Overwatch's Halloween Event is Now Live

Steven Bogos

The Taco Man
Jan 17, 2013
9,354
0
0
Overwatch's Halloween Event is Now Live

This time around, you'll also be able to buy the special Halloween items with in-game credits.

Overwatch's Halloween event, which was leaked earlier this week [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/168575-Overwatch-Sombra-Halloween-Event-Leak], is now live on all servers. As the leak suggested, the event includes a new, co-op brawl: Junkenstein's Revenge, and over a hundred Halloween-themed cosmetic items, available exclusively through the new limited-time Halloween 2016 loot boxes.

Just like the Summer Games [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/168092-Overwatch-Summer-Olympics-Promotion], every Halloween 2016 loot box will contain at least one special Halloween item. This time around, however, you'll also be able to purchase the Halloween items with in-game credits - though they do have a considerable mark up. For example, Legendary skins usually set you back 1000 credits, but the Halloween 2016 Legendary skins are triple the price, at 3000 credits.

As for the new brawl, it's the first ever PvE co-op brawl for the game. You will team up with three other players and face off against a host of eerie enemies, including Dr. Junkenstein himself, Junkenstein's Monster, the Reaper, a mysterious witch, and a host of shambling zomnics. Players will choose from the Alchemist (Ana), the Archer (Hanzo), the Gunslinger (McCree), or the Soldier (Soldier: 76).

As an added bonus, every single player has been awarded a free Halloween 2016 loot box to help kick things off.

[gallery=6559]

Permalink
 

Xerosch

New member
Apr 19, 2008
1,288
0
0
I'd love to get my hands on the skins for Symmetra, Reaper, Soldier, Hanzo and the Highlight Intro for Mei and Reaper. But it seems unlikely that I'll have the chance during the event. I don't have enough time for the grind and really, REALLY don't want to spend my money for loot boxes.

That being said: The brawl shows that Overwatch definitely has the potential for a compelling single player/co-op campaign. Something in the vein of Left 4 Dead set in the Omnic crisis. Today I just wanted to get the XP for 'First win of the day' and stayed far longer than planned.
 

Zhukov

The Laughing Arsehole
Dec 29, 2009
13,769
5
43
Man, they are really dead set against people using credits to buy special event skins.

I've had no problem with Overwatch's loot/microtransaction system up until now, and even this doesn't affect me personally, but this is dickish enough that I'm not about to defend it either. They're clearly trying to get people to buy loot crates with real money.
 

WindKnight

Quiet, Odd Sort.
Legacy
Jul 8, 2009
1,828
9
43
Cephiro
Country
United Kingdom
Gender
Female
well, gonna copy and paste what I said in another thread for the start of my post -

Aaaand horde mode is a BIG disappointment with the stingy hero selection.... None of them are characters I really use, and everyone bar Ana usually gets snatched very quickly. Hopefully if they do a similar mode full time, the choices will be more free.

Also, a lil disappointed that each character who got a unique model Skin for the update, only got one such skin. Would have loved Mercy's witch look if they'd made a green variant, but you just get the usual witches black.

As for the unlocks...

Its nice that they are coin unlocks, but being triple the cost of regular unlocks is a bit steep. Though, I so want Ana's spray tag, even though I don't really use her.
Zhukov said:
Man, they are really dead set against people using credits to buy special event skins.

I've had no problem with Overwatch's loot/microtransaction system up until now, and even this doesn't affect me personally, but this is dickish enough that I'm not about to defend it either. They're clearly trying to get people to buy loot crates with real money.
I must admit, I've considered it crappy from the start, and I just considered it lucky that the 'limited' items so far have been nothing I really WANT so I've not had to deal with the siren call of buying lootboxes. (though (A) I dropped actual money on the game in the first place and this is not a F2P makes me very stubborn in not wanting to buy them, and (B) with my luck any boxes I did buy with real money would still just give the three sprays/ one player icon combo)
 

bjj hero

New member
Feb 4, 2009
3,180
0
0
Zhukov said:
Man, they are really dead set against people using credits to buy special event skins.

I've had no problem with Overwatch's loot/microtransaction system up until now, and even this doesn't affect me personally, but this is dickish enough that I'm not about to defend it either. They're clearly trying to get people to buy loot crates with real money.
I prefer this. It keeps the event skins rare. I like my summer games skins all the more for their rarity. I was a little disappointed to see they could be bought this time, not so much when I can see they are still not easily attainable.

Im sitting on 2000 credits as I thought they may be purchasable this time. I may be priced out though without a big drop of credits this week.
 

SirSullymore

New member
Mar 26, 2009
423
0
0
bjj hero said:
I prefer this. It keeps the event skins rare. I like my summer games skins all the more for their rarity. I was a little disappointed to see they could be bought this time, not so much when I can see they are still not easily attainable.

Im sitting on 2000 credits as I thought they may be purchasable this time. I may be priced out though without a big drop of credits this week.
Agreed, I hope Jack-o-Reaper makes Mariachi Reaper more rare. Haha
 

Metalrocks

New member
Jan 15, 2009
2,406
0
0
i can see already people buying boxes to get them. i did buy a small amount of them during the olympic but obviously i did not get what i want.
but have to admit, they do look neat.
 

SlumlordThanatos

Lord Inquisitor
Aug 25, 2014
724
0
0
Zhukov said:
Man, they are really dead set against people using credits to buy special event skins.

I've had no problem with Overwatch's loot/microtransaction system up until now, and even this doesn't affect me personally, but this is dickish enough that I'm not about to defend it either. They're clearly trying to get people to buy loot crates with real money.
Well...yeah. The Summer Games event didn't even give you the option to buy with credits; the community had to strong-arm Blizzard into making items available with credits this time around. They still want event skins and cosmetics to be "rare and special", hence the markup.

And now there's people on the forums lining up to give Blizzard a medal for basic human decency.

It's enough to get me to buy loot boxes again, but Blizzard has a long way to go to earn my respect back.
 

bjj hero

New member
Feb 4, 2009
3,180
0
0
SirSullymore said:
bjj hero said:
I prefer this. It keeps the event skins rare. I like my summer games skins all the more for their rarity. I was a little disappointed to see they could be bought this time, not so much when I can see they are still not easily attainable.

Im sitting on 2000 credits as I thought they may be purchasable this time. I may be priced out though without a big drop of credits this week.
Agreed, I hope Jack-o-Reaper makes Mariachi Reaper more rare. Haha
QFT! Those mariachis get everywhere. But my summer games mercy and trqcer skins are rare.

I think it is a shame that now everyone will be saving for the xmas event skins and will just buy a batch up. I prefer Blizzard stopped selling them.
 

WindKnight

Quiet, Odd Sort.
Legacy
Jul 8, 2009
1,828
9
43
Cephiro
Country
United Kingdom
Gender
Female
bjj hero said:
Zhukov said:
Man, they are really dead set against people using credits to buy special event skins.

I've had no problem with Overwatch's loot/microtransaction system up until now, and even this doesn't affect me personally, but this is dickish enough that I'm not about to defend it either. They're clearly trying to get people to buy loot crates with real money.
I prefer this. It keeps the event skins rare. I like my summer games skins all the more for their rarity. I was a little disappointed to see they could be bought this time, not so much when I can see they are still not easily attainable.

Im sitting on 2000 credits as I thought they may be purchasable this time. I may be priced out though without a big drop of credits this week.
To be honest though Blizzard would be very happy with every player having those skins, so long as every player dropped ?50 on loot boxes to get them.
 

WindKnight

Quiet, Odd Sort.
Legacy
Jul 8, 2009
1,828
9
43
Cephiro
Country
United Kingdom
Gender
Female
Caramel Frappe said:
Me: .. Oh wow! That Mercy skin looks cool! Can I get it before the event ends?

Blizzard: Sure you can! Just have to grind your @$$ off and hope a loot chest gives you it!

Me: Uh, i'm kind of busy with work / school / life. Can't I just straight up buy the skin with money?

Blizzard: What? No! You can however, buy more loot chests with money in hopes to unlock the skin.

Me: .......................................

But seriously the design of Overwatch's crate system is beyond flawed and selfish. Yeah, like i'm going to get that 1 skin out of a hundred+ loot drops and I can only get loot from leveling up which takes awhile. Even if I buy say 5-10 chests cause i'm desperate, there's still no guarantee that i'll get that Mercy skin for Halloween ... which expires by the way so if I don't unlock it in time, it'll go away. Screw off Blizzard i'm not going to bid by your bullcrap. I'll continue ignoring your offers until you stop being so greedy.
For bonus FU points, opening up youtube greets me with a suggestion of a video of someone opening 100 Halloween loot boxes. Considering I'm maybe gonna earn 20 or so the way I play (assuming I don't have emergencies or burnout) I don't have to open the video to be put in a foul mood by it.
 

Bobular

New member
Oct 7, 2009
845
0
0
I wanted the Mercy skin, I got the Mercy skin on my third box. I didn't have to buy anything so yay for me, all you need to do is completely luck out to get what you want.

Seriously though I was expecting to spend all the time when I wasn't working playing Overwatch trying to get that skin, especially after my first two boxes I got a total of 3 Halloween icons and that was it for Halloween stuff.
 

RedDeadFred

Illusions, Michael!
May 13, 2009
4,896
0
0
I'm glad they added the ability to buy the skins for credits this time and I don't mind that they're 3000 instead of the normal amount. They're all really high quality, so I'm totally okay with them costing more. I've only accrued just over 5000, so if I don't end up getting Witch Mercy and the Ghostly Rein by the end, I'll be sure to spend it on them. Still, I'll be happy getting any of those skins.

As for the new brawl, it's a lot of fun and I really hope they expand the concept over time. Reinhardt's narration and the character intros add a lot of character to an already fun mode.

Edit: After many attempts, I finally beat the brawl on hard. One of the most satisfying experiences I've had with this game. I realize that it's probably not all that hard for everyone, especially with a solid group, but doing it with random people took quite a while.
 

Zydrate

New member
Apr 1, 2009
1,914
0
0
If I ever get my hands on that Witch Mercy... I would play her exclusively and nothing else, ever.
Alas, I am unemployed and can't get boxes :(
 

WindKnight

Quiet, Odd Sort.
Legacy
Jul 8, 2009
1,828
9
43
Cephiro
Country
United Kingdom
Gender
Female
Bobular said:
I wanted the Mercy skin, I got the Mercy skin on my third box. I didn't have to buy anything so yay for me, all you need to do is completely luck out to get what you want.
In my past as a tabletop and pen and paper roleplayer, I've had a WH40K game where I lost half my army on the first turn, a combat scene where over three rounds I jammed the SMG and two backup pistols I took into the fight, groups tended to react with dread if I was the only person with the appropriate skill for a vital check (even if my stats made it a near certain pass) and players in general had a ritual of using their mobile phones to block my 'bad luck waves'.

Relying on luck doesn't generally work for me, and stacking the odds in my favour generally earns a hearty 'hahaha f*** you' from reality.
 

InflatableHippo

New member
Feb 13, 2016
61
0
0
Country
usa
It's good to see Blizzard adapting techniques from other companies and adding them to their own games, such as making their reward system a pachinko machine.