Tho twitch views are not neccessary good way to describe it…
Role lock did help game become less popular, by waiting times alone.
So, its more about how bad implemented it was, just to rush getting GOATS off the pro scene, and thus they yet to find “solution” to the problem, and 5v5 will be next stage.
I couldn’t disagree with this more. There is just as much teamwork demanded in OpenQ, except you have even more control over your games than in RoleQ because you have access to the whole roster.
RoleQ matchmaking has been turbobad for at least two years now. There is nothing consistent about it other than the numbers 2-2-2. Even OpenQ, with worse matchmaking and less players than years ago, attracts mostly flex players. Not dps-lockers. OpenQ is the go-to mode for tank players too, because they aren’t trapped in synergy jail and can swap off tank role whenever they are getting countered. The only players who think OpenQ is dpswatch are players who don’t want to play tank+support but expect other players to always do so, OR players who have no idea how to adapt to comps and tilt because they have 4 dps.
OWL killed OW. As soon as the meta mentality became commonplace and trickled down into ranks where it wasn’t really cohesive this game went to hell, and the community’s takes along with it.
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I wouldn’t say it killed the game but it definitely changed the game’s core which made a lot of people leave the game (or stop playing Competitive a lot). It’s a fact.
Before 2-2-2, the game had many more options when it comes to strategies but sadly RQ made it more generic. But I guess the experience is different for anyone, depending on the elo. 2-2-2 was more necessary to lower ranks but in higher ranks (at least that’s was the case for me), it was possible to build many strategies that didn’t require 2 tanks, 2 supports and two DPS.
Sometimes we would play around one or two heroes people in our team picked but it was fun and not a guaranteed defeat, unless there were many onetricks in the same team (which was sometimes difficult but it still does exist with RQ).
But cool if RQ made the game more playable to you and other people (sincerely).
It was absent for a long time in Competitive and 2-2-2 balance doesn’t match Open Q. Everything was made for it to become an abandoned mode no one would play seriously (even though this was the original OW mode). Plus, no more Open Q competitions so yeah… you can’t fight that. All efforts were made so it was doomed forever.
This was impossible, the OW team would have never made the effort to create another patch to balancing Open Q adequately. They even pushed reworks and patches even though everyone warned them it was a mistake (and it was proven to be one).
It’s easy to say Open Q is unpopular when everything was made to bury it for good, just like 2CP was and other content that was removed (and that will be removed in the future, maybe even “heroes”). Lucky hero bans didn’t stick around.
Thanks for the numbers, it speaks volumes but a lot of people already knew this was a turning point for OW. You can’t have a game people grew to like for 3 years and suddenly decide to change the whole game’s essence without risking losing a big portion of the playerbase.
I also think that removing attack / defense heroes (simplyfing the hero system) was the moment where a lot of players started doubting the future of the game.
Edit : Just to be clear, the game is pretty much alive. I don’t believe in the “something killed the game” theories. Overwatch still exists but it’s definitely not the same game and it will devolve a little more every year until it’s completely unrecognizable. That’s what happens to games with a toxic community that fails to accept a game for what it is (and how it works).
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This is absolutely right.
But ironically enough it mostly seems to attract people who are not willing to work as a team because of this:
Apparently many people simply play the mode because it allows them to pick whatever they feel like and they abuse this “power” in a very egoistical kind of way.
I personally love to work together with another Tank and utilize the strong synergies between them.
But to be able to do this I need a 2nd Tank on my team.
In Open Q more often than not this simply isn’t the case and in return it favors heroes and playstyles that are more self sufficient and less reliant on teamwork.
The same goes btw for comps with just one Support.
We seem to have a completely different experience then.
My perceived match quality is much higher in Role Q and whenever I gave Open Q another try or did my Open Q placement matches, people being unable or unwilling to pick heroes that go well together and can play efficient strategies was an issue that consistently appeared on at least one of the two teams and usually had much more impact on the outcome of the game than the individual player performance.
My playtime across the roles is about 75% Tank, 20% Support and only 5% DPS.
I also understand perfectly well how to play as Solo Tank or Solo Support, but I genuinely dislike the gameplay experience that comes with it.
It heavily limits the viable hero choices within the already much smaller rosters and shifts the whole game into a direction that feels more like a DPS heavy 6v6 version of 4v4 Team Deathmatch.
Oh yeah. It’s very true. Numbers looks bad compared to some other games but it’s fine. It’s far from dead.
Lack of content killed overwatch. Echo was released in 2019? Echo was our last character.
It did for sure, but denying that RQ destroyed the game for many and many players left the game is denying reality too.
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First, the game was done planning “no role locks” but were adviseable to have a stable composition with hints of what lacked.
Second, the problem with 2-2-2 was because they didn’t changed the game to support it correctly. They didn’t changed maps, reworked heroes and neither knew how to “individualize” and “define” what role should be. 2-2-2 shouldn’t even exist, if they done it properly would be like 2-2-0-2 and 2-0-2-2 or even 2-1-1-2. But they were too lazy to change most modes to suit it like control points, instead of attack/defense modes.
2-2-2 offered more impact than 1-2-2 will be on gameplay wise. Even so, they’re doing those 3 things I mentioned above.
So, yeah. 2-2-2 wasn’t superior because the mode was done without any planning or major working to make it work. If was that perfect we wouldn’t have half of the characters being throw picks and neither those queue times on certain roles.
2-2-2 helped starters, but also created more mains and one tricks. Players got more practice but way less experience and knowledge. Meaning more skilled in a single hero or role but not knowing much outside it.
Pair with a fact of several months “qp classic” being “excluded” even from achievements. Not to mention competitive modes of it.
They made changes without proper planning, that reflected on poor overall experience. Several folks left the game or just got tired. The playerbase was declining. What made folks “return” was the hope of OW2 and the constant updates and sales.
Then, the updates halted, the sales were roughly half year, started to be tone deaf and players were lost on a stasis state of “infinite development” without any updates.
The playerbase growth kept growing because marketing and sales, the new system was welcoming for starters but had bad learning curve afterwards, those same starters and other players started to have bad experience because the game wasn’t supposed to work that way, but was the way that the system “made them learn” about the game.
This game has several flaws, even on it’s roots and concepts. Like badly explaining the player how it’s supposed to be played.
Then, made 2-2-2 without teaching the impact of playing a single hero, introducing more imbalance on the game. Folks started to follow guides and one trick it, ended complaining about the matchmaking system and trying to protect their “mains”. Folks started to support a broken system and reject any change.
While in reality the game was changed a ton but with half baked solutions without a proper strategy behind it.
That at least on OW2 they’re doing it right. Creating pillars for their view of what OW2 is and how it’s supposed be played. Doesn’t mean they’re nailling, but at least doesn’t appear to be half baked solution like 2-2-2 was when they enforced it without much planning.
That’s why I have hope for OW2 even if ends up in a game that I wouldn’t like at all and mostly would make me stop of being a flex player and force me to play in a way that I dislike.
Let’s go back to the days we had either 5 dps and 1 tank, or 4 tanks 1 dps and 1 healer. 3 tanks and 3 healers are absolute bonkers oppressive.
2-2-2 saved Overwatch. The Matchmaker killed it.
The idea behind was great the execution was really bad. Even today they didn’t addressed the problems they created by doing it.
That’s why neither modes can be considered superior, both have flaws either on concept or execution.
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2-2-2 is absolute superior to the chaos we had before. There is no strength in chaos.
role q didnt help, but the thing that actually killed overwatch was brig. I’m not convinced 2-2-2 is a thing in a world brig is never added to the game.
Of course numbers are still decent. The main problem is that the playerbase is more than divided. No matter the game’s direction, groups of people are gonna stop playing. The OW team is facing a dead end.
The only thing that can gather the community again (for a certain period of time - let’s say 1-2 years) is a brand-new Overwatch game, not this PVP 2.0.
That’s why I genuinely think PVE will go big at release, especially because Blizzard games always managed to do great things in terms of PVE. A PVP FPS was kinda uncharted ground for them and trying to satisfy everyone didn’t have the outcome they wanted, unfortunately.
Thank you kindly for posting these numbers btw.
It helps make the case against fanbois who defend mismanagement at every turn.
That should have been layoffs on the spot. A total cancel of anyone who backed it. If you are OWL pro, content creator, developer, vocal minority on the forums - anyone - who pushed this - congrats, you literally disabled a glorious franchise.
Chaos before? Maybe for a weekend casual husband/wife duo.
DPS skillset was at all time high. You don’t gitgud at dps mechanics waiting in 20 mins queues or waiting around at the choke for some all-in scripted ult-dump that depends on tank power creep. Much more finesse. You had players who perfected 3+ dps dive and perfected the solo-on-role tank or support, and flex/fill players who mained “hybrid utility”. Queues were lightning fast engagement was high. 222 takes bribes for 2/3 of the roles to even get out of the gate.
Pre-222 was the golden age and the numbers support this.
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I’d honestly rather 6 people playing the role/hero they actually want to play and actually trying their best to win than some Genji and Widow main absolutely throwing on tank and support while farming those precious, precious dps queue fast passes.
Open Queue matches are maybe 1 in every 5 that are a joke, with 5 dps or whatever, but in my experience, Role Queue matches are like 1 in 3 that are a joke, with people playing roles/heroes they have no business or interest playing.
Role Queue might’ve worked, but then they invented priority passes and basically all competitive integrity in that mode was lost. One in every three matches is a clown fiesta.
Viewer counts literally triple or quadruple when he plays what are you talking about 
Not exactly killed, but removed a lot of flexibility and fixing your own flaws/flaws of your allies.
Oh man, who wouldve guessed OWL 2019 season ending in September and moving OWL to Youtube would drop viewer numbers on Twitch from October 2019 and onwards, you clearly didnt as you seemingly didnt even know that happened…
Odd take. You are talking about the 2-2-2 matchmaker. Forced 2-2-2 was never sustainable. Those problems you listed could have all been fixed with better solutions than RoleQ.
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