Overwatch: HYPETRAIN HAS LEFT THE STATION Spring 2016 Release Confirmed!

[Psyren]

I think the problem with what you want is it would lead to boring PotGs. Sure lucio pressing q can impact the game a lot, but that doesn't mean it is a good highlight.

Pressing q randomly when nothing is going on, I agree that would be dull and shouldn't make it. But pressing q in the middle of a pitched battle and the shields absorbing a ton of enemy fire, I don't see how that could be boring unless the players hate firefights, in which case why are they even playing this game?

@AgentPaper: I'm in favor of Reinhardt ult moments making it too, if they involve protecting or capturing the objective. Now tell me how many actually made PotG, rather than Reaper/McRee/Pharah walking up and shooting all the fish you placed in the barrel for them getting it. Yawn.

[ChaosOS]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w2-3Dn9PGg

Hanzo v Genji Animated Short

[The_Jackal]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w2-3Dn9PGg

Hanzo v Genji Animated Short

Looks awesome. It makes me hope that they're planning on building out any single-player or coop content for the game.

[Psyren]

Looks awesome. It makes me hope that they're planning on building out any single-player or coop content for the game.

I know! It's like, they have all this rich lore and setting and characterization, yet they seem perfectly happy wasting it all on "and then the Overwatch shot each other in the face repeatedly forever."

[AgentPaper]

I know! It's like, they have all this rich lore and setting and characterization, yet they seem perfectly happy wasting it all on "and then the Overwatch shot each other in the face repeatedly forever."

Actually, I would argue that they don't actually have any strong lore, at least not yet. What they do have is strong characters, and everything we've seen so far has only served to further reinforce those characters and to try and make us care about them more. The actual story of what's going on in the background is fairly simplistic in comparison, which makes sense because all it's really there for is to give a backdrop for the characters to play off of.

[Psyren]

Actually, I would argue that they don't actually have any strong lore, at least not yet. What they do have is strong characters, and everything we've seen so far has only served to further reinforce those characters and to try and make us care about them more. The actual story of what's going on in the background is fairly simplistic in comparison, which makes sense because all it's really there for is to give a backdrop for the characters to play off of.

It's not fully fleshed out yet, sure, but the morsels they've provided have gotten me interested in the major setting events independent of the characters too. For example, the Omnic Crisis that is touched on in several backstories (Zenyatta, Bastion, Zarya, Torjbjorn) as well as the questionable morality of the Vishkar Corporation (Symmetra, Lucio) and the shadowy Talon terrorist group who seem to be orchestrating it all (Widowmaker, and possibly Reaper and Soldier 76), plus the other unexplained phenomena causing problems in the setting (Mei, D. Va, Winston.)

[Landis963]

It's not fully fleshed out yet, sure, but the morsels they've provided have gotten me interested in the major setting events independent of the characters too. For example, the Omnic Crisis that is touched on in several backstories (Zenyatta, Bastion, Zarya, Torjbjorn) as well as the questionable morality of the Vishkar Corporation (Symmetra, Lucio) and the shadowy Talon terrorist group who seem to be orchestrating it all (Widowmaker, and possibly Reaper and Soldier 76), plus the other unexplained phenomena causing problems in the setting (Mei, D. Va, Winston.)

They're setting up factions and mini-conflicts, much like LoL does with the nations of Runeterra and the "Friends" and "Rivals" categories. We have the Omnics (Zenyatta, Bastion) and their allies (Genji) and enemies (Torbjorn, Zarya, D.Va). We have Talon (Widowmaker, Reaper), and their enemies (Winston, Tracer, Soldier). We have Vishkar (Symmetra) and its enemies (Lucio). And then we have the oddballs of Mei (foreshadowing some climate issues) and Junkrat and Roadhog (who arguably fit into the anti-Omnic grouping as well, given how the Australian Outback was irradiated in the first place). Finally we have the Shimada brothers.

[Anteros]

I kinda doubt they ever flesh the story out that much. Honestly, it's for the best that they don't. I don't really trust Blizzard's ability to tell a story anymore. When was the last time they told a good one? Warcraft 3?

I'm not really dissing Blizzard. They are good at creating interesting (if stereotypical) characters and settings, and great at making interesting game mechanics. Their games are usually very polished.

[Psyren]

Diablo: "Demons over there, kill they ass"

My motives are admittedly a bit selfish - I want them to flesh out Overwatch, not because I truly believe Blizzard to be paragons of storytelling in games (I don't think they are either to be honest), but because doing so might increase the chances that we get more game modes in Overwatch than silly little Domination and Payload.

[Mr.Moron]

It's not fully fleshed out yet, sure, but the morsels they've provided have gotten me interested in the major setting events independent of the characters too. For example, the Omnic Crisis that is touched on in several backstories (Zenyatta, Bastion, Zarya, Torjbjorn) as well as the questionable morality of the Vishkar Corporation (Symmetra, Lucio) and the shadowy Talon terrorist group who seem to be orchestrating it all (Widowmaker, and possibly Reaper and Soldier 76), plus the other unexplained phenomena causing problems in the setting (Mei, D. Va, Winston.)

If you sit down and try to compile the information all wiki-pedia it really is very thin. What they've done a great job of is creating an evocative style to environments & characters, while dropping lots of hints at there being something bigger out there. It goes a long way to letting your imagination fill in the gaps and give a real feel of there being this fleshed out, detailed world.

As someone who GMs a lot of tabeltop games:

If someone said "I wish there was an Overwatch RPG out there, so we could make our own heroes and explore the setting" I'd probably shrug and say that kind off stuff isn't out there. I wouldn't know where to begin homebrewing something Overwatch-specific either.

If someone said "Man. Overwatch is cool. Let's play a campaign in <Generic RPG system> about ex-Overwatch agents" I could honestly probably wing something. They've given enough on the tone and general feel of their universe you could create stories to fit with them, even if you're supplying all the detail.

[Psyren]

If you sit down and try to compile the information all wiki-pedia it really is very thin. What they've done a great job of is creating an evocative style to environments & characters, while dropping lots of hints at there being something bigger out there. It goes a long way to letting your imagination fill in the gaps and give a real feel of there being this fleshed out, detailed world.

As someone who GMs a lot of tabeltop games:

If someone said "I wish there was an Overwatch RPG out there, so we could make our own heroes and explore the setting" I'd probably shrug and say that kind off stuff isn't out there. I wouldn't know where to begin homebrewing something Overwatch-specific either.

If someone said "Man. Overwatch is cool. Let's play a campaign in <Generic RPG system> about ex-Overwatch agents" I could honestly probably wing something. They've given enough on the tone and general feel of their universe you could create stories to fit with them, even if you're supplying all the detail.

It's a character-focused game; "I want to roll up a random Overwatch agent and explore the setting" would indeed be unappealing. But a game mode where the Overwatch agents actually band together to take down {global threat} would be a ton of fun. I would love a PvE Horde mode in this game, but for that to exist, we would need enemies so powerful that the it would warrant all these badasses joining forces. Battleborn does something similar by dint of their setting having a big bad.

[The_Jackal]

I may be in the minority opinion, but I actually think a more fully realized universe is actually a drawback when making a good game setting. Even the most exhaustively complete game settings (Elder Scrolls) are replete with contradictions and continuity issues and, dare I say, stupid crap. Whereas by leaving more to the imagination, each player is able to project onto the setting their own desires and expectations, which will invariably feel more gratifying and fun than anything that a writer could explicitly state.

One of the reasons that many novels don't feel right when they're adapted to film is that the natively more lossy format of text puts more of the story into the power of the reader to imagine than what video will permit, and so when a particular job of casting or acting doesn't live up to our expectations or hopes, we feel betrayed, or at least disappointed.

So embrace the ephemeral, gauze-like quality to the setting. It's there to give spark to your imagination, not supplant it with the imagination of the designers. Less really can be more.

[Psyren]

I'm fine with leaving our possibilities open, but devising all these cool characters who canonically worked together at various points and then leaving it at "Okay, now go shoot each other in the face" smacks of a missed opportunity.

[The_Jackal]

I'm fine with leaving our possibilities open, but devising all these cool characters who canonically worked together at various points and then leaving it at "Okay, now go shoot each other in the face" smacks of a missed opportunity.

If you've ever read comic books or watched professional wrestling, you're certainly familiar with the concept of characters 'turning face', 'turning heel', or merely making alliances of convenience. How many Magneto-Xmen team-ups/break-ups have there been? But this is all irrelevant in any case. The purpose of the game is not to realize the lore, the purpose of the lore is to spice up the game. And when you compare the backgrounds offered for Overwatch compared to those offered by Battleborn or Team Fortress, I think it's a particularly perverse turn of logic to suggest that because they've put more effort into making a compelling story for their characters, they're somehow now in the wrong because the gameplay doesn't reflect the story. (Not sure that thing I just said grammatically parses into a proper sentence, but you get my point).

[Psyren]

I never said "they're in the wrong." I just think it's a way to make a good game even better. I'd greatly enjoy a PvE challenge mode where you need a balanced comp (or an unbalanced, yet extremely skilled) one to win.

[NeoVid]

I'm guessing there will be a PvE mode or two eventually, but it won't happen much faster than it did for TF2. Then again, Blizzard has even more resources to throw at development, and there's no way this game won't have a ton of funds to work with...

[Psyren]

It had better happen faster - for TF2 it took about 5 years to get a horde mode.

I imagine they're holding off on it for a while to keep the PvP lobbies packed and vibrant, since adding PvE is a great way to add life to the game down the line.

[Anteros]

What platform is everyone thinking of buying on? I'll probably go with PC.

[Psyren]

Most of my IRL friends are going PC so that's what I'll be doing as well. I didn't have any performance issues during the beta.

[The_Jackal]

What platform is everyone thinking of buying on? I'll probably go with PC.

Elitist PC gamer snob here. Hey, console guys, I respect your life choices, but you are paying more money for less performance. Just sayin'.

[Draken]

It stands as a testament to Blizzard's ability to optimize their games that my fossil of a computer can run Overwatch without any real issues.

[The_Jackal]

It stands as a testament to Blizzard's ability to optimize their games that my fossil of a computer can run Overwatch without any real issues.

That's because the game was optimized to run reasonably well on current generation consoles, which in all probability do not out-perform your fossil of a computer. Basically, the GPU of an Xbox one is roughly the equivalent of a GeForce GTX 750 or AMD Radeon 7850. Those are both mid-market cards released in 2012 or so, and the CPU innovations in that timeframe have been towards higher core counts over higher clock rate, so your CPU has likely not aged particularly poorly, and finally, apart from very slick graphics, Overwatch is not a very technologically innovative or computationally demanding game. Which is really what I love about Blizzard: They don't push the envelope, they just emboss and embroider it and just generally make it look slick as all get-out.

[Artanis]

Blizzard has always been really d*** good at keeping hardware requirements low, regardless of whether or not consoles are involved

[Orhinge]

I'm a console peasant, but getting it on PC anyway. While i'm one of the weirdos who finds FPS games more comfortable on controller then keyboard and mouse, it didn't feel too bad (snipers aside, but I can count the amount of games I've enjoyed sniping on one hand), most of my buddies will be getting it on PC, and worst comes to worst I can use a controller anyway *shrug*

But yeah, glad to hear they're keeping the requirements low, game is pretty enough as is.

[ChaosOS]

2 things

1. New Lore: https://comic.playoverwatch.com/en-u...sion-statement
and https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/20119621 (Soldier 76 short coming Sunday at 10am PDT)

2. NEW HERO(S) HYPE: https://twitter.com/OverwatchEU/stat...81174664138752 http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1221385
https://twitter.com/PlayOverwatch/st...327296?lang=en

Note: Nothing confirmed but seems likely

[huttj509]

Intel core 2 CPU, 2.4 GHz
4 GB RAM
Radeon 6700 series 1 GB memory.

Runs clean and smooth.

[Landis963]

2 things

1. New Lore: https://comic.playoverwatch.com/en-u...sion-statement
and https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/20119621 (Soldier 76 short coming Sunday at 10am PDT)

2. NEW HERO(S) HYPE: https://twitter.com/OverwatchEU/stat...81174664138752 http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1221385
https://twitter.com/PlayOverwatch/st...327296?lang=en

Note: Nothing confirmed but seems likely

That Hollywood address a) is a pair of cross streets, so I'm assuming it's a gathering of sorts, and b) is in about 12 hours. Anyone in the vicinity who can do a report?

A quick Google search reveals it to be life size statues of Tracer (In Hollywood), Genji (in Paris), and Pharah (in Busan), all modeled to look like action figures in their packaging.

[The Glyphstone]

Does Roadhog talk in-game? I just read 'Going Legit', and his only dialogue appears to be ellipses (though Junkrat can apparently understand him perfectly).

[ChaosOS]

Yes, personal theory is that for everyone else what he's saying is thoroughly muffled by the gas mask, but for Junkrat or you as the player you can understand him since he is actually making intelligible thoughts.

[AgentPaper]

Does Roadhog talk in-game? I just read 'Going Legit', and his only dialogue appears to be ellipses (though Junkrat can apparently understand him perfectly).

Yeah, I think he talks a bit less than most, but he definitely talks.