Tanks can have DPS-like qualities without being busted. Overwatch tanks are already like that. I think Blizzard just does a bad job at making them fun, and also, it’s very difficult to carry as some of the tanks. It’s interesting to note that even the support role in Overwatch is more popular than tanks. Why is that? Supports generally do less damage than tanks in this game, so the issue isn’t just “people just like to do damage”. Something is wrong with Overwatch’s tanks specifically.
I think the main thing is, they’re just a headache to play at times. If you have bad teammates to don’t help enable you, then you can feel useless and ineffective. It’s not about “people like to do damage”. It’s “people like to feel a sense of reward”. Tanking in Overwatch doesn’t feel rewarding enough.
Anyway, Resistance 2’s tanks did massive damage, but it wasn’t busted. For one, it was massive damage in a general direction and not high precision. 2, you were slow moving. 3, you needed the DPS to resupply your ammo (DPS in this game effectively had infinite ammo because it can pillage kills and produce ammo for the team).
You absolutely can carry as tanks, they are still unquestionably the strongest role, but despite that they are not the most picked role. Even characters like pre nerf Sigma, who was just busted because he could do damage, burst, sustain, and have surviability, and an insanely good ult, did not suddenly make tanks popular.
Tanks have the biggest impact only if they have a good team.
A tank player that is supported will have a bigger impact than a DPS that’s supported.
But a DSP can have a bigger impact with a bad team than a tank with a bad team. It’s easier to carry a bad team with a DPS than it is with a tank. Because often all you have to do to have a huge impact as a DPS is get one pick. But if your entire team is good, suddenly, it becomes hard to have huge relative impact as a DPS. The tanks, and even the supports may take up the gold medals (which often leads to toxicity towards the DPS, but that’s another topic).
Tanks have the highest impact, yes. But they also have the highest reliability of the team, and arguably the the least amount of freedom.
Generally speaking the tank is the single determinant of whether team wins or loses. More than any other role the tank has the largest impact. However that does not translate to popularity possibly because of what a tank is is not as fun as what a DPS is and you cannot really muddy that anymore than it already is.
As someone who has played a Widow being hunted by a DVA while their Widow has free reign of the map I would challenge assertion. Its actually incredibly frustrating when you know you are the better sniper but you cant be the sniper because your team does not have the teamwork to make it work
Naming just one hero as an example is not much of a point. And also, in terms of sheer potential impact, Widow is probably the least team dependent hero in the entire game if you’re landing shots.
I don’t think there’s any other hero in the game that can have the same degree of completely independent impact in the game. Maybe Doomfist? (close second I’d say)
That is why I picked Widowmaker because, in theory, she is the least team dependent hero in the game. However, if their Widowmaker has team play and yours does not it does not matter that you are the better Widowmaker (which is VERY VERY frustrating).
Only if you swap off Widow. If their Widow has team play and your does not you will lose most Widow fights and thus give her free reign of the map which means you lose unless you swap.
If Immortal was announced after the main show, as some side project, no one would give toss, but because Blizzard felt the need to announce it in the big stage with a crowd that is dedicated hardcore gamers they got forked.
Echo is fine, she’s OP but who cares, she’ll be nerfed just like everyone else, that’s not an issue we’re not used to deal with. Echo would have probably been a great addition to OW2 roster and very well received over there.
But to release the 17th DPS now, as what likely is the last content drop before OW2, after a week of banning 2 supports and another week of 2 tanks bans… It’s shows some incredible misreading of the situation.
It makes me wonder if they had other plans but were forced to release Echo. Maybe the hero they wanted to release wasn’t ready for whatever reason, maybe COVID19 threw a wrench in their plans. However, if this issue didn’t cross their minds, then it shows a massive blind spot, lack of care and deep misunderstanding of their own game, player base and utterly incompetence about how to improve the game. The last thing this game needed was another tank busting flying DPS.
In my experience, when you give people options of food, they tend to just stick to the few they’re familiar with, be it between 7 choices or 17. Most people aren’t eating all 7 so regularly to the point where they get sick of all 7.
We get it, you guys want more supports and tanks, but if 32 wasn’t a DPS then there wouldn’t have been a new DPS release for 2 years+ AFAIK. We don’t know when OW 2 comes out so it could be a long time.
A lot of people are screaming DPS favoritisme but really, it’s not really unfair when you think about it.
And the problem is? There’s 17 of them. There are more good and viable DPS heroes than the total number of supports.
There were only 7 tanks and we waited 1 year and half for Ball to follow Orisa.
Baptiste was released in February 2019. If there’s no support release by February 2021 that’s 2 years. Is OW2 releasing before that? Are there more heroes coming? I doubt both these things.
It’s not favoritism, it’s just blindness and carelessness to the issues of the game.
Yes it’s a problem if you neglect the largest chunk of the playerbase.
Making more tanks isn’t magically going to make more people play it. There is something fundamental about the role that makes people not wanting to play it.
There are also not as many creative ways to make different kinds of tanks and supports compared to ways of making DPS, that’s why there are more DPS heroes to begin with.
Adding more heroes doesn’t solve the issues of the game unless the only issue is not having more tanks and supports which isn’t inherently an issue itself.
No not magically, but with hard work they could help. More heroes means more people are attracted, particularly if they have different, diverging designs.
No one expects to even things out, but we can make it better instead of worse.
I doubt that. We have a freaking Hamster. THe possibilities are endless. Echo could have easily been a tank or a support as well as she is a DPS.
It’s not the only issue, but it is a major issue plaguing the game since its inception, one that has come now to negatively impact DPS players experience as well through queue times.
Adding more tanks and supports doesn’t make more people play tank or support.
And there is the problem, if there were ways to make tanks in different ways there would have been more tank heroes. The most popular tanks are off tanks because they are basically fat DPS.
The problem is that tank as a role is not something most players want to play.
I’m not talking about how they look, I’m talking about how they perform their role.
No no no.
More supports and tanks does not equal better queue times. If it was reversed and there were only 7 DPS heroes, DPS queue times would still be high because it’s the role and playstyle most people who play the game enjoy.