I was at GameStop today, and there was a couple browsing the shelf next to me. They were looking for a game to get as a birthday present for a family member.

When they picked up Overwatch, I turned to them and spoke up.

“That may not be the best idea.”

They asked me why.

(The following is paraphrased)
“It was never super-beginner friendly to start with, but it’s problems only gotten worse since it came out two years ago. There’s a lot of complexities to the game, and zero turorials for them. A lot of heroes take a lot of training to master, but there’s no formal training modes. It’s a multiplayer game, but the HUD looks like it’s in single-player mode almost all the time.

Don’t get me wrong, the game is gorgeous and could take over the world if the devs ever get their act together, but it’s more frustrating than fun right now. If you’re looking for a casual-friendly game, I’d reccomend… [conversation turns to other games]”

I’m one of those costumers that when asked, don’t recommend Overwatch to new players. And I’m probably not the only one either.

I’ve turned into this. Bizzard has ignored core problems for over a year, and they seem to spend more time on OWL than anything else.

The devs also generally seem to listen to pro players who don’t actually play the hero they’re giving feedback about, over the actual top players for that hero. It’s been the source of lot of… controversial… hero changes.

Overwatch is a potentially amazing game that’s being held back by its deficiencies. I want to see that potential become reality, but until then I’m here on the forums trying to campaign for its sake.

Edit: No, I wasn’t harrasing the poor couple. They had a stack of “maybe buy” video games by them, and had spent the last quarter hour asking the cashier and other bystanders their opinions on games. If they got a positive opinion on whatever game they were holding, they added it to the stack. If they got any other kind of response, they put it back on the shelf.