When it comes to spatter, think about it like you are dumping a 5 gallon bucket of water on a flat rock.
If you pour too fast, the water splatters everywhere right, but if you slow it down some, it does not splatter as much. So it is the same thing with wire feed welding. You slow the wire speed down so that "too much water"...that is, too much wire...does not make the weld splatter everywhere.
Of course you cannot slow it down too much, because then you are "spraying" the steel on, and not getting any penetration needed. What you want is something called "globular transfer" and when you get your voltage and your amperage set just right, you will know it. It will look like droplets in very fast succession are being dropped off the wire as it is burning up in your puddle.
Pay attention to SOUND: I weld as much with my ears as I do my eyes. I can just hear a good weld going in.
But I suspect what really might be happening is, the original poster is DRAGGING their gun.
Stick rod is called "drag rod" for a reason, but everything else gets PUSHED! If you drag your wire feeder, you get a lot of splatter. Hard wire, flux core,...you want to PUSH it.
This one change will really change the look of your welds (and increase penetration).
