1-hero limit coming to Overwatch quickplay (finally!)

[IceForce]

I'm a bit late with this news, but arguably this is bigger news than Sombra (in my opinion anyway). And it was just a footnote at the bottom of a news thread, so I decided to make a proper thread on it.

Anyway, that's right, the quickplay game mode of Overwatch will soon have the same restriction as competitive -- ie: you can no longer stack multiples of the same type of hero on the same team.

I don't personally play competitive, as it's a bit too 'serious' for my liking (because you're putting your rating on the line each time you play), so I only stick to quickplay. And as a long-time supporter of the 1-hero limit, this is awesome news to me.

No more will I be wrecked by 6 Junkrats, or 6 Torbs, or 6 Bastions, or 6 Winstons, or 6 ...of anything really. Hero stacking was so ungodly overpowered and un-counterable it made some games nothing more than an exercise in frustration.

So anyway, I'm wondering if anyone else here felt the same way. Clearly the developers did, I guess.

 

[IceForce]

Addendum: I forgot to mention that they're also adding a new "Arcade" mode, as seen here:

One of the options is "No Limits", so if you're a fan of the way quickplay is currently, then fret not, you'll still be able to run a team of 6 Hanzos (or whatever) in a special game lobby just for that.

There are also a couple of other interesting game mode additions too, such as an actual 1v1 deathmatch mode against another individual random person, and a 3v3 deathmatch mode too, among others.

 

[Zydrate]

Gonna be hard to get to know Sombra in QP's after it launches :|
Trying to learn her kit in the PTR, in just AI games but it's all Sombra all the time. I get why, otherwise why bother with PTR? But still :|

 

[WindKnight]

Gonna be hard to get to know Sombra in QP's after it launches :|
Trying to learn her kit in the PTR, in just AI games but it's all Sombra all the time. I get why, otherwise why bother with PTR? But still :|

Well, No Limits will let you hero stack, so if you have to use a certain character for practice, you can no matter what others pick

 

[hermes]

Don't really like it...

One of the things that made quickplay more laid back is that you are not stuck with a role and you are not carrying the whole team with that role. Don't have a good enough healer? Just change to Zenyatta or Mercy yourself and go to town. Think you can do better as DVa? Select DVa yourself and go to town. With any luck, the other DVa will notice and will decide to change by himself to something else... I can see the amount of trash talking growing exponentially when a bad Mercy means you are playing 5v6 and no one else can fill up that role.

And hero stacking is not really overpowered. Many combinations are not effective and it is not like playing against a team full of Winston or Genji somehow makes your team incapable of going full Reaper or full Winston...

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

Don't really like it...

One of the things that made quickplay more laid back is that you are not stuck with a role and you are not carrying the whole team with that role. Don't have a good enough healer? Just change to Zenyatta or Mercy yourself and go to town. Think you can do better as DVa? Select DVa yourself and go to town. With any luck, the other DVa will notice and will decide to change by himself to something else... I can see the amount of trash talking growing exponentially when a bad Mercy means you are playing 5v6 and no one else can fill up that role.

And hero stacking is not really overpowered. Many combinations are not effective and it is not like playing against a team full of Winston or Genji somehow makes your team incapable of going full Reaper or full Winston...

I'm just thinking of those idiots who really think that our team needs a third Widowmaker and/or Hanzo.

And yes, if the whole enemy team is playing Winston, very rarely is my entire team smart enough to swap to more useful heroes. Good riddance, I say.

 

[hermes]

Don't really like it...

One of the things that made quickplay more laid back is that you are not stuck with a role and you are not carrying the whole team with that role. Don't have a good enough healer? Just change to Zenyatta or Mercy yourself and go to town. Think you can do better as DVa? Select DVa yourself and go to town. With any luck, the other DVa will notice and will decide to change by himself to something else... I can see the amount of trash talking growing exponentially when a bad Mercy means you are playing 5v6 and no one else can fill up that role.

And hero stacking is not really overpowered. Many combinations are not effective and it is not like playing against a team full of Winston or Genji somehow makes your team incapable of going full Reaper or full Winston...

I'm just thinking of those idiots who really think that our team needs a third Widowmaker and/or Hanzo.

And do you think that will get better? Or is the discourse going to change to:
"Hey Thanatos, you suck as Hanzo. Change so I can use it..."
"Hey Thanatos, you suck as Hanzo. Change so I can use it..."
"Hey Thanatos, you suck as Hanzo. Change so I can use it..."
"Hey Thanatos, you suck as Hanzo. Change so I can use it..."
"Hey Thanatos, you suck as Hanzo. Change so I can use it..."

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

And do you think that will get better? Or is the discourse going to change to:
"Hey Thanatos, you suck as Hanzo. Change so I can use it..."
"Hey Thanatos, you suck as Hanzo. Change so I can use it..."
"Hey Thanatos, you suck as Hanzo. Change so I can use it..."
"Hey Thanatos, you suck as Hanzo. Change so I can use it..."
"Hey Thanatos, you suck as Hanzo. Change so I can use it..."

What discourse? I just mute those people so I don't have to listen to them.

Besides, they can have Hanzo. I suck at him, and I'd rather just play support.

 

[Neverhoodian]

*Sigh*

Once again Overwatch addresses an issue within a few months that STILL plagues Team Fortress 2 over nine years later.


This may be what convinces me to finally give the game a try.

 

[DeliveryGodNoah_v1legacy]

Good riddance.

With the competitive nature of...Competitive, it was almost impossible to practice in a similar environment without accidentally bringing the whole team down. Now with Quickplay having a 1-hero limit it's now actually feasible to practice certain strategies and compositions without some yahoo deciding they ALSO want to play Mei and fuck up the whole game. Or the other team defaulting to an entire team of Winston because they're too self righteous to lose the point to a team that's actually doing well based off of good composition.

And besides, no hero limits isn't gone. You can still have your mindless fun in the No Limits arcade mode and private matches.

I do have my qualms with Arcade mode in general though.

Never has Roadhog's hook bullshit been more obvious than in 3v3 mode. If was able to look back at every match I've lost, I guarantee it was because one of their team switched to Roadhog and took advantage of his massive health, self healing, and broken hook mechanic. Combine that with even a pretty bad medic character and Roadhog could feasibly take out the entire enemy team himself.

 

[Glongpre]

It is kinda lame, but the option is still there so no big deal.

I never understood the complaints about practicing though. Like, most of the improvements you can make are game sense, or accuracy. And both of those can be improved with a 6 mccree team! You don't need a coordinated team to improve your Mercy, or your Roadhog, etc.

If you want to practice in a team setting then play competitive (it is what it is for!). If you want to practice a strat, then you will have a group already so the stacking in QP doesn't matter anyway.

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

*Sigh*

Once again Overwatch addresses an issue within a few months that STILL plagues Team Fortress 2 over nine years later.


This may be what convinces me to finally give the game a try.

Well, in their defense, TF2 has larger teams and a smaller pool of characters. Implementing some sort of limit really isn't needed there.

 

[WindKnight]

It is kinda lame, but the option is still there so no big deal.

I never understood the complaints about practicing though. Like, most of the improvements you can make are game sense, or accuracy. And both of those can be improved with a 6 mccree team! You don't need a coordinated team to improve your Mercy, or your Roadhog, etc.

If you want to practice in a team setting then play competitive (it is what it is for!). If you want to practice a strat, then you will have a group already so the stacking in QP doesn't matter anyway.

I'll often go to quickplay to chill out after my daily dose of competitive (at least two games, and stop when I've won at least one) or generally need to chill out and/or pop achievements. And suddenly finding yourself on the wrong end of a troll stack with a team who wont or can't adapt, or else people are stacking junkrat so you can't move for grenades and riptires genberally becomes the OPPOSITE of chilling out.

Besides, the arcade includes the traditional quickplay mode (No Limits) and gives you the opportunity to win three lootboxes a week

 

[WindKnight]

*Sigh*

Once again Overwatch addresses an issue within a few months that STILL plagues Team Fortress 2 over nine years later.


This may be what convinces me to finally give the game a try.

Well, in their defense, TF2 has larger teams and a smaller pool of characters. Implementing some sort of limit really isn't needed there.

Also, if I remember correctly, characters had limited ammo, so even if you did have, say, a team full of demomen, they would be very quickly looking for pickups or running back to base for ammo rather than just spamming contsantly.

 

[CaitSeith]

*Sigh*

Once again Overwatch addresses an issue within a few months that STILL plagues Team Fortress 2 over nine years later.


This may be what convinces me to finally give the game a try.

The Spy at the end... priceless!

 

[DudeistBelieve]

Okay, I actually do like this change because it means I can actually use Quick Play as valid practice/warm up for competitive. It's hard to hone your skills when it's essentially a different game rules with different Meta.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Snip

Well, in their defense, TF2 has larger teams and a smaller pool of characters. Implementing some sort of limit really isn't needed there.

True, and some classes work well with this, such as a bunch of Soldiers. That said, three Spies and three Snipers on a team is never a good idea, yet that frequently ends up being the case.

 

[Nuuu]

While I like it, some good arguments against it are how No Limits mode gives out much less experience, and you can't earn achievements, making it harder for the more casual audience to progress/get loot boxes.
I don't know if there are other variables attributing to this, but the less exp seems unfair.

Still, I greatly appreciate a place to warm-up and practice competitive mode at the start of the day. Communication is nearly impossible in the current quickplay and the only other option is possibly tanking your rating for training in a ranked game.

 

[Glongpre]

Okay, I actually do like this change because it means I can actually use Quick Play as valid practice/warm up for competitive. It's hard to hone your skills when it's essentially a different game rules with different Meta.

Still, I greatly appreciate a place to warm-up and practice competitive mode at the start of the day. Communication is nearly impossible in the current quickplay and the only other option is possibly tanking your rating for training in a ranked game.

How was quickplay not a place to warm up???!? I would always play a game or two in quickplay to warm up for competitive matches. The only thing you need to warm up is your aim, which quickplay did just fine.

How can you not hone your skills in quickplay? My mind is boggled.

Is it just me, am I crazy??

 

[DudeistBelieve]

Okay, I actually do like this change because it means I can actually use Quick Play as valid practice/warm up for competitive. It's hard to hone your skills when it's essentially a different game rules with different Meta.

Still, I greatly appreciate a place to warm-up and practice competitive mode at the start of the day. Communication is nearly impossible in the current quickplay and the only other option is possibly tanking your rating for training in a ranked game.

How was quickplay not a place to warm up???!? I would always play a game or two in quickplay to warm up for competitive matches. The only thing you need to warm up is your aim, which quickplay did just fine.

How can you not hone your skills in quickplay? My mind is boggled.

Is it just me, am I crazy??

Hero Stacking completely changed strategey. What would work in those games wouldn't be scenarios you'd face comp.