Brawl Online: Pathetic. So let's do something about it.

[HugS]

The point of this topic is complaints about Brawl's online. He was just asking what would satisfiy the OP in terms of the friend limit (Which, i don't know if you realized this, is apart of Brawl's online functionality). In no way was he defending Nintendo.

And I agree with the OP on everything but the friend limit. Seriously, can you honestly say you play regularly aganist 64 different people? For online tournments, I could almost see your point, but you can still delete people then replace them when you need to.

Yes you can delete people and just replace them, but don't you see the inconvenience in all that? I think that's what the OP is getting at.

And some people would need more than 64 slots. There are tons of requests for matches that I simply don't even try to play out because I know there are 64 people I know on a personal level that I'd rather play. And, i simply don't want to deal with writing down 16 digits, adding them, figuring out who they are, then deleting them after a few matches. I can only do that for so long before it gets tiring.

"Inconvenient" is the word to sum up Brawl's online scheme.

 

[alcheato]

Yeah, Brawl's online just added to my list of disappointments with this game. Right up there with tripping (wtf?!).

Direct your complaints about online play right here:
http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/webform.jsp

Should have been like most console FPS games. Offer public matches in a few "templates" like teams, 1v1, ffa, no items; then also offer private matches between friends where you can customize the rules beyond the basic templates.

Agreed.

 

[metroid1117]

I don't see why they couldn't do a system like the one Gunbound uses; you create a room and people join, setting the rules for all to see. I whole-heartedly agree with all of the complaints the OP presented (excellent post, by the way); after mulling it over, I would gladly pay annually for a better online service - the current system is simply... (as HugS put it) inconvenient.

Anyways...

"To Whom it May Concern:

There are many gamers who have been avid followers of your company since we were very young. From the time that the NES came out, we have enjoyed playing games both by ourselves and with our friends. In humble beginnings, we would sit down in our living rooms with friends and family and enjoy games. We have remained followers of your consoles as technology has advanced.

It is with regret that your current generation of console, the Wii, is not as advanced as its competition. While we have remained loyal to you as fans, you have not returned the favor. We no longer wish to be restrained to our living rooms. The explosion of the Internet allows us to play with friends we've never even met face to face. It allows us to make new friends. It opens doors we've never been privy to before. One needs only to look at your two rival consoles to see the fun and excitement online play can bring. Your system thus far has failed in this regard.

We understand that you consider the ages of your customers when developing games. We also understand that this played a large part in how you developed your online capabilities. However, we believe that, in this day and age, it is no longer the responsibility of the company who designed the games to play this role. We can point to games such as "Manhunt" to demonstrate this. Rockstar Games never intended for children to play this game. They knew the game would have the mature ESRB rating placed upon it. They left it up to the vendors and the parents to regulate their children's gaming. While the game is still controversial, the responsibility has not fallen onto Rockstar for the game. We, as gamers, feel that all games should be handled this way. There is an ESRB rating affixed to this game, as well as a disclaimer warning that online content is not rated. The game is not filled with an abundance of violence, and parents should remain ultimately responsible for what their children view and/or hear on the internet.

There are many demands that we as fans have, and we understand that at times it is difficult to meet all these demands. What we ask is not always going to be easy and there are several reasons for that. Sometimes we are not clear in what we want. Sometimes we contradict one another. Sometimes we just ask the impossible. This is an attempt to state clearly what we want, in a coordinated effort, all of the things that we feel are possible.

We would like to see the usage of friend codes done away with. While it is a good idea in theory, in practice it only limits us. As stated before, we can point to other successful online services that don't use this that are considered much more successful and much more enjoyable. We do not want to be limited to who we play against. We want to be able to play an individual we have never met in the same way we would play an individual who is sitting in our living rooms. Yes, there is the possibility of negative interactions under this method, but we, as gamers, have tough skins. We can handle it. It would surely be feasible to merely add an option to ignore or block another user who we felt as acting inappropriate.

We would like the ability to chat with the people we are playing against. There is no reason that the only communication between participants is limited to predefined messages. Part of the fun of playing in the living rooms was hearing the reactions of our friends around us during the game. Whether it was laughter or an admission of defeat it, was all in good fun. It would be no different in an online setting. Nintendo was not sitting in our living rooms when we were talking amongst one another, so why are they taking an active interest in what's being said in our games now?

If you insist on keeping things anonymous, surely that mode of play can be improved. Currently in "Super Smash Brothers Brawl," it is severely limited and is not very enjoyable. A few simple changes such as allowing the users of the game to determine what type of game they are playing, instead of a default settings, would drastically improve it.

We are aware that the lag issue is due to a number of factors, and not all of them are within your control. We know other games have had similar problems that were worked out in time. We are aware of the number of sales your games have had, and that just the sheer load of gamers is probably more than you ever expected. While we understand this is probably an issue you are already working on, we just felt that it should be pointed out as well.

We know that you are human too. You make mistakes. You also take pride in your work. We do not mean this to imply that you have done a bad job far from it. However, we feel that upon revisiting the work you can make it even better which will benefit everyone involved.

We know this is long and that your time is precious. We appreciate the time, effort, and energy you have poured into the wonderful products of yours over the years. We do not want to be thought of as whiners and complainers. We are trying to be respectful of you and the things you've done. We do, however, want you to realize that none of it would have happened without us though; as such, we want you to at least hear the issues we have and try to help correct them.

Thanks from a Loyal fan
[Your Name Here]"

I edited the grammar at some parts, adding commas here and there to keep an even and reasoned tone. I think that it is a letter that presents the issues well; good job. I wouldn't mind having this as a petition that we all could sign.

 

[Dokenzz]

Yeah, I think MoH: Heroes II is the closest Nintendo will ever get to an alright online play, it offers rooms to join so there's no waiting for someone to join a game!!

 

[stfunerds]

we should just email this thread to nintendo.

here's some of what I'd like to see and I would be willing to pay for it (though not as much as XBL because it would be impossible to get to that quality any time soon)
-voice chat
-East or West Coast Servers (for the US)-this could hopefully deal with some of the lag
-Names shown unless you choose to "censor" your name
-Ranked Matches-Join Match-find a match, either Stock-4 or Time-2 minutes, choosing from Team Battle, 1v1, or FFA. No Items. Random level
-Unranked Matches-Join Match-join another person's hosted match from a list/Host Match-choose stock/time, # of stocks/minutes, the level, (here up to 3 people could play online from one wii).
-View Ladder Rankings
-Friends List-shows what your friend is doing, allows you to send a text message, invite to a game you are in, or join his/her game. And NO FC. Instead just send people Friend's Requests and they either accept or don't.

Just the way I would like it personally, I'm sure others would have some things changed, but you get the basic jist of the options and stuff they should have.


But yeah so are we going to email to nintendo and if so which address? also we really should try to get other big smash forums to help.

 

[Brawler1432]

I agree sooo much with your statement(s). This is why I prefer to have Nintendo charge for online service. Like Mircrosoft, they use that money to improve their online system. Whenever it comes to online gameplay, Xbox Live surpasses all others, hands down.

I prefer paying 40-50 dollars a year for good a good online system than some free crappy one Nintendo has to offer.

Nintendo is doing that, I am not lying.


Just send a letter to nintendo and ask them to open a channel for brawl, thats all they can do.

 

[scalpel]

Personally, I think the whole "SPAM UNTIL THEY DO SOMETHING :DDDDD" Is possibly thee DUMBEST, LEAST ORGANIZED, and it's not even CIVILIZED.

I agree whole-heartedly. Marching in a huge mob with pitchforks accomplishes nothing.

And of course, someone within this mob is going to disagree.

 

[Hyper_Ridley]

I can't wait to see what their "pay-to-play" games are gonna be like. Seriously, the only reason I can put up with online like Brawl's is becuase it's free. If I have to shell out money for random mathes and friend codes, I'm just going to outright stop playing Nintendo games online.

 

[Dokenzz]

Aw we should!!

 

[Dokenzz]

I just emailed it 15 minutes ago

 

[asianpride3491]

Emails, Calls, and Letters, we should do all of this, we should spread it to as many other sites as possible, get as many people in on it as possible.

So that we're organized, all of our complaints should be short and include generally the same thing, so we should make a list of important points that everyone should include, but we shouldnt all send the exact same thing, otherwise it will eventually end up getting ignored and tossed.

If we are persistent, then eventually they have to start realizing that many people are unhappy with it, and that it should be changed. But most importantly I think we have to get organized in large numbers in order to make it successful

 

[Dokenzz]

Well MoH:Heroes II is going in the right direction because you don't use friend codes, but it lacks communication..

 

[3747373796432]

I think it's also annoying you can't choose which maps and items on are even if you're hosting the match. And I wish you could tell what the match setting are before you join a match.

 

[Formless]

This can be resolved by having friends in the friend list, ones that are near and that you know will not lag you up by downloading in the background. I've only gotten a few on my list, and they don't play everyday, but at a forum like this, or on a site like WifiWars, one should be able to find a good match quick.

 

[ron561]

I am not defending Nintendo, I'm just asking him what he thinks the limits of Friend lists should be.

if theres almost over 2 million smashers in the u.s. alone by now and were limited to 64,what do you think the limit should be?

 

[Gonzoyo]

Well, just sent this to them;

I'm writing to express my dissatisfaction with the Super Smash Bros. Brawl WiFi Connect feature. Let me begin by stating that Super Smash Bros Brawl, offline, is one of the most enjoyable games I've played. I've been gaming since a very young age, and started out on the NES with Burger Time and Super Mario Bros. I've been an avid gamer since that time, and I've still not been as impressed or enthralled by a game as much as I have been with SSBB. However, the online play is nearly useless, and I'll expand on why I feel that way;

1. The Friend Code feature is cumbersome, annoying, and counterintuitive to an enjoyable, friend-based online experience. Even with places like Smash World providing tools to better find people with FCs to play against, it's entirely too difficult to add people to my friends list. If I've added someone from a FC list or something of that nature, they aren't sent a notification that I've added them. They simply sit in the "awaiting registration" status forever, and I'm never able to play them. I understand that the principle is to maintain communication with those who you add, but it's hardly facilitated by the complete lack of an internal communication system in WFC. Of course it's a simple task to add anyone I already know personally, but I want to be able to pick from a list of players, message and challenge them, and be able to jump in and play. I feel that you've been overly cautious with avoiding any bad online experiences (i.e. being added and contacted by random players and having an unpleasant experience with them) and have entirely neglected the ease of use a friend list should have.

2. There is no in-match communication beyond the preset messages. This is an inexcusable omission, and while I understand your concern for having voice chat or text chat (which I will admit is impossible on the Wii) abused by vulgar players, why don't you instead have some sort of "protection" option where the player can disable communications in-game, and allow the rest of us to purchase headsets and use them with voice chat in the game. Any player with the protection feature won't hear anything, and as such won't be at risk of being exposed to any vulgar language or bullying, while at the same time any mature player will be able to communicate, smack talk, whatever they want to say over the microphone. This will lead to a much richer and intimate gaming experience, as gamers would be able to exchange congratulations, awe over a combo, or yes, even trash talk eachother, which is a key component of the mindgame aspect of SSB's competitive arena. Please work on getting this feature included.

3. The lag is often insurmountable. I have an excellent connection (Cable 8mbps downstream, 1mbps upstream), my Wii is in the DMZ as is often suggested, and I've played with players who live in my same city. However, I still experience lag on every match, and it makes it impossible to translate the offline gaming style I have to the online environment. Button lag is extremely long, and I often find myself glitching into jumps or dashes 15+ seconds after I've pressed the command. If this didn't happen on every match with varying circumstances, I wouldn't be complaining. However, it appears that this is a network issue, and I strongly suggest that you repair or upgrade your networks to remedy all of these issues. Otherwise, the online system will be an absolute failure.

4. I'm going to be blunt about this; With Anyone is not worth playing. It doesn't allow the selection of any options other than 2:00 timed matches, all items on. It's terrible. The lag issue also comes into play here, but I understand that it's mostly because players are selected at random, so one east coaster in a game full of west coast players would bog the game down. Also, there's still no option to friend the players I've played with after the match. This makes the With Anyone feature largely no different from facing CPUs. Improve this or remove it from the game, period.

Other than these four points, I have no other problems with the game itself. Sincerely, I find all of the characters to be well-balanced, there are no blatantly bad characters or stages, and the almost endless wellspring of options, techniques and collectibles ensures I will be playing this for a very long time. However, the online feature is frustrating, and I would greatly prefer a much more stable network, a more sophisticated communication system, and a longer friends list. I know that many, many other players echo my sentiments, so I do hope you will make these improvements to the game and the network in a timely fashion

Thank you for your consideration of this message,
************

Good enough?

 

[stfunerds]

I'm going to link this thread to another small forum group I know. then I'm going to email the customer service.

 

[aaron123]

I agree whole-heartedly. Marching in a huge mob with pitchforks accomplishes nothing.

And of course, someone within this mob is going to disagree.

Yeah, let's just be totally complacent about the whole situation.

We have to tell them something so that they *know* something is up, and so that they *know* that they oughta do something to fix it. If you wanna bend over and take it, be my guest.

 

[Marthgreil]

The lag is so horrible for me when I play someone who is only 50 or so miles away. Hell it is bad when I play my friend who is less than 10 miles away. When input moves it is like a 2 second delay.

 

[aequitas.veritas]

i agree 100 percent. it seems they didnt realize how many people eat and breathe this game. it kinda feels like the wifi wasnt MEANT to support competitive play, solely a way for semi-noobs to entertain themselves while home sick from school.
it just sucks. i main wolf at the moment. when i try to play technically, with skill and the few advanced tactics i know, i start getting lag-owned until i find myself f-smashing around the stage like a moron to victory.

 

[Link Lord]

Mytummyhertz, thank you. Thank you for stating everything everyone has on their mind.

 

[Dynomite]

ok, honestly i dont see much wronge with it.. wifi lag? well i mean its free unlike xbox live so i mean just buy a 20$ lan adapter and your good. you cant brawl with ur friends? uh, yea u can but just like im them first or something. also the no public chat or anything, well u gota admit there are some crazy disgusting people out there who just suck at life so they go around molesting kids and a lot of kids play this game so no voice chat seems resonable. only 64 people are allowed? well i mean how many people that you know actually have a wii and brawl? if ur talking about playing people from this fourm then i can see why you would say that but, 64 seems like an alright number to be honest.. all the people from that you add to your friend list on brawl should only add up to i think around 35 or somehting, if you are going to online tournaments then just add them and delete them after.

HOWEVER!! i do agree with the fact that in norman brawl not with friends there is only like time mode and there isnt a 1v1. i agree all the way that that blows but what can we do? we cant like over write wifi or somehting.

besides this is only nintendo's idk 2nd try with wifi so please dont go all out, i mean yes the rules of the gameplay of online is kind of wack considering that u can only do time with others but well we never do stuff right the first or second time. " stop defending nintend" i am hearing that from some of your posts and ide like to clearly state that you either agree or disagree with the topic and that is why you are posting so some of us happone to agree with nintendo and we are simply just speaking our mind. not a crime last time i checked. =/

 

[Gonzoyo]

Honestly, just because it's their second try doesn't excuse them. They're a huge gaming company with over 100 years of experience in games, and online gaming has been around long enough for them to research and find a way to construct an effective online play environment. All they really have to do is copy Xbox live or any number of PC games who have dedicated online play systems.

 

[Dynomite]

well still i mean they did try but copying live would just ruin them. copying another rival's video game company's idea will f'k them over pretty bad to be honest... besides as i said its free so ide say deal with it only bad thing is no online (with out friends) stock matches and 1v1's... thoes r the only bad things

 

[raymanbud714]

I agree completely. however it is Nintendo's first shot at online. even though they should've spent WAY MORE TIME than they did on it. hopefully they'll find some fired Microsoft employee and hire him to fix the internet for them because apparently Nintendo doesn't know what the hell internet is. EDIT: oh and the having to pay for online for third party games in the future is BS i'm not paying for ****ty online. the way i see it if Nintendo isn't gonna fix it then no ones buying online. ever.

 

[Unseen_Killa]

You guys act like online is this new thing and its hit and miss. It doesn't matter if it's their first shot at online, especially since all they have to do is hire the right people. Xbox did online right, first try. And that was 6-7 years ago.

How would copying another company **** them? And how is wanting good online gameplay even copying another company, good online gameplay has been around for years...

And no, paying doesn't automatically make a good service (look at PS3 free online which I hear is about as good as Xbox 360's not free online). However, if paying means a not ****ty online for the Wii, you bet my *** I'd pay for that.

Don't even try to tell me its my connection, I get less lag playing SSB 64 online, and that game isn't even made to play online. One second delay (give or take, mostly about one second) on Brawl is ridiculous, and ruins many aspects of the game, making spammers winners, etc....

 

[spyk90]

well still i mean they did try but copying live would just ruin them. copying another rival's video game company's idea will f'k them over pretty bad to be honest... besides as i said its free so ide say deal with it only bad thing is no online (with out friends) stock matches and 1v1's... thoes r the only bad things

Copying Xbox Live would not screw over Nintendo. If they were to copy their online system, people would say, "Wow, this is a lot more easier and more innovative than their prior online play!"; not, "Wow, they copied Microsoft, they are very unprofessional and I refuse to use this."

Point said, all people care about when it comes to online, is whether if the company providing the online gaming service want it to be easy to use, but still has all of its nice features, such as live chat, friend messaging, and much more. By knowing a very good online will be very profitable, Microsoft took advantage of the situation, making a very large sum of money, while dominating Sony and Nintendo when it comes to online play.

I'm not saying Nintendo is not as good as Microsoft. Actually, I think they are much better in other aspects, in my opinion. If Nintendo would step up and seize this opportunity, both beneficial to them and their customers, no one would be complaining about lag during online play and the online sub forum on this site would be much less crowded with threads that aren't related to complaints about Brawl's online gameplay.

 

[QueTee]

agreed.

Spoiler

10greatpoints

 

[predatorywasps]

to be honest, I don't think much will happen
nintendo's wifi was designed to be free as in cheap
before this what was the most popular game using wifi? pokemon?
turn-based games don't require timing like smash and even games like mario strikers don't have a fan base that can even compare to something like smash

as for things like voice chat, improved etc, and such:
brawl doesn't have the ability for voice chat. I don't think downloads from the wii shop could fix this but I don't even know how voice chat works so yeah
same goes for improving rules and stuff
I just don't see nintendo being able to(or willing) to tweak with a game that sells like brawl

all I see are getting improved wifi abilities to happen, but there are obstacles such as buying the neccessary equipment to make this happen

I guess we'll need to stick to rl tournaments until this gets sorted out
hopefully atleast

 

[ReK99]

Out of curiosity, how would Nintendo go about patching the content in the game?

On topic though, I don't excuse Nintendo just because they lack experience for reasons already mentioned. If they really, really wanted to make a online system that works, they'd have done more preparation.

Any suggestions I would have for improving the Brawl online experience would be these to name a few.

The whole challenge idea kind of caught my eye, so that would be a good place to start, player to player interaction in general seems stunted in an attempt to make the experience kid friendly. The funny thing is that any options regarding voice chat, regular chatting, and any slightly more "personal" options could be enabled or disabled by a simple option menu, which could even be parent controlled.

As far as the actual matches go, reducing lag for everyone would be a nice first start. I'm not going any further on that. Expanding the options to change a random match's settings and rules could off-set some people that like to play by a certain way (I'm not saying that's a bad idea to add more options, I'm just trying to list a counter-point). I'm sure some sort of middle-ground is to be found for the people that just like to play and the people that like to play by their own rules.

I'm fine with paying a fee as long as the service gets stepped up, I play WoW anyways so unless it's something truly atrocious I'm sure I'd shell out a few each month to get to have some fun while I'm online.

Just my two cents, I could add more but I feel like I'm breaking a rule when I use the quick reply function for something longer than a paragraph.

:x

 

[Garandrar]

As far as the actual matches go, reducing lag for everyone would be a nice first start. I'm not oing any further on that. Expanding the options to change a random match's settings and rules could off-set some people that like to play by a certain way (I'm not saying that's a bad idea to add more options, I'm just trying to list a counter-point). I'm sure some sort of middle-ground is to be found for the people that just like to play and the people that like to play by their own rules.

Nintendo will not change any options, due to organizations, such as this, that get players together to host games, etc. I believe Nintendo is aware that there is sites that host Brawl numbers to fellow gamers for easy - location and less lag issues.

Nintendo's response will be to use such groups to get past the lag. Unless it's out the good of their hearts, which I like to see Nintendo as a cute little innocent dog xD, the lag issue will probably remain, period.

As for the people that are serious about competing on the Wii, I don't think there is enough competitive-hungry players over casual-less caring players. Who cares about the lag issue on the wifi the most? D:

"I don't excuse Nintendo just because they lack experience for reasons already mentioned. If they really, really wanted to make a online system that works, they'd have done more preparation." - Rek99

Either that, or they tried to copy the simple DS wifi system xD! (joking)(or am I?)

 

[ReK99]

Nice one on the wifi. :D

I think even the casual players don't like the characters to not do what they're told to do when they do it. Once enough people try the wifi and start complaining, besides people that play the game more like a sport. Then we might start seeing results.

Edit: Typos ><
Edit: Grammar =/

 

[Ciel~Image]

Yeah man, Blizzard's Battle.net in 1997 (or whatever) was more advanced than this. Nintendo should think about using some of that money from their ten billion Wii sales to establish a real online service. It doesn't have to be great. If it were just mediocre instead of abysmal I'd appreciate it.

 

[Nocturnal~Dragon]

I have to say, Brawl's online is disappointing, it had potential(if Sakurai created the online correctly). I mean its still fun, but it could of been executed a lot better than wat it is right now

 

[Othersyde]

It seems to me like the Brawl development team spent way too much of its resources making a subpar side-scrolling adventure (subspace emissary) rather than allocating those efforts in making online play an awesome, fun , polished feature.

As much as I enjoy playing Brawl - it is an enormous disappointment that in this day and age Nintendo cannot provide a decent online service. Everything about Brawl online play seems to go against their philosophy of making gaming easy and enjoyable. Who the hell enjoys putting in a Brawl code every time they want to play against someone? Or be extremely limited in the kind of battle you can have against random opponents? Or having to deal with horrendous lag issues? Or the complete lack of communication via the online interface Brawl? I think Nintendo should have never should have put an online feature in Brawl instead of teasing us with poorly implemented one that exists now.

Then again its my hope that Nintendo pulls some sort of miracle and rescues Brawl from the disgrace of online play that it is now... but sadly I doubt it. For many people Brawl is the sole reason we got a Wii in the first place - and its sad to see how poorly Nintendo delivered in the online aspect of the game which in the times we live in it shouldn't be so.

 

[Darkslash]

Ya know why can't Nintendo do some thing like EA nation. NOW THATS GOOD FREE ONLINE XD. Except no voice chat thats ****ing gay. UNLESS!!!!!! nintendo releases a head set at E3 and Nintendo WiFi becomes better than Sony's XD

 

[Lightmaster]

I don't understand. Many people will pay hundreds for better online service. And it would be optional. Nintendo makes money, we get better online play, broke people can still play online, soccer moms won't have to worry about their kid getting harrassed online. Everyone's friggin happy.

I mean, a bunch of forum goers like us are smart enough to think about this than the geniuses maybe twice our age at Nintendo that CREATED this masterpiece? Wouldn't a giant like Nintendo have a top-notch research team? Pathetic. Don't they have common sense? Are their brains working?

 

[hectohertz]

Wow.

I am glad to see so many posting, I am relieved that I am not the only one with these sort of issues.
First, I wish to address a couple things that have been brought up.

Lag: While yes, there are some solutions to lag, a market product should be ready to go from the start. To set up XBL, all I had to do was input the password to my network, and I have not had any major net issues on any game. For this game (I have a 15up 5 down FIOS connection with an average ping of 20-30ms btw) the wii is DMZ'd with a static IP, and I have the channel set to 7 after extensively sniffing nearby traffic to see that none of my neighbors use that channel. And I still have lag. I am not asking for solutions to my lag. Please do not post tips (seriously, there are other threads for that). What I am saying is that I have taken measures to reduce lag that are quite technical and far beyond what an end user should have to do, and I still have lag. If there is indeed a way to stop lag, it is FAR beyond what could reasonably be expected for a user to do. This is unacceptable for a commercial product, especially one that is supposed to be 'kid-oriented' (you telling me those kids in the wii commercial know how to packet sniff?)

64 Friends: While I personally do not even have 64 friends in my list yet, this is just another symptom of the root problem: lack of options due to infantilization. Since Nintendo forces any match against anyone to be done through the friend list, capping that limit at 64 makes no sense. An earlier poster talked about how he was compelled to not play someone because of the trouble of deleting/reinserting numbers. I will not get into it, suffice to say that there is no reason in terms of memory that you could not store a couple thousand numbers. This is a limitation. The online system does not provide choices. Many have posted saying that they enjoy the anonymous random matches with the 2 minute time limit (I don't know why, but I value all opinions. Whatever floats your boat.) If the game was designed with more choices, those modes could exist. I think the best method of rule choice is the method that has been used near universally on other games, the creator of a "room" chooses the rules, and players can select which room to enter. All of the different aspects of this game's (possible) online service: anonymity, match size, communication, rule set, etc, can be made to make everyone happy if they had options. That way players who enjoy jumping into a 4 player stock match anonymously can. That way players who want 1v1 2min matches on random levels with no items but pokeballs can play that. Players who want to surf for the perfect room full of advanced players can. Players who just want to click a button and go right to a match can. Options! They're good!

Many people have been accused of "defending nintendo" after posting apathetic posts that were, to be blunt, defending nintendo. While I think that of course you are entitled to say what you want, and that it is true that this is one of nintendo's first games online, and that they are unlikely to change, etc, etc, I do not feel this sort of negativity adds anything. I ask that anyone who wishes to post apathetic or negative posts saying that no change can be made or that we should stop complaining please refrain from doing so on this thread (you're welcome to start you own of course!) As I said in the first post, I feel doing something is better than doing nothing. So we need a gameplan. I think the first thing to do is to gather support. I do not participate on any other gaming forums beside this one. However, I am sure many of you do. I urge all of you who particpate on any other forums to cross-post and begin gathering support. The second thing is to begin taking action. Some have said that they have emailed nintendo with their complaints. I ask them to please post the email address, as well as any information they have as to whether that address is listened to (did you get a reply? what type of address is it?) And I ask everyone to keep brainstorming different types of effective communication with nintendo. I am not sure what would be the most effective. A petition seems interesting (anyone ever set up an online petition before?) I think that "battletoading" their support lines would be effective if done in a coordinated matter (what does everyone think about setting up a system with time slots for people to sign up to call, that way they get a steady, constant, stream of calls rather than a haphazard burst that fades after 2 days?)

In conclusion, keep up with your good ideas, please refrain from apathetic posts, and please please, cross post to other forums, tell your friends/neighbors/pastors/grandparents. If there are any other forms of internets that people gather about smash (IRC? haven't been on in years, but I'm sure some of you still lurk on the old relay chat) please, cross post. And again, post ideas on how to make our voices heard! Divided we are weak, together we are strong!

 

[OFY]

Button delay is the only thing keeping me away from online.

 

[stfunerds]

I like the idea of battletoading their support lines in a steady, constant stream. imagine them getting a bunch of wifi complaints for 2 weeks straight. that would make them notice.

also if anyone has an account at brawl central or another major smash forum can u start a topic with a link to this one. if we get the major brawl forums working together that could get serious results. heck I'll do a post at brawl central about this right now.