#sombra overwatch gameplay

[club-media]

I made an Overwatch highlight reel with cat memes. Song is "Four Pointed Steel Star" - Kumo 99

[overwatchmilk]

Samba & Sombra 1

[purplekoop]

Random Overwatch take ramble time: Sigma.

Sigma is a weird character to get a grasp on, because it's not exactly clear how... aware he is. His origin story video seems to spell out that the incident caused him to completely lose it, and Sombra in Code of Violence says, quote: "A bad experiment fractured his mind. He's just trying to remember how the pieces fit together." In this story, he seems completely oblivious to anything around him, including a violent break-in on the facility he was held in and the fact he was dragged out on an airship. There's no details in the story as to how he reacted to this, so the implication would be... he didn't react to it. He just went along with it.

And yet in game he's... seemingly fine? A bit eccentric sure, he'll often spout a seemingly random question or thought, but he definitely seems aware of his surroundings, as he's able to notice and recognize people and hold natural conversations, aside from his signature unique ponderings. His most recent new interaction with Lifeweaver in particular is extremely coherent, and it's the one time so far we've really seen Sigma act concerned for anyone... even himself, frankly.

Worth noting that this disparity between how we see him pre and post Talon may be deliberate. It's quite possible (if not probable) that between his isolated containment and the "current day" of in-game, his initial gravitic brain scrambling may have recovered. To go off of Sombra's word, maybe in the time between the incident and his time with Talon, he's started to put the pieces of his mind back together.

The most striking part though is that he seems to flip between calm and aloof one moment, then deliberately and mercilessly violent the next. Now, granted, part of this is because he's a character in a PvP game, there's plenty of examples of that in Overwatch's cast alone (Mei being a somewhat infamous example of contrast between character and gameplay), but with Sigma it seems like a very deliberate part of his character. He goes from tender, inquisitive grandpa to violent terrifying supervillain at a moment's notice.

In fact, it's somewhat implied he's not even aware of the extent of his actions, but it's really hard to decipher, especially when the actual PvP gameplay (y'know, our most thorough source of reference) isn't even canon. Sometimes after a team kill he'll say something like "Huh? Where did everybody go?", which can be interpreted a number of ways, and again, comes from the dubious source that is PvP dialogue, but it does seem to imply him being not fully aware of what's going on is part of his character.

And... yeah okay, obligatory messy subject when talking about Sigma's characterization: his condition being analogous to mental illness.

I'm not well-researched enough to go into specifics, but it's very clear that Sigma is meant to be experiencing something akin to some kind of mental illness, obviously with the one main difference being the more fantastical nature of its source and effects. He doesn't seem aware of his surroundings or his actions, he flips moods from passivity to violence sporadically, and most "yikes!" of all, one of his debut skins had him in the classic serial killer insane asylum outfit. That one is... yeah that one's just icky, I'm sorry. Overwatch does that thing a lot where they get fantastical with real world issues (most notably having one of the more "whatever" robo-racism stories), and while most of the time it's done in a way that's pretty inoffensive and disconnected from reality... that skin is just disappointing. Legitimately the most embarrassing part of the game as far as I'm concerned.

But I think it'd be a disservice to the character to limit a reading of him to just that depressing note, so here's my take (and reason for making this post in the first place):

Sigma isn't insane. In fact, a lot of his "odd" behavior isn't even because of his unique condition.

He's... to be blunt (and predictable on Tumblr Dot Com), Neurodivergent.

I know, that's not a much more flattering reading than mental illness, but hear me out.

I think it's safe to assume that Siebren was always inquisitive and far-thinking. He's a scientist after all, he had to have some ambition to try and do his experiment. So his random hypotheticals he spouts out aren't madness... they're unfiltered. His seemingly bizarre views on reality and his wonky perception are just... what he considers to be important or unimportant.

In fact, he kind of spells it out himself.

The incident didn't change him: It freed him.

As a scientist, he probably had to maintain a veil of professionalism and seriousness that he just doesn't have to now that he has his powers. Shoot, based on how he casually brings up meeting The Iris (the literal deity of Zenyatta's beliefs), it's quite possible that the incident was more of an enlightenment than a transformation. He saw past the conventional limitations of reality... and society.

he acts the way he does because he's realized it doesn't matter, he can do what he wants because he's met a god and has gravity powers.

Now, I'm not saying he doesn't also have a fantastical mental illness, but instead that there's layers to him. He's "weird" on his own, and that's just been unfiltered.

Personally speaking (as someone who's not officially diagnosed autistic but very very heavily expects it based on... well reasons that might be self-evident, among others), I feel like this is a more interesting and potentially just more accurate way of reading the character than just "old man who went insane because of space magic". I find myself randomly thinking of out-of-nowhere ponderings about life and the universe and everything, but I've grown up learning that most people look at you funny if you say them out loud. Plus, I'm definitely prone to big swings of anger that feel out of nowhere over small things, and whatever funky part of my brain to contribute that to is very much undetermined as of now.

So for me, I realized Sigma is kind of just... the power fantasy of someone who recognizes the greater scope of things and has a passionate curiosity to learn, and doesn't have to worry about the rules of society or even physics. It makes more sense and feels more meaningful to read him not as mindless, but... free. Free to be curious and not care how other people view him.

So. Yeah, long, somewhat rambly post that touched some complicated subjects, in a way that's probably not as articulated as I would like, but oh well, rather would get it out imperfectly than not at all. Lately I've been thinking about Sigma's seemingly wonky characterization, and then figured out an answer to the question of how to interpret his behavior in a way that both made sense and was more compelling than an initial glance reading.

(can you tell I've recently realized I think kinda like the funny floaty gravity science man, I think I didn't clarify that enough earlier)

But hopefully I've made something vaguely resembling a convincing argument for how this character is compelling and relatable in a way that isn't problematic and icky, I didn't wanna dwell on that stuff but it felt important to bring up.

[professionalranter31]

I’ve mentioned I want Emily, Tracer’s girlfriend, to be a playable hero in Overwatch

Now part of the reason is that there are a few different relationships within the game that we don’t have

Father-Son

Mother-Son

Spouse-Spouse

And Boyfriend/Girlfriend-Boyfriend/Girlfriend

The first two are slightly weird that we don’t have given that we have

Father-Daughter (Brigitte and Torbjorn)

Mother-Daughter (Ana and Pharah)

Among various different friendships as well

But there are no connections between heroes that are explicitly romantic

Yes there are hints that Mercy and Genji might be a couple given the letter and feather that Genji sent Angela in the Christmas comic (reason I’m saying hints is mostly because it’s also the same comic where we first meet Emily so it would be a great place to introduce a relationship between two heroes) and there are implications that Pharah has a crush on Mercy (although she could also have a crush on other women I mean have you seen the all the female heroes gods damn they are hot) so there’s implications of some sort of love triangle there

Outside of that though there is those voice lines between Reinhardt and Ana, Lifeweaver and Baptiste flirting with each other, Sombra flirting with Tracer in a few (although she could also be trying to hack into Lena’s tech), and some lines between D.Va and Lucio that could be seen as flirting if you squint

But there are no explicit romantic relations between any of the current heroes, not even them being exes

There are 40 heroes in the roster, and beyond friendships and enemies we don’t have many relationships between them

It’s why I’d want Emily to be a playable hero, not for any gameplay reason, but because it would be cool to see that kind of relationship in game instead of just from the comics/books and some voice lines. I’m all for expanding on the world of Overwatch with heroes like Venture and Space Ranger representing the Wayfinders Society and the Colony of Mars respectively, but I also want to see expansions on our current heroes with their lives. It’s why I was more excited for Ana, Ashe, and Brigitte’s reveals, because it expanded on the stories of Pharah, Cassidy, and Torbjorn in a bigger way. We learned that Pharah had a deeper connection to the founding members of Overwatch than we could’ve known, we got insight into Cassidy’s life before Blackwatch, and we got to see what Torbjorn was like outside of being an engineer, what he was like as a father

I know this is probably dumb, but I love to see new facets of the current heroes be revealed with the release of heroes connected to them, and I wanna see more of what Tracer is like as Emily’s partner than the crumbs we’ve been getting

Plus, matching skins for the couples would be awesome

[raptorific]

hello can i ask what do you think about the new sombra rework? it sounds balanced to me but im interested to hear your thoughts

So, take this with a grain of salt, I fancy myself a pretty good Gameplay Analyst generally but I am not good at Sombra. I'm not a Sombra Main, I just believe in their beliefs

For those who haven't seen yet, here is the basic one-sheet for the rework:

I think the rework strikes a good balance where the stuff Good Sombra Players do is now made as easy as possible for them. The way a truly Dangerous Sombra plays is now enabled by her kit, while discouraging bad habits that have persisted ever since she first dropped in the game (i.e. setting a translocator on a hacked health pack, which has not helped you build ult or participate in the action in literal years)

Having Stealth be an automatic passive is a pretty smart idea. The Expert Sombras already play it like that, and the Novice Sombras get scared managing stealth and not being sure when to switch to and from it. Now, it just does it by itself at the opportune time.

Essentially, Expert Sombras are gonna get a lot more dangerous with this rework, and Novice Sombras are gonna build the habits that teach you how to be an Expert Sombra. I do mourn the loss of certain utilities, like the Opportunist passive

The virus ability is interesting, and I feel like my friend who's a deeply homicidal Zenyatta Main will appreciate this one. It feels like, generally speaking, Overwatch is playing around with more Status Effect/Damage interactions in their recent heroes and abilities. Junker Queen's bleed/heal, Mei's chilled/damage boost, Illari's sunstruck/Damage Taken explosion, and now Sombra's hack/virus damage combo

This has less to do with Sombra herself or what she'll be like to play, but noticing how powerful these sorts of interactions are getting leads me to believe there's something coming down the pipeline that'll specifically counter them. I suspect one of the next few heroes we get, likely one of the tanks or supports but anything's possible, will have something like Kiriko's Suzu or Zarya's Bubble that can negate the negative consequences of a status effect, or turn them against the enemy team

The TL;DR on this is that I think the Sombra rework works for lowering her skill floor significantly, while slightly raising her skill ceiling. It reminds me of when they reworked Symmetra, and suddenly everybody who sucked at Symmetra was powerful enough to play her right, and people like me who'd already Gotten Good at Symmetra were basically unstoppable for like four months

[lifeweaverspeach]

OW2 PROBLEMS

So I've really wanted to talk about things that have been annoying me about ow2 that are not gameplay related. And I believe that they're others who might be annoyed by these things too and I think we should really talk about it.

1. Free things

As much as like when ow gives us stuff for free (example - doing mission for cosmetics or just logging on certain dates), it hurts me to know how blizzard is gonna be lazy/greedy sooner or later.

For example for logging into Overwatch 2, during their first Halloween event, we got Cursed Captain (legendary) skin for Reaper. Even though I am not a fan of this skin, it was nice of them to give us free skin.

But imagine how annoyed I was when during their first anniversary, they gave the skin for completing missions. I kinda get that they brought it back for the sake of newer players.

But the main reason it got me annoyed was the fact that they just gave away skin that was for free instead of making some new reward for the mission.

Or when they did the same thing with the Optics highlight intro for Sojourn. At first you had to log in on a certain date to get it and then they added it as a mission.

Personally, I hate most of what they did with Jester Sombra (Rare) skin. It was a little gift for ow1 players who logged into the game on a certain date before ow2. And then, not so long ago it was in a bundle with other clown skins. 

It got me kinda mad since it was specifically for ow1, but what made me even more mad was the fact that they made people pay to get that skin. (The bundle also included clown skin (Rare) for Roadhog which was free weekly skin for you to earn in the very last ow1 Halloween event)

And when they first released Captain Torbjorn (Legendary) in the shop, just to give it away on Twitch after you watched Overwatch streamers for a certain amount of time. Which is disgusting if you consider that because of that, some people wasted their money while they could get the skin for free in the future.

Most of the time, the only things that don't repeat as rewards in missions are voice lines and charms. (Maybe sprays but I am not sure). And even though these things are also not the cheapest, I don't think players are super excited to do missions for something so small like charm or something like voice lines. And I personally think that most people do the mission to be able to get some battle pass levels.

2. Favoritism 

Something I also have a problem with how devs or just people working on ow2 related stuff have their favorite characters that get most stuff.

And based on how much characters get, I would categorize them. We have:

- popular characters (example: D.va, Mercy, Genji, Pharah) who get most of the stuff because they're popular in the overwatch community and they're kind of a mascots for the game

- Kiriko who gets something almost every season (also got a lot of merch recently) (also I don't consider her super popular so I think she's just dev's favorite)

- And there's the rest of the cast who don't get that much skins/merch/stuff in general or just get things that just don't look that good

When it comes to things in the game, like I said, Kiriko gets something almost every season since her release. This includes Mercy, who gets skin almost every season. (honestly I think that's because most of the mercy mains on Twitter would cry over her not getting something every season)

And here I counted how many skins (Only Battle Pass and Shop skins) some overwatch characters got since the start of ow2 till season 7 (not all characters, but here is comparison of how much some skin some characters have compared to one that are super popular and also compared to Kiriko):

Baptiste has 3, Sigma 4, Winston 4, Zarya 2, Brigitte 3, while Kiriko has 8, Mercy 6, Pharah 6 and D.va 5.

I also looked at the EU store to look how much merch some characters have, especially the characters that came out in ow2: (I hope I counted them correctly)

• Kiriko (obviously has the most merch) - 12

• Sojourn - 8 (Including Murphy plush)

• Junker Queen - 10

• Ramattra - 4

• Lifeweaver - 1

• Illari - 0

So if you didn't see it before, you definitely can see now that overwatch definitely has a problem with favoritism towards some of their characters.

3. Money

I'm sure everyone noticed that already, but I think it's worth mentioning - Blizzard hates giving away their things for free. Like in the first part - they're-give their free in-game things. (Like Cursed Captain Reaper, Sojourn's highlight intro)

But I would dare to say that they make sure you can't get too much stuff without spending your money. And if they give something for free (when it's for logging in), they will most likely give it away again as a mission reward, just so players don't get too much stuff. (And it's either because of their laziness, the fact that they're greedy or both)

And stuff they don't mind giving for free are charms, voice lines, icons, sprays and ow1 stuff.

It also annoys me how hard it is for players to earn credits and overwatch coins. You can get credits only through battle pass and mission (keep in mind that without buying battle pass, it's hard to level up).

You can get coins through spending your own money or by doing weekly missions, which after completing 12/12 missions, you get max 60 coins, which is bullshit considering how everything that costs coins is super expensive. So if you do all the missions for 8 weeks (the duration of the whole ow2 season) you get 480, which means that you can only buy voice lines or sprays and that is basically it.

And if you want something from the Shop, without spending your money - not only you have to work hard to get the coins, but you never know when the cosmetic you want is going to come back or be released. (I had this situation with with Lifeweaver's Synthwave skin, that came in week when I didn't have enough coins to buy it and got enough the next week, when he wasn't in the shop anymore)

It's hilarious how expensive everything is and how devs make sure that you have to spend money to get stuff in their game.

They should bring back or just never delete loot boxes. Maybe not give them to players everytime they level up, but they should have kept them around. They also still could get money from them because they players, besides earning them, could just buy them if they wanted.

This is all I wanted to say, I really wish devs can really do something about these problems, but they most likely won't </3

[sharkyloidz]

if pjsk characters played overwatch

disclaimer overwatch is the only fps game ive rlly played and i dont like it very much but its the only one i know a little bit about so this can go for any fps game or fighting game in general i guess?? idk man i suck at overwatch and havent played in several months

ichika: plays like once in a blue moon, likes to play support (ana mostly) kinda mid at it, shes better at other games

saki: plays with wxs and especially with tsukasa and toya, mains kiriko, pretty good at it but not as good as toya

honami: doesn't play, watches sometimes, but doesnt like fighter games or really any video games in general

shiho: says she thinks video games are boring, but in actuality she just prefers team fortress 2

minori: doesnt play, but she's seen a few characters but doesnt know anything about them

haruka: plays against an from time to time, they play on different teams, and they don't play as much as they used to. mains ashe, very good at the game

airi: plays only with ena and akito, just picks a new character each time and isn't very good at adapting to it but is very competitive and stubborn about sticking to one character

shizuku: "that little hamster is so cute!" (doesnt play)

kohane: an convinced her to play so she could play with the rest of vbs, suprisingly good for a beginner, "can you PLEASE be the hamster!!!! he has such cool gameplay and hes so cute!" -an (silly)

an: very good at the game but pretty sloppy at it, plays with vbs and haruka, mains sombra bcause she likes the hacking part

akito: used to be really interested in the game, now only plays when hes with his friends, above-average at the game, mains genji "because he's cool"

toya: VERY good at the game, plays with vbs and nene and tsukasa/saki, hanzo main since day 1, very exact

tsukasa: plays with wxs, saki, and toya, says he's good but he sucks and blames it on literally everything else. mains lucio just bevause he thinks he's cool.

emu: suprisingly good even though she only plays with wxs, mains winston because she thinks hes silly

nene: VERY good, equally matched with toya, mainly plays with toya and wxs, mains reaper because hes just like her frfr

rui: pretty good, doesn't play video games that often because he has too much to do, mains junkrat because hes just like him frfr

kanade: prefers to watch

mafuyu: no way she'd be allowed

ena: a little less than average at the game, plays mainly with mizuki, airi, and akito, mains junker queen and widowmaker "because they're good characters" (she thinks theyre hot)

mizuki: plays overwatch A LOT because she thinks its funny to pretend to be an egirl, so she mains mercy and sometimes d.va, and she's pretty good at the game normally.

the end sorry

[moodymakeshifter]

Mercy's Buffed Heals Are SO GOOD! 💛 Top 500 Mercy Gameplay - Overwatch 2

Now, this may be an unpopular opinion, but I think Doomfist is not compatible with a team game. I personally get bummed out when my Tank teammate chooses to be Doomfist. Does anyone else feel this way (Support/Damage mains)? I just think he too easily becomes lost, targeted, or worse— leaves the rest of his team open to an attack they can't withstand alone. This can be said about other Tank heroes, but I feel like Doomfist (and D.v.a sometimes) give the player too much agency, movement-wise, and this tricks them into forgetting the objective and/or their team.

So, that's my first take. Here's my second: People play better on Overtime. And I think the game I attached to this post is a perfect example. Notice how broken and chaotic this Mercy's team was during the first couple of rounds. Notice how many time their Tank died, stranded away from the payload and their team, requesting help that could not be delivered. It's because that Doomfist was under the impression that he had time to create a diversion. But in fact, the best way to secure victory, especially on a Push map, is Cart-time. Push the cart as a united force with the rest of your time, or let Damage heroes like Tracer and Sombra run amok, causing distractions and backline hang-ups for the Enemy team. But your Payload presence should be STRONG and, you know, present. XD You should be pushing whenever you can, as fast as you can. On Overtime, teams have no choice but to push the cart, to become a stalwart force to be reckoned with, a forward-aimed spear that cuts through whatever the enemy throws at them. It's hard to contend with a single, destructive entity. Divided, each Hero can only do so much. But together, a Team can run down any threat.

I don't know. It's just logic. Close-knit Enemy teams have always given me the most trouble. So that's why I think what I think.

Maybe yall dive Tanks should stop diving SO FAR, and try playing the point a little bit. ;) Might work out better for you.

[angeliqueshelleyartist]

At the Forefront

Blog Post #8

The Design Success of Characters in Apex Legends While there are many aspects of Apex Legends that make it stand out in terms of success compared to other games in the genre such as Overwatch or Fortnite from the game mechanics to the maps, for many, including myself, it is the design of the characters. There is a good level of diversity and inclusive representation which helps players feel represented and seen. Each character or ‘legend’ has a distinct visual identity and differentiated silhouetted that makes them instantly recognisable even from afar in gameplay. Their designs are a blend of the futuristic with the fantastical along with realistic elements to their costumes and accessories. Their builds beneath their costumes and armor are also entirely different and they behave uniquely in gameplay too. For example Wraith's dark, hooded, stealthy appearance with tight fitting clothes and a sleeker array of accessories conveys her mysterious and agile nature. This is carried through in her gameplay abilities to phase through dimensions and become invisible to other players. In contrast the character Gibraltar has a huge muscular build which matches his knight-inspired futuristic armored outfit reflect his role as a ‘tank’ in combat with a focus on defensive abilities.

In critique of the characters from a similar game, Overwatch for example, reviewer, Blondeau noted that although the range of characters was indeed diverse in terms of ethnicity, gender and age, many of the female characters look extremely similar. “A gruff military woman hailing from Egypt has the same ass and bust and weight of an introverted teenage hacker from Mexico,”.

When comparing to Apex Legends, Blondeau noted that only one female character is dressed in a bodysuit (the aforementioned Wraith), which aligns with her role as a stealthy, elusive assassin. In contrast, "the other two women wear clothing that makes sense for both their respective roles on the battlefield and their lore, with Bangalore’s fatigues making sense considering her military upbringing and Lifeline’s breathable top and cargo pants fitting with her role as a combat medic." This shows how their outfits are thoughtfully designed to match both their functionalities in the game and their personal backstories.

I would like to ensure that the characters I design for my project are differentiated, relatable and appear to have made their own outfit choices based on what they do and their own personalities rather than just for the ‘gaze’ of the player.

References:

Blizzard Entertainment. (n.d.). Pharah - Heroes - Overwatch 2. [online] Available at: https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/heroes [Accessed 18 August 2024].

WeWereRogue. (2019). [D&D 5e] Overwatch’s Sombra: Stealth Hacker. [Tumblr post] Available at: https://wewererogue.tumblr.com/post/187850307711/dd-5e-overwatchs-sombra-stealth-hacker [Accessed 15 August 2024].

Wright, S. (2019). Apex Legends: 3 best characters for beginners. [online] Red Bull. Available at: https://www.redbull.com/ie-en/Apex-Legends-best-characters-for-noobs [Accessed 15 August 2024].

Blondeau (2021). Apex Legends Has Better Character Designs Than Overwatch - Here’s Why. [online] TheGamer. Available at: https://www.thegamer.com/apex-legends-has-better-character-designs-than-overwatch-heres-why/ [Accessed 15 August 2024].

[kicksaddictny]

Video: Overwatch 2 x Cowboy Bebop | Gameplay Trailer

Embark on a bounty-hunting adventure with the iconic Bebop crew in Overwatch 2 x Cowboy Bebop!

Join the hunt with Cassidy as Spike, Ashe as Faye, Mauga as Jet, and Sombra as Ed. Plus, earn a free skin of Wrecking Ball as Ein by playing games and completing challenges.

Don't miss out! Overwatch 2 x Cowboy Bebop arrives on March 12!

Remember, Overwatch 2 is free to play for everyone on console & PC!

Stay updated with the latest news by following #Overwatch2: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playoverwatch TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@overwatch Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/playoverwatch Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/playoverwatch

[gameforestdach]

Das kürzlich am 9. Januar 2024 erschienene Update für Overwatch 2 hat in der Community für einige Aufregung gesorgt, vor allem wegen der bedeutenden Anpassungen an Schlüsselfiguren wie Orisa und Mauga. Während das Spiel in seine achte Saison geht, arbeitet Blizzard Entertainment weiterhin daran, das Gleichgewicht und Spielerlebnis zu verfeinern, was weltweit zu gemischten Reaktionen der Spieler*innen führt. Orisas Verwandlung: Vom Tank zum Scharfschützen? Verbesserter Fusionsantrieb: Das Update entfernt die Schadensverringerung mit zunehmender Entfernung von Orisas Hauptwaffe, was ihr erheblich mehr Fernkampfschaden ermöglicht. Festigungsfähigkeit: Orisa ist nun immun gegen kritischen Schaden durch gezielte Treffer, eine Änderung, die ihre Rolle als mächtiger Tank weiter stärkt. Dieses Update von Orisa hat in der Overwatch 2-Community eine Debatte entfacht. Einige Spieler*innen empfinden diese Änderungen als positive Entwicklung, um ihre Tank-Fähigkeiten zu verbessern, während andere sich um die mögliche Unausgewogenheit sorgen, die durch ihre neue Stärke entsteht – vergleichbar mit der eines Scharfschützen, einer Rolle, die traditionell nicht mit Tanks verbunden wird. Maugas Anpassungen: Ein Schritt in Richtung Ausgewogenheit Basisgesundheit und Rüstung: Maugas Basisgesundheit wurde erhöht, aber seine Rüstung verringert, um seine Gesamtüberlebensfähigkeit anzupassen. Gatlings und Fähigkeiten: Verringerte Munitionskapazität und Feintuning seiner Fähigkeiten wie Herzrasen und Käfigkampf zielen darauf ab, ein ausgewogeneres Spielerlebnis bei der Konfrontation mit diesem Helden zu schaffen. Die Anpassungen an Mauga basieren auf dem Feedback der Spieler*innen über seine übermächtige Präsenz in vorherigen Patches. Von diesen Änderungen erhofft man sich ausgeglichenere Begegnungen mit Mauga, insbesondere für feindliche Tanks. Weitere bemerkenswerte Updates Sombra und Illari: Sombra erhielt Änderungen an ihrer Tarnfähigkeit und Illaris Sonnengewehr sowie die Fähigkeiten Gefangene Sonne wurden verstärkt, was ihren Nutzen in Matches steigert. Allgemeine Korrekturen: Der Patch behob auch verschiedene Bugs und sorgte für allgemeine Gameplay-Verbesserungen, womit die Stabilität und das Erlebnis verbessert wurden. Abseits der heldenspezifischen Änderungen brachte der Patch auch allgemeine Verbesserungen und Fehlerbehebungen, die zu einem flüssigeren Spiel beitragen. Diese Änderungen sind Teil der laufenden Bemühungen von Blizzard, die dynamische Umgebung von Overwatch 2 weiter zu verfeinern und auszubalancieren. Community-Reaktionen: Geteilte Meinungen Die Overwatch 2-Gemeinde ist über diese Änderungen deutlich gespalten. Während die einen die Bemühungen um ein ausgewogenes Gameplay loben, äußern andere Bedenken bezüglich der veränderten Meta und der Auswirkungen auf die Gesamtspielstrategie. Insbesondere die Verwandlung von Orisa steht im Mittelpunkt der Kontroversen und wird hinsichtlich ihres Einflusses auf die Teamzusammensetzungen und das Spielgeschehen diskutiert. Wie bei jedem bedeutenden Update wird es eine Weile dauern, bis sich die Community anpasst und neue Strategien findet, um diese Änderungen zu integrieren. Es ist wahrscheinlich, dass die Entwickler bei Blizzard weiterhin das Feedback der Spieler*innen und die Spielleistung beobachten werden, um gegebenenfalls weitere Anpassungen vorzunehmen. Blick in die Zukunft Während Overwatch 2 weiterhin fortschreitet, spielen solche Patches eine entscheidende Rolle dabei, ein faires und unterhaltsames Spielerlebnis zu gewährleisten. Die Spieler*innen können mit weiteren Updates rechnen, da die Entwickler bestrebt sind, das Spiel lebendig und ansprechend zu halten. Für weitere Einsichten in die Auswirkungen dieser Änderungen, insbesondere auf Charaktere wie Orisa, sollte man den Blick auf Gaming-News und Foren nicht verpassen. Im größeren Kontext des Gamings erinnern diese Updates an die beständige Evolution, die auch in anderen Titeln zu sehen ist. So hat auch

die postapokalyptische Welt von 'The Last of Us Part 2' bedeutende Änderungen erlebt, die neue Charaktere in seine Erzählung eingeführt haben. Ähnlich zollen Innovationen im Bereich der Spielehardware, wie der Hyperkins Mega 95, dem klassischen Gaming Tribut, indem sie moderne Technologie miteinbeziehen – ein Spiegelbild des dynamischen Charakters der Gaming-Industrie.

[purplekoop]

I officially Have Job Now (still in the process of getting a bank account because the past 6 years of my life have been an almost comical series "we'll get to it later" moments but at least I can rest easy enough knowing my hours are gonna be compensated when it's possible) but I'm still in a creative and artistic rut that I very much wish to solve with the metaphorical equivalent of being bashed in the head with a shovel to get on with it.

I'll be transparent here and say that art has been hard for me the past few months. Between frequent downward spirals of self doubt over my creative and technical capacity, and just general inability to muster the desire to do art despite the ever-looming dread of not doing art... I've had lower points in my creative journey but I've sure as hell had higher. Not dissimilar is my broader mental state, where I've been generally fine but subject myself to existential spirals when dwelling on something as simple as having a big cavity in one of my molars and no immediate access to dental care at the moment. This isn't meant to be a pity post, genuinely I don't have much to complain about right now, it's just the same sort of mental (and in some respects physical) issues I've been dealing with for a while now. It's just more poignant now when I don't really have much of a satisfying "distraction" in the form of doing stuff creatively.

Currently there's only a few "projects" (feels like I'm giving myself too much credit with that terminology) I really can commit much thought to lately, both of which, either luckily or predictably, I've gone into at least some depth publicly on this blog. Fortunately for what I assume is the majority of my follower base, both are based around Overwatch.

The Role Requeue AU is a very fun "project" for me (again, feels wrong to call it a "project" when it's something meant strictly for the concept phase, even just a workshop mode is beyond the scope of realism). It scratches all my itches for something fun to think about: no pressure to make it a "finalized product", the opportunity to conceptually tinker around with mechanics I'm both thoroughly familiar with and interesting in exploring beyond their official scope, and most importantly, people to share ideas to and even collaborate with! Seriously, I know it's almost certainly less than a handful of people who've even seen any of the posts on it, but the response so far has me beyond ecstatic. The greatest gift an artist can receive in my opinion is a "yes, and" to their work, and I'm extremely grateful that Role Requeue (shoot, down to even that name being a suggestion too good to pass up) has already inspired such.

The only technical restraint on Role Requeue is me sitting down and writing a long tumblr post, so once I have the time (as soon as tomorrow mayhaps?) I'll try and get another one out. I still have some specifics I want to sort out, but Symmetra, Sombra, and "Ashe" are all contenders for being the next one to get a post.

So that leaves the other project I've been able to work on at least to some extent lately: my original hero shooter concept, (still under the working title) War Bots. For those who weren't around or otherwise missed the intro, it's a team based shooter starring a cast of robot characters in a post-human earth, fighting against either another team of player-controlled bots or a ravenous horde of sentient, mutant plant creatures. The "game" (again, very much in the concept phase) takes heavy inspiration from both Overwatch and its precursor in the subgenre, Team Fortress 2. The general gameplay design of the cast takes inspiration more from OW, while the larger team sizes and loadout system are ideas from TF2.

If you're wondering why both of my creative projects I really have any ideas for right now are directly because of Overwatch, it's because. well hate to admit it but it's the most consistent thing I've played all year. Arguably the past 5 years or so, save for when the pre-OW2 content famine was really starting to hit and I finally gave TF2 a try myself in the meantime (didn't like actually playing it as much, sorry). But especially now with the steam release actually working on my PC, which the battle.net version frequently failed at, it's been my defacto "I don't know what to do right now" time waster, and to me at least it's fun enough to where I still haven't gotten sick of it. It doesn't help that my actual other biggest inspiration for War Bots, Bloons TD 6 (yes really) is my number 2 pick for that niche, and I honestly don't play games that much lately aside from multiplayer stuff or streams (yes I stream I need to make a pinned post linking my stuff). So, I got Overwatch on the brain, and when my brain has something on it, its general reaction is to try and put my own spin on it, hence the creation of the "Overwatch but different" AU and "Overwatch but not" the video game coming to somewhere you can buy video games eventually hopefully one day please. I play fighting games I come up with a fighting game, I like superheroes I make my own, I like the funny colorful character-based shooters I make notes for how I wanna do it myself.

War Bots is in an awkward spot though, because I already gave myself a hard cap for how much I wanna think ahead for a game so early in development that the sole developer doesn't even have a game making engine installed on their PC yet. The loadout system is meant to allow for a smaller roster, saving time on creating completely new characters with their models and animations and lore and so on, while potentially allowing for an even further variety of functional playstyles than what'd be possible with an exclusively character-based system like Overwatch. You don't need Soldier 76, Bastion, Widowmaker, and Ashe all existing separately with broadly similar weapon types, just one "rifle guy" with four different options for their main weapon.

Despite that, I love making characters too dang much and made a version of the roster with up to 25 characters. I since reconsidered, picking the characters I actually saw potential in, making sure to avoid redundancies that couldn't be resolved, and now have a cast of 15 or 20, ideally launching with 15 and adding 5 more post-release. A roster of 25 and possibly even beyond wouldn't be impossible after that, but I want to limit the scope of what I was considering at this point. I like the cap of 20 because my current idea is that the PvP mode is played in 10v10, and each of the game's 5 roles (Damage, Control, Tank, Utility, Support) would have four characters, while also letting a standard match (if desired) have exactly one of each character on the field at once. This pleases me. At the moment though, I have 3 characters for Damage, 4-ish for Control, 2 for Tank (shocking, I know), 3 for Utility, one guy who could either be Tank or Utility, and 4 for Support but I'm admittedly not as keen on one of them at this point. This leaves roughly 4 or 5 slots in the roster left for what I want to realistically consider right now, some of which I have ideas for based on prior iterations of the roster, but I'm still not settled on something super satisfying yet.

For now, I'm focusing more on polishing the loadout system and the alternate weapons for each character, trying to get as much out of the characters I've already established before I move onto jotting down new ones in my notes. I did however hit a snag, because the system divides your loadout into three different interchangeable options: Weapon, Body, and Accessory. The weapon is your main means of attack and (broadly speaking) determines your primary and secondary fire. The Body meanwhile refers to some interchangeable part of the robot's body that grants them unique abilities, typically aiding in mobility. In Overwatch terms this is "Ability 1", or Shift in default keyboard binding terms, while also potentially carrying a passive ability. Accessories are comparable to Splatoon's sub weapons, generally some kind of throwable thing that provides a burst of utility at the cost of limited availability, in this case a longer cooldown than your Body ability or requiring a special pickup on the map to regain faster, or possibly being limited by a character-specific resource. This is the equivalent to OW's "Ability 2" or "E" ability. The snag here was that each part of the 3-part system was given 4 variants, a default or "stock" option and three unlockables that take the basic concept and replace it with an alternative that provides unique functionality. The problem was that especially with the "Body" options, it was hard to come up with meaningful alternatives for every slot for every character without feeling redundant. My compromise was that while Weapons get 3 unlocks, Body equipment and Accessories only get 2 unlocks, unless I feel a special exception warrants it. I may deem a character would get more value out of more Body or Accessory options rather than main weapons, or if I have a really good idea for an extra of something.

oh and also semi recently I decided that reserve ammo should be a mechanic, but then I realized that doesn't work unless every character has an infinitely usable melee attack that can function without reserve ammo (and is also more robust than OW's piddly little mostly universal quick melee attack), but I don't want to make a whole fourth slot for each character for melee weapons, but otherwise I don't know what'd determine the properties of your melee attack if anything deviates it from the default, and also are melee weapon attacks always available or do they require switching off of your actual weapon, but does that make sense for the characters who'd logically just smack with their normal weapon, like does the wizard guy just hold their staff differently for a "melee stance", but also thinking is hard.

So between the partial downsizing of the Loadout system, the need to put "uses reserve ammo" or "doesn't require reserve ammo" in all of my notes for each character's weapon, and the need to figure out melee attacks/weapons, I have to do some very meticulous updates to my current notes, which doesn't make for a super exciting prospect. Hey, at least I can think of funny things for these goobers to smack people with!

I do actually have an art now, though it's not my most flattering work. Had some ideas for alternate weapons for Yanno, the explosives aficionado with a dragon-shaped fireworks launcher for a hand I shared in an earlier post. The eagle launcher rewards precise aim and improves your aerial capabilities, the hydra launcher unleashes multiple rockets at a time, and the shark cannon fires big, arcing bombs that roll on the ground before detonating momentarily after. Very obviously taking heavy inspiration from a certain other flying explosive enthusiast for a couple of these, and the shark cannon exists entirely to avoid needing a separate character just for a grenade launcher guy when rockets are already such a similar weapon type.

So uh.

...I had a point I think.

art hard but I wanna do it more. this was a rant post but got devoured in word count by War Bots so uh. oops if you don't care about that.

I think I feel better now? remind me when I get up though to make a post linking my twitch and youtube.

[professionalranter31]

I miss when Overwatch would do little ARG things like they did when building up to Sombra’s release. Like they would put in little things and it would lead up to all sorts of theories, hell I’d say they did even more for Doomfist they literally put in Orisa before him to hype him up even more and changed Numbani’s first attacker spawn and the literal payload

Like, that was fun, it didn’t affect gameplay but it made people invested and we had to try and predict who would be the next hero

Now we’re just told who the next hero is gonna be straight up and we know when they’ll release because of how they’d structure seasons where odd numbered seasons release maps and even numbered seasons release heroes. I don’t like that, I like when we couldn’t fully predict when they would release heroes and maps we just knew we would get a certain amount a year but we got to theorize about it and they would change things in the map, release little teaser images. When they first teased Ana they tricked us into thinking she was Sombra by having her wear her shrike mask. Plus map releases would be used to hint at future heroes like how Junkertown’s release hinted at Junker Queen and Wrecking Ball. And with the unpredictability of map inclusions we didn’t know which game mode would get a new map, but it was always way more exciting even if it was just a new deathmatch map, because we would theorize about where in the world the new map would be set, if it would be already connected to one of our available heroes, people would make tier lists of what kind of maps they would want added to the game. Now that’s all gone because of this new way they release heroes and maps because they rely on the shop and battle pass to add new cosmetics for heroes instead of just simply adding it. We got a new Winston skin with Horizon Lunar Colony’s release, bring back some of the old ways Blizzard please!

I want that back, it made hero and map additions way more exciting, and it was just fun

[gutsncookies]

i hate when people say shit like "stop blaming the overwatch team, they're trying too" like ok?? if they put out s6 thinking it was balanced then they're genuinely brain dead. (besides illari her op ass release was, although still shitty, clearly just to earn even more money)

i can't help but compare ow2 to an actual good game, ffxiv, even if there are obvious differences and a game like ffxiv is probably easier to balance than an fps. STILL it's genuinely sad how little effort the ow team puts into balancing the game. they put out useless nerfs that very little people, if any, actually asked for and they never make changes to the heroes that people want them to change or need changes (roadhog) unless it's like super super op. even then it's like a whole season after so u need to play against some shitty meta for such a long time and i understand why ow got horrid ratings on steam. i only play it because certain heroes have play styles that i haven't seen in any other fps.

if there is another fps (doesn't even have to be fps tbh) with gameplay like tracer, sombra, mei, pharah or echo i'd love to know bc i so badly need a game with devs that actually care about the game.

[admiral-ampersand]

Poorly thought out widow rework

the big talk about town is the debate on how one-shot hitscan weapons can feel out of place in the 1 tank meta of overwatch 2, and how widowmaker is kinda the only one left who can do it. However in order to bring her in line with other characters it probably makes the most sense to give her an overhaul similar to Symetra and Torb, changing up her kit while keeping the fundimental core gameplay (hopefully better than torb did) here’s my stab at it. Damage: cap her damage. i think soft capping so she does 200 on a headshot at 100% charge is the kinder of the two options but honestly dropping it to 180/150 doesn’t sound unreasonable for higher level play. that way she can’t melt tanks and their huge hitboxes, a thing snipers aren’t really supposed to be designed to do anyway. That’s a major nerf but i think you can make up for it and keep her identity in other ways. New Passives: Let widow see low health targets through walls, like sombra hacks, lets her focus on picking off low health and weak targets, a thing that i feel really fits with her core gameplay of a sneaky long ranged assassin. also works for team comp letting her call locations of key targets for her team. secondly? move her venom mine damage to her gun. this is probably the most devisive thing, but i think it’d be an interesting thing to experiment with. the higher damage she deals the longer the venom lasts, it’s a small dot that’s going to force the enemy team to deal with it, but gives her survivability up close by effectively buffing her machine gun.

Ultimate: i think this leaves the window open for buffing her ult, which is great in comp, but is honestly a really low impact ultimate. DPS ults especially are generally big gamechanging moves, so let widow literally wallhack and shoot through walls with it. give her 3 shots like bastion maybe? i dunno that’s what testing is for. 

I think ultimately the point i feel of it is that if you lower widow’s damage to be in line with say sojourn’s railgun (not being an outright kill on a full health target) you get a lot of play to buff literally the entire rest of her incredibly underwhelming kit (venom mine is a glorified map ping).