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

[Nuuu]

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.

Not to mention that higher level competitive play requires being able to communicate and coordinate with your team just as much as your ability to play well. A team full of silent players doing their own thing will get crushed by a team that can fully utilize Graviton + Pulse Bomb for a 5+ kill.

Supports need to be able to keep an eye on when an enemy is about to flank/ult. Tanks and DPS need to be able to combine their ults for team-wipes. The Reinhardt at the front of the line will usually know when he's ready to charge in with a nanoboost more than the Ana in the back.
These things aren't something you can just go into your first competitve match and say "I can do all of that perfectly."

Also Competitive requires being able to switch to characters that counter the enemy team. Rarely will you find people willing to do that in the current quickplay.

 

[Glongpre]

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

How do you warm up strategy??

If you don't like quickplay because you don't like to lose as the result of people's shenanigans, then that is totally valid. But just say so.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

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

How do you warm up strategy??

If you don't like quickplay because you don't like to lose as the result of people's shenanigans, then that is totally valid. But just say so.

I don't. I play Comp exclusively. Now I might be more likely to practice and save my rank score.

I don't actually care about wins and loses too much.... I mean I care enough that I like playing rank, I wanna know where I'm at, but ya know.... I'm really more addicted to trying to get one of them gold weapons.

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.

Not to mention that higher level competitive play requires being able to communicate and coordinate with your team just as much as your ability to play well. A team full of silent players doing their own thing will get crushed by a team that can fully utilize Graviton + Pulse Bomb for a 5+ kill.

Supports need to be able to keep an eye on when an enemy is about to flank/ult. Tanks and DPS need to be able to combine their ults for team-wipes. The Reinhardt at the front of the line will usually know when he's ready to charge in with a nanoboost more than the Ana in the back.
These things aren't something you can just go into your first competitve match and say "I can do all of that perfectly."

Also Competitive requires being able to switch to characters that counter the enemy team. Rarely will you find people willing to do that in the current quickplay.

I mean I'm not anywhere near that level at this point, and probably won't ever be. That level of game is like the people that do the math in the pokemon game to get the most out of their 'mons.

Just sounds like not fun anymore, sounds like work.

 

[wings012]

I'm often in a 6-man and I find stacking heroes hilarious. So this is a sad day for me. Also in some maps, it is too much a pain to break past a well defended Bastion position so we'll go 6 DVa just to force Bastion to switch out.

But there's Sombra for that now I suppose.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I think it's kind of evil for Blizzard to release a new hero and then put in a one hero limit on quickplay all in one day.

 

[IceForce]

I think it's kind of evil for Blizzard to release a new hero and then put in a one hero limit on quickplay all in one day.

That's the reason why they combined this change with the release of a new hero. I tried out the PTR's "No Limits" mode, and yeah it's exactly as you'd expect, - pretty much every match is Sombra 6v6.
I'm guessing Blizzard didn't want the game's flagship game mode to be railroaded (and potentially ruined) like that, and so they brought about this hero limit change to go along with it.

Though I don't remember quickplay being 6v6 Ana back when she was released. I guess the problem was a lot less pronounced with Ana because she's a filthy support scrub and not a flashy offense hero...

 

[Baffle]

Has anyone done the joke yet about Zenyatta's insistence on putting all the gays in the iris? That'd be a great joke if there was a way to make it work.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I think it's kind of evil for Blizzard to release a new hero and then put in a one hero limit on quickplay all in one day.

That's the reason why they combined this change with the release of a new hero. I tried out the PTR's "No Limits" mode, and yeah it's exactly as you'd expect, - pretty much every match is Sombra 6v6.
I'm guessing Blizzard didn't want the game's flagship game mode to be railroaded (and potentially ruined) like that, and so they brought about this hero limit change to go along with it.

Though I don't remember quickplay being 6v6 Ana back when she was released. I guess the problem was a lot less pronounced with Ana because she's a filthy support scrub and not a flashy offense hero...

Actually, the PTR was exactly the same when Ana first came out, 6v6 ana all over the place.

The PTR is where people go specifically to try out the new changes, so all the people who are really excited to try out a new hero are on there which is why you end up with 6v6 sombra, because people are only there to play Sombra. I doubt quick play would have had 6v6 sombra games, just like quick play had no 6v6 ana games.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I'm often in a 6-man and I find stacking heroes hilarious. So this is a sad day for me. Also in some maps, it is too much a pain to break past a well defended Bastion position so we'll go 6 DVa just to force Bastion to switch out.

But there's Sombra for that now I suppose.

It's unoriginal and frankly just annoying for the other team. No one likes playing against a hero stacked team.

This change should have come sooner. Quickplay and Competitive are places where the game should just be played as intended. There're custom and AI modes for people to play with wacky setups.

Blizzard "intended" that Overwatch be played with hero stacking. There were interviews with the devs when the game was coming out where they talked about hero stacking as a legitimate strategy, and why it's one of the reasons that the ability to change heroes mid-game is important to overwatch.

It's just that when they were designing the heroes they really didn't think about how abilities mesh when there's 2, 3, 4 of the same hero, which is why Hero stacking was removed from competitive, but that's also the reason why I was ok with it being in quick play, because you could do silly comps just to try them out and see if they work, because quick play is casual.

I'm going to be really disappointed if quick play just ends up being "competitive light," comp with no communication where everyone just plays the meta.

 

[Elijin]

Hero stacking is in one of those odd spots for me. Back when I first started playing Overwatch, I thought a single hero limit in QP was the worst possible thing you could do to the game. This was based in limited experience with the game, and being leery about someone else getting one of the only characters I had some semblance of how to play. The idea that a new player who was still learning the basics could be alienated so badly bothered me.

As I've gained experience, I now cant wait to see it go. Even doubles of certain heroes played cohesively is a game changer. I understand the issue better, and want the change.

All that said, it doesn't undermine my original point of alienating early players. Plus, this new set of modes sure is going to divide the matchmaking pools.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Spoiler

I'm often in a 6-man and I find stacking heroes hilarious. So this is a sad day for me. Also in some maps, it is too much a pain to break past a well defended Bastion position so we'll go 6 DVa just to force Bastion to switch out.

But there's Sombra for that now I suppose.

It's unoriginal and frankly just annoying for the other team. No one likes playing against a hero stacked team.

This change should have come sooner. Quickplay and Competitive are places where the game should just be played as intended. There're custom and AI modes for people to play with wacky setups.

Blizzard "intended" that Overwatch be played with hero stacking. There were interviews with the devs when the game was coming out where they talked about hero stacking as a legitimate strategy, and why it's one of the reasons that the ability to change heroes mid-game is important to overwatch.

It's just that when they were designing the heroes they really didn't think about how abilities mesh when there's 2, 3, 4 of the same hero, which is why Hero stacking was removed from competitive, but that's also the reason why I was ok with it being in quick play, because you could do silly comps just to try them out and see if they work, because quick play is casual.

I'm going to be really disappointed if quick play just ends up being "competitive light," comp with no communication where everyone just plays the meta.

No one's ever said anything about being unable to change heroes.. And generally Hero stacking 2-3 heroes has never been much of an issue. It's when there's 5 to 6.

Just play Arcade... Why the shit are people saying they're dissappointed? The old quickplay is literally still there. They only changed the name.

A name change is a really weak reason to be dissappointed.

You get way less exp and level slower in arcade.

 

[Frankster]

But...but...but...I LIKE that there was no hero limit.

Quickplay is the mode to mess around and try unorthodox strategies that you can't do in competitive, and i heavily disagree with the idea that 6 same picks of any hero is unbeatable.
Balanced teams should be able to exploit what it is they lack, but even then, just 1 or 2 clever counter picks can take such teams apart.
6 junkrats: plah pharah (this is actually how i got my single best kill streak with her)
6 reins: play pharah (soooo much fun, they can't even aim their shield up)
6 symmetras: play anything
6 meis: annoying, but play pharah and mobile champs in general+throw in an anna
6 roadhogs: 1 anna, maybe 2, so you prevent them from healing and nanoboost your own tanks.
6 pharahs: bastion/soldier/mc cree
6 mc crees: 1 rein should be enough, 2 if having problems
6 bastions: junkrat+genji will have fun
6 winstons: roadhog/mei
etc...
Point being is you can't tell me it's unbeatable, and i actually enjoy playing teams like this because it allows me to practice under special conditions, ex: one time i saw an enemy team go for 6 winstons, i went mercy. Because i wanted to practice being chased by gorillas, and yeh i died a lot, but damn it was good practice and learnt to cope with single winstons in competitive a lot better. Now if i want to practice my mercy survival skills against multiple winstons or genjis, how am i supposed to do it? #firstworldproblems

Anyways dunno how much i am in the minority over this, but yeh im a bit salty, i really see no point in playing quickplay at all now, i'd rather just stick to competitive.

Just play Arcade... Why the shit are people saying they're dissappointed? The old quickplay is literally still there. They only changed the name.

Never mind crisis averted. So really it seems like i'm going to be splitting my time between competitive and arcade. I'd normally be worried about a split userbase but eh this is overwatch, shouldn't be a problem.

 

[bastardofmelbourne]

Stacking characters in Overwatch literally breaks the game, and it's only fun for the people playing six Torbjorns.

So good riddance! We lose nothing, and gain a means by which I won't have to endure playing King of the Hill against six D.Vas.

 

[Balimaar]

People stacking? Counter and play smarter. GG.

 

[saluraropicrusa]

No one's ever said anything about being unable to change heroes.. And generally Hero stacking 2-3 heroes has never been much of an issue. It's when there's 5 to 6.

Just play Arcade... Why the shit are people saying they're dissappointed? The old quickplay is literally still there. They only changed the name.

A name change is a really weak reason to be dissappointed.

personally, i almost always laugh when i realize the enemy team is stacking 5-6 o one hero... or when a team i'm on o random strangers (or mostly random strangers) all spontaneously decide to do it.

here's my issue with no limits: because o the way it's presented, i feel it's going to be approached more casually... there are gonna be the people that just want to do 3+ stacks, and the rest aren't really going to give a shit about team comp. and i know team comp isn't as important in a casual mode, if i wanna play a normal (non-brawl, 6v6) game of overwatch without the 1-hero limit i'm stuck with a mode where it's more likely that no one will care to pick healer or tank (or whatever we need).

not to mention it's one o the less popular arcade modes & that means longer queues, & when i gave it a shot on live i was put into an in-progress match twice in a row (which i really don't like, i want to join the game before it starts).

i guess i could be wrong but those are my feelings on the matter... i just don't like the way this has been divided, with quick play being changed instead of a new "comp lite/comp practice" mode being added (instead of making qp comp lite and shoving "old qp" in the arcade section).

 

[Elijin]

I thought I wanted this so bad.

But as a solo queue player....the game is the last fun it has been ever. The casual population has no been split between what, 6 playlists?

And with 1h qp its now been seen as actual practice for competitive. This has had the fallout of the game being a mix of the old QP vs large pre-made teams who are refining their tactics before competitive. I played QP because I usually play alone, and comp isn't fun alone. Now QP isn't fun alone, and the arcade modes are a mess of player division.