Competitive Mystery Heros would make sense if Blizzard was were, say, trying to kill off all the really angry players by raising their blood pressure so much they exploded.
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Monkey Ball WarriorA collection of mediocre hatsSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
edited November 2020
I mean... Early on, competitive, and the rest of the game, was no limits. Seems kind of quaint and nostalgic. I might actually play a few rounds of that.
I would be really bad at mystery heroes. Several of the new heroes I've literally never played. Some others like genji I haven't touched in over two years.
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"I resent the entire notion of a body as an ante and then raise you a generalized dissatisfaction with physicality itself" -- Tycho
Priority pass is on PTR now, though the queue times are all wonky and they're only testing for bugs. We won't know what it actually does until it's live. I for one am excited about it since I predominantly play tank/support for the queue times, but I like all three roles. I lost a single game as flex and got 2 passes for that, winning will give you more than that.
Monkey Ball WarriorA collection of mediocre hatsSeattle, WARegistered Userregular
Why is it in its own queue? I figured it was triggered whenever you didn't roll just one category... I do "dps or heals" all the time, but I don't tank anymore and I wouldn't tank in comp because it would be tantamount to throwing I'm so bad at it.
So basically this system is useless to me.
"I resent the entire notion of a body as an ante and then raise you a generalized dissatisfaction with physicality itself" -- Tycho
I mean the point of the system is to get people to volunteer to play whatever's needed to get games going faster, it wouldn't make a lot of sense to give it to just anyone who queues more than one role, especially if the role you won't play is one of the two that's always in high demand
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
Speaking as a Tank/Support main who occasionally plays DPS it seems like this system was made for me.
I'm not sure how it helps DPS one tricks though. My only guess is that maybe they hope there are enough DPS flex players who don't mind flexing every now and then which would lighten the DPS queues and also speed up the other queues.
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surrealitychecklonely, but not unloveddreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered Userregular
the idea is that if u only play dps other people who care less will spread the load reducing qs for everybody
even if these people are getting priority qs there isnt a "fixed" amount of q time that people are stealing off u - if the player balance is better, queues can be overall reduced on top of players with priority passes getting even faster queues. the goal is to get the player pop, as a whole, to have a higher fraction queueing flex giving u way faster lobby creation for everybody
It averages out to 4 priority passes per flex game, so we're looking at many pure DPS players now playing tank/support for 20% of their games. That should be a considerable improvement to DPS queue times. It is possible that the queue will be longer now if you don't use a pass for DPS, but I think that's a worthwhile tradeoff for the overall health of the system. There are so many play style options in this game, it won't kill anybody to flex now and then.
Jesus, although I went back and checked the replay because I thought that was our Widow who was headshotting people left and right, suspecting that it was an aimbotter, but that was probably why the Echo/Junk had such an elevated percentage. The other half was probably "Echo used five Whole Hogs in the first round."
I still got the PotG from a nano'ed charge to take out Bastion and an ulting Sigma as the round ended though.
Developer Comments: To adjust Baptiste’s overall power for the recent increased effectiveness of his Biotic Launcher and Amplification Matrix, we’re taking some durability out of Immortality Field and increasing the cost of his ultimate once again.
D.Va
General
Mech Armor/Health has been redistributed from 200/400 to 300/300
Developer Comments: We’re increasing the ratio of armor to health that D.Va’s mech has to enable it to withstand more damage from shotguns, beams, and weapons with a high rate of fire.
Reinhardt
General
Base Armor increased from 200 to 250
Rocket Hammer
Damage increased from 75 to 85
Developer Comments: The intent of these changes is to slightly bolster Reinhardt’s frontline presence once he closes the distance with an enemy. The increased Rocket Hammer damage will reduce the number of swings necessary to eliminate some heroes so we’ll be keeping a close eye on the overall impact of this change.
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
edited December 2020
85...with a Mercy pocket that's effectively 110.5 damage a swing...
Crazy.
Also while OW is a very different game now remember OP D.Va had 400 armor and 200 health.
Didn't seem like a big deal on paper but it was.
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TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
The Reinhardt changes are fucking stupid. He's still strong, it's just that Zarya and Sigma are OP right now, fix them instead of breaking Rein. They didn't even try to fix his broken ult or his charge yet you give him more health with a armor increase.
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
edited December 2020
I'm guessing they don't want to put power back into his barrier but Rein has been a lot more vulnerable at high level.
So instead of boosting his barrier they're boosting him.
Also I think the game is generally healthier when Rein is the main tank.
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TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
Man the Rein buff makes him just a bulldozer, especially with Ana or Mercy pocketing him. If armor would at least be affected by healing in a reverse manner to damage that would at least mitigate how stacked tanks can be in charging. They could have at least added another second to his rocket hammer to balance out the damage.
We went from a few months ago where the game felt pretty solid with the exception of them not tweaking a few more DPS' and Hog, to now back to messed up buffs and double shield, because Sigma/Rein is going to be a nightmare if this carries through.
I'll say it now UwU, Sigma is worse for the game than Bridget was.
There are two different types of balance to be considered here - each character's balance within their role, and the role's overall balance within the game. I don't feel like tanks themselves are OP after the wave of barrier nerfs. So it seems appropriate to buff Rein/Dva if their metrics show that those characters are underperforming within the tank role.
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
I really do think Sigma like Brig was a mistake though.
He's the same jack of all trades archetype as her and causes a lot of the same problems.
BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
Imo in a perfect world a game like Overwatch would avoid using new characters as content to maintain playerbase retention, because at some point it becomes less about filling in the gaps of the roster and more about adding new gimmicks to garner interest
It's why I consistently drop off MOBAs because the roster bloat just feels excessive, the only reason OW has held my interest longer is that they use the language of a first person shooter rather than a strategy game, which is one I find easier to parse
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surrealitychecklonely, but not unloveddreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered Userregular
the problem that many online games have (poe is the first one i've seen to explicitly note it) is that regular small content drops slightly reduce player drop off but they do not bring back players who have gone. big content drops do - thus poe moving from regular small updates to the very big yearly updates + longer leagues. in ows case the ow2 strat is partly about realising that rebiulding the whole thing had a better long-term implication for their player count over the next 5-10 years
The quality of your experience in Overwatch also depends on the balance between roles, and single character drops always distorts that balance. Two weeks' worth of everyone playing the new medic doesn't feel great, whereas with six new characters at once the effect would be muted.
My favorite musical instrument is the air-raid siren.
New characters are fun, even if they aren't laser-focused on any specific gap in the roster. Sigma for example isn't really a specialist in anything but he does add to the diversity of shield options in a team comp. Most people don't want to play a game that stays the same for years - there are exceptions, but it's rare. Games like Overwatch and MOBAs in particular are all about the variety in gameplay that a diverse roster brings to the table. So adding new characters regularly is really important IMO, and 3 per year is a fairly conservative pace. They've been spending a lot of effort maintaining the existing roster over the years too, doing reworks when it's needed, etc.
Lower accessibility because of the game getting too complex over the years is sort of an unavoidable problem in a game like this. You can mitigate that by not introducing entirely new mechanics that require specific game knowledge to play against, which they've been so-so about (see immortality field). Also by resisting the urge to make the new characters inherently more complex than the original roster, which again is a mixed bag in Overwatch. But I think they've been making the right decisions for the most part, except that I don't think they should have paused hero releases in preparation for OW2.
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DragkoniasThat Guy Who Does StuffYou Know, There. Registered Userregular
edited December 2020
Thing is the multiplayer/games as a service space is so bloated and competitive you need constant big updates to keep the less hardcore fans.
And while I get what you're saying and agree a lot of these companies don't want the best version of the game they want the most profitable.
And if I'm being honest while double barrier being meta for over a year was a big reason I stopped playing OW as much the main reason is the lack of new meaningful content.
Cause let's be honest heroes are what make OW
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BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
New characters are fun, even if they aren't laser-focused on any specific gap in the roster. Sigma for example isn't really a specialist in anything but he does add to the diversity of shield options in a team comp. Most people don't want to play a game that stays the same for years - there are exceptions, but it's rare. Games like Overwatch and MOBAs in particular are all about the variety in gameplay that a diverse roster brings to the table. So adding new characters regularly is really important IMO, and 3 per year is a fairly conservative pace. They've been spending a lot of effort maintaining the existing roster over the years too, doing reworks when it's needed, etc.
Lower accessibility because of the game getting too complex over the years is sort of an unavoidable problem in a game like this. You can mitigate that by not introducing entirely new mechanics that require specific game knowledge to play against, which they've been so-so about (see immortality field). Also by resisting the urge to make the new characters inherently more complex than the original roster, which again is a mixed bag in Overwatch. But I think they've been making the right decisions for the most part, except that I don't think they should have paused hero releases in preparation for OW2.
Call of Duty is still one of the kings of multiplayer franchises and they have managed to diversify and grow while only being incrementally different in the core mechanics for many, many years. It's obviously not apples to oranges but the main point of growth for their highest game population yet are new game modes rather than new weapons that handle differently
My main concern is a balance problem though yeah, accessibility absolutely takes a hit. I would absolutely play a stagnant, static multiplayer game over one that maintains a burning need to introduce new content constantly which is why after so many months of Overwatch not introducing new characters I poked my head back in and said "real shit I don't have to worry about new Back Line Fucker #69 this Christmas? Alright I have time to relearn where everyone's at"
Obviously I'm not necessarily other people though. Maybe I'm just too much of a fucking idiot, I wouldn't put it past me
I've appreciated the lack of new content to solve degree, as it's given the team time to really iterate on balance changes and get stuff polished to a high shine.
But yeah, I'm definitely ready for some new heroes and maps. OW heroes come with so much hidden depth to them that it's a real pleasure trying to figure them out.
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
i honestly am surprised they haven't re-re-released paris and horizen and maybe some other maybes. Even just a few tweaks could make those maps so much more enjoyable
i honestly am surprised they haven't re-re-released paris and horizen and maybe some other maybes. Even just a few tweaks could make those maps so much more enjoyable
there is one piece of feedback that is 100% universal
and that is everybody hates 2cp, especially at high level
i honestly am surprised they haven't re-re-released paris and horizen and maybe some other maybes. Even just a few tweaks could make those maps so much more enjoyable
there is one piece of feedback that is 100% universal
and that is everybody hates 2cp, especially at high level
they aint adding more 2cp to the map pool!
oh 100%, they could change it to be payload or control...why haven't they experimented with other game "official" game modes yet? Hold the point gives you points as the clock ticks down. Holding it i the last X seconds gives double points or something to incentive people staying until the end. payload race...man i loved payload races in TF2
I really like Paladin's hybrid KotH/Payload mode, but it wouldn't work with Overwatch because of spawn time stuff so heavily disadvantaging various heroes. I'm curious how they're going to deal with that with Push. I think I read somewhere that the spawn locations would change depending on where the payload was for that, but that seems... super weird and dumb. I guess if maps were all big S shapes, it might not be too bad, but it still feels like it'd be a major problem like 2CP has now.
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surrealitychecklonely, but not unloveddreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered Userregular
pretty sure they view the reworks of paris and horizon as 1) big enough to be part of the pitch for making ow2 appealing and 2) waiting to see how the ow2 changes change map design priorities probs makes it easier too
Experimental changes are live now. Still no priority passes, maybe with the winter update. And they're teasing an "awesome PTR" coming soon, for whatever that's worth:
Hey everyone, today’s patch was the final hero balance update of 2020. As we approach the Holiday season, our patch cycle will be slowing down a bit to allow the team to spend time with their families. We will work hard to get an Experimental patch up within the first few weeks of January, after which point, we’ll continue our regular cadence of balance patches.
We still have a few patches coming your way this month, so be on the lookout! Winter Wonderland is just around the corner and we’ve got an awesome PTR coming up as well. Wishing you all a happy and safe Holiday season!
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TexiKenDammit!That fish really got me!Registered Userregular
That's a real shame, I just want Sigma shoved into the ground for at least six months. Now we've got Rein/Sigma/Mercy must picks. If the awesome PTR isn't a hero ban system then it's not going to be worthwhile.
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
Posts
I would be really bad at mystery heroes. Several of the new heroes I've literally never played. Some others like genji I haven't touched in over two years.
So basically this system is useless to me.
I'm not sure how it helps DPS one tricks though. My only guess is that maybe they hope there are enough DPS flex players who don't mind flexing every now and then which would lighten the DPS queues and also speed up the other queues.
even if these people are getting priority qs there isnt a "fixed" amount of q time that people are stealing off u - if the player balance is better, queues can be overall reduced on top of players with priority passes getting even faster queues. the goal is to get the player pop, as a whole, to have a higher fraction queueing flex giving u way faster lobby creation for everybody
Jesus, although I went back and checked the replay because I thought that was our Widow who was headshotting people left and right, suspecting that it was an aimbotter, but that was probably why the Echo/Junk had such an elevated percentage. The other half was probably "Echo used five Whole Hogs in the first round."
I still got the PotG from a nano'ed charge to take out Bastion and an ulting Sigma as the round ended though.
Crazy.
Also while OW is a very different game now remember OP D.Va had 400 armor and 200 health.
Didn't seem like a big deal on paper but it was.
So instead of boosting his barrier they're boosting him.
Also I think the game is generally healthier when Rein is the main tank.
We went from a few months ago where the game felt pretty solid with the exception of them not tweaking a few more DPS' and Hog, to now back to messed up buffs and double shield, because Sigma/Rein is going to be a nightmare if this carries through.
I'll say it now UwU, Sigma is worse for the game than Bridget was.
Blizzard: Pailryder#1101
GoG: https://www.gog.com/u/pailryder
He's the same jack of all trades archetype as her and causes a lot of the same problems.
It's why I consistently drop off MOBAs because the roster bloat just feels excessive, the only reason OW has held my interest longer is that they use the language of a first person shooter rather than a strategy game, which is one I find easier to parse
Lower accessibility because of the game getting too complex over the years is sort of an unavoidable problem in a game like this. You can mitigate that by not introducing entirely new mechanics that require specific game knowledge to play against, which they've been so-so about (see immortality field). Also by resisting the urge to make the new characters inherently more complex than the original roster, which again is a mixed bag in Overwatch. But I think they've been making the right decisions for the most part, except that I don't think they should have paused hero releases in preparation for OW2.
And while I get what you're saying and agree a lot of these companies don't want the best version of the game they want the most profitable.
And if I'm being honest while double barrier being meta for over a year was a big reason I stopped playing OW as much the main reason is the lack of new meaningful content.
Cause let's be honest heroes are what make OW
Call of Duty is still one of the kings of multiplayer franchises and they have managed to diversify and grow while only being incrementally different in the core mechanics for many, many years. It's obviously not apples to oranges but the main point of growth for their highest game population yet are new game modes rather than new weapons that handle differently
My main concern is a balance problem though yeah, accessibility absolutely takes a hit. I would absolutely play a stagnant, static multiplayer game over one that maintains a burning need to introduce new content constantly which is why after so many months of Overwatch not introducing new characters I poked my head back in and said "real shit I don't have to worry about new Back Line Fucker #69 this Christmas? Alright I have time to relearn where everyone's at"
Obviously I'm not necessarily other people though. Maybe I'm just too much of a fucking idiot, I wouldn't put it past me
But yeah, I'm definitely ready for some new heroes and maps. OW heroes come with so much hidden depth to them that it's a real pleasure trying to figure them out.
Blizzard: Pailryder#1101
GoG: https://www.gog.com/u/pailryder
there is one piece of feedback that is 100% universal
and that is everybody hates 2cp, especially at high level
they aint adding more 2cp to the map pool!
oh 100%, they could change it to be payload or control...why haven't they experimented with other game "official" game modes yet? Hold the point gives you points as the clock ticks down. Holding it i the last X seconds gives double points or something to incentive people staying until the end. payload race...man i loved payload races in TF2
Blizzard: Pailryder#1101
GoG: https://www.gog.com/u/pailryder
Something about this skin, I hate it
Reinstalling just to buy it.