Hi, I just want to share my thoughts on the perks system as a mostly competitive player who in Overwatch 2, has mostly played between High Diamond and low to Mid Master. At the end, I will also briefly touch on hero bans.
Perks:
For the short version, before I go in depth: I think these changes are some of the worst things to be added to the game since I started playing in 2018, and the game will suffer more for them; they may even be the final nail in the coffin of Overwatch. If they stay, especially in the way they are now, I myself will be leaving Overwatch behind for good.
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My main issue right off the bat with perks, is that they are a slap in the face to players who have spent years getting used to these heroes and perfecting their play with them. Sure, we have had balance changes in the past, but nothing as seismic as a selection of four new abilities for every hero, all introduced to the game in the same update. Some of the perks of course do not affect general playstyle a lot, like Reaper being able to have increased lifesteal after Wraith Form ends, but some of them fundamentally change how a character is/can be played. For example, with Reaper again, but this time being able to use his right click to send a âlong range volley.â Never has a Reaper player had to use their right click before apart from cancelling the Shadow Step confirmation window, but now, they are almost forced to use it in their general rotation, even if they donât want to. Why? Because this perk is going to be objectively better than the increased lifesteal after wraith in the vast majority of situations, as it enables Reaper to engage enemies way earlier than he usually would, and gives a significant buff to his potential against flying heroes that come in a little too close. This is of course just one example, and Iâm happy to provide more if people would like. Itâs like they have done a forced rework on every hero, when there are really only select heroes who could have used rework, and even then, I fundamentally hate the idea of reworks and way prefer just damage and healing number tuning, as it doesnât mess with peopleâs muscle memory or time put into a hero before you pull itâs guts out through itâs mouth. Unfortunately, gutting systems, doing needless reworks, and adding in pointless new systems are some of Blizzardâs favourite pastimes across all of their games. I have the same sadness with a lot of things in Overwatch, WoW and Diablo 4.
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The second reason I hate perks so far is almost the opposite of my first point. If people for some reason get used to these perks after years of muscle memory learning, it is now going to feel like you are missing something every time you have to play your hero pre-perked. Youâre giving players something and then snatching it back away after every single game. This is magnified in deathmatch modes, where you cannot even get your perks. One of the main reasons I loved overwatch to begin with was the simple plug and play feel. No leveling, no gear, no talents, just your hero and itâs kit that you know like the back of your hand; load into a game and blast away. That is now literally torn away from me and many people who feel exactly the same as I do about it.
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The third reason I hate perks so far is because they have been implemented into the UI and gameplay loop in a disastrous way. Which developer thought it would be a great idea to have them on a charge up system based on your damage and healing done similar to ultimate charge, and then to have them become available to select literally whilst you are fighting, which means you have to either wait until your current fight is over, or try your luck to quickly select one mid fight? The current way is not only unfair to players who simply arenât as objectively good at the game, as they will struggle to get their perks vs those who are more skilled than them, but it is also super dumb to make people have to choose between continuing the fight, or quickly hopping into the UI to select a perk. I submit that if perks are going to be a thing, they should be selected in the waiting rooms, and everyone gets the perks at the same time regardless of their performance or output. For Control, Escort and Hybrid matches, have 1 perk selection before round 1, and one before round 2; if there are more than 2 rounds, have everyone get to re-select both minor and major perks each round from that point onwards. For Push, Flashpoint and Clash matches, the only decent way of perks being implemented would be to have both perk tiers available for everyone from the beginning of the match since there are no rounds, side switches or waiting rooms once the match has begun. Honestly, the way perks have been implemented is fundamentally awful. It is like the developers asked a baby to design and implement them⌠In fact, I think a baby could probably have done a better job.
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The fourth reason I hate perks so far is that so many of them feel rushed, not thought out and just put there for the sake of it, and the animations for many of them them require animations are clearly rushed.
Hero Bans:
I Just wanted to finish up by giving my opinion on this⌠Hero bans have been put into the game before and it didnât work. People objectively hated it. Apparently people have forgotten that, because most people have been acting like this is a brand new thing that weâve been needing and crying out for forever. Well, weâve had it before, and we literally forced Blizzard to revert it because of the negative backlash from the player base. Letâs not be stupid: we need to destroy this idea before it even arrives in the game again.