for starters support being the most impactful role in the game automatically knocks them out of getting even more impact… as for fun, I think the subtext here is that support players don’t need to be bribed into having fun, if you have fun playing support then play support and if you don’t, don’t pick support
either way the change was a preliminary one based solely on balance, which means that they probably had a very specific mindset when implementing it, IF the amount of healing felt right in general that only meant that yes, healing needs to be lowered not necessarily in that way but doing a 25% less healing in combat is a very direct way to test healing as a feeling, it doesn’t mean the change is set in stone it’s just them trying to test how OW feels when there’s less healing in general and not having the time to change ALL supports for an exhibition game
Mind you, Andy isn’t a developer, this is his personal take, don’t sit here and shoot balance questions he doesn’t have the answer to, you know very well that he doesn’t have that kind of impact on the team, instead frame your feedback succinctly and let him communicate it to the appropriate team
The key reason why I play and enjoy these roles the most.
This is a good example of why OW 2 needs an updated tutorial. Learning how to play tank and support comes from watching videos on YouTube or having VOD reviews done. Plus, the hero the tutorial shows off is Soldier: 76 who is basically CoD incarnate in OW. So the fact that most new players want to play dps is because that is the only role they know how to play.
I hear you, and I want you all to know I’m registering and taking note of this sentiment.
To manage expectations: I’m not ready to discuss changes or updates to the Support role in OW2 more deeply than what we’ve already commented on. That said, I do very clearly understand that general anxiety around the expectations of every role is high right now, and ideally we can address that with future content like blogs and dev update videos.
I know you said a rework is in development for Brig… Is there anything you can reveal or hint at?
Us Brig players are really downtrodden right now, seeing her last bits of kit identity and independence/self-reliance being taken away with stun removal + in-combat heal nerfs which would make inspire 11hp/s…1 hp higher than payload heals
I just can imagine all supports being reworked to be like zen so people like me who likes healing and dpsing can have a real impact on the match, on the other hand i cant imagine how mercy would work on this since she just has " she is healing now" " she is dpsing now" while the other suports can do both at the same time
These apply to supports as well. Supports love to see big healing numbers. Also, at it’s heart the role is simple - keep people alive. You need to do quite a few other things as well, but the central dopamine fix that draws many people to the role is to be able to keep their team mates alive through very sticky situations.
We all have our own memories of this. I remember when Ana just came out, I nano boosted our Rein and healed him as fast as I could. He walked through the enemy team’s Hanzo ult and proceeded to get 4 kills. I remember imagining flight of the Valkyries being played in the background as he did that. I was in awe of how I turned him into a unstoppable god of death. They simply could not take him down.
My friend has another moment he often brings up where he was on Zarya, I was on Mercy, and we were alone, defending the point in Nepal sanctum in overtime. The enemy team had 4 players up. They couldn’t kill us. I was flying and dodging and weaving and keeping him up, and he was melting faces. We ended up taking down three of them and holding long enough for our team to get back.
There are countless other similar moments that we all carry with us. You do have to do other things as a support. You do damage, and you use your utility, but the central fantasy for many of us and the reason why many people stick with the role is to keep people alive. You put your foot down and you make sure that no one dies on your watch. Not until the fight is all but won. It’s really not that much more complicated than what drives dps players.
When healing numbers are decreased too much, this fantasy falls apart. Your play style has to shift away into getting other forms of value. With Mercy for instance, this means hard pocketing a dps. These styles are sometimes fun (flanker Lucio), and sometimes awful (pocket Mercy). It’s important to differentiate between the two when healing is nerfed. It’s important to preserve the central fantasy that keep’s the play loop fun.
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