Does this game reward skill expression? (A pep talk)

Short answer, I believe so. While there can be games where it can feel like you’re playing your heart out only to lose. In others, the outcome of a match can be very much decided by your actions. Flanking an enemy by taking a side passage to the point instead of the main thoroughfare can result in a surprise pick/momentum that can help your team get on the point quicker. The better to capture you with, my dear! :wolf:

Longer answer, there can be a lot of criteria that contribute to the success of a play.

Did that Dva see your attempt to sneak into the back line, for example? If the answer is no, then by all means, try to make the most of it!

Then again, if the answer is yes, then we have a lot less time to get picks than we thought. :sweat:

Sometimes, you might be struggling, but then make that choice pick that saves your team. A timely headshot on a Cree attempting his ult, for example. The immediate benefits of such a play cannot be underestimated. And you, my intrepid teammate, can take confidence knowing that you did that. :+1:

It’s no surprise to anyone here when I say I like playing Widow. I can, at times, be stubborn and stay Widow. Others I recognize when Widow has done her job, and switch.

I try not to take victory for granted, but if your team has the momentum as well as the point, and the clock is ticking toward overtime, you might want to swap to support, to help drag your teammates over that finish line. To the sweet taste of victory! :beers:

(There’s no emoji for a Viking drinking horn, sadly, but this’ll do!)

There will be games that feel impossible. You will inevitably backfill into such games. Try not to get discouraged. Easier said than done, I know. But you will always play better with a positive state of mind.

Lastly, and I know I’ve said this before but it bears repeating. Have fun!

If you’re playing OW, it’s because you chose this game from a library of other games. Chances are, we both continue playing for the same reason.

Because it’s fun. Or can be. Which should be the reason to play any video game. If in fact, you stop having fun, then OW has failed this all important criteria. Take a break/play something else for a while.

I always seem to play my best matches, win or lose, at the beginning of a session when I’m freshest.

Take what I say with a grain of salt. I know not the nature or intensity of your own games. I don’t play competitive, probably won’t. I don’t think I have the temperament for it.

I’m just someone who still enjoys the occasional round of OW.

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One of the unfortunate side-effects of matchmaking is that, when you’re constantly surrounded by people who are about the same skill level, you don’t really get to see what happens when these heroes are played by people who aren’t the same skill level.

And when we do see that difference, we have an unfortunate tendency to dismiss what we’re seeing as a fluke. Bad players are just bad. Good players are just smurfs. Well, that person just wrecked your whole lobby so clearly skill matters.

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Skill expression can be a double edged sword as the game also rewards the plays of the other team as well, possibly to a greater extent depending on what rank they are.

Not every player is a smurf, but one might be called a smurf simply for playing well.

There are 3 things it rewards:

  1. Creating fake new (smurf) accounts so blizz can pretend to shareholders that the game is doing well

  2. Cheating because what the hell is an “anti cheat system”

  3. playing in groups because somehow solo v group is fair

Yeah Ill go play Rivals, a game that isnt fundamentally broken AF