I’d like to say first that I truly love the game of Overwatch. I’ve been gaming for most of my 33 years on Earth and this really is my favorite shooter.
I am concerned by the general trend toward trying to make Overwatch faster, presumably with the goal of attracting a wider player base to the game. I understand this motive, but I feel strongly that speeding up Overwatch is detrimental to the soul of the game.
For an example of what I mean, let’s look at 2CP (my old least favorite) vs Flashpoint (my new least favorite). I can’t say which I like ‘better’, because they have such different problems. 2CP was, when it went wrong, quintessential ‘bad Overwatch’; stalemates, repetitive fights, rage-induced trickling, etc. But it was Overwatch.
Flashpoint feels, to me, like Call of Duty with Overwatch characters. I think of Overwatch as two well-positioned teams battling over space. With Flashpoint, there’s usually one or sometimes two team fights per objective, and the rest of the time is spent fighting in transition. I barely enjoy it even when I play well and get a good result; when the game is rough, I feel like I’ve wasted my time and can’t even really use the game to improve at Overwatch, because it doesn’t feel like Overwatch.
This weekend’s Quicker Play event exaggerates this problem considerably (with the notable exception of Push; I’ve always felt 10 minutes was too long for this mode). I don’t have any desire to see Overwatch made ‘easier’ for people who don’t fundamentally love Overwatch. The idea of shortening respawns is very disappointing to me, and will significantly buff speed characters in a way that I’m not sure has been fully evaluated by the balance team. More importantly, when the penalty for mistakes goes down, so does the influence of game sense. There are already plenty of games focused on quick 1v1s, aim duels, and constant action; let Overwatch be unique! And as much as we all hate stalemates, working as a team to break one is SO rewarding! This won’t happen anymore if the game speeds up.
Lastly, I must express my disappointment that Quicker Play is a takeover event rather than an Experimental mode. I like to win 2 comp games and 2 QP games per day, but this weekend will be a frustrating one in which to maintain this routine. If significant changes like this are being considered, please offer a standard QP option for those who do not care for the temporary mode.
Thank you for your time.