Why the heck did he pick Torb for this map/comp?

Bug Report
1

(Putting this in bug report because I dont have access to enter a post in other sections of these forums)

I play on xbox and dont have a mic or keyboard. I do keep voicelines open so I can hear from the other players on my team, but I cant respond in voice or text.

I am an adult with a full time job and other rl responsibilities, but have managed to play enough that I know how to play 2 characters imho adequately (Moira and Torb) and one character imho minimally (Dva). I am flat out horrid with all other characters. When two of those three characters are taken by other players – and that’d usually be Moira and Dva – pretty much my only remaining choice where I can still be somewhat effective is Torb.

So I choose Torb.

I hear complaints about this choice at the outset of the game maybe half the time, and almost all of the time at the end of the game if our team then goes on to lose. “If only Megadodo had picked another character, we’d have had a chance to win”, to sum such responses diplomatically

Could I have picked another character that in general is more useful in the current comp or map? Yes - but I dont know how to play that character well enough to contribute. So I dont pick that character. Period.

KEY ITEM: I think many of these groups assumes every player can comfortably play any character. Its simply not the case. Certainly not in mine.

So the next time you see someone pick a character you dont think is a good fit for the situation, ask yourself if – maybe just maybe – thats the only character (or one of the only characters) not locked in by another player that the player in question know how to play well enough to contribute.

Even better - if the character is on the voiceline as a listener, you can ask them to use common emotes or shots at a wall to answer yes/no questions.

“Hey, Megadodo, are you able to play Mercy? emote thanks if yes, emote acknowleged if no” (or etc)

“Hey, Megadodo, are you able to play Rein or one of the other available tanks? Shoot once for yes, shoot twice for no”

I generally can and will respond in this manner if there is time *** before the doors open ***; and I’d bet many other players in my situation would as well

Bottom line - please dont assume that a player who picks a character that doesnt fit your (whether singular or plural) idea of what would best suit the group and/or map is doing so with bad, selfish, and or uninformed intentions. Yeah, they might be. But they might not. I can assure you I for one am in the latter camp, and further assure you that me playing a decent Torb will help the group much more than me playing an utterly terrible Mercy, Reinhardt, Hanzo, etc etc etc (whoever you’d prefer me to play) would do.

2

Torb main here. You only know 1 dps, 1 tank, and 1 healer. In order to contribute the best you can to the game, you should know at least 2 of each role at any given time.

I’m not saying you need to know every character, but having a backup is an important part of playing the game.

Your backup can be something easy like soldier, or reaper. And if you cant at least play soldier or reaper on a basic level…(aiming moving and shooting), You probably shouldn’t be picking dps.

Once again, there is nothing wrong with picking torb, but if you are getting countered (by pharah or widow mainly), then you should have a backup character to play.

1 Like
3

this doesn’t belong in the bug report forum.

what you are posting is a real issue, but it isn’t a bug. how could you not know this?

1 Like
4

RevengeTech:
Thanks for your reply. I realize that it’d be best to master as many characters as I can to give me (and my team) maximum flexibility, but I dont have the time for that. I have struggled to be adequate at 2 characters and am slowly adding the third (DVa - who I try to lock in any Skirmish for sake of accumulating practice time), and mind you, this has taken two years. I am not a gifted player, and as I have said I have a full time job and other RL responsibilities that take precedence. All I am trying to do with this post is to inform folks that hey, maybe player X isnt taking Torb (or Symmetra, or Widow, or Sombra etc etc etc a character that folks dont think is a good fit for the given situation) to screw over the team, maybe thats instead the best pick for them because they dont know how to play one of the better fitting characters and ergo will contribute more with a character they actually do know how to play.

Oh, and I’ve spent dozens of hours on Soldier and was never able to be effective with that character. Less time and same results with Reaper.

Doctor Octo:
Thanks for your reply. Please re-read the first sentence of my original post :slight_smile: I know it was lengthy and rambling and I am sorry for that. In any case, yeah, I knew this :slight_smile:

1 Like