Last year, the Overwatch community was head-over-heels for new things to do in their favorite competitive shooter. The Summer Games, themed after the Olympics, brought new skins, emotes, voice lines, and even a new game mode to the game. This year, they return with more.
There is really no need to ever get mad at a game. Okay, correction, there is usually no need to get mad at a game. Frustrating things happen, you get titled, a certain player isn’t pulling their weight, you’ve been put in a lobby with a dreaded thrower… I’m looking at you Overwatch. You? Yes, you.
I really enjoy playing Overwatch, like a lot- not like it was one of the only games I owned on my PC or anything, but I really like it. It’s just cool to be a part of the team, and know that victory is only possible if everyone works together. Unfortunately, that’s the dream, and not always the reality.
In truth, Overwatch is at times an extremely toxic environment. It is ripe with anger, hostility, irrational thinking, and people who are so quick to pit the blame on their teammates. It’s not fun being on the receiving end of these comments or just being a bystander to it all. It sucks and it’s just not fun.
Most people play games to get away from it all, to just relax and wind down after a long day. Unless your career is Overwatch, then I guess you just play for a living. Truth be told though, the majority of people are not playing Overwatch for a career, most people are in the huge percentage of people who just play for fun, enjoying a bit of competitive play every once in a while, but then that’s the part most people seem to forget; the whole “fun” aspect.
There’s just no need to get so mad about something so small in the grand scheme of things. It’s not your job to play Overwatch, so why waste energy getting mad at something you have no control over.
I don’t have the best internet in the world (there’s a reason I don’t host the streams on the Lifecast), so I know I’m not alone when a ping spike can ruin your good time. It’s tilting, but I find too often that everyone else is madder at my inability to play than I am at my internet.
In the past, I’ve always ignored the onslaught of insults I have gotten from picking a certain hero, or from my inability to properly play because of my connection, or even just from not playing terribly great for any number of reasons. It doesn’t help me feel better that you’re yelling and honestly, I can’t imagine it helps you much either.
So, then that begs the question, why get mad in the first place? That’s a question easier asked than answered. I know I can’t just hardwire everyone’s brains to be nicer to each other, but I can ask people to just step back for a moment and really think if being mad is worth it. I mean honestly, your either mad at someone else, or yourself, neither of which is worth the time or the energy- especially since it would be negative energy.
It’s exhausting being mad. Like, truly tiring and draining and it’s just not fun and it’s not worth it. It makes you mad, it makes everyone else uncomfortable and mad, it’s a vicious cycle of anger and frustration and it needs to stop.
I’ve stated before that ignoring the toxicity can work, but it only works for so long. You need to step up, take a moment to breathe and ask if it’s worth it. Probably not, right? So, then what can you do to be a better team player, and less toxic person in the gaming community. Well, I’m glad you asked.
1.) If you’re not in a good mood don’t play.
It seems easy enough on paper, but having restraint and knowing your own limits is huge. I know that when I’m not feeling right I don’t want to make other people feel bad. So, next time you feel like crap maybe don’t pick up a team-based game. Might I suggest a nice single player immersion game?
2.) Get up and go for a walk.
You don’t have to go on a vision quest or run around the block a dozen times, but just get up from your computer and walk- to the fridge, to get a snack, to the grocery store, across town- pull yourself out of the gaming mindset even just for a few minutes and focus on something else. It’s amazing what going to make a nice little meal can do for your psyche. Who knows maybe you’ll go back to your game with a clear head and a full belly
3.) Try not to get tilted- and if you do, don’t let other people know.
Now this doesn’t mean you can’t offer constructive criticism, but you can do it in a more delicate way. A friendly suggestion is A-Okay, but screaming and swearing is not. Just don’t do it. It is fine to be mad or disappointed, but pitting the blame on others just lowers team morale and that’s no good for anyone.
4.) Stop blaming others and start blaming yourself.
Okay, let me rephrase that. Instead of constantly blaming your teammates and pointing out their flaws, maybe acknowledge that you’re not perfect either. We all make mistakes, even professionals mess up and that’s okay, but it’s not okay to get so absurdly angry.
And finally, …
5.) Stop playing.
You don’t have to stop entirely, but if it’s too much just stop. It’s not worth getting mad over and even worse, hurting yourself or others. If you are so mad about losing some rank in competitive, then just stop. Turn off the game, pick up something different, go out for a bit, or nap… personally I always recommend naps.
Getting mad is no good when playing games, so maybe next time you feel a little flustered of find yourself trying to bite your tongue… or if it’s too late and you’ve already succumbed to the evil that is toxicity, consider these strategies to chill out and cool off any hot-headed feelings.
And remember, it’s just a game. 🙂
In a developer update that released on August 1st, our boy Jeff, from the Overwatch team stated that the Summer Games would be coming back for a second year in a row. Although some of the skins will be the same, it’s not without some changes.
This time around the Summer Games take place in Sydney, Australia. The event will have all of the skins from the previous year, but this time all of them will be available to purchase with in-game credits, a feature that wasn’t present in last year’s summer games. The old skins will be available for the same amount of currency that your standard items have (1000 for Legendary, 250 for epic, 75 for rare and 25 for commons), while the new ones will stay with the traditional event price gouging (3000 for legendary, 750 for epic, 225 for rare and 75 for common).
There will also be a new map for Lucioball, a soccer game mode where the only playable character is Lucio. The new map will be set in Sydney, Australia while the Rio map will also be available to play. This game mode will also feature a ranked mode where players can get competitive points for participating. There are also some balance changes for Lucioball. Lucio’s ultimate ability will now raise his speed and decrease his cooldowns for a period of time. You will also no longer be able to boop enemies, only the soccer ball.
Summer Games 2017 will start on August 8th and will run all the way to August 29th.
The general buzz about Overwatch last week was the release of a new hero on its public test region (PTR): Doomfist. Immediately, players welcomed the new character with glee. Finally, a melee based character in a first person shooter.
We venture out into Twitch talk show territory and have a good time with it. Greg discusses Shadows of Valencia, Deanna played through The Sexy Brutale, Chris struggles more with Kingdom Hearts, and Dan gets way too into Voez and LOVE LIVE.
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“I can’t wait for some asshole to drill a hole in the biodome.”
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I’m going to start out being completely honest. I did not play many games that came out this year, but I do have a clear pick for game of the year. Things like Stardew Valley and Dark Souls III didn’t catch my interest enough to continue past the first little while. I bought games that turned out to be complete flops, but for some ungodly reason I still enjoy. There are games that I had never even heard of that I ended up loving. Though I say I didn’t play many games this year, I can certainly fill out a list of five (well, four plus one update) that I enjoyed more than others, and I daresay I thought were better.
Don’t talk to me or my 12 objective kills ever again.
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“This story is about Blaster Master. And the time I got scared shitless on my birthday.”
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A growing trend in media is the scavenger hunt. Everyone likes to play Sherlock Holmes, everyone wants to be a detective. Sure, Easter eggs in movies are fine and we all look forward to our Stan Lee cameos in Marvel movies. There’s an ongoing hunt across both seasons of Mr. Robot as viewers scramble to uncover clues about what, exactly, is going on. And over the last month or so, we’ve gotten maybe a glimpse as to who Sombra is.
Overwatch is a character-centric team-based shooter where you battle for control of a point for an extended period of time, capture points from the defending team, or defend then escort some cargo. It’s pretty tried-and-true, as there are other games like it that have done very well over the last decade. It’s no surprise that these types of games come with dedicated followings. After all, it’s a Saturday morning cartoon, and everyone’s got their favorite character.
The full roster. No hidden characters! (via FacePunch)
In case the very plain comparison to Team Fortress 2 was missed, here’s the deal. Initially both games started out the same way. You pay up front and have a chance to earn unlockable things. The way the two differ, however, is in the way they presented their characters. Now, I’m not saying one is better than the other, but at least when Valve released their last ode to the characters of TF2 it didn’t send fans into mania.
First up, we’ll cover Valve. Team Fortress 2 was released in 2007 as a successor to their team-based FPS Team Fortress. The main changes were the style and the emphasis on character personality. TF2 looked more like a cartoon, and Team Fortress looks a bit like a low-res Counter Strike map. Over the next several years, all the way up to 2012, Valve put out videos in the “Meet The…” series. It was a jovial look at the personality of each character; what made them tick, if you will. But Valve had every one of those characters as a playable class from the beginning.
Blizzard, on the other hand, had a set character roster at the outset of Overwatch. Currently, one character has been added: Ana Amari. Her reveal was a bit unceremonious, although not silent. Blizzard released the character on their public test region (PTR), then into the base game as part of a larger update. Simple. We got to know her, and the history she has with other characters.
And then Blizzard started teasing players. One by one, clues for a mysterious hacker started cropping up. Edit an image a certain way, and there’s a clue. Look into the source code of one update’s patch notes, another clue. And so Sombra was hinted at for so long. Over a month, in fact. Fans speculated that once the countdown found on amomentincrime.com, Sombra would be released. It’s over now and all that’s left is another clue. As of October 25th, there’s even more, promising something big next Tuesday.
This article, situation, and past several weeks summed up in one image. (via XOGram on tumblr.)
For the most part, it’s tiring. Just release the character. Please. At this point it’s a conflict of interest between Blizzard and the Overwatch community. From a casual player’s standpoint (hi that’s me) it just seems like a shallow attempt at getting people to play Overwatch. And people do still play it. Blizzard is not ceasing development due to a dwindling player base. Overwatch, like every other Blizzard game, will stay in the niche that it fits into. And it will do well in that niche.
Game devs do not need to go to great lengths to engage their players outside of the game. Guess what? It’s a video game. You’re engaging your audience through it. There’s no need for a scavenger hunt to extend the realm of it. Whether it’s due to the lack of immersion or some other angle, it all seems so extra.
Then again, I did praise Mr. Robot for doing this exact same thing. The show’s crew, namely Kor Adana, saw the potential for it to be hackable. A show about hackers, itself, being hackable. It’s a match, and it works. And it makes sense. Mr. Robot’s entire premise is that viewers do not know what’s happening. Viewers don’t interact with video games the same way they do with TV. There’s no mechanical input over a course of time. There’s no engagement further than what the show makes viewers think about, so capitalizing on that absence isn’t over-the-top.
Is there a niche of players who love ARG puzzles and want the trend to continue? Sure, I bet there is. There’s also a whole band of players who think that over a month of teasing for one cryptic character release is unnecessary. Information about updates from game devs needs to be told in absolutes. Are we getting something? Yes? Cool, when?
Cover image from iTech Post.
If you follow us on Twitter or Facebook, you would’ve seen that we published a few videos recently. Yes, videos! I’m proud to announce that The Lifecast now has regular video content coming to you guys about once a week. We publish all our video content on YouTube, so subscribe if you want to see more! This time around, Adam, Greg, and myself opened up a bunch of Overwatch’s Rio loot boxes, and I’d like to think we had a good time of it.
Below is the playlist for easy watching.