Learn about new peripheral support, cheater-hunting initiatives, and other proactive security measures coming to Season 18.
8 Likes
I think itâs amazing that you guys are supporting mouse and keyboard on consoles now and new peripherals on new devices!
This will save me so much money because now I wonât have to buy an expensive gaming PC just to play with KBM!
I was thinking about getting a Nintendo Switch 2 primarily for Overwatch - could we clarify if mouse and keyboard would be supported there too?!
Console fans will also be getting some bonus upgrades. In future seasons, weâre looking to improve the experience of Console players
Love to hear it - it would also be brilliant if console players could get the regular FOV slider in the options!
Especially since with mouse and keyboard support there will be some players who play their console from a close distance with a desk/monitor setup!
Also:
- Would love to see Nintendo Switch 2âs mouse mode joy-con supported
- It would be amazing to have 3rd person mode perspective brought into the regular quickplay game modes
- Not so sure about the new endorsement Level 3 requirement for match chat - most misconduct in chat occurs in team chat rather than match chat in my experience and restricting match chat in this way makes for a less sociable and interactive experience in a PVP game
- Personally I thought that the âno mirrorsâ rule in Stadium made for more interesting and varied gameplay - Iâd like to see the developers stick to their guns a bit more and follow their own vision when it comes to Stadium rather than immediately make changes based on reactionary/vocal community sentiment which may or may not accurately reflect the playerbaseâs preferences at large
- Support for AMD Anti-Lag 2 would be appreciated
5 Likes
The new Mouse and Keyboard support will impact how we action users who previously used unapproved third-party peripherals to gain an advantage over players in the Controller Pool. Bypassing the set restrictions in that pool with unapproved peripherals will be considered cheating and actions will be taken on your account.
Previously, we deployed technology to help find and detect players who were using those peripherals on consoles. We enacted over 23,000 actions against players since that deployment. This included players who were directly using unapproved peripherals as well as players who grouped up with them to benefit from that unfair advantage. However, weâve seen a need to adapt to new workarounds and weâre now ready to take more aggressive actions against those who try to circumvent the competitive integrity of our console players.
Weâve rolled out new tech for Season 18 that should help us spot players that use unapproved peripherals faster and with more reliability. Weâre also laying down harsher consequences on users of unapproved peripherals, since the legitimate opportunity to compete using Mouse and Keyboard on an even playing field is now available, regardless of whether you own a PC or console.
Previously, we would warn and restrict those users as well as sending them to the PC Pool. This was mostly actioned at Competitive levels above Diamond. In Season 18, weâre cracking down further: continuing to use unapproved peripherals and devices in the Controller Pool will result in a full game account ban regardless of the playerâs rank or mode.
So, with the M/K support on cosoles, they announced their attempt at those who purposefully use third-party programs to cheat in the console pools. A harsher course against cheaters is always welcome, especially on console. I hope they didnât promise us something they canât deliver on.
2 Likes
Fix Roadhog. Heâs unplayable
1 Like
Today I got the first âblockedâ message from a player, clicked on the âshow messageâ button and saw it was a complete harmless message.
I really would like to see the âbad wordâ-list or triggers for that.
I understand you want to keep it âchildfriendlyâ and âniceâ but in the current chat of Overwatch you can say the most harmless things and risk a mute. Which is why I barely chat at all. Seeing that players get banned for saying ânoobâ (which is btw. an actual player title)⌠Sorry⌠That is all not about security but only to pamper players that can not take any kind of words against them, no matter how little these words are.
This sadly also brings down the quality of matches. What I liked in old games like Quake 2 was chatting in matches. We didnât back then not only battle with weapons but also with words. Yes we used harsh words, attacked our mommies etc. And yeah sure some took stuff sometimes personal but I think âIf you canât tank a counter, donât attack others in the first placeâ. But for 99% of all players it was still fun. No matter how harsh we reacted, we still had fun, often even thanked for the matches. Since we had no lobbies or stuff, you just stayed on the server sometimes for hours with the same people or made out new times to play together, said hi and bye. It still was fun. There was no need for censoring anything and IF someone went over the lines and went racist or stuff, they got a simple ban. It worked for years⌠And I will never understand why we nowadays need to hyperbabysit absolute every single action in games.
I can understand if a publisher/dev doesnât want heavy bad words in a game because itâs for 12+ but that does not mean you need to hypercensor and ban people for saying anything that someone might deem as offensive. Bans for stuff like âezâ or ânoobâ are just not okay.
You really have much more different problems to look out for in this game then someone crying to you âUhhh Uncle Blizzard, that bad player said I have no skill because I have 200 heal and 400 damage after a 3 round match of clash with moira. please banââŚ
10 Likes
My only concern is console players choosing to queue into mouse and keyboard lobbies and trolling. Since their rank is separate.
1 Like
That would explain the Noobhunter clip where somebody typed Frogger in match chat-and nothing else-just Frogger. And got immediately flagged as a possible bad message, so Frogger had to click to show what the message said.
It definately needs some work because that was a bit cringeworthy having a name triggering a flag.
My humble guess is the âggerâ is the trigger part in fear of the N-Slur
1 Like
Possibly. Plus itâs only just been released into the game so I suspect thereâs going to be some small teething issues
1 Like
Yay! Ximmers will be out of console pool for a few days! Nevermind, Xim updated to bypass new recognition protocols.
a now, an even safer safe place for those who get offended by everything!
keep it up blizz, you are ruining your community one stupid decision at a time
5 Likes
So is this why my controller keyboard attachment keeps prompting the game to switch to mouse and keyboard? I use it for chat but in the back of my mind worry the game thinks its something else.
Very nice!
I see you mentioned us controller PC players. I feel so recognized now! 
1 million cheating players banned?! 
Whoa.
That new Real-Time Moderation tool sounds pretty sweet! I hope it works as intended! 
4 Likes
we both know it wont lolâŚque the future posts i was banned for using a â?â
I donât think console players are any more likely to troll than anyone else. Nobodyâs going to buy a MnK just for that. Also, if they do troll instead of trying to win, their rank will reflect that just like with any other troll. Also, trolls are most likely to use an alt account. Why risk an account for that?
1 Like
By the sounds of it, they donât need a mouse or keyboard to enter lobbies filled with pc players. Not saying itâs something likely to be done in high amounts, but just opened it up to that now.
I hope we can join with a controller. Iâd like to see how high I can rank up with it in the PC pool. I have points to make to people.
Sounds like you can, I wish they didnât allow that. Having ppl with controller and no aim assist isnât going to be fun. Tho I get the feeling very few people will be signing up for that. Using mouse and keyboard to be in the lobbies makes sense. Idk if console still has a lower fov or not, if so that is a disadvantage, but still.
Text chat in Overwatch 2 should be a safe, friendly space to interact with other players and maybe trade a little lighthearted banter. Our new Real-Time Text Moderation technology aims to make this a more consistent reality!
Lighthearted banter will more than likely get you banned.
Your system has the opposite effect its aiming to achieve.
6 Likes
you are counting the people you unfairly ban becaue they dare to say hi on the chat? this is why queue times are very long?
1 Like