Convince Me To Buy Overwatch...

[JUMBO PALACE]

You have to fully embrace the moba elements to get into this game. It's about team synergy and switching roles on the fly. Personally, I'm not interested in Blizzard's attempt to inject loot crates into my body intravenously. I played the beta, had a decent time, but I feel no compulsion to buy the game.

The fact that it's an fps irks me. I play LoL occasionally so I understand the dynamic of characters being direct counters to others, but in an FPS I really dislike that individual player skill is mitigated in certain situations. I don't think it's fun being either dramatically outmatched or at worst helpless just becuase I happen to run into an enemy playing a character mine is bad against. I'm more looking forward to Law Breakers because it's a class based arena shooter but everyone is on even footing (i.e. balanced). I'd rather be able to choose my kit and have the ability to succeed with it based on my skill than constantly switching characters to counter a counter that countered my counter.

 

[sageoftruth]

To be honest, I am surprised this game didn't get shit on like Street Fighter 5. Basically the same in terms of content. Idk.

Differences being
-Overwatch microtranstions are used for cosmetics ONLY. SFV's microtransactions are used for playable characters
-Overwatch is getting free content updates regularly. Liao and Sombra are already being hinted as the next heroes. SFV gets sporatic content, and you either need to pay or grind to unlock it.
-The servers actually work
-Overwatch was expected to have the same amount of content as TF2 (it has more). SFV was expected to have at least as much content as SF4 (it has less).
-Overwatch doesn't have an extremely tanked progression system to get players to spend real money. I get around one loot crate in Overwatch every 5 games.

.

Regular updates? Dude have you met Blizzard? They don't do regular anything. They can promise all they want, but are notorious for taking their sweet ass time patching and adding content to their games. Character's haven't even been announced yet.

At least in SFV you get to pick exactly what you want to get with your microtransactions, instead of Overwatch's RNg slot machine bullshit. Oh you want a skin for your favorite character? Give me money. Oh, that box didn't have the skin you wanted and instead only had bullshit sprays. Oh well better give me more money and try again. Still nothing? Fuck you give me money.

There is no way you are getting a loot crate every 5 games, unless you are still below the exp cap. At 22K experience required per level, and about 3500 exp given for winning a game, you would need to play 7 games per box. ASSUMING you win every game. So typically it averages around 10-11 games per box. Which since each game is about 7-10 minutes long in average you are looking at one box for every 1.25 hours of play, but let's round that up to factor in loading and post match screens to one box every 90 minutes. Then add up the incredibly low odds of getting something you want and you'll find yourself better served smashing your face with a bat.

But let's not stop there. Let's look at the best case scenario. If you were extremely lucky, and only ever got new items every loot box. It would take you 500 loot boxes to completely unlock everything in Overwatch. 500! Now since you only get one box every 90 minutes, let me do a little math here.... 90*500=45000 minutes or about 750 hours of play, give or take 5-6 hours based on skill for extra exp.

And you are going to tell me Overwatch isn't enticing people to buy boxes? The whole purpose of loot boxes is to get people to spend money.

Well, that and to satisfy those who absolutely need a progression system of some sort to get invested. Kind of sad how that's become a thing.
Anyway, since none of these unlocks have any effect on the gameplay itself, I consider it a step up from the games where the ONLY way to get cosmetics was by paying for them, and a massive step up from any game that keeps gameplay content locked away. Limiting access to weapons or characters in a multiplayer game just ends up unbalancing the game.

 

[CritialGaming]

snip

WoW does not get yearly expansions. They are on a 2.5 year cycle, and the last expansion only had 1 content patch in the 2.5 years of it's life. Not to mention it didn't release with much to begin with and saw a 50% drop off of it's entire subscriber base.

Seasons in Diablo are not content, they are resets to encourage players to basically completely reset their progression. A couple new zones have been added since launch, but the content provide has been minimal in the last two years and really has amounted to power creep and balance changes with set items.

Heroes....well I don't play it, but i've seen it getting characters at a decent clip so I'll give you that. But I also didn't bring that game up in the first place.

Hearthstone is a fee-to-pay model as well designed to entice people to buy card packs, and since the game is free to start playing, they HAVE to release regular content because that is how CCG's make money. No content means no income. Unlike something like wow in which they get money every month, regardless of content or not.

Also you cannot compare Overwatch to Dota or Lol, firstly because game lengths are FAR longer. But more importantly there is no RNG for cosmetics, instead you get direct points that you buy to then apply the exact item you want. Overwatch is completely random. I'm glad that you've gotten all the things you wanted but I am level 27 and I have gotten 2 skins. TWO! Both of which are blue rarity and for characters I hate. I have also only gotten 50 coins worth of currency for some fucking spray that I got twice.

So that's why I have a problem with Overwatch's progression bullshit.

I am not defending SFV, I don't care about SFV. But I do care about justifying either or them, like Overwatch is okay because it's only cosmetics. It's not. Because even though Overwatch's system is only cosmetic, it is also the only form of progression and the only rewards given to the player in the game. It is a bad reward system because it isn't rewarding unless you are lucky.....or you sat on a horseshoe.

Overwatch may have promised heroes, but there is no inclination of release dates, especially since they would have to severely balance and test any new heroes released. Not to mention the first update will be competitive mode next month, which is non-content content because the same modes with a competitive ranking system is not actually adding anything to the game content wise.

If you like the progression system and think it's fine. Great.

I don't. It has so much room for improvement.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

At least in SFV you get to pick exactly what you want to get with your microtransactions, instead of Overwatch's RNg slot machine bullshit. Oh you want a skin for your favorite character? Give me money. Oh, that box didn't have the skin you wanted and instead only had bullshit sprays. Oh well better give me more money and try again. Still nothing? Fuck you give me money.

They're cosmetic. They have absolutely zero impact on game play. The entire progression system is just a sidebar to the actual game play. What a bizarre thing to be angry about.

Whatever the case, CG, you seem to be packing an extraordinary amount of bitterness towards your purchase. Take a deep breath. If spending $50 on a game that disappointed you gets you this wound up, you're in for some rough years.

 

[CritialGaming]

At least in SFV you get to pick exactly what you want to get with your microtransactions, instead of Overwatch's RNg slot machine bullshit. Oh you want a skin for your favorite character? Give me money. Oh, that box didn't have the skin you wanted and instead only had bullshit sprays. Oh well better give me more money and try again. Still nothing? Fuck you give me money.

They're cosmetic. They have absolutely zero impact on game play. The entire progression system is just a sidebar to the actual game play. What a bizarre thing to be angry about.

Whatever the case, CG, you seem to be packing an extraordinary amount of bitterness towards your purchase. Take a deep breath. If spending $50 on a game that disappointed you gets you this wound up, you're in for some rough years.

I know man. I am loosing my hair at how stressed the games industry is making me.

But to be perfectly honest, I am more mad about people saying it isn't a big deal. Microtransactions in full priced releases is a big deal. Period. And with a game that has remarkably little actual content to be defended because "It's only cosmetics bro" is asinine.

I was more okay with Halo 5 having microtransactions because Halo 5 had a full (if kinda short) campaign, plus all the multiplayer modes. There was a ton of content that you got for your 60 bucks, plus the cosmetics could be earned through gameplay at a fairly steady (if a little slow) pace.

Overwatch has 12 maps, and 2 game modes....for 60 bucks. Plus microtransactions. Cosmetic or not, that is really hard not to feel shitty about it. And frankly it is because this was a Blizzard game. If Ubisoft or EA released this game, people would be singing a completely different song.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

But to be perfectly honest, I am more mad about people saying it isn't a big deal. Microtransactions in full priced releases is a big deal. Period. And with a game that has remarkably little actual content to be defended because "It's only cosmetics bro" is asinine.

Nah, they're really not. Sorry to say it, I'm with TB on this one. It's a ridiculous thing to get worked up about. If it affected game play, sure. It doesn't.

As long as we're getting mad about things, though, allow me to get a little worked up about people claiming nontroversy bullshit like this is "a big deal". It's not a fallacy of worse problems thing, you're allowed to get annoyed by whatever you want, but some perspective on where things rank on the continuum from "non issue" to "big deal" would be welcome.

Overwatch has 12 maps, and 2 game modes....for 60 bucks. Plus microtransactions. Cosmetic or not, that is really hard not to feel shitty about it. And frankly it is because this was a Blizzard game. If Ubisoft or EA released this game, people would be singing a completely different song.

No, not really. Value is relative. DOTA 2 has one map and one game mode. I have over 500 hours logged in that game. Please tell me how shitty I should feel, and I only support it because it's Valve.

 

[2HF]

-snip-

Considering how much you really seem to hate this game I feel compelled to ask... is there any chance you bought it for PS4 and would be willing to part with it for a reasonable sum?

 

[DarthCoercis]

Convince you? Why? It's either a game you're interested in playing or it isn't. If you are interested, then buy it and play it. If you're not interested, then don't buy it and play something else instead.

 

[CritialGaming]

snip

Dota is free. That completely circumvents the point. There is value to Dota because you can drop 500 hours into the game, and you don't have to drop a penny to do it. But the moment you add an entry fee, you start having a threshold of content versus dollars spent.

Look at the end of the day, we are bitching about 1st world problems. We are online talking about problem (or lack thereof) with a piece of entertainment, in the comforts of our homes or workplaces. None of this shit matters really.

But it is important to us right? Otherwise we wouldn't be here trying to expression our opinions.

And to be perfectly honest. Overwatch is a super easy fix.

All they have to do, simply reward players with 25 coins after every match, that means it takes 40 games to earn a legendary skin or 400 minutes of play (give or take). This allows players to get exactly what they want in ratio to their time investment with the game. Simple.

 

[Rednog]

I've never understood these threads, yet they keep popping up once and a while.
Why should anyone convince you to buy something?

To be honest I'm a bit dumbfounded when I read your post.

I didn't realize that different characters played completely different classes and styles and that these things could all coexist

I'd legitimately like to know how in the world you approach a game. This level of complete and utter blindness to how a game works is something I've only seen with some terrible Let's Players. The game has a tutorial that basically says hey bro here are the keys it let's you do X,Y, and Z. And as soon as you enter a game is should be instantly apparent that every character is different. How does one reach the assumption that a giant gorilla, a soldier, a cowboy, a mech, etc all play the same? You'd immediately notice people are using different abilities and weapons.

That short rant aside. You shouldn't buy Overwatch. The game presents all it has to you within the first 30 or so minutes of play. It's a very straight forward multiplayer. If it was something you didn't enjoy off the bat, whatever people type to you isn't going to convince you otherwise. If anything, you have the internet at your finger tips, Overwatch's main page has all the characters with short descriptions and short videos telling you everything you need to know.

 

[Hawk eye1466]

Like you I didn't like TF2 very much, in fact I've played like 2 hours of it and that's really it. But overwatch is actually very fun, if you have people to play it with, I've found playing it on my own is still fun but it's better with people.

So if you want a fun team game to play with friends I'd say it's a pretty safe bet especially since it's only 40 dollars. I also was playing it on the PC because it is a shooter and aiming is important.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Dota is free. That completely circumvents the point. There is value to Dota because you can drop 500 hours into the game, and you don't have to drop a penny to do it. But the moment you add an entry fee, you start having a threshold of content versus dollars spent.

Dota's price point is irrelevant. If it cost $50, it would still only have one map and one game mode, and thus according to you would make all who purchased it "feel shitty", represent a terrible value proposition, and the only reason anyone would play or defend it would be "because Valve".

Look at the end of the day, we are bitching about 1st world problems. We are online talking about problem (or lack thereof) with a piece of entertainment, in the comforts of our homes or workplaces. None of this shit matters really.

But it is important to us right? Otherwise we wouldn't be here trying to expression our opinions.

Sure. And I covered that when I told you that you could get annoyed by whatever you want. I get annoyed when I drop something and have to bend over to pick it up. I do not, however, go to public forums and claim these events are "Really big deals" and "making me angry". Because it would be impossible for strangers to know if I was just being dramatic and stroppy, or if I genuinely believed my pet peeves were Vry Srs Bzness. Cosmetic microtransactions in games is not "a big deal", by any standard. If it drives certain people up the wall because of "principles" or whatever, that's their lookout. I care about fun games that I want to play. Overwatch is a fun game. I want to play it. It has value for me. That I might want a skin or a highlight intro and not be able to immediately get it does not in any way dilute or diminish that value.

All they have to do, simply reward players with 25 coins after every match, that means it takes 40 games to earn a legendary skin or 400 minutes of play (give or take). This allows players to get exactly what they want in ratio to their time investment with the game. Simple.

I'm assuming you watched TB's video on the subject, because he talked about guaranteed income there as well. Yeah, I'd have no problem with this, but I likely wouldn't set it at 25 coins. And since duplicates out of loot boxes already reward coins, I'd probably set it quite a bit lower. "Legendary" skins aren't very legendary if you get them after 40 games. OW games are FAST. You could knock out 40 in one busy afternoon.

Blizzard likes making "sticky" games. Think about the length of time it takes to get enough gold/dust to craft a legendary in Hearthstone. Or the amount of time put into WoW to earn a legendary or even an epic item. Or the time spent on a Diablo character to get a legendary. By comparison, OW is extremely fast. I'm level 35, haven't bought loot crates, and already have a half dozen legendary skins. The pacing is fine. It's neither overly generous, nor overly grinchy. That the cosmetics are utterly ancillary to game play removes all pressure to acquire them. They're simply there as an extra psychological "reward" for playing, because gamers love carrots. Allow people to rapidly sprint through and acquire all the bits and bobs they want in one weekend, the carrot is gone, and once it's gone, it's gone forever.

 

[Lightspeaker]

Character rundown? I play everything to a greater or lesser extent so...this is what works for me I guess:

Genji and Tracer play pretty similar roles in being fast flankers that can devastate backliners in 1v1 combat but are pretty fragile when they don't have their survivability mechanics available. Good for wiping out snipers and medics and Tracer in particular can be great for killing entrenched positions with her ultimate bomb.

Reaper is another flanker but is far more chunky and better at tearing down bigger opponents. So whilst you can hit backliners with him its also beneficial to flank and hit more dangerous enemies from the side rather than just wiping their support. Lesser agility is compensated for by having more health and the sustain in regaining health from souls.

McCree excels in front-line damage dealing and also protection of your own backline since flashbang>fan is insanely powerful and his left click is strong and accurate at any range. Good all-purpose damage dealer.

Soldier 76 is another straightforward multi-purpose direct damage dealer. He's optimal at mid-ranges and has a self heal. Nice and straightforward and good to pick if you're not sure what else your team needs at that moment.

Pharah is a mobile AoE offence specialist. Rockets can be really good at flushing out enemies and do a lot of damage. Absolutely hates direct damage dealers at range like McCree, 76 or Widowmaker; but can hardly be touched by opponents like D.Va, Junkrat or Winston.

Hanzo and Widowmaker are both snipers. Hanzo is a bit more relaxed in style thanks to the ability to fire arrows fast and his scatter arrow (plus the tree-trunk sized hitboxes of the arrows) but is harder to aim at a longer distance with. Widowmaker can pick off someone from half the map away but you need to have the snapshot reflexes from games like CSGO to do it well, although bodyshots don't work too badly either. Pretty much literally the TF2 sniper styles of bow vs rifle broken down into two heroes.

Mei is a crowd-control style hero, able to freeze people and block off areas. Plus a self-heal over time in an invulnerability state. Great for slowing down offensives and in general controlling the flow of a fight.

Junkrat is an AoE area denial in a similar vein as Pharah but without the mobility, but with far more effective defensive kit. You can set up an extremely strong trap with his two trap abilities and then rain down grenades on your opponents until one of them chases you right into it.

Torbjorn and Bastion both fulfill the "hard defensive point" role on a team with one building a turret and the other becoming a turret. Thus allowing you to set up a very heavy damage source to reinforce and protect a specific area at the expense of maneuverability.

D.Va and Winston both play the role of 'disruptive tanks', though Winston can also act a bit more defensively and D.Va is pretty good for busting hard points thanks to their respective defensive abilities. In general I find they want to get in, blast some enemies and get out with their excellent repositioning tools.

Reinhardt is a traditional tank. Big, bulky hero with a massive shield to hide behind. Probably the most useful tank if you've got a team actually supporting you. In general provides a fantastic core to a team around which people can rally and play; but very vulnerable if nobody is actually helping because his main weapon is melee and he can be easily flanked.

Zarya plays another defensive tank role but in a different way and has a ridiculous potential threat level. I'm...not too comfortable with Zarya myself to be honest. She seems to die very quickly under a lot of circumstances. I kinda feel you need another tank alongside you if you're playing Zarya. Can output enormous amounts of damage though if she gets charged up.

Roadhog is a weird one. He basically acts as a tank by sheer virtue of the fact that he's massive with a large health pool and has the potential to pull one of your weaker teammates out into harms way, which makes him a priority. He's very good at picking a team apart but pretty bad at protecting allies (since he has literally no defensive abilities to help others other than pulling enemies away from allies).

Mercy is a straight-up healer and frankly the only thing that counters a decent Mercy in a pub is getting a Mercy yourself. The sheer healing output and mass res are just insane. Reasonable agility too, thanks to her repositioning tools.

Zenyatta is another point healer but with debuff capabilities. He's similar to Mercy but a bit more offensively-based. Incredibly fragile though and with no movement/escape abilities he can die so easily.

Lucio is an AoE healer with speed buff potential. I'm not actually a fan of having JUST a Lucio on a team, I don't feel his heal does enough for heavy damage situations. That being said a combination of Lucio and another support can be incredible. And if you can't rely on your team for anything but you NEED a healer then Lucio is a safer bet than either of the other two since you can make plays yourself as well.

Symmetra is another weird hero, and a bit more complicated than the other support so will take more explaining. Classified as a support but has no healing capacity. Depends heavily on the map, your teammates and the enemy. The shields are useful a bit I guess. Her gun is actually really good at close range and can just absolutely tear people down because it increases in damage the more you have it connected to someone and it locks onto them (and the secondary fire does a ton of damage and goes straight through Reinhardt's shield). The mini turrets are good too but die really easily when the enemy knows where they are. The teleporter can be invaluable in some maps and useless in others. All in all she's actually pretty good in the right circumstances, but as the only support on a team...you're better off picking a healer outside of a few niche cases.

I think that's everyone? What you actually pick kinda depends on what your opponent picks...what your allies pick...and what map you're on.

 

[Zhukov]

I'm level 35, haven't bought loot crates, and already have a half dozen legendary skins.

Oh, well that explains it!

You've been very lucky. Statistically you have nearly twice as many legendary skins as you "should".

This must be the source of your misguided enjoyment of the game.

And frankly it is because this was a Blizzard game.

Gonna have to call a big ol' bullshit on this one.

I've never liked a Blizzard game before. I think Diablo is a snore. I played WoW for about two hours on one of those free trial cards before saying "screw this". I've never touched Hearthstone. I've never played HotS. Starcraft and Warcraft are probably alright but I don't much care for RTS games.

And yet I am able to enjoy Overwatch and don't mind unlocking random crates through normal play. Despite not being remotely enamored of the developer.

Explain this impossible circumstance!

 

[BloatedGuppy]

And yet I am able to enjoy Overwatch and don't mind unlocking random crates through normal play.

I can confirm this. Have personally witnessed Zhukov enjoying Overwatch for 5, even 10 seconds at a time before he inevitably gets disconnected.

 

[2HF]

Convince you? Why?

I've never understood these threads, yet they keep popping up once and a while.
Why should anyone convince you to buy something?

Because I am your king, bow before me oh humblest of peasants!

Or, you know, it's just kitschy phrasing to nab attention so that people open my thread and provide the information I'm asking for...

Take your pick.

 

[CritialGaming]

-snip-

Considering how much you really seem to hate this game I feel compelled to ask... is there any chance you bought it for PS4 and would be willing to part with it for a reasonable sum?

Sorry I am part of the PC master race.

To be fair I don't hate Overwatch. I think it is a really good FOUNDATION of what can one day be a fantastic game. I hope they use this as a jumping off point for bigger and better things.

And honestly I am not a fan of PVP-team death match games anyway, so Overwatch had a lot going against it for me. Which is why I never really hate on the GAMEPLAY of the game, which I think is fine. The systems around that gameplay bother me.

1. The lack of mode options.
2. The inability to filter your game options. Like say you have 5 maps you really like and only want to play escort, or capture types. (I mean sure you can create a custom game, but why can't you just search for the games and maps you want within the general game que?)
3. The progression system is shit. I don't care what anyone says, it is garbage and unrewarding. (No I haven't seen TB's video, but I also don't take TB's words as gospel either. I heard enough of his opinion on this during the last Podcast and frankly I agree more towards Jim Sterling's POV on this.) There were so many other ways to, at very least, accentuate this system. RNG boxes are fine, if there was some other way to directly earn the shit you actually wanted in the game. Like I said, just a few coins after every match will allow players to work towards something they want, especially if they are like me and have had shit luck on the boxes. I'm level 28 and I've only gotten 2 blue skins and nothing else of value.
4. Then there is the content. I have a problem with the lack of gameplay options at launch. A few more game modes, if nothing else, to offer people a full array of value to your purchase. Especially with a 60 dollar price tag. I mean how is Overwatch getting away with less content, and a worse progression system than Battlefront?

Whatever the case. Understand that I really really like Blizzard. And I spew venom towards them because I know that they can do better and have done better in the past.

And although I can't play more than a couple matches at a time, I do like playing Overwatch. I like the characters, Mercy especially, and I can have fun even if my team runs off without their healer because PUG's are little better than playing with Baboons.

The game has a lot of short comings that I don't understand how people are so...."BST GAM EVAR!" about it. I just don't understand. But I will be curious to see what happens in a month when the new game smell wears off.

 

[Odbarc]

I suppose it's a level-less/item-less MOBA as a FPS might describe it best?
Frankly these team death battle FPS games were never my style of gaming. It's highly repetitive and not particularly interesting.