It’s on the free track. Anyone can get it. A 1,000 year old hobo can download the game for free and get the new hero. Grind it out. Or pay for the convenience of having it early.
Okay and? If it’s gone one season, you’ll still be able to unlock it later too.
There are only two logical reasons it can be in the BP. One, for PvE. Two, for PvP, specifically Competitive.
We don’t know if you can use a new hero in QP or Unranked at all. You can use it everywhere else though before you unlock it.
I don’t see a reason why not to lock it other than the tired hero swapping mid match excuse.
We do know. Quick Play isn’t some “select other game mode” or “special event”. It’s a core mode comprising as much playtime as Comp. It will be locked.
I do not want a PvP game that is grind to win, or pay to win. And it is a shame that Overwatch is moving in that direction, particularly given the dynamics of Overwatch. As I have repeatedly mentioned at this point.
Okay, if it’s locked in QP, who cares? No one is winning anything in QP. It’s a “funsies” mode where people try out heroes they normally wouldn’t try anyway. Including new heroes.
Name a multiplayer pvp game where there is zero grind.
You really honestly do believe hero locking in a BP is P2W. I want you to craft us a scenario where it’s P2W.
Who cares about QP is a strawman. It’ll be locked in QP + Comp, and QP matters too.
Many multiplayer PvP shooters back in the day (and some currently) were based solely on skill: Quake, UT, CS, old COD. Modern titles like Valorant still feature this.
I’m not repeating myself why it’s P2W/G2W, it is by definition. It’s also bad, read the posts above.
Actually, I’m done replying to you @catgrease. You’re just talking in circles at this point. I think you’re just baiting me. Cheers
For everyone else–I’ve said my bit at this point, although others are certainly welcome to chime in below (please keep it on topic and civil!)… but here’s some more threads for further reading for any so inclined:
They have never been open to all forever. The only ones who could play were those who pay for the game. Same concept except now you don’t have to pay you can get them other ways to. You have always had to pay for new hero’s, you had to buy the game.
there’s now an uneven playing field. I don’t care how much you’ll try to say it’s small, there still is one now that wasn’t there before.
new heroes tend to be op and meta, so not having access to them can screw you over
you can own all heroes but due to roleq one of your teammates may not and there’s nothing you can do about it
the only “good” reason i can think of is that blizzard makes more money, but anyone paying attention to the industry should know that “more money =/= better game”
Not so. I would have been quite jubilant indeed if it was not F2P. For one, there are consumer protections in place for purchases that are not in place for using a service.
Plus it would be harder for Smurfs to keep getting new accounts.
If OW2 is good enough, and Microtransactions weren’t a thing, I’d be willing to pay $120. (Not too much higher than that though.)
If a player has additional gameplay mechanics as a result of a payment transaction, it is pay2win. There is no need to elaborate beyond that point. Skill level, win rate, loss rate, team comp, etc - all just noise with respect to the foundational problem.
Add in that the “FREE” path may have a lengthy time element whereby instant gratification is SO enticing at a CHEAP price, it is not only pay2win, but also predatory.
Edit: In terms of solution, the real value and true differentiator for the OW team is narrative, art and design - that aspect alone would benefit from maximizing the audience size (f2p) as well as maximizing the opportunity for emotional attachment to the broader hero pool (no hero locks). I would bet that the revenue from cosmetics alone would yield healthy profits. I know I’d pay a lot and often, as I did in OW1.
Honestly, trying to convince these people is like trying to convince a brick wall. Their minds are set. Even the content creators that are dancing around the issue are also saying it’s not a great idea. When it comes to locking heroes it becomes “that’s another thing, but…” and they go on to shill for the pass. Except Fredo, who claims he was totally against it, but now he isn’t because “it’s going to be amazing,” but he “can’t tell us why yet.”
For this thread, I mostly just wanted to get this off my chest, and bring attention to the topic. But yeah, it’s pretty annoying when people argue with you about basic, factual points like “what is P2W”. But hey, it’s the internet. People of all sorts abound.
I watched most of YourOverwatch’s two videos on the matter, after being pointed at them by the forums. I’m skeptical that Blizzard changed much as a result of feedback from creators/pros. My take was it was more Freedo being relieved at any compromise being made–allowing him to internally justify continuing with the game. It’s probably going to be something relatively small like: instead of special time limited grinds to unlock the new heroes after the battle pass is over, players can grind whenever. Still the 30 or 50 hours per hero, and minus the rewards of the battle pass, but whenever. Which is much better for intermittent players, but doesn’t really address the main issue here.
I just watched his video and it was more shill trite. “Trust me bro, I’m not just on my knees for them because that’s how I make money on the internet, honestly. You believe me, right? RIGHT?!”
He made a point to say OW1’s monetization was the reason content stopped. OW1 averaged about 3 hero releases a year with lootbox only monetization and only stopped when the DEVs said “We’re holding all new content for the new game”. It had nothing to do with monetization.
He says that adding the heroes makes sense because it incentivizes the BP. People were ALWAYS going to purchase the BP. The cosmetics, the Mythic Skins, they are more than enough to get people to buy the GD BP. But putting the heroes into it now doesn’t incentivize players to buy it, it forces them to. You want that Ana/Queen hard counter? Buy it! You know you don’t have the time to grind it out.
And as far as people pretending this is anything other than pay to win, if you’re putting the hero on the 55th tier out of 80 you’re doing that knowing that most casual players are not going to get her unless they buy her. On top of that, this BS notion that “We’re moving away from hard counters” is just waffle to try to do damage control after making their terrible decision and having it leak because they knew it was never going to fly. Why else wait till basically the day before launch to say it?
Everything they are doing with the new game is terrible and the worst part is it’s not going to make a damn bit of difference. People are just going to throw away $30 a year and get NOTHING for it but contempt from people who would sooner see you dead than actually give you something worth while.