Blizzard Removes "Avoid this Player" Option from Overwatch

[Steven Bogos]

I was actually using that feature to make the damn matchmaking work better. I'm level 54, but the damn thing would keep matching me with players that were level 200-300+. I know time doesn't directly equal skill, but if 90% of my opponents have literally 15x-20x my time played because their computer chair is also their toilet to improve efficiency, then I don't want feel like I'm their toilet paper.

The big problem with Overwatch matchmaking is it tries to force you into a 50/50 win loss rating. So, if you keep winning, it will keep matching you against better and better players until you lose.

 

[Seanchaidh]

You mean it was working as intended?

No, players being avoided simply for being good at the game or with a class people don't want to deal with playing against (or a combination of both) is not "working as intended".

But that IS working as intended.

Like it or not, being exceptionally good at something competitive tends to also make the experience for everyone who has to deal with you exceptionally less enjoyable.

Basically the argument is that this one player's enjoyment is more important than the potentially 11 other people whose enjoyment suffers because of him.

That is what the matchmaking system is for-- you know, that thing the option to avoid a player was subverting by increasing this guy's queue times until he hit newbies because most of the people who had any business playing against him decided that their "experience" was being "ruined" by (shock and horror) losing games. Even if you accept the rather questionable and somewhat disgusting premise that good players should be unable to play a game because it'll ruin the experience of others, the avoid this player option made it worse. Or should we care more about the people who would regularly face this guy normally-- because they are good enough-- than people that this Widowmaker is miles better than, who have absolutely no business playing against one of the best players in the world? Because that would be quite inconsistent.

 

[The Material Sheep]

Dunno. But I have been kicked in TF2 and Payday 2. Gotten DM in Awesomenauts and League telling me to kill my self and to stop playing games altogether caused it was obvious I was new. Then the threats in SF4 for losing.

And really, threats in SF4? I can get trashtalk and "you suck", but threats? That seems a bit embellished, especially since SF4 is sorta considered one of the better FGC's online considering how mainstream it is.

This was back when it first came out. Could've changed since then but I already returned it.

And have you been on SRK? Pretty bad site, full of trolls.

This is what I don't understand man. You either just have a temperament that leads people to come after you, an exceptionally thin skin, or the worst luck in the world. Seriously I suck at DOTA2 and that game environment is up there as the pinnacle of people getting hateful for a loss. I played that game pretty consistently for 2 straight years and had maybe like... four or five times where someone got really personal but even then it takes just kind of laughing at them.

I'm inclined to think you've probably just had a hell of a lot of bad luck but your experience really seems to be a huge exception.

I'll chalk it up to luck. That or I just suck so bad it really pisses them off.

I once again will say... I feel so bad for you, because it sucks seeing people have such a rotten experience online.

 

[thepyrethatburns]

Well, Overwatch just took a big step towards becoming League of Legends. Personally, I adore the ignore function in SWTOR. SWTOR's ignore allows you to both ignore obnoxious rantings/gold spam AND avoid getting paired up with them for FPs/Heroics/Ops. (I think it also works for GSF but I'm uncertain of that.)

Overall, I admit that I use mine very sparingly but it helps keep the game from turning into League of Legends or Left 4 Dead (A big reason why I stopped playing L4D online with anyone that I don't know personally.)

Well, sucks to be an Overwatch player, I guess.

 

[Strazdas]

Avoiding someone you know you can't beat is the obvious, logical thing to do. Anyone with half a brain would know that.

No, the logical thing to do is get better and beat him.

And that's not gonna happen if you're repeatedly being matched against the guy stomping you. That's dumb, not logical. Retreating and avoiding is the first step to what you're proposing. You don't start learning an instrument by playing the most difficult songs, you start with the easier ones and gradually get better. You avoid the difficult ones until you're equipped enough to handle them.

Avoiding someone better than you is not only logical, it's also wise. Not just in games but in the real world. Retreat is a tactical choice you know.

Sure it will. ever heard the saying that to improve you have to play against someone better than you? Its the perfect place to try counter-tactics against that person.

Oh, a music alegory. Do you block all artists that play better than you because you cant beat them? Must be pretty quiet down there.

 

[Fulbert]

Don't play the game, but did they really just admit that they changed an entire system because of the issues 1 guy was having.

They've been known to do things like that before, haven't they?

 

[RaikuFA]

Don't play the game, but did they really just admit that they changed an entire system because of the issues 1 guy was having.

They've been known to do things like that before, haven't they?

Don't think it'll work all the time though. They ignored me when I couldn't get into the open beta and they're ignoring everyone who wants the price lowered for consoles.

 

[2HF]

Avoiding someone you know you can't beat is the obvious, logical thing to do. Anyone with half a brain would know that.

No, the logical thing to do is get better and beat him.

And that's not gonna happen if you're repeatedly being matched against the guy stomping you. That's dumb, not logical. Retreating and avoiding is the first step to what you're proposing. You don't start learning an instrument by playing the most difficult songs, you start with the easier ones and gradually get better. You avoid the difficult ones until you're equipped enough to handle them.

Avoiding someone better than you is not only logical, it's also wise. Not just in games but in the real world. Retreat is a tactical choice you know.

Sure it will. ever heard the saying that to improve you have to play against someone better than you? Its the perfect place to try counter-tactics against that person.

Oh, a music alegory. Do you block all artists that play better than you because you cant beat them? Must be pretty quiet down there.

I'm never going to get better at basketball by playing against Michael Jordan. I'm going to get crushed before I ever have a chance to learn. The idea behind your "saying" is to compete against those only somewhat better than you. You can learn, have a chance to win from time to time, and improve. You don't learn to climb mountains by hitting up Everest first.

And you don't compete directly with other musicians, you listen to them to enjoy them. I can enjoy watching an elite Overwatch player, I won't enjoy competing with them. You can even listen to them to learn, and watch an elite Overwatch player to learn, but you can't learn by competing against them.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Goddammit, so the people I blocked, reported and Avoided because they were dicks are gonna be in my games again? -_-

Oh well, was nice while it lasted.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Don't play the game, but did they really just admit that they changed an entire system because of the issues 1 guy was having.

Lolwut? They give an example of the problem and you determine from that that it was the entire reason they changed it?

 

[Redryhno]

Goddammit, so the people I blocked, reported and Avoided because they were dicks are gonna be in my games again? -_-

Oh well, was nice while it lasted.

To be fair, the system is ripe for abuse the way it is(and alot of similar systems that allow you to single out players in other games have been called out in the past). Better to fix it now before it becomes a gigantic problem in terms of matchmaking balance.

And it's not like your reports and blocks are now suddenly null and void, you just have a chance of encountering them in game again, and considering how many games of Overwatch you can get out of a normal playsession, chances are you won't remember one another.

 

[Nurb]

Great, people scewed up the only thing that potentially helps keep me from dealing with the same assholes more than once.

That being said Overwatch players are rather tame compared to MOBA and BF/COD players.... Soooo many people are overusing the word "Toxic" on the official forums. Everything is toxic, saying "GG" after a match is toxic, he's toxic, she's toxic, anything someone doesn't like is toxic. Toxic toxic toxic.

 

[Ariseishirou]

I'm going to be the first one to admit that if someone was way, way better than me, to the point where I had absolutely no hope against them, yet I kept seeing them in matches... Yeah, I'd block them, if I had the option.

I don't play Overwatch but I play a lot of other FPS mp and that would kill the fun. I want to play against people my own skill level. Or in a team that has a mixture of my skill level, and above and below it on both teams (which is usually what CoD/BF do). Of course, CoD and BF don't give you that button so I have no choice but to suck it up hahah.

 

[Zaeseled]

I'm going to be the first one to admit that if someone was way, way better than me, to the point where I had absolutely no hope against them, yet I kept seeing them in matches... Yeah, I'd block them, if I had the option.

Pretty much this, it's no fun to get absolutely curbstomped everytime you play. Given the option, I'd avoid that player too. Kaplan even said that the player was one of the best Widowmaker players in the world, I'd absolutely want to play against them one time AND THEN NEVER EVER SEE THEM AGAIN.

 

[otakon17]

So, a player that's REALLY good at the game was inconvenienced and the option was taken out. That's stupid, I don't want to get matched against people that repeatedly stomp my ass in competition so if there's an option to avoid fighting them, I'd like it thank you very much. Also what does one do for players who are assholes now?

 

[MHR]

These kinds of systems only encourage reclusive cowardice. There's a reason there is a limit on ignore lists in World of Warcraft. Any more players on some of these people's ignore lists would mean they're playing a single-player game.

You want to avoid the pain and anguish of seeing someone that mildly annoyed you, grow a thicker skin and stop being such a baby. If you don't want to get stomped so much by good players fucking GIT GUD. Want to avoid a terrible teammate playing the third widowmaker just to spite you? Report for feeding or something.

 

[Iwantstuff]

So, a player that's REALLY good at the game was inconvenienced and the option was taken out. That's stupid, I don't want to get matched against people that repeatedly stomp my ass in competition so if there's an option to avoid fighting them, I'd like it thank you very much. Also what does one do for players who are assholes now?

Nope, there was a player that was one of the best at the game and the higher level people decided they didn't want to deal with it. So he got avoided to the point where he was eventually being teamed against newbies, where at that point he was probably sitting outside spawn killing them as they came out. For the general public, if someone is curbstomping you then leave the lobby afterwards and get into a new game, and report toxic players.

 

[otakon17]

So, a player that's REALLY good at the game was inconvenienced and the option was taken out. That's stupid, I don't want to get matched against people that repeatedly stomp my ass in competition so if there's an option to avoid fighting them, I'd like it thank you very much. Also what does one do for players who are assholes now?

Nope, there was a player that was one of the best at the game and the higher level people decided they didn't want to deal with it. So he got avoided to the point where he was eventually being teamed against newbies, where at that point he was probably sitting outside spawn killing them as they came out. For the general public, if someone is curbstomping you then leave the lobby afterwards and get into a new game, and report toxic players.

Except they made it so that if you leave a game early, you get penalized a LOT by it. They should just add in a "Surrender" option for those times when you're getting curbstomped into oblivion and basically waiting for them to stop curbstomping you for 10 minutes.

 

[That Guy Ya Know]

So, a player that's REALLY good at the game was inconvenienced and the option was taken out. That's stupid, I don't want to get matched against people that repeatedly stomp my ass in competition so if there's an option to avoid fighting them, I'd like it thank you very much. Also what does one do for players who are assholes now?

Nope, there was a player that was one of the best at the game and the higher level people decided they didn't want to deal with it. So he got avoided to the point where he was eventually being teamed against newbies, where at that point he was probably sitting outside spawn killing them as they came out. For the general public, if someone is curbstomping you then leave the lobby afterwards and get into a new game, and report toxic players.

Except they made it so that if you leave a game early, you get penalized a LOT by it. They should just add in a "Surrender" option for those times when you're getting curbstomped into oblivion and basically waiting for them to stop curbstomping you for 10 minutes.

Well he did say leave the lobby afterwards, and the penalties for leaving a game are practically non existent you have to leave 5 games out of your last 20 for them to kick in and even then there's an argument to be made the penalty is actually a good thing so yeh.

As for surrendering that seems like a dumb idea, a game isn't over till its over and comebacks are totally possible. I had a game today where my team was getting absolutely wrecked on king of the hill (as in pushed back to the spawn at one point) then without anyone leaving we managed to drag out overtime for over a minute before capturing the point and getting a total reversal and winning.