I only learned this recently but grew suspicious when my last few games had far more non-English speakers than normal. I don’t really mind this but normally it’s a mix; some English, some non-English, so a bit of coordination is possible. Now it’s just me, speaking English, surrounded by five people speaking Arabic. It makes me want to just turn off text and voice in the settings, since it’s pointless.
Can’t we pick, like with the US and EU servers?
On US servers you sometimes get the South America server. So it isn’t much different.
Just stack with people you know are in western Europe and you bypass that completely
you can block the ME servers in ur firewall iirc look for the thread that explains how on reddit
Pretty sure that got fixed a long time ago.
oh really? well that kinda sucks 
srry didnt know abt that thanks for adding info System!!
Maybe it is time to learn a new language…
Sure, occasionally but I get Arabic servers EVERY time. Definitely not a comparable situation at all.
Funny. It’d be a lot easier for Blizzard to just add an option that lets me pick which server I want to play on.
You did. You picked Europe. ME server is one of the EU servers.
Don’t play dumb. It’s obvious what I’m asking for, if you’re going to argue over semantics then you’re clearly just trying to troll. If I was truly in the EU, like I used to be, I’d be getting an assortment of French, English, Italian, German, etc players along with the Arabic. I’m not, I’m JUST getting Arabic, nothing else.
It is one of the EU servers with Holland and France. Like the US has east west and north and south.
You must live closer to ME than others.
The logic doesn’t stand, I don’t have to live closer to the US if I want to play in America. They must either let us pick which server or actually integrate the servers, not have this hidden assignment where a bunch of us get placed without any choice in the matter.
Why are you so against this?
Correct. Then you will be put on East or West server on a game by game basis depending on which server is closer for most of the 12 people in the game.
Remember you are picking server region. Not server.
Just like Asia… You then get Taiwan and Japan, might be one in China now.
ME was added as a EU server to make sure more people from the MENA region had an optimum ping, more of the time. So for that it is a good thing.
Why am I against forcing players that have always played on the EU server, off the EU server? Because that would be a weird move, why would you suddenly tell a whole region they can’t play what they are used to playing…
The only issue you seem to be having is language based. That sounds very much like a you problem. Not a Blizzard problem. Try stacking with people you know are in England, or France or something.
Clearly they are putting ME based people solely in ME servers. If this wasn’t the case then I’d be running into a heck of a lot more speakers of other nations and I wouldn’t be posting here now. Claiming that EU and ME servers are one and the same is disingenuous at best if there is ZERO chance of getting anything other than an ME server.
Telling me to learn an entirely different language is just being spiteful for the sake of it, grow up.
You have selected to play in the EU region… The game picks your server.
Most of the time I get the French server. Sometimes I get ME sometimes the 3rd one wherever it is.
In main land Europe (as i’ve said elsewhere) there are 24 “official” languages (a lot of less used sub ones too like Flemish). Then in the MENA (Middle East North Africa, just in case you didn’t know) region there are a bunch more.
Getting mad because you don’t understand 1 of them seems a little odd.
But it is me that needs to grow up? The one that wants to be more inclusive, and more educated and learn bits of different languages to help people… sure.
Also remember some of the best players are in Saudi Arabia
Wow…
I’m speechless…
You’re actually using this as a way to gloat about how enlightened and inclusive you are. For a second I may have thought you actually had a sane reason you were so against this.
You realize we’re talking about a game server here? You’re not doing a speech for the United Nations. When I play with other cultures, whether Arabic, Italian, etc, I don’t get all excited because I can learn about new cultures. And I certainly don’t pretend it’s a way to learn new languages. The only thing that matters to me is whether we can communicate. On the old system, we couldn’t always but I didn’t mind, such is life. Now I almost never can.
This conversation is done, I’ve said my piece, it’s not asking the world, hopefully Blizzard will consider it. I’m not gonna continue an argument with someone whose main goal seems to be ego stroking.
The only thing you have shown is you want to cut out a portion of the player base.
Your only reason is you don’t understand them.
Why should the players in the MENA region not be allowed to play with the rest of Europe (as they have done for the last 5 years).
Why is you not understanding one language, different to not understanding another?
And you said Arabic… are you sure it was even Arabic. Could have been Turkish or Hebrew, or even Persian.
Your suggestion is to segregate the game based on the language a few people speak… that is an idea founded purely in subconscious xenophobia.
Stack with people you know speak the language you have pre approved then you’ll never have an issue. You have the power to control who you play with. If you choose to use it.
People don’t buy Overwatch to learn a new language. It’s so much easier to seperate the servers.
“easier” but not cost efficient. Would cost far too much for what it would bring.
Plus you could still end up on any server in the EU region, so would make no difference.
You make a strong point. Also, can’t players block the ME server through firewall? I think Blizzard should somehow promote this and make more players learn about it. Maybe create a FAQ section in the launcher?
I think there are some peeps on Reddit that claim to have figured out a way.
Whether it worked, or still works I don’t know.
Personally, I have only had a ME game once and that was because I queued with 3 friends that were in Saudi Arabia at the time.