Overwatch

[KSubzero1000]

The issue I have with queueing up with large (3+) groups is that you're significantly more likely to be matched up against highly experienced 5- or 6-stacks. Groups of 2 or 3 are a good middle ground. I just make sure to be ready to communicate with my teammates when solo queueing. Proper communication and coordination win more matches than great aiming, in my experience.

Ana's great! One of the strongest heroes in the game. I'm a support main as well, although I prefer Mercy and Symmetra by far. I don't have the best aim, so I don't even dare pick anyone else when playing competitive. I wish I could play McCree properly, though.

What's your rank? I've been hovering in mid to high Diamond for weeks now. Really want to get to Master this season!

[MagicianArcana]

I find that I win a lot more if I'm in a group with my friends at all. Doesn't matter if it's a small group of 3, or full group of 6. I dunno I think my friends and I played Overwatch a little too much when it came out last summer maybe we just got really good as a team.

I have terrible aim as Widowmaker, Hanzo, and McCree so I'm surprised I do so well as Ana. Her hitbox might be more generous since you don't need to aim for headshots with her. Lucio and Mercy are the other supports I like to play. Symmetra is tough for me, I'm so bad with knowing where to set up turrets. Everything I place will be destroyed before I can do any damage, then while I'm trying to set up more I'll get picked off

Every competitive season I've been ranked gold. I always wanna improve my ranking, but I never play enough to get a promotion. Even if I win most of my placement matches, I'll still be ranked gold for some reason. I wonder how they determine it. Diamond seems pretty impressive to me! Best of luck I hope you make it to master rank this season

I once played some quick matches with this guy I knew from my WoW guild who was ranked master and the players we were matched against were way too good for me. I couldn't compete

[KSubzero1000]

Ana's hitbox is indeed really generous when scoped, so you're not imagining things! And of course, there is the thing about your targets usually not trying to dodge your shots. Usually.

Symmetra is great on Assault Defense. I love playing as her and setting up some nice TPs and Shield Generators, but I don't trust myself to pick her on any other game mode. Your turrets will always be destroyed, btw. The trick is to re-position them creatively in-between engagements. Much like Torbjörn, your turrets shouldn't be your main priority.

Blizzard have never been really clear about how exactly they calculate SR, but it's a mix of your enemy's and teammates rankings as well as your own performance data (damage, healing, etc...). Winning all placement matches against similarly ranked opponents is not going to catapult you into Grandmaster. Also, your past rankings are taken into consideration and therefore dragging you down, so to speak. Which kind of defeats the purpose of a new season, but eh.

Yeah, I'm slowly but surely climbing the ranks and I'm seeing more and more Master players appear in my matches. Some of them have some really impressive aiming and positioning. Proper ult economy is basically mandatory.

[MagicianArcana]

Oh my turrets shouldn't be my main priority? That would explain a lot Similarly with Torb I'd have a hard time knowing where to set up. But I'll keep that in mind next time I play as either of them. I know Symmetra's turrets are destroyed easily, but for some reason I always had the impression that she's ineffective without them and the strat as her is to have as many up as possible.

I figured they look at individual performance a bit when deciding your ranking. But I had no idea rankings from previous seasons are taken into account. I hope not too much or that would definitely defeat the purpose of a new season. But maybe that's part of why I'm ranked gold every season I've never been too much into competitive, but I at least like to find out how the game ranks me every season. Gives me an idea of what my skill level actually is. Or I'll do competitive if I'm on a losing streak in quick play so I can play with teammates who are more willing to communicate.

[KSubzero1000]

No, turrets should only be placed in-between engagements, ideally switching between different locations in order to set up your next ambush. Look at it this way: any time you spend building / repairing turrets during a fight is time you don't spend either attacking the enemy or protecting yourself. There are situational exceptions, of course, but that's the general rule. Turrets are definitely an important part of their kit, but the actual fighting / positioning should still be your top priority. It's also why these heroes are so good on Defense, since your map control gives you ample time to prepare for the enemy team's next push. And don't worry about being ineffective without your turrets: both Symmetra's and Torbjörn's main weapons can be devastating if used properly.

I recommend https://www.overbuff.com/ if you're interested in knowing how your performance compares to the rest of the player base. It's what I use.

Edit: FINALLY MADE IT TO MASTER WOOP WOOP

[MagicianArcana]

I'll keep that in next time I play as either Sym or Torb, thanks! I know Symmetra's weapon is all too powerful at close range

And hey congrats! I knew you could do it

[KSubzero1000]

Yeah, Symmetra's gun is melting fools like there's no tomorrow. You can solo a Roadhog if you manage to bait/counter his hook with your barrier.

Thanks! I had three great matches in a row with some really cooperative teammates. I was giddy as a schoolgirl once I saw the emblem pop up.

[KSubzero1000]

hihihi

[KSubzero1000]

Time to Falcon Punch your way through Overwatch!

[Todinho]

It's about damn time they've been teasing him forever!

[KSubzero1000]

https://www.twitch.tv/playoverwatch

The Overwatch World Cup started today!

[KSubzero1000]

I think my Overwatch days are behind me.

Frankly, my love for the game itself has not diminished. I still think it's a brilliantly designed game with amazing characters, a fascinating meta, and the best map design in the genre. It's the only multiplayer FPS I've played since Halo 4 back in 2012. I first got into it over a year ago. The intricacies of the role system instantly appealed to me. I found it to be a very interesting take on the genre and I instantly gravitated towards the support heroes like Zenyatta, Symmetra and most of all, Mercy. Partly because my reflexes aren't what they used to be 15 years ago and partly because I didn't mind working in the background and leaving the fragging glory to the DPSs, but I appreciated being able to contribute in a more tactical and less mechanically demanding role. It is a team-based game, after all.

I've competed in five seasons since then and I'd like to think I have become fairly competent at it, having been placed in Masters (the second highest rank in the game) consistently for the past three seasons. I was rarely the star of the show, but I memorized every corner of every map as well as most of the game's relevant data (like cooldowns and damage stats), learned how to use proper callouts and to instantly recognize strategic voice lines and had a solid grasp of dominant strategies, positioning, heal prioritization and ult economy. In short, I was pulling my weight and had fun doing it. The beauty of a team-based game like this is the feeling of being part of something bigger than yourself, of achieving something difficult thanks to your and your teammates' combined efforts. At the times when everything clicked, this game has provided me with some of my greatest gaming memories to date. And for that, it will always have a place in my heart.

Unfortunately, I find the state the game is currently in to be so utterly unenjoyable that I would rather cut my losses and quit Competitive entirely. The most evident problem in my eyes is Blizzard's skewed priorities and baffling decision making when it comes to balancing and hero changes. The game is full of little glitches and annoyances that never seem to be addressed. And I'm tired of them nerfing and changing Mercy every other patch and being forced to re-adjust my playstyle accordingly. It's not just the nerfs either, but also the fact that she becomes less fun to play and less skill-dependent with every change they make. I want to be able to make a difference and the most recent change is just too much for me to bear.

But there is also the pernicious issue of the rampant toxicity within the community. I suppose this is a fundamental design flaw, because while the game seems to be based around cooperation, communication and goodwill, you are very unlikely to get any of those in a quickly cobbled together team of random players. Instead, those rare few who join team chat mostly just lash out at their teammates at every opportunity, positive reinforcement is borderline non-existent, critical callouts are falling on deaf ears while blame and insults are flying in every direction. And that's not even getting into the issue of players deliberately ruining the game for others by "throwing". I've rarely witnessed such a dissonance between a game being so cute, positive and fun in theory, and yet so filled with frustrating negativity in practice. I've tried to circumvent the problem by dedicating myself to a team so as to not having to deal with randoms anymore, but I quickly came to the realization that it didn't really fix the issue and that the team spirit and positivity I was looking for just wasn't there either.

In short, I've come to the conclusion that this type of negative experience is not something I want at this point in my life. I'm sure I'll go back to the one or the other round of Quick Play with friends, but that's about it.

Not gonna lie, I'm getting a bit emotional just typing this. If people weren't so selfish and mean-spirited, if they understood the value of giving an inch in order to gain a mile, I could have easily seen this game continue to be a (small) part of my life for years to come. I don't regret the time and energy I've put into it, but I do regret ending on such a sour note.

I know we're not the most competitive multiplayer-focused gaming community, but does any of this resonate with anyone?


"Hell is other people". I suppose Sartre was right...

[ratsoalbion]

A superb if depressing post. Most Earth humans are actually at least ‘all right’ in my experience, but too many of them aren’t - especially when online and in a competitive environment.

[Flabyo]

Overwatch feels like a totally different game to me on console compared to PC.

I guess the default on console being to not have voice chat on is a part of that, but there might be a more fundamental difference between the type of players a game like this attracts on the different platforms.

I do find the Mercy changes a bit weird as well. I understood the intent of the major rework they did, but the most recent balance change to it makes the character super frustrating to play well. If it weren’t for the fact Moira is such a fun addition I’d probably only play Zenyatta on support now.

[KSubzero1000]

there might be a more fundamental difference between the type of players a game like this attracts on the different platforms.

It's possible. I have noticed a lot of very young players, for starters. But age alone is not an issue, in my opinion. It's the mindset that some of these people have, like a superiority complex and the utter conviction that they are ranked 500SR lower than where they "truly" belong. They live and breathe to see that SR rise, and it's always everyone else's fault but their own when that doesn't happen. If victorious, it's because they "carried" thanks to all their medals, and if defeated, it's obviously because the others weren't playing properly. How can you ever improve with that kind of mindset?

I can count on one hand the amount of times I've heard someone genuinely admitting to having made a mistake.

I do find the Mercy changes a bit weird as well. I understood the intent of the major rework they did, but the most recent balance change to it makes the character super frustrating to play well. If it weren’t for the fact Moira is such a fun addition I’d probably only play Zenyatta on support now.

Personally, I think the major rework was needed and definitely went in the right direction. Rez as an ultimate led to some very unengaging and counterintuitive strategies (Die on point, I have Rez!). But they've been chipping away at her ever since to the point where she mostly feels like a glorified healbot now. I admit that she was overpowered in her 2.1 state, but there's a multitude of ways Blizzard could have fixed that without making her less skill-dependent in the process.

[Chopper]

I don't have much to add. I only play Madden 'competetively' and that is in a league that's been running with the same core group for many years. It's tightly regulated, ruled with an iron fist even, and we record our games on Twitch so that leaguemates can watch them for entertainment (what a world!) but also so the admin can review infractions.

Despite all that, there's a ban list and people still get suspended games depending on the severity/number of offences. It's pretty much the younger guys (20s) that this happens to, but not always. Competitiveness and frustration gets the better of people.

I'm really fascinated by this, though:

It's the mindset that some of these people have, like a superiority complex and the utter conviction that they are ranked 500SR lower than where they "truly" belong. They live and breathe to see that SR rise, and it's always everyone else's fault but their own when that doesn't happen. If victorious, it's because they "carried" thanks to all their medals, and if defeated, it's obviously because the others weren't playing properly. How can you ever improve with that kind of mindset?

I can count on one hand the amount of times I've heard someone genuinely admitting to having made a mistake.

I hear this over and over again. Is there a real-life analogue to this at all? Most, if not all, gamers I know are generally able to pinpoint their ability level at a game with great accuracy. And I don't think I have met many people like this in real life. Obviously it's not socially acceptable to behave like that, but is there such depth of delusion at play in everyday life too?

[Flabyo]

Possibly related to the Dunning-Kruger effect?

[Chopper]

The identification derived from the cognitive bias evident in the criminal case of McArthur Wheeler, who robbed banks with his face covered with lemon juice, which he believed would make it invisible to the surveillance cameras

Hmm, after reading that stub it makes more sense now, cheers.

I hope you all realise that when the zombie apocalypse hits, we'll have to rely on these people

[KSubzero1000]

I hear this over and over again. Is there a real-life analogue to this at all? Most, if not all, gamers I know are generally able to pinpoint their ability level at a game with great accuracy. And I don't think I have met many people like this in real life. Obviously it's not socially acceptable to behave like that, but is there such depth of delusion at play in everyday life too?

I suppose you might run into similar issues of inflated egos in high-level competitive sports, but to a much lesser degree. I think this is due to two factors: Those under-performing in individual sports don't really have anyone to blame except themselves, and team-based sports require such a strict training schedule and a tight-knit sense of camaraderie that self-important megalomaniacs are quickly and thrown out regardless of their individual skill level. The decision-makers don't allow toxicity to spread in the first place. You either learn to be a part of the team or you're out. The closest real-life example I can think of would be people lashing out during poker tournaments after losing to an unlucky hand or something similar.

But conversely, there are also numerous factors that contribute to a different dynamic within online multiplayer games. In a game like Overwatch that is so heavily reliant on teamwork, it's easy to tunnel vision and feel like your teammates aren't contributing as effectively as you are. A DPS who dies on account of not being healed will often complain about their healers without realizing that the entire enemy team is more than likely focusing them down. The healer in turn will often get frustrated about not being protected but fail to take in consideration the limits of their team's ability to multitask. Meanwhile, the tanks will complain about the rest of their team's not taking proper advantage of the spacing opportunities they create but often forget to play defensively enough in order to keep their vulnerable allies safe. It's a vicious cycle, which is only exacerbated by people being more likely to try and force victory by way of spectacular solo plays as the match goes on, which usually only serves to fracture the team even further.

In a way, it is understandable: Playing a game like Overwatch at a high level is a very demanding activity and noone likes to feel like they're being punished for someone else's mistakes. Losing a game in which you played at your absolute best is indeed a very frustrating experience. But most people tend to heavily over-emphasize their own contribution and to downplay that of other's. There is always a perfectly valid reason when they fail, but when others do, it's obviously their own fault. This is of course coupled with the fact that, being on the internet and all, a lot of the basic social empathy and unwritten rules of civilized behavior just fly out the window as soon as people start getting hot under the collar. The end result is just a breeding ground for bitterness and resentment.

There is a french proverb, which (roughly translated) says "The absent are always in the wrong". I think this encapsulates the core of the issue very well. Proper teamwork requires a certain amount of generosity which is just very rare to come by in a callous and borderline sociopathic online environment.

I've met players who were incredibly gifted, mechanically speaking, but who had such a poor sense of teamplay, such entitlement issues, and such under-developed social skills that they were indeed ranked far lower than where their skill alone would suggest. The only things they ever talked about were their "medals" and how hard they "carried" this game to victory and how their incompetent teammates were solely to blame for that defeat. Completely self-absorbed individuals who were mostly looking for a sense of validation and lashed out at everything and everyone who they perceived to be getting in the way of that. Pathetic, really.


Your decision to stick to the same core group of players is probably the only valid solution to this problem. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for me, but may it continue to work for you (and for anyone else reading this) for years to come!

[Chopper]

That's a great explanation of the issues behind the problem. Very illuminating!

I suppose you might run into similar issues of inflated egos in high-level competitive sports, but to a much lesser degree. I think this is due to two factors: Those under-performing in individual sports don't really have anyone to blame except themselves, and team-based sports require such a strict training schedule and a tight-knit sense of camaraderie that self-important megalomaniacs are quickly and thrown out regardless of their individual skill level. The decision-makers don't allow toxicity to spread in the first place. You either learn to be a part of the team or you're out. The closest real-life example I can think of would be people lashing out during poker tournaments after losing to an unlucky hand or something similar.

I suppose that over here we call them divas, but they have a great name for this in American team sports - Locker Room Cancer.