Overwatch as a game does not work as well as a 2-2-2 competitive format. The game is a first person shooter at heart, but is also a MOBA. Conceptually, Overwatch is fantastic, and it could have been one of the greatest games around. It still genuinely has a chance with Overwatch 2. But the health of the game is completely dependent on the choices of the game developers and directors.
With such a gigantic cast of characters, 2-2-2 removes the possibility of DOZENS of different comps and strategies. Things such as GOATs, Slambulance, etc. were all incredibly fun and creative player comps that used the diversity of the roster to achieve a set goal. 2-2-2 forces specific comps such as double shield which reign over every other possible strat.
Itâs also the difference of player mental. When you force 2-2-2, if a player is bad at a role, they canât just swap. You canât play their role and give them yours to help them out. There is no mid-match problem solving which was a big draw to the game in the first place. When you give the players the ability to play whatever they want, when they want, theyâre going to have more fun. When they have more fun, theyâll care more about winning and playing for their team; Thatâs naturally going to be more fun for them when they have the freedom to choose to do so.
Of course it introduces problems such as people playing too many DPS, or no tanks, and things like that. Those problems exist in almost every other game that is succeeding right now. Overwatch is failing not only because of the strange and poor balance and design choices, but also because the game has RAPIDLY become less and less open and creative. 2-2-2 ensures you have a balanced number of roles, but it isnât always the best place for the game to be in. This game has too much potential (especially in its strategy side) to force everyone to do the exact same thing, every time they play. The game lost its fun for a lot of people, casual and pro, because of that alone.
I believe itâd be better for the gameâs health, enjoyability, and the playerâs interest to bring back open queue as the default competitive mode. But let me know what you think! Iâm super interested in this topic.
The main problem is people donât treat the open queue competitive mode as seriously or anything; because in all honesty, itâs not as important as the main competitive mode. Itâs something off to the side, and the ranks arenât really indicative of skill all too well.
The draw of competitive players will always reside in the primary competitive game mode. When that becomes less fun, creative, and enjoyable, those players start to leave. Open queue feels more like stuff like Competitive CTF. Sure itâs another rank to have, but it really has nothing to do with the competitive environment or skill tiers of the game.
Honestly, the competitive pillar of this game has already fallen.
Game was designed to be watched, that also has been broken.
Though all this happened after OQ was moved to the side, so I do think you have a point.
Of course we wonât know anything without results, so why not try it?
I literally do not see a reason to not do this, most of the issues that had existed⊠well at least i donât hear anyone complaining about it no more.
And to those who say a sudden change like this is bad, it was the same when RQ took over OQ.
We can only gain things from doing this.
I agree. Thereâs only been a decline in health of the game since that change. Even pro players spoke out against the 2-2-2 change. Even if the game was designed to be watched; itâs unhealthy for that as well. GOATs was a really enjoyable meta for a TON of people both inside and out of that scene. I hope they change something up with Overwatch 2 besides the 5v5. Especially because taking two players out of every match leaves a lot more of the roster unused.
Right, right, because no one ever complained before role queue. Everyone was having a wonderful time. Throw comps were not common, and teammates characteristically played and chose unselfishly with the best interests of their fellow men at the forefront of their minds.
You have a very rosy recollection of the past. Role queue and Open Queue are both misery-inducing, itâs just a matter of the flavor of misery you prefer.
This is a super weird take. Of COURSE people complained back then just as they do now. But overall, the game was MUCH more popular, and enjoyed by a lot more people than now. People still throw, people still play for themselves. The only difference now is that you canât swap a role to accommodate that.
Thereâs nothing weird about it. Each is horrendous in its own way. And in terms of popularity, correlation is not causation. Iâm not sure what evidence you could possibly hope to produce that links the gameâs popularity or lack thereof to changes in various competitive modes. If youâve got the stats and facts that isolate these as explanatory factors, letâs see them.
And thatâs not the only difference. During the open queue days, if I had a dollar for every time we lost a match at the hero select screen and people didnât switch, I could buy a small island. What Role queues loses in flexibility, it makes up for in squelching all manner of outright throw comps.
Overwatch is always going to be a bad experience because there are no real consequences for people who donât care about losing, and the number of people who donât care about losing is enormous. Couple that with free infinite accounts of console, and paltry level 25 rank requirements and the game is always an unfolding disaster in motion. And still, these problems are the tip of the iceberg.
But you go on believing that Xanadu is only a few tweaks away.
You have a weird pessimism that the game isnât better any different way, which I really donât appreciate. Regardless of whether or not I have any statistics to back this up, word of mouth and just observing the people who play the game is enough to see that. Throw comps are not at all negated by role queue. Anything can be a throw comp, if itâs the intention of the players.
Wait, are you saying Open Queue is better, but no one likes it (otherwise they would play it), so you want to remove RQ in order to force those people who donât like OQ to play OQ?
Feel free to play OQ. Itâs right there. But donât force me to play it.
Role queues are perfect for people that donât want to flex into different roles.
Role queues limit compositions because there are very oppressive compositions, that cannot be challenged, resulting in a bad gameplay experience.
Whatâs the point of so many heroes when a select few always work the best in a situation?
When âdive metaâ existed, it still had variations and hero switches here and there, but when âGOATSâ came, it completely nullified all the DPS roster.
The role limit creates a boundary of âno abuseâ. It still allows for creative and interesting plays, but keeps compositions in check so they are not limiting other roleâs viability.
What Blizzard needs to do, is remove Open Queue Competitive altogether so as to not spread competitive player base across many modes. You said it yourself, itâs not relevant anymore. Change is hard, but people need to accept it.
As a bonus, they need to consolidate end-of-season rewards to the highest rank (regardless of role) to improve competitive spirit of the game. Right now, people just queue for all these different modes and roles just for the rewards, which ruins the competition. So, they also need to remove the Priority Pass, Lootbox/Credit, and other rewards for certain role queues.
If they remove those incentives, people will stop queuing for these roles just for the rewards. If people want to compete as a certain role, they will do it without any incentives. The whole idea of competition and rank is in itself the incentive to compete. You donât need to add extra treats; this is just nuts.
Blizzard tries to cater to everything and everyone - being greedy and try to absorb as many players as they can, but they fail to deliver on all fronts. Thus, it ruins the core game concept and principles: competition.
Itâs a competitive shooter with heroes and objectives. The emphasis should always be on the idea of the game being as competitive as possible. That means, they should do everything to keep the competition fierce and concentrated. This is not a game where you should get participation commendations and rewards in a competitive setting.
Iâve talked about how Blizzard just stopped working on making Competitive OW better before. They only focus on OWL and casuals thinking the more casuals they get into the game, the better their OWL viewership will be.
However, thatâs not the case. A lot of changes they made to the game and to OWL directly impacted the competitive side of OW and ruined enjoyment of playing and watching the game for those passionate about that aspect of it.
I personally didnât miss a single match during first Contenders, and then OWL, and later Cup. I watched all of those games in the beginning because they were actually fun and interesting. Players were great, teams had great dynamic, caster talent was amazing. Thereâs a reason those early events were a hit - they were done right. The game was also in great shape. It felt like all the stars aligned perfectly and created a perfect timeline for OW to exist and flourish.
I donât know why Blizzard decided to ruin everything. It just doesnât make any sense.
How on earth can you suddenly create a great new IP and drive it to the ground just as quickly?
This is unachievable because it will ruin the concept of a freedom, which was already done with 2-2-2.
5 dps games was not an issue at higher ranks, thus, you fix it by yourself just playing better and flexing during the match if it is needed. However, goats were the issue that have to be fixed with tank limitations.
The point of openQ is not just a freedom, but also a q time. Demanding 1-1-1 you will do only half measure for both cases. And I donât remember when âAll good in the middleâ concept worked once for overwatch tbh. But that might be a case.