The Overwatch 2 community has made its feelings known about the support the game has received thus far, with a fair bit of negativity around two aspects of the hero shooter. First, players are demanding changes to the monetization model and progression, asking for cheaper and earnable rewards. Secondly, gamers are disappointed with how slowly updates are being made, with Sojourn still not nerfed and issues with temporarily removed heroes like Mei taking far too long to solve. However, competitive also deserves some criticism.
While competitive is also being negatively impacted by the slow updates for the game, there are other issues with the mode. Considering that competitive is the main reason so many players engage with Overwatch 2, this is problematic, as a flawed ranked play could push hardcore players away from the title. By giving the community a reason to keep playing, adjusting certain systems, and fixing key flaws, competitive could be made far more enjoyable than it is in its current form.
Changes For Overwatch 2’s Leavers
Aside from someone deliberately throwing, there is nothing worse than a teammate leaving a competitive match in Overwatch 2. With there understandably being no backfill in competitive, the leaver’s team is stuck in a situation that is almost always unwinnable. Unfortunately, this means they will often get stuck with a loss stat. This has to change, as sometimes a leaver will disappear right after the match cancelation deadline has ended. This means that a team is stuck with a loss stat at no fault of their own, and this can sadly happen often - especially in placements.
To solve this problem, Blizzard can make it so that when a player leaves and does not return, those with the patience to stay through the rest of the match will not be penalized with a loss. Instead, the match can have no impact whatsoever, letting their rank remain unchanged. This way, the winners still get their win while the losers who never stood a chance are not forced to have their stats lowered. Though there are surely fears this would be exploited, with one person leaving when a loss is imminent to protect the SR of others in their group, that risk is worth taking. Being penalized for leavers is not fair or fun, and it is something that has to be adjusted.
More Control Over Rank Updates in Overwatch 2
Blizzard made a conscious decision to remove SR numbers from the Overwatch 2 ranking system, as it did not want players stressing when seeing their numbers moving constantly. Now, players have their rank updated after every 7 wins or 20 losses, taking some anxiety away since they cannot see the changes to their rank behind the scenes and have to wait for an update. However, not everyone wanted or needed this adjustment.
Blizzard should give the Overwatch 2 community more control over when they see their ranks, allowing them to get a look at the adjustments after every match if they see fit. It could also let players see rank changes after every three games or every five games, ensuring there is even more freedom. This could be a simple setting switch in the menu, but adding it in could help satisfy the entire community. For players happy with the current system, they can leave the default setting on. For those who miss seeing constant updates on how they were doing, they should have a way to bring that style back if it is what they want.
A New Competitive Reward To Strive For in Overwatch 2
Lastly, Blizzard should consider adding a competitive reward beyond Overwatch 2’s gold guns. With these shiny weapons having been available since the early days of competitive, several players already have gold guns for all the characters they play as. Adding a new camo to strive for or another type of reward would make competitive points a lot more interesting than they currently are, as returning players likely have very little motivation to earn more of them.
Overwatch 2 is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.