Overwatch News
Helping Other Players on Twitter
Blizzard is testing a new optional mobile-friendly system for players who help each other out on Twitter. The more players you help with your authorized Twitter account, the more points you'll earn. Climb the leaderboard and be part of the greatest gaming community in the world!
Overwatch Digital Comic: " Legacy"
The seventh entry in our free digital comic series, Legacy, explores the backstory of Ana Amari—a former Overwatch captain who has recently emerged from years of seclusion to defend a new generation.
Overwatch Community
Disappointed in the lack of attention paid towards the PS4 progress loss - by Majorasblaze
I haven't felt able to play overwatch since the weekend because everything I did in the game since competitive launched has been wiped (level, rank, drops) and it's been hard work to find any information about what's going on.
Trawling through blizzard forums and Twitter, and searching for relevant posts on the subreddit, creates a vague picture of the problem, but there is currently no solution nor a timescale for a fix from Blizzard.
This subreddit should be doing more to highlight how much of a problem this is for many PS4 players, and encouraging pressure for some information.
Edit: Existing Blizzard forums complaint thread http://eu.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/17612303860?page=1Edit the 2nd: Thanks for the upvotes and positive comments! I'd just like to clarify that my post was not about condemning this subreddit, and entirely based on observing several posts about this issue since it began which received no attention. Searching through here, social media and blizzard forums has proven to give no more information than a basic awareness of the issue and a nebulous 'working on a fix'. This hasn't changed since the issue started.
I used to be a toxic player, but not anymore - by SharpSack
TL;DR at the bottom
Hi guys! With a lot of talk about toxicity going on in the Overwatch community, I thought I would share my own experiences being toxic, and how I changed myself.
Introduction
I have a good group of college friends that I play all sorts of games with... RocketLeague, DarkSouls, KillingFloor, and now most recently Overwatch. I used to be incredibly toxic to play Overwatch with as well. Yeah I would get mad... but I brought it to a whole new level. I would swear and curse out the enemy team, or leave the most disgusting texts in the chat. I would become so toxic while playing that one day, my good friend called me out on it. He told me "dude, if you're going to keep acting like this, I am not going to play with you" and that really stuck with me. My friend forced me to see the discrepancy between my own perception of myself and how everyone else was seeing me... and quite frankly... I didn't like what I saw.
I felt like such an asshole. I was flaming not only strangers, but also my teammates, my friends, the very guys I study with 'til 3am for exams. The very guys who save my ass when I drink too much. The very guys who have my back when shit goes down... and here I was, ruining all their games and their moods.
I wanted to change, but it is not easy undoing weeks of habitual frustration. There is always the reflex to say "are you fucking kidding me?!?!". But now, whenever I start getting too steamed... I either quit comp (after the match is over) and switch to quick play, or I just take a break and make myself dinner or something.
Step 1
The first step I realized to controlling your in game anger is acknowledging that you are angry, and being able to take a break when you need to. When you start to get mad, you play worse, and that ends up making you even more furious, so it is a good idea to take a short break, get some water, and chill (even if its for like 5 minutes).
Step 2
My next step was learning how to communicate with other people in a more positive way. If you start the game with some fun banter, chances are the game will just feel more fun, and you will be less likely to get angry. As Reinhardt, I would charge the enemy off the cliff and say in chat "totally worth it". I tend to get some pretty positive reactions from that!
Just playing the game and trying to have fun is one thing, but I learned trying to help other people have fun either through funny plays or great text chat helps lighten the atmosphere and brings everyone together!
I always start the match with "gl and hf" (good luck and have fun) and always conclude with "gg" (good game). glhf and gg I think have very positive connotations. I never said "ez", "gg ez", or any of that crap. It is just usually taken negatively and all it does is sting people.
Step 3
As I began controlling my frustrations a lot better and began just having more fun and having great experiences with other players, I had to learn how to deal with people either flaming me or flaming in general. I can now control my own actions but how to you try to influence others?
I learned that you always need to be cordial. If someone is flaming (no matter which team), I began saying "Please don't flame" or sometimes I would be a little less formal and say "chill, don't be rude cause you're toxicity is ruining the game for everyone". I know these aren't perfect solutions but they usually have good results. When they don't I just mute the guy and switch lobbies afterwards. I do not think a fight is worth my time and I don't want to risk getting myself all heated again. But I noticed that most of the time, people would try to back me up.
I don't respond to toxicity with toxicity and when my team is suffering because someone is not playing well as a hero, I offer an alternative but in a supportive manner. "Hey so and so, I think we could use a Reaper cause it'll shred their tanks!" Just like that!
Conclusion (TL;DR)
I used to be incredibly toxic, but was I realized how much I was bringing everyone down, (over the course of the month) I tried really hard to keep myself under control, create a positive atmosphere among everyone else, and trying to suppress toxicity that comes my way. I have noticed that people actually do want to stop this toxicity but don't really care enough to or know how to start, but when you try, and they see it, they will get your back.
I know what it feels like to get so angry at this game you want to tear your balls off and shove them in your own ass. But the real problem wasn't my team or the enemy Genji... it was me.
Healing people as ana would feel better and more rewarding if there was a sound for it - by Galrath91
Anyone agree? Ana feels great, however sometimes it's hard to know if your healing snipe hit your ally or not because there is no sound attached to the healshot if you hit.
I would like to have some audio for this. Besides that, great job on her, Blizz.
Ana's heal blocking mechanic is broken on payload maps - by Heroicshrub
When Ana hits an enemy with her biotic grenade, they are not supposed to be able to heal. However, in playload/hybrid game types, they can still be healed by the payload while on offense even with the debuff applied. I noticed this today while playing DVA on King's Row; I'm not sure if this intentional or a glitch/exploit, but it needs to be addressed.
This is simultaneously one of the smallest changes I can think of, and the only one I've actually been praying for ever since they announced his changes (well, ever since I started playing this game even). Being able to see who you're healing when there's a mess of people in one place would be a big buff for any serious Zenyatta player, and I don't know why it's not a thing already.
The Community Reaction to the D.Va Buffs Scares Me a Little - by Kybex
D.Va has been an extremely weak character ever since release with numerous problems that I shouldn't even have to talk about. The recent PTR buffs have done an amazing job turning D.Va into a viable tank and she can even contest Reinhardt for role of main tank on highly mobile teams. But I've been on the official Overwatch forums and have been seeing so many people claiming she's OP, and this scares me. I've even run into while playing in the PTR, and these people genuinely believe she should return to her previous state. I think a lot of this comes from lack of knowledge on how to fight D.Va. People will just ignore gremlin D.Va once the mech is dead letting me get another one for free. They won't shoot at me at all until I'm right in their faces shooting at them and then the they rage so hard when the Reaper who teleports in with the oh so obvious ult gets shut down. People are treating D.Va like she's still not a threat, and their getting bit for it.
Think of D.Va like a mobile, less scary when mad, Reinhardt. Shoot at the D.Va. Make her burn defense matrix before you ult. Treat it like you would a Rein shield. You don't even need your whole team on it to melt it quickly like Rein, just one player who can force D.Va to burn the meter. It only lasts for 4 seconds, while that is a decent amount of time in a game of this pace, once the bar is burned down, D.Va is going to struggle to get it back up until the fighting stops.
Do not let gremlin D.Va get her mech back. She has no mobility and 150 HP. Two Rein hammers will end her. Junkrat will end her. Flash -> headshot from McCree is an instant kill. Ana can burst combo her down. Do not let her run free. Her gun may be weaker than Mercy so you think the Soldier takes priority, but no, you want to remove D.Va from the fight, otherwise that mech is coming back and you won't even have the chance to kill Soldier until it's dead again.
As for D.Va's ult, Mei can ice wall block it, Rein can shield, Zarya can shield herself and another, Winston can bubble. If you suspect the D.Va has ult, do not fight in the open. Treat it like you would a Reaper ult and avoid clumping together in open areas unless you have a Rein/Mei/Winston. it's a big scary ult like the offense heroes with a pretty hefty charge (though I don't think it needed a charge time buff).
I am genuinely concerned people are going to complain so much about D.Va being op that she will be nerfed into the ground again. She still has the same weaknesses just better utility. She's still bad at 1v1 scenarios against most characters. Defense Matrix still doesn't block projectiles at very close range, so you can still shoot D.Va just by walking forward. She still has to practically stand still to shoot at all. Her headshot hitbox is still the size of the moon. And she still does bugger all damage at any distance past 3 inches.
Before these buffs D.Va had situational use in stopping ults and stacking to contest points. Aside from that she was just a walking ult battery who's largest threat to your team was making your sniper move. Now D.Va actually has something that sets her apart from the other tanks, please, please don't take it away.
TL;DR D.Va is not OP now. She just requires you to treat her as a real tank and actually kill her instead of ignoring her like the non threat she used to be.
EDIT: Try and think of her as a Reinhardt who gives up kill potential and shield duration for the ability to block burst damage and more mobility.
Theory - Reaper is not truly Gabriel Reyes - by jag986
TL;DR: Reyes is dead. What believes itself to be Reyes is a collection of nanites continuing his grudge, like the leeches in Resident Evil 0.
Since the teaser of the Biotic Rifle and Mercy's comments on weaponizing her technology, I've been giving some thought on the relation between Mercy and Reaper. There are some lines that Reaper has where he seems to think Mercy has some knowledge of his condition.
Mercy: "What happened to you?"
Reaper: "You tell me, doc."
For whatever reason, this doesn't strike me as an accident. I don't think that Mercy is directly responsible for Reaper, but I believe that Reyes's current condition is a result of her technology. So I started considering some things we do know and theorizing about them.
1) Mercy pioneered the field of nanobiology, which brought her to the attentions of Overwatch.
2) Mercy lost her parents to war and opposed weaponization of her nanobiology tech, which was a condition of her continued work for Overwatch.
3) Reyes was part of Blackwatch, which existed outside the normal command structure of Overwatch and was responsible for counterintelligence and espionage.
4) Reyes attempted to lead a rebellion against Morrison, pitting his Blackwatch against Morrison's Overwatch, both went into a final encounter and both came out alive, but Reyes changed drastically.
So my theory is this. Reyes, the human, is dead. The current Reaper is a collection of nanites that believe they are Gabriel Reyes and continue his grudge for Overwatch agents. I theorize that Blackwatch was looking for a way to weaponize Mercy's technology; perhaps to have it independent of a catalyst like the staff or biotic rifle so it could regenerate on command, or perhaps as a quick-acting and incurable poison that would take a target apart on a cellular level. Given that Reaper can construct and deconstruct himself, I'm leaning towards the former.
At some point before or during his confrontation with Morrison, Reyes either willingly or unintentionally was exposed to the weaponized nanites and perished in the explosion that left both men believed to be dead. However the nanites escaped the explosion and formed a new body which believes itself to be Reyes.
This would explain several abilities, such as his ability to continually manifest guns, to break his body down into a phantom form, and his teleport ability. The nanites could also consume the electrical signals and elements of his victims in order to replenish themselves. It'd also explain why he's seemingly immortal outside of the game, as even one nanite left alive can recreate the entire body.
Ok, let the ripping apart begin!
I feel like hitboxes should be reverted for Mei's Icicle - by aagpeng
So after playing the PTR for a bit and I have to say the hitbox changes almost feel a little too over done for Mei. I can completely understand making it a little tighter for characters like hanzo who could completely miss shots but still get a hit because each of his arrows does a large amount of damage. However, using Mei's right click is insanely more difficult now and almost impossible at even medium ranges given the great mobility people have in this game.
I'd like to address this for Mei. To preface this, I'm not new to this game or this character by any means. I have almost 200 hours in the game and over 100 as Mei. Here are the issues:
Mei as a character has always struggled to tack on damage. In the pro scene, this is the very reason she isn't used. Now with the new hitboxes, it's almost impossible to land hits and at a medium distance, it almost comes down to luck to land shots. This character did not need this nerf. Her icicles do 75-22 dmg and consume 25 ammo. On top of that, they are not hitscan and have a charge up time. The icicle could do solid damage if a headshot was landed and there's nothing wrong with that. Now the icicle has a tiny toothpick hitbox, charge up time, non hitscan properties, and high ammo consumption. It's simply too much. The icicle before was not really a life or death situation unless the Mei player landed a raw headshot or you were already very low on HP.
It absolutely destroys her chance in being in the pro scene. With all the drawbacks and little reward for landing your shots on a non frozen enemy, she went from having little chance to no chance. It's just not a fair change to the character.
Ana (who is awesome btw) heals 75 hp per shot. So even if you were to land a solid body shot, ana instantly negates it. While no one can say for certain if Ana will see a lot of pro play, it's worth noting that having an ana on a team can completely negate the damage of mei's body shot. Nothing should be changed on ana's end of this issue but it would mean that in order to kill with mei, you have to either get a freeze or land a lucky raw headshot.
So far everything seemed really cool. I'm a fan of the buffs so far but I don't play those characters very much so I can't say for certain. Hanzo's arrows seem really tiny now which is fun to play against but I can't contest to weather it's fair or not. My only complaint is that they inadvertantly nerfed a character's weakness that was already pretty weak.
Overwatch Highlights
Gifs - Pic
Ana: Bunny Skin
Raising the volume too much
Nice try, Reinhardt
I got an Overwatch Competitive match where I was the only player
Nope
Reflecting 3 ults with 1 Deflect - Genji POTG
Looks like Phara slipped from roof
Reapers never learn...
The floor is lava
Was about to showbutt, but then I remembered..
I was told by someone in solo queue that when I got good at Genji would be the day pigs fly
Ana is quickly becoming a favorite
McCree players: Ana's ultimate makes your Dead Eye inaccurate
Okay, I guess you can have him.
Nano boost 2 stronk
Last second, Hail Mary save by Junkrat
I think Overwatch is trying to tell me something
Videos
Reaper Montage | TRIGGER WARNING: EDGY
Taking a minute to appreciate console Torbjorn before he gets nerfed
McCree the Super Spy
Fan content
"Simple Geometry" Professor Hanzo by Paul Reinwand
Overwatch: The Dark Cost Of Resurrection
Grandma Ana babysitting tactics [Fan comic]
My experience with Wraith Form
Ooops [by yuri-murasaki]
Ana Amari - Comic #7 - Legacy
A brave new world for smol Granana. Will she...
YES! DVA? DVA?! DVAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
More of the original team mom
Phara's Day Job
Deflect all those ults
Torbjorn POTGs require lots of skill and effort
Ana in Metal Gear art style