As of the last two days (i.e. the season 8 patch), the game is much quicker to throttle how often a player can use the basic comms wheel commands when bound to keys. For example, I have ‘M’ bound to ‘thank you’ and ‘F’ bound to ‘fall back’, and now they each only work about once every two minutes or so. Selecting comms from the wheel itself seems to be a little more lenient, but it’s noticeably more restricted than it used to be.
This also seems to be affecting the context ping, such as pointing out an enemy or trap.
This is a severe accessibility issue.
Not everyone can speak on voice chat. It’s not simply a question of people needing to own a microphone and plug it in; there are many disabilities which interfere with a person’s ability to use a microphone.
Not everyone can type efficiently in text chat, either. Obviously it’s very awkward on console, but even on PC, typing clearly (and quickly) can be a challenge for many people at the best of times, let alone when under fire.
Even when players can speak or write, there’s the issue of language. On the EU servers, it is rare for every single person in a game to speak the same language. The ‘stock’ communications are translated automatically so everyone hears/reads them in a language they understand, making this method of communication universal and enabling more effective teamwork—and better manners—regardless of language barriers.
Ping and stock communication options, like Overwatch 2 has had so far, are critical to not only the enjoyment of the game for many, but in many cases are critical to gameplay. A player who can’t highlight enemies they see or communicate with their team at all is a big hindrance. Overwatch relies on players having at least this basic level of communication available. Not only that, but being able to easily say “hello” and “thank you” is a vital part of maintaining a friendly atmosphere.
Stricter limitations were likely put in place to stop spam, however only today I have witnessed many people spamming “hello” and character voice lines seemingly freely. The game usually does display a warning that a player will be muted if they have/continue to spam voice lines, but that is not occurring now. It seems to be totally arbitrary whether any given player will have their communications limited.
Blizzard, whether this was intentional or a bug, free use of the stock communications and ping system is a vital component of the game, and must be restored. For the people who can’t speak, for the people who can’t type, for the people who speak different languages, and simply for everyone who wants to communicate with other players simply and effectively, these new limitations must be removed.