But at least the e-sports players are enjoying it? Lol.
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Your statement is very misleading (and a bit of troll post). Any focus on developing the game toward Overwatch’s Esports Programs do help lead the way to new features that we have now or can be expecting in the near future. For example the World Cup Viewer that was in Beta last month is a stepping stone to a full replay system for our own matches. Also the recent announcements from Blizzard regarding mobile game development have had little impact toward Overwatch. Now the unfortunate news of the Heroes of the Storm’s development restructure is actually going to benefit games like Overwatch in the here and now.
Lack of news and changes we want to see is frustrating, especially when we are waiting a long time for certain features, but I do know the game has been growing for everyone to enjoy and will continue to do so.
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The amount of time spent developing the world cup viewer could have gone towards developing a replay system; which we could have right now.
Developers wasted on mobile games could have instead been placed in the Overwatch team to help out. Not to mention that if profits drop from stupid decisions, layoffs will ensue.
I also wouldn’t count the HOTS trainwreck as a good thing due to how negatively it impacted the workers, and the e-sports players. So if people are moved from there to here, we get to enjoy a faster developed game at the cost of some livelihoods. Hooray…?
And how long until that happens in OW? How long until the OW team is scattered to other divisions, and its esports are also cut? Have you seen the Heroes Esports twitter? People are pissed.
How is it a troll post? That seems like a very baseless claim to discredit what Xurat0 is saying. It’s been previously indicated that Blizzard has redirected resources from the Overwatch team to help with OWL and with the mobile releases. Xurat0 is saying that if that were not the case, maybe we could see more responsive balancing.
These are not balancing, which was the topic mentioned. QoL and social features are nice, but they’re only one aspect of the game among others such as balancing, events, cosmetics, new heroes, new maps, etc, etc. We were told that many of these features are going to be given less attention to increase emphasis on balancing, but it seems the necessity to do that in the first place (when this wasn’t a problem in years past) comes from the fact that resources for OW are being pulled in other directions.
In any case, there’s not really evidence to say that those features couldn’t have come sooner if resources weren’t being redirected.
This is probably false, considering they have stated that senior developers from nearly every franchise have started working on mobile titles. That would imply that resources are being pulled from OW to mobile titles, which does directly impact OW by reducing available manpower (which slows content release and forces rationing of resources, leading to… oh wait. Yeah, the very stuff we’re seeing right now). Until there’s clear evidence to the contrary, then I don’t think it’s unreasonable to believe this is the case, given what Blizzard stated regarding their mobile titles.
Explain.
Is it? That’s a serious question. Just a few months ago, we were told that features that people enjoy and want to see grow and expand, like events, were being set on the backburner so balance could become the focus. Which, balance is good, it’s important, but also… it’s not always quality. It’s not going to make the game more enjoyable for everyone–in theory it could, but Blizzard doesn’t have an amazing track record in this department. Ignoring the question of why Blizzard is suddenly being forced to ration out their focus in the first place, why should they sacrifice content that the great majority of players find mutually enjoyable while focusing on arguably one of the most divisive aspects of Overwatch.
So, forgive me for saying that it doesn’t seem like Overwatch is growing for everyone to enjoy. It seems like it’s growing for pro players and eSports to enjoy, because stuff like events? cosmetics? social features? Meaningless to OWL, or Contenders, or OWWC. Hero balance? Yeah, that’s big there–it’s probably the single biggest issue in pro play. Go figure that’s what is taking precedence.
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Damn. Now that’s what I call a post.
Well, I’m not trying to be obnoxious or aggressive or anything, but it seems to me that the overwhelming circumstantial and direct evidence points to you having a valid point. It seems that Blizzard and the OW team have some huge prioritization issues, and they are adversely affecting us who aren’t in their pro leagues. And I think WyomingMyst is just dismissing that out-of-hand, which I get. He’s got a lot of reason to support Blizzard and everything they do. I just don’t think that’s the right move in this scenario.
Look him up on twitter.
I know who he is. I’m not here to trash him, though.
I’m not either. It’s just revealed some bias in this matter; at least for me.
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I think you are confused. They are in the process of building the replay system, and the World Cup Viewer is the first test in that. The engine for Overwatch is naively supported for a replay system, but there is the large ordeal of building the tools to control such a feature. The initial highlights feature was the first step, then the save/export highlights update in the Summer of 2017 was the next, Overwatch League with the enhanced spectator tools for professional observers was the third step, now we have our own observer tools of those matches with the World Cup Viewer. So over the last three years, there has been signficant progress to what is a very large and complex feature that CANNOT simply be built overnight.
This is extremely hypothetical and we will never have detailed facts to support such a claim. I will observe there have been decisions from not only Blizzard but the ENTIRE Triple AAA video game industry to suggest there is going to be a huge shift of focus based on growing technologies. I may not like, you may not like it, but these changes are going to happen.
I do feel for the Heroes of the Storm Esports scene, as they were screwed over, but I am focusing on Overwatch in terms of the news from that event to see what future Overwatch has.
Not likely anytime soon, because unlike Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch is a very stable esport right now if not the most popular one in today’s market. Overwatch League is already set for more national television premieres on Disney XD, 8 new teams are entering the league, and the process is likely already beginning for the third year expansion teams and the development of the home arenas for all of the teams. I hate to say it, but HGC was already slowing down prior to the announcement and was struggling to keep up with its counterparts (DOTA2, League of Legends). One day, Overwatch may also end its Esports run, but that day is definitely not any time soon.
As expected, they should be. I will note how Blizzard handled the announcement was poorly timed and planned, but again. I am focusing on what benefits to Overwatch has from the announcement. From what I am seeing many players are already finding opportunities with other MOBAs if not switching genres and joining games like Overwatch.
In reference to the forum Code-of-Conduct
Xurat0 posted a single sentence worded in a manner of sarcasm. There is no expression of the problems he is seeing with the game, what he would like to see or how he would fix it. It is low-effort. I understand his frustration toward any perception to how Overwatch is developed around its esports programs, but he needs to express it in a way that is constructive.
Yes, but again, that benefits the game and the overall franchise overall. Whether you like Esports or not, millions of us, (including me), do enjoy watching Esports in Overwatch and all video games. A good portion of the game’s revenue is now dependent on its esport programs, therefore there will be times that developer resources will be decided to developing features that support that part of the franchise.
While the infamous “We have our best developers now working on projects for mobile.” is true, that is not to say any of Overwatch’s has reduced its development staff for it. Again, we are never going to know precise details and I am not worry about this when it comes to Overwatch.
The game has had more balance adjusments in the last three patches than in the last year prior. Check the patch notes.
Please refer to the post that Jeff Kaplan has posted a few days ago.
Once again, we don’t know (or need to know) the details about what developers are working on what. Now based on what I have seen in the last few developer video updates, is that they are working on huge game-changing features for Overwatch but at the cost of trying to pump out new event content (aside from skins). Even getting more people on the dev team doesn’t necessarily help with this. Also this is the month of December, historically, this is the slowest month for new content and this year its a little rougher because we had the announcement of a new map to look forward to in the past two years, but they deliberately withheld any map announcements from this year’s BlizzCon to dedicate more time to detailing about Ashe.
There is not going to be clear evidence either way. Don’t let media hype get to you.
Details here:
It’s not just game balance, but developing the CORE game for game modes, new heroes, maps, etc. Again we don’t have details, which drives us crazy, but I have played the game from launch, and I believe they are on a smooth pace for the development of the game. Seasonal events are limited-time deals where certain brawls are available for three weeks and are then gone for a whole year for the most part.
The game accommodates to a lot of audiences. There is no denying it. Again, the frustration is that we don’t have many clues to what is coming for Overwatch. The “Blizzard Polish” perception of making sure everything is perfect before Blizzard announces it is one of the company’s biggest strengths to releasing high-quality product, but also one of the biggest weaknesses in terms of keeping the current fanbase happy.
There is no denying that I am a refuse-to-grow-up-Blizzard-fan-boy. Overwatch is my top media interest right now, before that it was Minecraft, before that DanceDanceRevolution (if you think the PR disaster that Blizzard is handling is bad right now, it’s nothing in comparison to the fall of the North American DDR Franchise that Konami handled), and before that it was Pokemon.
Aside from me being a dedicated fan and one of the forum MVPs, I still speak my own mind. I only want to see CONSTRUCTIVE discussions, even if they are speaking critically of Blizzard or of the game, and I will bring facts to the table that shapes a constructive discussion.
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The balance process can be more quick if the people on this forum instead of spam 500 topics with zero ideas can make topics with 750 - 1k likes tossing 10 - 15 suggestions to the dev-team
Open OW forum
Nerf Tracer: She is OP “end of the post” zero ideas, zero suggestions nothing then 50 toxic replies
Revert mercy: With zero ideas just a crying “She is not fun anymore aWWWWWWWHHHHHHHAHWWWAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH”
When people open a topic toss suggestions to the dev-team and if the ideas are good put 500 likes on that
Obligatory reminder that OWL is not actually the spawn of satan and isn’t slowing down game development. We’ve had the same update schedule since launch, so blaming the League is nothing more than scapegoating your pre-existing annoyances on something you don’t personally enjoy.
More resources need to be put into the league and contenders. There’s too much money thrown in and the spectre of ATVI is just around the corner watching the numbers closely. If OWL even stagnates, the game is gonna have a long, painful death. If you wanted to seriously complain about this, you’re 2.5 years too late.
Also esports provides some of the best balance data we can get. Competitive was originally designed for full stacks of 6 and honestly should have stayed that way.
That doesn’t mean he’s seeking to cause unrest
Low effort doesn’t mean unconstructive. His entire argument is encapsulated in the title. Does he need to write out three paragraphs stating what he states in one sentence? I think we, as rational people, can deduce very easily how he’d like to fix it: stop pushing resources to eSports and mobile titles, and send them to the existing game.
This is a very over-generous interpretation of trolling, again seemingly to just discredit what he’s saying out-of-hand.
That’s good for you. It’s also irrelevant to the point at hand. Also… millions is generous for OW eSports. Just saying.
Actually, this is the crux of the matter. Thank you for touching on it. Blizzard no longer has profit motive to attend to the base game to the capacity that they have in the past. Profit motive now lies with eSports. Thus, as I stated and you now acknowledge, Blizzard has motivation to disregard the wants and needs of the base game in favor of their eSports programs.
This is implausible, but I’ll address it more below.
You mean the past year during which Blizzard has redirected numerous resources toward OWL? And the last three patches that have been released during OWL’s downtime (ostensibly when it’s pulling less resources)? Even if I don’t find your claim entirely dubious, you’re not really helping your case here.
Ahhh yes… Here we go.
Firstly, a list of topics they’re working on means… well, not much. Considering we were told “three new social features” nearly a year ago now, the first of which was… not awful but really not amazing and definitely not some super complex system, and still haven’t seen the third, the list that Jeff provides could describe items years and years in the future. He even specifically acknowledges that in the new game mode prototyping. And much of this content is stuff that has been in the works, but it doesn’t speak to the rate at which it’s happening. Again, the complaint that Xurat0 listed wasn’t whether or not balancing was ongoing, but how quickly it was.
Secondly, as for all that top secret stuff he mentions? That is… kinda meaningless. That’s the same kind of “media hype” you deride, except that it’s… developer hype, I guess? We have absolutely zero information about what this stuff is. For all we know, it could be a reorganized home menu, which is, as I said, nice, but it’s not the kind of content that keeps the game going and growing. Keep in mind, too, this is one of the first actual responses we’ve gotten from the devs on what’s been going on for a while now, and a good part of the “what’s going on” is “we can’t tell you what’s going on.”
Right
Actually, I disagree. We do need to know. We need to know, because if Blizzard is going to make big promises, they need to deliver, and that delivery includes just as much the progress as it does the final product. Does that mean they need to spill every little detail? No. But they need to be abundantly clear about what they’re doing so that they can manage expectations.
To make a somewhat absurd, but pertinent, analogy, if I am a cancer patient and you the doctor promise me that in five years, my cancer will be 100% cured, great! But when I’m two years in, and my symptoms have gotten worse, and you the doctor have said, “well, I can’t see you as much because I’m branching into orthopaedics, but I promise we’ve got some great new treatments coming for you in the future,” how do you think I’d feel? Don’t you think I’d like to know how I’m doing now? When those treatments are coming, and what they are? Do you really think I’m going to believe when you say “three more years and you’ll be cured?”
Translate that into gaming. Obviously not as life and death, but the logic applies nonetheless. Also, this part:
Also add in “cost of new maps [as you list shortly after]” and “cost of new lore,” both of which are very important.
Not necessarily, but it probably would.
I wasn’t speaking solely about December. In practice, what I’m talking about extends back months and months
I wonder if this supports what I’ve been saying at all 
Why would they suddenly need to cut a new map to work on the new hero, when that wasn’t a problem in the past? Might that coincide with some other major changes in the past ~year? What changes might those be?
It’s hardly media hype to understand Blizzard saying “we’re taking many of our best developers” to mean that some people have been pulled from Overwatch. Once again, this seems to be you dismissing the idea out-of-hand. They stated that major franchises are getting mobile titles, and that the best developers are working on them. In absence of proof to the contrary, the reasonable assumption is that this includes Overwatch.
So… this helps Overwatch, sure. But… let’s just not limit our scope to this game here. It’s really passing the hurt to another title. Again, we’re boiling down to this issue that there were adequate developers to manage HoTS and Overwatch and their other titles, and suddenly, there aren’t. Now, I haven’t heard of any big layoffs at Blizzard. So where did those resources go?
Actually, game balance is what was mentioned to us. If they’re working on more, then it’s their responsibility to make that clear. I’ve already talked about this, so I won’t spend more time on it.
I’m glad you’re optimistic, but I do not share your optimism, nor does I think a very large part of the community. I’m sure you’re aware of myriad complaints about the game becoming stale, about balancing being lethargic, or virtually non-existent lore. These don’t just come out of the aether.
Which… doesn’t change what I stated at all, and in any case, it’s by Blizzard’s own design that this is true.
Again… is it?
Should we talk about the absurd number of bugs that have shown up in PTR then walked straight out into the live game? or about the number of bugs that go months or years unaddressed?
Should we talk about abysmally balanced heroes that wait months or years for attention, only to receive changes that barely change their state?
Even if we disregard the lethargy of content, let’s not pretend that Blizzard is releasing the pinnacle of game polish here. And, if I haven’t made it abundantly clear already… you’re not actually addressing what I said.
Which leads me to backtrack a little. In fact, a frighteningly large portion of your response to me actually hasn’t addressed what I said, just gone off on some tangent about the supposed good things that Blizzard is doing, or it’s just been conjecture that “I think things are looking upward.”
Look. I get that you’re a, as you state:
But at some point, I think we need to grow up and swallow the tough pill that people like Xurat0 have a point. Even you seem tacitly aware that what he’s saying is true, as I pointed out earlier in the comment on eSports. The Overwatch team, and Blizzard at large, are making decisions that are adversely affecting the game. Maybe some people are enjoying the products of those decisions–and that’s good for them–but it doesn’t change the cost at which it comes.