Overwatch 2 - Early Access Beta out today on Xbox

[Dolemite]

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[aleshemsky83]

What are the major changes? I know bastion got a major overhaul, what else?

 

[Dolemite]

New game mode, new characters.

Also, only next Gen platform you can play it on with the beta is Xbox.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

What are the major changes? I know bastion got a major overhaul, what else?

A lot of the heroes have been re-worked, some of them are pretty much totally different, especially Orisa. Few new game modes and 2 new heroes so far. My wife got a code for the beta and really enjoys it so far.

Matches are now 5v5 too, as opposed to 6v6. Two Damage, Two Support, and only One tank.

 

[Hivemind]

What are the major changes? I know bastion got a major overhaul, what else?

5v5 (1 tank, 2 dps, 2 supports)
New game mode - Push (tug-of-war/5CP-style gameplay)
No more 2CP
Bastion, Orisa, Doomfist, Sombra completely reworked
Significant adjustments to other heroes (especially tanks)
2 new characters (Junker Queen tank, Sojourn DPS) with a 3rd (support) promised at launch
Heavily reduced the amount of crowd control effects and shields in the game
Free 2 Play with battlepass system
PvE mode coming in 2023

 

[x Tame Impala]

Man the battle pass just has to stick around huh?

 

[Hivemind]

Man the battle pass just has to stick around huh?

Devs have to monetize their free to play games somehow, and loot boxes are under legal scrutiny in Europe and Asia.

 

[syz]

I'm still not sure why this isn't just a patch. I guess pretending it's a new game is good for marketing but so far everyone I know who fell off Overwatch hasn't been won back by the betas.

 

[Hivemind]

I'm still not sure why this isn't just a patch. I guess pretending it's a new game is good for marketing but so far everyone I know who fell off Overwatch hasn't been won back by the betas.

It's Free to Play, so why do you care what it's called?

Moreover, there's the whole PvE Campaign Mode coming in 2023, but they're releasing the PvP ahead of time as Early Access so we don't have to wait for that to be done.

 

[aleshemsky83]

I'm still not sure why this isn't just a patch. I guess pretending it's a new game is good for marketing but so far everyone I know who fell off Overwatch hasn't been won back by the betas.

It is a patch. Overwatch 1 will be gone and replaced by Overwatch 2 once this leaves beta, even if you own it Overwatch 1. Its just a patch.

 

[PK Cronin]

I'm still not sure why this isn't just a patch. I guess pretending it's a new game is good for marketing but so far everyone I know who fell off Overwatch hasn't been won back by the betas.

I stopped playing Overwatch a while ago and haven't been enticed by any of the announcements to come back. We'll see if I get into this once it hits PC.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

I'm still not sure why this isn't just a patch. I guess pretending it's a new game is good for marketing but so far everyone I know who fell off Overwatch hasn't been won back by the betas.

They're re-working the entire system of how team compositions work and changing the structure of how their game is consumed. It's now going to be a free to play game with a season pass aspect. I was hesitant at first to consider it a "new" game, but if you watch just how many major overhauls and changes there are to various heroes the game really is going to feel very different.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

This game is terrible now if you were a support or tank main. Can't support without being wrecked by the run and gun style. Can't tank without support or self heals. If it stays this way, I'll be done for sure. I played most of OW1 consistently besides a year off.

 

[Blitzkrug]

Played about 10 games, most on support because good luck getting a game in on DPS or tank and i have some pretty mixed feelings from what i saw. Disclaimer: Some of this might be skewered because pretty much every game had a Junker Queen/Sojourn because of them being new.

Cons

- Lucio and Zen are going to be absolute kings in a 5v5 metagame. With more focus on straight up slugfests in team fights, a healer who can focus on everyone along with his speed boost now being probably the most valuable ability in the game. Zen's discord orb will also make life absolutely miserable for tanks. Moira will also probably a pretty solid bet. Burst healers like Ana/Baptiste and pocketers like Mercy are basically useless due to the sheer amount of raw DPS being done in fights now.

- tanking is going to be miserable. There's way too much pressure on the tank player now because they don't have a safety value in terms of a off tank and a lot of the reworks don't do much to mitigate that. As a primary tank player i can give a pretty decent opinion on how screwed most of those characters;

D. Va: Defense matrix straight up isn't enough to keep yourself and your team alive. The moment it comes down you're getting blown out of your mech. With near constant damage she loses on attrition

Roadhog: Was a throw pick before, is now actively waiving the white flag before the game starts

Zarya: Why she was left the same i'm not sure. Useless as a solo tank.

Sigma: Barrier gets absolutely obliterated and it takes longer to recharge/deploy. Have fun with that

Orisa: She tried spinning, that's a neat trick. Dying is decidingly not a neat trick.

Reinhardt: He's generally my best tank. I figured "well his barrier is still the same right so i should be okay?" Nope. Almost impossible to recharge it consistency and constant DPS makes it hard to move up. no shield + big targer + potential zen orb = dead within seconds.

Junker Queen: Has a stupid advantage because of her abilities but even she gets melted down pretty quick if focused.

- Winston: Seems largely the same outside of his new secondary fire. Probably will be the meta tank because of his mobility

- DPS not reworked enough to compensate for changes to pacing and style of game. Hitscan heroes are going to rule because they can put out a near constant rate of damage that will chip away anything in front of them.

Pros:

- Getting rid of crappy ass 2CP maps is a big W

- New tug of war mode seems pretty fun

- Sound changes are crisp. Characters like Soldier and Ana actually have oomph to their weapons now


All in all, i'm pretty disappointed as someone who primarily plays tank. I get double barrier was a major issue but going "lol one tank role is deleted now" just comes off as a lazy, half-baked solution. IIRC, early in development of OW1 Jeff Kaplan stated the game was essentially built on the concept of tank duos and were actually balanced fairly well after a couple tweaks. Everything went to shit when their solution for new heroes in that category were "More shields lol"

Simple solution would have been to;

- All barrier tanks sans Rein and Winston (his barrier gets melted in most scenarios and doesn't synergize with Rein) get stripped of the ability to do shields. Orisa rework stays the same, D.Va reverted back to her OW1 state. CC reworks stay as is, Doomfist rework to offtank remains. Junker Queen ability to generate speed and armor nerfed.

There's just way too much damage being done in this format. Overwatch went from pretty strategic to a chaotic mess with the 5V5 change. Doesn't even feel like the same game anymore.

Shame.

 

[Hivemind]

Burst healers like Ana/Baptiste and pocketers like Mercy are basically useless due to the sheer amount of raw DPS being done in fights now.

Not true at all. Burst healing is a much more effective counter to DPS than trickle healing. Ana is still a top tier support at high levels of play, and good Anas have always been able to be an effective offensive and counter-dive hero as well as just the raw healing (both in OW1 and OW2). Plus Nano boost has huge synergy with multiple meta pick heroes (Winston, Doomfist, Genji, Echo).

Zarya: Why she was left the same i'm not sure. Useless as a solo tank.

You might want to tell that to the pro players in OWL, who are still using Zarya highly effectively. She's one of the better tanks in the game, especially on control maps. The ability to deal out tons of DPS herself made her a popular option in OW1, and that retains true in OW2. But she also has the ability to provide instant support to her backline against flankers, which is critical for shutting down opposing DPS.

There's just way too much damage being done in this format. Overwatch went from pretty strategic to a chaotic mess with the 5V5 change. Doesn't even feel like the same game anymore.

You're playing in an unranked mode in a beta. The OW1 beta was just as chaotic, if not more so. Look at competitive play, there's still tons of strategy in OW2, even if there's more skill involved in playing burst DPS.

 

[Lonewolfe2015]

Ana is still a top tier support at high levels of play, and good Anas have always been able to be an effective offensive and counter-dive hero

Ana is probably in my top 3 played characters. She can't survive a Soujourn blast from a mile away. My no scope healing is good, but not that good that I can run around hiding behind dps since my tank has no shield anymore.

I had more fun playing Widow in the beta so far. What has this game turned into....

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Pretty mixed bag on the reviews right now. There is definitely going to be some growing pains, but it seems like they're really trying to speed up the gameplay.

I think it's kind of comical that they're shutting OW1 down when OW2 drops, despite insisting that it is a totally new game that is absolutely NOT just an update. I get that they don't want to split the player base, but it really has a sour taste.

 

[Blitzkrug]

Just for future reference, using "but look at how effective the pros make it look!!" as a counterargument is lame because the majority of the playerbase is firmly between gold and platinum ranks.

That just comes off as short sighted and fanboyish.

 

[aleshemsky83]

Pretty mixed bag on the reviews right now. There is definitely going to be some growing pains, but it seems like they're really trying to speed up the gameplay.

I think it's kind of comical that they're shutting OW1 down when OW2 drops, despite insisting that it is a totally new game that is absolutely NOT just an update. I get that they don't want to split the player base, but it really has a sour taste.

I think probably it was originally a new game and not F2P. But with Valorant becoming their first legitimate contender I think they had to pivot.

 

[Hivemind]

Just for future reference, using "but look at how effective the pros make it look!!" as a counterargument is lame because the majority of the playerbase is firmly between gold and platinum ranks.

That just comes off as short sighted and fanboyish.

Alternative take - mediocre players on ladder aren't good at evaluating whether or not a character is good. Characters like Sombra or Zenyatta were rarely great on ladder in Overwatch, but on a coordinated team that communicated and could follow up hacks and discords, they were really effective. And on the other side of the sepectrum, Pharah+Mercy duos could terrorize mediocre ladder players, but would get dominated by good hitscans at higher levels. Heck, I remember people in the original Overwatch thread back in 2016 complaining about Bastion being too strong. You don't always make balance decisions around mid-tier ladder players.

More to the point, complaining about individual hero balance in a beta that has is already on its second balance patch in this past week and fourth since the start of the last beta round is short sighted. The characters will constantly be going thru balance adjustments as the devs try and adjust them. If you talked to people in the last beta round, Sojourn was garbage. Then they adjusted her alternative fire hitbox, and suddenly she's top tier. That's how betas work (and even live service games work). Zenyatta was also in the dumpster last beta, then they upped his HP and gave him his kick knockback, and now he's a top flight flex support option.

While some of your takes were accurate (Roadhog being a throw pick, Mercy not being particularly useful right now) some of your others were just not particularly in touch with reality.

I think probably it was originally a new game and not F2P. But with Valorant becoming their first legitimate contender I think they had to pivot.

This is somewhat close to the truth. It wasn't just Valorant, but also titles like Fortnite and Apex Legends. The Free-to-Play with Battlepass model has taken over multiplayer gaming. Team Four (the OW team at Blizzard) was going for a full-priced game built around the PvE campaign, but got overruled by someone in management at ActiBlizzard, and had to pivot to the free to play model. Thus the stop to content for OW1 (as they were working OW2 PvE) and then the delay in the OW2 PvE (as they pivoted back to PvP for the F2P model of OW2). There's a lot of speculation as to this being the reason Jeff Kaplan left Blizzard last year.

 

[aleshemsky83]

Overwatch officially dead after today. GOTY 2016 gone forever. Of course you can say the same thing about OG fortnite or any live mmo/live service game.

 

[Mikeaveli]

I played the beta and the first game I got into it was a game on one of the launch maps of Overwatch with everyone using original Overwatch characters lol. This is a glorified update

 

[Dolemite]

Overwatch is a dead game (drum crash)

 

[Hivemind]

Finally braved thru all the log-in server issues. Got my 7 placement matches on support done. Had been platinum before. Went 6-1 in placements.

Got placed in Bronze 4.

Apparently the MMR reset also has Top 500 players in Masters/Diamond. This is gonna be a grind on the way up.

 

[beowulf]

Have they turned this into a Diablo Immortal situation that it's "free" to play but you to really get anywhere you have to now spend, spend, spend in game to get stuff?