This new hero lock-out function or whatever the game calls it is, in my opinion, the latest in a long line of questionable design choices. That 2-2-2 set up was hard enough for me to swallow because it threw a lot of what made the game fun out of the window, went outside, picked it back up and then threw it out of the window again, then there where various nerfs, Christ I hate that word, the various nerfs of characters that worked perfectly well but people where to unwilling to adapt.
I do get the sense that, in the lead-up to Overpriced 2 they are trying harder and harder to axe this game, which wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t an online exclusive, if it had something else it could fall back on so that it either wouldn’t need the devs attention for the rest of time or wouldn’t need to be slowly and painfully euthanized in a way the upsets increasingly large portions of the fan-base. I wouldn’t call myself a fan and now even this bugging me.
This hero-lock thing is just another attempt at balance that will go nowhere, yes it may occasionally cause players to switch up who they use which is a good thing in that in encourages shifts from comfort zones and a bad thing because from what I can tell, it doesn’t cap the lock-outs based on class, so there could be two tanks out one time or two healers. Losing two damage isn’t so big deal, there are a lot of damage characters but if two tanks/two healers are locked out then those wonderful souls who play these classes are more likely to be severely hobbled. I like a challenge but this isn’t creating challenge so much as p*ssing us about.
I will be honest, I uninstalled Overwatch a few days ago because I needed the storage space for another game and I figured it was the one I was least likely to play again so for all I know this problem could be dealt with, removed or programmed better. I don’t know and frankly I don’t really care anymore. I don’t want to say “Overwatch is dead.” I will say I believe it is dying because it’s parents are slowly poisoning it. I could be wrong, in a year or whenever Overcotch 2 is released this game could see a resurgence by the fans and players who, like me who don’t want to spend the extra money on the new game plus new console. I can’t see the future, well expect for the insect people invasion but I fear I’ve said too much…
To me, this lock function is just another sign that the developer team either really are trying to kill the game or, perhaps they haven’t a clue what they are doing anymore. It is sad for me to think that this is another game that for one reason or another I likely never return to. I don’t want to be talked in/out of that, that isn’t the point of this little, well this long rant. I would like to see things change for the better, I don’t expect much in the near future what with the global pandemic and there are more important things to worry about rather than a video game about gun-toting mums and dads in cosplay.