Splatoon - The Problems with Splatfests

Ok, I wanted to talk about this in some way.
So here we go.

I am german, as you might know.
And I have attended to both Splatfests that took place here.
And got the highest rank in both of them.

Unfortunately, I was part of the losing team both times.
Which isn't very uplifting at all. Given the already tense atmosphere around Splatfests at hand.

First time, I joined Team Pop, because, well, I like it a little more than Rock.
But overall, I am not really into music, if it isn't from videogames.
So this wasn't a Splatfest topic for me.

And in the second Splatfest I joined Team Sleep.
I can definitely agree what Marie said.
I have a job and work 9 hours a day.
So I definitely know the virtue of sleep.
It really feels godsent, after a hard day at work.
I love sleeping, especially the crazy things that can happen in dreams.

Though I kinda admit, that the idea of this Splatfest was kinda silly.
I mean, it was Eating vs Sleeping. But we need both to survive.
In any case, I love both. But Sleeping I like to do more.

The first Splatfest was a total disaster. Not fun at all!
The second one started like that for me, but I got a looooooooong winning streak eventually.
Even after I gained the highest rank, I decided to keep going, to make up for last Splatfest.
And indeed, we got more Wins in the end... which unfortunately was all rendered a waste of time.


But enough about me and my personal reasons for going to Splatfests.
It is time to hit the actual topic.

The Problems with Splatfests

While the first European Splatfest turned out to be a perfect win for Team Rock, on other Splatfests I know of so far (The second European one and both American ones), had one team having more votes, while the other got more wins.
And in two cases, it was not the team with more wins that won the Splatfest, but the one with more votes.
In team Rollercoaster vs Team Waterslides, Rollercoasters actually wons by wins. But the Votes were really close in this one. So yeah...

I am sure everyone, who attended to a Splatfest, read comments like "Team X got more wins, so they are the true winner of Splatfest" or "Wins should be all that matters", etc. etc.
I see people making fun of them, stamping them "sore losers" or worse.
But frankly, I don't think this is a fair treatment at all.

Even though it is apparent that they are angry, I don't think their posts are without merit.
In fact, I think they bring up valid points.

The goal of Splatfest is to play Turf Wars and gain special "Splatfest XP", as I call them, to gain higher ranks.
Of course, the "Eternal" Rank is the highest and the one everyone aims for. (Or King/Queen, if you are in the US).
The higher your Splatfest Rank, the more "Super Sea Snails" you get at the end. Up to 18.

But you gain extra snails, if your team ends up winning.
The Team Win is determined by the percentages of Votes and Wins.
Points for Votes are equal the Vote-Percentages.
Points for Wins are the Win-percentages multiplied by 2.
Then added together, they form the Total Scores.
The team with the most points wins.

But here is where the problem starts:
The teams are properly balanced for the most part.
So in terms of Wins, the scores will never be apart by much.
I think they will always be within the 45-55% range.

So if a team gets significantly more votes than the other, then it has already won, before the Splatfest even begins.
Unless of course, one team has that many more skilled players and ends up gaining much more wins than the other.
But what are the odds of that happening?

And since you can only get Extra Snails if your team wins, getting Battle Wins is ultimately rendered pointless, if the amount of votes for the other team, are that much higher.
Which is the main point that grinds those "salty squid's" gears.
The fact, that voting can easily outmatch winning.
And even worse, that the losing team receives absolutely no credit for winning more.

I mean seriously, THEY GOT MORE FREAKING WINS!
That, in of itself, is an effort that should be rewarded.

But NOPE only the Total Score matters. And if them votes are so much higher, TOUGH LUCK!
That is pretty much what has been going on in the first US Splatfest and the second EU Splatfest.
And I think people have a right to be upset about this.

Winning more should mean something, even if the team still ends up losing.
Give them some credit for getting more wins than the other.

Even from a community-standpoint, people have been praising the winning teams only, completely ignoring that the losing teams got more wins.
So yeah, even here, the losing teams do not get any sort of credit for winning more.
Which is frustrating really. And I can feel for those teams.


Personally, I would handle this differently.
Instead of only giving out Extra Snails for the Total Win of one team, I would give them out per category-win, in different quantities.

For example:
Team getting more Votes, gives 2 Extra Snails.
Team getting more Wins, gives 7 Extra Snails.
And the Total Win, gives 3 more.

So yeah, if a team wins by votes, they gain 5 Extra Snails.
But the losing team that won more, gains 7 Extra Snails per player.

Of course, the quantities can be different.
But this way, you still get something for winning more, even if your team loses.


In fact, I wouldn't determine the Total Win of a team by score, but by the amount of categories won.
I would even like to introduce a third category, called "Rank".
That determines, which team overall had more players with higher ranks, than the other.

So we would have "Votes", "Wins" and "Ranks".
Whichever team won in more of those categories, wins in total.

Again, giving out Extra Snails per won category and Total Win.
So even if your team loses, if it wins in at least one of those categories, you still get Extra Snails.
So all your effort wasn't a waste of time.


But to be honest, I would tone down a Team Win of Splatfest.
I just don't think that much emphasis should be put on winning something that you have little to no control over.
I mean, let's be honest:
Winning a Splatfest and getting those Extra Snails, as it is now, is TOTALLY LUCK-BASED!
You can do well on your own accord. Sure!
But beyond that, it is just crossing fingers really!


And maybe with such changes, the amount of troll- and jerk-comments would diminish as well.
Which are the absolute worst part of any Splatfest: The jerk-comments that come in the aftermath of the Splatfest.

I have seen so many posts making fun of the losing team or worse.
Some posts angered me so much. I would literally like to throw up... RIGHT INTO THEIR FACES!

Of course, this is the Internet.
Where cowards can talk high and mighty and can pretend to be superman, while in actuality they are pathetic in real life.
Something that always has been there, but still can be pretty infuriating at times.


But yeah, I hope I could make it understandable, what the problems with Splatfests are.
And why many people are so frustrated by them.
People are upset. But don't dismiss their points so rashly.
Think about them first.


With that said, I am done.
See you around.