Low Ink is Senioritis in splatoon form. Without a next step, there is no motivation to go on. If I had infinite time resources and money, Low Ink would just be 1/4 tournaments in its vein, with Medium Ink taking those banned from Low Ink, High Ink taking those banned from Medium Ink, and Max Ink taking those that have been banned from all previous Inks, with no bans for winners here. It would allow the Low Ink community to expand up the skill ladder, while still maintaining its graduation gimmick. But this is literally 4x the work in concept alone, and probably 5-6x in real life, so this would be unlikely to happen.
This system is essentially the lifeblood of the Rivals of Aether scene as well. They also have a mentoring system, which I think could translate - maybe have a tournament where each team is appointed a graduated/banned 'coach' in a shotcalling/training/observer role to help the team prepare for the event and coach them through strategy!
Man that little bit about the advertising industry is so true, when I was at the end of high school I considered going into marketing because from my experience in computer class "hehe making silly dumb commercials is fun", but when I started attending advertising panels and stuff it was all about target audience, data analytics, audience manipulation, etc. Haven't trusted a commercial since 😭
Started this video like "let's hear a bit about how it is up there in Low Ink and some tales from Gem". Ended up with decision to make myself some strong tea and have a quiet hour for myself and my thoughts.
I love these more freeform video essays that go into seemingly unrelated things to talk about Splatoon but also just to make you see the bigger picture of how advice on your mindset for Splatoon is just plain advice. It really gets me to think deeper
@@VillagerSK1 He didn't specifically say eat the rich, he specifically was saying "Understand that the people who make the system benefit from it more than you do. Therefore, you must know when you choose not to play by the system's rules."
The more videos of yours that I watch, the more you cement in my mind that you absolutely were/are a teacher. It's pretty great honestly; there's a number of great content creators with great ideas, but your ability to present yours in a detailed and concrete manner is not commonly seen.
The urge to make a team called ‘The Regulars’ and lose on purpose in the semi finals so we can compete every month for a long time and get the genius reward for longest team/individual to be in Low Ink (excluding TOs and founder)
listening to how emotional your low ink win was makes me sad that I skipped over it by getting luti div 4 and that ill never feel anything like it again in the future unless were as good as div x players
I think the next goal is becoming a top level team through the official Nintendo tournaments, or recently the InkTV Resurgence league. When DNA made rounds it was from making the top 8 at the end of Splatoon 2 in a Nintendo Tournament. Before that, no one ever heard of them! That is the next "Low Ink Moment". Becoming so good you are fighting some of the best Splatoon has to offer in NA or EU. Becoming strong enough that you are able to take maybe a game or two off of strong teams and people start to look at you as the next potential team to beat starburst. Joining the others who have been selected by the community as the teams who have the best chance.
Wow. Gem I wasn't expecting a video essentially made to highlight players like me. I am very grateful for our efforts as The Grillers back in 2020, but once we won low ink I didn't entirely know what was next. I just followed the path that was given and like you said everyone was ushering us into the + servers. I don't really like pickups unless its with people I know, so the + servers were never for me. I decided to take a step back from competitive Splatoon not too long after due to, as you know, time issues. I still don't have as much time as I used to, but now I want to start playing again, and actually set goal for tournaments like SOS and other open tournaments.
It's funny, I thought for a second you were referring to your TC clutch in LI when you said "highlight players like me" but no it's actually the main point of the video you're talking about
I know it’s a running joke that these videos can be dating/life advice, but towards the end I legitimately forgot this was a splatoon video and was only reminded when I realised what was on the screen
The world shapes us and it can be abused for ulterior motives, even kinda unintentionally. I feel like Low Ink can feel like a trap to some people, feeling like the community is telling you "here is this perfect environment of people to help you get better and have fun games instead of getting stomped 24/7, but now that you won, congrats, and never come back, go back to getting stomped." And I mean, that is literally what they are telling you. The gap from Low Ink to the greater competitive community is massive, and I feel the issue is, we need grades, tournaments that mean more, that the community puts more emphasis on. If there was a "Refilled Ink" intermediate skill tournament that had the specific prerequisite of being able to win Low Ink or similar tier tournaments, but not winning or placing high in bigger tournaments. If you want to nurture good players you have to have another stepping stone, we need a big, monthly event for teams to strive for to keep improving because we take them from the fish tank to the ocean with no time to acclimate, we need a pond to get acclimated to first, y'know? In affect I understand a lot of this is made with good intentions, but if Low Ink is the right skill level for a team, the worst thing they could do is win it, because they lose the place they belong, as not everyone has the goal, even in a competitive environment, to be the best, sometimes it's just about having fun.
People who still improve past low ink are people that already have bigger goals than low ink itself. There's no need for tournaments like this. You either have other goals once your banned, or comp splatoon has nothing else to offer you.
Even though I'm not a comp splatoon player this video was way more relatable than i would've thought, especially near the end with the artifical paths section. Thinking about what's best is...hard, harder than any of the artificial set paths that have been laid out which is why i think shining light on how fake it is makes for a insightful video So thanks!
Gem, I'm pretty sure children watch your videos and have either no idea what your talking about or are now contemplating that they have just been shepherded down a pipeline by big moneybags.
the tangent at the end really reminds me of “the enigma of amigara fault” by junji ito. it’s a good read if you like horror, and the people shaped holes seem to be a metaphor for the world around you shaping you into something completely different than you were originally…
I come into any Splatoon Vid ready for a JoJo reference if there happens to be one, but never did I expect a Junji Ito reference. I'm *spiraling* into confusion.
There's an old, old video game called One Must Fall 2097 that models what I think would be an essentially ideal tournament structure, and it's essentially this: There's four tournaments in it, basically the rookies, the mid-level, the high-level, and the regionals. Regionals are invitational, but the other three are open, anyone can enter. But once you win the rookie or mid-level tournament, you're not allowed back. That's basically what Low Ink is doing, but with _more rungs_ to go for. If you win Low Ink, rather than just being like, cast adrift, you can set your sights next on Amid Ship, and once you're banned from that, on to High Tide. If you're too good for Low Ink, you might shoot straight for Mid Ship instead, but if you're not ready, you're going to get humbled.
Low ink banned player here. Gems mentioned it, once you're low ink banned, you need a degree of self determination to progress through the community. No one is going to give you a new goal to achieve, and obvious goals to strive are extremely difficult to grasp at (like being the best in NA). You have to find what YOU want your comp career to end up as. For me, it's to have a taste of top level; for someone else, it's to be the best tent player in NA; for others, it's just having a good time with friends in scrims/tournaments; and there are many other goals I haven't mentioned here that people have. The bottom line is, YOU have to understand what you want out of this game. If you don't, your time in the comp community ends with your ban.
Just wow, I love the dating advices from the squid school channel. But all great this, the subjects matter of this video is like exactly what I am going threw in life. This new perspective is rich and I am grateful for it. Thank you gem 🦑
I do like the idea of having a "high Ink" tournament. Kind of a middle step, that gives low ink winners a new, possibly achievable goal that's realistic to reach. By the time those low ink winners get good enough to actually win this hypothetical high ink, they'd be at the point where they can realistically aim to the next landmark - wether that be winning a major, becoming a top level team etc - which, without that middle step that this high ink concept could be, these top level goals feel so much more inachievable to these low ink winners. Because, the gap is so.......... absurd. A high ink tournament would smooth up taht difficulty curve a bit. And I think that'd be great.
I can relate to this video a lot. While I’m not LI banned yet, and can’t really speak from Splatoon experience, I play Geometry Dash at (pretty much) the highest level, and there is no greater feeling than beating that first extreme demon- other than beating the hardest level in the game, exactly like what you said with LI and winning a regional.
Me, for being a casual who doesn't look for the competitive scene, I think low-ink concept is really cool and it feels like a step towards going for more competitive tournaments. Maybe on this case, there is a lack of branding of tournaments that could be calling themselves as a group "middle ink" or "high ink". Then the best of the best (wold championships, etc) would be "top ink". But for me, I don't know. I am just outside of competitive. Winning Low Ink would be like a huge achievement, like having an university degree; If I use that degree is or not is up to me :).
Great job on the video, as always, Gem. This one hit on a more personal level as someone who has been on the low ink grind since 2020. I guess one of the reasons stopping me from winning it is exactly this. I don't have any further goals. Usually, I just make a random pickup 2-3 days before lowink and try to win it after every 2-3 months. Sometimes, I make Alpha or top 8. Sometimes, i don't. There are far more talented players in low ink than me, but I think if I actually made a team and practised and gave it my all, it might just happen after a couple of months. During the years, I have played with a lot of talented players in low-level, many of whom made it quite far, and a few even made it in +1/+2. The players who did make it that far all had one very common trait, which was their drive to be the best in the room. On the other hand, some teams graduated low-level and just stopped there, or some even made it as far as high div 2, but eventually, the players became a bit more inactive. As much as I want to win low ink, i don't actually want to graduate low level. The game doesn't seem fun any other way, and most of my friends are in low level, so it just feels more at home. Winning Li has been a goal for a long time, but I know I don't have the same drive to continue afterwards or the commitment to make a team. I just play in comp for a month or 2 stop for a while and do it again, and that's how I find the game fun.
So, if I got this right, the message here is: one must win tournaments in order to compete in higher tournaments; otherwise, there is no recognition. Man, that sounds very alienating and depressing
That's not the way it works; open tournaments are "open" to everyone. It just doesn't tend to be a team's first goal to win an open tournament because that's way harder than winning Low Ink.
My first-blush idea for a second track that still pushes people toward considering more self-directed and well-considered goals is to have an tournament where the on-ramp for it specifically plugs into the off-ramp for Low Ink. Less Mid Ink, and more a "Banned From Low Ink" University to Low Ink's High School. To qualify to enter, you or your team must be banned from Low Ink, but instead of winning the tournament getting you banned again, it's a softer reset--maybe, that you're suspended for a year. Something like that. And cause it's a softer reset, and also presumably because there's no hard cap (or the hard cap is very high, div X or w/e), it's not just the winning team, but the top 4 or something. The idea is it gives both two different goals--winning the tournament, or getting suspended from it in recognition of improvement--but also that it still somewhat forces people to adjust to a newer level of play since higher-performing teams or players can come back to make another run at winning if they were suspended but only placed 4th or what have you. You still have higher-skill playing-in-the-big-leagues teams, but any given team is less likely to run into the Starbursts on a regular basis. I think this tournament also needs to interface with LUTI, though--maybe, require a team to register with LUTI to enter? Have LUTI give teams in it their own parallel div structure? I dunno, the idea in my head is basically that you have something to give the "We just got banned from Low Ink" team as an immediate next goal, but because the climb is harder and the probably takes more time, the teams are naturally pushed to explore other goals, and the tournament structure/community should push that too. You need something to do if you got suspended, after all. Definitely think "encourage teams to set more considered goals and think about time past winning Low Ink before they get there", as you were talking about towards the end, is the healthiest solution here long term, but it's also one that's hard to do in a formal way. It's a culture shift, and no one person can decree it to happen, it has to be a conscious effort of many people over a decent period of time. Change is just hard.
Wow lots of interesting thoughts here. Unfortunately I was banned by Low Ink before I was aware of it, but I definitely feel like I’ve missed an essential competitive experience as a result. I did compete in many Squid Spawning Grounds (now SAC) which at the time banned Div 2 and above. Since that did still overlap a bit too much with Low Ink’s player base, they since upped the skill cap to +2 and above are banned. It hasn’t quite caught on like Low Ink for a couple reasons. One is just the branding advantage that Low Ink has. It gets so many consistent signups that saying you’re a beta bracket team in Low Ink actually means something way more than saying you’re a Hammerhead team in SOS because signups are so volatile. I also think many people who should be playing in SAC don’t. The reason is is that for a lot of +3/high Div 2/low Div 1 teams, you absolutely can win a weekly. Again it can be very dependent on who signs up, but it does happen probably weekly. I think once you are recognized as capable of winning an open tournament, even with some asterisks, you and your peers start to feel that skill capped tournaments are beneath you. They’re just for new players. You want to take the next step and get into +2 or Div 1 or Div X, but nobody there cares if you win a tournament those players are banned from. I do think there is a lot of value in skill capped or otherwise restricted tournaments. You mention track which was one of many sports I competed in growing up. I was pretty mediocre if not below average in them depending on how you’d judge these things, but I still got to enjoy modest success and victories. My experience would be very different if every track meet I was running against state champions. That’s the reality of online games though, the top players will be found in nearly all tournaments because they aren’t limited by geography like regular sports. I’m not saying everyone should get a trophy, but it is a great thing that the lesser skilled players who still have a deep love of the game and it’s community are able to have their time in the limelight thanks to Low Ink. PS funny you mention Cinderella as a poor template that shaped your romantic thoughts. For me, Boy Meets World definitely did irreparable damage to my early romantic life.
Instead of everyone getting a trophy, having more than 2 trophies that the community recognizes as worth competing over is probably the most important thing
As a complete scrub, I know my opinion means little, but I can't help but apply this to your bracket types explainer and think there should be more organized play with a Swiss format. Just show up on a given weekend and play a set number of games against other teams, focus on the intrinsic joy of playing the game instead of ranking, and acknowledge whoever gets the most points according to the computer at the end. It seems like 'learning to play splatoon well' should be an intrinsic reward and that the focus on the extrinsic reward of 'ranking xth place in y' is taking too much focus? Like, playing splatoon with a skilled organized team, against another skilled organized team, is fun! No shame towards anyone who wants to always strive to get better, of course, this game is well suited to competitive play. It just feels like there is room for the community beyond that as well, outside of Nintendo's matchmaking. Hopefully this isn't gibberish Idk.
As a player who doesn’t like the ultra fast paced nature of higher level play, and in some ways feels punished for improving at the game because both tournaments and in-game matchmaking will put me against players who want to play at that pace, it was really nice to hear your comments that not every player is on a track to reach the top, and we should figure out how to make a place for those people, too. I want to keep playing, but feel like I have to stop because I have skilled myself out of the level that I enjoyed playing at. As always, thanks for the video!
Have you tried some of the slower backline weapons? I find that the pace of the game feels slower when I play backliners as opposed to the frenetic pace of frontliners. For what it's worth, I play at the S rank in Splatoon 3. I peaked at S+1 in Splatoon 2.
I am a backliner. I am a hydra main, and generalize across other weapons like the chargers, explo, and long range blasters. For me, it doesn’t make much of a difference. I’m S+ in Splatoon 3 and was X in Splatoon 2. Even on backline, the game nowadays feels like a constant wackamole of dodging bombs, long range specials, and hyper mobile shooters. I feel like I just passed the level where I can have fun, because to play the game I have to sit and focus, like it has become a task instead of a game.
As a march li winner, i definitely agree with this. I feel like our team had this a tad easier because we were definitely above the li level. Its definitely a differrent environment in midlevel, but i think we all enjoy the added competition. For instance, weve had the corage to scrim d2-3 and weve been doing really well. I think that li was an amazing experience im glad i got to have, but I think for most of our team, cant speak for them, but for myself that my biggest goal isnt winning tournament, but becoming an insane player, no matter what teams may do. I pride myself in working as hard as I can on my mechanics and myself. I think lowlevel is cool, but i never really cared about low ink. Its just a step on my path to being the best i can.
"I've seen LOW ink TOS give banned certificates to players at LANS, they probably have it framed" *looks at my low ink banned certificate that I got from JPG thumbtacked to my wall in my room* So you calling me out huh LOL
It's like reaching Master/GM in any Elo game (I prefer Pokemon singles or Melee, but the number of people who know what Chess is like, not less than 50) or breaking that one, big barrier everyone gets stuck at in speedrunning (Sub-50 in Super Metroid was crazy, aiming for sub-25 in SM64 next!). As soon as you do that, it's never going to be as impactful until you're the actual best in that already top level.
Something I've been noticing a bit with longtime Splatoon players is an air of jadedness. I'm new to this game, and the overall exhaustion by the established community has me wondering what exactly is left for people who are new to aspire to? They finally reach X rank but everyone established hates that mode or has left for Takaroka - what then? They finally get 999s but that's no longer a significant accomplishment because so many people have done that ages ago. A new team forms, but there aren't many goals for them to reach. I feel like this is inherent in any longtime established community - but what is there for new players? I myself am new and want to climb ladders and get good - but to what end?
My church holds a table tennis tournament every year with two brackets, the casuals and the people that actually know how to play table tennis. The rules are that if you win the casuals tournament, you have to compete in the other one in the future, and it works for us. So I was kinda surprised to hear that there isn't a next step for people that get kicked up.
hey gem , this comment is advice for your splash I noticed you opened with a burst bomb to first engage in close range fights a lot , this can sometimes make it hard to get your aim on after the burst bomb plus it puts you in lag where you can't shoot. I'd recommend trying to open fights with your main weapon if you're in range, because the splash's perfect accuracy means you can lazer people sometimes , then if you lose track of them landing the outside hit of a burst bomb is a quick way to deal the last bit of damage , also since the burst bomb has longer range than splash if the opponent retreats burst bombing them instead of chasing is a way to get that kill without committing to anything risky I also saw you did the opposite thing against the bow at 11:42 , burst bombing first against a far away opponent will do damage and paint their feet , so in this scenario throwing the burst bomb would've meant the bow has to paint it's feet before retreating and it wouldn't be as easy to trade you. (surviving is really important with splash because you have the playmaking special) This just helps to keep your ink tank topped up more , since it takes 45 percent ink now conserving your throws is more important.
it's interesting to hear how your story and goals differ from mine. My team is still fairly new, only a few months old, and to us we are thinking in terms of LUTI divisions, even though we don't participate in tournaments particularly often, because that's what people ask for when asking for scrims
I participated in LI once, got swept since half of our matches were against high seeds (or seats? idk, but we had to play against the teams that ended up getting #1, #2 and #5), swept the other half of teams that *were* below our skill level and had no "fair/equal" matches with felt awful, and have felt 0 motivation to play competitive since.
I want to join in on a team or even create one but it just doesn’t work everyone is so higher or everyone holds so high standards its insane , i legit feel like i cannot get back into comp anymore , i want to start from the bottom but it just doesn’t happen.
No hate here, as a P!atD fan. Since technicall they aren't even competing, really. P!atD is in waaaaaaaay more than just that one genre. My personal favorite is The Overpass.
I'm inclined to agree with the idea that the Splatoon Community needs a better "next logical" step on the competitive rung, after low-Ink, than +3. I wish I had wisdom to offer but I won't pretend to be knowledgeable enough to offer a worthy solsolution.
I want to get into it for the first time!! But I'm slowly going blind and I doubt anyone would want me on their team 😅 I hope we can both find a team!!
I feel like making a mid-level format doesn't necessarily have to change the rules of Low Ink, or even necessitate a ban from Low Ink. Because Low Ink is so popular, merely *calling* an event "mid-level" will exclude those who have their sights set on Low Ink. I feel the best way to do this would be to have the Mid-Ink ban list be based not on "who can win", but who can win consistently. (Like, 3 wins or something). That way, winning it once doesn't exclude players from peers at their skill level, and being able to win it a few times or win a different non-exclusive tournament demonstrates the time commitment in practicing, attending events, and long-term coordination with teammates needed to transition from mid-level to high-level.
There really should be a “subline” for the low ink tournament winners. You have to be low ink banned, and you have to register within a year of winning. Other than that it’s the same format as low ink. They’re exactly a step above low ink and you can opt in or out as a team/individually in case you want to do something else
as someone who is low ink banned moving on was interesting all of a sudden this tournament that we were prepping for after getting a close 2nd the month before then hearing we are banned on one hand i understood our recent results stated that we wert at that level anymore but as a team who hadn't thought about the near future we just continue to play and slowly improve. in tournaments we are aiming for splatalittle but we understand that it can take another year to even get into finals
Gem my solo q teammates are being specially selected by Nintendo to keep my power under 2200. You couldn’t possibly carry these teams any further they have the worst special output and placement you can imagine.
Correction: I've been informed that my statement that Low Ink was the first skill-ban tournament is incorrect.
"gem gives dating advice" was just blown out of the water by "gem gives transitioning to adulthood advice"
should we have a mid-level version of low ink? it'd be fun to have something like that
I love the idea of getting a Low Ink ban certificate, like that’s unbelievably hilarious
I would love to own one🤩
@@pollymuff0895 Same lol, perfect thing to put on your fridge or something and have to explain is a good thing if someone asks
Wie I’ve been sitting here for 20 minutes and not learned a damn thing about Splatoon. But a lot about life.
18:34
Yeah...why DO i want to keep going?
Low Ink is Senioritis in splatoon form. Without a next step, there is no motivation to go on. If I had infinite time resources and money, Low Ink would just be 1/4 tournaments in its vein, with Medium Ink taking those banned from Low Ink, High Ink taking those banned from Medium Ink, and Max Ink taking those that have been banned from all previous Inks, with no bans for winners here. It would allow the Low Ink community to expand up the skill ladder, while still maintaining its graduation gimmick. But this is literally 4x the work in concept alone, and probably 5-6x in real life, so this would be unlikely to happen.
This system is essentially the lifeblood of the Rivals of Aether scene as well. They also have a mentoring system, which I think could translate - maybe have a tournament where each team is appointed a graduated/banned 'coach' in a shotcalling/training/observer role to help the team prepare for the event and coach them through strategy!
Man that little bit about the advertising industry is so true, when I was at the end of high school I considered going into marketing because from my experience in computer class "hehe making silly dumb commercials is fun", but when I started attending advertising panels and stuff it was all about target audience, data analytics, audience manipulation, etc. Haven't trusted a commercial since 😭
Best thing you can get is a DM from Popgun saying:
“Congratulations, you are banned from low ink”
I framed an put it on my wall
Started this video like "let's hear a bit about how it is up there in Low Ink and some tales from Gem". Ended up with decision to make myself some strong tea and have a quiet hour for myself and my thoughts.
Going from the first half of this video to the second half was such a reality check
Your channel needs more attention, I love the advice that you give; both for splatoon and life in general.
I love these more freeform video essays that go into seemingly unrelated things to talk about Splatoon but also just to make you see the bigger picture of how advice on your mindset for Splatoon is just plain advice. It really gets me to think deeper
It's already known that Gem's splatoon advice is also dating advice, but I'm pleased to see his dating advice is also a call to eat the rich.
Wait when did he say that
@@VillagerSK1 He didn't specifically say eat the rich, he specifically was saying "Understand that the people who make the system benefit from it more than you do. Therefore, you must know when you choose not to play by the system's rules."
This may be the best video about "splatoon" I've ever watched. (its about a lot more than splatoon)
i LOVE the thumbnail
The more videos of yours that I watch, the more you cement in my mind that you absolutely were/are a teacher. It's pretty great honestly; there's a number of great content creators with great ideas, but your ability to present yours in a detailed and concrete manner is not commonly seen.
The urge to make a team called ‘The Regulars’ and lose on purpose in the semi finals so we can compete every month for a long time and get the genius reward for longest team/individual to be in Low Ink (excluding TOs and founder)
And one day you decide to just pop off completely and wreck the whole tournament
Well, if you ever make it, I’d be willing to join.
having me on your team will ensure that you lose! 😄👍
i feel like they'd catch on to that sooner rather than later
"The Casuals"
Therapist: Emo Joker Gem can’t hurt you
Emo Joker Gem: 🦇🤡💎
I'm more interested in the game in the background lol
Also that KFC guy... 😂
listening to how emotional your low ink win was makes me sad that I skipped over it by getting luti div 4 and that ill never feel anything like it again in the future unless were as good as div x players
I think the next goal is becoming a top level team through the official Nintendo tournaments, or recently the InkTV Resurgence league. When DNA made rounds it was from making the top 8 at the end of Splatoon 2 in a Nintendo Tournament. Before that, no one ever heard of them! That is the next "Low Ink Moment". Becoming so good you are fighting some of the best Splatoon has to offer in NA or EU. Becoming strong enough that you are able to take maybe a game or two off of strong teams and people start to look at you as the next potential team to beat starburst. Joining the others who have been selected by the community as the teams who have the best chance.
Wow. Gem I wasn't expecting a video essentially made to highlight players like me. I am very grateful for our efforts as The Grillers back in 2020, but once we won low ink I didn't entirely know what was next. I just followed the path that was given and like you said everyone was ushering us into the + servers. I don't really like pickups unless its with people I know, so the + servers were never for me. I decided to take a step back from competitive Splatoon not too long after due to, as you know, time issues. I still don't have as much time as I used to, but now I want to start playing again, and actually set goal for tournaments like SOS and other open tournaments.
It's funny, I thought for a second you were referring to your TC clutch in LI when you said "highlight players like me" but no it's actually the main point of the video you're talking about
I know it’s a running joke that these videos can be dating/life advice, but towards the end I legitimately forgot this was a splatoon video and was only reminded when I realised what was on the screen
Did not expect a video on low ink to get to gem talking about capitalism but it's pretty good
Take a shot every time gem says “low ink”
the g note meme threw me straight back to my emo phase in the early 2010s
The world shapes us and it can be abused for ulterior motives, even kinda unintentionally. I feel like Low Ink can feel like a trap to some people, feeling like the community is telling you "here is this perfect environment of people to help you get better and have fun games instead of getting stomped 24/7, but now that you won, congrats, and never come back, go back to getting stomped." And I mean, that is literally what they are telling you.
The gap from Low Ink to the greater competitive community is massive, and I feel the issue is, we need grades, tournaments that mean more, that the community puts more emphasis on.
If there was a "Refilled Ink" intermediate skill tournament that had the specific prerequisite of being able to win Low Ink or similar tier tournaments, but not winning or placing high in bigger tournaments.
If you want to nurture good players you have to have another stepping stone, we need a big, monthly event for teams to strive for to keep improving because we take them from the fish tank to the ocean with no time to acclimate, we need a pond to get acclimated to first, y'know?
In affect I understand a lot of this is made with good intentions, but if Low Ink is the right skill level for a team, the worst thing they could do is win it, because they lose the place they belong, as not everyone has the goal, even in a competitive environment, to be the best, sometimes it's just about having fun.
People who still improve past low ink are people that already have bigger goals than low ink itself. There's no need for tournaments like this. You either have other goals once your banned, or comp splatoon has nothing else to offer you.
Even though I'm not a comp splatoon player this video was way more relatable than i would've thought, especially near the end with the artifical paths section.
Thinking about what's best is...hard, harder than any of the artificial set paths that have been laid out which is why i think shining light on how fake it is makes for a insightful video
So thanks!
Gem, I'm pretty sure children watch your videos and have either no idea what your talking about or are now contemplating that they have just been shepherded down a pipeline by big moneybags.
this got real asf
the tangent at the end really reminds me of “the enigma of amigara fault” by junji ito. it’s a good read if you like horror, and the people shaped holes seem to be a metaphor for the world around you shaping you into something completely different than you were originally…
I clicked on a Splatoon video and I’m facing the harsh reality of growing up to either break or follow the system dear god
I come into any Splatoon Vid ready for a JoJo reference if there happens to be one, but never did I expect a Junji Ito reference.
I'm *spiraling* into confusion.
“I dont care if your solo-q team is worse than you, find a way to carry them”
Uh, no.
to be honest, this video has some of the best life advice i’ve received in years
thank you, i really needed this
Gem is slowly describing Terraria gameplay
Wow, this is very interesting.
I kinda wish there was an LI-esque tournament for div 3-4 teams. Once you're in low midlevel, there's nothing you can really win.
the thumbnail just reminded me of that one "i can feel joker face paint releasing from my pores" post
There's an old, old video game called One Must Fall 2097 that models what I think would be an essentially ideal tournament structure, and it's essentially this:
There's four tournaments in it, basically the rookies, the mid-level, the high-level, and the regionals. Regionals are invitational, but the other three are open, anyone can enter. But once you win the rookie or mid-level tournament, you're not allowed back.
That's basically what Low Ink is doing, but with _more rungs_ to go for. If you win Low Ink, rather than just being like, cast adrift, you can set your sights next on Amid Ship, and once you're banned from that, on to High Tide. If you're too good for Low Ink, you might shoot straight for Mid Ship instead, but if you're not ready, you're going to get humbled.
I should've looked into low ink earlier. One of the TOs is one of the two people who convinced me to start playing splatoon. ❤
Low ink banned player here. Gems mentioned it, once you're low ink banned, you need a degree of self determination to progress through the community.
No one is going to give you a new goal to achieve, and obvious goals to strive are extremely difficult to grasp at (like being the best in NA).
You have to find what YOU want your comp career to end up as. For me, it's to have a taste of top level; for someone else, it's to be the best tent player in NA; for others, it's just having a good time with friends in scrims/tournaments; and there are many other goals I haven't mentioned here that people have.
The bottom line is, YOU have to understand what you want out of this game. If you don't, your time in the comp community ends with your ban.
Just wow, I love the dating advices from the squid school channel.
But all great this, the subjects matter of this video is like exactly what I am going threw in life. This new perspective is rich and I am grateful for it. Thank you gem 🦑
6:37 Reefslider indirect can one shot crab!?
I do like the idea of having a "high Ink" tournament.
Kind of a middle step, that gives low ink winners a new, possibly achievable goal that's realistic to reach.
By the time those low ink winners get good enough to actually win this hypothetical high ink, they'd be at the point where they can realistically aim to the next landmark - wether that be winning a major, becoming a top level team etc - which, without that middle step that this high ink concept could be, these top level goals feel so much more inachievable to these low ink winners. Because, the gap is so.......... absurd.
A high ink tournament would smooth up taht difficulty curve a bit. And I think that'd be great.
I mean there is Splatoon Advanced Circuit (SAC) that tries to even out the skill gap. But I think a tourney between LI and SAC would be good.
I can relate to this video a lot. While I’m not LI banned yet, and can’t really speak from Splatoon experience, I play Geometry Dash at (pretty much) the highest level, and there is no greater feeling than beating that first extreme demon- other than beating the hardest level in the game, exactly like what you said with LI and winning a regional.
hey your the guy that one the 3v4 set!
I play geometry dash and even beating your first easy demon feels amazing :)
I related a lot to the school -> work discussion. Interesting points overall.
The thumbnail goes crazy. This upload will probably pop off
Edit: I hope it does! This is good to think about
this bro just discovered mushrooms
This was an excellent video gem! You touched on some important things and provided some excellent insight!
Me, for being a casual who doesn't look for the competitive scene, I think low-ink concept is really cool and it feels like a step towards going for more competitive tournaments.
Maybe on this case, there is a lack of branding of tournaments that could be calling themselves as a group "middle ink" or "high ink". Then the best of the best (wold championships, etc) would be "top ink".
But for me, I don't know. I am just outside of competitive. Winning Low Ink would be like a huge achievement, like having an university degree; If I use that degree is or not is up to me :).
love these types of videos. definitely my favorite type, and the most helpful for me as a player in the scene, but im not everyone
The only thing I wanna do now is hang on of these ban papers on my fridge.
Came here for Splatoon advice. Staying for the life advice
As a dualie squelcher main I'm always on low ink- oh you mean the name of a tournament
Great job on the video, as always, Gem. This one hit on a more personal level as someone who has been on the low ink grind since 2020. I guess one of the reasons stopping me from winning it is exactly this. I don't have any further goals.
Usually, I just make a random pickup 2-3 days before lowink and try to win it after every 2-3 months. Sometimes, I make Alpha or top 8. Sometimes, i don't. There are far more talented players in low ink than me, but I think if I actually made a team and practised and gave it my all, it might just happen after a couple of months.
During the years, I have played with a lot of talented players in low-level, many of whom made it quite far, and a few even made it in +1/+2. The players who did make it that far all had one very common trait, which was their drive to be the best in the room.
On the other hand, some teams graduated low-level and just stopped there, or some even made it as far as high div 2, but eventually, the players became a bit more inactive.
As much as I want to win low ink, i don't actually want to graduate low level. The game doesn't seem fun any other way, and most of my friends are in low level, so it just feels more at home. Winning Li has been a goal for a long time, but I know I don't have the same drive to continue afterwards or the commitment to make a team. I just play in comp for a month or 2 stop for a while and do it again, and that's how I find the game fun.
So, if I got this right, the message here is: one must win tournaments in order to compete in higher tournaments; otherwise, there is no recognition. Man, that sounds very alienating and depressing
That's not the way it works; open tournaments are "open" to everyone. It just doesn't tend to be a team's first goal to win an open tournament because that's way harder than winning Low Ink.
wow this video is deep Thank you for the advice Gem
That was some extreme dating advice Gem, thanks!
Was not expecting a MCR reference?? Gem emo confirmed?
Amazing dating advice again
My first-blush idea for a second track that still pushes people toward considering more self-directed and well-considered goals is to have an tournament where the on-ramp for it specifically plugs into the off-ramp for Low Ink. Less Mid Ink, and more a "Banned From Low Ink" University to Low Ink's High School. To qualify to enter, you or your team must be banned from Low Ink, but instead of winning the tournament getting you banned again, it's a softer reset--maybe, that you're suspended for a year. Something like that. And cause it's a softer reset, and also presumably because there's no hard cap (or the hard cap is very high, div X or w/e), it's not just the winning team, but the top 4 or something. The idea is it gives both two different goals--winning the tournament, or getting suspended from it in recognition of improvement--but also that it still somewhat forces people to adjust to a newer level of play since higher-performing teams or players can come back to make another run at winning if they were suspended but only placed 4th or what have you. You still have higher-skill playing-in-the-big-leagues teams, but any given team is less likely to run into the Starbursts on a regular basis. I think this tournament also needs to interface with LUTI, though--maybe, require a team to register with LUTI to enter? Have LUTI give teams in it their own parallel div structure? I dunno, the idea in my head is basically that you have something to give the "We just got banned from Low Ink" team as an immediate next goal, but because the climb is harder and the probably takes more time, the teams are naturally pushed to explore other goals, and the tournament structure/community should push that too. You need something to do if you got suspended, after all.
Definitely think "encourage teams to set more considered goals and think about time past winning Low Ink before they get there", as you were talking about towards the end, is the healthiest solution here long term, but it's also one that's hard to do in a formal way. It's a culture shift, and no one person can decree it to happen, it has to be a conscious effort of many people over a decent period of time. Change is just hard.
Wow lots of interesting thoughts here. Unfortunately I was banned by Low Ink before I was aware of it, but I definitely feel like I’ve missed an essential competitive experience as a result. I did compete in many Squid Spawning Grounds (now SAC) which at the time banned Div 2 and above.
Since that did still overlap a bit too much with Low Ink’s player base, they since upped the skill cap to +2 and above are banned. It hasn’t quite caught on like Low Ink for a couple reasons. One is just the branding advantage that Low Ink has. It gets so many consistent signups that saying you’re a beta bracket team in Low Ink actually means something way more than saying you’re a Hammerhead team in SOS because signups are so volatile. I also think many people who should be playing in SAC don’t. The reason is is that for a lot of +3/high Div 2/low Div 1 teams, you absolutely can win a weekly. Again it can be very dependent on who signs up, but it does happen probably weekly. I think once you are recognized as capable of winning an open tournament, even with some asterisks, you and your peers start to feel that skill capped tournaments are beneath you. They’re just for new players. You want to take the next step and get into +2 or Div 1 or Div X, but nobody there cares if you win a tournament those players are banned from.
I do think there is a lot of value in skill capped or otherwise restricted tournaments. You mention track which was one of many sports I competed in growing up. I was pretty mediocre if not below average in them depending on how you’d judge these things, but I still got to enjoy modest success and victories. My experience would be very different if every track meet I was running against state champions. That’s the reality of online games though, the top players will be found in nearly all tournaments because they aren’t limited by geography like regular sports. I’m not saying everyone should get a trophy, but it is a great thing that the lesser skilled players who still have a deep love of the game and it’s community are able to have their time in the limelight thanks to Low Ink.
PS funny you mention Cinderella as a poor template that shaped your romantic thoughts. For me, Boy Meets World definitely did irreparable damage to my early romantic life.
Instead of everyone getting a trophy, having more than 2 trophies that the community recognizes as worth competing over is probably the most important thing
Holy moly this episode hit me like a truck… im shook
16 minutes in and you started radicalizing me again lmao
The Splatoon content is excellent, but the advice on finding your own direction in life makes you think.
Its not even a running gag or a metaphor anymore Gem's cutting directly to the source now with the dating advice
As a complete scrub, I know my opinion means little, but I can't help but apply this to your bracket types explainer and think there should be more organized play with a Swiss format. Just show up on a given weekend and play a set number of games against other teams, focus on the intrinsic joy of playing the game instead of ranking, and acknowledge whoever gets the most points according to the computer at the end.
It seems like 'learning to play splatoon well' should be an intrinsic reward and that the focus on the extrinsic reward of 'ranking xth place in y' is taking too much focus? Like, playing splatoon with a skilled organized team, against another skilled organized team, is fun! No shame towards anyone who wants to always strive to get better, of course, this game is well suited to competitive play. It just feels like there is room for the community beyond that as well, outside of Nintendo's matchmaking.
Hopefully this isn't gibberish Idk.
As a player who doesn’t like the ultra fast paced nature of higher level play, and in some ways feels punished for improving at the game because both tournaments and in-game matchmaking will put me against players who want to play at that pace, it was really nice to hear your comments that not every player is on a track to reach the top, and we should figure out how to make a place for those people, too. I want to keep playing, but feel like I have to stop because I have skilled myself out of the level that I enjoyed playing at. As always, thanks for the video!
Have you tried some of the slower backline weapons? I find that the pace of the game feels slower when I play backliners as opposed to the frenetic pace of frontliners.
For what it's worth, I play at the S rank in Splatoon 3. I peaked at S+1 in Splatoon 2.
I am a backliner. I am a hydra main, and generalize across other weapons like the chargers, explo, and long range blasters. For me, it doesn’t make much of a difference. I’m S+ in Splatoon 3 and was X in Splatoon 2. Even on backline, the game nowadays feels like a constant wackamole of dodging bombs, long range specials, and hyper mobile shooters. I feel like I just passed the level where I can have fun, because to play the game I have to sit and focus, like it has become a task instead of a game.
Gem's dating advice is a truely W source fr fr
As a march li winner, i definitely agree with this. I feel like our team had this a tad easier because we were definitely above the li level. Its definitely a differrent environment in midlevel, but i think we all enjoy the added competition. For instance, weve had the corage to scrim d2-3 and weve been doing really well. I think that li was an amazing experience im glad i got to have, but I think for most of our team, cant speak for them, but for myself that my biggest goal isnt winning tournament, but becoming an insane player, no matter what teams may do. I pride myself in working as hard as I can on my mechanics and myself. I think lowlevel is cool, but i never really cared about low ink. Its just a step on my path to being the best i can.
"I've seen LOW ink TOS give banned certificates to players at LANS, they probably have it framed"
*looks at my low ink banned certificate that I got from JPG thumbtacked to my wall in my room*
So you calling me out huh LOL
Very fitting there was a C drive player who just got top 4 in alpha in the most recent low ink
It's like reaching Master/GM in any Elo game (I prefer Pokemon singles or Melee, but the number of people who know what Chess is like, not less than 50) or breaking that one, big barrier everyone gets stuck at in speedrunning (Sub-50 in Super Metroid was crazy, aiming for sub-25 in SM64 next!).
As soon as you do that, it's never going to be as impactful until you're the actual best in that already top level.
Something I've been noticing a bit with longtime Splatoon players is an air of jadedness.
I'm new to this game, and the overall exhaustion by the established community has me wondering what exactly is left for people who are new to aspire to? They finally reach X rank but everyone established hates that mode or has left for Takaroka - what then? They finally get 999s but that's no longer a significant accomplishment because so many people have done that ages ago. A new team forms, but there aren't many goals for them to reach.
I feel like this is inherent in any longtime established community - but what is there for new players? I myself am new and want to climb ladders and get good - but to what end?
Me and my team mugen participated in the most recent one it was really fun
My church holds a table tennis tournament every year with two brackets, the casuals and the people that actually know how to play table tennis. The rules are that if you win the casuals tournament, you have to compete in the other one in the future, and it works for us. So I was kinda surprised to hear that there isn't a next step for people that get kicked up.
hey gem , this comment is advice for your splash
I noticed you opened with a burst bomb to first engage in close range fights a lot , this can sometimes make it hard to get your aim on after the burst bomb plus it puts you in lag where you can't shoot. I'd recommend trying to open fights with your main weapon if you're in range, because the splash's perfect accuracy means you can lazer people sometimes , then if you lose track of them landing the outside hit of a burst bomb is a quick way to deal the last bit of damage , also since the burst bomb has longer range than splash if the opponent retreats burst bombing them instead of chasing is a way to get that kill without committing to anything risky
I also saw you did the opposite thing against the bow at 11:42 , burst bombing first against a far away opponent will do damage and paint their feet , so in this scenario throwing the burst bomb would've meant the bow has to paint it's feet before retreating and it wouldn't be as easy to trade you. (surviving is really important with splash because you have the playmaking special)
This just helps to keep your ink tank topped up more , since it takes 45 percent ink now conserving your throws is more important.
it sounds like we need a "low ink" exclusively for people who have won "low ink"
it's interesting to hear how your story and goals differ from mine. My team is still fairly new, only a few months old, and to us we are thinking in terms of LUTI divisions, even though we don't participate in tournaments particularly often, because that's what people ask for when asking for scrims
I participated in LI once, got swept since half of our matches were against high seeds (or seats? idk, but we had to play against the teams that ended up getting #1, #2 and #5), swept the other half of teams that *were* below our skill level and had no "fair/equal" matches with felt awful, and have felt 0 motivation to play competitive since.
Surprisingly nuanced video. Good stuff
winning low ink is fun
DATING ADVICE!! YEAH!
If you win over someone, you can't be with them anymore. It's common knowledge by now
I want to join in on a team or even create one but it just doesn’t work everyone is so higher or everyone holds so high standards its insane , i legit feel like i cannot get back into comp anymore , i want to start from the bottom but it just doesn’t happen.
Truly an mcr moment
No hate here, as a P!atD fan.
Since technicall they aren't even competing, really.
P!atD is in waaaaaaaay more than just that one genre.
My personal favorite is The Overpass.
I'm inclined to agree with the idea that the Splatoon Community needs a better "next logical" step on the competitive rung, after low-Ink, than +3. I wish I had wisdom to offer but I won't pretend to be knowledgeable enough to offer a worthy solsolution.
I lowkey wanna get into splatoon comp again but idk how to find a team anymore.................rip
I want to get into it for the first time!! But I'm slowly going blind and I doubt anyone would want me on their team 😅 I hope we can both find a team!!
I feel like making a mid-level format doesn't necessarily have to change the rules of Low Ink, or even necessitate a ban from Low Ink. Because Low Ink is so popular, merely *calling* an event "mid-level" will exclude those who have their sights set on Low Ink.
I feel the best way to do this would be to have the Mid-Ink ban list be based not on "who can win", but who can win consistently. (Like, 3 wins or something). That way, winning it once doesn't exclude players from peers at their skill level, and being able to win it a few times or win a different non-exclusive tournament demonstrates the time commitment in practicing, attending events, and long-term coordination with teammates needed to transition from mid-level to high-level.
and here’s squid school “capitalism is bad and the american government system sucks” episode 135!
I was today years old when i found out about low ink 😵💫
There really should be a “subline” for the low ink tournament winners. You have to be low ink banned, and you have to register within a year of winning. Other than that it’s the same format as low ink. They’re exactly a step above low ink and you can opt in or out as a team/individually in case you want to do something else
as someone who is low ink banned moving on was interesting all of a sudden this tournament that we were prepping for after getting a close 2nd the month before then hearing we are banned on one hand i understood our recent results stated that we wert at that level anymore but as a team who hadn't thought about the near future we just continue to play and slowly improve. in tournaments we are aiming for splatalittle but we understand that it can take another year to even get into finals
Ppl need to stop calling every hobby or interest a community
Gem my solo q teammates are being specially selected by Nintendo to keep my power under 2200. You couldn’t possibly carry these teams any further they have the worst special output and placement you can imagine.
one of my teams missed a low ink tournament because i was asleep! (ill avenge myself one day)
And yes, this is also dating advice.
Yo! I got to play against you! I was KFC on tetras
I support Gem’s MCR propaganda
So glad the Panic at the Disco fans got scared away by my burly manliness