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Jamba

Making Switch Online App better

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So yes, we know it's not good but having watched NintendoLife's recent video about it, I found that we can actually give Nintendo direct feedback via the app. 

So, if you could start it from scratch what would you want this app to do? What do you think could be done in future games? 

Personally I think that Splat net 2 is pretty damn good. I like looking at all of the stats and being able to order kit is awesome. Only thing I would add is pics of the maps to doodle strategy on.

Please try and keep the conversation constructive and creative. 

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Don't release it (yes, not the point of this thread, but I'll say it anyway).

Make apps for games individually. Since Splatnet is apparently pretty cool, just make companions apps for games.

 

Voice chat, lobbies, etc should be available on an OS level.

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27 minutes ago, Jamba said:

Please try and keep the conversation constructive and creative. 

Awww... I was all ready to post "In before someone says put it on the Switch itself"

You're no fun...

Right, keep in mind that I've not used it yet (Mixture of not caring about Splatoon 2 and having a Windows Phone). Apart from the obvious function to run in the background, I think it'd be pretty cool if you could see who on your Friends List was playing their Switch, and let you invite people to play whatever game you want to play with them.

Edited by Glen-i
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4 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Voice chat, lobbies, etc should be available on an OS level.

Yep, called it. Wow, that was predictable.

Edited by Glen-i
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13 minutes ago, Glen-i said:

Yep, called it. Wow, that was predictable.

Yeah, because it's the best solution :p

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Glen that sucks about your phone dude :/

I'm with you on the player status. Essentially the same as Steam/Discord would be a great start. Some text messaging wouldn't go a miss either! 

I'd really like there to be a way of forming rooms before forming a lobby in game however I understand why that might be an issue. 

There's a great feature which splits the chat room in half so only players in the same team can hear each other. I'm not sure that you could have that function at the same time. 

Maybe they could create another sub chat for people spectating/not in that lobby. 

1 minute ago, drahkon said:

 

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6 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Yeah, because it's the best solution :p

The man has a point.

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And drahkon, I'm going to ask politely that you stop posting here unless you're going to engage with the topic. You've even stated yourself that it isn't the point of the thread. 

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Well, I took the liberty to broaden the topic of the discussion, but if that's not wanted, fine. ::shrug:


Let me rephrase then: I think removing the voice chat and lobby functions from that app would make the app better. Rename it to Splatnet and advertise it as a Splatoon 2 companion app.

If the two functions are to remain then add the eShop. Take notes from the PlayStation app. It's actually pretty good.

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A few ways to improve it:

  • Focus more on a hub for companion apps (having icons for each one would be a mess). Some cool features are getting overlooked.
  • Add in a text-based messaging functionality to the app (and Switch).
  • Add friends list - see who is online (in any game) and manage friends list (such as adding friends).
  • Make it so it works in the background when the screen is off or when a different app is used.
  • Mute on call (not disconnect) - it's cleaner and would cause fewer issues due to reconnecting.
  • Add the eShop to the app, automatic download on Switch.
  • Ability to alter profile and Switch settings and view things like what you have played and how long (I know it's an option in the Parental Control app, but no reason to not have it here).
  • Ability to toggle availability and receiving notifications. 

The app has potential to be a great all-round companion app to the Switch.

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16 minutes ago, Jamba said:

Glen that sucks about your phone dude :/

But... I like my Windows Phone...

I like the idea of a separate sub chat for spectators. Given the choice, I'd much rather watch others play Splatoon than actually play it myself. And maybe laugh and point at any unfortunate happenings.

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I don't have Splatoon yet so I haven't had occasion to use the app, but is there any reason you'd use the Nintendo specific app rather than discord? I mean it's a massive chore to actually add friends on the Switch, and since they're having you use a phone anyway, may as well use the industry standard app that works flawlessly and that you can use for any game of your choice, right?

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1 minute ago, The Bard said:

I don't have Splatoon yet so I haven't had occasion to use the app, but is there any reason you'd use the Nintendo specific app rather than discord? I mean it's a massive chore to actually add friends on the Switch, and since they're having you use a phone anyway, may as well use the industry standard app that works flawlessly and that you can use for any game of your choice, right?

There's a feature that splits chats up into whatever team they're playing on when a match starts in Splatoon, so the other team can't hear you.

Other than that and Splatnet 2 itself, I don't know of any.

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I suppose that's fair enough.

Regarding the app the biggest problem I've heard of is a usability issue. If you don't have the app as your open window on your phone, it disconnects you from chat. That needs to be fixed asap.

Another function that would be nice is some way to stream both game and chat audio via the app so you don't need that fucked up splitter box.

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14 hours ago, Cube said:

A few ways to improve it:

  • Focus more on a hub for companion apps (having icons for each one would be a mess). Some cool features are getting overlooked.
  • Add in a text-based messaging functionality to the app (and Switch).
  • Add friends list - see who is online (in any game) and manage friends list (such as adding friends).
  • Make it so it works in the background when the screen is off or when a different app is used.
  • Mute on call (not disconnect) - it's cleaner and would cause fewer issues due to reconnecting.
  • Add the eShop to the app, automatic download on Switch.
  • Ability to alter profile and Switch settings and view things like what you have played and how long (I know it's an option in the Parental Control app, but no reason to not have it here).
  • Ability to toggle availability and receiving notifications. 

The app has potential to be a great all-round companion app to the Switch.

I'd never even thought of the bolded! That's a great idea! The functionality is already available through Nintendo's website (I used it to nab Puyo Puyo Tetris digitally just before the sale ran out! If the functionality wasn't there I would've missed it!), but using Nintendo's UK website to browse for games is an absolute chore, so I'd love to see it built into the online app and made easier to use.

 

I'd also add the ability to stream game audio to the phone; the need for a splitter device is just laughable and needs to be addressed ASAP.  Same with the ability to create chat parties that persist from game to game.

 

In the future, hopefully we can also use it to manage things like cloud saves and live streams too (we know that built-in video capture functionality is on the way); then they can think about things like stickers and themes.

 

For Splatoon 2, I'd also like to see the ability to make and send Miiverse pics Posts through the app.  Would be nice to be able to doodle some random nonsense while I'm out and about and see it reflected in-game.  Spectator chat is another great idea as well that I hope they nick.  Actually, why not just have the party chat automatically split players up depending on what game/mode is being played? If you have a party of, say 24 people, have it so that when you play MK8DX and Splatoon 2 at the same time, it just splits them into a group of 12 for MK and 8 for Splatoon 2 - leaving a group of 4 as spectators.  Make it smart!

 

For MK8DX, I hope to see the return of the MKTV website functionality.  It was a really cool little site for the time it was available.  Nintendo actually did quite a few cool things with companion websites over the years, like Super Mario Maker Bookmark, Nintendo WFC.com (Does anyone remember that for DS? It was actually quite ahead of its time! You had stat tracking and even random player game clips from DS games being recorded remotely that you could view on that website!) and the Pokemon Global Link.  I hope we see that all get integrated into the app; they actually had some really cool stuff going for them, but they were so disjointed that nobody really used them.  I think that's the biggest opportunity they have with this new app; the ability to put that all in one easily accessible place.  No more random and disjointed websites, but just one hub that gives you easy access to everything (Imagine @Glen-i! Having the Pokemon Global Link actually be convinently accessible! Wouldn't that just be swell?)

 

Like I said before, the idea isn't bad at all, it just needs to be executed right.

Edited by Dcubed

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Tie it to the OS so it doesn't only operate with certain games and so that it works outside of games too - make it so it works just like Party Chat & Messaging.

Import the App onto the Switch hardware so it can also be used without a smart-device on the console itself alone.

Get it working on the smart-devices in the background and make it so that any phonecalls don't disconnect you but just mute you instead - the Party must remain connected.

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9 hours ago, Dcubed said:

Imagine @Glen-i, Having the Pokemon Global Link actually be convinently accessible! Wouldn't that just be swell?

Oh sure! Hey, while we're at it, why not bring back the Battle Frontier in US/UM? And make the Pokemon Amiibo have more use than the Mega Man one? Oh, and a mainline game where half the Pokemon available aren't from bloody 1997!?

Get out of here with your reasonable demands! Pokemon Company has no time for such nonsense!

Edited by Glen-i
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I'm actually willing to accept the app concept if they can make it much more useful.

 

My wish list would be:

 

1. Show friends list in the app, what game and mode players are in.

 

2. Allow chat to be "party" based when not in a team MP game. Happy if they restrict to team only for those in a game.

 

3. Actually... 1 and 2 is all I need for this to be workable.

 

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NintendoLife have just posted a story showing what Reddit user came up with for how the online app should work.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/07/gallery_fan_concept_shows_how_the_nintendo_switch_online_app_could_actually_be_good

That seems pretty much perfect, at least for it being an app. You can download software, see who is online, send messages, organise party chat and see news. 

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1 hour ago, Hero-of-Time said:

NintendoLife have just posted a story showing what Reddit user came up with for how the online app should work.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/07/gallery_fan_concept_shows_how_the_nintendo_switch_online_app_could_actually_be_good

That seems pretty much perfect, at least for it being an app. You can download software, see who is online, send messages, organise party chat and see news. 

See, now that's more like it! That's more or less how I would envision it.

 

Gimme that Nintendo!

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Quote

Sensor Tower reports that their Store Intelligence tool estimates that the app “has been installed approximately 780,000 times worldwide.”

They calculate that to represent roughly 17 percent of those that own a Nintendo Switch, with 400,000 installs on iOS devices from the App Store and 380,000 on Android through Google Play.

 

They need to make this App better... MUCH better!

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