference to? I don't disbelieve that it happened (there is a defense force for everything) but I'm morbidly curious...

They seem to have darkened alot of the colors on VC titles, I think there was a thread about it last week. I haven't toyed around much outside of a few GBA games on my VC, but I did remember Kirby NES was alot darker than I remember it

Are you trolling?
The developers already mention, that they choose against Voice-Chat from an early point of development. They believe, the game has all the important information visualized, which is a hard job. If this worked out should be judged after the game was reviewed or people got the chance to really play it over a long time. Right now, people only compare it to other titles and make assumption.

Yes, Voice-Chat is great as a social-option. But you should properly not design your game around it, because not everybody wants to or should use it.

I don't think any devs design their game completely around voice chat, except for say stuff like Hey You Pikachu and Seamen on the Dreamcast. Voice chat is just something that accompies Team games and makes them better since you can organize. Like CS:GO isn't built around talking to each other, but it definitely makes the game more enjoyable when you work as a team.
 
So, looking at how DLC heavy this game is supposed to be...what are the odds they will add voice chat later?

You know, when it will become actually useful with party matchmaking and support for custom games coming in August...
 
There's nothing unique or new about having a game without voice chat. The rest of Splatoon looks interesting but this part of it -
Cheap and lazy sounds about right.
Are you trolling?
The developers already mention, that they choose against Voice-Chat from an early point of development. They believe, the game has all the important information visualized, which is a hard job. If this worked out should be judged after the game was reviewed or people got the chance to really play it over a long time. Right now, people only compare it to other titles and make assumption.

Yes, Voice-Chat is great as a social-option. But you should properly not design your game around it, because not everybody wants to or should use it.
 
Why would the game be free when we know how much it costs? Your second sentence contradicts the first.
The developers have made statements as to why they aren't including voice chat. Speculating that they'll turn it around based on nothing is just as nonsensical as assuming the game will be free when we know its price.
 
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