Like i’ve seen so many threads about people complaining about selected people playing OW2 playing before anything else and a lot of denial in the lines of “they couldnt possibly let the pros play in OWL and not allow us to play at the same time right?”
Listen buddy, i’m going to be completely real with you.
I know the sentiment. It sucks, and we might have to wait quite a while before we can get our own hands on it. But as someone who waited for overwatch pre-launch and sat through watching other people play through the entirety of the Beta? It is absolutely something they will do. The beta lasted almost half a year too, and that’s not even counting the promo and pre-order betas that came near launch.
But do you know what do we have now that we didn’t back then? Overwatch itself. Like you can complain about the lack of updates or anything on the first game all you want. You do you. But while waiting for the sequel to come out, we dont have to play pretend with TF2, Paladins’ beta or Dirty Bomb or whatever similar game is going on around. So we get something to actually prepare and warm up for the next big thing, which is already quite the plus in contrast to the first game’s beta.
That beta was a thing. I remember getting a key when there was like 5 heroes, but then it stayed in beta for like a year or two before it actually got “released”.
i remember some got in via distributed keys but you could outright buy the beta as a full priced game during overwatch’s beta period. Some lost patience and went with it. Pip was green with a bit of a tunic robe back then. Wild times.
I myself mostly played TF2 and Dirty Bomb during those dark times.
Day one buyer here.
Could not care less about pros playing it before me.
Tomorrow is a glorified commercial for OW2, companies have been doing promos like this since radio was the big deal.
Yeah they gave keys to people who watched Smite’s World Championship and then these people would get 6 keys to invite friends. These friends would also get 6 keys. So not long after the keys were out there was as much players as if it had been launched.
I don’t get why we have to endure OWL every time just to get some news about the game.
This is so cheap and won’t change the mind of the ppl about OWL either.
Giving the pros beta access is just rubbing it in ppl’s faces even more.
B-but pro players are the wooooooorst and OWL ruined my casual dance simulator! Why do they get to play Overwatch 2 before me??
Also, I don’t know why people think they can influence a marketing blitz that was decided on 18 months ago. Pros are playing it because they can do show matches that won’t be absolute garbo to watch, and it will demonstrate the game in a way that watching devs can’t (because they’re not as good as pro players).
Well i cant speak for sure about the established heroes’ reworks but if pro feedback makes the new heroes kinda poopy i guess the only way they can go from more general feedback is upward.
…then again, Brigitte is a good exemple of a hero not allowed to go any more up…
Brigitte is still insanely good so I don’t know if you’re saying Brigitte is protected from more nerfs or Brigitte is junk…
The thing is that balancing the game for mid-tier players means heroes like Widow are theoretically balanced because mid-tier players aren’t hitting 50% scoped crit accuracy (or even 50% scoped accuracy in general). I’m sure you’ve been on the wrong end of a Widow smurf, so you can see how this approach to balance is awful.
… is this not insanely high even for higher tiers?
I can see how widow is currently a problem because of a matchmaking issue. That doesn’t mean the balance doesn’t work because it was done badly, that’s other factors contributing with their own problems and solutions.
Widow is considered balanced because the average player is bad at her, which is technically balanced for mid-tiers (because she’s not Super Good in metal ranks).
Also yes, 50% scoped crit is bonkers but the point was to be illustrative of how Widow’s balance rapidly breaks down if you get good enough.
She’s also balanced because in higher tiers people can deal with a skilled widow with map knowledge and game sense though. so… it’s not like she’s badly BALANCED… there’s just factors that create a super imbalanced encounter that should be accounted for.
Theoretically. But the problem can be solved (somewhat) by creating less situations in which an insanely good widow isn’t put with new/unskilled players. So it’s not like the practice of adjusting a character to be played in mid tiers is horrible, its a failing of letting those tiers mix too much.
I mean, it’s easy to blame the matchmaking, but at the core certain heroes are just busted when you get good at them. You may never encounter a Widow on the level of, say, KSP (now Kai) in plat, but you absolutely will if you play in GM–to the point that pro players hate Widow more than metal rank players.
Anyway, getting away from Widow for a second, the point is that pro players will always extract the maximum from a hero because they’re the best at the game. They may have some… interesting ideas about balance personally, but the data they provide from how they play the game is very useful for developers to balance the hero kits when they’re played at their actual peaks.
A plat player providing feedback like “I don’t like X because I lost to X” isn’t as useful as “our OWL stats indicate this hero is completely dominating the meta because the kit is too good, maybe it needs a nerf.”
at least the 5v5 format