Official Overwatch Discussion Thread

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Deleted member 245375

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Well, since it's been 11 months almost to the day since the last post about Overwatch around here, and since the beta is scheduled to begin on October 27th (4 days from the time of this first post), I figured it can't hurt to start an "official" thread about it. I myself haven't been into gaming for quite some time because nothing has interested me since the Quake 3 Arena days - I was a competitive Quake player for a long time for Q1/Q2/Q3 (never got into the team-based stuff like the Team Arena add-on. I've always been a primarily free-for-all DM kinda person.

But when I caught the cinematic trailer for Overwatch (go figure, 11 months ago) it struck a chord with me and I signed up for the beta as fast as I could. Not much has been discussed apparently and Blizzard has released several short gameplay videos during the past 11 months featuring new characters and other aspects of the game.

And yes, unfortunately the game will not look exactly like the cinematic trailer but the gameplay videos they've released sure do look pretty damned nice even so. Recently Twitch.tv hosted a ~2 hour 1st view session of live gameplay (actual video content starts at 27:40-ish):

http://www.twitch.tv/ellohime/v/20807725

One really awesome newly revealed aspect is that for the first time ever, a Blizzard game will feature native voice chat capability through Battle.net and that's starting with Overwatch.

Official Blizzard website:

http://us.battle.net/overwatch/en/

With the beta program starting next Tuesday I am definitely hoping to get an invite to get some gaming on since it's been nearly a decade since I got into anything at all and I'm itching for some action - how about any of you? :)
 
Def looking forward to it. Hope to get into beta as well. Some WoW guildies of mine are already in due to F&F connections. I'm jealous.
 
I signed up as soon as they announced it. I hope I get into the beta. I don't want to have to pay to figure out if I like it.
 
I signed up as soon as they announced it. I hope I get into the beta. I don't want to have to pay to figure out if I like it.

Considering Blizzard's more recent game endeavors, I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being a F2P title.
 
Crazy there is not much interest here for this. Overwatch may be the next big MP comp game. Can't wait to get my hands on it.
 
There isn't much to talk about at this point as no ones really played the game.

Also demographics, probably less relatively popular for this audience compared to PC gamers as a whole.
 
Pretty funny that the game has aim assist

It doesn't.

There are certain characters that use beam weapons. Two of them have "tracking" beam abilities with limited range.

Mercy is a medic-style character who has a short-range healing or buffing beam.
Symmetra is a support character with a short-range tracking beam weapon.

McCree has an ultimate ability which requires him to stand in the open for a length of time, after which he can probably auto-one-shot anybody in his direct LoS.

Solder 76 has an ultimate ability which give him time-limited "seeking" bullets.

IMO none of these take away from aim skill.
Overwatch is deliberately trying to make skill cap something other than quick-scoping
 
Am I the only one that thinks this game looks ridiculous? Makes me feel old as shit

All blizzard work has been grimdark style. This is a much more contemporary and Asian influenced art style.

We feel old because "back in our day" major titles were dark. The lead artist on overwatch was formerly of capcom IIRC, that art style very clearly comes through.
 
All blizzard work has been grimdark style. This is a much more contemporary and Asian influenced art style.

We feel old because "back in our day" major titles were dark. The lead artist on overwatch was formerly of capcom IIRC, that art style very clearly comes through.

This definitely makes sense. It explains why it just doesn't appeal to me.
 
check you battle.net accounts. I didn't get an email about getting access. Logged on to play some wow and I have access to it.
 
Nothing on my end either, can't say I'm not surprised I suppose. I've applied for like a dozen betas with Blizzard over the years and not once have I ever been accepted so, guess I'll find something else. ;)
 
I'm still waiting for access to give it a try myself. I'm curious - I like the aesthetic and the world building potential, but at the end of the day I'm a bit disappointed that this isn't going to be a full FPS/TPS style MMORPG instead; or a Borderlands / Firefall style multiplayer adventure. Don't get me wrong, if Overwatch becomes a "A better version of Team Fortress 2 without out hats and shitty monetization", that would be progress... but I personally can only get so excited about a TF2-style arena shooter. I'm probably alone in this, but I'd really like to see more missions with "campaigns/storylines" a la Left4Dead or at very least the Killing Floor "objective/adventure" mode. Jumping around the same damn map shooting people can only be so fun, at least for me. I am worried about progression and worse of all, monetization, but I have to admit that Blizz has done a reasonable job with Heroes of the Storm (and Hearthstone) in this regard so maybe Overwatch won't be too bad either.

Still, I can't really judge until my account is activated and I can step into the Close Beta and see for myself.
 
Pretty funny that the game has aim assist

The problem is that people are approaching this like a pure twitch shooter. Yes being able to aim helps, but its the ability timing that matters. Its closer to MOBAs where its about lining up the right ults/abilities than getting those headshots. Maybe if you're a sniper you need better accuracy, but if you lose in close range to a widowmaker as a Reaper, odds are it's not because of your aiming abilities
 
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Watched some twitch streams for about 30 minutes. Just looks like TF2 to me. It's like when they started development, TF2 was really big and they wanted a piece of the market share. Now TF2 has died down a little with CS:GO being the current trend, and it just feels like awkward timing for this to be released, like that boat has already sailed. Maybe 30 minutes wasn't enough time to really judge it though, but it definitely didn't suck me in.

Personally not my cup of tea, but I think enough people will play it. Will it be as big as CS:GO? I really don't think so. But maybe I'm just burned out on FPS.
 
Good its not just me. I hate stylized graphics!

Stylised graphics tend to age better than "realistic" graphics. Games that get hyped as having "realistic" graphics generally don't look great a year or two down the line (though console cross development has slowed that treadmill down a bit). Which also creates pressure on devs to release new and fancier looking stuff more often (sometimes at the expense of innovation or variety in other areas).

Also games that focus on realism tend to require higher system specs, which limits your potential audience.

Whether you like stylised stuff or not to begin with is just a matter of personal taste though, I drool over Skyrim texture mods and crytek stuff as much as the next guy, but I've never considered stylised graphics to be cheaper/inferior alternative to that, just a design choice. People like what they like.

Disclaimer: I work for Blizzard, but have no specific insight or involvement into design philosophy. My views and opinions are my own.
 
I'm in on the Battleborn Closed Beta (Gearbox's take at ripping off TF2). I'm going to guess both these titles will share a lot of similarities.
 
I watched some guy playing with a Sniper rifle doesn't look fair at all.....no balance
Looks like Firefall without the cool 3rd person
 
I haven't heard anyone say they got into the beta access yet. I wonder how many people actually did get in.

Also, on a side note. One of the things I believe set TF2 (and CS:GO now) apart and made it more interesting to play was the random loot drops and crates etc. I loved getting new crates and strange weapons etc.
 
I can't believe this is Blizzard.
Here we are all waiting for WOW 2 and instead we get TF3/Halo bastard child.
Game looks stupid. Another Hut! Hut! Hut! FPS that I can't and wont play because I suck at them.
 
I'm in the beta, it plays very different than TF2. It's hard to describe but team dynamics, rallying up, and well timed abilities are what leads to victory in this.

I'm not a big FPS player but this is a lot of fun to me because I can take roles that aren't inherently twitch shooting.

The art style feels refreshing and lighthearted to me, but not whimsical. Very "final fantasy" ish. It's very clearly heading for esports. My biggest concern for now is how PUGs will play. A few selfish players can seriously hinder a team. Matchmaking will be very important.
 
I can't believe this is Blizzard.
Here we are all waiting for WOW 2 and instead we get TF3/Halo bastard child.
Game looks stupid. Another Hut! Hut! Hut! FPS that I can't and wont play because I suck at them.

WoW 2 is the worst idea for a game that Blizzard could make. Any reasonable game designer or analyst would know that a second Blizzard MMO would further fracture the already dying subscription based market, even if WoW 2 was F2P.

I watched some guy playing with a Sniper rifle doesn't look fair at all.....no balance
Looks like Firefall without the cool 3rd person

Every character has its weak spots. A 100% scoped Widowmaker is really good at cleaning up in one direction, but every good sniping perch has multiple angles to be flanked from.

Map knowledge is paramount to countering snipers. Seeing as beta has been out for less then two days, of course snipers are OP when no one knows the ways to get around and flank them.

There's a video in a custom game where a bunch of popular streamers play group of seasoned FPS players and they get steamrolled. The sniper kept shutting them down. The player that was recording the video never tried switching to another hero, and kept getting killed as soldier 76. The sniper was good, but the steamer was bad for never trying to counter.
 
It sorta seems like the next evolution of the MOBA genre...almost like a "MOBAFPS" if you will. If you combine LoL with TF2, you'd get something resembling Overwatch. 2k games has a similar title coming out too, so the developers obviously think this new genre is going to be big. I have a feeling that they are right.
 
It sorta seems like the next evolution of the MOBA genre...almost like a "MOBAFPS" if you will. If you combine LoL with TF2, you'd get something resembling Overwatch. 2k games has a similar title coming out too, so the developers obviously think this new genre is going to be big. I have a feeling that they are right.

Maybe its a generational/demographic thing, but I just don't know who gets excited for this game after looking at the gameplay for a few minutes.

In fairness, the first time I ever saw Borderlands I thought it looked ridiculous and cartoony.. Now its one of my Top10 of all time.
 
The problem is that people are approaching this like a pure twitch shooter. Yes being able to aim helps, but its the ability timing that matters. Its closer to MOBAs where its about lining up the right ults/abilities than getting those headshots. Maybe if you're a sniper you need better accuracy, but if you lose in close range to a widowmaker as a Reaper, odds are it's not because of your aiming abilities

It sorta seems like the next evolution of the MOBA genre...almost like a "MOBAFPS" if you will. If you combine LoL with TF2, you'd get something resembling Overwatch. 2k games has a similar title coming out too, so the developers obviously think this new genre is going to be big. I have a feeling that they are right.
Sounds more like Monday Night Combat. Funnily enough, that game also had extreme balancing issues, which very much turned me off from it.
 
Kind of excited for this game. I initially had no interest whatsoever but after watching some streams it doesn't seem too bad. The character designs don't really have the charm of the TF2 characters but that will probably eventually be fixed with new character and weapon skins from micro transactions. The one thing Overwatch does have going for it is the gameplay seems silky smooth compared to the crazy fps fluctuations that TF2 has especially on custom maps.

I'm also concerned about what will eventually happen with pugs given the popularity of sniper classes in every fps game ever created. With a team size of only six people, I can easily see pug groups having four players using Widowmaker/Hanzo and contributing nothing on offense.
 
I'm in on the Battleborn Closed Beta (Gearbox's take at ripping off TF2). I'm going to guess both these titles will share a lot of similarities.

pretty much, there is also another one coming out from hi-rez called paladins

these types of games are targeted for streamers and esports
 
I got a beta invite today. :D Can't wait to try it out, won't have time until tomorrow though.
 
I got in the beta. Played the AI botmatch a bit. Didn't have enough time to jump in to multiplayer. Seems like a solid game, just nothing new in regards to cartoon FPS.
 
I'm really surprised they're not making this F2P. After the downward spiral in popularity of SC2 and the massive success of HOTS and Hearthstone it doesn't seem logical. Even something like $15-20 to compete with CS:GO supplemented with skins would make more sense, but $60 seems like it will kill the competitive scene before it even gets off the ground.
 
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