Problems with Formal: 76 skin

General Discussion
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First, part of me absolutely loves this skin. Part of me believes it is totally one of the best skins in the games. And I am totally biased here - my boyfriend is in the Army.

However…

It really bothers me that there are a lot of… problems…with the skin. First and foremost, Army dress blues have a DARK blue coat with medium blue pants. I understand that with designing a skin that has to be visually appealing on screen, liberties have to be taken with colors. But the color contrast being backwards just looks very wrong to me.

Second, the coat style that Soldier is wearing is an enlisted coat. I have no problems with him being enlisted, but if that is the case, then the braids on his sleeves and hat need to be changed. Enlisted caps, the bottom band is black. They are all identical. They do not have sleeve braids (on the skin, the gold-silver-gold stripes going around the cuff/arm of the sleeves). They have a simple gold cord/braid, called a soutache, going around their sleeves. If, however, the intention was for Soldier to be an officer (which sort of makes more sense, since he ended up being chosen to be the commander of Overwatch - but again, not a big deal either way), then the coat style needs to be changed to an officer coat, which has shoulder boards. Not the straps.

Lastly, my assumption is that Soldier is intended to be an infantryman. I see the blue aiguillette he wears, which is accurate. However, if he is from infantry, the braids on his sleeves and hat (if he was an officer) should also be blue, not the silvery color shown. Silver is the color for the Finance branch…

I’m not sure why these decisions were made - were they mistakes? Were they intentional? To me, it just looks sloppy - as if someone just didn’t care enough to really look or research the uniforms our soldiers wear. If they were mistakes, it would make at least this player (and maybe more) a lot happier if the uniform could be a bit more accurate.

3 Likes
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Fictional, futuristic branch of the military :man_shrugging:t2:

I’m not looking at McCree thinking “That’s not what a cowboy looks like to me based on all the westerns I watched growing up.”

Regardless, I highly doubt they’ll change Formal 76’s appearance now. But I guess it wouldn’t hurt for Blizz to give ya some closure on some of your concerns.

5 Likes
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Or…its not like that in the future.
Or its an special desinge?
Who knows.
Who even says that the skin is based on any military?
But then again…US Army uniforms dont look that good anyway…

Sincerly Hame
~Freikorps voran, die Grenze brennt~

4

The yearly Archives event is supposed to be like… throwback to the characters’ pasts/history, isn’t it? I mean… yes, possibly, but really… no. It’s definitely supposed to be a nod to the US Army, implies that the branch that Morrison served in was the Army.

There’s not a “uniform” for cowboys, dude.

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Well, considering Overwatch is an international task force organized by the United Nations, and Formal: 76 appears to be a part of that organization’s attire, it’s quite possible designs & colors, braids & medals, signify something differently to an international group than to an American posting about what it means to them. Dude. :wink:

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I think it’s safe to say it’s a world like but unlike our own, so any expectations how it should be is best left at the login screen.

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Oh I totally agree about Overwatch. But canonically, Morrison is an American, and he served in the US military. My interpretation of the skin, given the blonde hair, the uniform, and that it’s for the Archives event, was that this was a throwback to his younger years serving in the US military, before he joined Overwatch.

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And I’d happily give you that if it weren’t for the “Overwatch” on his shoulder. And clearly he’s highly decorated, which seems more in line with his Overwatch career (though I’m just speculating on that part lol). At least to me, this seems to be his Formal Overwatch uniform.

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Hey Friend – I’m no dev so I can’t place this skin of Jack on the timeline for you, but I think it is safe to say that this is not a throwback to his American Soldier days.

Some notes -

  • It says “Overwatch” right there on his sleeve. So after he left America’s super soldier program and long enough for him to earn all of those medals.
  • The center badge on his collar also reads “IJC” which stands for The International Justice Commission, the global agency that governed over Overwatch and eventually shut them all down.
  • This is a fictional universe. So far, we haven’t even gotten much info on presidents, armies or bodies of governments. As far as I can tell, companies have more power than any regional body so who knows what type of changes to standard uniform colors would occur?
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There’s a big badge on his arm saying “Overwatch”
It’s him after he left the US Army

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It’s Overwatch blue. It’s a fictional uniform on a fictional solider. .