With how much criticismOverwatchhas received over the years due to unpopular balance changes and a toxic fanbase, people are hopeful aboutOverwatch 2 coming out. Having a sequel to the original game not only presents an opportunity to introduce more lore to the players, but is also a chance to review some of the features of the game.
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We already know that some major changes are coming in terms of hero and map pools as well as game modes, but overall the basic idea behind the game will remain very much the same. However, we hope the developers are being more attentive this time when listening to feedback. Here are five mistakes we hope Blizzard will avoid this time around, and five things they should absolutely keep from the first game.
10Avoid: Three Avoid Slots
If you haven’t already encountered a toxic teammate in either quick play or competitive, you’re incredibly lucky. Like many competitive PvP games that focus on team play, things are bound to get heated. Sometimes, you find yourself matched with the same annoying people over and over again.
Luckily, Blizzard introduced the “Avoid Teammate” option, which blocks them from your games for seven days. Unfortunately, there’s only three slots. Given how toxic the community is, it would be great if there were at least six slots.
9Keep: No Decay
Last year, Blizzard made a big decision regarding competitive play, which was relevant especially to high ranked players. While previously players above the rank of Diamond would have their SR decay if they didn’t play competitive mode regularly, now there’s zero decay.
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This is a great way to ease pressure on high-ranked players, which make up a lot of the streaming community ofOverwatch. Ranking is less punishing, and you feel much safer at your current rank, knowing you can pick up where you left whenever you feel ready for it.
8Avoid: Rare Events
Overwatchhas come with a seasonal event for pretty much every season. In spring we have the Archives event, in summer it’s Summer Games, in fall it’s Halloween Terror and in winter it’s Winter Wonderland. Lately, short events with a new skin for a specific hero have also been introduced.
However, compared to other fast-paced PvP games, these events are few and far between. In the future, Blizzard needs to make sure that it introduces new content at a quicker pace to keep things fresh for a community that has been around for some time now.
7Keep: Endorsements
In response to the rising complaints about toxicity inOverwatch, Blizzard introduced the Endorsement System, which allows you to endorse your teammates and even your enemies after a game. This gives you a bit of XP, as well as ranks up your endorsement level if you get endorsed in turn.
While the level doesn’t always guarantee someone will be a kind teammate, it’s a nice way to recognize someone for their plays and their contribution to the match. Since endorsement level rank ups grant you lootboxes, it does pay off to be nice and behave well.
6Avoid: Just Golden Weapons
Lately, many have been asking what the real point in competitive mode is, other than the rank itself. We know that competitive points can be used to purchase golden weapons. However, the game has been around for a while now, and most dedicated fans will most likely have all their favorite weapons unlocked by now.
What Blizzard needs to introduce inOverwatch 2is more bang for your buck. Playing competitive mode should give real, tangible rewards, other than a pretty, shining ranked icon and points to buy golden weapons. Maybe weapon skins would be the next step?
5Keep: Workshop Mode
One of the best things to happen to any game and especiallyOverwatch, is a workshop mode, which allows players to manipulate the game’s source code to create mini games and training grounds, as well as experiment with the game’s physics and mechanics.
The workshop mode forOverwatchhas seen tons of popularity. Not only do we have better aim arenas and interactive training grounds, we also have cool game modes like parkour, Mercy one punch and Soldier 76 racing.Overwatch 2really should follow in these footsteps and ensure the community can retain its creativity.
4Avoid: Oppressive Metas
A meta inOverwatchis usually a set of heroes or a hero that get played over and over again, due to them being objectively better than any of the other heroes. You’ll often see these heroes played a lot in competitive, where the main idea is to win with any possible advantage.
Over the years, we’ve seen a bunch of pretty oppressive and stubborn metas that have annoyed people: dive, GOATS, bunket, Hog-Orisa and now double shield. This has usually followed the introduction of a new hero. InOverwatch 2, we hope that heroes are better balanced overall, giving us a diverse pool of viable heroes.
3Keep: Competitive Map Pool
You’ve probably experienced it at least once: queuing in competitive mode, only to end up in Paris or Horizon Lunar Colony, and then only to see someone leave the game almost instantly and for the game to get cancelled. That’s how much people hate certain maps, and why the competitive map rotation was created.
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This is a really good idea from Blizzard, since it allows players to play the maps they really enjoy and find the most balanced. Assault is most notorious for being extremely oppressive and horrible to play, which is why this change benefits the assault map pool the best.
2Avoid: Slow Balance Changes
Earlier we talked about oppressive metas and how thegame’s balanceshould be given more attention by the developers. Well, in relation to that,Overwatch’s slow balance patches which are first introduced to PTR should also be avoided. What the game needs is a faster pace.
While other PvP titles are much quicker in sending out balance patches and changes,Overwatchhas been lagging behind a lot, often dragging metas for months. InOverwatch 2, we hope the developers will release patches much more often to remedy the issue.
1Keep: Role Lock
One of the best changes that came last year toOverwatchwas role queue. After years of people entering competitive games where their teammates would instantly lock DPS heroes, 2-2-2 role lock introduced a queuing system which enforces people to pick their roles prior to the match.
Finally, everyone will have tanks and healers in their games, and everyone gets to play their favorite heroes. This is a vital change that affects the quality of life of everyone, which is why it absolutely needs to come toOverwatch 2, which it definitely will,despite recent testing.
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