I like the characters and what little story they have. sure Im holding out hope for certain things, which ive explained before here enough already, but so far despite what little there has been, itās been at least promising. I just hope jack isnt all and that he isnt ignored either.
3 Likes
I think Iām actually the same. They designed very strong characters and itās kind of sad to see Blizzard not really do much with them. But if anything I respect the art team for putting out quality skins.
3 Likes
itās a long shot but considering the only leak right now is most likely fake (the icons look like badly done alterations of icons already in the game), I really hope Mccree gets a werewolf skin some day. and that Hanzo finally gets a Halloween legendaryā¦
1 Like
No offence but why is everyone trying to make all the heroes gay and lesbian? Overwatch already has tracer and solider 76
While I do think having LBGT+ in the Overwatch community and the stories Is very nice and amazing I donāt actually understand why we are trying to make all heroes lesbian or gay
Just let Blizzard do them and surely they will have more heroes coming out as apart of the LGBT+ community
Can you point out to a legit comment that is legit demanding all Overwatch heroes to be gay?
Yes, Tracer and Soldier 76 being gay are potentially great things, but their relationships are hardly relevant to the story, the charactersā background or otherwise. Tracer can still have Emily more tied and involved into her character arc or the story, but in the case of Soldier 76, Blizzard ultimately seemed to have decided to give him a story that will ultimately never, ever, ever again, reference his sexuality, because there is absolutely no reason to.
Now, of course, not every gay person needs to have their sexuality front and center, or that every gay person needs to have a significant other, but you have to realize that while gay representation is important, so is the act of homosexuality and visible same sex attraction. You can easily ignore someoneās sexuality as long as they donāt every showcase it, and the act of homosexuality itself is something that gets people angry or uncomfortable, which is why said act needs to be more visible in entertainment. Not just gay characters, but gay acts of affection.
Tracer has it pretty okay because she is in a relationship, and Blizzard can come up a way to include Emily in Tracerās story, or even the overall lore more. But when it comes to Soldier 76, um, well he has nothing, and even the picture of him with his ex-boyfriend is hardly affectionate. It seems as if Blizzard went out of their way not to have to include any material of two men being affectionate, and that reflects onto Soldierās character and current position in lore. Everything is so neatly lined up for Soldier to never have to be used in representing male-on-male relationships or affection, that itās edging on conniving on Blizzardās part.
So much of media centers around openly depicting straight relationships, and straight romance, or the complexities of being in a straight relationship. Itās also important to bring up same sex relationships as focal, important parts of the lore. As of now, while Soldier 76 and Tracer are mascot characters and especially Soldier 76 a very lore relevant character, their relationships are not.
Are the straight relationships mentioned in the game any better though? I could argue that they are a bit more relevant to their character. Torbjƶrn and Ana both have children (and are/were married), so their relationship in the present or the past are constantly relevant, through their interactions with their children or in other lore. Torbjƶrn is visibly seen affectionate with Ingrid in the Christmas comic, and part of Brigitteās reveal was Torbjƶrnās (affectionate) letter to his wife. Brigitte also has a kind of a family portrait spray.
Ana on the other hand, while her relationship with Sam isnāt really discussed, he is discussed briefly in the game, he is shown in the Christmas comic with Pharah, he is included in one of Anaās sprays and he is vaguely mentioned in the comic where Soldier 76 āā came out. āā He is a constant in Anaās life through Pharah, and he is a lore point that can be addressed in the future, and itāll probably build Anaās character and lore a lot. There is a reason to talk about him, because it is tied to Anaās and Pharahās lore.
Now, what about Widowmaker? While her relationship with Gerard isnāt that great, it still very much tied to her lore. She was brainwashed to kill her husband, her husband who was part of Overwatch, and whose name is brought up by Ana in-game, is included in a lovely wedding spray of Widowmaker and is otherwise brought up in comics. Widowmaker also sighs his name in-game and the Christmas comic seems to imply some sort of sorrow or regret for his death. So Gerard, despite dead, seems to still influence Widowmakerās lore and character.
Also, Reaper is strongly implied to have children, and I guess in a heteronormative society such as ours, we can conclude that he was in a straight relationship. And that brings up tons of questions about his family, and his potentially STRAIGHT relationship, who his wife/partner was, who his kids are, and what is their relationship now. Blizzard can come up with many ways to make his past relationship and his family integral and lore relevant, heck, they can even make his former partner or kids heroes in-game. Now compare that to what Soldier 76 has? Just a dude he carries a picture of whom he is in the process of letting go of. Is Vincent every going to be relevant? Hahahahahah I DONāT THINK SO. Thereās no reason to believe Soldierās homosexuality is ever going to be relevant to him or the lore, or anything, while Reaperās past can 100% become extremely relevant.
Iām also going to bring up that the potential flirting between heroes, and implied romantic attraction, is reserved for opposite sex relationships. Reinhardt and Ana, Genji and Mercy. McCree also has a line about not being Asheās type, which while not necessarily flirting, is another instance of visibly declaring heterosexual activity in a way. Though to be fair, McCree does say āā nice aim āā to Hanzo, which can be seen as flirting in a way. But itās just another thing that shows that they arenāt really actively wanting to make their support for same sex relationship visible in game, but thatās probably more of a censorship thing they need to follow than anything else.
Now yes, of course, you can now think āā nothing is ever good enough for you losers āā and sure, it might be that, but most of us posting in this thread are LGBT, and weāve lived in a heteronormative society for so long, that actively discriminates LGBT people, whether itās in real life or media, and we can often see how differently we are treated as opposed to straight people. And it gets tiring.
Blizzard has done a decent job at trying to be inclusive, but at this point just declaring someone is gay on twitter but never doing something with that information can only give you so many brownie points. We have previously talked about, in this thread, how itās often very confusing when someone does their best to represent minorities, but falls short of the expectations we have, and then trying to be thankful while at the same time critical. We donāt have to be ungrateful, but minorities shouldnāt be rocket science either, and itās starting to get bothersome how very simple things arenāt considered and that LGBT characters donāt get to visibly be gay. Regardless Iām thankful for what Overwatch has done, but there is so much room for improvement.
Also, a lot of us have basically given up on OW lore and Soldier/Tracer ever getting more lore content that includes their sexuality. Itād be lovely to know more about Soldierās ex for instance, but that will never happen, so why bother hoping?
6 Likes
Iām posting dumb nonsense again, and yeah Iām still bitter about Soldier 76.
2 Likes
and Im still holding out hope for McCree and Hanzo, (it could happen, especially with the gency thing clearly happening) especially since they confirmed McCree and Ashe were never dating and arent ex-lovers. (I suspect it more familial, even with the ātypeā comment). Dont give up hope on soldier though. Itās still a relatively new franchise thatās ever developing. anything can happen. They constantly add new characters so thereās never really going to be ātoo muchā of anything we talk about here.
1 Like
Youāre very optimistic still, huh. Well keep at it bucko!
1 Like
Thereās nothing wrong with it, itās important we stay visible.
That is true, but Overwatch feels like itās dying anyway. Kinda hard to keep being hopeful.
There is some hope for more lore. Thereās going to be an entire novel on Orisa/Efi/Doomfist/Lucio/etc.
2 Likes
Well thatās nice! Definitely a welcome surprise.
1 Like
at the very least, Overwatch isnt like paladinsā¦I dont think they have any actual lore or story going on at all. last I heard about that game was they made fernando gay, wasnt even revealed through lore, just a random comment by a dev.
Iāve personally given up on Overwatch until the alleged āā Overwatch 2 āā is released.
I just hope itās an expansion and not something thatāll just render the current game pointless. like those big name FPSā like call of duty or modern warfare that just release new games yearly and you have to start over each timeā¦
1 Like
Better be a good freaking expansion though, and not just a few new heroes and a cruddy PvE mode that adds nothing of value to the game.
the coming update is apparently a āremasterā. whatever that entails. wont find out exactly until tuesday with the halloween update.
Iām so out of loop with Overwatch stuff, I have been playing anything but. Certainly has been extra quiet since role queue and Sigma.
itās been fun, but they need to do something about the shields. however itās a much more bearable game now that thereās no fighting over who plays what and how many.
Well role queue means nothing to me, but Iāve heard opinions for and against. The only thing Iām interested right now that seems any way plausible is Jack x Vincent lore, since I doubt we are getting anything else in terms of male x male stuff. Also I HOPE they expand workshop a lot, and add a simple map editor kind of tool. Anything else Iām kinda zzzzzz about.