Look at this blurb from the devs, quoted directly from the patch notes:
Developer Comments: Overwatch 2 is a competitive game even for Unranked game modes, and the match experience for all remaining players is negatively affected when a player leaves before it is completed. Remember a penalty only applies when you leave games and not when you complete games.
So, if Blizz considers Unranked modes to be competitive enough to implement competitive-level leaver penalties, then why won’t it implement competitive-level matchmaking?
The most common logic from those in favor of the leaver penalty is, “it’s just QP, not comp.” OK fine, but here Blizz is saying otherwise, that it IS competitive.
The next most common logic is “matchmaking needs to be looser for faster queues.” I believe this makes the most sense, because comp queues are noticeably longer. That sounds fair to me. But that goes back to my original question…
If the matchmaker is required to be loose, why are leaver penalties required to be harsh?
Sure, there is a spectrum to competitiveness of QP, but are the strength of penalties aligned with the looseness of the matchmaker?
It can’t without stupid high queue times since people can group with any rank. See the posts of people in wide groups with very long queue times now? We can’t have that in qp too. And that also sounds unreasonably long for comp as well.
The thing I find annoying is that same statement of; “leavers ruin the fun for everyone else”. When in reality that’s not always the case… Backfill exists and often times I get a new and better teammate than before. I LIKE it when people leave, especially if they’re dead weight.
Also, do the devs realize how many things in OW2 “ruin” the fun for everyone else? Here’s a few:
Not being a team player (according to forum users).
Throwing the match (because you can’t leave).
Sombra (ruins it for teammates and enemies alike).
Not countering the enemy (if you’re practicing or just having fun).
I can’t tell you how many times my team has been getting rolled into the ground only to come back and win once the dead weight quits and someone remotely competent backfills.
B) youre acting as if people leave strictly cause of the matchmaking, when I know for a fact that plenty of people leave because:
they don’t like a particular game mode
they don’t like a certain map
someone is playing a certain hero
they don’t like how a certain person is playing
someone took their hero
toxicity
they’re about to lose (even if it’s an even match)
Etc etc….none of those have anything to do with matchmaking…and even stuff like say a stomp isn’t even necessarily due to the matchmaker as well….
So sure they can “fix” the matchmaking (I’d love to know how btw)…but you aren’t removing the “reason” for leavers
So instead you say “look we don’t really care what reason you’re coming up with to leave the game….but we don’t want you doing it ALL the time because it’s ruining games for everybody else”….and that’s exactly what they’re doing
That’s nice. This is best-case scenario copium, though.
Some people don’t like to backfill into your dead weight, though. And sometimes the game either doesn’t backfill (or backfill quickly) or the new teammate you get is worse.
“I like Russian roulette because sometimes I win” is not a good argument.
An interesting list! If you do a little digging, you’ll find a lot of this exists due to how the original OW team set things up differently than your typical shooter. Most shooters have movement acceleration. It takes you a second to go from stop to full speed and changing direction slows you noticeably.
But they were looking for a more fast paced, arena style shooter. So they opted for no movement acceleration and multiple hyper mobility options. Which of course made hitting targets a nightmare. So they increased hurtbox sizes, added low aim abilities, and went with favor the shooter.
It’s different from your typical tactical shooter like CS, but no less competitive.