New social features to go along with the hero rework
Overwatchgame director Jeff Kaplan has outlineda number of notable changesmaking their way to the game today for public testing on the PTR. More than just the usual hero tweaks, Blizzard has also introduced a looking for group (LFG) system and a feature that lets players endorse one another to reinforce good behavior. Players can also now restrict their profiles to be private or friends-only.
In an attempt to “improve the gameplay experience for everyone,” the developers have added Endorsements, a chance for players to commend one another “for certain gameplay behaviors” after a round ends. Specifically, you can give out the endorsements Good Teammate, Shotcaller, or Sportsmanship, the latter of which can also be awarded to someone on the opposing team.
Per Blizzard, “Those who consistently maintain a high endorsement level will receive periodic rewards, while those who display negative behavior or accrue suspensions will lose their endorsements.”
Moving on to the oft-suggested looking for group feature, Kaplan says it’s about getting like-minded players together and, ideally, elevatingOverwatchas game about honest-to-goodness teamwork.
Here’s one possible scenario: “If you’re a very particular group leader, and you want to insist on having two tanks, two damage, and two healers, you’re able to restrict those roles in your group and you can even force the people playing those roles to only be able to play those roles.” Other options include requiring voice chat or sticking only to specific game modes.
To be clear, LFG isn’t matchmaking. Rather, it’s a system for finding people: you’re either creating a group for others to browse and join or searching for and joining a group yourself. After putting a team together, you’re then able to queue for Quick Play, Play vs. AI, or Competitive like normal.
Today’s update also combines the Defense and Offense hero categories into one heading called Damage. Blizzard says the lines were already blurred and this change should help simplify things.
Finally, reworks! There’s one for Horizon Lunar Colony and,as promised, one for Symmetra. She’s more of a well-rounded damage-dealer and with her new ultimate, she can create aPhoton Barrierthat’s “big enough to span and cut through and entire map.” I amafraid. Find the full patch notes below.
Endorsements
Acknowledge your fellow Overwatch players’ positivity with endorsements! Recognize commendable behavior for sportsmanship, being a good teammate, or for shot calling. Commend players who lead you to victory, put the team’s needs above their own, or exhibit humility in victory or grace in defeat. Endorsements are readily available to view on Career Profiles, the Groups menu, and more so you’re able to tell at a glance the types of players you’re playing with. Those who consistently maintain a high endorsement level will receive periodic rewards, while those who display negative behavior or accrue suspensions will lose their endorsements.
Looking for Group
Play your way using the Looking for Group feature! you may craft your gameplay experience before stepping into Team Select by using specific parameters to create your dream team. Join a team of other like-minded players or lead a group of your own by creating a group with your personal preferences such as game mode, role enforcement, and more. Those who want to queue up for Quick Play, Play vs AI, or any competitive mode can set the types of roles others can play. These specifications will then be activated in-game (e.g. players who chose a Support role will be restricted to only using heroes in that category).
GENERAL UPDATES
Developer Comments:Since the line between Offense and Defense heroes has become increasingly blurred, we’ve decided to group all those heroes into a single new “Damage” category. We believe that the term more closely matches the role name used in Overwatch League and across most of our community.
Combat can now be heard 25% further away
Changed the name of the Varok spray to Saurfang
Added an Inspire Uptime Percentage statistic for Brigitte on the Career Profile
Removed some statistics for Symmetra on the Career Profile
Added a Scoped Critical Hit Accuracy statistic for Widowmaker on the Career Profile
[PC] Players must have Blizzard SMS Protect enabled on their account to be eligible for the Top 500
Career Profiles will no longer be public by default (now defaults to Friends Only). An option to make Career Profiles visible has been added under Options > Social > Profile Visibility
GAME BROWSER AND CUSTOM GAMES
Meteor Strike
The Best Defense…
Developer Comments:The increased movement speed on Meteor Strike gives Doomfist new options in how and where to deploy it. His passive is also being increased, allowing him to survive more often when diving into enemies.
Orisa
Supercharger
Developer Comments:Supercharger wasn’t getting enough use, considering its impact. This change allows Orisa to use her ultimate more aggressively, knowing that she will be able to generate them more easily.
Teleporter
New Ultimate: Photon Barrier
Developer Comments:The goal of these changes is to move Symmetra to her new damage role and make her more flexible and viable across more areas of the game than she was previously. Now that Symmetra is no longer a support hero, she is expected to be able to dish out heavy damage, and these changes allow for her to do so. She should be more powerful and interesting in more team compositions and maps, and she should also be stronger on offense and defense.
Hydroponics Room
Point B
Developer Comments:We’ve wanted to make some gameplay improvements to Horizon Lunar Colony for some time now. The defenders’ spawn room had a problem with its main exit that allowed defenders to quickly duck back inside and regain health while attackers shot at them without doing damage. Since we were already reworking the entire back area, we decided to make some more changes addressing player feedback. The idea behind the rework of Point A was to not only help the defenders a bit, but also provide some gameplay options aside from sitting on the point and trying to hold it for as long as possible. Easier access to high ground, as well as limiting the routes for attackers (or at least allowing for defenders to more easily spot the attackers), will allow more opportunity for counters and create a better gameplay experience.
We’ve made a lot of additions and changes to the art throughout the map for you to discover as well.
Maps
Rialto
Fixed a bug where heroes would move left and right on their own while standing in one of the speed boats in the canal
Fixed a bug where players were able to apply a spray on the surface of a body of water
