Add new Tanks/Supports will not improve the queue times

General Discussion
1

Adding new Tanks/Supports may attract slightly more Tank/Support players, but you will still get teammates who won’t stop begging for generalist / enabler heroes, such as Reinhardt & Zarya; Ana & Mercy.
Even in some map sections (e.g Watchpoint: Gibralter, Dorado 2nd section, Numbani 1st section) that don’t favor Rein comps, people still beg for Rein.

Due to the popularity of “Rein + Zarya”, it feels adding new Tanks is quite pointless when the community prefers “Rein + Zarya” more than anything.
“Rein + Zarya” jail actually doesn’t appeal to Tank players in general, except Rein/Zarya mains or one-tricks. I avoid playing Tanks sometimes, just not to fill these heroes.

Some people want Rein + Zarya as permanent meta-picks, NOT BECAUSE they actually like playing Rein + Zarya. They want someone to pick these heroes to correct their mistakes and give them free POTGs from their Grav / Shatter.
Rein’s large, mobile shield appeals to players who have bad & lazy positioning habits; Zarya’s bubbles satisfies to players who like to hyper-feed, etc.

When 5 vs 5 news is announced, the majority actually misses “Rein + Zarya” comp more than any other Tank comps or synergies. They won’t miss Double Shields, Hog + Ball/Orisa, Sigma + Ball, etc. (Winston + DVA doesn’t get much hate though.)

Same goes for “Ana + Mercy” jail, because some players usually feed to enemies more than relying on natural covers & health packs, thus they need strong, consistent healers more than anyone to correct their mistakes. (Bap is acceptable until your team often scatters and picks dives.)

DPS will always be the most popular role, even if it’s in the worst and the least impactful state (e.g GOATs era). Plus, it has the most FPS-trait gameplay which generally satisfies to players who enjoy shooters.

  • Why is Ana so fun to play? Because she has the most shooter-based gameplay in Supports’ cast and being a Support Sniper is another huge bonus.

  • Why do many people instant-lock Roadhog? Again, he has the most shooter-based gameplay in Tanks’ cast and he’s very self-sufficient.

Thus, most DPS mains lock Ana/Roadhog when they play Supports or Tank. Other popular choices will be usually Baptiste/Zenyatta (Lucio in a few occasions); Sigma/Zarya (sometimes Ball; DVA not so much).

2

I honestly would still like new tanks and supports.

The long lasting solution to queue times is to create desirable tanks that leads to a growth of a steady dedicated tank player base. This would also diminish the need for Priority Passes.

2 Likes
3

There’s a hole in your logic:

Tank/support players have long since stopped caring what their teams beg for.

So yes, it would make a huge difference to us =D

8 Likes
4

And then miserably watch your teammate(s) suffer for not enabling them and finally force yourself to fill these heroes for winning sake.

5

Or get good at said heroes and provide value. You act as if it’s only Rein/Zarya mains in t500 when it’s not the case at all, actually the opposite.

1 Like
6

I get this… Which was why I was excited for Orisa, Sigma and Brig then not so excited for Sombra, Ashe, Doom, Ana, Echo, Moira and Bap (if I missed one I’m sorry)

But if new Tanks and Supports come out then maybe DPS players will like them and play them… It’s all about enticing players to play other heroes (which would happen more often with Open Queue rather then Role Queue

7

sleepdart.

Because he is allowed to carry the slack of your dps/healers.

8

That is because the balance is bad not because there are more heroes.

1 Like
9

Well, by AndyB words:

He cites two functions the Devs see tanks doing.

Following your tank around because he offers you protection as a “push-leading protector” is just the easiest strategy to VISUALIZE and follow up (playing gathered with your tank), specially with Rein that just incorporates this function the most.

Now, following up a “disruptive line breaker” tank is a harder strategy, not easy to understand or visualize how this is gonna help you individually because this doesn’t protect you directly. Wrecking Ball incorporates this function the most and people can’t just follow him around, instead people gotta play more carefully positioned while they take advantage of Hammond’s disruption (CC’ing enemies into off-angle exposure) to inflict damage and secure kills.

That’s why in metal ranks there’s a Rein preference/demand by non-tank players to work with, it’s easier to follow up something they can directly visualize the benefits.

10

I mean… who says new supports won’t be “generalist” or “enabler” heroes?

11

Scary idea
Make tanks that work with each other like rein and zarya do, and make the main tank one be simplistic to use, but harder to master.

Also, what exactly it is now, one topic on this forum say double shield dominate, then other say its rein + zarya jail… like what is it now exactly?