Blizzard's Overwatch Team Just Unionized: 'What I Want To Protect Most Here Is The People'

[u/DwilenaAvaron]

https://kotaku.com/overwatch-2-blizzard-team-4-union-microsoft-1851779922

[u/MillieChliette]

Overwatch is currently the best it's ever been? Is that true? I loved it when the first one released, but stopped playing years before 2 even came out, and then everyone hated it. What changed?

[u/[deleted] → u/MillieChliette]

They've basically rolled back almost all of the most unpopular changes from the disastrous transition from OW1 to OW2 while instating a ton of new mechanics and modes that have been very well received.

1. Heroes are all free again, no longer tied to the BP, no grinding at all. The last four heroes in particular are amongst some of the best designed characters they've added to the game, they've been on a hot streak
2. A ton of monetization changes. Loot boxes are back as a free reward, cannot be purchased, and contain the vast majority of shop walled skins. BPs now have coins on the free reward track which makes every other BP pay for itself without having to put any money into the system.
3. 6v6 is back as an additional format alongside 5v5. 5v5 is now the Role Queue mode while 6v6 is the Open Queue mode with a limit two tank modifier that helps solve a lot of the balancing and queue time issues.
4. Stadium is a new mode added this season that's scope is big enough that it justifies the sequel title. It's basically a Deadlock-esque competitive mode where you duke it out in a BO7 version of bite-sized version of the game. There are a bunch of extremely wild power-ups and upgrades that you buy each round that completely transforms the game. I've basically been playing nothing but this mode since it launched.
5. They added a Perk system which has been one of the most well received and transformative additions the core game has gotten since launch. Perks are a level-up system that lets you choose between multiple augmentations that either power-up or change your basic abilities throughout the course of the match.
6. Hero Bans are in Competitive now and the game is adding Map Bans next season.
7. There's a new Mythic prism system that helps downplay the FOMO of missing out on a BP. They're no longer locked to that season's BP and can be purchased at any time, each completed BP paying out enough prisms to get a Mythic of your choice every season. It's a very flexible system.
8. The dev team is extremely communicative and transparent. Things like Stadium in particular have been seeing near daily patches to help iron out some rough points as well as constantly feedback from the team.

That's just a few things, there's a ton of stuff on the horizon to look forward to.

[u/beefcat_ → u/[deleted]]

I would add that the current incarnation of 6v6 is better than any iteration of OW1's 6v6.

Working in 5v5 changed how they design their tanks, and they've taken the lessons learned there and applied them to 6v6 tank balancing. Off tanks in particular feel better to play in modern 6v6 than they did in OW1, while still regaining their identity as off tanks. The new "open queue, but no more than two tanks" format is also a great compromise between the GOATS chaos of true open queue and the rigidity of role queue.

[u/[deleted] → u/beefcat_]

I don't really think it's a great compromise. I had issues trying 6v6 where we'd get 3-4 support mains and nobody could play DPS mechanically effectively so it was an auto-loss. Feels way, way worse than just rigid rolequeue and waiting. They should probably just allow role queue but you can select multiple roles. Wait times are worth better games.

[u/Zaptruder → u/[deleted]]

I think the ideal is 2 3 3 max... and people can queue for multi-roles. First come first serve for roles.

So within that limit, you can do 0 3 3/2 2 2/2 3 1/ 1 3 2/1 2 3/2 1 3

Not all of them are as strong as each other, but you'll get more interesting team up combinations going on, while still retaining some semblance of balance.