I think we can all agree that a big reason why people are stuck in the lower ranks is because of a lack of communication. After all,
A big part of Overwatch is communicating with your team , but is that really a postive part of the design of Overwatch?
A lot of players are unable to/don’t know how to do proper voice communication. Sure, they might learn this as they play more, but I think that the learning curve of Overwatch is extremely gently compared to other MOBA’s or fps games because it lacks a certain feature:
Mini map
Let me explain why I personally think that a mini map holds a lot of value.
Note!! A lot of my points are directed at lower rank players to ease them into competitive overwatch, please do not respond that ‘they just have to get better at the game’, ’ they should just acquire game sense’, ‘they should just communicate better’ or any comment like that
- Visualizing spotted enemies
Let’s say that every enemy that is within line of sight of you or any of your allies for 1 second is placed on the minimap. This will give players a much better sense of where the enemy team is. It also incentives players who flank to play more stealthy and try to stay out of sight from any ally. If they do get spotted, those who were about to get flanked can now avoid the enemy, and it will also teach backline players to stay closer to the team, as gankers will now get spotted more easily.
- Knowing where your allies are
Having a better vision of where your allies are will give players a better sense of when to engage and disengage. Player will have a better understanding of when they go forward for a kill knowing their tank and healer are nearby, or when to retreat seeing that they’re outnumbered. I think it will massively help players acquire game sense on these areas.
- Play time boost to certain characters
We all know that characters such as Sombra or Zenyatta are played less in the lower ranks, not necessarily because they are mechanically harder to play, but because they acquire communication and teamwork for their abilities to have any value. With a mini map, players will know which targets are hacked/discorded without the player having to call them out. However, communicating with your team will still help these characters, as only visualizing targets will not cause the entire team to focus them as well, but it will make it a lot easier. There will always be characters that are played more in certain ranks than in others, but with Sombra and Zenyatta specifically these character are simply held back by lower ranks being unable to communicate.
- Buff/nerf characters in interesting ways
Let’s say that any character hit by Symmetra’s turrets will be marked on the map. This will make it so that Symmetra players will more often place their turrets around the map to have more vision, rather than placing them all in one spot to microwave enemies (which, let’s be honest, is a pretty lame way to get a kill).
Or what if Widow’s Venom Mine acted more like a projectile like Ana’s sleep dart that she can shoot out to mark and poison enemies, while also being able to stick it onto walls to watch her back when necessary. This will give Widowmaker more utility rather than her just being a one shot machine. Also, her ult would get more value as all the enemies will also be marked on the minimap in addition to be able to be spotted through walls.
The addition of a mini map will open up certain characters to be changed in order to have more/less control over the minimap. After all, vision over the map is one of the most powerful things to have in Overwatch.
- More welcoming to new players
The maps in Overwatch are not complicated or hard to remember, but the addition of a mini map will help new players to understand the maps quicker, being able to see what routes they can take, and what routes the enemies might take. This + all the other things I’ve mentioned will be more welcoming to new players, and will make Overwatch seem less chaotic.
- Make call outs easier
Calling out enemies in voice chat will be a lot easier with a minimap. Saying something like ‘the enemies are coming from the left’ will sound the same to everyone, since the left side of the map will be the same on everyone’s minimap. In general, making callouts will be a lot clearer as targets will be marked on the minimap. No matter where you are on the map, if someone says to focus the Reinhardt, every player will know where Reinhardt is by looking at mini map. Backline characters who are getting harassed or flanked will now have an easier time receiving help when they call out for help, as it is clear for other players to see what the threat is and where it is located. I think this will also incentive players to actually make these call outs, as they will be easier to understand for every player, and therefore will have more value.
What I’ve learned from other games
Recently I’ve been playing a lot of Smite, a MOBA, and getting better at that game has taught me how powerful it is to have vision over a map and to communicate with teammates. Smite has a minimap and a very in depth Voice Guided System (which I think Blizzard could also improve). Whenever I play Overwatch, it bothers me that there’s no way for me to communicate with my teammates besides through voice chat. I don’t think voice chat should disappear from Overwatch, or that players should be discouraged from using voice chat, but i think that with the implementation of a good mini map system, players will have a better time understanding fundamental parts of overwatch, like game sense, positioning, when to engage/disengage…
Seeing how both FPS games and MOBA’s have minimap, I wonder why the devs decided not to implement one in Overwatch. Surely they must’ve discussed the idea, or even tested it, and eventually decided against it, and I would love to know why.
Let me know what you think about a mini map in Overwatch!!