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July 8, 2017 12:34 PM Subscribe
Doomfist Finally Comes To Overwatch [Kotaku] “At long last, Overwatch’s gauntlet-wearing villain Doomfist is seeing the light of day. The new character has been teased since before publisher Blizzard even released Overwatch, and now, players can finally try him out on Overwatch’s public test region. Doomfist [Developer Update] [Origin Story], whose real name is Akande Ogundimu, is a cybernetic offense character whose hand cannon gauntlet knocks opponents down. Blizzard writes, “In addition to dealing ranged damage with his Hand Cannon, Doomfist can slam the ground, knock enemies into the air and off balance, or charge into the fray with his Rocket Punch. When facing a tightly packed group, Doomfist leaps out of view, then crashes down to earth with a spectacular Meteor Strike.””
• Some Early Thoughts On Overwatch's Doomfist: Fun, Fresh, Flawed [Kotaku]
• Some Early Thoughts On Overwatch's Doomfist: Fun, Fresh, Flawed [Kotaku]
“Doomfist is a melee fighter whose skillset leans more on well-timed punching combos than twitch reflexes. His primary fire is a hand cannon, a weak but easily-spammed bullet burst that comes right out of his knuckles. He’s also got a rocket punch, where he powers forward Superman-style, knocking back whomever his fist hits. His uppercut doubles as a high jump and, when he uses his Seismic Slam attack, he hops forward and smashes the ground, a little like Reinhardt’s ultimate ability. His ultimate ability is a devastating Meteor Strike (which he says out loud). He jumps up and slams his fist down, creating a crater that wrecks anybody within seven meters of him.”• Doomfist abilities list: here's everything Overwatch's new melee hero can do [PC Gamer]
“"Doomfist’s cybernetics make him a highly mobile, powerful frontline fighter. In addition to dealing ranged damage with his Hand Cannon, Doomfist can slam the ground, knock enemies into the air and off balance, or charge into the fray with his Rocket Punch. When facing a tightly packed group, Doomfist leaps out of view, then crashes down to earth with a spectacular Meteor Strike."”• Jeff Kaplan weighs in on Overwatch's balance and the dive meta [Blizzard]○ Hand Cannon
○ Rocket Punch
○ Seismic Slam
○ Rising Uppercut
○ Meteor Strike
○ Temporary Shield
“The most controversial thing I’ll say here (hopefully) is that I believe the game is currently balanced. What I mean is that I don’t feel like there are any heroes who are way too strong to the point of breaking balance. That doesn’t mean that I personally don’t think there are some problems with heroes. While I believe moving Roadhog away from a 1 shot combo was a necessary thing we had to do, I’m not entirely satisfied with where he’s at right now. I also think we need to do some brainstorming when it comes to Mercy’s resurrect, for example. The ability is extremely powerful in a very unfun way for both Mercy and everyone playing against that Mercy. But it’s not doomsday. These aren’t game breaking issues. They are better fixed slowly and carefully as the overall game is not ruined by them. I’m just using these as examples. But I think the game is balanced. Statistically, the things that are most unbalanced aren’t what you think they are. Symmetra and Torbjorn win rates are not balanced. They are too good. But this is why we don’t balance on statistics alone. I don’t sense a great community uproar over the fact that Torb and Symmetra are “overpowered” right now (at least, statistically). As I said last week, the perception of balance is more powerful than balance itself.”• Hero makes motion-sensing baguette controller for Overwatch’s Widowmaker [Polygon]
“Using a breadboard and an actual loaf of French bread, game developer and Overwatch superfan Dylan Beck has created the ultimate weapon — an artisanally crafted, non-GMO, fully-leavened sniper rifle. Those unfamiliar with the chewy yet crispy lore baked into the Overwatch universe know that the multiplayer shooter’s foremost long-range damage-dealer is named Widowmaker. She is tall, fond of thermal optics and quite French. What better way to give tribute than with a bespoke motion-sensing controller crafted entirely out of a baguette.”• Overwatch Vocal Performers Recreate Their Characters' Victory Poses IRL [Nerdist]The Widowmaker baguette controller WORKS! Here's a sneak peek! In 12 hours' time, we're putting it to the test! ~ (@rudeism) June 28, 2017
“Just over a year ago, Blizzard unleashed Overwatch, and a new video game franchise was born. Gamers immediately picked favorites from Overwatch‘s roster of over 20 characters, each with their own unique personalities, backstories, and victory poses. To celebrate the first anniversary of the game’s release, a group of Overwatch voice actors and actresses came together for a party [Happy Dance-iversary Overwatch!] where they filmed themselves attempting to recreate their characters’ dancing moves. Via Kotaku, Anjali Bhimani–the voice of Symmetra in the game–posted a video online featuring the Overwatch performers showing off their “Happy Dance-iversary” moves. By far the funniest was Feodor Chin’s recreation of Zenyatta’s victory pose, which included the other actors holding Chin up in the air so he could do it without his feet touching the ground. In the game, Zenyatta can levitate, so it would have been pretty hard to pull off any other way!”• A year on from launch, Overwatch is a struggling eSport [Eurogamer]
“While many organisations are dropping teams, some still have faith in Blizzard's shooter. Most notable is Immortals, which has some incredible young talent with a lot of potential. Immortals' impressive list of investors, which includes the likes of Linkin Park and the co-owner of the Memphis Grizzlies, means they don't have to worry about the financial side of keeping the team on, but even so it is somewhat surprising to see them keep the team when almost all of their competitors have dropped their rosters. "Overwatch teams don't get a lot of exposure compared to a League of Legends team or a Counter-Strike team," says Noah Whinston CEO of Immortals. "But nobody's picking up an Overwatch team because they think the current state of Overwatch is the best that Overwatch will ever get. Anyone who has an Overwatch team is doing it because they think it might give them a shot at Overwatch League. "I think it's kind of disingenuous to say, we're not making any money from our Overwatch team right now, so we're going to drop them. Nobody who's going to pick up a team to make money right now is going to pick up an Overwatch team."”
• This trailer for a fake Overwatch Netflix show is so good we wish the show actually existed [24/7] posted by Fizz at 12:40 PM on July 8, 2017 [3 favorites]
I've been on the public test region (PTR) the last couple of days playing Doomfist and his play feels great. His mobility feels like a cross between Genji and Winston, and connecting with attacks feels satisfying. Combining his attacks together to delete someone is the most satisfying way to secure a kill in this game I've felt.
posted by Groundhog Week at 1:45 PM on July 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Groundhog Week at 1:45 PM on July 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
I don't even play Overwatch and that fake trailer made me want a show. Whew!
posted by Wretch729 at 3:03 PM on July 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Wretch729 at 3:03 PM on July 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
Overwatch and PUBG have been tempting me towards getting into PVP gaming, something I've neither done nor been interested in before. And I find it interesting that the fan base for both games seems more diverse in both age and gender than most online games. Thankfully I don't have a Windows PC handy, otherwise I'd probably disappear down one of these rabbit holes.
posted by ardgedee at 3:04 PM on July 8, 2017
posted by ardgedee at 3:04 PM on July 8, 2017
I play Symmetra and Kaplan's comment about balance is theoretically interesting, because "Symmetra is unbalanced" by his explanation (Her win-rates are out of whack) is not technically complete; you would need additional game-theory assumptions such as but not necessarily "If you already presuppose that the collective gameplay of online players is good at solving the game, with high confidence, then win rates are a metric for balance". I think it's just interesting how people come to have certain mental models of the properties of these systems.
posted by polymodus at 3:08 PM on July 8, 2017
posted by polymodus at 3:08 PM on July 8, 2017
Overwatch is great but the lootbox system totally ruins it for me.
posted by Pendragon at 3:27 PM on July 8, 2017
posted by Pendragon at 3:27 PM on July 8, 2017
what overwatch character is best for people who are fairly bad at first-person shooters? I just downloaded it but I don't want to accidentally pick a character that's difficult to play well and then lose and have everyone call me a rude name.
posted by vogon_poet at 3:29 PM on July 8, 2017
posted by vogon_poet at 3:29 PM on July 8, 2017
Lucio is kind of the go-to: You can turn on the healing aura and stand near your teammates and help them out, and everyone will like that.
I like Junkrat too--he can do a lot of damage and he can't hurt himself with his own bombs so you can be pretty aggressive with him. The bombs are a small area of effect so precise aim isn't as important. Plus if you die, you drop a handful of bombs so sometimes going crazy and charging a group of enemies is a good call.
Torbjorn or Symmetra are also good, if your concern is that you can't aim well: Drop turrets and let them do the aiming for you.
And Bastion is a pretty common favorite for new players. It's a big robot that turns into a big gun. You do tend to be a big target as Bastion, but you've got lots of health, the ability to repair yourself, and you're kind of a bullet hose so you can correct your aim and lay down suppressing fire even if you're not hitting anyone outright. If you stay near the point and especially if you can convince a Reinhardt or an Orisa on your team to keep a shield between you and the opposing team you can be a really dangerous force on defense.
posted by JDHarper at 3:42 PM on July 8, 2017 [5 favorites]
I like Junkrat too--he can do a lot of damage and he can't hurt himself with his own bombs so you can be pretty aggressive with him. The bombs are a small area of effect so precise aim isn't as important. Plus if you die, you drop a handful of bombs so sometimes going crazy and charging a group of enemies is a good call.
Torbjorn or Symmetra are also good, if your concern is that you can't aim well: Drop turrets and let them do the aiming for you.
And Bastion is a pretty common favorite for new players. It's a big robot that turns into a big gun. You do tend to be a big target as Bastion, but you've got lots of health, the ability to repair yourself, and you're kind of a bullet hose so you can correct your aim and lay down suppressing fire even if you're not hitting anyone outright. If you stay near the point and especially if you can convince a Reinhardt or an Orisa on your team to keep a shield between you and the opposing team you can be a really dangerous force on defense.
posted by JDHarper at 3:42 PM on July 8, 2017 [5 favorites]
Thanks for this excellent information! It's so great to finally have a fun multiplayer shooter that's not all about twitch reflexes and macho bullshit.
posted by vogon_poet at 3:43 PM on July 8, 2017
posted by vogon_poet at 3:43 PM on July 8, 2017
Winston is good for players new to FPS games too. His gun more or less auto aims like Symmetras, although you may rocket leap to your death from time to time. He's a blast to play. I have 100+ hours on Overwatch on PS4 and I still love playing Winston.
posted by nathancaswell at 3:59 PM on July 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by nathancaswell at 3:59 PM on July 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
Reinhardt is great too and you can be really effective by just picking the right place to sit with your shield up. Honestly Overwatch is one of the best games I've ever played in terms of giving players who aren't mechanically super skilled characters they can have fun with right off the bat while still having deceptive depth that they can grow into. It's a great game.
posted by nathancaswell at 4:04 PM on July 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by nathancaswell at 4:04 PM on July 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
Teams (especially at low levels) always need another tank. Reinhardt can be useful just putting his shield up; D.Va is a blast to play. And you can go support even if there's one already. Mercy or Lucio are always good. Zenyatta is fun, because you can single out an opponent and everyone else will do more damage to them; plus he does quite a bit of damage on his own-- without aiming.
Plus, your periodic reminder about Mefight Club. We play Overwatch about every night, and we won't call you rude names.
posted by zompist at 4:19 PM on July 8, 2017 [3 favorites]
Plus, your periodic reminder about Mefight Club. We play Overwatch about every night, and we won't call you rude names.
posted by zompist at 4:19 PM on July 8, 2017 [3 favorites]
The thing about Symmetra/Torb win rates seems like a bit of deliberate obfuscation to make his favorite point (which I don't even disagree with.) The reason their win rates would be out of whack is that they are so obviously defense-heavy that no one sane picks them other than the like two and a half maps where they each have some geometry that works to their advantage, with the result that they basically only get played in situations where they are extremely strong and do not get played at any other times. The fact is that they are both still quite weak anytime they are outside of their particular comfort zones, as opposed to heroes that can be more flexibly used in a variety of situations, and that is why they both have very low pick rates at higher levels of play.
Basically, Jeff is being disingenuous and it annoys me because his underlying point - that it is less important often whether the game is actually "fair" and more important that the players feel like it's fair, which might involve making the game technically unfair in some ways - is something I one hundred percent agree with.
posted by Scattercat at 4:22 PM on July 8, 2017 [2 favorites]
Basically, Jeff is being disingenuous and it annoys me because his underlying point - that it is less important often whether the game is actually "fair" and more important that the players feel like it's fair, which might involve making the game technically unfair in some ways - is something I one hundred percent agree with.
posted by Scattercat at 4:22 PM on July 8, 2017 [2 favorites]
Overwatch is great but the lootbox system totally ruins it for me.
The one with the loot that has zero effect on gameplay totally ruins it for you? Like, genuinely, how?
posted by ominous_paws at 5:08 PM on July 8, 2017 [8 favorites]
The one with the loot that has zero effect on gameplay totally ruins it for you? Like, genuinely, how?
posted by ominous_paws at 5:08 PM on July 8, 2017 [8 favorites]
In this vein, I've been having a ton of fun with Gigantic, which is free in open beta on Win10/Xbox, has a good roster of heroes, and is quite forgiving for crap gamers like me. Not a huge player base -- nobody on MeFightClub (yet...?) but I don't seem to have much trouble finding games.
posted by Shepherd at 6:11 PM on July 8, 2017
posted by Shepherd at 6:11 PM on July 8, 2017
I dislike FPS/twitch games because I am an old, and am terribad.
Overwatch is really great. My 11 played Doomfist on the PTR all day when it came out. Liked him a lot. Seems to overlap Winston's job though...
posted by Windopaene at 6:14 PM on July 8, 2017
Overwatch is really great. My 11 played Doomfist on the PTR all day when it came out. Liked him a lot. Seems to overlap Winston's job though...
posted by Windopaene at 6:14 PM on July 8, 2017
Didn't play past the open beta, but I've got kind of a crush on Zarya. That is all.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:32 PM on July 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:32 PM on July 8, 2017 [1 favorite]
Didn't play past the open beta, but I've got kind of a crush on Zarya. That is all.
That's because Zarya rules!
Haven't had a chance to get into the PTR and play Doomfist yet, sadly, but I can't wait to try him. Now all we need is a few more good maps... And we play most nights, check out he MeFight Club Overwatch thread for battle.net usernames.
posted by gemmy at 8:49 PM on July 8, 2017
That's because Zarya rules!
Haven't had a chance to get into the PTR and play Doomfist yet, sadly, but I can't wait to try him. Now all we need is a few more good maps... And we play most nights, check out he MeFight Club Overwatch thread for battle.net usernames.
posted by gemmy at 8:49 PM on July 8, 2017
vogon_poet: what overwatch character is best for people who are fairly bad at first-person shooters?
JDHarper: Lucio is kind of the go-to: You can turn on the healing aura and stand near your teammates and help them out, and everyone will like that.
Please don't play Lucio like this. While the old Lucio might have been somewhat useful when played as a mobile backline heal station, the new Lucio most decidedly isn't. Since Lucio has some damage and a much smaller aura radius now he requires a lot of mechanical skill to play in a way your teammates generally are expecting. A Lucio player today needs to both juggle both auras and do occasional dives at the enemy to harrass them. In addition, to be useful you need to at a minimum be able to drop the beat at the right time and keeping track of your teammates and the overall game situation can be hard even when you know all the maps by heart.
In short: don't pick new Lucio as your first character.
For learning the game (especially if you are mechanically bad) you'll probably want to play Mercy a lot. You will always be useful and will learn the maps quickly since you need learn how to stay alive, which means a lot of hiding.
If you don't want to heal all the time, playing D.Va in an off-tank sort of role is a good option. Her mobility and survivability mean that once you learn what sort of engagements you can safely take you are useful even when you are not just holding down M2. The old Roadhog would have been great too, but unfortunately after the recent nerfs he's basically useless.
For a player just starting out I really suggest playing the Mystery Heroes arcade mode a lot. It forces you into random heroes and allows you to learn how to play them without the pressure of having to do well.
Also, don't worry if your mechanics are not very good. Mine aren't either, but I can still play several heroes adequately. The great thing about Overwatch (and I'd say the reason for its popularity) is that you can compensate a ton with good game sense and picking the right hero at the right time.
posted by Soi-hah at 11:07 PM on July 8, 2017 [3 favorites]
JDHarper: Lucio is kind of the go-to: You can turn on the healing aura and stand near your teammates and help them out, and everyone will like that.
Please don't play Lucio like this. While the old Lucio might have been somewhat useful when played as a mobile backline heal station, the new Lucio most decidedly isn't. Since Lucio has some damage and a much smaller aura radius now he requires a lot of mechanical skill to play in a way your teammates generally are expecting. A Lucio player today needs to both juggle both auras and do occasional dives at the enemy to harrass them. In addition, to be useful you need to at a minimum be able to drop the beat at the right time and keeping track of your teammates and the overall game situation can be hard even when you know all the maps by heart.
In short: don't pick new Lucio as your first character.
For learning the game (especially if you are mechanically bad) you'll probably want to play Mercy a lot. You will always be useful and will learn the maps quickly since you need learn how to stay alive, which means a lot of hiding.
If you don't want to heal all the time, playing D.Va in an off-tank sort of role is a good option. Her mobility and survivability mean that once you learn what sort of engagements you can safely take you are useful even when you are not just holding down M2. The old Roadhog would have been great too, but unfortunately after the recent nerfs he's basically useless.
For a player just starting out I really suggest playing the Mystery Heroes arcade mode a lot. It forces you into random heroes and allows you to learn how to play them without the pressure of having to do well.
Also, don't worry if your mechanics are not very good. Mine aren't either, but I can still play several heroes adequately. The great thing about Overwatch (and I'd say the reason for its popularity) is that you can compensate a ton with good game sense and picking the right hero at the right time.
posted by Soi-hah at 11:07 PM on July 8, 2017 [3 favorites]
I'm also very pleased about Doomfist narratively. Overwatch has not previously had that kind of grandiose, bombastic villainy. Reaper is a mook. He's a powerful mook, but he's not a leader, and on a personal level, he's more pathetic than imposing. Widowmaker is all business. Sombra puts the emphasis on the Chaotic more than the Evil.
Having someone who is able to make Dr. Doom-style pronouncements ("I am escorting the payload personally.") and generally revel in being a gigantic badass is a great boon in the larger story arc of the clash of ideals.
posted by Scattercat at 11:29 PM on July 8, 2017 [7 favorites]
Having someone who is able to make Dr. Doom-style pronouncements ("I am escorting the payload personally.") and generally revel in being a gigantic badass is a great boon in the larger story arc of the clash of ideals.
posted by Scattercat at 11:29 PM on July 8, 2017 [7 favorites]
Actually, I'm going to take this opportunity to complain about the Roadhog nerf.
I have mad respect for Jeff Kaplan, but reading his latest wall of text about balance especially after seeing Doomfist on the PTR just made me sigh. "We don't like one-shot combos so we nerfed Roadhog to the ground" and then release Doomfist who can... one-shot squishes just like Roadhog. Not even on a combo. Just a fully-charged rocket punch against a wall will do. In fact Doomfist can reliably one-shot MORE squishies than Hog could: Doomfist's rocket punch does equal damage to all heroes no matter what their hitbox looks like as long as they are hit.
Now you could argue that Doomfist needs to dive in to get the kill whereas Roadhog could stay safely with his team, but the end result is the same: every X seconds the characters gains the potential of one-shotting someone. You could also argue that you have at least some chance to avoid Doomfist, but you did also with Roadhog: if you just kept your distance Hoggo couldn't harm you in any way. Your team then could then burn him down first (tons of options here, literally every character except maybe Junkrat and Reinhardt can help). Not at all uncounterable. Bait the hook, burn him down. Even if he manages to escape at least you got a ton of ult charge.
The bullshittiest of all bullshit arguments, however, is the "it was not fun to play against" one. Apparently getting one-shotted from a Tracer pulse bomb is fun, but getting punished from bad positioning (something you can very easily control) is not. I don't get it.
Oh well, I hope Blizzard likes the generic store brand Reaper they nerfed Hogster into. I'll just put more hours in Zarya.
posted by Soi-hah at 12:05 AM on July 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
I have mad respect for Jeff Kaplan, but reading his latest wall of text about balance especially after seeing Doomfist on the PTR just made me sigh. "We don't like one-shot combos so we nerfed Roadhog to the ground" and then release Doomfist who can... one-shot squishes just like Roadhog. Not even on a combo. Just a fully-charged rocket punch against a wall will do. In fact Doomfist can reliably one-shot MORE squishies than Hog could: Doomfist's rocket punch does equal damage to all heroes no matter what their hitbox looks like as long as they are hit.
Now you could argue that Doomfist needs to dive in to get the kill whereas Roadhog could stay safely with his team, but the end result is the same: every X seconds the characters gains the potential of one-shotting someone. You could also argue that you have at least some chance to avoid Doomfist, but you did also with Roadhog: if you just kept your distance Hoggo couldn't harm you in any way. Your team then could then burn him down first (tons of options here, literally every character except maybe Junkrat and Reinhardt can help). Not at all uncounterable. Bait the hook, burn him down. Even if he manages to escape at least you got a ton of ult charge.
The bullshittiest of all bullshit arguments, however, is the "it was not fun to play against" one. Apparently getting one-shotted from a Tracer pulse bomb is fun, but getting punished from bad positioning (something you can very easily control) is not. I don't get it.
Oh well, I hope Blizzard likes the generic store brand Reaper they nerfed Hogster into. I'll just put more hours in Zarya.
posted by Soi-hah at 12:05 AM on July 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
Question - Can you hop back and forth from the PTR to the normal regions, or what? I have a slowish connection, and I don't want to switch to the PTR if there is a ton of redownloading. OTOH, want to check out Doomfist. It would be nice if there was another striker I could enjoy other than Reaper.
Also, as someone that has slowly morphed to a fairly regular Lucio player, he's nice if you want to heal and support your team, but still mix it up a bit. Plus he can be LETHAL on maps with serious drops off cliffs. (Got a PoTG with Lucio today on Volskaya.)
posted by Samizdata at 12:12 AM on July 9, 2017
Also, as someone that has slowly morphed to a fairly regular Lucio player, he's nice if you want to heal and support your team, but still mix it up a bit. Plus he can be LETHAL on maps with serious drops off cliffs. (Got a PoTG with Lucio today on Volskaya.)
posted by Samizdata at 12:12 AM on July 9, 2017
Torbjorn is overpowered, but not much fun to play.
Also, I'm surprised no-one suggested Mercy for vogon_poet.
posted by pompomtom at 2:17 AM on July 9, 2017
Also, I'm surprised no-one suggested Mercy for vogon_poet.
posted by pompomtom at 2:17 AM on July 9, 2017
They did!
I've actually had fun with Torbjorn since I stopped sweating babysitting the turret and started using his shotgun blast, that thing packs a wallop. (this may only be effective in quickplay and ps4 gold competitive, which is... Pretty similar to quickplay)
posted by ominous_paws at 2:41 AM on July 9, 2017
I've actually had fun with Torbjorn since I stopped sweating babysitting the turret and started using his shotgun blast, that thing packs a wallop. (this may only be effective in quickplay and ps4 gold competitive, which is... Pretty similar to quickplay)
posted by ominous_paws at 2:41 AM on July 9, 2017
Oh, right. Hey, loads of times. Good. That. I think I need sleep.
posted by pompomtom at 2:47 AM on July 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by pompomtom at 2:47 AM on July 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
...and nth Symmetra if your aiming's not so great. She is awesome fun to play, tough as, and really contributes to the team.
posted by pompomtom at 2:51 AM on July 9, 2017
posted by pompomtom at 2:51 AM on July 9, 2017
I do love me some Symmetra. Crafty turret placement can REALLY make for an uncomfortable situation.
I have several Funko Pops from various product lines. Two are on display. One is a brazen idol looking Cthulhu that lives atop my computer, out of it's box. One guess what the one in box on display is.
posted by Samizdata at 2:53 AM on July 9, 2017
I have several Funko Pops from various product lines. Two are on display. One is a brazen idol looking Cthulhu that lives atop my computer, out of it's box. One guess what the one in box on display is.
posted by Samizdata at 2:53 AM on July 9, 2017
Now you could argue that Doomfist needs to dive in to get the kill whereas Roadhog could stay safely with his team, but the end result is the same: every X seconds the characters gains the potential of one-shotting someone.
Strongly disagree. If Roadhog misses a 15m hook, he is still 15m from the enemy. If he's close to his team, he will have access to healers and shields (depending on team comp). He will most likely survive to cast his hook again in 8 seconds. If Doomfist misses a 15m rocket punch, he is within melee distance of the enemy team (making him far easier to kill) and 15m from his team, making him harder to heal or shield. If Doomfist is dead, he can't rocket punch an enemy within 8 seconds.
Lets say for argument sake that connecting with a hook and a rocket punch requires the same amount of player skill (if it isn't the same, it's really close anyway). Roadhog's hook is low risk, high reward, but Doomfist is high risk, high reward.
The bullshittiest of all bullshit arguments, however, is the "it was not fun to play against" one. Apparently getting one-shotted from a Tracer pulse bomb is fun, but getting punished from bad positioning (something you can very easily control) is not. I don't get it.
Come on, it's also bullshit to compare ultimate abilities (pulse bomb) with standard abilities (hook, rocket punch). You could have instead pointed out that widowmaker can get one shot kills, but then I would point out that the player skill needed to get widowmaker headshots is so very much higher than landing a hook or rocket punch. Also, getting hooked is already punishment for bad positioning -- you are pulled further away from healing and shields. It's just that Roadhog needs to left click twice now instead of once to secure the kill, assuming he isn't with another teammate to can do damage too.
I don't consider this retooling of Roadhog a nerf. Yes, he does 33% less damage per shot, but his fire rate increased 30% and has more ammo per reload -- maintaining the same effective dps. They also shrunk his head hit box making it harder to land critical hits on him. A Roadhog who can effectively work with and around his team is still as dangerous as before. A solo, flanking Roadhog now needs two (now, more rapid) shots to secure a kill instead of one after a hook, which can be done, but requires more skill to do.
Tldr:
Old Roadhog hook and shot kill: _ _ _low/moderate skill, low risk, high reward
New Roadhog hook and shot kill: _ _ moderate skill, low risk, high reward
Doomfist rocket punch: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _low/moderate skill, high risk, high reward
Widowmaker headshot: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _high skill, low risk, high reward
I don't really care about the opinion of a single dev for a game, especially when he admits that he works for a team that collaboratively makes decisions; but being able to secure an insta-kill with lower skill and low risk isn't fair in my opinion. I just think Roadhog players need to up their game a bit to secure solo kills. The target is still so close to you after a hook.
posted by Groundhog Week at 6:55 AM on July 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
Strongly disagree. If Roadhog misses a 15m hook, he is still 15m from the enemy. If he's close to his team, he will have access to healers and shields (depending on team comp). He will most likely survive to cast his hook again in 8 seconds. If Doomfist misses a 15m rocket punch, he is within melee distance of the enemy team (making him far easier to kill) and 15m from his team, making him harder to heal or shield. If Doomfist is dead, he can't rocket punch an enemy within 8 seconds.
Lets say for argument sake that connecting with a hook and a rocket punch requires the same amount of player skill (if it isn't the same, it's really close anyway). Roadhog's hook is low risk, high reward, but Doomfist is high risk, high reward.
The bullshittiest of all bullshit arguments, however, is the "it was not fun to play against" one. Apparently getting one-shotted from a Tracer pulse bomb is fun, but getting punished from bad positioning (something you can very easily control) is not. I don't get it.
Come on, it's also bullshit to compare ultimate abilities (pulse bomb) with standard abilities (hook, rocket punch). You could have instead pointed out that widowmaker can get one shot kills, but then I would point out that the player skill needed to get widowmaker headshots is so very much higher than landing a hook or rocket punch. Also, getting hooked is already punishment for bad positioning -- you are pulled further away from healing and shields. It's just that Roadhog needs to left click twice now instead of once to secure the kill, assuming he isn't with another teammate to can do damage too.
I don't consider this retooling of Roadhog a nerf. Yes, he does 33% less damage per shot, but his fire rate increased 30% and has more ammo per reload -- maintaining the same effective dps. They also shrunk his head hit box making it harder to land critical hits on him. A Roadhog who can effectively work with and around his team is still as dangerous as before. A solo, flanking Roadhog now needs two (now, more rapid) shots to secure a kill instead of one after a hook, which can be done, but requires more skill to do.
Tldr:
Old Roadhog hook and shot kill: _ _ _low/moderate skill, low risk, high reward
New Roadhog hook and shot kill: _ _ moderate skill, low risk, high reward
Doomfist rocket punch: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _low/moderate skill, high risk, high reward
Widowmaker headshot: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _high skill, low risk, high reward
I don't really care about the opinion of a single dev for a game, especially when he admits that he works for a team that collaboratively makes decisions; but being able to secure an insta-kill with lower skill and low risk isn't fair in my opinion. I just think Roadhog players need to up their game a bit to secure solo kills. The target is still so close to you after a hook.
posted by Groundhog Week at 6:55 AM on July 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
Overwatch is great but the lootbox system totally ruins it for me.
The one with the loot that has zero effect on gameplay totally ruins it for you? Like, genuinely, how?
Well, I could write an entire comment about it, but I'll just link these two Jim Sterling videos which explain why I object to the whole loot system:
Pay To Spray: Overwatch And Microtransactions
Loot n' Plunder
posted by Pendragon at 10:51 AM on July 9, 2017
The one with the loot that has zero effect on gameplay totally ruins it for you? Like, genuinely, how?
Well, I could write an entire comment about it, but I'll just link these two Jim Sterling videos which explain why I object to the whole loot system:
Pay To Spray: Overwatch And Microtransactions
Loot n' Plunder
posted by Pendragon at 10:51 AM on July 9, 2017
From what I've seen all the characters start really strong and then they implement nerfs. I'm just going to assume they're going to make him weaker after they take him out of PTR.
Roadhog nerf needed to happen. It really was an ult every 8 seconds that people were capitalizing on by hiding around a corner or in a doorway and popping out to catch-and-kill. Meaning you could whittle down the players to 4v6 or 3v6 pretty quickly if you're offence with a decent team comp and skill, which also means you could just steamroll over the other team. Adding to the fact that he is a tank, is quite capable in short to medium range, and has three times the hp of other characters that
When considering a character to play you should be looking at a couple of things: offensive or defensive, range, style of play. Most people just use style of play or rather who they enjoy playing the most, which is fine except I've developed a little ironic chant of "no tanks, no healers,no tanks, no healers,no tanks, no healers!" Because you know it's going to be a crappy round when the first four picks are a combination of Genji, McRee, Hanzo, Black Widow, COD 76, Tracer, possibly someone else w/<250hp, and then maybe an Anna because every team needs more than one sniper. Not that every rando combo comp sucks, but if the other team walks out with a tank and Mercy or Lucio then it's game over, man. Steam roller city. That usually happens during primetime for casual players. At that point I have no qualms about picking my favorite main, Pharah, just because I like her and at this point have mained her for long enough that I'm pretty decent with her. Although, she's basically a floating squishy target.
D.Va or Soldier are probably the best rounded characters in the ease of use dept. Also, D.Va has a built in rocket punch capability that just needs a little bit of timing and can be fun to boop others out of environment.
posted by P.o.B. at 12:54 PM on July 9, 2017
Roadhog nerf needed to happen. It really was an ult every 8 seconds that people were capitalizing on by hiding around a corner or in a doorway and popping out to catch-and-kill. Meaning you could whittle down the players to 4v6 or 3v6 pretty quickly if you're offence with a decent team comp and skill, which also means you could just steamroll over the other team. Adding to the fact that he is a tank, is quite capable in short to medium range, and has three times the hp of other characters that
When considering a character to play you should be looking at a couple of things: offensive or defensive, range, style of play. Most people just use style of play or rather who they enjoy playing the most, which is fine except I've developed a little ironic chant of "no tanks, no healers,no tanks, no healers,no tanks, no healers!" Because you know it's going to be a crappy round when the first four picks are a combination of Genji, McRee, Hanzo, Black Widow, COD 76, Tracer, possibly someone else w/<250hp, and then maybe an Anna because every team needs more than one sniper. Not that every rando combo comp sucks, but if the other team walks out with a tank and Mercy or Lucio then it's game over, man. Steam roller city. That usually happens during primetime for casual players. At that point I have no qualms about picking my favorite main, Pharah, just because I like her and at this point have mained her for long enough that I'm pretty decent with her. Although, she's basically a floating squishy target.
D.Va or Soldier are probably the best rounded characters in the ease of use dept. Also, D.Va has a built in rocket punch capability that just needs a little bit of timing and can be fun to boop others out of environment.
posted by P.o.B. at 12:54 PM on July 9, 2017
So if I'm reading this right, Doomfist is kind of like dropping in a dude from Street Fighter in the middle of a first person shooter?
That RULES.
posted by ShawnStruck at 9:36 PM on July 9, 2017
That RULES.
posted by ShawnStruck at 9:36 PM on July 9, 2017
But the argument against "pay to play" doesn't really apply when the only benefit you get from said microtransactions is cosmetic. There are no heroes or abilities that you unlock by paying for them or earning in lootboxes. It's foolish to complain about them trying to keep an ongoing revenue stream when they have to run the servers and so on to keep the "full price game" actually playable.
posted by Scattercat at 9:59 PM on July 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by Scattercat at 9:59 PM on July 9, 2017 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I don't have time to sit through two YouTube videos, so it's a shame, but the idea that people could consider a game ruined because it doesn't hand out little cosmetic bonuses in a way they feel is generous enough... is indicative that some people expect very different things from an experience than I do?
posted by ominous_paws at 11:16 PM on July 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by ominous_paws at 11:16 PM on July 9, 2017 [1 favorite]
Cosmetic benefits are still benefits. To quite the video I linked: "You can claim it doesn't affect game play and on a detached, mechanical, technical level, sure, it doesn't. On a psychological level, the meta level and the community level however, it absolutely does. Let's not be disingenuous and pretend cosmetics aren't part of a game experience."
Don't get me wrong, I still play Overwatch, but as I said, I find the way lootboxes work shady.
posted by Pendragon at 11:23 PM on July 9, 2017
Don't get me wrong, I still play Overwatch, but as I said, I find the way lootboxes work shady.
posted by Pendragon at 11:23 PM on July 9, 2017
I just don't see a problem with saying "If you want to make your game look different, pay us." Sure, it's gambling, and therefore "shady," but it's gambling with meaningless tokens. I feel like condemning the game for it is like condemning penny-ante poker. I reserve my ranting youtube videos for games that require actual payment to play properly. (coughcough*hearthstone*cough)
posted by Scattercat at 11:45 PM on July 9, 2017
posted by Scattercat at 11:45 PM on July 9, 2017
Sure, cosmetic benefits are still benefits, its just that these are so minimal and inconsequential that I'm baffled that anyone could get super bent out of shape over blizzard making a revenue stream out of them in a game that has no subscription fees; and people have gotten way more aggro elsewhere than in this thread. I don't think it's disingenuous to look at the difference between the overwatch unlocks and an f2p game that cripples your ability to compete, and find that difference meaningful. A meaningful cosmetic benefit to me would be, say, only unlocking medium or high graphical detail by paying or winning a lottery prize - spray and emotes just feel like fluff that's barely noticeable.
It's really just interesting - some players seem to be driven by a sense of completism that I lack, I find this to be on the same sort of level as people playing and buying games for the sole purpose of completing achievements. It's fun when I get a cool little unlock but the contribution of this to my motivation for playing is absolutely nothing. Different strokes, I guess.
posted by ominous_paws at 12:28 AM on July 10, 2017
It's really just interesting - some players seem to be driven by a sense of completism that I lack, I find this to be on the same sort of level as people playing and buying games for the sole purpose of completing achievements. It's fun when I get a cool little unlock but the contribution of this to my motivation for playing is absolutely nothing. Different strokes, I guess.
posted by ominous_paws at 12:28 AM on July 10, 2017
I mean especially when people seem to be playing purely for the unlocks and nothing else - the tales of "I put sixty hours a week into this event and didn't unlock everything, am furious" just show a totally different conception to my own.
The only part of this which ires me is the idea that competitive play still giving you points toward unlocks might be contributing towards issues with throwing and other antisocial behaviours. If this is the case I'd prefer the collecting be kept in QP and Arcade.
posted by ominous_paws at 12:33 AM on July 10, 2017
The only part of this which ires me is the idea that competitive play still giving you points toward unlocks might be contributing towards issues with throwing and other antisocial behaviours. If this is the case I'd prefer the collecting be kept in QP and Arcade.
posted by ominous_paws at 12:33 AM on July 10, 2017
My only real issue with the lootboxes for sale is that there is ZERO guarantee of zero duplication. I have had quite enough duplication as a non-microtransacting player, it's pretty much soured me on the idea of said microtransactions (of course, not having any plastic helps a bit too).
OTOH, I like having the lootboxes as a method of controlling my game time. I play until I level up on days that I play. I then exit and open my lootbox. That means I am done (of course, after wishing my fellow players happy hunting, as I always do).
posted by Samizdata at 2:25 AM on July 10, 2017
OTOH, I like having the lootboxes as a method of controlling my game time. I play until I level up on days that I play. I then exit and open my lootbox. That means I am done (of course, after wishing my fellow players happy hunting, as I always do).
posted by Samizdata at 2:25 AM on July 10, 2017
Also, a little disappointed by the misleading introduction of this thread. You got me to log into OW, which I had been taking a break from, just to discover that Doomfist was still in prison.
Booooo! Bad form, people.
Also, no answer about my PTR question then?
posted by Samizdata at 2:27 AM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
Booooo! Bad form, people.
Also, no answer about my PTR question then?
posted by Samizdata at 2:27 AM on July 10, 2017 [1 favorite]
So apparently Changes Are Coming To Overwatch Loot Boxes. Less duplication and more credits from lootboxes is a good change.
posted by Pendragon at 2:58 AM on July 10, 2017
posted by Pendragon at 2:58 AM on July 10, 2017
they basically only get played in situations where they are extremely strong and do not get played at any other times.
Counterpoint: I play a lot of Mystery Heroes, and find that Symmetra can be devastating and extremely annoying as a harrier when she's in the "wrong" situation. Unless I'm Junkrat or Pharah, she makes me extremely nervous, and most characters cannot survive or ecsape her no-aiming magical death beam. I take a lot of pleasure in ruining her day with Pharah though.
posted by Foosnark at 6:58 AM on July 10, 2017
Counterpoint: I play a lot of Mystery Heroes, and find that Symmetra can be devastating and extremely annoying as a harrier when she's in the "wrong" situation. Unless I'm Junkrat or Pharah, she makes me extremely nervous, and most characters cannot survive or ecsape her no-aiming magical death beam. I take a lot of pleasure in ruining her day with Pharah though.
posted by Foosnark at 6:58 AM on July 10, 2017
Doomfist rocket punch: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _low/moderate skill, high risk, high reward
Widowmaker headshot: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _high skill, low risk, high reward
Can we talk, then, about how Hanzo's scatter arrow is low skill, low risk, and high reward? A good Hanzo can one shot you with a headshot... Meanwhile, a bad Hanzo can still one shot you by shooting at your feet.
posted by Gordafarin at 8:03 AM on July 10, 2017
Widowmaker headshot: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _high skill, low risk, high reward
Can we talk, then, about how Hanzo's scatter arrow is low skill, low risk, and high reward? A good Hanzo can one shot you with a headshot... Meanwhile, a bad Hanzo can still one shot you by shooting at your feet.
posted by Gordafarin at 8:03 AM on July 10, 2017
Yeah, I disagree with the notion that Torbjorn and Symmetra are overpowered. A half decent Pharah can make either of their lives pretty difficult. Torb's turret can hassle Pharah, but she can destroy it with 3 rocket hits, so a peeking Pharah can keep Torb busy repairing or rebuilding turrets.
On the other hand, I sometimes play Symmetra and a well timed shield can make JUSTICE RAINS FROM AAAuuugghh so satisfying.
Recently I've been embracing my inner scientist and playing a lot of Winston. Learning the finer points of how to time jumping in, zapping people and escaping. He is especially fun on capture the flag maps. A word of advice for newbies: His gun doesn't require precise aim, but it is not an auto-aim weapon like Symmetra's beam, it's an invisible cone that projects forward from his gun. So you do need to keep it pointed generally in the direction of the person you're trying to zap.
Also, I recommend mapping his "Sorry about that!" voice line to right click so you can apologize whilst zapping people.
posted by Fleebnork at 8:17 AM on July 10, 2017
On the other hand, I sometimes play Symmetra and a well timed shield can make JUSTICE RAINS FROM AAAuuugghh so satisfying.
Recently I've been embracing my inner scientist and playing a lot of Winston. Learning the finer points of how to time jumping in, zapping people and escaping. He is especially fun on capture the flag maps. A word of advice for newbies: His gun doesn't require precise aim, but it is not an auto-aim weapon like Symmetra's beam, it's an invisible cone that projects forward from his gun. So you do need to keep it pointed generally in the direction of the person you're trying to zap.
Also, I recommend mapping his "Sorry about that!" voice line to right click so you can apologize whilst zapping people.
posted by Fleebnork at 8:17 AM on July 10, 2017
Samizdata: The PTR functions as a separate game install. Just like the normal game install, you will periodically get updates (which can disable) the only difference being that PTR operates on an "advance" patch ahead of the normal game, and may not be available at all times.
On another topic... the complaining about loot boxes... the idea that people are unhappy that Blizzard isn't handing out free cosmetics with zero gameplay impact to them fast enough is probably indicative of the crazy entitlement that gamers nowadays seem to have... Honestly any single cosmetic is incredibly cheap (legendary for 1,000 credits) that for a level 300-400 player like me has probably accumulated, I don't know, 30,000 credits by now, obtaining the cosmetic I want to use is trivial, realistically, a player could only really master 6-7 heroes, and each can only wear one cosmetic at once, right... Even the special time limited cosmetics are only 3,000 credits. There is ZERO gambling involved, you WILL have enough credits to buy any specific legendary you want. I have never felt like I needed to gamble for anything, I have never felt the inability to obtain any item I wanted. But that's my own experience: I acknowledge that maybe for people who don't play much (less than level 50) or people who somehow must unlock every cosmetic even for characters they don't play, may get frustrated.
And I may have a contrary view, I guess, for what new players should play. I generally trust in the matchmaking algorithms, having played many competitive games, the game will find the right cohort for you to play with, so really, you should just play the hero you enjoy, not the hero people think is simpler for new players to play. After all, if you're not having fun, this kind of defeats the point of playing the game, right? I'd rather a player have fun playing Ana (and not doing very well at it) rather than do well at Mercy and go up in ranks faster but not really enjoy it as much. Also there's no point rushing up the ranking ladder at all, it just makes it THAT much harder for you to go back and learn Ana now.
posted by xdvesper at 5:08 PM on July 10, 2017
On another topic... the complaining about loot boxes... the idea that people are unhappy that Blizzard isn't handing out free cosmetics with zero gameplay impact to them fast enough is probably indicative of the crazy entitlement that gamers nowadays seem to have... Honestly any single cosmetic is incredibly cheap (legendary for 1,000 credits) that for a level 300-400 player like me has probably accumulated, I don't know, 30,000 credits by now, obtaining the cosmetic I want to use is trivial, realistically, a player could only really master 6-7 heroes, and each can only wear one cosmetic at once, right... Even the special time limited cosmetics are only 3,000 credits. There is ZERO gambling involved, you WILL have enough credits to buy any specific legendary you want. I have never felt like I needed to gamble for anything, I have never felt the inability to obtain any item I wanted. But that's my own experience: I acknowledge that maybe for people who don't play much (less than level 50) or people who somehow must unlock every cosmetic even for characters they don't play, may get frustrated.
And I may have a contrary view, I guess, for what new players should play. I generally trust in the matchmaking algorithms, having played many competitive games, the game will find the right cohort for you to play with, so really, you should just play the hero you enjoy, not the hero people think is simpler for new players to play. After all, if you're not having fun, this kind of defeats the point of playing the game, right? I'd rather a player have fun playing Ana (and not doing very well at it) rather than do well at Mercy and go up in ranks faster but not really enjoy it as much. Also there's no point rushing up the ranking ladder at all, it just makes it THAT much harder for you to go back and learn Ana now.
posted by xdvesper at 5:08 PM on July 10, 2017
One thing I used to do on the PTR - the PTR copied your main account data over for testing, so I would not spend any credits on my actual account (I had a balance of 20,000 credits) and I would just buy the cosmetics on the PTR and try them out and play with them.... then when the PTR "refreshed" the account data from my main account again, which it does periodically, my PTR account would again have 20,000 credits, I would buy a different set of cosmetics to try them out.
posted by xdvesper at 5:11 PM on July 10, 2017
posted by xdvesper at 5:11 PM on July 10, 2017
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