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w4nderingstarfanfics · 2 years ago

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Disappointment Dissertation

With the launch of Overwatch2, I know everyone on the internet is jumping on the hate bandwagon. But I still wanted to get my thoughts into a cohesive argument. The short version is: I am so disappointed.

I have several chapters in mind, but the most shocking and yet not shocking one I wanted to do first as it literally affects every single player of the game.

Chapter 1

Part 1

The reason why they made these changes is very clear: Money. They can now force a majority of people to literally spend the same money on a yearly basis for a game that before, we only had to buy once. Even if you only buy the bare minimum of the new currency just for the battle pass and nothing else, you end up buying the the game for an even higher price on a yearly basis.

The Battle Pass Math

The game now requires a new “battle pass currency” that you must spend your real life money on to unlock everything from Overwatch2. The Legacy Coins from Overwatch can only be used to buy some items that existed pre-October release. Let’s break down the pricing.

(Battle Pass Currency shorthand will be a ‘c’ following a number)

500c = 5.00 (this is the least amount of currency you can buy)

1000c = 10.00

The premium battle pass cost is 1000c, or 10 real life (American) dollars. There will be a new battle pass roughly every 6-9 weeks. Let's take the fastest turnaround time per-pass to see the high end of what the true cost of Overwatch2 is.

~52 weeks in a calendar year

52/6 = 8.667, roughly 8 battle passes a year

8*10= 80

To unlock all the new content a year you will have to spend 80 dollars a year. Overwatch itself was 60 dollars flat and you never had to re-buy it. Discounting the “Watchpoint Pack” where you did rebuy the game but with 2 $20 skins included.

There is an option to buy 2000c and you get a “10% extra” where you get an extra “free” 200c for 20 dollars. To not overspend and only buy the 8000c required:

3 2200c packs: 20*3= 60$

1 1000c pack: 10$

1 500c pack: 5$ (and 100c left over that you had to buy even though you did not want it)

Total: 75$

Grand total savings: 5$

There is also the 50$ currency bundle for 5700c with a 14% “extra.”

1 5700c pack: 50$

1 2200c pack: 20$

1 500c pack: 5$ (with 400 left over that you had to buy even through you didn’t want it)

Total: 75$

Grand total savings: 5$

The extra bundles are the same “savings,” but with 100c or 400c extra that you were forced to pay for.

So the free to play game is 75-80 dollars a year to have access to the new content.

Part 2

The New Hero Math

BUT WAIT. The battle pass does not include all new content.

Yes indeed you read that right, even after spending 80 real life dollars, you only receive access to unlock the new cosmetics and in-game content on the battle pass. And yes, you read that right again, you do not give them money and get the content, you must grind and “unlock” the content you already paid for. It’s unclear to me if you do not unlock all levels by the end of the season, if you just get those items, or if that content (and your money) is dust in the wind and you get nothing that you failed to unlock.

“Regular” new character skins, highlights, emotes are all completely separate from the battle pass and cost money. You like that new Junker Queen skin? It’s extra. Want that Sojourn highlight intro? It’s extra.

(I am excluding “souvenirs” and “weapon charms” as these might be 1 time unlocks that you can use for all heroes after being paid for once and also I have no clue what the hell a “souvenir” is or why anyone would want to spend money on it and I’m sure as hell not spending money on them to find out)

All three new heroes appear to have the exact same spread of cosmetics with minor variations. Any cosmetics that appear on either the free or premium battle pass I have excluded from these price totals. I’m unsure if these are battle pass locked, meaning if you don't get them on the pass you will never be able to unlock them. Or, if at a later date, they will become “unlocked” and buyable like their rest. Which will increase the base price to fully unlock a new hero, only time will tell at this early point in the game’s launch.

Cosmetic Discrepancies:

Sojourn has 1 epic skin and 10 sprays (one less of each than both her counterparts)

One of Kiriko’s legendary skins is currently free for watching Twitch streams but will be paywalled in battle pass season 2

2 of her recolor skins are listed as locked and not purchasable and do not appear on the battle pass track. Possible glitch? Maybe part of a “bundle” in the shop that I don’t see and/or is rotating?

2 Legendary skins (1900*2= 3800)

2 Epic skins (1000*2= 2000)

4 Recolors (300*4= 1200)

Total Currency For Skins: 7000c

4 Emotes (500*4= 2000)

3 Victory poses (300*3= 900)

10 Voice lines (100*10= 1000)

11 Sprays (100*11= 1100)

2 Highlight intros (700*2= 1400)

Total Currency For “Other” Cosmetics: 6400

Grand Total To Fully Unlock ONE New Character: 13,400c (135$ real American dollars)

Part 3

The Grand Total and the Future

If you are looking to unlock only the new Overwatch2 characters and the battle pass season 1 your total is:

(3 x 135) + 80 = $485

FOUR HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FIVE DOLLARS JUST TO UNLOCK THE NEW CONTENT.

I shudder to think what the cost to unlock the entire cast of heroes is since they have 6 years of cosmetics banked. No. I’m not going to go through each hero to run their prices and get a grand total, I want to keep what’s left of my soul.

And this also does not include any possible “seasonal” event content. The first being the “Wrath Of The Bride” Halloween event. There appears to be 3 new (no doubt legendary, another staggering $50 just for those three skins if you buy that currency bundle) skins for Junker Queen, Kiriko, and Sojourn. Ashe was included in the promo art in her Warlock skin which is not new, unless they have changed something and will charge us again for a recolor of it.

As these Halloween skins do not appear on the current battle pass track, I believe it’s safe to assume any and all “event” content will never be free or part of a battle pass “bundle.” This could change in the future, but I don’t see a financial reason for them to do so.

Absolutely gobsmacking. The cost just for launch day cosmetics makes me numb.

I honestly can’t see how this could be sustainable at these price points. $20 dollars for one hero’s single legendary skin. $7.50 for a three second highlight intro. It’s insane! And what makes it worse, is there is no “grind and hope” option.

In Overwatch, you were rewarded for grinding out levels with lootboxes. If you didn’t want to pay for new cosmetics, you could grind and hope you got what you wanted in loot boxes. Or, save your acquired coins and buy them that way.

My suggestion would be to bring back lootboxes in a limited capacity. Because the company is in the middle of a money hungry cash grab, yes, you should be able to buy them. But, after say 2-3 battle pass levels, you got a “free one.” It would reward the free track players to keep grinding (since 75% of the battle pass items are paywalled) as well as paid track player with extra content and currency to unlock non battle pass items. Obviously, paid battle pass items could not appear in loot boxes (until a later date if those items became unlocked) so it would not interfere with the push for people to pay for the battle pass.

And it would be critical for brand new Overwatch2 players to be able to have anything other than the base skin.

In conclusion, I’m disappointed about how naked the cash grab is. And I’m angry that they are not even doing the naked cash grab well.

If Blizzard had any sense at all, they would have kept the loot boxes, temping people to try their luck, and been a smidgen more kind to their players. They would have stuffed the battle pass full of things the player actually want. They would have done skins, highlights, poses, charms and not voicelines, player icons, and “player cards” that are worthless fluff that could have gone into loot boxes to force us to buy both currency and loot boxes.

#overwatch2 #Overwatch2 text post #overwatch2 what it really costs #unlock math

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