Quote Originally Posted by Keltest View Post
I think you are somewhat overestimating the power of pharmercy. Youre dedicating two heroes to do one job only somewhat better than normal, and probably requiring that a third be dedicated to an additional support as well. Its good if you absolutely need Phara, specifically, but beyond that she isn't exceptionally better than having a damage boosted 76, or McCree, or bastion, or reaper, or... well, you get the idea.

To say nothing of the fact that people really, really don't like having justice rained down on them from above. You start running with a heavy pharmercy, and they will take steps to make you really, really unhappy.
Well, I don't think so. Just to be sure, I'm talking specifically about gold rank. Most hit-scan players at that level just don't have the accuracy to deal with Pharmercy. Because of that Pharmercy at that level and below is insanely powerful. And again, I'm not saying that Mercy should completely ignore the rest of the team. She can move around as needed; I do that all the time. If I am not healing someone, then I am damage-boosting Phara. And damage boosted Phara is better than damage-boosted 76 or McCree, because she does more dmg per shot. Also, she is more mobile, she can get past all the chokes and shields and destroy the squishies first. Soldier or McCree can't really do that. Bastion, on the other hand, is another matter, entirely. I would almost always prioritize pocketing Bastion over Phara.

Quote Originally Posted by The_Jackal View Post
Because they're not playing together. Why should anyone subordinate their desires to indulge the desires of a stranger? The way the competitive matchmaking system is structured, Blizzard has effectively turned the spawn room into a Prisoner's Dilemma experiment. If you could group up without worrying about being matched into upscaled competition, players could form teams and maybe compromise about who plays the Mercy, form strategies that complement their proclivities, and ultimately find more fun.



Because people don't want to win, they want to PLAY.
I don't think that's completely true. I, of course, don't have any hard evidence, but judging by how many people ask for 2/2/2 or for at least 2 healers and one shield tank or ask for a hit-scan hero or tell someone to switch off that widow/hanzo/[other non-meta hero], I dare say a lot of people are playing to win.