Honestly, this is fine with me. Sure, I’m a little biased, since I’m a support player, but let’s just look at the release dates of the most recent heroes up to Kiriko:
Kiriko, Support: 2022
Junker Queen, Tank: 2022
Sojourn, Damage: 2022
Echo, Damage, 2020
Sigma, Tank: 2019
Baptiste, Support: 2019
The overall amount of Tank/Support:Damage released combined does favor the Tank/Support roles, sure, but the combined number of heroes in the Tank and Support role as is in OW1 is still less than the entire Damage roster. Obviously, OW2 has seen a shift around in the hero roster, with Doom now being a Tank. But up until OW2 comes out next month, the game has not seen a new Tank or Support since Sigma and Baptiste respectively all the way back in 2019, while the Damage role was still getting new additions, despite having the largest roster of heroes in the game. No, they shouldn’t just halt development of Damage heroes, but they should at least be on the back burner.
And in terms of the whole ‘Mercy style’ heroes, this phrasing is somewhat ambiguous. Is it ‘Mercy style’ in terms of ease of access, or having access to everything that role can do, but not being good at one thing in particular? Mercy is often, ironically, referred to as the Swiss army knife of the Support role: Her kit has it all - Mobility, healing, survivability, utility. But she’s not really good at any one thing. Her healing is consistent, but outclassed by others in terms of value. Her mobility is strong, but easily counterable. So, are these ‘Mercy style’ heroes going to be like this? A Tank who has access to decent CC, decent peel, decent front line capabilities, but overall is a weaker pick as they don’t have a primary purpose? Or are we gonna get a Damage hero with a lineant weapon and tracking abilities with safe mobility options? I’m not against the idea of having heroes that are made like Mercy, but that opinion could easily change, depending on which route they take. Having an easier hero to use is good, it let’s more people play the game and feel like they can get value, regardless of skill level, which Mercy excels at. But having a hero with a kit with lots of abilities expected of that role, but being weaker overall to compensate is a big no. Mercy herself already struggles with this problem, especially with that big rez button just sitting over there, menacingly staring at you. Because she can do so many things, having her be good at one thing can easily break her. And the last thing we need is another hero like that.
