The Overwatch Empowerment Cup: A community pursuit of equity, inclusion, and competitiveness

[Sinist-21948]

@Arcadium-1386

Jeff Kaplan used to post a decent amount on here when he was Director, actually.

Whoever took over should have continued that tradition.

[DvaDiff-1921]

@Sinist-21948

Whoever took over should have continued that tradition.

He does.

He visits… us once a year!

[Pawsitivity-1402]

AndyB addressed it more eloquently than I can in his reply.

[Kaedi-11739]

@Sinist-21948

Whoever took over should have continued that tradition.

I once spoke with Aaron Keller personally when I unexpectedly met him at the Blizzard Arena during the 2019 Overwatch League season. He mentioned to me that he that while he reads the forums a lot, he knew that Jeff loved engaging with the fans directly. Don’t hold against Aaron that he does not do the same. Instead, I am glad we have Andy and Jodie to better engage with us and keep us informed where it is needed.

[DvaDiff-1921]

@Kaedi-11739

He mentioned to me that he that while he reads the forums a lot, he knew that Jeff loved engaging with the fans directly. Don’t hold resentment that Aaron Keller does not do the same.

This is not a good excuse for 0 communication on information over Overwatch 2 and Overwatch.

[Devils-1895]

@DvaDiff-1921

@AndyB-11735

Were I in your position, I’d be similarly guarded, and reserving judgement until you learn more.

But the issue is… we haven’t learned anything in over a YEAR.

Why are reserving space for something we don’t know anything about?

---

I’m going to be honest. If you were actually in our shoes, i’d expect you to be in the same position Fragehardt and 99% of the community.

Not to get hung up on a timeline but hasn’t it been about 5 months since the platters where we learned quite a bit? It was not Blizzcon levels of information but it was some information.

[DvaDiff-1921]

@Devils-1895

Not to get hung up on a timeline but hasn’t it been about 5 months since the platters where we learned quite a bit? It was not Blizzcon levels of information but it was some information.

I’m talking new information about PvE and the game’s direction as a whole.

(Blizzcon 2021)

[Kaedi-11739]

No, it is not, but I understand why Aaron chooses to not post directly. We do need more communication though and it will come when they are prepared to do so.

[Devils-1895]

@DvaDiff-1921

@Devils-1895

Not to get hung up on a timeline but hasn’t it been about 5 months since the platters where we learned quite a bit? It was not Blizzcon levels of information but it was some information.

I’m talking new information about PvE and the game’s direction as a whole.

(Blizzcon 2021)

I would agree regarding the PvE but in September we got a feel for how OW2 plays in PvP, what the reworks look like for 2 heroes, and how Push looks when played by skilled players. That was a nice drop of information (wish we got more of that).

[Sylhiri-1495]

@Arcadium-1386

@Sinist-21948

But man what I wouldn’t give to have those mysterious “higher ups” show up in a forum post and actually explain plus answer everything.

Jeff Kaplan used to post a decent amount on here when he was Director, actually.

That’s pretty much the entire reason he was everyone’s darling. He brought a lot of stability to the forums until they started working on OW2 full time and slowly removed his presence.

[Devils-1895]

@Kaedi-11739

No, it is not, but I understand why Aaron chooses to not post directly. We do need more communication though and it will come when they are prepared to do so.

I would argue that if one wishes to improve the OW community, which Andy notes here does have some harassment problems in game, one of the steps is to be a bigger part of said community.

Behavior is often modeled and often modeled after those in power so being around at the very least would not hurt.

Edit: I would also note that this behavior can extend to the forums as well.

[Fragehardt-1291]

@Sylhiri-1495

That’s pretty much the entire reason he was everyone’s darling. He brought a lot of stability to the forums until they started working on OW2 full time and slowly removed his presence.

Off topic, but remember “Wrestle with Jeff”? He used to come in here and straight body cheaters who were complaining they were wrongfully banned. Dang, I miss those days.

[Sinist-21948]

@Fragehardt-1291

Off topic, but remember “Wrestle with Jeff”? He used to come in here and straight body cheaters who were complaining they were wrongfully banned. Damn I miss those days.

https://dotesports.com/overwatch/news/kaplan-overwatch-forum-15263

Never ever forget this.

But atleast it showed that he was actually playing the game. Sure his response wasn’t the best per se but damn, it showed that the developers were indeed playing the game.

Something that the current developers as well as other departments on Blizzard (especially WoW) certainly don’t.

@Kaedi-11739

2019

I’m not a big fan of dwelling in the past when it comes to these things.

You know what else was “still good” in 2019?

Not wearing a facemask into every place I go

Just because it was then doesn’t mean it is now

[Kaedi-11739]

@Fragehardt-1291

Off topic, but remember “Wrestle with Jeff”? He used to come in here and straight body cheaters who were complaining they were wrongfully banned. Damn I miss those days.

I would note, there has been notable instances where this does not positively benefit the community. Let me bring up one popular post from the old forums.

@Jeff Kaplan

We play the game a lot. Looking at your profile, I’ve won approximately 800 more games than you have. That’s not counting the daily internal playtests I am in, the time I spent in Alpha and Beta.

Did you have a specific question or are you just here trolling?

Source: https://www.mystgraphics.com/overwatchforumarchive/other-trollresponse.html

The original poster was suspended from the forums as well, but later posted a sincere apology on Reddit, Jeff accepted and apologized as well (along with giving him a year of WoW).

There is a reason why calling out other players is really not a good idea (and is in fact a forum rule violation), whether you are the developer or not. More often than not, the context of each player’s situation is not really known, and embarrassing them publicly can potentially have long-lasting emotional damages. I don’t know exactly what policies or training Blizzard has when dealing with public relationships, especially on the forums or Reddit, but I do know that what each of us says can have a huge impact on each other. So please, play fair, play nice.

[Fragehardt-1291]

@Kaedi-11739

The original poster was suspended from the forums as well, but later posted a sincere apology on Reddit, Jeff accepted and apologized as well (along with giving him a year of WoW).

Devil’s advocate for a second…

To me, this just further shows that he was truly a great leader. An ability to admit when you did not necessarily act in the most appropriate manner is a trait that many leaders do not possess. Maybe he wasn’t perfect, but at least he had the strength to admit when he messed up (this is not meant as a comparison to Aaron Keller, more so the common person).

Yes, maybe that whole specific incident should never have happened, but I think what is telling is how the situation was handled after the mistake was made. I hope Overwatch 2 is in as good of hands with Aaron. I know he has been with the team since the beginning and so in a sense Overwatch 1’s success was his success, but the spotlight is on him specifically now. I hope he pulls it off.

[koifish-11900]

“Perfect is the enemy of good.”
-Voltaire

We don’t need perfect messaging. We need good messaging. Currently there is zero messaging other than “Oh, we can’t talk about things because they’re not perfect yet.”

Perfect messaging is the enemy of the good of this community.

[Pawsitivity-1402]

So here’s the thing.

Even if AndyB wanted to share something, he couldn’t. He only shares the information he’s allowed to share. If the team isn’t ready to share info, he can’t share it.

[Yara-11173]

@AndyB-11735

I get this, and usually go out of my way to avoid being tease-y or leading anyone on.

It’s perfectly understandable to be skeptical of us right now. Were I in your position, I’d be similarly guarded, and reserving judgement until you learn more. All I’ll say is we look forward to re-earning your trust

I love what you personally have done here and but as far as players are concerned, those with no internal know-how, the only thing Overwatch team did in 2 years was change Cass’ name.

And thank goodness for that but gosh darn it, Blizzard’s “soon” is post-sarcasm at this point.

[DvaDiff-1921]

@Yara-11173

And thank goodness for that but gosh darn it, Blizzard’s “soon” is post-sarcasm at this point.

The Jokes are really funny.

Aren’t they!

[TakeaShower-21431]

Jeff has been said to be a great buffer between the team and the corporate side of Blizzard by keeping much of the corporate nonsense out of the office. It Cannot be understated how essential a skill that is to be a great leader by enabling his team to do what they can for Overwatch given the circumstances they have been dealt by corporate.

From my own experience playing Overwatch, many women do not seem interested in being “competitive” in-game. My understanding of that was more due to their own priorities and lack of interest, rather than it is due to any form of harassment online.

In regards to pressure for them to do perform well, I can sympathise with the notion of being the “first woman” to be highly successful in e-sports. As such an achievement may be overshadowed by their gender, not the skills they developed to play to such a level.

As a man, it would be disingenuous to say that I understand the experiences of a woman in the competitive scene, but it must be said that there are many other factors in a multivariate analysis. These would need to be undertaken on a large scale to obtain data supporting such weight on online harassment to women being a significant factor in why so few women pursue and compete in competitive esports.