Saying they are removing her accessibility sounds like they are doing it on purpose. They are removing her lock on feature so they can properly balance it for a DPS role.
As harsh as it sounds the game should not be balanced in favor of a minority if it will harm the game, and this will. If she was in the support category it would be different but Blizzard has proven to us that they have no idea how to balance a non-healer support.
Nothing in the entire original post makes any claims whatsoever about the devs’ motivations in making the change. How do you know that your reason is why they are making the change? Furthermore, WHY should “balance for a DPS role” be privileged over accessibility? And WHY should the game not be “balanced” in favor of a minority? How do you know it will harm the game? How are you defining “harm”? Symmetra isn’t overpicked at high-level play, so she’s clearly not harming pro gameplay. Why should making the character represented at OWL-level play be more important than allowing a group of people who otherwise couldn’t play the game at all to play?
I could uncharitably argue that your comment frames you as opposed to accessibility. Why is that?
I’m mentioning pros as an example that it is possible for people to fill the strategic needs of a team on other characters. I see non-pros do this all the time as well.
As for accessibility, you bring up other equally accessible characters in your premise, specifically Moira and Rein, and mention that a strategic role is what sets her apart when Moira and Rein can, and often fill that position.
Yes. But this isn’t about accessibility as it is that a dedicated strategic role for team does not seem to work in this game when one can do it on most other characters, while simultaneously contributing to the firefight.
Oh please, this alone makes me so irritated. You honestly believe there’s some chance that an evil mustache twirler at Blizzard starting down his Ivory Tower saying “Yess get rid of the lock on make the disabled suffer, accessibility will be terminated”
Because she’d be garbage as a DPS and be outclassed if she can’t do enough damage.
Because its a minority and this is a competitive game.
I’m defining harm as in ignoring problems within the game.
Symmetra isn’t overpicked at any level of play, she’s barley picked at any level of play QP or Comp it doesn’t matter. I have been a Sym main since Beta and I am not blind and stupid enough to ignore the problems she has and I’m not going to sit here and say she’s perfect and nothing should ever change about her.
It’s not even about making her OWL worthy its about making her kit not be terrible in this kind of game, Overwatch has evolved and Symmetra has not been able to keep up with it.
As a disabled gamer who plays Sym due to her accessibility, your post is excellent.
I think it’s fair to remind/inform you that during the closed beta, Symmetra was at must pick status, with a kit that was 80% of her current kit. This means its perfectly possible to make her strong enough to be viable (under the premise she is not viable right now, which I disagree), by simply adjusting her base kit.
Definitely!
There is a perfect analogy in this reddit post, and I’ll quote here to illustrate why accessibility is important:
I think wheelchair accessible ramps are a good way to explain why I disagree with many people in this thread.
Imagine a building with stairs leading to the door, and next to it, a wheelchair accessible ramp with a few switchbacks. Inside is a free party, with great pizza.
Anyone can use the ramp to get in. Most people can go up stairs and don’t need to use the ramp. Some people (a small number) cannot use the stairs. The ramps take a little bit of time and money to build, but on the whole, they don’t hurt anyone, and for the people they do help, they can make a huge difference.
For some people, it now feels like people have complained that it takes longer to walk up a ramp, because it wraps around, than it does to just go up the stairs. They can still walk up the stairs, but they want to be able to use the ramp in the same exact way. So, it can still be a ramp, but it needs to be a sharp incline that doesn’t have a switchback.
OP, in my understanding, isn’t demanding that all stairs be made into ramps. OP isn’t even demanding that this one ramp be left alone. OP is just sad that he probably won’t be able to get into the building when the ramp gets turned into stairs or a super-steep ramp. And I, for one, agree that we should probably be sad when not everyone can get into the party, especially because we took away the ramp that was already there.
Okay, I’m sorry. That was an uncouth way to ask that question and the last thing I want to do is make your disability some sort of analytical pawn in the discussion. I’m sorry.
I should have asked: Do you play Symmetra for her accessibility? My point was that I am inclined to listen to people who say “I play Symmetra because she is the only character I am able to play well.”
I hear what you’re saying about the strategic role – one of the premises of the original post is that out-of-combat strategic play is (or should be) valuable and meaningful. If we don’t agree on that, I guess there’s no argument to be had. I hear what you’re saying about Rein and Moira contributing to strategic play in a fight (e.g. through Rein’s barrier play). What I’m arguing is that that KIND of strategy is different from Symmetra’s KIND of strategy, and that the latter should be valued as well.
I’m very curious why Mercy wasn’t addressed in point 4, I find every aspect of her kit much more accessible than Sym. On top of requiring the same level of mechanical ability due to the healing beam lock-on, she is also VERY straightforward in terms of her role and what she should be doing. In fact, I’d sooner point a child or an elderly person in my family to pick up Mercy than Sym, because Sym’s positioning is actually less forgiving than Mercy despite what you argue because of her lack of an escape(via GA). Further, Mercy as a hero is MUCH more accepted as a team mate, which is also something that should factor into accessibility that you did not mention. You do not get yelled at for playing Mercy, so you are not pressured to overperform like you are with Sym.
They aren’t getting rid of Symmetra’s strategic role, they are changing it to a more active and movement based one. The abilities that the teleporter will bring are of much greater strategic value than the turrets, hence they have been reduced in number and redesigned. All part of keeping her kit potentially balanced.
I was thinking of this exact post when I mentioned the ramp and stairs! Thanks so much for chiming in.
You seem to be ignoring the fact that was before the inclusion of so many heroes and even the KotH maps. She has been left behind while the game evolved around her.
A few minor adjustments will not be able to bring her back.
30 HP is still within soft breeze damage range. The only advantage 30 HP have over 1 HP is preventing accidental destruction, like Pharah shooting at your Reinhardt, and the edge of the splash damage breaking a turret high in the wall. Anyone trying to break your turrets will do so as easily as they do today. Maybe even easier, since they only need to search for 3 turrets instead of 6.
Ignorance of an issue or the effects it has doesn’t mean what they’re doing is okay.
But what they are doing is perfectly fine. It’s literally their game and the character needs this rework.
Thanks so much, I really appreciate you chiming in ![:slight_smile:](https://d74zh8edaijub.cloudfront.net/en/overwatch/images/emoji/twitter/slight_smile.png?v=5" ":slight_smile:")
Tell me, how did they fail?
As for the accessibility, those of us in the disabled community are a minority group, of course her pickrate won’t be huge. But she works for us.
The issue is they are taking something that was accessible, and making it inaccessible. The reason many of us bought the game was because we could actually play it. Now they’ve taken that away.
It’s like someone in a wheelchair getting a gym membership, then after they pay for it, the gym removed all its ramps and accessible facilities.
But they literally aren’t. Brig, Torb, Rein, Mercy all have a ton of accessibility
Just to be clear, you’re not telling a disabled person what they find accessible, are you?
You really just try to say that someone hates disabled people at every turn huh