I guess I am upset, yeah. I wasn’t really thinking about it, but yeah. I just… saw such potential in this game, but Blizzard is so determined to ruin it in their perpetual insistence of coddling the solo queue players and manipulating matchmaking out of some twisted sense of fairness.
The game’s true potential can still be found, which is great, but you have to go through third party solutions, which is ridiculous. I’m willing to jump through the third party hoops, but many players (understandably) aren’t, and it’s just so frustrating to think about.
Maybe so. But let me throw this alternative take at you. I get the sense that you are talking about scrims, etc. as an alternative to a ranked system that is flawed. I get that. As a competitive esport, there are issues with the path to pro, and the ladder system beneath it.
However, there is also a major upside to those flaws. I’ll just speak for myself and my story. During season 2, I was in my first year as a school principal in an extremely toxic environment. Attempting to turn a school that mistreated its students of color was draining. Normally a reader, even that felt too close to my job–so a friend at work recommended I take up gaming and recommended Overwatch. I began on console during season 2, and have continued playing non-stop to this day and even fought my way through trying to teach my old man’s hands to mouse and keyboard when I transitioned to PC.
So while you see those ranked flaws, and I get that…I see something that was accessible and accepted me and has given me so much in return. So I’m also grateful for many of those flaws.
But wouldn’t it be so much better in a system that actually rewarded teamplay? A system where people were encouraged to use LFG and supported clans and communities? Where teamplay, a core concept of the actual gameplay, was encouraged by the system as opposed to banished to the shadow realm?
It bothers me on two fronts.
It punishes those who want to team up, discouraging clans from maintaining population.
It rewards lone wolf egomaniacs by allowing them to avoid opponents who know how to counter raw mechanical skill with teamplay, further encouraging solo queue and discouraging groups from forming.
This creates an environment where, combined with the heaps of positive re-enforcement the game piles on the players (regardless of actual performance), people never leave their bubble of opinion. When the truth of the game or another ego clashes with their opinion, the instinct is to lash out. Blizzard’s own matchmaking is a breeding ground for toxicity.
If grouping up were the best way to play the game, a general sense of community and expected behavior would start to form (as opposed to being a game comprised of 36 million opinions that are always right). Clans would be thriving and could cater more readily to specific playstyle and social tastes. The game would not only play better, but it would be a better space to play in. That’s my theory at least.
Not all lone wolves are egomaniacs. Some are players who are too shy to make the friendships to be included in said clans. Some (like me) are too tired to attempt those conversations when they get home from a long day.
I’m all for those things you describe, but it really places high walls around the game. So much of our rich community wouldn’t be here if those things were a prereq to play.
I don’t want to see those who want to team up punished…but I also don’t want to see those who sometimes don’t have the energy for it punished either.
And yes, I completely agree with you about those general opinions. As a brig main, I suffer from the gospel of reddit on a daily basis. Even when I posted on reddit recently a fully logical post that used math to undermine their acceptance of lucio but blind hatred of brig “because low heals”…I was lambasted by players who couldn’t open their minds.
But one of the great issues to the clan and grouping system is that players like myself–old, “low-skilled”, and not always all that social, aren’t welcomed into what are essentially cliques any better than we are now.
If I want to have a regular group of people to play with, I have to play comp, or participate in a league or scrims. To do so, I have to grind myself to at least plat. Then I have to prove I’m more valuable than any of the other players at my position. All to be part of the group.
So what you propose is likely very healthy for the quality of gameplay, but it’s very unhealthy for players. Or at least it’s very unhealthy for this player.
Didn’t mean to imply all lone wolves were egomaniacs. I apologize for the confusion, I did not convey my idea clearly enough.
As for the rest, I cordially invite you to my clan just to prove to you how wrong you are about needing to prove yourself to a clan to have a good time. I’ll edit in our post here in the forums once I find it. Feel free to ignore it of course, but I’ll put it in anyways.
No worry , you did the right choice, in end in comp you get nothing.
In comp you play vs smurfs in qp you play with all kind of ranks
so qp=comp
ye can’t wait to have even more impossible games since if I teamup with someone I end up with other premades aswell (and is fair)
I’m a lone wolf? yes, because if I bring someone around master with me in qp I end up vs another master and is not my idea of the balance of the game, also most of the times if I go with someone that person keep asking me to play this and that hero.
egomaniac? no. I just simply play alone, I don’t think a clan here can work, considering how many toxic people I’ve found around in this community.
Just play without getting on chat, you can reach mid diamond without ever having to get on chat. Once you start reaching masters, communication starts becoming more important.
Yep! I’ve seen this in myself. I play far better in QP than in ranked. I KNOW it’s because I care about the points. I dream of reaching diamond someday.
comp is pointless unless you have an actual team (even if its only 1 mate to play with). personally i only do the placements (for golden weapon) and then stick to oldschool qp/arcade.
