More tank playstyle variety could make ques reasonable . They’ll never be even. But by analyzing which tanks (and supports) dps mains flex onto, theyll understand what qualities might appeal to impatient dps mains.
Observe other hero-centric games like Paladins, League, r6 siege, Smite; notice how much more tank variety there is, and how they don’t have the same popularity problem.
People always focus on tanks vs dps, but nobody asks why supports are more popular than tanks! This is crucial to understanding the core issue.
In Paladins, supports are popular, maybe more than dps. Why? All sups have a disengage/self-sustain, duel/damage potential (I’m always top 3 damage as support), and therefore more independence and flexibility. All sups escape 1v1’s fairly easily, if not hold their own in a duel. Despite having comperable kill potential as dps, they dont feel op.
tldr: here’s what I think attracts dps mains to a character: outplay & POG potential (not just multikill pogs, but also mindgames, think sombra trolling, fake-outs, etc.), rewarding skill-shots, unique mobility styles, an appealing/relatable aesthetic, play-style familiarity/simplicity, etc. If you compare abilities by role, you’ll find that DPS kits are often pick-up-and-play, but tanks/supports are unintuitive and complex.
eg. I played many games before I found out Zarya’s barriers increase her power when damaged. Dps mains hate feeling helpless or reliant on their team to do work.
Consider:
• Widow, high skill ceiling dps. all she does is charge up her weapon & click heads.
Ana on the other hand, when unscoped shoots projectiles, when ADS is hitscan (how would you know that??) does way less damage, is targeted/dove just as often as widow, but has no grapple to escape with, instead has to pray her sleepdart lands or her team is competent enough to save her. and that sleepdart cooldown is crucial for shutting down ults.
Consider:
• the mechanical input and skill it takes Lucio to wall-ride, while cross-fading, and aiming his weird projectile gun accurately. Good lucios rarely touch the ground.
• Yet Echo uses one button to gracefully fling herself across the map, and another button to burn down any half health heroes in her path.
Not only are supports and tanks the most crucial roles in OW, they also tend to have the most complicated and difficult kits. Moira is the most independent support, and one of the most independent heroes in the game, and what do you know, dps mains like popping off on her!
Sure, Sigma’s got skillshots galore, but his immobility/squishiness make him very punishing; hog and ball have independent dps-y playstyles, but are also easily countered, and easier to feed with (not to mention, hog isn’t exactly visually appealing. why are most tanks animals, robots, or animal-robots??)
You might say that it’d be op for a tank/support to have high survivability/independence, kill potential, and the utility of their role, but
Consider DPS-Moira:
• Moira has low dps, even among supports, but dps flex onto her because she’s mobile, high self sustain, and secures kills. it’s not uncommon for Moira mains to get silver or gold damage, Despite having one of the lowest dps stats in the game! People complain about this but they never ask why and what the implications are for character design.
Regarding mass appeal: the most iconic game characters have no correlation to role or damage output. Eg. DVA easily sells the most OW merch, and is always a popular pick for new players. I’d wager that DVA got more non-tanks in the role than any other hero, many of whom would’ve mained her regardless of playstyle, just because of her design.
Sure, quintessential characters tend to be pretty young ladies, but contrast Dva’s fanbase size, with Orisa’s. Or the collective bewilderment of Sigma being a large-nosed older man with bare feet… Devs should make a conscious effort to design new tanks with visual appeal, with designs that aren’t so “out there”. Characters that people fall in love with. Having so many tanks without a relatable human face makes the role less appealing to newbs.
Think about the Support mains getting stoked for echo, with her clean, sleek design and fun looking flight ability, only to be let down by another dps. and the support means are left feeling like they never get anything fun/cool. can you blame them?
With all that said, I don’t think role lock would be necessary if:
• there was number parity across all roles,
• there were more “hybrid heroes” like Hog, Zar, Brig, Mei, etc in all roles, to the point where one could make a team comp of all hybrid heroes and have all their bases covered.
If there were a tank that could give the types of players who dps Moira the same satisfaction…
We need the tank equivalent of soldier 76’s simplicity/familiarity, forgiving playstyle of zarya, the passive team utility of brig, the slipperiness of Moira and kill potential of hog.
Or just take a fun dps concept, and rework them into a tank. you can do it blizzard! dont be so stubborn.