Overwatch

[Aikouka]

So, one of the biggest complaints that I've seen about the game so far is probably the lack of a scoreboard. Essentially, people want to know how they stand in regard to their KDA (Kills, Deaths, Assists). It's interesting, because the Overwatch "community" seems to be split on whether or not this is a good thing. Prior to playing the game, I would've probably told you that I thought adding one would be fairly harmless; however, after playing it, I'd probably recommend against adding one.

The problem is that the majority of the non-competitive types seem to lack focus on the point of the game. To drill it down to the basics, all of the current modes require you to stand on a point (static or moving). The more people on that point, the faster it works. The problems that I see is that attackers (people capturing the point) seem to focus far too much on killing people rather than capturing their objectives. To a degree, that's fine, but if I see an attacker run off after a defender, you're doing it wrong. This isn't Heroes of the Storm (or another MOBA) where the death penalty is a long respawn time. It takes about 5 seconds to respawn regardless, so you're usually taking away from capturing the objective and not always providing much of a benefit. Another problem with that is how people tend to fight close to but still outside of the attack point.

They also completely fail at going around people in most cases, but that's a tactical issue.

 

[darkewaffle]

I heard about the complaints for the scoreboard, what a silly idea lol. Completely misses the point. The game is about winning or losing the match.

I played a bunch and really liked it for the most part. Balance could use some tweaking imo and I'm hoping the UI sees some enhancements (payload checkpoints marked in the top center bar, some larger/more central self-health representation).

Explosives (Pharah/Junkrat/Bastion ult primarily) could be toned down a bit imo - the combination of high damage, high rate of fire, high projectile velocity and high explosion radius is a bit much.

I found a number of the ults pretty tiresome as well. Reaper/Pharah are the worst but McCree/Bastion/Soldier76 kind of fall under the same umbrella as well. The whole no-aim/auto-aim instadeath, eh, I could do without.

Also turret DPS from both Bastion and Torbjorn feels too high, it's crazy how quick they cut anything down.

Finally Widowmaker's aim assist is too strong for PC. The killcams looked something like an aimbot lol.


Even so I really enjoyed Lucio/Zarya/Mercy and thought it was cool how I saw opponents playing pretty much every character. Nobody seemed to be drastically over or under performing. I'm looking forward to more maps and game modes - I hope they don't shy away from making some larger, more involved maps (like a Badwater Basin).

 

[Aikouka]

I heard about the complaints for the scoreboard, what a silly idea lol. Completely misses the point. The game is about winning or losing the match.

One of the people that I was playing with last night wanted one to figure out who was slacking. The problem is... even if you could see, what would that matter? You can't kick them. You can't get them to swap characters. The best you can do is tell them to shape it up, but do you really think they'll take that in kind?

I played a bunch and really liked it for the most part. Balance could use some tweaking imo and I'm hoping the UI sees some enhancements (payload checkpoints marked in the top center bar, some larger/more central self-health representation).

I agree with the payload checkpoints on the bar. I wouldn't be surprised if they add it too. It'd also be interesting if they'd add a timer based upon the current push rate; however, it might be a little funky if the timer keeps changing because of people entering or leaving the effective radius.

As for balance, one thing that I've been wondering is whether or not healers deal too much damage. My most played characters over the weekend were probably Mercy then Pharah then Soldier 76, so I had plenty of time to experience Mercy's capability. I've also been on the receiving end of all the other healers. I've killed a full-health Roadhog (no health restore) with Mercy. For those that haven't played the game or him, I have 200 health and he has 600. Hell, I've taken second place in eliminations and final blows as Mercy while staying above my average amount healed! D:

Really, the biggest thing is that I should never fear being caught in a room with a healer. If you're not playing someone like Reaper (good in close quarters with his shotguns) and you're caught in a room with Symmetra, you better just run like hell, because she will kill you. Her weapon is really good at close range. I don't think healers should be so weak that they're incapable, but they seem a bit too strong.

Explosives (Pharah/Junkrat/Bastion ult primarily) could be toned down a bit imo - the combination of high damage, high rate of fire, high projectile velocity and high explosion radius is a bit much.

I played a lot of Pharah, and I never found her weapon to be too powerful. Now, it's great when you're attacking a group (due to splash damage), but Pharah is also rather weak to be just sitting there on her own against multiple people. The thing about Pharah is that her rate of fire isn't all that fast. There were a few times where I was wishing that the rockets fired faster or that I had a secondary fire like in Unreal Tournament (fire 3 rockets at once). Speaking of Pharah, I'm not sure if I like her secondary knockback ability. I guess it's nice for annoying your enemy or slightly disrupting them; however, if the point is to get a lot of damage from rocket splash damage, you're potentially making that worse.

I found a number of the ults pretty tiresome as well. Reaper/Pharah are the worst but McCree/Bastion/Soldier76 kind of fall under the same umbrella as well. The whole no-aim/auto-aim instadeath, eh, I could do without.

My biggest problem with McCree's ultimate is that Blizzard needs to fix its LoS checks. I played a match yesterday where McCree used his ultimate and shot me even though I was behind a wall. I watched the kill cam, and it worked because I still had the circle on me even though I got behind the wall right before he fired.

Finally Widowmaker's aim assist is too strong for PC. The killcams looked something like an aimbot lol.

I didn't think she had aim assist? They removed a bug where having a controller plugged in removed aim assist, and supposedly, they removed it from the PC completely.

I played a bit more (with actual people, I think.) Really enjoyed Reinhardt for a while.

I always felt so bad when I played Reinhardt and kept missing the charges. :$

 

[lupi]

I heard about the complaints for the scoreboard, what a silly idea lol. Completely misses the point. The game is about winning or losing the match.

I played a bunch and really liked it for the most part. Balance could use some tweaking imo and I'm hoping the UI sees some enhancements (payload checkpoints marked in the top center bar, some larger/more central self-health representation).

Explosives (Pharah/Junkrat/Bastion ult primarily) could be toned down a bit imo - the combination of high damage, high rate of fire, high projectile velocity and high explosion radius is a bit much.

I found a number of the ults pretty tiresome as well. Reaper/Pharah are the worst but McCree/Bastion/Soldier76 kind of fall under the same umbrella as well. The whole no-aim/auto-aim instadeath, eh, I could do without.

Also turret DPS from both Bastion and Torbjorn feels too high, it's crazy how quick they cut anything down.

Finally Widowmaker's aim assist is too strong for PC. The killcams looked something like an aimbot lol.


Even so I really enjoyed Lucio/Zarya/Mercy and thought it was cool how I saw opponents playing pretty much every character. Nobody seemed to be drastically over or under performing. I'm looking forward to more maps and game modes - I hope they don't shy away from making some larger, more involved maps (like a Badwater Basin).

anyone can be cut down pretty quickly.

 

[lupi]

If you're in enjoy it while it last, servers going away on the 10th for about a month.

 

[darkewaffle]

I think one of my friends got in after the "open" weekend but otherwise it's been all quiet on the Overwatch front. Interesting that they're taking it down for a month, I wonder if it's just a holiday break or if we'll see some major changes when it returns.

 

[lupi]

Both.

 

[lupi]

Some news from the devs: All future maps and heroes will be free when patched into the game.

 

[lupi]

Servers get turned back on 2/9.

 

[JTsyo]

Some news from the devs: All future maps and heroes will be free when patched into the game.

So how are they going to monetize the game? hats?

 

[darkewaffle]

Well, it isn't free-to-play so there's less incentive to need that. Though I still expect we'll see skins/dyes/cosmetic items that are purchasable.

 

[Aikouka]

They also mentioned what will be available once the game returns:

• An all-new progression system
• Two new maps, including a new game mode
• Several hero balance updates
• And a variety of Private Game updates, including full A.I. matches

(Emphasis theirs.)

 

[Subyman]

So how are they going to monetize the game? hats?

It costs $60.

 

[JujuFish]

It costs $60.

$60 is for the "Origins" edition (some skins, as well as extras for other Blizzard games), $40 otherwise.

 

[JTsyo]

It costs $60.

ahh thought it was F2P.

 

[lupi]

Bastion changes very interesting. Waiting to see how he plays out after being live for a week or so.

 

[Zenoth]

I didn't get in the first beta, doesn't seem like I will this time again, oh well. I assume it's the last one before the game's release (is it?)? I'm interested, nonetheless (buying it, that is), especially now that they mention full A.I. (bots) matches which I'll definitely need whenever the online [inevitably] gets too frustrating (or laggy, or whatever happens online).

 

[Udgnim]

I didn't get in the first beta, doesn't seem like I will this time again, oh well. I assume it's the last one before the game's release (is it?)? I'm interested, nonetheless (buying it, that is), especially now that they mention full A.I. (bots) matches which I'll definitely need whenever the online [inevitably] gets too frustrating (or laggy, or whatever happens online).

it will eventually have an open beta to stress test servers

 

[lupi]

And it seems that all of the progression stuff released so far can be done while playing against bots.

 

[lupi]

and I just opened the launcher to play a little diablo before dinner and it's currently doing an overwatch update and a play button is visible...so in a couple minutes I'm going to have some good news or be really depressed.

 

[lupi]

And we have WTF rage. Button still there after the update but says not invited to play. Why give me the button then!!!!!!

 

[Aikouka]

If you played during that stress test weekend, you will always have a Play button because the game has been installed. I have one too, and it taunts me every day! :'(

 

[lupi]

Had a preorder screen before which is why I became curious when it shifted to a play button.

 

[lupi]

Blizz has announced that only the loot boxes you can get via leveling will be purchasable for actual money.


Gamestop has added a baby Winston figure for preorder bonus.

 

[Aikouka]

Gamestop has added a baby Winston figure for preorder bonus.

Ugh... I want.