I just got sucked into Overwatch by my friends, and I have to say, for a PVP shooter, I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. I've gotten beyond the "getting killed a lot" problem by convincing myself that it happens to everyone. Here are some random thoughts in no particular order:
1. Widowmaker has a grapnel that she uses to get around for vertical movement. In that game's maps it works just fine without then need for any unrealistic "anchor in mid air so you can web-swing anywhere" BS. I like it that way. It works.
2. My favorite thing in Ovewrwatch is the Arcade mode where you can do short PvE stories for fun. I've actually learned how to drive like 6 characters now by doing that, and they're co-operative.
3. Actually almost all of Overwatch is co-op, because it's usually 6v6 teams, which is nice, because you get to synergize with your friends etc.
4. It's balancing of the powers/characters is pretty good, but then they have it easy in the sense that each character only has like 4 skills they can do.
5. They have a practice range you can use to try out any character against targets and moving droids etc. Some shoot back at you so you can check your healing powers, etc. It would be nice to be able to do that with other people, but if that's possible I've never done it. Maybe if I make a team first?
6. In a game where having to aim is a thing, which is new to me and I'm still bad at, its actually more like "having to move a lot and still hit targets" because if you stay still you're toast. I hate that. Having to repeatedly hit "a-d-a-d-spacebar-d-a-..." is exhausting. Having to try to shoot my gun while doing that sort of in-place tap dancing to avoid getting hit at the same time is brutal.
7. They have Loot Boxes, which are actually really lame, if you ask me. They can contain skins for the characters (which are the "high-end" loot), currency (which you would then use to buy a skin you actually want for a character), voice quips for the characters that you can emote when you want to in-game (some are funny, but like macroes in CoX they get repetitive and annoying after a while), and then other various 2-D graphical items like new icons you can use to set as your in-game ID thumbnail (you can't make your own), and "sprays" which are, to me, the dumbest thing ever. You can stamp a small 2D graphic on the ground or a wall or wherever, like spray painting graffiti. Totally pointless and a waste of in-game time which will probably get you killed while you're doing it. It's as if they felt they needed some cheap, easily make resource to fill the loot boxes with, as pure filler, and this was what they came up with.
R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising
If you want to know how to make a grapnel gun power work just look at how DCUO handled acrobatics. That implementation was just about perfect. That game got a lot wrong but that’s one thing they got right.
Think about why you liked Overwatch, then take a look at these videos from Extra Credits.
Asymetric Level Design
[youtube]4DynhzEQtog[/youtube]
Asymetric Character Design
[youtube]NEpeGSFQ1tM[/youtube]
Pose
[youtube]ZmLkVtqjf1A[/youtube]
Conveying Character
[youtube]1xeTMCPG2gg[/youtube]
When Overwatch released the game was nicely balanced (map and character design) and allowed for varied approaches (tactics or character composition). More or less, any choice you made would provide an opportunity to have your "moment in the sun" at some point during the match. Then they started adding characters (tweaking the meta) but not many maps or match settings. It is slowly evolving from playing against the match objectives to finding a counter for characters that won't feed the meat grinder.
The loot boxes aren't anything to be concerned about. It is all cosmetic. The problem is that the ratios have changed over the lifespan. They have diluted the pool of possible loot box contents with a lot of things you will probably never use (emotes, voice lines, user icons), so it feels like you are being cheated somehow when you open one. That is probably their biggest failing. To be fair, things like emotes, voice lines and sprays help fill the void time during match prep before the doors open. There needs to be some loading/sync time involved so it is like giving your kids stickers to keep them busy while they sit in the back seat of the car. Plus there is an opportunity to add flair to a sequence if you think it will be Play of the Game. And really, skins mostly affect how other people see your character since it is a first person perspective game for the most part. So if you get a skin you are just enhancing other people's enjoyment factor (and it entertains you a little during the moments when you aren't actually playing a match).
"Just, well, update your kickstarter email addresses, okay? Make sure they're current?" - warcabbit
The rock-paper-scissors nature fo the characters, plus the different maps/objectives (take the point versus deliver the payload, etc) make different characters more or less useful situationally. I get that, but in a game that will have a single plater PvE mode, and in a game where EACH toon has like 20 powers, I think the r-p-s thjing is a lot harder to pull off.
R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising
It sounds like you just need more time in game to get familiar with the maps. Or you are learning to hate one shot sniping aimbotted cheaty cheater Hanzos/Widows/Meis/McCrees (I might sound a little biased).
I'd suggest trying all of the characters in the training area (sounds like you did some of that already) to get a feel for all of their powers and their mobility. Then try playing a range of characters in quick play matches. Identify one or two characters for each role (damage, defense, support, tank) that fit your style. Then in quick play use those characters, but adapt over the course of the match by switching roles when it becomes obvious that your team comp is deficient or the opposing team is overweighting in a particular aspect. Learning how to break a strategy (or team comp) is what makes the game fun once you become familiar with the game.
"Just, well, update your kickstarter email addresses, okay? Make sure they're current?" - warcabbit
Welcome to the FPS genre and it's team based class based subgenre!
Good times for everyone.
Ah, the "just cosmetic" loot boxes... Still gambling. And in Overwatch the cosmetic stuff essentially is progression seeing as the only other progression in the game is to git gud.
And they offer limited loot box rewards (if I remember correctly, correct me if I'm wrong) which further incentivizes people to spend more real money on a full priced game.
But yeah, other than that... It's alright.
"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."