Blizzard is Tweaking Overwatch Loot Boxes to Drop Less Duplicates

[ffronw]

Blizzard is Tweaking Overwatch Loot Boxes to Drop Less Duplicates

//cdn.themis-media.com/media/global/images/library/deriv/1382/1382450.jpgIf you're tired of getting duplicate drops in your Overwatch loot boxes, you're going to love the newest PTR patch.

Blizzard is looking to reduce the amount of duplicate drops you get in your Overwatch loot boxes. In a move similar to the one the company is planning to employ for Hearthstone card packs [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/170615-Blizzard-Changing-How-Hearthstone-Card-Packs-Work], it says that in the newest PTR patch, it is "drastically reducing the amount of duplicates players will receive when opening loot boxes."

Of course, those duplicates turn into credits, so less duplicates means that players will receive less credits. To compensate for this, Blizzard is raising the number of credits you'll receive from loot boxes. According to the official blog post [https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/20861969], "On average, players should be earning just as many credits, if not slightly more, from loot boxes than they did prior to these changes."

But that's not all that's in this update. Also included is the oft-requested highlight system. Players will be able to generate their own 12-second highlights simply by pressing a single button. Highlights will be saved in a new section named "Recently Captured," and you can have up to 36 highlights stored there at once.

You can export your highlights as a video file, and PC players will be able to choose the quality of the highlights, up to 1080p on Windows 7, or up to 4K at 60FPS on Windows 8 and newer systems.

This patch is now live on the PTR. You can find the full patch notes, as well as instructions on how to join the PTR and check it out, over on the Overwatch blog [https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/20861969].

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[Xerosch]

That's cool and all, but what I'd really like to see is a function to random unlocked costumes. I have about three per character that I really like, but only use one for long stretches.

Aside from that: Less doublicates are definitely welcome. The drop rate stresses me out every time there are timed special skins.

 

[bjj hero]

Cant we all capture highlights anyway?

Double tap the menu button, press x. Simple.

Im surprised they didnt use the reroll systom from heroes of the storm.

 

[The Enquirer]

Cant we all capture highlights anyway?

Double tap the menu button, press x. Simple.

Im surprised they didnt use the reroll systom from heroes of the storm.

We can, but it isn't embedded in the game itself, which is something Blizzard had wanted for a while.

 

[Erttheking]

Took them fucking long enough. What's it been, four major events?

 

[Bindal]

Took them fucking long enough. What's it been, four major events?

A bit more than a year.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Uh, dumb question maybe, but wouldn't, you know, having no duplicates at all be a lot fucking better?

That you can buy something and get the same thing again is insane. Maybe for the ones you get for free, sure. If that's how it works, I don't play Overwatch.

 

[Avnger]

Uh, dumb question maybe, but wouldn't, you know, having no duplicates at all be a lot fucking better?

That you can buy something and get the same thing again is insane. Maybe for the ones you get for free, sure. If that's how it works, I don't play Overwatch.

You're forgetting the key part: Loot boxes are Blizzard's continual cash cow, and duplicates means people buy more boxes to try and get different items

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Uh, dumb question maybe, but wouldn't, you know, having no duplicates at all be a lot fucking better?

That you can buy something and get the same thing again is insane. Maybe for the ones you get for free, sure. If that's how it works, I don't play Overwatch.

You're forgetting the key part: Loot boxes are Blizzard's continual cash cow, and duplicates means people buy more boxes to try and get different items

Yeah I get that, which is why it seems weird to celebrate this update.

 

[Zendariel]

Uh, dumb question maybe, but wouldn't, you know, having no duplicates at all be a lot fucking better?

That you can buy something and get the same thing again is insane. Maybe for the ones you get for free, sure. If that's how it works, I don't play Overwatch.

For the customer, yes, for the company, maybe, but they probably make more money with having the duplicates. Duplicates reward a small amount of currency(fifth of the basevalue for the item if i remember correctly), that you can use to purchase what you actually want without randomization. Loot boxes are also the only way as far as i know to obtain this currency.

You hear every once in a while people dropping something like hundreds to try to get all the event skins and stuff and that is a shitty thing to have to do, this is combined with the fact that event items cost 3 times as much but still reward the same amount from duplicate as non-event items...

 

[Neverhoodian]

It's a step in the right direction to be sure, though I still despise the system as a whole.

Took them fucking long enough. What's it been, four major events?

I believe it was the most recent Anniversary event that proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back. The decision to make oft-requested and eagerly anticipated dance emotes cost three times as many credits than other emotes was bad enough, but making them limited time only was a straight-up dick move. Add a generous heaping of time locked Legendary skins costing 3,000 credits a pop and you had a scenario where it was practically impossible to get all the unlocks you wanted without forking over money.

The resulting frustration from players was so acute that gaming sites caught wind of it and started posting articles. It seems the negative PR was what finally lit a fire under Blizzard to start taking steps to alleviate the situation. Maybe it'll keep them busy long enough to stop nerfing Roadhog into the ground, at least for a little while.

 

[Headsprouter]

Maybe that could have been implemented when I got that Reaper skin I already owned during the anniversary event.

Bitterness aside, it's really cool that OW continues to make it's loot easier to acquire in small ways, as a part of the Pokemon Duel community who saw a massive drop in the drop rate of EX figures and premium currency. It's really quite terrible. Rather than lower the microtransaction price of their premium currency to make it feasible to buy it they just take away our current privileges, which isn't a good way to keep your players happy.

 

[PointlessKnowledge]

Maybe it'll keep them busy long enough to stop nerfing Roadhog into the ground, at least for a little while.

Next patch they just remove Roadhog. And buff Bastion and Symmetra as they don't see enough play.

And capture the flag becomes a competitive mode with all its flaws.

Oh, and bring back the coin flip, because they hate us.

 

[WindKnight]

I believe it was the most recent Anniversary event that proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back. The decision to make oft-requested and eagerly anticipated dance emotes cost three times as many credits than other emotes was bad enough, but making them limited time only was a straight-up dick move. Add a generous heaping of time locked Legendary skins costing 3,000 credits a pop and you had a scenario where it was practically impossible to get all the unlocks you wanted without forking over money.

They really could have made the dances legendary unlocks ala the D.va Game On emote after event, but I suppose that was too much to ask.

 

[TilMorrow]

Yeah this would have been great to have on the PTR before the Anniversary Event considering the Anniversary Loot Boxes were dropping duplicates way more often and in higher amounts than other event and normal boxes. It's almost like Blizzard were setting up the system to make them as big a payout as possible before the already decided decision to make loot boxes more fair.

 

[IceForce]

Maybe it'll keep them busy long enough to stop nerfing Roadhog into the ground, at least for a little while.

Next patch they just remove Roadhog.

No need, he's already basically disappeared.

I played about a dozen matches yesterday, and another 20 or so today. And in two days of play I saw maybe 1 Roadhog, and it's wasn't for very long. Previously, it was rare to see a match WITHOUT a Roadhog in it.

So yeah, anecdotal of course, but it looks like the community has been very quick to drop Roadhog like a stone.

...And it's fucking marvellous. Good riddance, Hog.

 

[WindKnight]

Maybe it'll keep them busy long enough to stop nerfing Roadhog into the ground, at least for a little while.

Next patch they just remove Roadhog.

No need, he's already basically disappeared.

I played about a dozen matches yesterday, and another 20 or so today. And in two days of play I saw maybe 1 Roadhog, and it's wasn't for very long. Previously, it was rare to see a match WITHOUT a Roadhog in it.

So yeah, anecdotal of course, but it looks like the community has been very quick to drop Roadhog like a stone.

...And it's fucking marvellous. Good riddance, Hog.

To be honest, he's still great as is... He just no longer enables selfish, solo play in what should be a team game. Hooking can be even more lethal, if you pull someone into the middle of your team.

 

[Zydrate]

Duplicates don't bother me too much because they got me swimming in coins which helps for events. However, if they're going to buff coin gains then that's fine for me.

What I don't like getting is sprays and voice lines, which I mostly call garbage. There's like, one or two profile icons I wouldn't mind having (I still don't have Valla) but otherwise, most of them are trash to me, too.

 

[Dr. Thrax]

Duplicates don't bother me too much because they got me swimming in coins which helps for events. However, if they're going to buff coin gains then that's fine for me.

What I don't like getting is sprays and voice lines, which I mostly call garbage. There's like, one or two profile icons I wouldn't mind having (I still don't have Valla) but otherwise, most of them are trash to me, too.

It's like how they padded the fuck out of Heroes of the Storm once they launched the 2.0 update that lets you get cosmetic stuff with in-game currency and loot boxes. Every Hero has 4 or 5 unlockable voice lines, they added chat emotes, sprays, banners that only appear when you capture objectives, and new announcers. So a standard loot box usually results in a voice line or two, an avatar, maybe an uncommon skin for a random Hero, or it'll be part of an emote set, because they decided to split them into two parts. If you're lucky, you'll get a new Hero, skin, or mount, which is all people really care about, but otherwise it's just garbage.

 

[Broslinger]

Fewer, not less. Is there not an editor for this site?