# Overwatch **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 3, 2016, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804 "2016-05-03T19:57:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/181 "2016-11-14T19:08:19Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Anyone seeing much cheating? We encountered our first obvious aimbotting yesterday. But it’s otherwise seemed pretty clean. Again, quick play only. I can think of once or twice when the other team seemed uncannily good, which made me think back to the bad old COD:MW2 days with the rampant cheating. Otherwise no, the game seems blessedly free of cheating. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/182 "2016-11-14T19:38:03Z")
This wasn’t very sophisticated. A very bad hanjo suddenly started headshotting everyone, and the kill cam didn’t show the aim lining up correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/183 "2016-11-15T09:32:48Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > **BPC** : Sombra’s damage output may be lacking, but it’s difficult to gauge just how much of an effect a skilled player can disrupt an enemy team with hacking and EMP. I can see her being a counter to Torbjorn and Reinhardt at minimum. She’ll probably be tweaked into a viable comp hero for skilled players. A good Sombra will probably deal low damage, occasionally picking off isolated and wounded targets of opportunity, but mostly stealthing around behind enemy lines and screwing with them. I think she’ll require more team coordination than many other characters, but I see her as a more tactics-focused counterpart to Genji. > > Being able to prevent a Mercy res during overtime is huge, it could easily turn the tide of a close game. Sneaking behind a Reinhardt and hacking down his barrier is huge. You don’t need nearly as much team DPS when one of your heroes can instantly shut off Reinhardt’s barrier for several seconds. > > Also, she’s about stealth, not open 1v1 battles. Like Reaper, letting your target see you means you’ve already screwed up. Unlike Reaper, Sombra doesn’t have the raw damage to make her competitive in a straight up fight. But she can still cloak/teleport to safety, regroup, and strike again without being seen. I think the best Sombras will be those who maximize her stealth and mobility and only rarely use their weapon. > > IMO, Sombra is Blizzard’s attempt at making a more tactical offense hero, and to introduce more abstract gameplay affects in lieu of straightforward damage. I’m very interested to see how she plays out, and I can’t wait until the novelty wears off enough that I can just hop into a QP and have a decent chance of practicing with her. If your opponent’s team is grouped up in a death ball, actually getting off a hack on a Reinhardt or Mercy is going to be very hard. Almost impossible, if the team gets wise to you. She _should_ be a good counter to Reinhardt, but right now she just kinda isn’t. Torbjorn didn’t need a new counter, he’s already pretty much completely nonviable. And while she’s not about 1v1 fights, she still has to engage at some point, and she just doesn’t do much damage. Basically, what we’re looking at is a semi-effective flanker, except far weaker, with a fewer extra tools and not quite the same escape options as, say, Tracer or Genji (invis is completely useless in the middle of a firefight, and if your teleporter is on cooldown, or someone found it and is camping it, you’re SOL - plus, Tracer can both get away and quickly re-engage; Sombra can’t). Tactical or not, right now she just feels very weak. Either her hacking needs to work despite damage, so that she can reliably make a play on a Rein shield, or her damage output needs to be tweaked so that she can play a more flank-oriented game. > [@Ruken](#): > > Anyone seeing much cheating? We encountered our first obvious aimbotting yesterday. But it’s otherwise seemed pretty clean. Again, quick play only. Blizzard is both pretty good at spotting it and _absolutely merciless_ when it comes to permanently banning people, and people’s new accounts they make to buy the game again. With that kind of risk, aimbotting pretty much isn’t worth it. > [@Ruken](#): > > This wasn’t very sophisticated. A very bad hanjo suddenly started headshotting everyone, and the kill cam didn’t show the aim lining up correctly. …Hanzo aimbot? That… doesn’t make much sense. Hanzo is a projectile character. You can’t really aimbot effectively if your projectile takes half a second to hit the target. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/184 "2016-11-15T09:37:32Z")
Personally I think Sombra is going to be very effective in the hands of the sort of people who can do a lot of damage with Tracer (ie not me). It’ll be interesting to see how the character goes when she joins the regular player roster… ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/185 "2016-11-15T10:07:45Z")
I am not good at this game, but it seems like Sombra is supposed to be sort of a niche pick? It seems like she has two primary roles: area control/denial and desperate point break. Area control/denial means she does well on King of the Hill maps where she can run around and keep all the health packs hacked, depriving the enemy team of a lot of resources. You could make a case for using her on the defense on payloads too, where you forward hack all the health packs you can while the enemy team is trying to push forward. Desperate point break means you really need to break a well fortified point that your other assault heroes just can’t crack despite repeated attempts. This relies entirely on her ultimate. She cannot flank and hack a Reinhardt consistently, but if she can play safe and get her ult up (probably hacking a few health packs for safety), she can ult the enemy team and break through. This is essentially a hail mary play, but might be more effective/consistent in many circumstances than, eg, trying to land a Death Blosson, Pulse Bomb, or Dead Eye (and combos well with those abilities regardless). She’s not really “meant” to be a McCree or Tracer who can kind of fit into most games to various degrees if you need them to. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2016, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/186 "2016-11-15T12:36:51Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > …Hanzo aimbot? That… doesn’t make much sense. Hanzo is a projectile character. You can’t really aimbot effectively if your projectile takes half a second to hit the target. No, it doesn’t make much sense. But it works better if you play so aggro that all your shots are point-blank and you also spend most of the match dead. I suspect we won’t be seeing this kid again. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/187 "2016-11-16T03:42:11Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > …Hanzo aimbot? That… doesn’t make much sense. Hanzo is a projectile character. You can’t really aimbot effectively if your projectile takes half a second to hit the target. People have developed aimbots for the TF2 soldier’s rocket launcher, so it’s definitely doable. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/188 "2016-11-16T14:30:02Z")
Sombra is now live on the main servers. I played with her last night and had a lot of fun. A couple more discoveries: 1. Hacking an enemy will show you if their ult is ready (shows the icon above their head) 2. Sombra’s SMG shows its ammo count in hexadecimal, because she’s apparently a show-offy nerd I also really like the “no duplicate heroes” rule on Quick Play. I got so sick of people deciding they all wanted to be Torb on attack because “it’s only Quick Play.” Hey, asshole, plenty of people use Quick Play to warm up, and practice. If you want to fuck around, make a custom game, play brawl, or play against AI. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2016, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/189 "2016-11-17T05:12:24Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > I also really like the “no duplicate heroes” rule on Quick Play. I got so sick of people deciding they all wanted to be Torb on attack because “it’s only Quick Play.” Hey, asshole, plenty of people use Quick Play to warm up, and practice. If you want to fuck around, make a custom game, play brawl, or play against AI. I like that change too. There’s only so often you can face off against a multi-Torb, multi-Bastion opposing team before it stops being fun. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2016, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/190 "2016-12-06T10:07:25Z")
Word of advice: check out “Your Overwatch”. > **[Your Overwatch](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEzOHrh9snmHJSGu9wmOvsw)** > > Overwatch 2 News, Guides & More! Two big reasons. The first one: their videos are full of useful tips on how to get better at the game. The second one: their discord server has the most active groupfinding I have ever seen, and because it’s made up of people who watch YourOverwatch, there is a basic level of understanding that can be assumed there. People won’t trickle in, they’ll understand team composition and synergy, they’ll _communicate_ in-game, et cetera. It’s made the game _so_ much more fun to play, because I’m actually able to play the game in a 6-stack with other people who know how to play, instead of being forced to pray that _someone_ in my solo queue games will be willing to play support or tank. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2016, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/191 "2016-12-16T10:15:08Z")
For once I actually feel the need to grind for loot boxes. I NEED that Winston skin. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/192 "2017-07-10T19:37:21Z")
So I picked this up a couple weeks ago, and have been playing it with my girls for a bit. It’s their first introduction into FPS, and it’s pretty good for them. Overall, it’s a really fun game that lets us watch each other play and commiserate. One daughter is in love with Tracer and plays her (over my loving protestations) constantly. The other is much more flexible, and spends an inordinate amount of time researching tips and tricks online. It’s a blast, and nice to have them engaged with their old man for a bit. I’ve recently taken to trying out the competitive, and, my God it can really suck. The overall game design/balance is awesome, so the close games that go down to the last few seconds against equally matched teams are fantastically fun. Well worth the purchase. Unfortunately, those kinds of matches are pretty few and far between. More often than not, it’s a bunch of idiots who want to play (and play poorly) their special character, no matter how useless in a wide variety of the games (I’m looking at you Widowmaker jagoffs) or how the team is shaping up (no, we don’t need McCree if we already have a Hanzo, a Genji, and a Reaper). So almost every single game, I have to play a healer or a tank, just so the game isn’t over in 30 seconds. But even worse are the players who quit the game after it starts or deliberately tank on purpose. Playing 5 (or even 4) on 6 is impossible, and is nothing but a frustration, which really ruins a fun game. I’m a fan of Blizzard games, generally, but they really have a problem when it comes to dealing with people gaming the system to their own advantage, and the detriment of other players. Still, it’s a blast. Are any of you who were playing 9 months ago still active? Any teams needing another player? ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/193 "2019-09-07T16:02:03Z")
We started playing this heavily about a year ago. Battlefield 1 was winding down. We didn’t really enjoy V very much. Fallout was meh. So for whatever reason we picked this up again and I got my own copy. And I’m having a lot of fun. I’m still not very good and probably won’t ever be. Competitive is fun but often more intense than I want, so we usually just quickplay. And they just rolled out role queue for QP! No more choosing a support hero and having everyone else choose DPS. If anyone hasn’t played in a while, there are a bunch of new heroes. Half a dozen or so since this thread was last active: [Heroes - Overwatch Wiki](https://overwatch.gamepedia.com/Heroes#List_of_Heroes_by_release_date) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/194 "2019-09-07T18:02:31Z")
I picked Overwatch back up when Blizzard announced that Heroes of the Storm was going on life support. The role queue change is massively, massively wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2019, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/195 "2019-09-08T12:32:25Z")
My understanding is that if you’re solo queueing\* as DPS, the wait times can get pretty bad. Better if you’re teaming up with friends. \*That word has too many vowels. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2019, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/196 "2019-09-08T12:52:49Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > My understanding is that if you’re solo queueing\* as DPS, the wait times can get pretty bad. I believe it but, as somebody who almost exclusively plays tanks and (less often) healers, I’m not sad about those guys solo queueueueueing as DPS. They’re the reason we need a role queue system in the first place! My Overwatch buddy and I had grown accustomed to a status quo where he and I would each play a tank/healer, and then try our damnedest to protect four DPS characters. It was better in ranked, but not always. This new system is a renaissance for me - I’d forgotten how much fun it can be to tank when you always have two healers on the team. ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804/198 "2019-12-05T14:52:34Z")
I need to get back into Overwatch, I haven’t played since shortly after Baptiste was introduced. I really want to check out role queuing. I’m a D.Va main, so it sounds great. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overwatch/753804.md?page=9)