Generate Title Heading on :Overwatch 2 Director Aaron Keller on Balance Battles and What’s Next ⋆ Somag News without quotes

I’ll be honest with you: I’m still trying to get my charm back,” laughs Aaron Keller, Blizzard’s director of competitive games Overwatch 2 shooter. He’s referring to the horror he feels when Overwatch 2 deals damage. – the role of DPS in his team, but you can find a small parallel with the game itself, which suffered from long delays before the launch in October.

A few months later, Keller and blizzard learned a lot about the game they created. However, even before the shooter was playable, the studio was faced with a difficult decision regarding the game’s campaign: the single-player mode was originally supposed to launch alongside Overwatch 2’s multiplayer mode, but was moved to the post-launch update a few months ago the release of the game. came out

Keller says that while the decision to split the game was “really hard”, it was “the right choice”. “We found ourselves in a situation where we couldn’t release all the content we were creating for Overwatch 2 until the campaign was complete,” recalls Keller, who says the campaign’s development “was slower than we wanted. .

“We couldn’t release all the content we were creating for Overwatch 2 until the end of the campaign […] We found ourselves saying, ‘We’re going to keep hiding content from our players so we can release everything alongside our original content.’strategy—campaign—or we’re going to have to change the way we think about releasing the game.”

As a result, the Overwatch 2 campaign will be released gradually starting later this year, and Blizzard is “still finalizing” how its content will be rolled out. Being able to talk about Overwatch’s “big overarching narrative” is something that particularly excites Keller, as he notes that it’s “not something you can really do in the middle of a multiplayer game.”

“We get to immerse ourselves not only in the characters of the universe, but all the big events that happen in it — that’s something the team is incredibly passionate about,” Keller says, adding that “The bright, hopeful, inspiring future ” of Overwatch ” is a setting that the developer is looking to explore further.

Meanwhile, Keller is busy with the segment of Overwatch that players have — the competitive multiplayer mode. “It’s hard for me to find ways to get enough time to play the game while at the same time trying to run my game,” laments the director, who says learning better time management is one of the most his great achievements in the last few months.

As for Blizzard, Keller says her lessons were more extensive. The director admits that the studio still has “a lot of work to do” to respond to feedback about the game’s reward system and progression, and recalls that Blizzard realized in the first season of Overwatch 2 that their original plan was to release a main season balance update. – won’t be enough to stay on top of the fast-paced shooter meta.

For players of any multiplayer game, balance can feel like a grueling game of kill the mole, as the same patch that brings back one overpowered monster can just as easily add two more in its place. At the moment, Overwatch 2’s monster is Turboswine: an upgraded one-shot tank with a huge amount of health. Keller has some bad news for the Turboswine network – his damage is on Blizzard’s chopping board – but this muscle boy is a good example of how difficult Overwatch balancing can be. As Keller points out, Turboswin was never modified to become this strong: he’s better than the other characters because they were modified, which allowed him to “move to where he is now”.

“It would be very easy for us to change it so much that it becomes unplayable, or weaken it so much that people think it’s a comeback,” he explains, referring to characters the community deems weak enough, to ensure defeat if they are matched. “We’d like to avoid that, so we’re trying to be careful, but at the same time we want to make our changes significant enough to have a really real impact on him and the game.”

Keller adds that since the community will always try to find the strongest heroes to increase their chances of winning matches, Blizzard needs to combine a “hands-on approach” to balance with allowing the community to form its own meta.

“Many shades are balanced,” he explains Keller. “It can seem like there are certain characters that are allowed to be strong or popular, and others when they get really strong, they get quite a backlash from the community. I think it’s very natural. One of the things we’ve been talking about inside is… what happens when characters whose mechanics can be frustrating or hard to play become really powerful?’

The director notes that the same theme can be applied to the current discussions surrounding Turboswine, which opponents may find suffocating due to its ability to one-shot weaker characters, but is still difficult to kill. “When characters like that get really strong, the community can react quite strongly to that – while there are others, like Orisa, who is also quite strong, [but] her set looks fairer or more stable,” notes Keller. “I think the community will look up to a character like that and if he becomes the new dominant tank, he’ll be more accepted.”

This is a discussion that Blizzard is “fighting” with at the moment. “We don’t want all characters to feel the same, we don’t want the pacing of every battle in the game to be the same every month,” Keller says, adding that while the team enjoys the variety of abilities and mechanics in Overwatch 2, they are ” well aware that many of these can be pushed too far.’ far – there is meaning and many nuances to how we do it.’

When not chasing naughty pigs, Keller looking ahead. He’s got a lot to unpack and feels giddy discussing it: in addition to the campaign, according to the director, several characters and “a lot” of maps are planned for 2023, as well as “many more” events, such as the ongoing Battle for the Olympus in the game. Keller also teased several new and returning game modes, including a brand new one that he’s “so excited” to announce, and a mysterious Season 3 skin that he thinks the community will go crazy over.

Keller says that in the near future, the team will focus on refining Overwatch 2’s list of support characters, which he admits offer “the least selection” compared to tanks or damage-dealing roles. “We’re really focused on support right now — the next two characters we’re releasing are support characters,” Keller says, teasing that they “bring some things to the game that we haven’t seen before — some new mechanics and really exciting ways to you interact with your own team.”

All that being said, it probably is Keller will test his newfound time management skills. “I can talk about the future all day,” he smiles. Keller may still be finding his charm on the battlefield, but the picture he paints of Overwatch 2’s future suggests the game has found its footing – and what awaits fans is a busy year that won’t be dominated by Turboswine . Sorry Turboswine.

Overwatch 2 available on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and PC.

I’ll be honest with you: I’m still trying to get my charm back,” laughs Aaron Keller, Blizzard’s director of competitive games Overwatch 2 shooter. He’s referring to the horror he feels when Overwatch 2 deals damage. – the role of DPS in his team, but you can find a small parallel with the game itself, which suffered from long delays before the launch in October.

A few months later, Keller and blizzard learned a lot about the game they created. However, even before the shooter was playable, the studio was faced with a difficult decision regarding the game’s campaign: the single-player mode was originally supposed to launch alongside Overwatch 2’s multiplayer mode, but was moved to the post-launch update a few months ago the release of the game. came out

Keller says that while the decision to split the game was “really hard”, it was “the right choice”. “We found ourselves in a situation where we couldn’t release all the content we were creating for Overwatch 2 until the campaign was complete,” recalls Keller, who says the campaign’s development “was slower than we wanted. .

“We couldn’t release all the content we were creating for Overwatch 2 until the end of the campaign […] We found ourselves saying, ‘We’re going to keep hiding content from our players so we can release everything alongside our original content.’strategy—campaign—or we’re going to have to change the way we think about releasing the game.”

As a result, the Overwatch 2 campaign will be released gradually starting later this year, and Blizzard is “still finalizing” how its content will be rolled out. Being able to talk about Overwatch’s “big overarching narrative” is something that particularly excites Keller, as he notes that it’s “not something you can really do in the middle of a multiplayer game.”

“We get to immerse ourselves not only in the characters of the universe, but all the big events that happen in it — that’s something the team is incredibly passionate about,” Keller says, adding that “The bright, hopeful, inspiring future ” of Overwatch ” is a setting that the developer is looking to explore further.

Meanwhile, Keller is busy with the segment of Overwatch that players have — the competitive multiplayer mode. “It’s hard for me to find ways to get enough time to play the game while at the same time trying to run my game,” laments the director, who says learning better time management is one of the most his great achievements in the last few months.

As for Blizzard, Keller says her lessons were more extensive. The director admits that the studio still has “a lot of work to do” to respond to feedback about the game’s reward system and progression, and recalls that Blizzard realized in the first season of Overwatch 2 that their original plan was to release a main season balance update. – won’t be enough to stay on top of the fast-paced shooter meta.

For players of any multiplayer game, balance can feel like a grueling game of kill the mole, as the same patch that brings back one overpowered monster can just as easily add two more in its place. At the moment, Overwatch 2’s monster is Turboswine: an upgraded one-shot tank with a huge amount of health. Keller has some bad news for the Turboswine network – his damage is on Blizzard’s chopping board – but this muscle boy is a good example of how difficult Overwatch balancing can be. As Keller points out, Turboswin was never modified to become this strong: he’s better than the other characters because they were modified, which allowed him to “move to where he is now”.

“It would be very easy for us to change it so much that it becomes unplayable, or weaken it so much that people think it’s a comeback,” he explains, referring to characters the community deems weak enough, to ensure defeat if they are matched. “We’d like to avoid that, so we’re trying to be careful, but at the same time we want to make our changes significant enough to have a really real impact on him and the game.”

Keller adds that since the community will always try to find the strongest heroes to increase their chances of winning matches, Blizzard needs to combine a “hands-on approach” to balance with allowing the community to form its own meta.

“Many shades are balanced,” he explains Keller. “It can seem like there are certain characters that are allowed to be strong or popular, and others when they get really strong, they get quite a backlash from the community. I think it’s very natural. One of the things we’ve been talking about inside is… what happens when characters whose mechanics can be frustrating or hard to play become really powerful?’

The director notes that the same theme can be applied to the current discussions surrounding Turboswine, which opponents may find suffocating due to its ability to one-shot weaker characters, but is still difficult to kill. “When characters like that get really strong, the community can react quite strongly to that – while there are others, like Orisa, who is also quite strong, [but] her set looks fairer or more stable,” notes Keller. “I think the community will look up to a character like that and if he becomes the new dominant tank, he’ll be more accepted.”

This is a discussion that Blizzard is “fighting” with at the moment. “We don’t want all characters to feel the same, we don’t want the pacing of every battle in the game to be the same every month,” Keller says, adding that while the team enjoys the variety of abilities and mechanics in Overwatch 2, they are ” well aware that many of these can be pushed too far.’ far – there is meaning and many nuances to how we do it.’

When not chasing naughty pigs, Keller looking ahead. He’s got a lot to unpack and feels giddy discussing it: in addition to the campaign, according to the director, several characters and “a lot” of maps are planned for 2023, as well as “many more” events, such as the ongoing Battle for the Olympus in the game. Keller also teased several new and returning game modes, including a brand new one that he’s “so excited” to announce, and a mysterious Season 3 skin that he thinks the community will go crazy over.

Keller says that in the near future, the team will focus on refining Overwatch 2’s list of support characters, which he admits offer “the least selection” compared to tanks or damage-dealing roles. “We’re really focused on support right now — the next two characters we’re releasing are support characters,” Keller says, teasing that they “bring some things to the game that we haven’t seen before — some new mechanics and really exciting ways to you interact with your own team.”

All that being said, it probably is Keller will test his newfound time management skills. “I can talk about the future all day,” he smiles. Keller may still be finding his charm on the battlefield, but the picture he paints of Overwatch 2’s future suggests the game has found its footing – and what awaits fans is a busy year that won’t be dominated by Turboswine . Sorry Turboswine.

Overwatch 2 available on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and PC.