Although there were no ads on their AMA Reddit, Overwatch’s progression team covered a ton of intriguing points.
On the one hand, the game’s director, Jeff Kaplan, noted that addressing the existing dual shield goal (which we see a lot in the Overwatch League right now with the Orisa-Sigma duos) is Team Four’s “fastest priority” in terms of game design. He wrote that a balance solution for the challenge is being made and will appear in experimental mode in the coming weeks.
Facing two shields can undermine Overwatch’s fun, so it’s smart to see Team Four focusing on the problem. In a separate comment, Kaplan said he would like to see fewer barriers and [crowd control] and see the game trend more in the direction of FPS than in the direction of MOBA.”
Elsewhere, Kaplan discussed some adjustments to the Assault cards the team has played with over the years, but has never been incorporated into Overwatch, an additional catch point between problems A and B, new locations for appearance rooms, and the “capture issues work. like checks. “
You can take a look at a “failed experiment” for attack cards in the game right now, the experimental map. The team has also tried to rework the map of Paris, but is still not satisfied with the results.
With regard to cross-game among other platforms, Kaplan said that everything the team “passionately and explored. Adding this to the game is necessarily confusing given that it is based on more than 2.7 million lines of code, but this would be an incredibly welcome resolution. for players.
Telling stories on Overwatch was a challenge for many players who felt they weren’t getting enough of the game, but Kaplan also had some notes about it. “We have planned many years of knowledge of the Overwatch universe,” he writes.
“There are so many facets that excite us: large-scale plots and individual character arcs. There are also many heroes, positions and global teams where we need to tell more stories. We are also excited to tell stories with new tactics and use new media This latest component is especially interesting, given the number of enthusiasts waiting for a TV screen or even a movie on Overwatch.
Kaplan also talked about the progression of Overwatch 2: there are about 160 to 170 other people running on the existing name and sequel, and is “extremely satisfied with the progress made in any of the games in the context of running from home.”
Some other team members discussed Covid-19’s effect on his work. “One unexpected way Covid-19 has replaced our daily lives is the effect it has had on meetings,” wrote software engineer Bill Warnecke. “It took other people a while to become more comfortable in online meetings, but now they tend to be more specific and efficient. It’s great! My engineer likes to have more time writing code.”
Technical director John Lafleur, however, pointed out some of the drawbacks of running from home. “We can’t just walk around and see the engaging things everyone’s running in or interact in random conversations about what we can help,” he said. “We still have some of them through teleconferencing, but it’s not that improvised.”
Meanwhile, Mercy’s not-so-secret super jump can become a formal skill. An editor, u/FoxCabbage, asked if super jump can become “a genuine feature that does not require a combination of buttons”. The editor said they had over 700 hours of gameplay at Mercy, “but my hands just don’t cooperate to time the maximum super jump of time.” The hero’s lead designer, Geoff Goodman, warned that it was a “reasonable request” and that he would examine it.
Goodman also talked about some hero adjustments the team has experienced or considered. “We tried Symmetra as a hero where his turrets healed rather than causing damage,” he wrote. “It was quite fun but quite frustrating as a Symm player because Overwatch moves very fast. We start checking to adjust the turrets to have a very high range, or to be able to have a lot of them, etc. This ended up hunting like a lag, but honestly, I’d be willing to check it out some other time. period.”
He also talked about another popular concept among players that Mei deserves to be able to place ice on the floor and slide over it to move faster. Goodman said the team had discussed it a lot, but he hadn’t played with that.
The progression team and players covered a lot, much more floor during WADA and it’s valuable to take the time to read the whole thread. Of particular interest are discussions about harassment and abuse through poisonous players and (more) imaginable changes of Moira.
I cover all Overwatch, the Overwatch League, for Forbes. Lately I’m also writing about technology, games and entertainment for Engadget.
I’m a Scottish expat
I cover all Overwatch, the Overwatch League, for Forbes. Lately I’m also writing about technology, games and entertainment for Engadget.
I am a Scottish expat living in Canada with my spouse and many plants. Send me a recommendation (or just to say hello) to kris krisholt.net and me on Twitter @krisholt