The problem is that the majority of the OW players, of the community and of the competitive games, are wildly different imo. You’d feel that there are more tank players than dps in the community for example. What’s good for some is bad for others, and vice versa.
OW1 first targeted non-sweaty FPS beginners aggressively. It conflicted with the general rule of thumb in FPS and it was sadly successful : Many FPS players left the game.
It would have been a very good strategy when there are many such casual FPS beginners. But it was not. The result was rather disappointing popularity-wise.
I think OW2 was an attempt to regain the competitive FPS players, the absolute majority on the market. Push, attack-oriented tanks and fast-paced. It was very different what the remaining OW players wanted but they tried for a much bigger playerbase.
But it was failed. Perhaps too many non-FPS, low skill floor characters which feel unfair to them.(Remember, those FPS players are not particularly good at FPS. The majority of those FPS players are also mid tiers. They just find competitive FPS fun.) Also, OW players, esp. supps, cried over and over again. So, the devs gave up and cared for them. Then, it seems they decided to follow the paladins way.
Idk. It’s because OW tried to include everything, everyone. It wanted to cover too wide spectrum, and thus there’s no clear answer.