Maybe I'm just realizing it now and am behind the curve - but does it seem like Blizzard doesn't actually understand how to make GOOD Competitive PvP, either stand alone or as part of another game? With the exception of Starcraft (and Warcraft 1-3, being the same games essentially with different themes) it doesn't seem that they do.
WoW has always had PvP of a kind, but it's always been hugely unbalanced at the best of times and Blizzard seems to have no idea how properly balance healing vs. DPS, crowd control or how to even include Tank specs in PvP. And since Holinika took over PvP balancing and play has been an active dumpster fire continuing into Legion.
Diablo cares so little about PvP they didn't even include it at first in the 3rd game, and even in the past it was merely an anything goes sideshow they cared little about.
Starcraft/Warcraft have traditionally been their best efforts, but after Wings of Liberty they seem to have completely forgotten how to make their PvP enjoyable for anyone who isn't almost a professional...or Korean.
Hearthstone, while a fun distraction at times, as a PvP is terrible as it relies too heavily on RNG and has very limited play options even compared to TCGs like Pokemon and Yu-gi-Oh, much less the king of the hill Magic. I feel like it was only successful because it was basically the only good and fully functional digital card game at the time - Magic wouldn't come out with the much better Duels/Origins until well after HS came out.
Heroes of the Storm is and was a laughable excuse for a MOBA - people wanted Blizzard DotA and instead got Baby's First MOBA. It's pretty much inferior in every way to all three other major MOBAs - League, DotA 2 and SMITE - and got so bad at one point that it was suspected that it was only surviving because of the money generated by HS and WoW (it was so bad that even searching as a Support, the role with the lowest queue times and highest demand often took upwards of 5 minutes to find a match).
And then we come to Overwatch, Blizzard's most recent and perhaps respectable attempt. And I have to admit - it looks AMAZING, has great characters and stories...but that is because Blizzard is great at PvE. As a PvP game...it leaves much to be desired. Outside of Widowmaker and Hanzo, mechanical skill means little in the game - in fact they purposely have changed and designed characters to require LESS mechanical skill. It's competitive MM rating is absurdly frustrating and broken (as any visit to the forums or personal experience can attest to). It has been wildly unbalanced since Beta, and only gotten worse during live. It has this odd mix of personal effort being almost pointless...yet having even one dipshit on your team is a death sentence. And they're taking their Blizzard Classic sweet ass time fixing anything - even the wildly broken since Beta Roadhog hook is just finally being addressed (almost a year later).
You're...1 for 5 on good PvP there Blizzard.
WoW has always had PvP of a kind, but it's always been hugely unbalanced at the best of times and Blizzard seems to have no idea how properly balance healing vs. DPS, crowd control or how to even include Tank specs in PvP. And since Holinika took over PvP balancing and play has been an active dumpster fire continuing into Legion.
Diablo cares so little about PvP they didn't even include it at first in the 3rd game, and even in the past it was merely an anything goes sideshow they cared little about.
Starcraft/Warcraft have traditionally been their best efforts, but after Wings of Liberty they seem to have completely forgotten how to make their PvP enjoyable for anyone who isn't almost a professional...or Korean.
Hearthstone, while a fun distraction at times, as a PvP is terrible as it relies too heavily on RNG and has very limited play options even compared to TCGs like Pokemon and Yu-gi-Oh, much less the king of the hill Magic. I feel like it was only successful because it was basically the only good and fully functional digital card game at the time - Magic wouldn't come out with the much better Duels/Origins until well after HS came out.
Heroes of the Storm is and was a laughable excuse for a MOBA - people wanted Blizzard DotA and instead got Baby's First MOBA. It's pretty much inferior in every way to all three other major MOBAs - League, DotA 2 and SMITE - and got so bad at one point that it was suspected that it was only surviving because of the money generated by HS and WoW (it was so bad that even searching as a Support, the role with the lowest queue times and highest demand often took upwards of 5 minutes to find a match).
And then we come to Overwatch, Blizzard's most recent and perhaps respectable attempt. And I have to admit - it looks AMAZING, has great characters and stories...but that is because Blizzard is great at PvE. As a PvP game...it leaves much to be desired. Outside of Widowmaker and Hanzo, mechanical skill means little in the game - in fact they purposely have changed and designed characters to require LESS mechanical skill. It's competitive MM rating is absurdly frustrating and broken (as any visit to the forums or personal experience can attest to). It has been wildly unbalanced since Beta, and only gotten worse during live. It has this odd mix of personal effort being almost pointless...yet having even one dipshit on your team is a death sentence. And they're taking their Blizzard Classic sweet ass time fixing anything - even the wildly broken since Beta Roadhog hook is just finally being addressed (almost a year later).
You're...1 for 5 on good PvP there Blizzard.
