Do you think Overwatch's story will actually matter?

[MCerberus]

Well there is actually potential for an ongoing story if Blizzard ever puts in PvE content. What with the continued robot uprising and whatnot.

Wait, a potential PvE mode regarding the story that was up to that point relegated to off-game content... involving co-op vs robots. It really is TF3 isn't it?

 

[Ryallen]

Well, no. Simply because it will have absolutely no effect on the game whatsoever. If anything, the GAME will drive the story. New modes will be added and be explained through the story, similarly to how TF2 had its Mann vs. Machine mode added. By adding Grey Mann in the comics.

Now, if the question was "Will it be any good?" I'd say that I'm not hopeful, given the cinematics that I've seen and the comics that I've read. It has some good bits here and there but I'm positive that Blizzard won't do anything with them and will just default to having characters that are visually appealing and diverse but narratively uninteresting. If it were me, I'd add in the leader of Talon, that anti-Omnic terrorist group, to the character pool and have him be a charismatic and morally grey figure there to explain that while Talon is a terrorist group that has done some deplorable things, Overwatch has done a bunch of things similar to Talon as well and that the initial motivations behind the forming of said group were much more sympathetic, given that the Omnic Crisis was easily something that most people shouldn't forgive and forget. But I know how this thinly hidden allegory for racism goes, how there's a black and a white side and how good will always prevail and yadda yadda.

Team Fortress 2's comic is actually pretty entertaining and fairly well written as well, and I actually enjoy reading it, unlike the comics from Overwatch, given that they are cliche a lot of the time, battering us with sentiment and attempts at making us feel like a god damn Sandman.

Spoiler: This thing

 

[Mangod]

... sidenote, just thinking about it while I typed out that Warhammer thing. How many of you would actually sit down and watch a Game of Thrones type show about Warhammer 40k? Or Fantasy?

That actually sounds like something Necromunda would be better suited for than just straight up 40K, setting -wise. Still, the setting definitely has the potential for a story like that.

You'd just need to convince GW to fork over the IP, and get some good authors on it. Otherwise, it'd probably nd up just as schlocky as the books are pulpy. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Right now, the story is just window dressing and is utterly meaningless because it serves no purpose and provide no motivation within the game.

I disagree, I think it feels like Street Fighter II back when I was at school in the early 90's, all my friends would talk about our favorite characters to fight with but also their back storys. Ryu And Ken were hop topic on the school playground back in the day (stupid Steven Grimes and his Guile fanboyism)!
I feel Overwatch has the same kind of thing going on, the lore isnt really pushing the games forward (although there are nice moments when the toons interact with each other)but it compleats the package in a way.

Thing is with SF2 and indeed most fighters stories they serve as a frame work for the game as in why are all these people fighting each other oh right there is some tournament and the winner stands to gain something out of it whether its just prestige, revenge, a chance to fight strong people etc. In Overwatch the story does not frame the game oh whats that Overwatch is reforming to stop these doods ok but then why are there no sides? As in why are the good guys fighting with the bad guys why is it 6 vs 6 why am I defending or attacking this? There are also no bits of Bio at all unlike SF2 which had snippets in the manual and ofc it had endings for each character.

So yeah there may be a lot of lore but it is completely disconnected from the game thematically and structurally. Its characters speak through small snippets of quotes and their abilities just like Fighting game characters mostly do but its story as in what is in game is even weaker than most fighters which is pretty poor.

It could matter later on if they actually craft a game (mode) around one like it seemed was their intention originally but as of now its a game featuring characters that have stories but not in this game.

 

[Zetatrain]

At the moment not really.

While it is nice that some of the lore is reflected in the dialogue and levels it doesn't really make much sense in the context of the gameplay. At the moment these bits of in game lore act like advertisement for the out of game lore material (the short comics and upcoming GN). Though I still hope they continue to add stuff like this into the game as it does add a bit of "flavor" to the game.

Now a good way to make the story matter would be to add in some kind of PvE mode like TF2's Man vs Machine, especially since current Overwatch lore seems to be implying that a second omnic crisis/war is on the horizon.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Absolutely not. People try to think about some potential future projects where it would matter but that's irrelevant. "Story" of Owerwatch is completely irrelevant to Owerwatch and to the players. It matters only to Blizzard because everything they do with Owerwatch matters to them.

 

[Samechiel]

In Overwatch the story does not frame the game oh whats that Overwatch is reforming to stop these doods ok but then why are there no sides? As in why are the good guys fighting with the bad guys why is it 6 vs 6 why am I defending or attacking this?

I was under the impression that the whole thing was sort of a VR training simulation to prepare for the resurgence of the Overwatch program. That's how you can have "good guys" and "bad guys" on the same team, as well as multiple instances of the same character. Is that not the case?

 

[Lightspeaker]

I honestly seriously think they need to make a TV series or something.

The lore and story stuff is pretty interesting, and those shorts are glorious, and the characters are fun, characterful and entertaining. But it doesn't really impact the game. And I can't see how they COULD make it impact the game without screwing up the core of it. Some sort of single player campaign wouldn't work too well.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

It's really hard to see how one can take it seriously. We have criminals, and assassins working with more straightlaced law enforcers, and peace keepers.
On top of that, we can have the same person on different teams at the same time. I.E. Widowmaker fighting Widowmaker. How the hell does that makes sense?

I enjoy the story as eyecandy, really. Padding. It's interesting, but how does it impact the game? It doesn't make sense for it to.

 

[DefunctTheory]

If we ranked what mattered when it comes to Overwatch, it would be...

1. (Tie) Gameplay | Waifus
3. Style
4. Story

Which isn't to say they wont do anything with it. Only that it's the smallest factor of the bunch.

 

[JemothSkarii]

I feel like the story is kind of window dressing. It's nice that they attempted to get people attached to a character by giving them some backstory, but...

Maybe it's just me but I felt the game was rather lifeless.

Granted I only played it for four hours after waiting more hours for a 9GB patch then I returned it the next day. But the quips were kinda eh and the lore/fluff didn't seem to be there. I guess that's what got me excited, the story trailers and whatnot, and I think I felt there'd be a big character focus to the game.

There is, I guess, but more in the DotA sense.

But yeah, in game wise the story really doesn't matter. One thing that bothered me is are all these characters meant to be part of Overwatch? Aren't Overwatch meant to be fighting a big threat? Why are they just fighting each other? Why does McCree's BAMF belt buckle annoy the fuck out of me?

Of course this could also come down to the fact multiplayer FPS games bore the daylights out of me. Guess I thought 'THIS MIGHT BE DIFFERENT'

 

[Epyc Wynn]

Guys since when has Blizzard ever made a shallow story as an excuse for gameplay?

*has vietnam flashbacks to early years of WoW*

 

[crimsonspear4D]

Hell, I feel even a shallow, tacked on attempt would be at least something for a full priced game. Even Evolved, Titanfall, and The Division had some story campaign elements; I'd settle for at least a hub world with some in-game lore archives or something.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I like how they say "story doesn't matter" yet every single character clearly has a story behind, even if it was just told by their appearance and voicelines.

Story always matters, even when you don't see it.

You could line up 20 boxes of cereal and call that a story based on your knowledge of the mascots and adverts.

 

[Maximum Bert]

In Overwatch the story does not frame the game oh whats that Overwatch is reforming to stop these doods ok but then why are there no sides? As in why are the good guys fighting with the bad guys why is it 6 vs 6 why am I defending or attacking this?

I was under the impression that the whole thing was sort of a VR training simulation to prepare for the resurgence of the Overwatch program. That's how you can have "good guys" and "bad guys" on the same team, as well as multiple instances of the same character. Is that not the case?

That very well maybe the case but gotta be honest the story in the game is so non existant I did not get that. Contrived though it may be and feeling very much like they are trying to desperately smash a square peg into a round hole it does explain the multiple same characters thing but it still has problems and unfortunately invalidates most of what you are doing sort of like the and it was just a dream at the end of stories often does.

If that is the case however I am still unsure why you are training as other people is it just data collection? and if so for who and what purpose? secondly arent the Overwatch heroes already known entities surely there is already extensive data on them.

For me it just does not fit I feel they had a story and they have a game and neither have much relation to each other. I could be wrong and hey with enough wrangling I am sure they could get the game to feel more impactful with the story but as of now the story in game is close to non existant standing on a place just above Tetris and below Super Mario Bros.

 

[Samechiel]

If that is the case however I am still unsure why you are training as other people is it just data collection? and if so for who and what purpose? secondly arent the Overwatch heroes already known entities surely there is already extensive data on them.

You aren't collecting data. If you're playing as, say, Mercy, then you as Mercy are training in the simulation against a combination of other agents and AI programs meant to represent agents.

That's how you train for things: by testing your skills in a variety of situations. Haven't you ever heard of a flight simulator? Same principle.

 

[RJ 17]

It'll matter as much as LoL's story matters...which is to say: not at all. Sure, the comics and animations are fun, but the gameplay is completely disconnected from the lore.

 

[Maximum Bert]

If that is the case however I am still unsure why you are training as other people is it just data collection? and if so for who and what purpose? secondly arent the Overwatch heroes already known entities surely there is already extensive data on them.

You aren't collecting data. If you're playing as, say, Mercy, then you as Mercy are training in the simulation against a combination of other agents and AI programs meant to represent agents.

That's how you train for things: by testing your skills in a variety of situations. Haven't you ever heard of a flight simulator? Same principle.

Ok fair enough but then what is the reason for being able to switch characters mid game? Also shouldnt you be training with the characters you are likely to be teamed up with in the real world? Also what are they actually training to do are they expecting to push payloads and hold/attack points against a set number of enemies and friends when they are out for the simulation. A simulator is supposed to mimic a real world occurrence as closely as possible even if that occurrence is unlikely so how is Overwatch like that?

Please link me to the official story if possible so I can peruse it at my leisure but I still feel the game and story were not made in tandem its a game with a theme slapped on top. I am not saying its a bad game (because I dont think it is) or that there is nessecarily a bad story behind the characters (dont know because there is almost no story in game) but as it stands they are poorly married however I dont believe that matters for the game and they can exist pretty much apart from each other fine which they pretty much do.

So for the OP I dont think the story matters at all for the game as it stands but it may do for the possible future shaping of the game and almost certainly for the IP.