I didn’t care much when Overwatch 2 launched. I fell off the original game a while ago, and it seemed like switching to a sequel when the game functioned perfectly in the live-service space was not only a bad idea, but downright irritating to players who needed to transfer over their data, own the correct type of phone, not to mention that the original version was shut down forever. Despite all that, I’ve been hooked back in like a Roadhog victim, but I’m not sure how much longer that can last. I think I’m ready for the single-player campaign now, ple
Patches are here to stay in gaming, and they are important for fixing huge errors, balancing live-service games, and removing online exploits being constantly abused. They also help games ship on time then get a little polish here, a little spit shine there later on. But it’s increasingly obvious that games are afraid to be imperfect, and that risks making them bor
It’s going to take awhile before we really understand what all of the changes in Overwatch 2 add up to. Even as someone with more than 600 hours played, I’m still trying to figure out what the transition to 5v5 actually means. Right away it was clear that Overwatch 2 is a much faster game. Fewer shields and abilities that CC means more movement, more big plays, and more snowballs. Skilled players have a much better chance of carrying games now, which means heroes with low TTK are even more valuable than ever before. This is the sense I got right away, but what solidified this belief was the design of the three new characters. Sojourn, Junker Queen, and especially Kiriko represent a commitment Overwatch 2 has to independence and personal performance. I’m still undecided on whether that will be better or worse for the game in the long run, but it’s clear Blizzard has rebuilt the game with a focus on the individual over the t
Challenges do not make games better, and the designers know that just as well as we do. When a game asks you to get three kills with a sniper rifle or win matches with a specific character, it isn’t trying to increase your enjoyment or help you improve. Challenges are nothing by hollow engagement boosters designed to increase player retention. Someone at the top of the ladder needs to see an increase in hours played month-over-month, and the fastest and dirtiest way to do that is to coerce players to complete daily challen
Part of the tinkering feels like vanity too. In Horizon Forbidden West , Aloy was too chatty when she was alone , remarking that items will be sent back to storage (somehow?) and repeating the same few lines over and over. People said it was annoying, so it was taken out. But surely they knew it was annoying? Surely part of the point was to make Aloy endearing in this way? I’m sure people think Aloy shutting the hell up is an improvement, but mostly it just feels like fixing something for the sake of it. It doesn’t feel like developers have the license to be creative and eccentric if a few people joking around online is enough for the studio to mandate changing the game. Gaming is becoming more risk averse, not less, in the presence of a constant safety
Here’s how it works: Overwatch 2 readjusts your rank every seven wins or 20 loses. Whenever you win a game it will record it on a post-match card to see how close you’re getting to your next adjustment. If you win more games than you lose, then your rank should go up after every seventh win. The amount it will go up is a mystery, however. You could go up one tier from Gold 5 to Gold 4, or you might shoot up all the way to Gold 1. You have idea what rank you’re about to be until you win that seventh game. You also can’t see how many wins you have unless you win a game, because that’s the only time your win card is displa
I don’t do this to torture myself with the number, I do it because not knowing my rank is more stressful than knowing it. I don’t want to win a game and see my rank fall because I didn’t realize I had lost more than I won in my current set, and I also don’t want to go on a losing streak and see my rank drop multiple tiers all at once. Most people have a tendency to think they’re performing worse than they really are anyway, and this opaque system just amplifies that feeling by hiding the d
With so many flocking to the game now it’s free, the cracks are starting to show. I don’t know if we’ll see 6v6 return - at least, not in quick play and competitive - but whittling down the team size by gutting a tank has made Overwatch 2 DPS guide|https://overwatch2tactics.com/ 2 inherently imbalanced, and no amount of hero tweaks will patch up the h
Say for example your adjustment came on your seventh win and you’re put into Gold 1. In the old system, this would mean you have somewhere between 2399 and 2499 SR. If you have 2491 SR after your seventh win, then you should be only one win away from hitting Platinum. Now, you have to win seven more games before you get another adjustment. And if you happen to lose more than you win in this set, you might never see Platinum this season, even if you won the first game after the adjustm