Why is there still no pause feature in competitive matches? I have seen bunch of topics addressing this issue, but the reactions of players to it are really stunning me. Overwatch is probably the most team-reliant game I know. Losing a member of your team due to an unlucky disconnection feels terrible (and especially terrible for the disconnected player) and leads to a lost fight 90% of the time.
How I see the pause implemented is, when player disconnects (not by intentionally leaving match) the game stops immediately while leaving the leaver’s character on the field. The pause lasts for 1 minute max, and the game resumes if the player didn’t rejoin or his team members vote to resume the match. Of course, the pause can only happen once per team per match. Alternatively, the pause may be called only by team voting, but only when there is a player missing in their team (I consider the disconnect problem as the main reason for the pause, but it may also be used for tactical discussions, but I doubt it’s needed).
The pause is a very must-have feature for Overwatch in my opinion, because, again, numerical superiority is an extreme advantage, especially the higher in ranks you go.
Now, I want to address some of the arguments against this feature.
1. It’s going to be abused.
There will always be ways to abuse the features in an online videogame, and this is why report system exists. And also, there are numerous ways you can reduce the amount of abuse. Yes, the player can easily simulate the disconnect. To counter this behavior, every player will have only, say, 2 autopauses per day and 10 autopauses per month. Also, if the players are playing in group, their used autopauses for the day will combine, i.e. if one player has already timed out from 2 games today, or 2 of the players have disconnected once each, then none of the players in the group will be able to pause the game by leaving or voting.
2. Overwatch is the casual game and the matches are short.
Pause feature is only intended for competitive. And I don’t see a reason for why it can’t have the rules as in pro matches. When you queue for comp, you have the intention to win the upcoming match, and gaining an unfair advantage if the enemy team loses a player, or losing a match while having a good lead is anti-competitive. Maybe I don’t get something, and most of the playerbase doesn’t treat it any different from the Quickplay? If so, I don’t understand why would you call it competitive. It should be renamed to something like “quickplay with a rank”.
3. If you have connection problems, you need to fix them in the first place.
I partially agree. If you are disconnecting regularly, like every second game or so, you shouldn’t play comp until you fix your problems. But, as in my case and probably most of other players, connection times out randomly and unexpectedly. For me, the WiFi adapter in my pc decides to turn off for no reason and restarts after a couple of seconds. This happens no more than once a day. I have no idea what to do about it, since many wifi adapters for PC suffer from this issue and reviews don’t help me choose the reliable one.
So there you have it. Losing a matching because you have a leaver is infuriating, and winning when the enemy team had a leaver makes you feel bad. And the worst feeling is, when you are on a roll, you get punched in the face by that red “time out” icon. Not only you lose, but you also feel bad for letting down your team.
This might sound like a dumb question, but can they tell if you left because of a disconnect vs. intentional?
I’m pretty sure the other 11 players would like to stay and wait. /s
No. How would they be able to tell whether your internet cuts out or you disconnect your wifi.
Ah ok. So the OP’s distinguishing between intentionally leaving vs disconnecting wouldn’t work.
This pause feature would be due to any teammate dropping out for any reason.
I’m game for anything that doesn’t guarantee a loss for me because someone leaves. It’s happening a lot lately.
I agree yesterday the router decided to turn itself off I had to turn it on and wait around 30 second to connect
Yes they can, If you leave by clicking on the leave match button then it’s intentional, If you leave without clicking it then it’s for some other reason
Hell no. If you have crap internet/computer, don’t play comp. It’s that simple. Catering to people who can’t get their $#&$ together is only gonna make the online gaming experience worse for the other people.
No they can’t. People can disconnet their wifi, turn off their router, close the game, etc.
One of the biggest problems on this forum is that many don’t read the post carefully. I addressed your question in the post already. Yes, there is no way to tell if player leaves intentionally or not. But the solution that I recommend to it, is that players are limited in the number of times they can cause the pause, or even get a penalty for leaving too often.
Do you prefer losing over waiting 1 minute? Everything in life is composed of sacrifices, and I would prefer waiting that damn minute over getting my game ruined. For a quick fun, I would just play some arcade or quickplay, and you should too. Better for the nerves, you know.
There will always be connection problems. If people with perfect connection were the only ones allowed to play, the playerbase would be much lower. I spent time looking into my problem but couldn’t find a solution.
well i mean… everyone can disconnect at some point.
like, even if its just once in a year. it can happen at any time.
i dont really care about the pause thing but i just wanted to add that not every disconnect is because of “bad connection” or something.
if somebody knows beforehand that theres a foreseeable high risk of disconnecting, then i do agree with you.
NO!!! I wanted to play GENJI!!!
Turns off router.
Goes to make a tuna fish sandwich.